A Pet Owner's Best Friend Prevents Inappropriate Chewing

There are many tools pet parents use to avoid unwanted behaviors in their dogs or cats.  One of my favorite and most effective tools is Bitter Spray.  It has so many uses!  There are several brands and kinds of bitter spray available.

I go through a good amount of bitter spray and I always have some on hand.  It's not that my dogs are so badly behaved that I need a truck-load of the stuff, but I like to spray new items in and around the house that I want them to stay away from.  I also frequently have foster dogs in my home so I use bitter spray to pro-actively deter them from chewing or getting into things they shouldn't.

I like that many bitter sprays are made with all or nearly all, natural bitter principles and extracts so I'm not using harsh chemicals around my home and yard.  Here are some ways bitter spray can keep your belongings and your pets safer!

BLACK & WHITE Sunday; Dogs on the Couch

Black & White photo of dogs watching Color TV

Isis and Phoebe are the closest of doggie sisters, until there's only.....

One. Liver. Treat. Left.

THIS IS THE SUNDAY BLACK AND WHITE BLOG HOP! Thanks to Sugar the Golden Retriever and Dachshund Nola for hosting the blog hop!

Sepia Saturday: Howling Dog

A WOLF HUSKY HOWLING AT THE WIND IN THE DESERT

  

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Preparing for Easter

OK girls, let's get ready to take some Easter photos!

Just give me that treat already, I'm in no mood!

Can you not see that my eyes are saying "I want NO part of this!"

Well, somebunny isn't in the mood to be a cooperative model this morning!

Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

THIS IS A WORDLESS WEDNESDAY BLOG HOP!!

Black & White Sunday; Doggie John Wayne

Happy Black and White Sunday!  Clearly, my Husky thinks she is John Wayne reincarnated!  All she needs is a cowboy hat, don't you think?

"A MAN'S GOTTA DO WHAT A MAN'S GOTTA DO" - John Wayne

"LIFE'S HARD, IT'S EVEN HARDER WHEN YOU'RE STUPID" - John Wayne

Protect Your Dog Against Heartworm Disease

Heartworm disease is a serious, potentially deadly disease that is so easy to prevent.  It is caused when your dog is bitten by an infected mosquito.  The bite of just one infected mosquito will likely give your dog heartworm disease. 

Heartworms do permanent damage to the heart, lungs, and the blood vessels that surround them.  If left untreated, your dog may not survive heartworm disease.  That's why prevention is so critical!

Mom wants me to be safe from those pesky mosquito parasites that cause heartworm!

Saint Patrick's Day Dogs

St. Paddy's Day was basically just another camera-happy day for me, much to my dogs' dismay. 

PHOEBE GO BRAGH!!

Oh, I better be getting a giant Blarney Bone for this

KISS ME! I'm Irish!

Help me, this hat is swallowing me up!

How was your St. Paddy's Day? Hope it was filled with yummy Blarney Bones!!

THIS IS A BLOGPAWS WORDLESS WEDNESDAY BLOG HOP!!

10 Weeks To Your Dog's #PerfectWeight And Healthier Lifestyle

This post is sponsored by Hill’s. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Hill’s® Science Diet® Perfect Weight 10 Week Turnaround, but Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this article

Sadly, more than 50% of pets are overweight.  An overweight dog is no laughing matter, overweight pets can develop serious heath problems!  Just a few extra pounds can have a negative impact on your dog's health and quality of life.  An overall healthy lifestyle will improve your dog's health, quality of life and life expectancy.  Proper daily nutrition and physical exercise are an important part of maintaining a healthy weight and an overall healthy lifestyle for your dog.  

Phoebe gets lots of exercise and good nutrition to maintain her ideal weight of 11 lbs

Getting to the perfect weight is challenging for everyone.  A healthy diet combined with exercise is usually an effective way to shed excess pounds.  However, dog weight loss can be even more challenging when we can't spend enough time exercising our dogs, especially when the weather is uncooperative and they can't get outdoors for adequate exercise.  Hill's® Science Diet® Perfect Weight is a dog food for weight loss that can help you achieve your dog's weight loss goals and get your dog to a perfect weight!  I like that Science Diet Perfect Weight dog food contains:

> A breakthrough blend of natural ingredients

> Prebiotic fibers for gentle digestion

> 100% precisely balanced nutrition

> Real Chicken as the #1 ingredient

Hill's Science Diet Perfect Weight dog food

If you and your Veterinarian have determined that your dog needs to lose weight, take the Hill's Science Diet Perfect Weight 10 Week Challenge to get to your dog's perfect weight and a healthier lifestyle. 




70% of dogs and cats who used Science Diet Perfect Weight lost weight within 10 weeks! 

Just as people need to track their diet and exercise progress, it's important to create a routine and track your dog's progress as well.  Hill's made it easy to create a health routine for your dog by creating the 10 Week Turnaround Calendar.  The calendar is a great tool to help you create a weight loss and exercise routine for your dog to lose weight and increase exercise effectively and at a safe pace.  It also helps you track the progress week by week.  Using the calendar is easy! 



The Hill's Perfect Weight 10 Week Turnaround Calendar

> Take a before photo of your dog and record current weight so you can see the difference at the end of the 10 week challenge.

> Slowly transition from feeding your dog's current food to the Science Diet Perfect Weight food following the instructions on the calendar. 

> When creating the exercise part of your dog's routine, record your dog's exercise in the boxes on the calendar so you can keep track of daily activity levels.

> Continue filling in the calendar and you're on your way to achieving a healthier weight and a healthier lifestyle for your dog!

Phoebe gets good exercise by playing in the house, going on frequent walks and easy hikes. My Siberian Husky, Isis, on the other hand is a very high energy dog who gets restless if she doesn't get lots of exercise.  Their exercise routine includes both less demanding exercise such as daily walks, and more demanding exercise such as hiking or bike riding.  Here's what my weekly exercise routine looks like for Icy and Phoebe:

Phoebe's Routine:
* Daily walks 3 - 4 times per week, 20 - 30 minutes per walk.

* Playtime in the house or yard 1 day a week for about 20 minutes; a game of fetch or hide the toy.

* More demanding exercise 1 or 2 days per week such as an easy to moderate mountain hike for 30 minutes, or a longer walk for 40 minutes or more.

On a morning walk in the desert with Icy and Phoebe

Icy's Routine:
* Daily walks 3 times per week for 30-40 minutes.

* More demanding exercise at least 2 days per week for 45 minutes to 2 hours. This is usually hiking in the mountains 1 to 2 hours or bike riding with me for about 45 minutes.  Bike riding is a much faster pace for her and an easier pace for me, so she burns tons of energy but I can easily keep up with her!

* She has 2 to 3 days of doggie day camp per month as well, to help her burn even more energy!  Since she is a very high energy breed of dog and also a Therapy Dog, it's important for her to be extremely well exercised when we go on our Therapy visits.


Here's a short video clip of me bike riding with Icy.  It's great exercise and she loves that she can go much faster than when we're just walking together!

Look for innovative exercise tips from Hill's here.  My favorite tip was to set up a Dogstacle Course in your yard or a park. It will give both you and your dog a great workout!

For optimal health and wellness, dogs need proper nutrition and adequate exercise.  Play, socialization, training, and keeping their fur, nails and teeth clean and well groomed also contribute to your dog's overall healthy lifestyle.  Don't wait to start an overall healthier lifestyle for your dog, start the Hill's Science Diet Perfect Weight 10 Week Turnaround Challenge today!

Hill's SCIENCE DIET, PERFECT WEIGHT dog food for weight loss is available in Adult sizes, and a new breakthrough nutrition formula for Small and Toy breed dogs to help smaller dogs achieve a healthy weight and improve quality of life.  The small/toy dog breed bags of food are available in 4 lb or 15 lb sizes.  Adult bags of food are available in 4 lb, 15 lb, or 30 lb sizes.

You can find Hill's SCIENCE DIET PERFECT WEIGHT in your Veterinarian's office or at your favorite pet specialty store or online.  

How Pet Bloggers Connect On Social Media

 BlogPaws, the premier online social media company for pets and their people, is shaping social media excellence, influence and education one amazing pet parent at a time! 

I'd like to share the below Infographic with you, which was created by BlogPaws, an extraordinary community of pet bloggers.  This Infographic illustrates how BlogPaws pet blogger influencers are effectively connecting with their readers on social media channels, and where they spend most of their time online.  The results were based on a poll of pet bloggers in the BlogPaws Pet Blogger Influencer Group (PBIG), of which I am a proud member.

The graphic indicates that:

> The majority of pet bloggers surveyed are spending most of their time on Facebook, and getting most of their traffic from Facebook as well.  As for me, I get most of my traffic from Google search.  However, I've only been on Facebook for several months, many other bloggers have been growing their Facebook audience for a couple of years. 

> Most of the pet bloggers surveyed feel that Google+ is their least valuable social media channel.  However, these bloggers also said they wish they knew more about Google+.  Personally, I like G+ and I get quite a bit of traffic from that channel.

> 96% of the pet bloggers surveyed follow pet industry brands on social media, and 75%  participate in paid blogger campaigns.  I'm happy to say I can count myself as one of the 75% who participate in paid campaigns!

> More than half of pet bloggers surveyed said they blog several days per week, with a mere 10% saying they blog only once a week.  I post on my blog 3 -4 times a week so I'm in the majority.

> More than half of these pet bloggers said they check social media so many times a day they lose count!  I have to admit, I do too!

Brands in the pet industry benefit greatly by working with pet bloggers!  Our collective experience, voice, and influence in the pet industry is undeniable!  If you're a pet blogger, or if your company markets products within the nearly $60 Billion pet industry, BlogPaws members want to connect with you!  Visit BlogPaws at www.blogpaws.com

I hope you enjoyed this peek into the behavior of BlogPaws Pet Blogger Influencers!

What do you think of this Infographic?  Did any of the results surprise you?  Leave us a comment, we always want to hear your thoughts!

THIS IS A THOUGHTLESS THURSDAY BLOG HOP!

Evening Desert Hike With My Dog

Winter in the desert Southwest is over and Spring is already here.  We still have very cool early mornings and evenings, perfect for hiking!  I wanted to share some photos of a recent hike we took on the desert trails in our neighborhood. 

Hiking on a cloudy day is the best.  The desert sun can be SO strong, even in Winter!

As temperatures soar in a month or so we won't have many cool mornings and evenings like this!

Whew!  We're just about at the tippy top of this hill!

Hope you enjoyed our photos!  Have a pawsome day!

THIS IS THE BLOGPAWS WORDLESS WEDNESDAY BLOG HOP!

Your Dog Can Be Your Best Travel Buddy

I know many of you are dreaming of a fabulous warm weather vacation.  As you dream and plan for your next vacation, will you be taking your dog along with you?  I hope so because your dog can be a great travel companion! Here is some travel inspiration for the dog friendly vacations we've taken with our dogs. You might want to consider these next time you choose a travel destination.

We've travelled extensively with our dogs across the country. It's gotten to the point where we hate to leave the dogs behind when we travel!



Phoebe proved she's no prissy girl when she made it up this mountain in Sedona, AZ

Nearing sunset, we reach the end of this beautiful hiking train in Sedona

Iscy sits inside the famous Imagine Circle in Central Park's Strawberry Fields, a memorial to John Lennon

Icy in Central Park standing next to her idol, Balto, the last lead sled dog to reach Nome, Alaska, saving the town from a Diptheria epidemic during the Great Serum Run (aka Great Race of Mercy)

Icy chillin' on a beach in The Hamptons, NY

Phoebe refuses to get out of this super comfy bed during one of our road trips!

At the International U.F.O. museum in Roswell, NM.  The dogs weren't too sure about this place.

Icy gets up close & personal with a statue of one of our Founding Fathers in Colonial Williamsburg, VA

That was fun! Where to next, Mom!?

East Coast to West Coast, mountains to beaches and everything in between.... Take Your Dog With You!!  For tips on traveling with dogs, check out my post Road Trip With The Dogs.

Do you take your dog on vacay?  What's your dogs favorite vacation?

EDUCATION; The Only Real Solution To Pet Homelessness

There are many ways to combat the problem of homeless pets; we can adopt, donate, foster, provide free or low cost spay/neuter, hold innovative adoption campaigns, and microchip our pets.  But all these things will not put an END to pet homelessness, overcrowded shelters, and euthanasia.

I believe the only thing that will truly end the misery of homeless pets is a change in paradigm brought about by Education.  We have to educate the public on the accountability that comes with pet ownership, how to be a responsible pet owner, and how animals should be perceived and treated.  Shelters and rescues are great, I shudder to think of where we'd be without them, but they treat the symptoms, they are not the solution.  The problem is that far too many pets end up in shelters or rescues in the first place.  There are a million reasons for this; some completely valid, most are utterly callous.  The analogy I like to use when I talk about shelters and rescues being a band aid is this story:

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Is this dog driving that car?

I saw this dog in a Home Depot parking lot and it just cracked me up.  It looks like the dog is actually driving the car! 

BEEP! BEEP! Get outta my way humans!

How cute is this dog?!?

 

Of course, I don't ever advocate leaving a dog unattended in a car.  It's a definite no-no.

 

THIS IS A BLOGPAWS WORDLESS WEDNESDAY BLOG HOP!!

 

 



Transporting Shelter Pets To New Lives

I volunteered at my county shelter for years.  For the most part, I was an Adoption Counselor at the shelter and at special adoption events.  I also fostered and attended events to help educate the public about the free and low cost services the shelter offers to the community. I also had the opportunity to participate in a different kind of activity at the shelter.

I took a selfie with one of the adorable Chihuahuas to be transported to the Humane Society in Missouri

Recently, the shelter has begun partnering with other shelters across the country on shelter Transport initiatives.  This is where animals in one shelter can be transported to a shelter in another state/city to help increase the odds of being adopted into loving homes.  For example, here in Phoenix we have a huge abundance of Chihuahuas and other small dogs.  In some areas of Pennsylvania and Missouri however, they actually have a need for small adoptable dogs!  They don't have enough small dogs for all the people in their community who want to adopt them - imagine that?! 

These little dogs are waiting their turn to be health assessed and vaccinated