Many Thanks To Everyone Who Donated To February Food Drive

 

 Many Thanks to Lori and Bill Hume, Derek and Kathy Pratt, and Anna and Kyle McDonald for generously donating food in our February food drive to benefit Lucy's House for the Prevention of Homeless Pets. Jan Ellis-Clements, who runs the organization, was very appreciative of the food. I am looking forward to doing more food and/or toy drives in the future. Have a Woofderful Day!

Buy Dog Treats Made in US to Avoid Potentially Toxic Treats

One would think that after the large amount of dogs and cats that were sickened and died due to melamine contaminated pet food in 2007 pet food companies would be testing the safety of any pet food products that they sell that are made overseas. According to an article I read recently, Toxic Treats from China Killing US Dogs, Say Pet Owners by Cindy Galli, that is not the case. In the past 4 months the FDA has received 530 complaints from pet owners claiming their dogs were sickened or died after eating jerky treats made in China. Since none of the companies selling the treats or the FDA will issue a recall of any of the potentially hazardous treats it is up to pet owners to read the labels carefully on all food products and select treats made in the US.

National Pet Adoption Month

February is National Pet Adoption Month. If you are looking to add a furry companion to your family please consider adopting a dog and give one of the three to four million dogs that are euthanized each year a second chance at a happy life.

Food Drive for February

I always think of Valentine's Day when I think of February and this year to celebrate Valentine's Day Fur Baby Doggy Daycare will be having a food drive to benefit Lucy's House for the Prevention of Homeless Pets. Lucy's House for the Prevention of Homeless Pets helps pet owners who are experiencing financial difficulties by providing food to 26 food shelves statewide and directly to pet owners and helps to promote spaying and neutering to reduce the number of unwanted pets. Dog food will be collected during the month of February.

Happy Holidays

Since the end of the year is fast approaching I wanted to take a few minutes to thank everyone who has made Fur Baby Doggy Daycare a success in 2011.

 First I want to thank my friend Pnut for reminding me how much I love dogs and introducing me to Cesar Millan and Linda Tellington-Jones. Next I want to thank my husband Louis for telling me I should start a dog daycare and his generous support with watching boarding dogs for me on the occasions when I need to be away for a few hours so that Fur Baby can honor it's pledge of never leaving a boarding dog alone while staying with us. Also I want to thank my friend Katie for the fabulous job she did creating my website and her continued support whenever I want to make updates. Most of all I want to thank my clients who trust me to care for their most precious fur babies. Thank you for understanding the three times Fur Baby needed to close due to unexpected personal circumstances. Although I am no longer fostering dogs for the organization I want to thank All Breed Rescue for allowing me the opportunity to foster some of their dogs until they found permanent homes. I hope to apply the knowledge I gained from my experiences with the foster dogs and all the dogs I have the pleasure of caring for everyday to help more dogs.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Woofderful New Year!

Brigett

Green Gift Monday

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and  I would like to start this week out by celebrating Green Gift Monday. For those of you looking to give a thoughtful, ecological friendly gift to a dog lover this holiday season or any time of the year consider the following options:

1. Make a donation in someone's name to your local humane society or animal rescue group. The Humane Society of Chittenden County has a Guardian Angel program that sponsors the home of an animal of your choice for six or twelve months. For more information visit www.chittendenhumane.org/get-involved/guardian-angel.

2. Bake some homemade dog treats and package them in a decorative reusable container.

3. Instead of using wrapping paper wrap a present with a  reusable item such as a dog blanket and use a dog toy as a bow.

For more tips on celebrating a greener holiday season visit http://www.nature.org.

Have a Woofderful Week!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving. For those of you shopping on Black Friday weekend I have compiled a list of my favorite books for any dog lovers on your gift giving list.

1. The James Herriot collection which includes All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful and The Lord God Made Them All.

2. The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete and How to Raise the Perfect Dog Through Puppyhood and Beyond by Cesar Millan are good choices for someone with a new puppy.

3. Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems and Cesar's Rules: Your Way to Train a Well-Behaved Dog by Cesar Millan.

4. Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz.

5. Getting in TTouch With Your Dog a Gentle Approach to Influencing Behavior, Health, and Performance and A TTouch of Magic for Dogs dvd by Linda Tellington-Jones. I found the dvd to be very helpful while working with one of my foster dogs who was afraid of being touched.

Most of these books are available as audio books as well as in print. Also the James Herriot collection was made into a movie available on dvd called All Creatures Great and Small.

Have a Woofderful Week!