Keep your Dog safe this 4th of July

Dog insurer Trupanion receives more anxiety-related claims in July than any other month of the year. Specifically, in 2014, it received 45% more anxiety-related claims in July than the average month. Many times, the claims in July list noise or fireworks a cause of the anxiety. It’s not fun to watch your pet in distress, and frightened pets have a greater chance of running away. So how can you keep your pet happy and safe?


6 Tips For a Pet-Safe Fourth of July. 

Beat the heat. Many families spend a lot of time outdoors on the Fourth. Make sure your pet has access to shade and plenty of water throughout the day. If your pet has short or white fur, you may want to invest in pet-safe sunscreen to keep them from getting burned.

2. During the barbecue, don’t feed your pet scraps from the grill. And watch to make sure they stay out of the trash. Rich table scraps can give your pet a serious stomach ache and non-digestible foods like bones and corn-on-the-cob can damage their digestive tract.

3. Give your pet a safe space during the celebrations. Your pet will feel most secure in a familiar, safe environment. This could be a bedroom, a crate, or a favorite gated-off area where your pet spends a lot of their time. Make sure they have access to a comfortable bed, favorite toys, and water throughout the night.

4. Provide white noise to drown out the sound of fireworks. You can leave the television or radio on, or just turn on a fan in the room to help sound-sensitive pets get through the evening.

5. Talk to your veterinarian about anti-anxiety There are many products available to help decrease anxiety—from body wraps to edible treats. Your veterinarian will help you determine the best tools to help your pet reduce anxiety. There are also methods available to help condition your pet to the noise over time.

6. Keep identification on your pet at all times. Unfortunately, many pets get lost during the first week in July, especially on July 4. Even if you follow all of these tips, your stressed pet may find a way to get out of the house. Always keep an ID on your pet with updated information and consider microchipping your pet just in case their collar or harness slips

Even 68 Degrees Outside Can be Too Hot for a Dog Inside a Car.

Summer is here and for many people (and dogs) that means so is the unbearable heat. Summer for humans means wearing less clothing and taking a dip in the pool or ocean, but summer for dogs can be harsh. Imagine not being able to take off your winter sweater, even when it’s 95 degrees out. It’s painful to even think about! For dogs, that is their reality.

Now that we’ve had a refresher on the rules, the question remains – what do you do when you see someone else’s dog in a hot car? Here are a few tips from the experts:

1. Get informed.

According to the Humane Society, the first thing that you can do to help a dog in a dangerous situation is to learn the facts yourself. Check out your town or state’s laws on leaving an animal in a car. Gather the phone number of the police department’s non-emergency line and also the animal control department in your town. Be prepared so that you aren’t left trying to solve the problem at the last minute, and wasting what could be precious and critical moments for the overheated dog.


2. Take down the car’s information.

The Humane Society says that when you see a dog left in a car, immediately take down the vehicle’s model, make, color, and license plate number. These can be used to report the owner for neglect or irresponsible behavior, and also to identify who the owner is.

3. Have the owner paged.

Go into the local businesses or buildings nearby and notify a manager or security guard. Insist that they make an announcement over the intercom with the license plate number to inform the owner of the dire situation.


4. If you can’t find the owner, call the authorities.

This is when having emergency numbers saved in your phone comes in handy. Call the humane authorities or the police to come and assess the situation.



5. Do not, by any means, leave the scene.

This is probably one of the most important things to keep in mind. If you have to, have someone else watch the car and the animal while you run inside the building. According to PetMD, signs of heatstroke include restlessness, excessive thirst, heavy panting, dark tongue, rapid heartbeat, fever, vomiting, and lack of coordination. Keep a close eye on the dog for these symptoms, as it could mean that the situation needs to be acted upon very quickly.



6. If the authorities take too long, take action.

If you very honestly believe that this dog is in bad condition and showing symptoms of heatstroke, assess the situation and get a witness to back you up. Remove the dog from the heat immediately and wait for the authorities to arrive.


7. Take proper steps to care for the animal.

When the dog is removed from the hot car, the situation isn’t necessarily over yet. Get the animal into air conditioning as soon as possible and give him cool water to drink.

8. Spread awareness.

While it may seem like an easy thing to remember, some people don’t realize the dangers that heat can have on animals. Kindly remind friends and family to leave their pets at home when they run errands. The Humane Society suggests asking local businesses to hang up signs during the hotter months reminding people not to leave their dogs in their vehicles. Most importantly, if your town doesn’t have a law regarding leaving dogs in cars, attend a town meeting and start lobbying for one.


While we hope that you’ll never have to use these tips, it’s important to have them handy just in case. According to the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association), hundreds of pets die from heat exhaustion every year. With these tips, you may be able to lower that number.

Remember – a cool dog is a happy dog!


Source Barkpost

Figo Throws His Body Between Blind Owner and School Bus: Dog and Owner Survive

A golden retriever service dog named Figo saved a life when he leaped in front of a small school bus in an effort to protect his blind owner.

"I've seen dogs protect their owners when an intruder is coming at them, but not from an automobile," Brewster Village's chief of police John Del Gardo told ABC News. "I've never seen that before."

Audrey Stone, the woman that Figo guides, was walking through an intersection on North Main Street on Monday morning when a bus struck the pair in the center of the walkway, police said.


"Right before it happened the dog did something really heroic," Del Gardo said. "He sort of lunged at the bus. It injured his leg and paw, and the woman received multiple injuries. When EMS came, he [Figo] didn’t want to leave her side."

Brewster Fire Department's second assistant chief Moe DeSantis, who was at the scene of the crash, said the bus was carrying two school children, and no one on the vehicle, including the driver, was injured.

The driver, Chief Del Gardo said, was issued a summons for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Del Gardo added that Stone is currently being treated in the hospital with numerous fractures, three broken ribs, and a laceration to the head.

Figo, who received an operation at Middlebranch Veterinary in Carmel, New York, is now doing well in his recovery process, according to his vet Dr. LouAnn Pfeifer.

Pfeifer, who has been caring for eight-year-old Figo, said she is not surprised that he sacrificed himself for Stone.

"This is what they're trained for," she said. "He’s a good boy. He's been a patient of ours since he was in service of Miss. Stone and he is just a wonderful dog."

Pfeifer added that her facility will be holding onto to Figo upon Stone's release from the hospital.


Source ABC News

Dogs Suffer from Allergies Just Like We Do

There's few things worse than watching a dogs furiously and interminably scratching some part of his or her body, only to be ignored by the owner. What does the poor animal have to do to communicate his discomfort? This article describes the symptoms to look for and identifies the three main potential families of allergy...flee, food and environmental. Possible treatments are highlighted but a trip your local vet is essential!

If your dog seems to have an allergic condition, it's important to get an appointment with your veterinarian as soon as you can.

There are safer ways to relieve your dog's symptoms than pharmaceuticals while you and your vet work to discover the root cause of the allergic reaction.

Relieving symptoms without addressing the source of the problem is a short term fix to what can become a lifelong health problem. And certain drugs used to stop the allergic cycle have significant, potentially very serious side effects.

Flea Allergy Dermatitis (FAD)


Flea allergy dermatitis, which is actually sensitivity to flea saliva, is a very common condition in dogs. It's not the bite of the flea that causes most of the itching in dogs with FAD, it's the saliva.

The saliva causes irritation way out of proportion to the actual number of fleas on the pup.

Lots of dog parents assume if their pet isn't infested with fleas, the itching can't be caused by fleas. But if your dog has FAD, the saliva of just one or two fleas can make him miserably itchy and uncomfortable for many weeks (long past the death of those two fleas).

Suggestions for flea control:

•If you suspect or know fleas are a problem for your dog, I recommend you comb her at least once daily, every day during pest season with a flea comb. Do this on a white towel or other light colored cloth so you can see what's coming off your dog as you comb. Flea 'dirt' (actually flea feces) looks like real dirt, but when suspended in a little rubbing alcohol or water will dissolve and release a red color (blood) allowing you to discern real dirt from flea dirt.

•Bathe your dog often. A soothing bath will kill any fleas on your dog, help heal skin irritation, and make her feel more comfortable and less itchy. Also, clean animals aren't as attractive to fleas. Pick a non-grain (no oatmeal) herbal shampoo.

•Make liberal use of an all-natural pest repellent like Natural Flea and Tick Defense during flea season.

For some dogs with a serious case of flea allergy dermatitis, I prescribe an oral drug called Comfortis. It is a chemical, but it's considered the least hazardous of all similar drugs. All drugs can have side effects, but Comfortis has reportedly fewer than topical insecticides.

Food Allergies


If your dog has an allergy to something he's eating, it may show itself not only as digestive upset (gas, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.), but also as one or several of these symptoms:

•Itchy or oozing skin
•Red, irritated eyes
•Nasal discharge
 •Coughing or sneezing; asthma
•Inflamed ears
•Swollen paws


If you suspect your dog is sensitive to something in her diet, there are a number of things you can do to learn the source of the allergy and solve the problem:

If your pet has been eating the same food every day for months or years, there's a good chance she's developed an allergy to it. Contrary to what you've probably been led to believe, pets need diversity in their diets just like humans do. She might be sensitive to the single source of chemically-laced protein she's been getting (chances are the meat is loaded with antibiotics and hormones causing immune system over-reaction). She's also probably grown sensitive to certain allergenic ingredients in the food, typically grains and other carbohydrates.

 Work with your vet to develop an allergy elimination diet to help pinpoint the source of the problem. I recommend a three-month diet, which is longer than what many vets suggest. I like to give adequate time for an animal's body to clear the allergenic substances, detoxify, and clean out cellular debris.

 At the end of the elimination diet, new foods are added back in slowly, one at a time to gauge your dog's response. It's not uncommon for pets to be able to re-incorporate previous problem foods or clean proteins into the diet once the body is detoxified and the GI tract is healthy again.

•Your holistic vet should also suggest natural supplements to help with detoxification, allergy relief and immune system support during and after the elimination diet.

•To be optimally healthy -- which includes avoiding food sensitivities and building resistance to all types of allergies -- your dog should be fed a balanced, species-appropriate diet. The diet I recommend is preferably raw, either homemade (again, as long as it's balanced) or commercial. Rotating the protein sources your dog eats is extremely important, as is strictly limiting or eliminating grains.

Environmental Allergies

In addition to flea saliva and certain foods/ingredients, your dog can also be allergic to an infinite variety of irritants in the environment. These can be outdoor allergens like ragweed, grasses and pollens, as well as indoor irritants like mold, dust mites, cleaning chemicals and even fabrics like wool or cotton.

As a general rule, if your dog is allergic to something inside your home, he'll have year-round symptoms. If he's reacting is to something outdoors, it could very well be a seasonal problem.

Also, your pet's immune system is partly genetic, so he can actually inherit a tendency toward environmental allergies.

Finding the root cause of this type of allergy is extremely important, because what usually happens is the more your pet is exposed to an irritant, the more his sensitivity and reaction to it grows.

Some suggestions for finding and resolving environmental irritants:
•Clean up your pet's indoor air environment. Don't allow smoking around your pet. Switch to non-toxic cleaning products. Consider investing in an air purifier to control dust mites.

•Make sure your dog's drinking water is high quality and doesn't contain fluoride, heavy metals or other contaminants.

•Don't allow your dog to be over-vaccinated or over medicated. Vaccines rev up your pet's immune system – too many vaccinations can send it into overdrive. An over-reactive immune system sets the stage for allergic conditions.

 Antibiotics wipe out good bacteria right along with the bad guys. Since the majority of your pet's immune system is in her GI tract, the right balance of gut bacteria is crucial for her health. There's also the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in pets.

Steroid therapy (prednisone, for example) is often prescribed for pets with allergies. What these drugs do is turn off the immune system so it stops creating the allergic response. It does work for symptom relief, but unfortunately, the side effects make this a very serious, potentially dangerous drug.
•Bathe your dog. If your pet has irritated skin, bathing will rinse the allergens away and make her feel better immediately. Don't be shy about how often you bathe your pet, especially if she suffers from allergies that itch and irritate her skin.

 If you suspect something outdoors is irritating your dog, in between baths, do foot soaks. Chances are the allergen is coming inside on your pet's feet. She can't escape it, and she's spreading it around indoors to every room she visits.



Source Dr Becker  on Mercola Healthy Pets