Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy 2009! I am looking forward to adding a few new services, products and dog related classes this coming new year.

Thank you for your support!

jeanie marie kraft, L.Ac.

Pets & pet lovers unite!
Anamigo – the online community for pets &
the people who love them!

There is a photo contest that’s going on over at Anamigo.com There’s a daily prize of $25 and a weekly prize of $125, totaling $300-a-week for the cutest pet photos (voted by users). Anamigo.com is a new online community for pet lovers and their pets. It doesn’t cost a thing and all you have to do is join

Good news from Grey2kusa!

Today we bring you the great news that another dog track has closed. Yesterday, the owner of Hinsdale Greyhound Park turned in his gambling license, ending 35 years of dog racing at the track.

All 100 greyhounds that were present at season’s end are now in the hands of a local greyhound adoption group. A win-win situation for the hounds!

Since Christmas Eve 2004, fourteen dog tracks have closed or ended live racing, including Mile High Kennel Club in Colorado, the Woodlands in Kansas, and soon to close Raynham and Wonderland Greyhound Parks of Massachusetts. Currently, new legislation has been filed in New Hampshire to make dog racing illegal and close its two remaining tracks.

Be sure to read The Advocate for further details about our campaigns, and please make a donation today to help close the remaining twenty-nine dog tracks nationwide. For a donation of $50, we’ll even send you one of our new greyhound tote bags.

The trend is definitely with the greyhounds, but much work is yet to be done!

For the greyhounds,

Christine Dorchak and Carey Theil
GREY2K USA

P.S. Looking for a unique gift for someone special this holiday season? Consider making a donation to the greyhounds in his or her name. Just use our online donation form (specify the recipient’s name and address in the shipping information area) or call us toll-free at 866.247.3925. Your donation will help ensure that our gentle friends no longer suffer lives of confinement and injury at racetracks.

grey2kusa.org

I found this business via Linkedin.com. I think it is a wonderful service that is needed when someone losses their beloved pet.

“My name is Alexandra and I have a wonderful business creating memorials and urns for pets that have passed.

I am a welder and come from an art background which allows me to offer custom works of art as cremation urns.

Working in the pet loss field is quite bittersweet, as I have to deal with the loss of so many pets. Yet I have a wonderful opportunity to help people with closure and getting through their grief.

It has really allowed me to connect with others in a way that I never imagined one’s own business could. I never imagined to receive so much form my customers and really get to be a partner with them.”

Custom pet urns and memorials for your pet.
www.custompeturns.com

Obama dog will face tough job requirements

By SHARON THEIMER – 3 days ago

WASHINGTON (AP)

It’s not always a dog’s life being a White House pet.

Sure, you get to cruise around in the presidential limo, but seldom can you stick your nose out to sniff the breeze. One chewing spree in the wrong room and you’re in the doghouse for wrecking a national treasure.

The way everyone wants your attention, you’d think they elected you, too. You’re supposed to act with decorum, no matter how pushy people are or what kind of mood you’re in. Go a little loopy and you might get exiled to the ranch, like one of Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s dogs. Get a little nippy like President George W. Bush’s Barney and the meltdown footage is sure to hit the Internet.

Still, experts say President-elect Barack Obama and his family can find a pooch well-suited to the White House. The important thing is to realize there’s no perfect dog — only the perfect dog for them. That means casting aside worry about offending anyone and searching for a dog that fits the job requirements.

“It’s not the breed, and it’s not even so much where it’s from,” said Patricia McConnell, an animal behaviorist and host of Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Calling All Pets.” What’s important, she said, is that the Obamas set a good example by “picking a dog based on its behavioral as well as its physical health, from a credible, responsible place.”

The search can take weeks or even months. McConnell and other experts advise a deliberate approach, avoiding impulsive decisions. A cuddly puppy with a red bow around its neck makes a cute Christmas gift, but soon the baby fat disappears and the new owners realize a dog is a lot of work, especially one ill-suited to their lifestyle.

Debate about the ideal Obama dog has become a hot topic for canine enthusiasts.

The search is complicated by daughter Malia’s allergies. Depending on their severity, the family may need to consider only dogs with little or no shedding — or give up the idea of a dog altogether.

If the Obamas are determined to adopt from a shelter or rescue group, they should have a professional help them choose, said Brother Christopher Savage, head trainer in the Monks of New Skete’s dog board-and-train program in Cambridge, N.Y. “You can get a wonderful dog from a shelter, and it’s a wonderful thing, but you have to really be going in with your eyes open,” Savage said.

White House life can be demanding for a dog. People are always coming and going, many eager to schmooze. One of Bush’s two Scottish terriers, Barney, is famous with children nationwide for his “Barneycam” holiday Web videos, but more recently he popped up in a clip on YouTube nipping a reporter who persisted in trying to get his attention. The Reagans’ Bouvier des Flandres, a large, energetic dog named Lucky, was moved to their California ranch after becoming too rambunctious.

Whatever choice the Obamas make, it could set off a national scramble for such dogs, like the frenzy for Dalmatians after the release of the Disney movie “101 Dalmatians.”

Trendiness usually isn’t good for dogs. It can lead to ill-bred, poorly treated dogs as entrepreneurs scramble to churn puppies out before public interest fades. Shelters are full of young dogs discarded after the novelty wore off.

“Pick the right dog for you,” Millan said. “Make a decision, a psychological decision, and then fall in love.”

click here to read the entire article.

Biden — not Obama — gets new pooch
Carol E. Lee Carol E. Lee – Thu Dec 11, 5:00 pm ET

Malia and Sasha Obama apparently aren’t the only ones who were promised a puppy if they stuck it out through the presidential election.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden picked out a German shepherd pup last weekend from a breeder near his Delaware home, according to a local newspaper report.

Biden was reportedly promised the post-election dog by his wife, Jill, who would tape pictures of different dogs on the back of the seat in front of Biden on his campaign plane.

The vice president-elect picked out a month-old male German shepherd from a breeder in Chester County, Pa., according to the Daily Local News. The breeder told the paper Biden wanted a family dog that was social and obedient and said Biden’s granddaughters will name him. Read more of this yahoo article at news.yahoo.com

What is the sound of one paw clapping? This Peace Love Paws zen design is one of the most recent additions of canine art to the Tao of Dog Depot. A unique holiday gift for all those zen inspired pet lovers.

To see more of the peace love paws design on clothing, totes, pillows, clocks, and other fun holiday gifts visit the Tao of Dog Depot On-line shop

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 20: Enter the acupuncturist
7:33 AM, December 1, 2008

This is Heidi. She was “discovered” this year in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Times staff writer Diane Haithman. And this is her “head shot”: That longing look was the result of seeing a biscuit just out of reach.

Unlike many Hollywood actors, Heidi does not have a chef or a personal assistant, a chauffeur, a therapist, an astrologer or a hairdresser. Sure, she has a trainer, but not a personal trainer — you know, the gym rats who charge $100 an hour to sip vitamin water and talk about reps, carbs, abs and glutes alongside an already toned person who sweats, but not too much, in designer gear.

True, Heidi has a full-time staffer who will bravely force an arm or leg beneath the sofa to fish out her red ball every time she lets it roll under there, but it’s an unpaid position, which I know because I have not received a check in five years.

What Heidi does have, however, is an acupuncturist. Like many large-breed dogs, particularly German shepherds, she has joint problems: hip and elbow dysplasia, plus arthritis. Her X-rays are not pretty. I bring this up not because the dog wants your sympathy, but because dysplasia may affect a canine’s performing career.

Heidi_gets_acupuncture_2While she’s fine running, jumping and playing on her own, in movies or TV a dog is often called upon to repeat such behaviors dozens of times. For that reason, her trainer Sue DiSesso says, Heidi has a better shot at print work or TV ads than action roles. At least so far, Heidi does pretty well by staying thin — excess weight is not good for any dog’s joints — and by taking glucosamine, MSM and chondroitin supplements. Her vet says that although the effectiveness of these supplements is less documented in humans, they definitely seem to help dogs.

To read more about Heidi and her acupuncture treatments visit latimesblog.com

Jeanie Marie Kraft, L.Ac. is keeping tails wagging on the North Shore of MA with canine acupuncture house-calls. FourPawsAcupuncture.com for more information.

Welcome to the Tao of Dog Depot , where you can find unique holiday gifts for a dog or dog lover this holiday season! Whimsical dog inspired art by veterinary acupuncturist jeanie marie kraft, L.Ac. can be found on clothing, t-shits, totes, stickers, and other gifts for the home or office.