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posted by admin on Jul 30

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” Josh Billings (1818-1885, US Humorist)

This morning I was driving along a busy street, in a fog, sipping strong tea when I saw the geese. I have come to think of geese as very large rats with wings. The outlying Chicagoland area is so infested with these birds that you have to be careful where you step. The best thing I can normally say about them is that it’s fun for the dogs to run them off, and I frequently use the cantankerous fowl as distractions. When you can call a six month old pet Lab off a flock of geese, I figure you have a recall.

Now I never said geese were stupid. That has never been my opinion. They seem to know it is more likely they will be harassed by dogs on my property than on my neighbor’s. Therefore, they avoid my grass. Or perhaps they just have an aversion to dog urine. Either way, we’ve reached an understanding.

Frankly, with the vast numbers of them around, I never understood why we weren’t eating them. Then I saw the pair of geese along the road.

One was lying dead on the median. The second was crossing two lanes of busy traffic. Cars were whizzing past the live goose, back drafts unbalancing it. But it waddled on, unaware or unconcerned of the hazard. That goose appeared to have one single minded purpose…reach its unmoving mate.

Before I continue, let me emphasize that I am not a scientist, geneticist, nor a zoologist. I am a dog trainer. I am well read, and most of what I believe comes from what I have read combined with what I observe. Can one even be a good dog trainer without keen powers of observation, reading and interpreting what one sees?

Geese, as most people know, mate for life. Their bond is undoubtedly instinctual, a product of natural selection in which strongly bonded pairs must have a greater likelihood of successfully raising young, thereby propagating the species. If the gene succeeds, the gene continues.

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

But it got me to thinking about the nature of bonding. And of course, that got me to thinking about dogs, and the nature of their bond to humans. While it has been proven that a duck will “imprint” on and follow a human if it is the first thing it sees after hatching, I think of “imprinting” and “bonding” as two different things.

Imprinting is a simple instinct stamped into the brain that dictates the duckling will follow its mother. She is likely to lead that duckling to sources of food and shelter. This increases the offspring’s chances of surviving infancy, reaching sexual maturity, mating, and propagating the species. Again, the gene succeeds, the gene continues.

But what is bonding?

I think of it as something more complex. Something more bound to social order. Instinctual? Probably. Still related to survival? Definitely. But still complex.

Dogs in the wild, since their earliest descendants, understand social order and collaborative hunting. A well ordered pack of wolves can successfully hunt, shelter, raise offspring, and pass on their genes. A pack suffering from social strife will not have clear leadership or collaboration, and will eventually die.

Dogs understand this on a genetic level. It is why a properly socialized dog understands how to communicate with other dogs using their species’ unique and understandable body language. It is why we, as dog trainers, are sometimes described as being able to “read” dogs. We’re simply recognizing attitude and thoughts, and yes, even emotions, by interpreting body language. And that is precisely what allows us to shape dog behavior by using our own body language to clearly show a dog what we want from them.

But why do dogs CARE about what we want from them? That is the question that has both mystified and thrilled me ever since I got my first dog at the age of 11. Why is a dog willing to be trained? Why do they thrive on it in fact? Why is a dog remotely interested in what we want from them?

A cow doesn’t much care. So we eat them. Most horses I have known and ridden will yield to humans, but they seem to me to prefer their own company to mine when given a choice. But because they yield to us, and helped us form our nation, as a culture, we’re horrified at the idea of eating them.

Wolves, I am told, are canids whose behavior can be somewhat modified by men. But they will generally return to behaviors for which they are genetically programmed, regardless of what training they have had.

So what is it about dogs? Why do they care about what we want? Why did my first dog remember and perform his utility signals exercise into his dotage, way after deafness, strokes and until shortly before he died at seventeen and a half?

His name was Gus. He was a Sheltie born April 29, 1969. He came to me in a dream several years ago and he spoke to me in words that did not come out of his mouth, but which I heard in my head. These are the exact words of the interchange.

“Where are you?” he asked, intense in his sadness.

“I’ll come to you one day,” I told him.

“But I have been waiting so long,” he said.

“Because it’s not my time yet,” I told him. “But I will come.”

He paused, but only briefly.

“I’ll wait for you,” he said.

“Find Bobbi and Frannie,” I said. “They are Greyhounds They are mine too, and they will know you. They will wait with you.”

“I will,” he said, and he left me slowly, reluctantly, at my bidding. I woke up crying, as I cry now recounting the experience.

I have always known that dogs care about us on the deepest possible levels but only recently did I put together my own concept of why. I think it was that dream of Gus. I told you he spoke to me in words. The words did not come from his mouth. They came from his mind into mine. But they had a voice. And that voice was my own.

My waiting dog spoke to me in my own voice. We love our dogs. But they adore us on a level beyond love. They are what we ask them to be, becoming part of us if we ask them to. I think Gus came to me that night, or perhaps my unconscious summoned him, because I was finally ready to understand the answer to my long held question.

Dogs care about what we want from them because, when led properly by man, they consider us to be more than their pack mates. We provide more than food, shelter and more than comfort. We provide dogs what the concept of God provides to us, a sense of meaning, comfort, a sense of purpose, a sense that we are not alone.

Dogs do not love us. They worship us. But not from afar. They live with their gods. They worship us from the foot of our beds, they adore us as they look at us, and they long for us even as we touch them.

Trained dogs submit and yield to this worship readily. It satisfies them on a level which humans with our questioning mentalities may not fully comprehend. The faith of a dog, particularly a trained dog, is absolute. He never questions or has a crisis of faith. He doesn’t believe. He knows.

Have you ever noticed that after putting a dog through even a basic course of obedience, other behaviors change for which you have not trained? If you do your work artfully, the dog gives up undesirable behaviors without even being commanded.

This occurs because the dog always knew his owner didn’t like the behaviors. After all, they grumped and yelled when he did it. He simply didn’t care. He felt no particular compulsion to give up a treasured behavior such as jumping on guests.

But when a dog is trained, he learns to look at his humans in a whole new way. He learns that the bond has more meaning that he ever knew before. He learns that he no longer has to make every decision for his life. It’s not satisfying to a dog to pull on the leash and be out of control. Yet, if that behavior is all he knows, he’ll do it over and over. I now see that behavior as a cry for help, the way the dog shows his profound need for leadership.

But once the dog has learned to yield his decision making to a human, a bond between dog and handler is formed that knows no limits of depth. So why do dogs care about what we want? Why are they willing to do what we ask of them if we can only show them clearly what we want? Why will they yield their willpower to ours?

They do it for the love of man. They do it because they love us more than they love themselves.

Is it genetic? The gene succeeds so the gene continues? Probably. But I think it’s more than that. I think the dog has a void that only we humans can fill. Even those of us who succeed the most with dogs don’t quite have the same love for dogs that they have for us. We can’t. We don’t have that gene. But we can understand and honor the dog’s need for leadership.

We can bring a dog to a place where his need for us is absolute yet doesn’t destabilize the independent nature of his being. Lest you take from my words the idea that I am a tree hugging dog spiritualist, I will tell you flat out that I am not. I am a dog trainer. I both correct and reward my dogs. That’s pretty much the way life treats me.

The ultimate reward for us both is a bond during the dog’s lifetime that exceeds any other comfort he can ever know. And after the dog’s death, he brings a form of comfort that some, like me, have not known before.

Someone is waiting. Someone who loves me more than he loves himself.

Marc Goldberg is a dog trainer specializing in the rehabilitation of difficult dogs and improving relationships. He is Vice President of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP) and Editor of SafeHands Journal. The author also educates professional dog trainers in his techniques. Visit him on the web at http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com or http://www.dogtraininginchicago.com

posted by admin on Jul 30

A lot of greyhound fans love to watch the cream of the crop race in stakes races. Track attendance usually goes up during the qualifying races that lead up to the stakes race and there may even be articles in the paper or on the radio about the event.

But not everyone is happy when a stakes race comes around. My friend, Woody, hates stakes races. He says it’s stupid to bet on stakes races because the favorite gets bet down to nothing and usually wins. I don’t have the statistics, but he’s probably right that the favorite in stakes races wins more of the time than the favorite in non-stakes races.

After all, every dog in the stakes race has raced against the best of the best dogs and beat them to make it to the final race. Of course, to me that also means that any dog in the race is capable of beating the other dogs, given the opportunity and some luck or a little extra running room or the benefit of another dog’s mistake.

But even if the winner does come in at low odds, there are other reasons to go to the dog track when there are stakes races. For one thing, the track wants to attract fans to the stakes to increase the handle, so don’t be surprised if the other races on the card are better than usual also. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but it seems to me that the dogs in most of the races are easier to handicap when there are stakes races. Maybe because they’re dogs who run truer to form than some dogs do?

For whatever reason, I always do well in the races on the same card with the stakes races. I don’t bet any differently or bet more, but I seem to go home with more money than I usually do. Maybe it’s the atmosphere or the fact that there are people there who don’t normally come to the dog track. Remember, pari-mutuel betting is betting against the other bettors. If the other bettors don’t know how to handicap, it gives people like us the edge.

For me, in addition to the bonus of winning a little extra, stakes races mean that I get to watch superb athletes doing what they do best. Winning. The dogs really enjoy it. The fans almost all like the special quality of the events surrounding the stakes and the ceremony of acknowledging the winner. It’s something out of the ordinary for the dogs and the fans and it adds some spice to life. Let’s face it, we all need something a little special once in awhile. Isn’t that why we go to the dog track?

Stakes races or D races, learn to handicap better and smarter with Winning Greyhound Systems at http://ebnetr.com

posted by admin on Jul 29

My Italian Greyhound is truly the best friend (no, more like a child) of my husband and I. Her name is Wendy. She’s absolutely a beautiful specimen of an Italian Greyhound – with her sleek body, her tucked tummy, her champion like posture and whimsical gallop. Wendy is now 4.5 years old and her life has been one long terrible journey.

When we first adopted Wendy – she was a tiny fawn puppy with large black eyes. You couldn’t even tell if she was looking at us because her pupils and eye color had not developed yet. She was very fuzzy for an Italian Greyhound puppy. She had remnant milk breath and wagged her tail in play.

Unfortunately, a few weeks after we adopted her, she threw up. It was a small projectile like vomit while my husband was holding her. We did not think anything of it because puppies will throw up sometimes. She was on a strictly “puppy” food diet, her stools were normal and her urine was normal. She was eating and drinking normally and behaving normally.

Approximately a month later, things started to change with Wendy. She became less active. She laid down all the time. She didn’t want to engage in typical “puppy” play – or if she did, she didn’t last more than a few minutes before she wanted to lay down. We didn’t know any better and thought maybe she was just a “quiet” puppy or had more of a “serious” temperament than our other Italian Greyhound.

We soon began to notice that she was not eating as much. It was time to go to the vet. The vet told us that her weight was fine and she looked fine. We told the vet that her appetite had greatly decreased, but he told us to give her some chicken soup and rice. We tried, and she did eat some of it, but within a day she stopped eating. We took her back and the vet told us to just keep trying. We tried for another night and she refused to eat. At this point she also stopped ALL physical activity. She didn’t get up! She didn’t walk, she didn’t do anything. She just was looking around her while she was laying down.

We brought her back to the vet again, this time my husband was furious. The vets’ office had at least 5 vets working in it. He demanded to see a vet and NOT the same one who had been treating Wendy. He told the new vet Wendy’s history and he demanded that something be done about her quickly deteriorating condition. The vet told my husband he thought she had a food allergy and prescribed Hill’s C/D. Well, luckily – this did help her come back to life. Later, I learned that Hill’s C/D is a low protein food and it was the high protein in her puppy food that was killing Wendy.

Wendy did fine on this food. I kept bringing her to the vet at least once a month for colds, fevers and strange behavior. She constantly urinated all over the place. She never had a good appetite and never drank a lot. She was still a “quiet” dog, but she grew older and we moved to a different town. She became an adult and we took her off of the Hill’s C/D. She immediately started to develop crystals in her urine. Italian Greyhounds do not like to urinate outdoors, so we always made it a point to use pee pads in a basement or garage area. Fortunately, as a youngster, Wendy didn’t always quite make it to the pad and I was able to see the crystals on the floor!!!

I took her to the vet specifically to address the crystals in her urine. The vet ran some blood tests and told me that her BUN count was a little low (and maybe her creatin too – I can’t quite remember the creatin reading). I researched this on the net (which was still developing at the time) and found information about liver shunts. Liver shunts are often congenital defects that occur in puppies/dogs and these affected dogs typically have low BUN, low creatin and ammonium crystals in their urine! I brought it up to the vet – she said “no” and “that’s not it”. She told us it was just the food allergy that our earlier vets had diagnosed. I truly believed my vet – SHE was the EXPERT. I completely put the idea of a liver shunt OUT OF MY MIND.

Every time I brought Wendy to the vet, I kept asking each vet if they thought Wendy was too skinny. They all told me that she was just petite and that she looked normal. Again, I had instinctual doubts but believed the EXPERTS.

If I had only known then what I know now. After 3.5 years of going through hell bringing Wendy to tons of vets and ER vets – I finally found an ER vet who actually took the time to listen to Wendy’s full history and my concerns. He said the magic words “I think she might have a liver shunt, you should get a bile acid test done on her”.

Here are the symptoms of liver shunts:

1. Poor Doer: A puppy/dog that is always getting sick. Because liver shunts cause toxicity in the blood because the dog is not having its blood filtered by the liver. This causes various illnesses to occur often.

2. UTIs: A puppy/dog that has frequent urinary tract infections or looks like it is having a urinary tract infection due to having many accidents all over the house, isn’t able to be housebroken or urinating small amounts.

3. BAD ODOR: A puppy/dog that has bad mouth odor and/or bad urine odor. Often, the urine is also a darker color yellow instead of the “barely” yellow of normal healthy urine. (Note: Puppy and young dogs should have good breath. Bad breath is a RED FLAG that something isn’t right)

4. Head Pressing: Dogs with liver shunts don’t filter their blood which results in ammonia build up in the blood. Ammonia toxicity causes their heads to feel funny – so they rub their heads a lot.

5. CRYSTALS IN URINE: This is from the excess ammonia in their system. Any dog with crystals in the urine should have a bile acid test.

6. Complete Blood Count (CBC): This test is easily given in the vet’s office. Liver shunt dogs often have a lower than normal BUN and Creatin count.

7. Depression: Liver shunt dogs are not very active or they may be active for very short periods of time. They are known as “quiet” puppies or “quiet” dogs. A “quiet” puppy usually isn’t very normal and all “quiet” puppies should have a bile acid test to make sure they are okay.

8. Low Weight: Puppies with liver shunts look normal with a milk belly, etc. As they grow into dogs it is obvious they are too skinny. Their ribs show, their bones are prominant and they don’t develop muscle mass. Not all liver shunt dogs have low weight though, but many do. They tend to have low weight because their liver cannot absorb and process nutrients to bring these liver shunt dogs to their normal weight.

9. Small: Dogs with liver shunts often do not grow as much as their siblings. They have smaller than normal livers and sometimes smaller than normal features. Wendy never developed the strong leg muscles that all greyhound breeds exhibit.

10. Anorexia: Many liver shunt puppies/dogs do not eat normally. They eat very little dog food. They may chow down on a newly introduced canned food or people food – but they invariably resort back to not eating very much. Eating food makes them not feel well because of the higher toxicity they have after a meal – so they tend to shun food.

11. Breed: Any breed can have a liver shunt, but Yorkshire Terriers are famous for having them.

Here is my advice to anyone who has a dog with these symptoms:

FORCE YOUR VET TO DO A BILE ACID TEST IF YOU SUSPECT A LIVER SHUNT AND/OR YOUR DOG IS EXHIBITING SOME OF THE ABOVE SYMPTOMS!!!! Don’t take “no” for an answer. Tell them you want to MAKE SURE and cover all of your bases. A bile acid test is about $100.00 and can save your dog’s life.

Once your dog has been diagnosed with a liver shunt, you can then begin the process of determining treatment. In the meantime, ask the vet for Lactulose which may cause diarrhea at first but will immediately help to greatly detoxify your dog. Also, immediately put your dog on Hill’s L/D diet which is low protein. Do not give your dog any people food that has protein! Protein promotes toxicity in liver shunt dogs.

There are several treatment options. You may want to have a scintigraphy done to find out if the shunt is intrahepatic or extrahepatic. Usually the liver shunt is extrahepatic (outside the liver) which is easily operable. Intrahepatic shunts (inside the liver) are much more difficult to operate on and are usually found in larger breed dogs. Your vet can recommend whether to operate or not. Usually, it is recommended to medically manage your dog rather than operate with intrahepatic shunts.

Surgery: One of the best and cheapest places to have the surgery performed is at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, TN. And I do mean the BEST and the cheapest. They specialize in liver shunt surgery. I wouldn’t have trusted Wendy to any other surgeon for treatment. In addition, UTK utilizes a surgical method for extrahepatic shunts that cannot be surpassed by mere ligation.

Puppies in in the uterous of their momma dog get nutrients from momma through a portal vein. At birth, this vein is supposed to close up. In liver shunt dogs, it doesn’t close up. Instead, this portal vein acts as a “bypass” and most of the blood bypasses the liver. The liver is what cleans the blood. The liver also performs thousands of other vital functions!!! 94% of Wendy’s blood bypassed her liver!!!

The classical surgical method has been to ligate the portal vein (close it off, shut it down, get rid of it….). Unfortunately, the ligation method can throw the body into shock and kill the dog because there is a halt to the circulatory system! UTK developed a much better and much safer method. A metal ring is coated with a substance that expands upon contact with moisture. It expands SLOWLY (it takes a month or so for it to fully expand). This ring, called an ameroid constrictor, is placed AROUND the portal vein. The ameroid constrictor closes slowly over time until the vein is closed. This not only helps the body from going into shock, but it also helps to prevent infection that is caused by ligation! The liver is able to slowly accept more and more blood as the constrictor does its job. There is no shock to the liver or the circulatory system.

I HIGHLY recommend the surgery with an ameroid constrictor – you can research all of this on the net to make your decision. The UTK program includes a scinitigraphy to locate the shunt, surgery, hospital stay, AND A BIOPSY OF THE LIVER for about $1,600 (2007). They do a great job!

What to Expect Post Op: Your dog will be in some pain for a few days after the surgery. Fortunately, there is not a lot of pain because the only cutting involved is the skin on the belly and for the biopsy. There is usually no cutting done for placing the ameroid constrictor.

Over the next 4 months, you will notice the following: weight gain, muscle development, loss of puppy fur (if your dog retained its puppy fur), improvement in general appearance (shinier), LOTS more ENERGY and no more head rubbing.

At 4 months, you will need to redo the bile acid test to check on how the ameroid constrictor is operating. Wendy had 0s on her follow up bile acid test!!! After 4 months, if the bile acid test comes back normal, you can put your dog back on regular food!!!!

I can’t tell you how glad I was that I was able to have Wendy surgically corrected.

posted by admin on Jul 28

My friend,Willie and I were talking the other day about how often we’ve bet on a dog and had it get bumped by another dog, which is pretty discouraging. I said maybe it’d be a good idea if they disqualified dogs and changed the results of the race like they do for horse races. Willie is clearheaded, however, and he set me straight on that idea right away.

“Yeah, but then what about our dogs that come in because they bump another dog or another dog bumps a dog and they benefit? We’d lose those bets too.”

As usual, Willie made a good point. Most greyhound races have one or two dogs who get into trouble or cause trouble. But, unlike at the horse track, it’s not because their jockeys didn’t control them properly. It’s just because they’re dogs and dogs bump each other. It’s the nature of the beast as you’ll know if you’ve ever thrown a tennis ball for more than one dog at a time.

People get so angry when dogs knock each other down and bump and “turn their heads” to nip each other (doesn’t work with a muzzle, but they try anyhow), but that’s what dogs do. It’s just as much a part of a greyhound’s makeup as running as fast as it can after anything that moves is.

Many years ago, at Lincoln Greyhound Park (now Twin Rivers) in RI, someone got the bright idea of using monkeys for jockeys on the dogs. Not only was it cruel and inhumane to both species, but it didn’t work. You can’t control monkeys any more than monkeys can control greyhounds. The idea was scrapped and the dogs were allowed to run as nature intended – free of all outside control.

When you think about it, in horse racing, it’s not the horse that’s penalized. It’s the jockey. So disqualifying greyhounds wouldn’t make sense, since they’re not under anyone’s control. And in some races, if you disqualified every dog who bumped another dog or went wide and took out the outside dogs, you wouldn’t have any dogs left for Win, Place or Show.

Nope, Willie is right. Some bumping and blocking and shuffling is normal in dog racing, so we should just accept it and do the best we can to handicap around it by improving our handicapping skills.

Improve your handicapping skills with free info, articles and Winning Greyhound Systems at http://ebnetr.com

posted by admin on Jul 28

Do you like to gamble on the greyhounds? Do you enjoy a night out at the dogs but are not really sure how to read the form? Are you looking for some advice about how to bet on the greyhounds? In this article I give advice on how I go about successfully betting at the greyhounds and about what some of the form quotes mean.

I have been enjoying going to the greyhounds for many years. The main tracks that I go to are Hall Green and Perry Bar which are situated around the Birmingham area of England. I was taken to Hall Green for the first time by my father when I was about fourteen years of age. I had been to watch the horse racing many times but this first experience at the dogs was altogether different.

The races are much more frequent than that of the horses. There is normally a thirty minute gap between each horse race, where the gap between the dog races is only about fifteen minutes. I could also not quite believe how quickly these greyhounds could actually run. I also enjoyed the fact that despite some of these dogs bumping into each other and even knocking one another over at times, that there were no stewards enquiries.

I did not do very well in the gambling stakes for quite a while but then started to learn more about how to read the form book. For example a dog may have been running in an A4 class for the last six races but is now running in A5. This means that he has dropped down a class and therefore would have more of a chance. A dog may also have been winning well for the last three races in A4 but is now running in A3. This of course means that he/she has moved up a grade and that it could be harder for the dog to win.

These are some of the meanings in the form guide:

FA- Fast away

SA- Slow away

BLKD- The dog got bulked

RO- Ran on

VSA- Very slow away

The form guide also shows times for the greyhounds last few races and also times of how quick it started from the traps. These are all aspects that should be taken into account when deciding which dog to bet on.

I also like to stand in the betting ring and to see how much money is going onto the different dogs. After a while you get to know the faces and at times I will watch who a certain person backs and then bet on that dog as well. This is because of course I have seen that person do well in the past and because I think he will know more than what I do.

By learning how to read the form and by other things that I now do, I have started to do a lot better when gambling on these greyhounds. As well as betting on a single dog, I will also bet on a forecast and a tricast, just for a bit of fun. A forecast is where you predict which dog will come first and second, a tricast is where you predict which dog will come first, second and third. This is not easy to predict but when you get it right you tend to win a lot more money.

At the end of the day a night out at the dogs is a lot of fun and it is important to only gamble what you can afford to lose.

Stephen Hill helps to promote a number of websites including:

stammering information

guide to aviation products

college savings plans

posted by admin on Jul 27

Cancer affects a significant percentage of canines. Know the risk factors that include: genetics, hormone imbalances, diet, vaccinations, environmental toxins such as lawn chemicals, flea and tick dips, tobacco smoke to name a few. Nearly half of dogs over age 10 die of cancer. There are similarities between canine and human cancers, but there are also differences. For example, dogs have 35 times as much skin cancer as humans, 4 times as many breast tumors, 8 times as much bone cancer, and twice the incidence of leukemia. Humans have 7 times as much lung cancer as dogs and 13 times as much cancer of the stomach and intestines.

According to a Swedish study done in 1997, the breeds at highest risk for cancer were: Boxers, Giant Schnauzers and Bernese Mountain Dogs, Irish Wolfhounds, Cocker spaniels and Doberman Pinschers, Pomeranians, Newfoundlands, German Shepherd Dogs, Saint Bernards, Great Danes, Greyhounds and Basset Hounds.

Today, the most common type of cancer in American dogs is skin cancer followed by mammary cancer and lymphosarcoma.

Even though Shih Tzu is not among the breeds to be targeted for high risks, we can still be on the look-out for cancer symptoms which are similar to those in humans. These include any abnormal swelling that continues to grow, sores that don’t heal, weight loss, bleeding or discharge from any body opening, a reluctance to move or exercise, a loss of stamina or difficulty breathing, urinating or defecating. Any sort of lameness in an older dog (but especially large breeds, which excludes our Shih Tzu also), should be investigated, even though our Shih Tzu is not included in that either as being of high risk by breed, it does not mean, this could not occur. Subtle signs such as sleeping, more than usual, refusing to play, or having less interest in social interaction, can be warning signs.

Even though it would seem at this time cancer is not a huge threat to our Shih Tzu, it is still good to be alert to any symptoms that may be warning signs of the disease.

Connie Limon publishes a FREE weekly newsletter. A professional newsletter with a focus upon health and wellness for you and your pets. Discounts on shih tzu puppies are offered to subscribers. Updates of available puppies. Sign up at http://www.stainglassshihtzus.com

posted by admin on Jul 26

The policies of many agencies are very protective about the home environment in which the Greyhound will be placed. Often, the adoption placement process ie. application, interview and approval can be quite lengthy. Some groups will not place dogs into apartments, homes without fenced yards or homes with cats, toddlers or stairs. And most if not all have the potential adopter promise to keep their Greyhound on a leash at all times when outside of a protected area or reserve the right to take the dog back. Adoption placement cost is usually not a major factor. Most agencies charge from $75 to $225.

Be sure to compare medical services provided. All agencies should clip the nails, test for heartworm and provide basic shots and de-worming medicine. After adoption placement many groups offer support, as needed. Often this support makes the difference in whether the dog stays or gets returned. In terms of philosophy some agencies strongly oppose dog racing, and others are operated by the dog tracks. Many organizations remain neutral to preserve their relationships with the trainers or to avoid jeopardizing monetary support from the tracks.

Many agencies place their Greyhounds into a home environment for a brief period before adoption placement. Fostering is usually a great way to ease the transition. During the foster period, many agencies have the dog’s teeth cleaned and have them spayed or neutered. The foster families make sure the dogs are housebroken as well as introduce the dogs to many of the new experiences of retired life, such as televisions, stairs, mirrors, couches and children. Some groups test their dogs to determine whether they are cat-safe. If you have a cat or other small pet, be sure to ask for a dog with a low prey drive. Some agencies will make a real effort to evaluate the Greyhound’s personality to ensure a good match. Some adoption groups do not have the resources to foster the dogs; in this case placement often occur straight from the kennel.

Gabriele’s website http://www.1st-greyhound-dog-care.com was created for the appreciation of this unique breed. Having been an owner for fifteen years has given her first hand knowledge and a special love for the sensitive and beautiful Greyhound dog.

posted by admin on Jul 25

The Holidays are in the air – It’s the time to reflect and express the joy of giving, hope, peace and cheer. It’s also time to celebrate, visit family and friends, and share some yuletide joy in the way of food, treats, and gifts! But what to get everyone? Well, I’m here to help at least offer some ideas for your four-legged friend and some insight to keep it a safe holiday for all. Why not get Fido a new collar, portrait, or party hat! Photos and paintings are the perfect keepsake and here are some businesses I can personally recommend to help you with just.

For Photos and Paintings, check out Amelie Art, JT Yost, Arlene Horton, PhoDOGraphy, Fetching Dog Photos, and Petographs to name a few. And, what dog can’t use a fresh collar, clothing, bed, or chew toy for the New Year! Check out these sites to have one Posh Pooch this season.

Collars, Clothing, Jewels: Andrea Levine Jewelry, Bully Ware NY, Buddy G’s, Bowchies, Charming Pet Products, Dolores Piscotta, Doggy Apparel, Puppy Kisses, TORU, and Big Dog Beds. While many of us love to decorate, eat sweets, and indulge in a tad too much drinking – the festivities can pose hazards for our pooch. Chocolate can be dangerous, tinsel and other decorations can obstruct the bowels, and splintered turkey bones can damage the intestine.

We’ve long heard Poinsettias and Christmas Cactus could be poisonous to pets, but many vets say they will mostly just cause an upset stomach. If your pet does ingest either of these, don’t feed them much for the next day to help calm their stomach.

While we may be inclined to sneak our dog some rich holiday food as a special treat, we’ll pay the price later mostly with their unpleasant gas and diarrhea – not “a good thing” for your guests! Chocolate and macadamia nuts on the other hand can become toxic for your dog. While a little bit of chocolate won’t kill your dog, it’s the theobromine in chocolate that can cause neurological and cardiac concerns. Baker’s chocolate is nearly 10 times more potent than milk chocolate. Vomiting and diarrhea are the first signs of trouble to take your dog to your vet. Macadamia nuts too can bring on fever, vomiting and possibly rear leg paralysis. The severity of the toxicity depends on the size of your dog and how much it consumed.

Here are 5 tips for Pooch Party Precautions:

1. Decorate with your dog in mind – Leave the bottom tree branches free of ornaments, tinsel, and lights up so your dog can’t damage them and hurt themselves. Hide batteries so they don’t become chew toys that can block the intestines or create an ulcer.

2. Drink alone – Well, with other humans. Alcohol has the same effect on dogs as it does people, but dogs are even more sensitive to it.

3. Electrical Cords – Use a cord wrap and/or tuck cords out of the way to prevent your dog from chomping on them.

4. Make a Getaway – Create a special place for your dog to escape when adult guests and children become too much.

5. Spend time as well as money – A quality moment and walk will help everyone feel better with all the activities, excitement and a tinge of stress in the air. Time together is priceless.

About the Author: As the DogSexpert, and Founder of http://www.LeashesandLovers.com, Sheryl Matthys talks with dog lovers on how their dogs impact their personal relationships. Leashes and Lovers offers online connections (http://www.FetchaFriend.com) where dog lovers can search and connect around the world for friendship, doggie playdates, same breed of dog, and possibly love!

Sheryl has two children, two greyhounds and is a certified dog trainer.

posted by admin on Jul 24

Travel time is upon us. When we start packing up the items we want to take, we have to be sure to think about the dogs. Our dogs are part of the family and go with us.

Just like children, dogs should be safely restrained in a vehicle while traveling. We found a leash that has one end that clicks in to the seatbelt. The other end has the usual clip and fastens to the harness. We prefer a harness to using the collars for riding. If there are any sudden stops, the dogs are safely restrained without risk of damage to their necks.

If you travel in an SUV or station wagon, you can get barrier screens to put between the dogs and the passenger seats of the vehicle. These help to keep the canine family member from being thrown forward in the event of an accident.

Some of our friends have vans and actually are able to load up the travel kennels like those made by Vari Kennel. Their dogs are used to loading up in the kennels and settle right down for a long ride. They have their own crate beds and other accessories to make traveling quite comfortable.

Besides determining how the dogs will ride, we need to pack up supplies for the dogs just as we do for ourselves. We suggest that you prepare for most any event.

Be sure you have the water bowl or bottle. If your dog is not too fussy about having his own water bowl, there are wonderful collapsible travel bowls on the market.

We recommend that you carry water from home so that your dog does not have to adjust to new water which may cause loose stools. Pack enough water to get you through your trip if possible. Should you run out, bottled water from the stores may be useful and should not cause problems. As with most things in life, water has its own scent to our dogs. They will know the difference, but the bottled water may not upset their digestive systems.

How do you want to carry the dog food? We like to put it in buckets with lids so that we may stack them and store other items around them. You need a feeding dish. If you have a dog that will only eat from his own bowl, be sure to pack it. Many dogs are not that fussy, and you may use collapsible travel bowls. They pack easily and do not require a lot of space.

Just in case your dog encounters an upset tummy and has loose stool, throw in a can of pumpkin. This helps tighten things back up and seems to be soothing to the digestive track. Our veterinarian also told us that in an emergency, a reduced portion of Immodium AD is acceptable. Be sure to check with your own veterinarian about dosage size if you have this in your pet pack.

Remember the leashes. Most travel areas require that we keep our canine companions on leash. I prefer the braided leather leashes that are easier on my hands. These are available from many sources. The leash works well with dogs that are trained and walk easily on leash. Because the leash is leather it seems to improve with use just like a baseball glove.

We find that it is a good idea to take along calming remedies to handle the stress of travel. Most times our dogs are fine, but once in a while, a little calming is needed. For these times, there are wonderful herbal supplements and even special aromatherapy for dog products that work. We found one aromatic mist that we used on one trip transporting greyhounds fresh from the tracks to new homes. These dogs did not know us or each other, and the mist was just the thing to relax and aid them in getting along together. Sprayed lightly in the air twice, the dogs sniffed and seemed to calm a bit. About half an hour later, I sprayed once more. The dogs settled in and slept for our four-hour leg of the trip. After using this special, essential-oils based product, I can safely say that I believe in aromatherapy for dogs.

We also found that sometimes it gets a little “doggie smelling” in the car when we are in close quarters for a long time. We found another essential-oils based mist that has been great for taking care of this. The fresh lime scent and other essential oils used in the blend soon return the car (or hotel room etc.) to a nice clean scent.

Once in a while our dogs get in to something that causes them to be a little less desirable riding companions. We found that travel size bottles of dog shampoo and dog coat conditioner are great additions. The travel sizes are small enough to tuck in the corners, and there is a bit of peace of mind knowing that if you have a minor coat problem, you have the dog supplies to handle it. There are many places to purchase dog shampoos, just be sure to get one that is pleasant for you to use and the dog does not mind.

Are you going where it is cold? You may need to pack dog coats or sweaters so that your traveling partners are warm and comfortable. An extra blanket for lying on will also be welcomed by the canine traveler.

Going where it is hot? You might consider packing in some of the new towels that are ultra absorbent. If you wet the towels, wring them out slightly, and then drape them over the dogs, they are wonderful cool-down coats. A small spray bottle filled with water is also helpful to cool your dog’s underside and paws.

It really is not any more difficult to pack for our dogs than it is to pack for ourselves or children. We make lists, check them twice, and load up. We also check them on the return to be sure we are bringing back everything with which we started the trip.

Now relax, give your dog and extra hug, and have a wonderful vacation.

The author is a dedicated dog lover and active in greyhound rescue through Greyhound Pets of America – Rocky Mountain Chapter. She enjoys traveling with her canine companions and family. Irene may be contacted through http://BigDogSpa.com

posted by admin on Jul 22

A good bathing technique is essential for keeping your Shih Tzu’s hair in good shape and keeping skin problems at a minimum. A lot of Shih Tzu owners say they have skin problems. This is a problem I have not encountered a lot in my existence with the Shih Tzu. However, it does happen more in some bloodlines. Follow the instructions in this article and you should have no problem in keeping a nice smelling and clean Shih Tzu in your presence at all times.

Gather together everything that is needed before you start to bath your Shih Tzu. This is always handier than having to run here and there gathering up your supplies and tools once the process begins.

The first bath you give your Shih Tzu may be traumatic. It truly is best to delay bathing Shih Tzu puppies until they are at least 3 months old. For the first bath you might try using a small bowl, dishpan or the kitchen sink rather than the bathtub. Always be sure the water is neither too cold or to hot. Shih Tzu puppies react violently sometimes to either extreme. Be careful your Shih Tzu puppy does not jump or wiggle out of your hands. If the temperature of water is “just right,” there will be less chance of the Shih Tzu puppy wiggling out of your hands. Use a mild shampoo especially formulated for dogs that is “tearless.” Regular baby shampoo can be used. I have never had a problem with dry skin when I used baby shampoo. It is just harder to rinse out. Shampoo formulated especially for dogs and puppies is usually easier to rinse out. I do like using Fluffy Puppy shampoo for puppies and even on the faces of my older Shih Tzu because it is tearless.

Pouring water gently over your Shih Tzu puppy in the kitchen sink, a small bowl or dishpan is much less alarming than using a high powered sprayer. Once your Shih Tzu puppy is use to his bath, you can try using the spray attachment which is much better and faster at getting out all the shampoo. You can also use a gallon milk jug (when it is empty and rinsed out of course) to first pour water over the puppy. After being washed, the Shih Tzu puppy must be dried off completely before being allowed outside again.

An older Shih Tzu can be washed in the bathtub using a shower attachment. Place a rubber mat in the bottom of the tub to provide firm footing just as you would for yourself. Your choice of shampoo and conditioner depends upon the type of coat your Shih Tzu has. Avoid using human shampoo on your Shih Tzu. I have used Pantene, but like the baby shampoo, it is harder to rinse out of the hair and I just don’t like the way it leaves the Shih Tzu’s hair looking dull. Many Shih Tzu are allergic to human shampoo. I have found them to be “itchy” after a bath with human shampoo. I switched over completely to shampoos especially formulated for dogs. Some human shampoos have been known to coat each hair and build up after use, which is probably what causes the itching. There are so many really good brands of dog shampoo on the market these days; there is truly no good reason to use human shampoo on your Shih Tzu. In summertime it is a good idea to use a shampoo to fight against fleas.

Be prepared to get splashed as your Shih Tzu gets older in the bath. Either wear grooming aprons made especially for this function or wrap a large towel around you.

If you are afraid you might get water in the ears of your Shih Tzu, plug the ears with cotton before beginning the bath. Getting water in the ears can cause ear infections.

Really wet down the hair of a Shih Tzu good before applying the shampoo. Pour the shampoo down the middle of the Shih Tzu’s back. As it runs down each side work it into the hair with a squeezing movement of the fingers. Do not rub or massage. The coat is more apt to become tangled with rubbing movements. The best way to get the cleanest hair is to gently squeeze the shampoo through the hair really working up a thick, good lather. You will need to pour a little extra shampoo on each leg and foot, the tail, chest and stomach areas. Lift your Shih Tzu up by the front legs to shampoo the stomach and then wash the chest. Wash the head and face last using the tearless shampoo.

If you are bathing a very dirty Shih Tzu, you will need rinse really well and repeat the process, then rinse really good again.

A good human hair dryer works find for the Shih Tzu. Brush the hair while blowing drying in order to make the hair straight.

Connie Limon. I raise Shih Tzu puppies for sale. Visit us at http://www.stainglassshihtzus.com and sign up for our newsletters. We have a variety of colors, the small AKC standards, imperials and teacups at reasonable prices.