Cats often do not like their usual routine disrupted in any way. That includes holiday guests and their children! If your cat is not one to socialize, don’t force it upon them on the holiday. Many kitties are quite happy sitting out the holiday in a quiet room.
Another danger for cats during the holidays is accidentally being let out by company or overnight guests. Make sure your guest’s know the rules and do not leave doors open.
And just like with dogs, rich holiday food can be harmful to your cat. Stick to the usual fare and perhaps add a little extra of something that you know your cat likes and tolerates well. Make sure your guests know that they should not feed your cat table scraps. Be particularly careful with chocolate.
For both cats and dogs—DO NOT give them turkey bones! These splinter and can cause severe damage to your pet. As dogs and cats have often been known to raid the garbage be particularly careful with the disposal of the turkey carcass.
The new Obama Yes We Did Dog T-Shirts and Hoodies have just arrived! This is the design that our customers have been asking about. The sleevless T-Shirt and Hoodie is 100% cotton and made in the USA. The design is outlined in sparkling rhinestones.
Ever since our Vote Obama ‘08 shirts sold out we have been getting daily requests for a new Obama shirt. I am so glad we were able to make this shirt available to you this quickly!
Show your support for our new President-Elect Barack Obama with these new T-shirts and Hoodies. Enjoy!
I couldn’t let Veteran’s Day pass without taking a moment to honor all the dogs that have served in the US Military since World War I.
Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and Russia are among the countries that have formally honored their canine military with a memorial. Not so with the United States.
Nearly 4,000 dogs served in Vietnam saving as many as 10,000 American serviceman’s lives. Yet when the United State withdrew from Vietnam in 1973, the military deemed these brave service dogs “surplus equipment” and abandoned these dogs. Despite objections by the handlers only a handful of dogs made it safely back to the US.
Today the US military still regards their service dogs as “equipment”. They are “drafted for life” into the military and are euthanized when they are old, injured or no longer able to do their jobs. The US military continues to claim that these dogs can not make the transition to retired life. Since police dogs are given much the same training as military dogs we know this to be untrue.
I am not sure what we can do to change the fate of these brave canine soldiers, but I wanted to honor them today and give you some links where you could find out more about these remarkable dogs.
Here are just a few of our heros:
STUBBY,Bull Terrier mix, WWI. The most decorated war dog in U.S. history.As a small, stray bull terrier, he was smuggled aboard a troop ship to France. There he was wounded in no-man’s land but recovered and still served in battles at Chateau Thierry, the Marne and the Meuse-Argonne with the men of the 102nd Infantry. One night in February 1918, he roused a sleeping sergeant to warn of a gas attack, giving the soldiers time to don masks and thus saving them. Gen John “Black Jack” Pershing awarded him a special Gold Medal. He was given Life Membership in the American Legion and the Red Cross. He met Presidents Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge. He died of old age in 1926. Stubby is now on display as part of American military history in the Hartford Armory in Connecticut and is called “Sargeant Stubby”.
NEMO,German Shepherd, Wounded in Vietnam. Depsite losing an eye to gunfire, he threw himself on 4 Viet Cong to save his handler in 1966. Both survived. One of the few Vietnam war dogs given passage back home to the United States.
CARLO,Belgian Malinois, Desert Storm. During a ceremony in which Carlo’s handler received the Bronze Star for his service in Kuwait, his handler removed the medal from his own uniform and pinned it to Carlo’s collar, saying, “Carlo worked harder than me. He was always in front of me.”
CHIPS,German Shepherd-Collie-Husky mix, WWII, Tank guard dog and the most decorated dog in WWII being awarded the Silver Star for Valor and a Purple Heart. When he and his handler was attacked by a concealed machine gun in July 1943 during the invasion of Sicily, he streaked for the Italian machine gun pillbox, capturing 4 Italian soldiers and saving his handler. He suffered powder burns and a scalp wound - proof that the Italians had tried to kill him. That same night he helped capture another 10 Italian soldiers. The U.S. newspapers called him a hero. He was personally thanked for his services by General Eisenhower. Chips’ military honors were removed because the the commander of the Order of the Purple Heart determined that decorating a dog was “…demeaning to servicemen.”
Suzie,German Shepherd, Vietnam. Her handler gave her his Bronze Star.
Pfc. Kory Wiens of the 94th Engineer Detachment and his dog Cooper, 94th Engineer Detachment, Iraq. Korry and Copper were both killed in an IED explosion.
To find out more about these dogs please visit War Dog Memorial.
Olive Drab is another excellent web site that has a complete history of dogs in service to our country and the brave men that fought beside them.
Although I have painted a negative picture here of how the US armed forces seemed to have let htese dogs down, I am sure as we go forward that these dogs will soon get the recognition and consideration that they deserve. I have read so many articles in the past year about soldiers that have gone through great obstacles to recue dogs that they have befriended in Iraq.
Who can forget the story earlier this year of Marine Major Brian Dennis who rescued his dog Nubs from a life of cruelty and pain in Iraq. Watch his story here.
Here is the story of Army Specialist Gwen Beberg of Minneapolis who rescued her dog Ratchet.
This wonderful organization first came to my attention a few months ago on Twitter.com I began to follow the organization founded in 2001 by a remarkable woman named Bernie Berlin. I wanted to share with you the wonderful work they are doing.
A Place to Bark is a foster and adoption rescue that place animals found in high kill shelters and other dire circumstances. A Place to Bark receives no government funding and relies solely on public donations and the sale of Bernie Berlin’s artwork.
Please view this video about A Place to Bark first aired Fox Channel 6 News in Milwaukee.
If you are anything like me I know you will want to include your dog in your Thanksgiving Day celebration. This includes Thanksgiving dinner. Since our boy Guinness has ground, lean turkey meat added to his kibble every day along with veggies, treating him to cut up Thanksgiving turkey with a little gravy seemed like a nice thing to do for him. Wrong! We noticed that each year after being “treated” to a special Thanksgiving dinner Guinness didn’t feel too well. The following year we cut out the gravy and stuck to white meat. The next day Guinness became quite ill. Vomiting, diarrhea, loose stool, couldn’t even hold down water. We rushed him to the Vet in a snow storm. He was x-rayed and given IV therapy for dehydration. Diagnosis? Pancreatitis.
Pancreatitis is a serious and painful inflammation of the pancreas. Cause?Most likely turkey skin. Even the white meat of the turkey can cause upset, since most Thanksgiving turkey have been marinated or basted with oils or butters.
If you want to make your dog’s meal a bit special on Thanksgiving why not prepare this Turkey loaf the day before for his special meal.
Turkey Loaf for Dogs
2 pounds ground turkey
1/2 cup cooked mixed vegetables
1 T. garlic powder
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup barley
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 small can of low-fat, low sodium gravy or beef broth
Preparation -
Grease a 9″ loaf pan; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey, vegetables, garlic powder, egg, barley and oats. Mix the ingredients together well and place the mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Press the mixture to flatten and level, then use a table knife to cut a few shallow slits on top. Pour the gravy over the loaf and bake in a preheated oven at 350° for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until nicely browned on top. Cool, and then cut the loaf into about six slices. Wrap in plastic wrap or foil and store in the refrigerator. To feed - Break the slices into bite-size pieces.
You can serve this with cooked veggies. Just set some of your regular Thanksgiving vegetable and potatoes aside for your dog BEFORE adding cream, butter or any other high fat ingredients. Sweet potatoes are great plain boiled or baked.
I found this beautiful, touching video on You Tube and I wanted to quickly share it with you. I’ve always known how important my dog is to me. This short video made me stop and think about how important I am to my dog.
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To find out more about these dogs please visit 
If you are anything like me I know you will want to include your dog in your Thanksgiving Day celebration. This includes Thanksgiving dinner. Since our boy Guinness has ground, lean turkey meat added to his kibble every day along with veggies, treating him to cut up Thanksgiving turkey with a little gravy seemed like a nice thing to do for him. Wrong! We noticed that each year after being “treated” to a special Thanksgiving dinner Guinness didn’t feel too well. The following year we cut out the gravy and stuck to white meat. The next day Guinness became quite ill. Vomiting, diarrhea, loose stool, couldn’t even hold down water. We rushed him to the Vet in a snow storm. He was x-rayed and given IV therapy for dehydration. Diagnosis? Pancreatitis.