You will need to have proof of your pet’s vaccination and health records before boarding.  Be prepared with our airline approved, passport style health record for cats and dogs.

For a complete list of the products and specific U PC’s involved, go to the posting on Dog Channel.

This man and his two dogs are on quite a remarkable journey. I became aware of this story last year when my chocolate lab Guinness was diagnosed with bone cancer. Guinness lost his fight back in December. Since then I have found out that 1 in 4 dogs die of cancer each year. This is just too many. My heart is with Mr. Robinson, Murphy & Hudson.

Stay cool!

• Please make sure that you don’t leave your dog out in the sun for extended periods of time.
• If your backyard doesn’t contain a shady spot consider adding some type of shade.
• Keep your dog’s water bowl full of cool, clean water at all times.
• Protect your dogs sensitive paw pads from hot pavement or overheated patios and decks.
• Cover fair dogs with sunscreen on their noses and ears.
• Dogs that drink sea water can become very ill. Rinse your dog off thoroughly after swimming in the surf.
• Beach sand can be as hot as pavement. If your feet are burning so are your dogs paws!
• And please, please never leave your dog in the car unattended on a hot day. Even for a few minutes, even if you have left the air conditioning on and the car running. No matter how many times we say it many dogs loose their lives every summer because of this foolishness!
• And the best tip of all…take your dog out for some summer fun. Dogs love summer too!

Last October, right before Halloween our boy was diagnosed with osteosarcoma  (bone cancer). Guinness was 12 years old and other than some arthritis that is to be expected in labs his age, our Guinness had never been sick a day in his life.

He had begun favoring a front paw back in June of last year. We were hoping that it was just a sprain. The vet passed it off as arthritis and prescribed some anti-inflammatory medications and herbs. The limp went away and all seem well. Then in October it returned and this time there was a noticeable lump on is left front ankle.

Our vet made the diagnosis after x-rays.  His prognosis was grim. As you can imagine we searched everywhere for any possible ray of hope. But in the end we had to face the fact that he was rapidly getting worse. Nothing helped. Medications, herbs, radiation therapy, expensive oncologists, nothing.

Guinness was so brave. He fought so hard. He loved life.

Toward the end of his fight we found a wonderful, kind vet who made hospice calls to our home. Guinness passed peacefully in our arms in December, a few days after Christmas.

Many of our customers were aware of what was going on and were very understanding about delayed packages and failure to return emails quickly. Many of you were a great source of comfort and encouragement. I am sorry it has taken so long to thank you, but this was the hardest thing I have ever had to write.

For a while we thought of closing the business. It just seemed too hard to go on. Then we began to think about all the wonderful people we have met in the past 6 years and all the photos we receive of our costumers and their dogs enjoying our products and we decided that we needed to continue.

We did learn a lot about canine osteosarcoma and I will be putting up a page on this blog soon with a list of resources and publications that may help any one else who might have to face this disease.

According to Dog Age® even a small amount of this food can cause vomiting, diarhea, fatigue and abdominal pain. Ultimately this could lead to kidney failure! The reason why this fruit is so toxic to dogs is not clearly understood, yet research has shown that dogs that ingest grapes or raisins show an unusually high level of nitrogen, creatinine and phosphorus in their bloodstream. These three substances when found in the blood indicate kidney damage.

Since most dogs will ingest just about anything edible and some things that are inedible (my in-laws had an Airedale named Jumbo that used to swallow rocks!) get them to the vet’s office as quickly as possible.