Yup, finally got around to setting up a forum and I hope you all take the time to register and join in. It’s pretty empty now so I need lots of help

There’s room for pretty much everyone and everything and if not, there’s also a place to make suggestions.

There’s even a special area dedicated to those in rescue to set up rescues, post dogs in need of rescue and set up transport.

So please, stop by and register and invite friends, family and any one you know who loves dogs!

FOR THE LOVE OF THE DOG FORUM

Last week Jackson County Animal Control officers and representatives from the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which regulates dog breeding in Georgia, launched an investigation and shut down L&D Farm and Kennel, a classic puppy mill. The happened after 19 year old Tiffany Butler,of Nicholson, a former employee, filed a complaint about hundreds of dogs were living in deplorable conditions; feces and urine soaked, sick, covered in sores and mange without proper food or water available.

Now we have arrests and charges stemming from the investigation; owners Jennifer Marie Hughes, 34; Brandy Shree Stone, 25; Marie Hughes; and Ronnie Hughes were each charged this week with five felony and 55 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals.

Last night animal control officers began removing more than 300 dogs the kennel after a Jackson County Magistrate Court judge ordered the canines impounded as evidence in a cruelty case against four people.

Authorities hope that Marie Hughes, who holds the kennel license for L&D Farm and Kennel, will surrender ownership of the dogs but officers plan to ask Jackson County Magistrate Court Judge Billy Chandler to terminate her ownership rights if she refuses to sign over the animals. This way the dogs will have a chance to be adopted.

Read more »

I’m going to be passing along some vet advise from Dr Andrew Jones, author and creator of Veterinary Secrets Revealed.

Dr. Jones has more than a decade of experience and has his own veterinary practice.

Dr. Jones also has a great online vet site called ‘The Inner Circle’ where you can find some incredible information, answers to questions, a library and forum.

Now let’s hear from Dr. Andrew Jones!

Examination and natural treatment of heart disease and lung problems -plus how to finally treat your coughing pet at home.

I’ll let you in on a little secret - Vets are only human. We don’t have all the answers. Many times when we treat a pet, the pet was likely going to recover on his own. But we feel obligated to do something - it makes us feel better.

You know your pet better than anyone else. Take charge of your pet’s health.

By reading this information you now know more alternative treatments than 90% of the Vets out there.

Your pet deserves all the options- don’t you think?

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I usually avoid celebrity news because there is usually so much hype and BS surrounding it, not to mention mass quantities of stupidity in many cases. Well, this is one instance that I felt the need to address the issue… and the stupidity!

You’ve probably heard about Paris Hilton bragging about having 17 dogs recently to Ellen DeGeneres. Seems in LA the max number of dogs you’re allowed to have in a residential property is 3 without a kennel or breeding permit. So this got LA Animal Services involved but when they showed up at her mansion, it was under construction and they were told that the dogs were in boarding or some such excuse.

Now the dizzy little solialite has decided that give her side of the story and this is stupidity to the extreme! Ok, are you ready for this? Here it is;

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Pennsylvania appeals court earlier this week tossed out an ordinance in Reading that placed restrictions on dogs based on their breed; pit bull and others. The reasoning is that the Pennsylvania state law pre-empts the Reading law.

The divided Commonwealth Court decision sided with two pit bull owners who have fought the city’s dog law for nearly eight years.

Reading’s ordinance defined aggressive dogs as those that are, at least partly, of a breed that accounted for 40 percent or more of dog bite incidents in the city during the prior year.

“The absurdity was that dangerous dog breeds changed from year to year, based on the dog bite statistics _ that was the crux of the lawsuit,” said Al Kauffman, attorney for plaintiffs Stacie Stankiewicz and Kenneth Steeves Sr.

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When we adopted you into our life our pet canvas was blank. With every lick of your tongue a portion of the canvas was cleared revealing part of a picture underneath. At first I thought it was strange. Instead of painting new memories you seemed to be unveiling a picture already there. But what was it of? I would understand later. As each wonderful year passed, our love for one another grew deeper. Every time we’d play, or go for a walk, or cuddle, more of the picture would be revealed.

When you grew old I started to see a pair of hands on the canvas. I assumed it was our hands petting you but I couldn’t make out the rest of it because it was still fuzzy. We knew you were nearing the end and we loved you all the more. We prayed that God would take you in your sleep so we wouldn’t have to make that awful decision. But He didn’t and I was angry. I asked Him why would He put us in this situation? A soft voice answered, “If you truly love your pet it will all become clear”.

When you became too weak and frail to finish the picture I knew it was time to put you to sleep. With all of the courage that God could give me I took you to the veterinarian. As I held you when you passed away my heart broke and rivers of tears streamed down my face. Then I heard His voice, “Look at the picture now”. I did and it was crystal clear. He then said, “A pet canvas can only be completed with tears of compassion”.

The picture wasn’t of our hands petting you, they were God’s hands holding all of us.

A couple of days ago we discussed providing your pet with the proper medical care such as a good vet, proper vaccinations and keeping an eye on their overall health in Part 2, let go on to Part 3

Feed and water your pet wisely. A healthy, happy pet requires a proper diet. Here are some tips for feeding your pet wisely. Pretty basic standard advise but so very important:

• Standard accepted and touted advise says to base your pet’s diet on a good commercial pet food because, in theory, such foods have all the proteins and nutrients your pet will require. My advise is to feed you pet a good quality diet, whether a well research and safe commercial, home-cooked or raw. I discuss a little more about my thoughts on dog food here. Read more »

What a fantastic idea and way overdue! UC Davis has launched a canine blood donor program to save the lives dogs in need of blood transfusions. Every year 200 to 300 dogs at the hospital need transfusion due to surgeries, kidney failure or other reasons and this new program will ensure that there will be canine blood on hand as necessary.

The program will be based at the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and will need to screen about 1,200 dogs donors to find 300-400 qualified donors that will be able to donate on a regular basis. They hope to become the largest blood bank for dogs west of the Mississippi, where vets can request any one of the 13 blood types at no cost.

Yes, dogs have 13 different blood types, something quite unknown to me, and the preferred donor type is dog erythrocyte antigen 1.1 negative.

“To know we played a vital role in helping to return a family member home, that’s success,” said Sean Owens, D.V.M., the blood bank’s medical director.

“Each year, the teaching hospital provides 200 to 300 transfusions for dogs to treat conditions ranging from surgical complications to kidney failure. This new donor program will allow us to develop a large, reliable source of blood products for our patients, without maintaining a colony of donor dogs here at the hospital.”

Prior to the program, the university hosted 30 blood-donor dogs that would live at the hospital for a few years before being adopted out.

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So you think your dog can do tricks? Maybe shake and rollover and a few more? Well here’s a dogs that can really do some tricks that are quite the amazing feats of balance and agility.

Meet Cindy, she’s a 8 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and she’s got quite the balancing act! She can hold a spoon in her mouth with a golf ball balanced on it while there’s a plastic tub balanced on her head. She can lay on her back and balance tubs on all four of her little paws.

Proud owner Mark Bucknell said, “Who needs the telly when you’ve got a dog like this?”

The family started teaching Cindy tricks when they got her at eight months old and have run out of new tricks to teach her.

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A choking pet is scary and something that requires immediate attention. If you don’t know what to do and how to do it, your pet may lost their life. Read on for information about what to do for a choking pet, including the Heimlich Maneuver and Pet CPR.

SIGNS

The signs of choking are much the same as a person. Your dog or cat is struggling to breathe, with their mouth open. They may be pawing at their mouth. They may be attempting to vomit. You may hear an unusual sound as they attempt to breathe and pull air through a foreign object lodged in their throat.

CAUSES

The causes of choking are with anything that can lodge in the throat. This is fairly exclusive to dogs - cats are usually more particular. An example would be a dog fetching a ball, and having it lodge in their throat. A variety of food objects can lodge in your pet’s airway.

SOLUTIONS

CALL YOUR VET IF NEEDED. Dogs are notorious for trying to swallow things that are a little too big. The result can be choking where an object lodges in the airway.

REMOVE THE OBJECT. When time is of the essence, you must act quickly.

For a dog

• Open your pet’s mouth
• Grasp the upper jaw with one hand over the muzzle.
• Press the lips over the upper teeth with your fingers on one side and the thumb on the other so that the dog’s lips are between its teeth. Firm pressure may be required. The dog then can’t close its mouth without biting itself and is less able to bite you. Pull his tongue out of the way.
• Reach deeply in to the back of your pet’s throat and try to grasp the object. If it is a ball, and you are unable to move it, try using some type of instrument; tweezers, pliers or even a spoon shaped tong.

Read more »

This is too funny and something you can almost imagine actually happening!