Fireworks and Your Dog

Dog’s senses are much more acute than ours. Sounds such as fireworks, thunder and loud booming noises can sound threatening and overwhelming to them.

* I always recommend having Bach Flower Rescue Remedy around for any type of stress for humans and pets. Make sure you put a few drops in the water bowl, especially on days that storms are predicted and holidays with fireworks, such as the 4th of July. You can find the Bach Flower Rescue Remedy at Whole Foods, The Vitamin Shoppe and other natural food stores.

* Reassure your dog that it is ok. Talk in a soothing voice and massage its ears with a small amount of Rescue Remedy.

* Let your dog hide somewhere inside where he feels safe. Make the spot comfortable for him. It could be his crate, the basement or your bedroom. Don’t leave him outside.

* If possible, leave an air conditioner on in the room the dog is in to provide a cool temperature and white noise.

* Play classical music or natural sounds such as ocean waves to soothe and calm him. Don’t play it too loud though, it could have the opposite effect.

Hosted by Pet Sitters International, Take Your Dog to Work Day falls on Friday, June
26th this year.

The day was created to encourage companies to allow employees to bring pets to work.
This relieves some of the difficulties of owning a pet. It is estimated that thousands of companies, called pet-friendly’ companies by some, participated in 2006.

Read more about Take Your Dog to Work Day at www.takeyourdog.com/About

I recently learned that Iams, the famous maker of pet foods actually tests on animals. I am not talking about taste tests! Below is a website with more information. Please note that some of the pictures on this site are revolting.

I have never endorsed Iams products as they are filled with too many unknown fillers, by-products and harmful substances for animals. Unfortunately they do a brilliant job by marketing as one of the best pet foods available. It is shocking that a company who promotes dogs would allow such atrocities in their plants.

(There are so many other great pet food companies that use human grade quality food and have no strange fillers and chemicals, such as Innova, California Naturals, Solid Gold, Blue, Halo, Wellness, Orijen and more.)

Iams: A Recipe for Cruelty
For nearly 10 months in 2002 and early 2003, a PETA investigator worked undercover at Sinclair Research Center, a laboratory hired by Iams, and discovered a dark and sordid secret beneath the wholesome image of the dog- and cat-food manufacturer.

Dogs had gone crazy because they were confined to barren steel cages and cement cells, dogs were left piled on a filthy paint-chipped floor after chunks of muscle had been hacked from their thighs, dogs were surgically debarked, and horribly sick dogs and cats were neglected and left in cages to suffer without any veterinary care.
To read more visit:
www.iamscruelty.com

Please help spread the word on behalf of all those animals who are victims of this large corporation.

Meet one of my dearest patients, Belle, a 12 year old German Shepherd diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy (DM)and arthritis.

This sweet dog is a pleasure to be around. She is intelligent, gentle and responds very well to her acupuncture sessions. After each session I do a form of Chinese massage called Tui Na with an herbal Chinese liniment on her back, hips, knees and elbows. Most dogs like the massage with the herbs, but some hate the smell! Belle is very tolerant and knows it makes her feel good.

Belle is fortunate to have such a loving owner who feeds her cooked chicken or lamb along with a high quality organic dog food, which is free of wheat, corn, soy and fillers. Wheat is known to exacerbate arthritis and auto-immune disorders.

Belle will begin aqua-therapy this week in hopes that it will help her get some exercise and build muscle mass.

We will keep you posted on Belle’s progress. Please keep her in your good thoughts.

To learn more about DM please visit the Four Paws Acupuncture lens www.squidoo.com/canine-DM-acupuncture

Does your dog inhale its food? If so the Eat Slow – Be Healthy Dog Food Bowl by our friends at HandiCapped Pets may be the solution to slow Fido down!

“If you let your dog eat too fast, you risk health complications like GDV or Bloat. Slowing a ravenous dog down also reduces re-eating and associated problems. The Eat-Slow dog food bowl prevents this.”

For more information on these bowls or other unique products for dogs please visit the Handicapped Pets website.
www.handicappedpets.com

1. PLEASE! Never, ever leave your pets in a parked car in the summer, even if you crack the windows or park in the shade. A car temperature can rise to 150F or more in just a few minutes. This is the number one cause of canine heat stroke.

2. Always have plenty of fresh water handy for your pets. Carry a bottle of water and a bowl for your dog when walking him or her on a hot day.

3. Be on the look-out for signs of heatstroke. Symptoms include rapid breathing, a dazed look, very hot skin and twitching muscles. Wrap your pet in a cool, but NOT cold, wet towel. Get them to the vet as soon as possible as heatstroke can be fatal.

4. Be careful not to exercise dogs during the hottest part of the day. Also don’t worry if they are eating less on hot days as it is a normal canine reaction to heat.

5. Bruschi the English Mastiff, recommends putting out a kiddie pool for dogs to cool off and play in on those hot summer days. They are inexpensive and can be found at places like Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc.

6. Try to keep your pets indoors during the hottest part of the day, in a room with air conditioning or circulating fans if possible.

7. Short haired dogs or those who have just been shaved are prone to sunburn just like us. Especially early in the summer, try to limit your dog’s exposure to the sun.

The Golden Retriever is one of my favorite dogs to work with. They have an easy going disposition and are usually very happy dogs. They are cooperative during acupuncture sessions, love to be massaged and are very food driven.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The Golden Retriever is a breed of dog, historically developed as a gundog to retrieve shot waterfowl and upland game during hunting. As such they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and an instinctive love of water. Their intelligence and versatility sees them employed in a variety of roles including illegal drug detection, search and rescue, as hunting dogs and as guide dogs. Its friendly, eager-to-please and patient demeanor has made it one of the most popular family dogs (by registration) in the world.

The temperament of the Golden Retriever is a hallmark of the breed and is described in the standard as “kindly, friendly and confident”. They are not “one man dogs” and are generally equally amiable with both strangers and those familiar to them. Their trusting, gentle disposition therefore makes them a poor guard dog. Any form of unprovoked aggression or hostility towards either people, dogs or other animals, whether in the show ring or community, is completely unacceptable in a Golden Retriever and is not in keeping with the character of the breed and as such is considered a serious fault. Nor should a Golden Retriever be unduly timid or nervous. The typical Golden Retriever is calm, naturally intelligent and biddable, with an exceptional eagerness to please

Health
The median life span for Golden Retrievers is approximately 10 to 12 years. They do very well in small living areas of at least 500 sq. feet. While the breed is recognized for its vitality, many retrievers are susceptible to specific ailments. A responsible breeder will proactively minimize the risk of illness by having the health of dogs in breeding pairs professionally assessed and selected on the basis of complementary traits.

Breeding Golden Retrievers can be profitable for puppy mills and backyard breeders. As a result of careless breeding for profit, Goldens are prone to genetic disorders and other diseases. Hip dysplasia is very common in the breed; when buying a puppy in the US the parents should be examined by the OFA or by PennHIP for hip disease.”

Most of the Goldens I treat with TCM and acupuncture suffer from arthritis and hip or elbow dysplasia. A change of diet along with regular acupuncture treatments and supplements such as fish oil are very beneficial to keeping these wonderful dogs healthy and happy in their old age.

Darla Rewers
Seattle Alternative Veterinary Care Examiner

Acupuncture works well on animals. Dogs, cats, horses, cows, and other critters generally do not resent the needles, although they do feel them.

Often the skin will move and have small muscle spasms where the needles are inserted. Dogs may initially pant more or be more attentive immediately after acupuncture needles are inserted. Then they relax once the effects start.

Many animal patients become so relaxed during a treatment that they may take a nap, and some even snore because they become so relaxed. Occasionally, an animal may be too sensitive to needles (this happens in human patients as well) but respond well to acupressure or subtle qi gong tui na energetic massage techniques alone.

Acupuncture can be used on exotics, such as birds, snakes, lizards, and rabbits. Organic livestock benefit from acupuncture as an alternative to antibiotic or hormone use.

Most commonly acupuncture is requested for pain relief for arthritis, degenerative joint disease, seizures, slipped disks in the spine, inflammatory bowel syndrome, and skin allergies.

Acupuncture has been affirmed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1997 as a valid therapy for pain, cystitis (bladder inflammation), nausea, to treat side effects from chemotherapy and radiation, diarrhea, IBS, and much more. The NIH put out this consensus statement after evaluating over 7000 articles published on acupuncture.

Acupuncture works through complex nerve interrelationships throughout the body. The acupuncture points themselves are areas of higher electrical conductance and lower electrical resistance, which can be measured with an ohmmeter. Acupuncture improves blood and lymphatic (immune system) circulation, reduces painful muscle spasms, causes release of the body’s natural pain-relievers, and causes relaxation. All of this helps the body to be able to do more maintenance and repair, instead of being in a state of anxiety or pain. Hormone cascades and internal medicine effects are also achievable through acupuncture—so even though the needles are small, the results are more than just skin-deep.”

In May’s Four Paws Aupuncture E-letter, aromatherapy oils that repel bugs were featured. For those who do not have the time to make their own natural insect repellent, Burt’s Bees makes a safe spray for all!

DO NOT USE ON CATS!

Burt Bee’s website reads. “Our 100% natural blend of bug-fighting oils repels even the most stubborn of pests. Rosemary, Lemongrass, and Citronella oils mix with 5 other oils that bugs hate, creating an all natural solution for keeping them away. Since there’s no DEET in this formula, it’s safe enough to apply with confidence to children and pets.”

Ingredients: glycine soja (soybean) oil, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil, cymbopogon schoenanthus (lemongrass) oil, thuja occidentalis (cedar) leaf oil, mentha piperita (peppermint) oil, cymbopogon nardus (citronella) oil, eugenia caryophyllus (clove) flower oil, geranium maculatum (geranium) oil, tocopherol

To learn more about this product visit www.burtsbees.com

http://www.alternativemedicinepractices.com”