The research process is kind to dogs, so don’t fret.  The dogs are put through a variety of games, similar to what young children might play.

According to Director Brian Hare “Domestication has made dogs more intelligent, but they’re still not perfect.”  ”They can solve almost any problem if they rely on people.”

Dogs are social and understand the different relationships they have with different people.  And they understand if their owner turns their back they can misbehave.

Sounds sort of like kids, right?

There’s also a series on CNN’s AC360 with Anderson Cooper on “Animal Intelligence”.  Airs tonight (November 18, 2010) at 10:00pm EST.

CNN coverage here.

Dog food recall: Hartz Naturals Real Beef Treats for Dogs

Dog Food Recall: Hartz Naturals Real Beef Treats

Due to concern of salmonella contamination, Hartz Mountain Corp., located in Secaucus, New Jersey has issued a recall of 75,000 bags of dog treats.

Hartz is recalling one lot of Hartz Naturals Real Beef Treats for Dogs. The company said the 8-ounce bags of treats were imported from a Brazilian supplier, Bertin, which found the dog treats safe in its regular tests.

The lot dog treats that is being recalled has code “BZ0969101E.” Hartz is asking dog owners who have bought the recalled treats to return them for a refund or throw them away. Consumers can call: 1-800-275-1414

The Effect of Salmonella on Dogs

A dogs exposed to Salmonella may develope salmonellosis, an infection found in dogs caused by the Salmonella bacteria. It often leads to disorders, including gastroenteritis, spontaneous abortions, and septicemia. This bacterial disease is also zoonotic, meaning it can be transmitted to humans.

Symptoms may include ever, lethargy, diarrhoea, vomiting, anorexia (lack of appetite), weight loss, dehydration, mucus in feces, elevated heart rate, swollen lymph nodes, abnormal vaginal discharge in females, and skin disorders.

If you believe your dog may have been exposed to Salmonella, find a local veterinarian or animal hospital and make an appointment.

Best Friends Animal Society Celebrates 1000th Pet Rescue

Best Friends Animal Society

Pups Bill Would Amend Animal Welfare Act

According to the ASCPA website, “The Animal Welfare Act (AWA), a federal law passed in 1966, regulates certain animal activities, including commercial dog and cat breeding. The AWA defines the minimum standards of care for dogs, cats and certain other species of animals bred for commercial resale and exhibition. It also requires that certain commercial breeders be licensed and routinely inspected by the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA). However, violations regularly go unpunished, and there are innumerable loopholes and faults within the current system. For example, only animal-breeding businesses considered “wholesale” operations—those that sell animals to stores for resale—are overseen by the USDA. The AWA does not apply to facilities that sell directly to the public, including the thousands that now do so via the Internet.”

List of Participating Adoption Sites:

• Monmouth County SPCA, Eatontown, N.J.
• Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, Wainscott, N.Y.•
• Noah’s Ark Animal Welfare Association, Ledgewood, N.J.
• Save A Pet, Long Island, N.Y.
• Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge, Inc., Oakland, N.J.
• Adopt-A-Dog, Armonk, N.Y.
• Hudson Valley Humane Society, Pomona, N.Y.
• Second Chance Pet Adoption League, Oak Ridge, N.J.
• Kent Animal Shelter, Calverton, N.Y.
• Tiny Treasures Rescue, Yonkers, N.Y.
• The Husky House, Bridgewater, N.J.
• Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue, Reinholds, Pa.
• Yorkie911 Rescue, Deer Park, N.Y.
• Long Island Bulldog Rescue, Stony Brook, N.Y.

Find an Animal Shelter or Pet Rescue Organization

Is it unethical to dye pet fur, or is it just pet fashion?

dyeing pets in china

Is dye for pet fur safe?

Some say that coloring products have been not been safety tested for pets, therefore it’s possible dye could be absorbed through the pet’s skin or ingested when pets lick or clean themselves. No regulation exists today, and toxicity may be unknown.

Is dyeing a pet’s fur unethical?

The ethics of this trend in pet fashion have come under scrutiny from some pet owners and organizations. They view these acts as a cruel way to treat one’s pet. Activists also argue that dyeing the fur may put animals in danger since harmless effects are unknown.

About Queso: she is a purebred yellow lab, 2 1/2 years old pushing 3, around 80-85 pounds (she’s tall but fit), and of course the sweetest thing next to sugar itself.

Here are 5 Things to Consider When Choosing Dog Food:

1) Ingredients: Check if corn is in the first 3 ingredients.  The advice I was given as a new pet parent (owner) was to avoid dog food with corn as one of the first three ingredients – also known as “filler” or “corn filler”.  It is harder for a dog to digest and has little nutritional value.

Let’s quickly compare the first 5 ingredients in each:

Eukanuba Large Breed Adult: Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Chicken By-Product Meal (Natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine)

Wellness Super5Mix® Healthy Weight: Deboned Chicken, Ground Barley, Rice Bran, Chicken Meal, Ground Brown Rice

You can clearly see the difference in quality.  I only kept with Eukanuba food for this long because Queso was able to digest without issues.  I tried some other brands when she was around a year old and ready to move to adult dog food, but they didn’t agree with her. Now’s the time for dog food change.

2) Price: While some food is cheaper than others, it’s not by that much.  Today the 26 pound bag of Wellness food was $50, while the 20 pound of Eukanuba was $30.   That’s $1.92 per pound for Wellness, and $1.50 per pound.  Difference = $0.42 per pound.   Given human consumers will pay $10-30 per pound for our their deli meat or fresh fish, I think pet parents can treat their pets to an extra 42 cents so they can live the healthiest (and longest) life possible.

3) Availability: The last thing you want is to buy your pet pal new dog food only to realize it is impossible to find at a local pet store near you.  Consider the inventory at your favorite pet store.  If they don’t have the food you want, they will probably order it for you if you ask.   The alternative is purchasing food online from a large retailer like PetSmart or PETCO.  While you may not have to lug that heavy bag home from the store, heavy items such as dog food may significantly increase shipping rates.

4) Timing for Change: Of course we all want “out with the old, in with the new”, but a dog’s body doesn’t like that motto.  A dog’s digestive system is sensitive, so change the food gradually.  Start with 1/4 to 1/3 of new food, and 3/4 to 2/3 of the existing food.  Do that for a week, then increase the amount of new food.  A good idea is to have 2 large bags on hand so there’s plenty of time for transition.   If you abruptly change your dog’s food, be prepared for diarrhea, vomiting, and other potential stinky cleanups.  And perhaps an uncomfortable pooch too.

5) Consider Pet Food Brands That Do Not Test On Animals: It’s fair to agree that no responsible pet parent (owner) supports cruelty towards animals, and while some are more active than others with pet cruelty prevention, pet rescue, and other great causes, it can be difficult to keep track and know what companies are “animal testing free”.   Pet owners will need to use their own discretion to determine how important this topic is to them.  Unfortunately for Iams, there is a site dedicated to exposing claims of animal cruelty.

Dog food selection is a very subjective topic.  And it is clear – choosing dog food is a lot like toothpaste.  They all seem the same on the surface!

What are some other considerations when choosing dog food?

Thoughts Fur Paws by Jaime Smith

I’m moving soon and plan to rescue two or three shelter cats, then in a few more years, I’d like to adopt a bloodhound & train him to be a search-rescue dog. My pets have taught me more than I can fit on this page, but a few goodies are: what unconditional love means; what loyalty is; what trust in relationships truly means, and what a true friend will do. They never lie, they never hurt you, and it’s scientifically proven that petting a cat can lower blood pressure after 20 minutes. 2. What inspired you to start blogging, and when did you start? I started a personal blog in Fall of 2006, then switched jobs. All the while I’m volunteering for 3 local rescues. ThoughtsFurPaws started Jan 2007 actually as an initiative/project for work. I worked in online marketing and was at American Greetings. My boss wanted me to increase exposure to certain sects online for getting subscriptions and ROI up – so I created a pets blog and a family/mom blog – both of which have a ton of product between AG’s 6 sister brands.

The pets blog I ran myself as I had 30 years of knowledge about domestic animals and animal welfare, both local, state and natl, training, raising, common problem-solving hints, plus some really good stuff I guarantee you can find anywhere else in my bag of tricks. The blog grew so fast as I was so relentless. It was pageranked a 5 after about 4 months! I used my real life experience and what I had not only learned, but seen and lived and helped do — in training, raising money, volunteering, rallying, interning, and working at shelters, humane societies, divisions of wildlife etc. All this creates real stories about animals: what people want to learn.

I set my blog apart by not choosing only cats or only dogs to cover. I love both equally. And I didnt want to make it totally silly or totally super serious — so its a superb mix of both — funny and informative, make you laugh then make you cry then make you red in the face with anger over the mistreatment of animals. It’s a totally complementary mix because one day you will read about how the puppy mill bill in Ohio got pushed back tothe Senate again, but the next day you will read some funny pet quotes, name a caption for funny pictures, or hear an enlightening review of a book about pets. My bottom line is to educate and entertain, while providing an atmosphere of friendliness, discussion, passion, learning and light-heartedness. 3. What tips would you give new pet bloggers to help them start out on a path to success? Definitely #1 you have to have a plan, and that needs to include what your major objectives are, what you want to avoid discussing, the design of your blog, the platform you’ll use, etc. It takes a long time to get it set up and it does cost a lot if you go with a customized URL domain name like I did, and pay for tech updates, background enhancements, add-ons, etc.Decide your main focuses. Are you here to entertain us with silly antics, vidoes and photos of your whacky silly pets? Are you too egotistical/totally serious?

Create your categories. Are you interested in SEO? If so, then get on Keyword Discovery and see what pet terms are being searched.

Link-build like a maniac for the first 6 months to get some good reciprical linking going on, but dont go out asking for links until you have some really good content up.
4. What pet topic are you most passionate about and why? This is by far the hardest. Animal abuse is getting extremely higher penalties in all states for any act of cruelty, neglect, abuse, dogfighting, running an illegal breeding home. So far this has started with the states and will hopefully become federal law in ten years.I’d like to get a national spay/neuter one day to quell the overpopulation problem. I’d like for the government to give more funding for animal rescue after natural disasters.

Finally, take the dogs out, have the government build an entire ark or zoo for them, and set fire to every single mill and home where known dogfighting operations were happening. 5. What advice do you have for new pet owners? Adopt, don’t shop. Every time a puppy is bought from a breeder or pet srore, one is euthanized in a shelter somewhere. The actual statistics will blow your mind but I dont have then right now.Make sure the newmie is de-wormed, vaccinated, spayed/neutered (or make appointment to get it done if its still too early).

Prepare to puppy-proof your house as puppies get into anything. Walk him as much as possible and play fetch until he cant run or you cant throw!

Definitely feed the baby a Wellness brand of food – dry and wet. Puppies do not need all the extra grain, by-product & starch fillers in “OTC” pet food.

Get some supplies before the dog comes home so he’ll be even more surprised and more loved. Items like yard gates, door gates, collar id tag, puppy shampoo, and certain other essentials the seller tells you to buy based on breed.

Fun part – take the pup or kitty to Petsmart where he can grab his own toys and bones, and make some new friends.

After the puppy honeymoon wears off – you can not wear off too. You have rules and guidelines to teach and the responsibility of monitoring the puppy around other animals. And of course you’ll be picking up a lots of puppy poo-poos and puppy piddles.

One last very important thing: give this new baby a happy, homely, humble ome to feel safe in. Give him special treats that night, make a bed for him…or let him snuggle with you.

Boulder Dog by Deborah Flick

All that is preamble to what I have learned and am still learning from my Sadie girl:

-There is only one pace to go—Sadie’s pace. Slow down and pay attention to her. Be careful not to push her beyond her threshold.

-Let go of trying to make Sadie into the dog I wanted and celebrate the dog she is.

-Ask myself: “How can I help Sadie be successful?” Then, do whatever it takes.

-Focus on the good stuff. Notice what makes Sadie happy and do those things everyday. 2. What inspired you to start blogging, and when did you start? Sadie is my muse and inspiration precisely because she is my teacher as I mentioned in the first question.

A series of synchronistic events set me on the blogging path. I had been thinking about creating a website–not a blog–for all things dog in Boulder. I tried to learn Joomla, a content management system, to create the website and soon gave up. Novice that I was, I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I gave up. Then I heard about a free class on social media being offered at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in January of 2009. I decided to attend at the last minute when some other plans fell through. In each week’s class I learned just what I needed to take the next step toward creating my own blog. I started writing posts during the class. My blog went live in April 2009.

I have always enjoyed writing. I published an award winning book, From Debate to Dialogue, twelve years ago. Now I aspire to write not about academic topics or in an academic style, but to write conversationally about the love of my life, Sadie, and all she has pushed me to learn about dogs. Currently my challenge is to write about potentially dog geeky topics (the dominance myth and the research debunking it, for example) in a reader friendly way. 3. What tips would you give new pet bloggers to help them start out on a path to success? Write. Write. Write. Don’t expect to post everything you write, but write. Everyday. Make it a practice. “Okay, for the next 20 minutes write/type whatever comes to your mind on, say, ‘dog parks.’ Go! Write your truth. Don’t stop. Keep writing.” Somewhere in what seems like a lot of gibberish there might be a diamond of an idea that you can expand on. And, if there isn’t, that’s fine too. It’s the practice that matters. Eventually something will come. It always does.

As for blogging in particular, I think it’s important to find your topic and your tone, or your ‘voice.’ You might need to blog for months or more to do this. You might need to experiment. I think the most successful blogs provide consistency in one way or another—a topic, point of view, a style (humor, say), original thinking, and intelligent content.

Engage your readers. Ask them for advice. Ask them questions. And, then reply to their comments. Sometimes the conversation in the comments is the richer part of a post. That’s a good thing. You’ve created a space for a great conversation.

Link to other blog posts that you like, but don’t copy them whole and paste them into your blog. That’s not blogging. That’s ripping off your colleagues.

Conventional wisdom says bloggers should post everyday. If you can’t do that, try to be consistent in your posting so your readers will know when to check in. For example, recently, I started a “#FollowFriday Fab Four” series in which I highlight four blogs that I like and tell readers why I like them. 4. What pet topic are you most passionate about and why? The first thing that comes to mind is the ‘myth of dominance’ meaning that dogs vie with each other, and by extension dogs compete with their people, for dominance. That simply is not true. There is no such thing as an alpha dog and your dog is not trying to dominate you when she doesn’t come when called. It presumes Fido doesn’t listen to you because he doesn’t respect your leadership. This misconception leads to an adversarial relationship with our dogs in which we are in a perpetual power struggle with them. It provides a rationale to use punitive training methods such as shock collars, choke collars, prong collars, alpha rolls, staring down your dog, strangling them (‘helicoptering’), and so on, all in the name of being The Leader. Not only are such abusive training methods wrong on the facts (reward-based training is far more effective and less destructive), it’s wrong morally.

That said, I’m also committed to writing about the alternatives—a science-based understanding of our dog’s behavior and reward-based training methods. In a word, make that two words, “yes” and “ignore.” Look for what you dog is doing that you like, say ‘yes’ and reward her for it. When possible, ignore what your dog does that you don’t like. If the behavior can’t be ignored, then teach your dog an incompatible alternative behavior such as “sitting” when the doorbell rings rather than racing to the door. That is reward-based training in a nutshell. I’m committed to spreading the word. 5. What advice do you have for new pet owners? I know about dogs, so that’s what I’ll talk about.

Establish good habits from the start. Do you want your dog to sit at the door and not go out until you release him to exit through the door? Then, from the time you bring your puppy or dog home, practice this.

Be consistent.

Don’t allow your dog to practice the behaviors you don’t want her to do. For example, it was clear from the start that Sadie was destined to be a first rate counter surfer. So I decided it would be best if she just stayed out of the kitchen. I blockaded the entrance to the kitchen. I had to step over the blockade to walk into and out of the kitchen. It was inconvenient, but it was worth it because when we worked with our positive trainer to educate Sadie to stay out of the kitchen, it was much easier because she didn’t have to unlearn bad habits.

Don’t encourage your dog to do behaviors that as a puppy seem cute but that you won’t like when your dog is an adult. Chewing on your fingers, for example.

Help your dog to succeed by rewarding her when she is doing a behavior you like, for example lying down at your feet when you sit on the couch to read a book.

Don’t hurt or intimidate your dog in the name of training or ‘correcting’ her. Never hit your dog. Ever.

Think about it this way: Tell your dog “yes, good girl” at least twenty times for every time you tell her “no,” if you tell her “no” at all.

Be generous.

Sixteen pet bloggers were nominated for a Pettie Award across four categories: Best Pet Blog, Best Cat Blog, Best Dog Blog, Best Cause Related Blog.

PawScoop has been interviewing the pet blogger nominees.  You can read the interviews here.

Thanks to DogTime for sharing with their readers.  And good luck to all the nominees!