Cathy Perkins is a dog lover who is allowed to live with her two dogs, Tillie and Pierrot in the beautiful foothills of North Carolina.

Proudly powered by the excellent WordPress.

25th October 2006

Sacred Paws 2 replies

Sacred Paws, is a great site. Please check it out! Oh, the blog is here.

The blog has been silent for awhile but it’s back and in fine form. This site and blog have a wealth of information.

“Sacred Paws was founded by Jennifer Albertin in order to bring energy therapy to an often overlooked group of individuals, our Animal Companions.

Whether furred, feathered or scaled, our pets are an integral part of our existence. We humans have brought an immeasureable number of animals into our inner circle of companionship. We have a long history of welcoming all manner of animals into our lives, and yet we sometimes forget that they experience stress, sorrow, pain and discomfort, just as we do. They are there for us twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and they instinctively know how to take care of us on an energetic level.

Sacred Paws, specializing in Animal Communcation, Therapeutic Touch™ and Reiki, gives you the opportunity to do the same for them.”

20th October 2006

DogsRule: Holiday Safety 3 replies

Dawn Arkin has written an excellent article about holiday safety for your dog. Please heed her advice.

The holidays are a time of family, friends and fun. Regardless of your beliefs, the holidays are a special time of the year. But parties, family get-together, and unexpected guests can bring both fun and stress. Not only for your family, but for your four legged friends as well.

With the excitement of seeing old friends and planning activities, it’s easy to lose track of the dangers lurking in holiday decorations and foods for your furry friends.

Foods

The holidays are a time for food. But remember some foods are dangerous for your pets. Turkey and chicken bones can splinter when chewed, (more…)

19th October 2006

DogsRule: Why Do Dogs… Part 2 1 reply

Q: When dogs yawn, are they sleepy or bored?

A: Neither, really. Think of yawning as a kind of switching gears. A yawn increases the flow of oxygen and boosts the heart rate - actions that give the brain a good goosing. A yawn can prepare the body for action - as in the yawning of a keynote speaker waiting for her introduction or a quarterback waiting to get back onto the field. Yawning can also be a way to relax.

Dogs yawn both to charge themselves up and to calm themselves down. It depends on the situation. If you go to a canine agility competition, you’ll often spot dogs yawning at the starting line while waiting for the signal to explode across the line to the first obstacle. They’re ready to run, and the yawn expresses that stress and excitement. In the waiting room of a veterinary hospital, you’ll often see dogs yawning, too - a sure sign that they’re stressed and trying to calm themselves.

In training classes, dog will often yawn - and owners will often interpret this as a sign that the dog is bored. Not so. The dog who’s yawning in obedience class is more likely stressed than bored, either from nervousness or from wanting to please you but not yet understanding how.

Just as in humans, yawning can be contagious in dogs. If you catch your dog’s attention and yawn, you may well get a yawn back. Some experienced dog handlers actually use this to their advantage, encouraging their dogs to yawn as a way to get them either focused or relaxed.

—

Dr. Marty Becker is the resident veterinarian on “Good Morning America.” Gina Spadafori is a syndicated pet columnist.

—

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

18th October 2006

DogsRule: Fun Dog Fact

Why do dogs…?

By Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadifori

(MCT)

Q: Why do dogs hate it when you blow in their face but love to hang their heads out of the car window?

A: To a dog, the sensations of the wind sweeping by at 40 miles per hour and some two-legged primate blowing the smells of last night’s dinner in the direction of her hyper-sensitive nose are not even remotely in the same category.

Compare your breath, even at its nicest, to the glorious smell-o-rama that is available to the dog who sticks her nose out the window of a moving car. For comparison, you might consider it the canine equivalent of our looking out the window of a high-speed train dashing through the loveliest part of the French countryside. While blowing in her face … well … that’s like looking out a window into an air shaft with some trash cans at the bottom.

The rush of all kinds of scents is irresistible to an animal whose sense of smell is as complex and advanced as the dog. When we drive down the street, our puny noses can barely tell where the coffee shop is, and maybe the bakery. But our dogs can decode so much more from the air passing by when they’re riding in a car, and the experience is surely pleasurable. That’s why the characteristic expression of a dog with her head out the window is one of concentration and bliss - her mouth swept into a doggy grin that’s better to get those scents to her nose and also to another scent organ, called the vomeronasal or Jacobsen’s organ, in the roof of the mouth. The more smells, the merrier, in the opinion of our dogs.

Dr. Marty Becker is the resident veterinarian on “Good Morning America.” Gina Spadafori is a syndicated pet columnist.

—

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

DogsRule: Adopt a Dog

My corgi, Tillie, is adopted. I couldn’t love her anymore than I do. She is a wonderful girl. I found this article on Why You Should Adopt A Dog and found it quite interesting. Hope you do too.

Why You Should Adopt A Dog
By Kadence Buchanan

Dog adoption is made easy through the countless animal welfare organizations and animal shelters existing in every city across the United States. With literally thousands of adoptable dogs listed, a prospective dog owner can select to adopt a dog that needs a wonderful family to go to and be loved. In fact, when you search through these shelters and find a puppy, you are doing a great service to the community and to the local dog rescue or animal shelter that you went for your dog, cat, kitten, or puppy adoption. Thus, you should not hesitate! (more…)

17th October 2006

We are back

Technorati Profile

I’m back and ready to get on with it! This blog has been sitting here for too long and it will no longer be ignored! The first new thing is Technorati. You will be able to bookmark this as a favorite there.

More tomorrow.

7th August 2006

Another Huge Thunderstorm 1 reply

We just had another terrible thunderstorm and I thought of my previous post about Dr. Bach’s Rescue Remedy. Tillie has been taking doses during thunderstorms for some time and she is now exhibiting much less fear. In fact, she has made it through several short thunderstorms without any. The one today was big so I gave her some RR. She is fine.

This is a miracle for Tillie. She was so miserable during storms and I felt so sorry for her. Nothing would calm her until Rescue Remedy. As I said before, I am not an affiliate for this product or for drugstore.com which is where I got it.

If you have a dog who has specific fears, this might be just what you are looking for.

Go here to see it.

The link is long so I embedded it but I promise you will not find an affiliate number in that link. Just check it out. I use the liquid for Tillie.

4th August 2006

Way To Go, Leah!

Florida woman defends dogs from otter

BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 4 (UPI) — When a Florida woman saw an otter attempt to drag her dogs into a canal, the Mediterrania resident responded by punching the otter until it retreated.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Leah Vanon was forced to wade into the canal’s water and repeatedly punch the otter after it viciously attacked her Labrador and then her smaller fox terrier.

“It was attacking her to death,” Vanon said of Tuesday’s event. “It wasn’t going to stop until it killed her.”

The dogs received treatment for their wounds and did not require stitches.

A resident of a Boca Raton suburb and a mother of two, Vanon said otters are rarely seen in the area and none of her neighbors had ever complained of their behavior before.

David Hitzig, director of the area’s Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, said the attack could have been the territorial in nature.

“Maybe the dogs surprised the babies and mom went into defensive mode,” he told the Sun-Sentinel. “Otters are curious creatures but never make contact.”

31st July 2006

Pets: How Do You Choose? 1 reply

Having a pet can be one of the greatest joys of life; after all, who wouldn’t want something that offers unconditional love, companionship and often an unbiased shoulder to cry on?

Before you run out and purchase your new companion though, there are a few things you should take into account.

With such a wide variety of animals that can become pets: from dogs to cats, birds to fish, rabbits to guinea pigs, horses, mice and the more unusual like snakes and spiders the choice is only limited by your ability to meet each animal’s requirements.

The first thing you need to do is take your surroundings and lifestyle into account. Depending on where you live and how much time you have to offer your pet will go a long (more…)

30th July 2006

How to Choose the Right Groomer

There is nothing quite like having your dog professionally groomed. Even if you desire to groom your dog at home, a professional groom is always a treat. You end up with a fabulous-looking dog without all the work. Make it an outing you and your dog can enjoy together.

Your professional groomer should be chosen with care. Start looking before you purchase your dog. Most professional groomers are people who are devoted to dogs and will take very good care of your dog during the grooming process. However, there are always some groomers you want to avoid. So how can you know before you experience a grooming session with your dog?

Considerable experience is required to deal with the many ranges of coat textures and (more…)