Happy New Years to all the DOTs!!

Hello! I almost forgot that today was the 5th Thursday and it's my week again! :) Hope everyone has had a wonderful Holiday season! Hope all your pups were safe during the Christmas break and that they are enjoying the extra time with you!

For anyone who has contacted me and has not received a response or a public welcome, please contact me again at gnatchat(at)gmail(dot)com. I've been away and I just feel there maybe some emails I missed.

Here are recent pictures of my pups...and we wish you a Happy and Safe New Year!

A Merry Christmas Eve to All!

Hello everybody... Penny here! It's my very first Christmas. I can tell it's a big deal to my humans because they took me to get my picture made and put on cards they sent out to all their friends. They even signed my name to the card to let everyone know I'm part of the family now!

My mom's helping me write this a few days before Thursday, which is Christmas Eve, because we'll be traveling to Grandma's again. She says the Christmas Tree will be all decorated. I saw it at Thanksgiving. Didn't smell like a tree... they say it's an "artificial" one, whatever that means, and they told me not to play with stuff on it. Well, if you don't want me to play with it, don't hang it that low, right??

Mom also says I'll have some presents under the tree. Oh boy!! I got one the other day from my cousins up in West Virginia. It was in a bag and I got to get it out of the bag all by myself. It turned out to be a really neat stuffed beaver with a squeaker in it and everything. I love running around the house with it.

Grandma's house means food. I told you about my "starving puppy" routine, right? Worked like a charm at Thanksgiving. There was turkey and ham and bacon, and I got lots of all of it!! Yum!!!

Although... I may have to watch it a little. People are starting to make a few disparaging comments about my waistline. I'm a growing puppy! I need my food! Well, ok... I'm supposed to weigh between 9 and 10 pounds like my doggie mom and dad, and the last time they made me get on that blasted scale I weighed 12 and a half, but that's no reason to start calling me names like "Chunky-Butt", is it??? Hmmmph. I heard someone say "diet", but I think Mom was talking about herself. I certainly hope she wasn't talking about me!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday, no matter what holiday you celebrate. May your lives be full of love and happiness, may your pups always behave, and may there be peace in all our hearts.

Merry Christmas everyone! I'll bark at you next month!

A Very Merry Christmas to you!

I apologize for the delay in posting this morning. I had a minor emergency with one of the elderly ladies that I look after when her son is traveling-but all is well now.

For a truly inspirational story for all dog lovers check this out!

Honey Dew, Sampson and I hope you have a very enjoyable day, and remember the Reason for the Season! Merry Christmas!

With puppylove,
Tina, HoneyDew and Sampson too!

Dental Care

This month we are going to talk about the importance of dental care for your pet. First I'm listing several reasons why dental care is important...

Cosmetic
Cleaning your pet’s teeth involves removing all the tartar and then polishing them so that they will be pretty and white just like after you go to the dentist.
　
Better Breath
The tartar and plaque on your pet’s teeth is a major contributor to the "dog breath" syndrome. Having the teeth cleaned will improve your pet’s breath so you won’t mind as much when they give you kisses!
　
Oral Health
Pets get dental disease just like we would if we never or rarely brushed our teeth. They can get reddened, inflamed gums (gingivitis) and loose or painful teeth just like we do. However, because pets cannot tell us that they have a toothache and may naturally tend to hide their pain so we may not realize that they are suffering. Regular dental care at home and cleaning by your veterinarian can prevent and relieve the mouth pain that many older pets are suffering from. Many owners have just assumed that their pet was "getting older" because they were eating less and sleeping more only to find that a dental cleaning by their vet returned their pet to an active happy lifestyle. You can imagine you would not want to eat or play either if you had a chronic toothache!
　
Systemic Health
When your pet’s gums are inflamed and red the blood vessels come closer to the surface of the gum. This is important because the tartar you see on your pet’s teeth is 30-70% bacteria by weight and every time the pet eats or chews some of that bacteria can break off and get absorbed into the bloodstream. The bacteria can then go to any organ of the body (like the kidneys or heart) and cause disease. The damage is done slowly and builds up over the pet’s lifetime so that we may not see any signs until later in life when it is too late. As a result keeping your pets teeth clean is a way to help them live a longer more enjoyable life.
　
So, now that you have decided to schedule a dental cleaning it's important to realize that not all dentals are created equal. Be sure to ask what all is included when you schedule your pet's appointment. You will want to make sure that the teeth are cleaned above and below the gumline in order to make sure all plaque and bacteria are removed. It's also important to polish the teeth after the cleaning is finished. A quality dental cleaning will also include probing all the periodontal pockets to make sure there are no hidden pockets where the gum is not adequately attached to the tooth. Deep pockets need to be addressed and may even mean the tooth needs to be pulled. Dental radiographs are also becoming more commonly available. There can be a lot of dental pathology that can only be picked up radiographically so having these done can really help your pet's mouth stay healthy. And as with any anesthetic procedure make sure your veterinarian is using quality gas anesthesia and appropriate monitoring, as well as pain meds if there are extractions or oral surgeries performed.

Once you have had your pet's teeth cleaned, or before they reach the point of needing cleaned home care is important. There are many products and foods than can help reduce the build up of tartar and plaque but the gold standard is daily brushing. It may take time to teach your pet to accept brushing but don't give up. It will be much better for your pet to have quality home dental care in between professional cleanings. Happy brushing everyone!
　

Cool Dog Holistic Remedy Joint Care Formula

Hello to this week's late DOT post! Sorry about the late post but the day went away with me.

So...for this week's post I wanted to share a new supplement that we have Jackjack on. As many of you may or may not know, Jackjack is my black lab that when he was about 3 years old got hit by a car. If you want to hear more details, please feel free to listen to the podcast episode in which I share his story. However, when he was hit his left elbow was shattered and we had to take him to a specialist. The specialist put in four pins into his elbow. After a long recovery, he was able to walk fine and run! During the time he was recovering, he developed arthritis in all four of his legs. Now Jackjack is only 6 years old and acts like he's only 3 but he has arthritis. We've used Rimadyl for when he's really painful but usually I like to keep him on a joint supplement to keep him mobile. We've been using Nupro, which has worked for a long time, but never really as well as the new stuff we've got him on now.
About a month ago, I went to pick up Jackjack's Nupro and while I was there there was a video on about Cool Dog Holisitc Remedy Joint Care Formula. It's a liquid supplement with human grade ingredient. They had a special going on buy one get one free so I figured why not try it out! The three months before, Jackjack had really been hurting but I didn't want to put him back on Rimadyl. He had been avoiding jumping on our bed, which he LOVES to be up in bed. He'd also been a little grumpy with his sister Abigail. Well, on the 2nd day we had him on Cool Dog I walked into my room and there he was spralled out on the bed like he owned it. Which come on...I should admit he does. ;) Well...since then I've seen a lot of improvements in him. He still gets sore when he's gone on too long of a walk like tonight when we walked for almost an hour. I would like to test him out swimming and see if he can handle swimming and not get too sore. Usually he has a hard time getting up after a good fun swim.
So, if any of you have a dog who is suffering from arthritis, please check out Cool Dog. It may not be in your local store yet as I've spoken with the owner of the company and they are testing it out in our market but you may have seen infomercials for it on the Animal Planet.

Here is a video of Jackjack and Abigail heading out in the yard...you wouldn't know he had arthritis. :)

Well...Happy Dogs on Thursday!! Hope everyone has a fabulous holidays and keep safe. This year, Jackjack may get to see snow. We are heading up to Ohio for the holidays and he's getting to come with us. Abby got to go on our last road trips so it's his turn! ;)