Just like humans, animals need to be kept warm during these cold winter months. Here are a few tips to keep your dog safe and warm.

If your dog is elderly, sick or has thin fur you may want to make sure he wears a coat while outside in extreme weather. Sweaters are perfect to keep your dog warm inside during those bitter cold temps.

Make sure your dog’s bed is away from any drafty areas in the house.

Add carpet runners to tile and wood floors to prevent your dog from sliding. It will also help keep the room warmer during the winter months.

Clean your dog’s feet after a walk to remove salt, ice particles and road chemicals. They are not any easier on your dog’s feet than they would be on yours.

Hypothermia and Frostbite

Hypothermia is the drastic drop in body temperature which can result from prolonged exposure in extremely low temperatures. Leaving your pets out unprotected for several hours in freezing weather can be fatal. Hypothermia may cause heart problems, kidney failure and neurological problems.

Signs of hypothermia are:

* Shivering
* Dilated pupils
* Pale or blue mucous membranes
* Unconsciousness
* Coma

First Aid for hypothermia:

* Immediately remove the animal from the cold.
* Check for shock.
* Administer CPR if needed.
* Wrap animal in blanket.
* Place warm water bottles next to him.
* Go to the nearest veterinary hospital.

Frostbite is caused by the freezing of exposed skin or a body part. Body parts of dogs and cats are most susceptible to the tips of their ears, their tails and the pads of their feet.

Signs of frostbite are:

* Skin discoloration.
* Skin may turn pale or black.
* Lack of sensation or pain at the affected

First Aid for frostbite:

* Get the animal out of the cold.
* Gently apply a warm compress to the area.
* Spray the affected area with warm (not hot) water.
* Go to the nearest veterinary hospital.

Year of the Dog 2006 USA postage stamp

Year of the Dog stamp from Gambia

Year of the Dog stamp from Dominica

Wolf Dog like a German Shepard Souvenir Sheet of Art by Liu Jiyou 1918-1983 for the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Dog Puppy Wolf or Canine for 2006 from Micronesia

Two Hounds Souvenir Sheet by Hui-Tsung 1082 for the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Dog Puppy Wolf or Canine for 2006 from Grenada.

Dog Paintings Sheet of 4 by Chang Dai-Chien 1899-1983 for the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Dog Puppy Wolf or Canine for 2006 from Grenada Grenadines

The Lunar Chinese New Year 2010 begins on February 14th when the year of the Tiger starts.

2006 was the Year of the Dog. While searching for canine art to incorporate into our website, i came across the Year of the Dog postage stamps from around the world. I will be posting several of these stunning images for the next few days. Enjoy!

From Nevis
Dog Sheet of 4 of Art by Ren Xun 1835-1893 for the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Dog Puppy Wolf or Canine for 2006

Join the Planet Dog Foundation to Fund Canine Search Teams in Haiti

Here is a message from Planet Dog:

Dear Friends:

The Planet Dog Foundation specializes in grant funding for programs that work with dogs to help people in need. Nowhere is there more need to help people in crisis than in Haiti. Search dog teams are working around the clock in Port-au-Prince and beyond to locate survivors and dangerous materials in the rubble.

PDF will be making an emergency donation to the National Disaster Search Dog Rescue to support the efforts of their teams currently active in Haiti. Their teams train rigorously for years, so they can immediately mobilize in times of unthinkable disasters like this one.

If you have not yet given, or would like to offer additional support to fund the work of life-saving dogs in the rescue efforts, please make a donation to the Planet Dog Foundation by Monday, February 8. Your donation will be matched by PDF, and then our donation to the Search Dog Foundation will be matched by Joanne Woodward Newman, of Newman’s Own, and the Newman Foundation – so your gift will be QUADRUPLED!

You can make a donation at the Planet Dog Company Store at 211 Marginal Way in Portland, or mail your donation to PDF, 49 York Street, Portland, ME 04101. When sending by mail please note that it is a gift for the Matching Grant Program for Haiti.

PDF will match all pledges up to $1,500 and send a donation to the Search Dog Foundation on Wednesday, February 10. The Newman Foundation will match the PDF gift on February 15. You contribute $20. PDF sends $40. Newman contributes an additional $40 = $80 to SDF – your contribution go FOUR times as far.

To learn more about the work of these incredible dogs, and see daily updates on their successes on the ground in Haiti, visit http://www.searchdogfoundation.org/98/html/1-2_haiti.html

Thank you very much for considering a donation in support of this amazing example of how dogs are helping people in need. Please pass this along to all of your dog loving friends.

Kristen Smith
Executive Director

New Patient Special at Four Paws Acupuncture ! We will donate 10% of the fee for your dog’s first acupuncture session to this fund.

Well I have to admit that I am totally smitten with the idea of having a team of huskies and a sled.

The mushing bug bit me during the Myopia Sled Dog Races. Not sure if there is a cure for it. The AMA does not recognize it as a disease. The symptoms include nonstop talking about sled dogs along with the sound of happy dogs screaming oaaawooowww Let’sGooooooooooahhhhhooooooooo repeating in my head on a continuous loop over and over. It certainly beats having one of those silly Paul McCartney tunes stuck in the brain waves. The urge to buy unfashionable snow gear and a wicker sled consumes me. I no longer care about hat hair.

Western Medicine would only prescribe medication, usually used for those who suffer from delusions and suggest a therapist. Traditional Chinese Medicine would probably diagnose this as shen
disturbance and prescribe one of the more stinky herbal concoctions to anchor shen, calm the heart, and induce gagging fits. (Perhaps this sled dog syndrome has caused perhaps a bit too much joy… not something I have been familiar with lately.) So, I am not sure if I really want this new bug to go away.

At the event, there were a variety of unexpected dog breeds pulling sleds and skiers. Contrary to what I expected, not all were huskies. It was so refreshing to see several hound-dog teams (not to mention the howling of excited hounds!). Can you imagine the sound from a team of baying beagles? If only….

These dogs were having so much fun and all appeared to be taken very good care of. They loved being sled dogs….LOVED it. This was a major concern of mine before attending the races. I was so relieved to see that the dogs seemed to be in good health and so happy. Maybe this is due to the fact that these races are for fun, and not for profit like the Iditarod.

Thanks to the Boston Snow Dog folks for posting YouTubes and being a part of this event.

Until I actually manifest a team of dogs, my latest obsession is learning as much as I can about these dogs and the races. Here are a
few tidbits from Wikipedia:

Sled dogs, known also as sleightman dogs, sledge dogs, or sleddogs are types of dogs that are used to pull a wheel-less vehicle on runners (a
sled or sleigh) over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines.

Several distinct dog breeds are in common use as sled dogs, althoughany medium-sized breed may be used to pull a sled. Purebred sled dog breeds range from the well-known Siberian Husky and Alaskan Malamute to rarer breeds such as the Mackenzie River Husky or the Canadian Eskimo Dog (Canadian Inuit Dog). Dog drivers, however, have a long
history of using other breeds or crossbreds as sled dogs. In the days of the Gold Rush in The Yukon, mongrel teams were the rule, but there were also teams of Foxhounds and Staghounds. Today the unregistered hybridized Alaskan husky is preferred for dogsled racing, along with a variety of crossbreds, the German Shorthaired Pointer often being
chosen as the basis for crossbreeding. From 1988 through 1991, a team of Standard Poodles competed in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Sled Dog Breeds
Alaskan Husky
Alaskan Malamute
Canadian Eskimo Dog
Chinook
Eurohound
Greenland Dog
Greyster
Labrador Husky
Mackenzie River Husky
Northern Inuit Dog
Sakhalin Husky
Samoyed
Seppala Siberian Sleddog
Siberian Husky
Tamaskan Dog
Utonagan ”

More to follow………

We added a new page to the Four Paws Acupuncture website with pictures of happy dog patients. To see more of the Four Paws Pack “ Click here! We will be adding more soon. If your dog would like to be posted on our page please email us a photograph.

Four Paws Acupuncture makes K9 acupuncture house calls on the North Shore of MA. www.fourpawsacupuncture.com

If you missed the MSDR this weekend in Hamilton MA the kind folks at Boston Snow dogs have put together a video! It’s the next best thing to being there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIC2f-If7VY&feature=player_embedded”

This was a blast to see. There were so many different breeds of dogs having fun on the courses. If only we could have recorded the happy screams of those dogs waiting their turn to run.

Congrats to all those who participated in the Myopia Dogsled Races in Hamilton MA, a New England Sled Dog Club, Inc. Event. A special thanks to all who volunteered to make this day a success. For more info visit www.myopiasleddograces.com