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Dog with BowlHealth and Safety Tips for Handlers

Some Do's and Don'ts of Air Travel with Companion Animals

- Courtesy of the Animal Legal Defense Fund

Switching to a New Pet Food

If you ever need to switch your animal's food (because of allergies, age, weight loss, dislike, etc.), introduce the new food over a five-to ten-day period, unless recommended otherwise by your veterinarian. Mix it in with your pet's former food, gradually increasing the proportion until only the new food is fed. And keep fresh water available at all times.

If your animal doesn't easily accept the new food, try:

Incidentally, dogs can often go a few days without eating with no cause for concern, but if your cat hasn't eaten for two days, you should contact your vet.

-from Dr. Muns, on the internet

Your Dogs “Arthritis” May Be ingrown toenails!

Lameness that might appear to be a result of arthritis could actually arise from too-long or ingrown toenails, according to a report in Bottom Line. Since older dogs are less active than younger ones, they may not get enough exercise to wear down their nails naturally. The untrimmed nails then continue to grow, curling and twisting, sometimes even growing into a pad of the paw.

A quick visual check of your dog's paws may uncover a simple solution to what you thought was a debilitating problem. (Of course, ITA people check and trim their dogs' nails on a regular basis!)

- from 277 Secrets Your Dog Wants You to Know, by Cooper and Noble

The Backyard Dog

You see them everywhere in our community, dogs tied day after day to a back porch or fence, lying lonely on a patch of bare earth or concrete. The water bowl, if there is one, is usually empty or dirty or just out of reach. Abandoned, but chained up, backyard dogs cannot move to comfort, shelter, or companionship. In winter they shiver, in summer they fry; year-round, they languish and suffer.


So often dogs are forced to live outside, alone and away from their human pack, but to force this kind of life on a dog is one of the cruelest things you can do. Being alone is a terrible punishment for a dog going against its most basic instinct. All those whining, barking, clawing dogs you see and hear tied alone outside are trying desperately to get the attention of their human families.

People who keep their dogs tied or penned outside might say they do spend time with them, but often that means a few moments of contact when they fill the food and water bowls, a quick pat on the head and maybe, at best, a few minutes of contact with another living being each day.

Dogs offer the gifts of steadfast devotion, abiding love and joyful companionship. Unless someone will take the time to accept these gifts and return them in kind, it would be best for them not to get a dog. A sad lonely, bewildered dog left alone out back only suffers, and what sort of person wants to maintain suffering?

-provided by the American Humane Association

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