Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Brown loves toys!

It's the darndest thing! My Brownie loves toys! He is too funny. Are there any other pugs or dogs out there that like to fall asleep with their mouth over the head of the stuff animal? He especially loves snakes, long octapus, and any other long shape stuff animals. It's so cute! Does your pugs do this?

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

I think my dog is eating his own poo...uummm

I noticed my dog Pork sniffing at his potty bin and I thought that it was because he was sniffing at his brother's poo but then when I looked at him again shortly thereafter, the poo disappeared. We were cleaning the potty bin and noticed some "missing" poo. Now we have to be extra alert for any more poo eating to stop it. It's not unusual or uncommon for dogs to eat their own or another dog's feces but just so yuck! Does anyone have any tips to stop this behavior? Much appreciated!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

help! My dog refuses to be potty trained!

I would like to think that I am a very patient pet parent but it's been over a year and my dog Brownie is still not potty train! What's going on? We have tried everything under the sun. Our older dog, Pork, was first tought to use the potty pad, then cat litter (that was great), and now Wiz Dog. Brownie was eating the cat litter so we tried the Wiz Dog since it was highly recommended by some folks on dogster.com. Pork has always taken to whatever potty system. He understands that if it doesn't look like a bathroom, it's not. Brownie is inconcistent. He was making progress and using the Wiz Dog for pee and would poo around the tile areas of the house. He enjoys the grass and does his business outside when we go for walks. We have read every book and exhausted every idea we could think of. If you guys have any good ideas, please let me know! The good thing is we have one superstar...

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

disaster and emergency response for pets

I got some emails the other day on humane society efforts in New Orleans and got to thinking about the news about the man who would not leave his house and would rather die than to leave his dog behind. That really touched me. I wanted to get the word out on PetFinder.com's disaster and emergency response information. Not only to they provide links to helpful websites, but the best part is their Animal Emergency Response Network for pets left behind, pet parents looking for their pets, people seeking foster or temporary care for their pets, people seeking to volunteer and help foster a pet, and a place to report pets found.

They have helped 3,200 animal victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita reunite with their owners! Anything is possible and it can happen to anyone of us. It's comforting to know that organizations and people do care, and animals are an important part of our lives. I hope those who read this, if they have not done so already, will help by volunteering or making a contribution to these non-profit organizations, local animal rescues and humane societies.

And one last thing, hug your animal today and tell them how much you love them. They make our lives better.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Pet Diets...Eat Right For Your Breed Type

We recently put our little Porky on a diet as he returned from a long visit from the Grandparents with an additional 10 lbs.!!! Now, in an effort to shed the weight, we have reduced the two meals to one meal a day (amount adjusted of course), added more exercise, fruits and veggies throughout day and for dinner.

Pork now eats the same "diet" plan consisting of dog food for breakfast (regular chicken and rice...we switch off between the different premium brands every few months to make meals more exciting) and some treats throughout the day, then fruits for dinner (we sometimes add some soy yogurt for fun to change it up a notch). I suggest the book called "Canine Nutrition, Choosing the Best Foods for Your Breed" on dog nutruition. I did some research a while back and it suggested feeding dogs food based on their ancestral foods. Pugs originated from the Tibetan mountains (as their is controversy over their origin, it's more widely known as Chinese Pug) and ancestral foods included chicken and rice. They were about the same size before Pork visited the grandparents 6 months ago. Now Brown is 17lbs. and Pork is 28lbs!

Hopefully, we can see results soon and he can enjoy having more energy!