Saturday, January 30, 2010

Pet and Make Over of the Week

Scribbles Yosha
Hi, my name is Scribbles! I'm a long hair tortise colored kitty. I love coming to Best Friends to stay!
Kitty City is so much fun!
There are toys, toys and more toys for me to play with during my playtimes. I really love how my Best Friends cuddle and love on me when I'm here! Best Friends is PURR-FECT!

DAISY JONES

HI! My name is Daisy and I am a Shih Tzu. We're supposed to be a *Chinese Guardian Lion* breed
but as my mommy can tell you, the only *Lion* about me is when I'm lying in my house being the Queen Bee.
When my hair gets to be bigger then my personality my mommy and daddy bring me in to Best Friends to
see my favorite groomer Carolyn. She knows how to tame that *lion* in my coat and make me into
that beautiful little girl you see before you now.

Dog Paw Care


The fact is, those precious paws can become seriously infected from a wedged-in piece of gravel or shard of glass, as well as from the cracking that results from heat or dryness. So make sure you are doing your part to ensure your pup is looking forward to joining you on your daily walks, and not secretly dreading them.


The easiest method of prevention is to get to know the pads of your dog’s paws. Feel them out and gently check between them for any bothersome pebbles or debris. Your pup might not find this especially enjoyable at first, so it’s best to be armed with a few distracting treats until they adapt to the routine. Be sure to check them after they have romped around outdoors.

Additionally, it is important to make sure that your dog’s claws are trimmed to the proper length (just before reaching the “quick”) in order to prevent catching or their loss of grip on hard surfaces. It’s best to check the length of your dog’s claws about once a month to see if they need a trim. Some dogs’ nails grow faster than others, though, so find a schedule that works best for your pooch.

Some products can potentially help your pup avoid paw-related injuries–including booties, balms, and even wax. Simple prevention should be adequate enough to keep your pooch safe from a nasty wound or infection, but if need be, seeing your canine stroll around in little booties might just be the highlight of your day.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Best Friends is Now Offering Pet Sitting & Dog Walking Services!

Have you tried out our Home Pet Care yet?  If not- try us out!  Best Friends Indianapolis is now offering services like pet sitting, dog walking, overnights- you name it! Visit http://www.bestfriendshomepetcare.com/index.html for more information or call 317-841-8182.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Basic manners...in pet owners

As Best Friends dog trainer for Indianapolis,  I am always talking to people about basic manners with their pets. They need to know the simple but neccesary commands of *heel* *sit* *down* *stay* and *come*. For their benefit and ours. It just makes life better for us all. That being said, there isn't a lot said about basic manners for the OWNERS!
I'm not talking about teaching the owners to *sit* *down* and *come when called* (although I know of a few of my own friends who could benefit from learning this). I'm talking about responsible pet ownership. Manners for the humans. Simple things we don't always think about. Like the following:

* Maintaining the health of your pets
         Keeping vaccinations up to date
         Yearly health check up
         Yearly Dental cleanings
         Cleaning up after your pet at and away from home.

* Obtaining some form of ID for your pet
         Rabies tags
         Personal ID tags
         Micro chipping
         Tattooing

* Adequate nutrition
         Talk to your own Vet to get their perspective on the best food for your pet
* Daily exercise plans
          Consider a reputable doggie daycamp program in your area
          Join a dog park
         A well exercised pet is a happier pet! And face it, a happier pet is a happier owner.
* Regular bathing and grooming
        This includes those LONG nails!

Now those ideas may all seem pretty basic to you, just things needed to maintain their health happiness and a longer life. And you're right. They are. However that's not where it ends! There are certain things we as pet owners need to do to maintain manners. Both in us and in our pets.

Part of the human form of basic manners means not letting your pet infringe on the rights of others. Things like:

* Not letting your pets run loose in the neighborhood.
* Not letting your pet sit in the back yard or in a hotel room, barking incessitantly.
* Providing adequate supervision when there are young children in the presense of your pets.
* Not letting them jump all over the guests in your home.
* Oh...and the most popular bad habit in our pets...NO CROTCH SNIFFING!
It may be a natural thing to your pet but can be a source of embarassment and irritation to your guests.

And let's not forget the most basic of basics...we need to train our pets! Yes, this is where the obedience classes come in. Teaching your dog to *sit* *stay* *down* *come when called* are all big pluses and is a way to guarentee your pet will be we lcomed and loved by all who meet them. And it goes a long way in making your own house hold a happier place for you all to live together. Humans and pets as one.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010


Open Wide! February is National Pet Dental Health Month!

Dental health for your cat or dog is just as important as it is for you.  Take some time this month to make sure you furry friend's oral health is in order. 

"Oral health is the most frequently diagnosed health problem for pets," said Dr. Henry Childers, DVM, president of the AVMA.  " Just as the public has come to realize that their own oral health is linked to their overall health, veterinarians want people to understand that dental health care is essential to maintaining the overall health and well-being of the family pet."

According to the American Veterinary Dental Society, more than 85 percent of dogs and cats show signs of oral disease by age four.  The trouble begins when food particles and bacteria build up in the mouth, which leads to reversible gingivitis.  Gingivitis, if ignored, will progress to periodontal disease.  Irreversible periodontal disease leads to tooth decay, bad breath, bleeding gums and, in severe cases, tooth loss.  When bacteria from periodontal disease travels into a pet's bloodstream, the lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and nervous system can be affected.  These infections usually are treatable when caught at an early stage.  However, if they are not caught in time, they can cause serious organ damage and even death. 

  Veterinarian check ups are recommended at least yearly.  If signs of periodontal disease is detected, a professional cleaning is in order.  Afterwards, continue dental care at home including regular brushing.  Specialty toothpastes and toothbrushes are available for your pet.  

We urge all pet owners during "National Pet Dental Month" to review their pet's dental care and take the necessary steps to ensure their pet has health teeth and gums!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Doggy Daycamp Parties

Mark you calendars!    Come one, come all!  Our schedule is now set for our upcoming Day Camp parties.   Of course the 1st upcoming party will be in celebration of our Indianapolis Colts going to the Super Bowl.  Our own version of the Super Bowl will be held on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 and is open to all campers!  Paw painting, pictures and special party favors will be given to all attendees.   There will be an award given for best dressed 4-legged Colt's fan!
  February is going to be a busy month for celebrations.  We will also host a day camp party on February the 12th in honor of Valentine's day.   Shortly after that get ready for the Mardi Gras party on Tuesday, February 16th.

If your dog hasn't had the priviledge of attending our day camp, now is the time to enroll.  We have extended our 10 day promotional packages for new clients until 3-31-10.  Buy 10 days of camp for only $90.00.  There is no enrollment fee and your 1st day of camp is free.  Don't let your dog miss out on the fun!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Face lift for dogs? A sight saving measure


A wrinkly dog has received a full face lift and a double eye lift costing $897 so he won’t go blind.


The abandoned shar pei, named Roland, from Australia, is highly prized for his wrinkly skin. But the breed suffers from entropion, a painful condition in which his wrinkles cause his eyelashes to turn inward and rub against his eyeballs, The Daily Telegraph in Sydney reported.

If left untreated the condition could have caused Roland to go blind and was preventing him from finding a home. So the dog has had cosmetic surgery.

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals chief veterinarian Magdoline Awad said the 90-minute surgery was not about vanity.

"What we have done is made him adoptable," she said.

"It is not uncommon in this breed, it is a congenital problem."

Roland now has a better chance at finding a good home as a family could adopt him without having to pay for the surgery, Dr Awad said.

SOURCE: The Daily Telegraph

Monday, January 11, 2010

In the war of dogs vs. cats

In the war of dogs vs. cats, clear winner: dogs




Pets » 74 percent say they like dogs a lot; 41 prefer cats.

LOS ANGELES » Cats. Dogs. Those can be fighting words in some circles.

Cats are "nasty, stinking creatures," says Mark David of Warrensburg, Mo. And dogs? They're noisy, disruptive and "lick you and themselves," counters Sanford Reikes of Louisville, Ky.

Clearly, there are dog people and there are cat people. But it's not much of a contest: 74 percent of people like dogs a lot, and only 41 percent like cats a lot.

Cats win the dislike vote handily, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll. Fifteen percent of the adults questioned said they disliked cats a lot while the number who said they disliked dogs a lot was just 2 percent.

Joseph Moreus, 61, of Westminster, Calif., understands why dogs come out on top.

"They have more personality. They are loyal," he said. "Cats are all about cats but dogs are interested in pleasing their owners. Cats don't care if they please you or not."

And cats can be destructive, said Joy Rasch, 70, of Kennewick, Wash., who gets mad at the neighborhood cats who kill robins, quail and squirrels in her back yard. Male cats will spray their territory or get in the wood pile at 3 a.m. and "screech like bad brakes on a car," she added.

Of course, cat lovers, if smaller in numbers, are equal in passion.

"Cats are 1,000 times smarter than dogs," said Bonnie Hanson, 77, of Sioux Falls, S.D. She and her late husband had a black Siamese cat, Kitty, that she said "always wanted to comfort people, anybody who was ill or unhappy."

"My husband would have chest pains and wouldn't tell me. But Kitty would come and look at me and I'd know. We called him our psychic Siamese," she said. "Every cat I ever had was a help and a comfort."

About 59 percent of American households own pets, according to the poll. About 74 percent of pet owners polled said they had dogs, and 47 percent said they had cats.

Those most likely to dislike cats were blacks, Hispanics and married men. Men were a bit more likely than women to say they disliked cats.

Dog people are more adamant about their preference than cat people, the poll found. Of those who owned only a dog, 34 percent said they disliked cats; of those who owned only a cat, only 5 percent disliked dogs.

David, 28, who runs a landscaping company in Warrensburg, dislikes cats but he says he owes his life to a dog. Two years ago, his 5-year-old black lab Zena was with him when a tractor rolled onto his leg, leaving him pinned and bleeding. Zena went to get his wife.

"She wasn't a Lassie by any means, but she was smart enough to go for help," David said.

Still, all this sniping doesn't mean there is no harmony in the country. Sixty percent of all adults said they liked both dogs AND cats.

Cats are independent so give you a little more freedom but dogs are better companions, said Janet Hardy, 69, of Abingdon, Md., who grew up with both.

David Kyser, 73, has also had both -- and can tick off their relative merits.

"Cats take care of themselves. They are very clean. Dogs are not so clean and they need some activity. They are good if you have a house full of children," said Kyser, of Austin, Texas. "Cats just kind of sit around being cats."

And some, of course, don't want either species for a friend.

"I have a fear of dogs and I don't like cats," said Willie Thigpen, 60, of Greenwood, S.C. He and his wife raised three children, but they never had a pet.

"And now I don't want to take care of nothing except me," he said.

The AP-Petside.com poll was conducted Oct. 1-5, 2009, by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media. It involved telephone interviews on landline and cell phones with 1,967 adults nationwide, including 1,166 pet owners and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points for all adults. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples.


By Sue Manning
Associated Press Writer
Updated: 01/07/2010 09:32:00 PM MST

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Make Over and Pet of the Week

MAKE OVER OF THE WEEK
PRINCE HIATT

HI! My name is Prince. I come in to see my favorite groomer, Claire a few times a year. As you can see I get a bit shaggy in between grooms. Guarenteed though, Claire and her wonderful skills can turn me from Prince the Shaggy Rocker into Prince the American Cocker.

I'm ALWAYS handsome, but once you remove the shag.....well you'd think magic was involved in the transformation I go through under Claires hands!


PET OF THE WEEK
SHAGGY MEILS

HI! My name is Shaggy. I'm a Cavashon. Which is a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon. That's what the *books* say anyway. If you ask me I'll tell you I'm just a fun loving cuddleable sort of boy who loves to give kisses!

I've enjoyed my stay here at Best Friends and have LOVED going outside with my new friends to play in the snow. WOOHOO!!!!!!! It's been GREAT fun here! Best Friends has become my most favorite place to stay when my family takes a vacation.



Friday, January 8, 2010

A true Guardian Angel


Angel, the dog who saved an 11-year-old boy from a cougar attack in Boston Bar and who has captured the hearts of an international audience, will be spending another night in a Chilliwack veterinary hospital, after receiving extensive surgery for a fractured skull.


The heroic 18-month-old Golden Retriever was expected to be released Tuesday but Sherry Forman, the boy’s mother, said the vet wanted to keep her overnight for observation. She said during surgery they also discovered Angel had a heart murmur.

Forman said her children, Austin and Holly, are being kept away from Angel over concerns she may get too excited. When Angel is released Wednesday she will go stay with a family friend for at least four days.

“She had pretty serious injuries and they discovered a congenital heart murmur that we didn’t know she had. So [the vet] just wanted to keep her calm,”

Angel’s vet said they would monitor the heart murmur but that he didn’t want to comment further at this stage.

“It may mean nothing,” said Dr. Jack Anvik, owner of the Sardis Animal Hospital in Chilliwack.

“It is just an abnormal sound. I don’t think we should make anything of this yet. There are a lot of people who have irregular hearts. The presence of a murmur may be incidental.”

Anvik said he is keeping her overnight because she has had major surgery to her skull and there is drainage from the wound that has to be attended.

Angel underwent an hour and a half of surgery to repair a fractured skull and puncture wounds.

The family expects the bill will be steep, but Forman said there has been a lot of family support.

Several people also called the vet directly and offered donations, she said.

“All we care about is getting our Angel well and getting her home. We just think one way or another it will all work out.”

The dog has been recovering since the attack Saturday when she leapt through the air to protect Austin Forman from coming into contact with the cougar.

Angel was then pulled under a patio before an RCMP officer shot and killed the big cat.

When Austin and his father dragged Angel from under the porch she wasn’t breathing. But she came around and began to drag herself through the snow. The first thing the dog did was check to see if Austin was okay.

Meanwhile Tuesday, the RCMP officer who shot and killed the cougar and saved the dog's life received recognition for his efforts in Boston Bar in front of an international cache of media. RCMP spokesman Sgt. Peter Thiessen said American media organizations CNN, Inside Edition and the Today Show were there to cover the story.

RCMP Const. Chad Gravelle, who fired several shots at the cat, was presented with a medal.

Thiessen added that Const. Gravelle and his wife are expecting a baby boy and plan to name him Austin.

Also Tuesday, conservation officers were preparing to ship two dead cougars to Victoria for necropsies in another case of a cougar attack on a child in B.C. in one week.

Conservation officer Gary Van Spengen said officials will look for any diseases or injuries the animals may have had that could have made them desperate for easy prey.

“They are a true predator and a true carnivore so normally if they attack people they are looking at the person as prey,” he said, adding the cougar may have been looking for food to feed her young.

Seven-year-old Davie Metzler Jr. was mauled by a cougar on New Year’s Eve as he was tobogganing with his sister near Burns Lake in northern B.C.

The cougar pulled the child to the ground and had its mouth on his head. Davie’s mother fended off the cat by swatting it with a rag before rushing her son to hospital where he received 22 stitches to his head.

Conservation officers tracked and killed two cougars the following day.

story curtosy of: ticrawford@vancouversun.com

Monday, January 4, 2010

Support Your Local Animal Shelter

There's a place in your community where the hungry are fed, the homeless are sheltered, and the abandoned are provided care. It's your local animal shelter, which provides comfort and care for unwanted animals.

Your shelter also offers many other services for pets and their owners—and even for people without pets. To do all this, it relies on support from people like you. Here are a few ways you can help animals, especially at your local shelter:

Give a little bit. Donate food, old blankets, towels, or other needed supplies. Contribute to one of its special programs.
Lend a hand. Volunteer your time. Bathe and groom the animals, walk dogs, or play with cats. Stuff envelopes for a mailing. Help publicize an event.
Find that special someone. Choose your next pet from your local shelter, which has many wonderful dogs and cats, in different shapes and sizes, just waiting for a permanent, loving home.

Help spread the word. Tell your friends about your shelter's services. Promote animal safety and responsible pet ownership.

Be a responsible pet owner. Keep current identification on your dog or cat at all times. Spay or neuter your pet. Always keep your dog or cat properly confined or supervised. In addition to the basics—food, water, shelter, and veterinary care—give your pet lots of love and attention.

Vote for the animals. Support legislation to protect animals. Contact government officials and urge them to support pro-animal legislation.

Be a hero. Report animal cruelty and neglect as well as injured or stray animals. You may prevent suffering and even save a life.

Teach your children well. Instruct children in how to care for animals properly and how to treat them with kindness. Set an example by doing the same.

http://www.hsus.org/humane_living/support_your_local_animal_shelter.html