Makeover of the week!

Sparkle H.

Hello! My name is Sparkle. I am a four year old Miniature Poodle.  This is my first visit to Best Friends.  I board with my housemate and best buddy, Koda.  He is a eleven and a half year old Great Pyranese.  We are quite a pair and like to play, play, play!  As you can see from my before picture, all my playing gets me quite shaggy and tangled.  Today I am getting a complete makeover from the awesome groomers at Best Friends before I go home from my boarding stay.  You won't even recognize me after my haircut and bath!  I'm ready to do it all over again!



Pet of the Week!

Calbert O.

Hello!  My name is Calbert.  I am a two and a half year old Basset Hound. I love coming to Best Friends for boarding and to visit my other canine friends.  The staff at Best Friends knows how to wear me out during my stay. I like to play on these colorful plastic kiddie castles when I get playtimes outside.  And I am a hound dog, so you know I like to talk, talk, talk!  I am king of the playground when I'm up here! Sometimes I play so hard during my stay, my Dad has had me get a bath in the past before going home.  The Groomers at Best Friends make sure I'm fresh and clean for my departure.



Pets of the Week!!!

Libby & Jessie M.

Hello! Our names are Libby and Jessie, short for Liberty and Justice! I(Libby) am a 6 1/2 yr old Golden Retriever and my lil' sis is a 1 1/2 yr old black German Shepard. This is our first time at Best Friends and we were honestly a little nervous when we first came in, but the staff put us at ease very quick! They took us straight to the DDC room where we started our vacation with the Play N Stay package! Thats where we are able to play with furry friends and human ones too and also spend the night for one low price! We are absolutely loving making new friends everyday! Tell your moms and dads that you need a vacation too!!

Pet of the week!

Cinder and Spooner O.

Hello our names are Cinder and Spooner. Cinder is a 3 years old Lab mix and Spooner is a 9 years old Hound mix. When Mom and Dad go out of town, they bring us to stay at Best Friends. When we are here we get the Delighted Doggy package. That means we get a playtime, walk and explore time, and ice cream break. As you can see from our pictures we have a lot of fun running and chasing each other.

Pet of the week!

Moose and Jessie K.

Hello our names are Jessie and Moose. We are 3 and 1 year old Labs. When we come and stay at Best Friends our dad gets us the CUSTOM STAY. This is were we get to choose three different actvites like a playtime, cuddletime, walk and explore, and bedtime story. We like to do the three playtimes. That way we can go and play kong out in the yard with our human friends. When it is time to get ready to go home dad says we have to have a bath so we go home smelling really good.

Pet of the Week!

Mia M.

Hello my name in Mia and I am a 1 year old German Shepherd. This is my first time staying at Best Friends. Since I love to play with other dogs I am doing the PLAY AND STAY, where I get to play with my new friends for most of the day. I love to chase after the ball and play catch as you can see in the picture. I love to be petted and loved, which all my human friends have no problems doing. I am hoping that since I have had so much fun playing with my friends that I can come in for Doggy Daycamp too.

Pet of the week

PET OF THE WEEK

 ROARY M

HI! My name is Roary. I'm a young

Lab mix and I LOVE to play. When I stay

at Best Friends I get to have Play times

with my human friends.

I love it when we get to go out. I can

play fetch, chase birds, play on the play ground

toys or even swim on a warm day!

WOOHOO! I love it when

I get to stay here! For humans these

people are the coolest!

Camper Of The Month!!!

Patrick B.

Hey, how are you? I'm Patrick! I'm a yr and half old bulldog mix. I've been coming to Best Friends for as long as I can remember! I started out here doing their Puppy Kindergarten when I was 4 months old and then I started doggie day camp when I was 5 months old. Wow-sers! It's the best!! My favorite things include, but not limited to; The Kong(best toy EVER!), the pool, yea definently the pool, Sherri(my camp counsler), oooh oooh and cookies! Cant forget those!!



I have made SOOO many new friends that I can't even count them on my paws anymore! So how about it, you wanna be my friend and join me in Doggie Day Camp? And thank you mom and dad for taking me to school!!

Pet of the Week

PET OF THE WEEK

SAM AND SOPHIE F

Pumkin cookies and dog icing for cakes and cookies

Guess what's just around the corner? I know....with the summer heat still hanging on it's hard to imagine it, but it is just around the corner. FALL I mean. And with fall comes apple picking and pumkin fields. Here's a good dog friendly way to use some of that pumpkin too! And Rover will LOVE you more for it!

PUMPKIN COOKIES AND DOG ICING
PUMPKIN COOKIES




INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons dry milk

1 cup white flour

1/3 cup corn meal

1/2 cup oats

1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup water + 1 tablespoon water

Directions

Place all the ingredients in your bread machine and set the machine for the dough cycle.

When the dough is finished, remove it and roll it into sheets that are 1/4" thick.

Using cookie cutters, cut the dough into shapes and place it on a lightly greased cookie sheet or an ungreased pastry mat.

Let the cookies rise for about an hour.

Bake the dog cookies for an hour at 275-300 degrees F.

Turn off the oven, and let the dog cookies continue to dry overnight in the oven. When they are completely done, they will be hard, dry and crisp. The dog treats will be hard for you to break in your hands--and better for your dog's teeth and gums.

You can store these dog cookies for a month or so at room temperature.

If you would like to give the dog treats as a gift, serve them at a dog party or use them as a festive treat, you can decorate them with dog treat icing and sprinkles.

Your stars will be easier to decorate if you use a larger star cookie cutter to make bigger stars. You can always break them in half for a smaller dog.

Make sure you keep some pumpkin cookies on hand for the holidays.

You'll want to have some for Halloween, for Thanksgiving and for the Christmas holidays.

Dog icing for cakes and cookies

You can spread yogurt, cream cheese or cottage cheese on a cake. You may wish to puree cottage cheese for a finer consistency. Melted carob can be drizzled on many cakes for dogs.

Mashed bananas works well in dog cake recipes like this one:

Banana & Mock-Choc Frosting:

• 2 cup mashed banana

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 6 tablespoon powdered carob (NEVER EVER USE REAL CHOCOLATE IN YOUR DOG TREATS!)

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

• 3 tablespoon unbleached flour

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Blend thoroughly and spread on cooled cake.

Cinnamon and vanilla are fine to use as flavorings in dog cake recipes. Bananas make great treats for dogs. Especially frozen bananas on a hot summer day.

It’s up to you how you want to use the frosting and icing. You may want to spread it on thinly or, in the case of bananas, you could use them for decoration and places slices around the top of the cake. You could place a layer of cream cheese on the cake and lay banana slices on top. And so on. It’s fine to be as creative as you like when working with dog cake recipes as long as you are using ingredients that are healthy for dogs.

Birthday cakes for dogs always benefit from these frostings and icings, especially if you wish to enhance them a little with some safe food coloring. There’s no reason why all of your dog cakes have to be white or natural-colored. You can add some food coloring and make cakes for dogs that are bright and bold.

Remember that, as with human cakes, frosting for dog cakes (including dog birthday cakes) sometimes handles better when it has been allowed to cool in the refrigerator for a while. It shouldn’t be either too warm or too cold when you’re trying to put it on the cake. If you’re baking the cake then the cake should be thoroughly cooled before you attempt to do any decorating. Put the decorated cake bake in the fridge to let it “set” before you serve it. You may be making birthday cakes for dogs for a group of wild puppies but you still want it to look nice.

That’s really all there is to it. Frosting and icing are an important part of making cakes for dogs into something really special for your dog. They are, literally, the icing on the cake. Your dog will love them.

Canine lifeguards doggie paddle to the rescue

Hundreds of specially trained dogs form Italy's corps of canine lifeguards, deployed each summer to help swimmers who get into trouble in the nation's popular seas. Unlike their human counterparts, these lifedogs can easily jump from helicopters and speeding boats to reach swimmers in need of a rescue. With millions flocking to Italy's crowded beaches each summer, the Italian Coast Guard says it rescues about 3,000 people every year _ and their canine helpers are credited with saving several lives.

They leap from helicopters or speeding boats, bringing aid to swimmers who get into trouble off Italy's popular beaches.

For these canine lifeguards, the doggie paddle does just fine.

Hundreds of specially trained dogs from Italy's corps of canine lifeguards are deployed each summer to help swimmers in need of rescue.

These "lifedogs" wear a harness or tow a buoy that victims can grab, or a raft they can sit on to be towed back to shore, and unlike their human counterparts, they can easily jump from helicopters and speeding boats to reach swimmers in trouble.

It takes three years for the canines to reach expert rescue status, and currently 300 dogs are fully trained for duty, said Roberto Gasbarri, who coordinates the Italian School of Canine Lifeguards program at a center outside of Rome in the seaside town of Civitavecchia.

"Dogs are useful in containing the physical fatigue of the lifeguard, to increase the speed at which casualties are retrieved, to increase the security of both the casualty and of the lifeguard," Gasbarri said.

"The dog becomes a sort of intelligent lifebuoy. It is a buoy that goes by itself to a person in need of help, and comes back to the shore also by himself, choosing the best landing point and swimming through the safest currents," he said.

The Civitavecchia center is one of a dozen around the country for the school founded more than 20 years ago in the northern province of Bergamo by Ferruccio Pilenga, whose first trainee was his own Newfoundland.

The school will train any breed, as long as they weigh at least 30 kilograms (66 pounds), but Labradors, Newfoundlands and golden retrievers are most commonly used because of their natural instinct for swimming. Each dog works in tandem with a human lifeguard, who also acts as the animal's trainer.

"Being retrievers, they set out to pick up anything we tell them, be it a human being, an object, or a fish, and they bring it back to the shore," said lifeguard Monia Luciani. "They do not associate it with a physical activity, but it is rather a game for them."

Our thanks to the Associated Press for this story.

Pet of the Week

PET OF THE WEEK
BELLE B

Hi! My name is Belle. I'm a beautiful young
Brittany Spaniel. This is my first time staying
with Best Friends, but you know what? I'm
already loving it! I made new friends that came outside
to play with me and love me. How can
you not like that?

The play yards are fabulous And fun. My mommy went on
vacation and thought she was just boarding me. HA! This
is MY vacation! WOOHOO!!!!! I'm beat....but
hey a girl just can't have too much fun!

Groom Of The Week!!!

Beau B.

Hello, my name is Beau and boy am I B-E-A-U-tiful!! I am a 12 1/2 yr old Chow Chow. My mom likes to keep my fur nice and long! So as you can imagine this time of year I get a little fuzzy from losing that fluffy undercoat! Claire does an excellent job of making me look like that young handsome pup that I still act like. So whether your long and fluffy like me, short haired, or even shedding, come and see Claire at Best Friends!

Military Service dogs coming home with PTSD

Dog comes home from Iraq suffering what military suspects is PTSD, but is now on mend


Published August 03, 2010
Associated Press

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.

Gina was a playful 2-year-old German shepherd when she went to Iraq as a highly trained bomb-sniffing dog with the military, conducting door-to-door searches and witnessing all sorts of noisy explosions.

She returned home to Colorado cowering and fearful. When her handlers tried to take her into a building, she would stiffen her legs and resist. Once inside, she would tuck her tail beneath her body and slink along the floor. She would hide under furniture or in a corner to avoid people.

A military veterinarian diagnosed with her post-traumatic stress disorder — a condition that experts say can afflict dogs just like it does humans.

"She showed all the symptoms and she had all the signs," said Master Sgt. Eric Haynes, the kennel master at Peterson Air Force Base. "She was terrified of everybody and it was obviously a condition that led her down that road."

A year later, Gina is on the mend. Frequent walks among friendly people and a gradual reintroduction to the noises of military life have begun to overcome her fears, Haynes said.

Haynes describes her progress as "outstanding."

"Pretty fabulous, actually," added Staff Sgt. Melinda Miller, who's been Gina's handler since May. "She makes me look pretty good."

PTSD is well-documented among American servicemen and women returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but its existence in animals is less clear-cut. Some veterinarians say animals do experience it, or a version of it.

"There is a condition in dogs which is almost precisely the same, if not precisely the same, as PTSD in humans," said Nicholas Dodman, head of the animal behavior program at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

But some veterinarians dislike applying the diagnosis to animals, thinking it demeans servicemen and women, Dodman said. He added that he means no offense to military personnel when he uses the term.

The military defines PTSD as a condition that develops after a life-threatening trauma. Victims suffer three types of experiences long afterward, even in a safe environment. They repeatedly re-experience the trauma in nightmares or vivid memories. They avoid situations or feelings that remind them of the event, and they feel keyed up all the time.

When Gina returned to Peterson last year after her six-month deployment in Iraq, she was no longer the "great little pup" Haynes remembered.

She had been assigned to an Army unit, and her job was to search for explosives after soldiers entered a house. The troops sometimes used noisy, blinding "flash-bang" grenades and kicked down doors, Haynes said, and Gina was once in a convoy when another vehicle was hit by an improvised bomb.

Back home at Peterson, Gina wanted nothing to do with people.

"She'd withdrawn from society as a whole," Haynes said.

Haynes, who has worked with more than 100 dogs in 12 years as a handler and kennel master, said he has seen other dogs rattled by trauma, but none as badly as Gina.

Haynes and other handlers coaxed Gina on walks, sending someone ahead to pass out treats for bystanders to give her. They got her over her fear of walking through doors by stationing someone she knew on the other side to reward her with pats and play. They eased her farther into buildings with the same technique.

"She started learning that everyone wasn't trying to get her," Haynes said. "She began acting more social again."

On a sunny afternoon last week, Gina dashed across her training yard, jumping over obstacles on command and deftly pushing a ball with her forelegs and chest. On a visit to a store on base, she trotted calmly down the aisles and sat quietly when a woman bent to pet her.

"She's such a lovable dog," Miller said, describing how the 61-pound Gina will lie in her lap. "I could literally hold this dog like a baby."

But Haynes said they're careful not to let their affection interfere with good training. Treating Gina like a human — for example, comforting her when she's frightened — can leave her thinking that her handler is pleased when she's afraid.

"She's just gorgeous and I love her, but you also have to balance it with — you have to do what's right," he said.

Gina has resumed some of her duties, searching cars for explosives at Peterson or other nearby military facilities. Eventually, she may be able to return to the kind of hazardous duty she did in Iraq, but that's at least a year away, Haynes said.

"We're not planning on doing it anytime in the near future because obviously, we don't want to mess up everything we've already fixed," he said.

Dodman said he doubts Gina can recover completely.

"It's a fact that fears once learned are never unlearned," Dodman said. "The best thing you can do is apply new learning, which is what (Gina's handlers are) doing," he said.

Haynes acknowledged that's a concern, and although he hopes Gina recovers 100 percent he doesn't know if she will.

"Anytime someone has that much fear about anything, then obviously it will be hard just to get it fixed," he said.

"But, I mean, we don't really have many other options," Haynes said. "You can't really give up on them. They're your partner."

Pet of the Week

Sasha B.

 

Hello, my name is Sasha and I am a 6 1/2 year old grey kitty. I just recently spent 17 days with my buddies at Best Friends in Kitty City. Arent I just as handsome as can be? Along with being a frisky feline I am also a talker!! I let everyone know where I am and that I am ready to play!! I love to be petted and snuggled(as you can see)! I actually fell asleep in Jessica's hand!! So if you are wanting some extra snugglin' and a fun place to relax, come and visit Best Friends!!

Pet of the Week

PET OF THE WEEK
CHLOE C

Chloe C.

Hello, my name is Chloe and I am a 6 year old Bermese Mountain Dog. As you can see I'm a big girl with a BIG HEART!! I love coming to Best Friends when my mom goes on vacation. Talk about being spoiled! They have this new thing called a Custom Stay. It where I get to play with my human best friends not once, not twice, but three times a day!!! It's the best!!! So if you are wanting to get nice and spoiled, check out the custom stay option!!!

 

Camper of the Month!

Gracie B.

Hello, my name is Gracie and I am a 6 yr old Golden. I am one of the "golden girls" here at Doggie Day Camp. I have been attending camp for 3 years now. I love coming to Best Friends to play with all my furry and human friends! I love to play in the pool in the summer and play in the snow in the winter. As you can see, we have some crazy fun parties at DDC!! We almost always get dressed up and have our pictures taken and sent home with our mommies and daddies!! So if you feel like coming to some fun furry parties, join camp! Did I also mention Best Friends has web cams so parents can check on us through-out the day!! Hopefully I see you at camp soon!! I'll show you who's a sucker for puppy eyes so you can get extra cookies!!!

 

Pet of the Week

PET OF THE WEEK

ZANE S

Hi. My name is Zane. Come on over, have a sit with

me. Let's talk. I've been coming off and on to Best

Friends for a while now. It's a pretty cool place to be

but I have to tell you, since they changed their boarding

options, it's an even better place to be! No sitting in my

suite all day while my mom and dad are off having big

fun. Nope. Now I get to have big fun all day too. And for

a man of my size, life only comes in one size. BIG!

See, they have this thing called Play N Stay. Which

means I get to stay out of my suite all day and play

with all the new friends I get to meet. It's like one big

party every day! Sometimes we play inside, sometimes

we play outside. Point is, we get to play most of the day!

At the end of the day, I'm ready for bed. A good nights

sleep and we're right back at it again the next morning.

It's almost like a summer camp for canines!

Make Over of the Week

MAKE OVER OF THE WEEK

MAKEDA G

HI My name is Makeda. I am a Miniature Schnauzer. My mommy

brings me in to see my favorite groomers here at

Best Friend's. They know how to make a girl look

gorgeous! It's not a difficult job, I mean look at what they start with!

With a beautiful *canvas* like me, how hard can it be to

 go from fabulous to gorgeous?

My groomers just apply their loving skill and

WALLA! Look at me..... Look at ME!

Pet of the Week

PET OF THE WEEK

SHERMAN T

HI! My name is Sherman. As you can see I'm

a big boy. A Rottweiler by breed but a lover by

heart! Can we talk? See, this is my first time with

Best Friends and I have to say WAY TO GO MOM

AND DAD! They have this thing called *Play N Stay*,

which means I get to make lots of new friends and hang out in the yards all day.

 Oh, and in the pool. The pool is the coolest, no pun intended.

My owners may be on vacation, but so am I! If you see

them tell them I'm having a great time and not to

hurry back! My new friends are all way great and

we're all having a fun time.