Quick, Easy and Affordable Home Made Dog Food

There is a big debate in the pet industry about the quality of foods we feed our dogs. For sure, inexpensive kibble can wreak havoc on your dog, weaken their immune systems, and leave them vulnerable to diseases and infections.

Signs of a nutrient-poor diet include:

• dry skin, dull coat, dandruff, and shedding. This condition invites fleas, mites, ringworm infections and inflammatory allergies
• behaviors such as irritability, hyperactivity, nervousness and restlessness. When you change their diet, it can take a few weeks on the new regimen before this begins to change
• Stools – large stools can indicate an inability to digest all of the nutrients. Stools that are anything other than chocolate brown can indicate dyes, bacterial infections, chemicals in the food, or other health problems that are developing.

Unfortunately, vet branded dog foods or high end natural foods can cost a fortune – and in this economy, many of us simply can’t afford to do this.  However, it’s surprisingly easy, quick, and inexpensive to give your dog a healthy, balanced, and tasty diet with a minimum of muss and fuss.  If you’d like read about some quick and affordable recipes, read the article at www.squidoo.com/dogfoodrecipies You’ll find some that take as little as 3 minutes!  And all of them are based on things you probably already have in your home.

 

Eco Friendly Dog Beds

If you’ve read this blog, you may know that one of my dogs has bone and joint issues.  Keeping her healthy, happy, and comfortable is a constant challenge because she is a working dog who becomes completely miserable if she can’t play with her toy and run.

For her health and safety, I can’t let her run as much as she wants and have worked hard to find activities that let her fulfill her working drive without hurting herself.  On the days where she overdoes it, it’s hard to watch her hobble up stairs or wobble when she’s standing because she played too hard and is in pain.  Finding the balance of letting her run enough to be happy and yet finding ways to stop her before she hurts herself is a constant activity.

One thing I’ve found that helps immensely is giving her an orthopedic bed.  Now that she has one, she is much less likely to be stiff and sore after a night’s sleep and tends to move much better in the mornings.  For injured dogs, older dogs with arthritis, or puppies that are still forming their spines, orthopedic beds are great!

I recently found a manufacturer of orthopedic beds who makes a wide variety of eco friendly beds.  They’re made by West Paw Designs – a company that uses recycled materials to make some really wonderful pet supplies.

These beds are just cool!  They’re stuffed with recycled soda bottle patented fiber fill that is soft, comfortable and durable.  I love them because they come in fun colors and patterns, wear like iron, and keep bottles out of landfills.  Some of them have organic  cotton covers, while others use a berber and poly-knit backing to reducing shedding and help keep the beds soft.  They have travel mats, barrel beds, and all sorts of different styles.

I recommend them!

If you’d like to see the selection, you can go to The Camping Dog website.  You can also visit by clicking the picture of the orthopedic bed.

Orthopedic Dog Beds

 

An Innovative Dog Leash – These are Cool!

You may know I don’t like flexi-leashes.  I just found a whole new kind of dog leash with the benefits of a flexi-leash and none of the problems.  These are cool!  It lets you walk your dog on a leash up to 6′ in length, but eliminates possibility of tangling up under your dog’s feet or around your legs.  They’re made by a new company called Laughing My Tail Off and they’re really unique.

The leashes are made from a polyurethane coil that automatically coils up to 2′ when your dog is close to you, but stretches out to 6′ when he wanders farther away.  Since they’re not made of elastic, the coils are permanent and won’t give out with use.  The handles are padded so your hands don’t get torn apart, and because the leash has “give” to it, your dog doesn’t hurt himself.  They come in fun styles and colors and are lightweight and easy to shove in a pocket.  They’re well made and so unique that I just had to offer them.

At the moment, they’re recommended for dogs up to 50 pounds.  If you’re looking for a leash that’s easy to carry and won’t get in your way, you might want to take a look at these.  They’re just too much fun for words and very practical.  I’ve included some pictures of the patterns available – you can click on the images to go the page that carries them for more info if you’re interested.

2' leash that uncoils to 6'

Blue Baby Skull Pattern

Camoflauge Pattern

Leopard Print Pattern

 

China and Her Favorite Toy

This is just too funny not to share.  China, my lab, is completely and totally in love with her giant red horse ball.  It’s her favorite toy in the world.  I finally got a bit of very rough video of her playing  with it.  Watch two things — her tail, which says that she’s the proudest dog in the known universe — and her focus.  Nobody is going to keep her away from her ball!

Here’s the link on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ANWGgT9tZs