Wednesday, January 8, 2025
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20 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Dogs

There are some pretty interesting things about dogs that are not so well known; some are funny, some are interesting, and some are even just plain weird!  Here are 20 things we bet you didn't know about dogs. 1. The smallest dog on record weighed only 4 ounces at two years of age, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.  It was a Yorkshire Terrier in Great Britain. 2. A dogs sense of smell is more than 100,000 times stronger than humans. 3. Dogs do not like rain because the sound is amplified and hurts their very sensitive ears. 4. 33 percent of dog owners admit that they talk to their dogs on the phone or leave messages on an answering machine while away, according to an American Animal Hospital Association poll. 5. Dogs sweat through the pads of their feet, not by salivating. 6. An estimated 1 million dogs in the United States have been named the ...

Dogs Donate Blood for Other Dogs

It is very common in all parts of the United States to hear about being a blood donor so you can help save lives.  That same notion is becoming true of dogs as veterinary medicine is making advances in the available ways to help other dogs.  Your dog could be one of the 40% that are considered universal donors, possibly being the one to save at least two other dogs lives.  The process requires little or no recovery time and only takes about 10 minutes, but it can impact another dog for the rest of its life. One such canine donor is Sparkle, a California-based rescue Greyhound who donates blood once a month.  Sparkle has already helped countless dogs have a new take on life with her blood donations, including Oscar de la Blue, who battled a dangerous dog virus.  Sparkle's owner, Mary Beth Bartel, says, "For every unit of blood that she ...

A New Way to Keep Track of Your Pets

A lost pet can be one of the most traumatic and upsetting times in a pet owner's life.  So what if there was a way to make sure that you always know where they are, even while you are work, on vacation, at the grocery store, or with them at the dog park?  Now there is, with the use of GPS and cell phone technology.  The product is called Tagg: The Pet Tracker, and makers promise that if your cat or dog wanders out of bounds you will receive an email or text, complete with a map to find them. "It’s really kind of an insurance policy or peace of mind," says Dudley Fetzer, senior director of sales and marketing for Snaptracs Inc., a subsidiary of the telecommunications giant Qualcomm.  Tagg sells for $199 including one year of free service.  After that, cellphone charges for the wireless tracking will run about $60 ...

First Ever Pet Expo Features Unique Products Like Dog Wigs

Wilmington, MA - The organizers of this first ever pet expo in New England are expecting to see between 2,000 and 3,000 pets join in the day's activities, along with between 8,000 and 10,000 people.  What is it that will draw that many people and pets?  How about certain unique products such as pet taxi services, wigs for dogs, wheelchairs for goats and sheep, bullet proof dog vests, and cat aromatherapy, just to name a few! "There isn’t another event like ours in the Boston area, and New England is very pet-friendly," said Courtney Rydstrom, director of show production for the expo.  "You can bring your whole family for the day including your dogs, cats, ferrets, guinea pigs, snakes, lizards and birds, and have a really good, fun day." The First Annual New England Pet Expo will be held at Aleppo Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington on Saturday, September 24th from 10:00am - ...

Cats Can Learn Tricks Too!

Many people believe that cats either can't or won't learn to do tricks, but that just simply isn't the case.  Take for example the commercials you see on television about cat food; these cats have learned to do the funny and obedient things they are doing; it is not a trick of the eye!  Cats are actually much more intelligent than most people give them credit for, we as pet owners just have to know the right way to teach them. Cats are able to perform such tricks as sitting like dogs, giving high fives, jumping through hoops, begging in certain ways for food, laying down, bringing the correctly called for toy, as well as standing on their haunches, meowing when told to, among many other things like being toilet trained! Animal trainers call the proper way of training cats "shaping", or breaking down the teaching process into small, easier to learn ...

New Help to End Animal Euthanasia

Animal shelter overcrowding is becoming an increasingly large problem in the United States, leading to the euthanizing of 60% of these more than 4 million animals, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).  In an effort to end shelter animal euthanasia, a new website called FosterSpot.com was created. FosterSpot.com aims to stop the euthanizing of healthy animals by creating a nation-wide network of temporary foster homes.  FosterSpot wants to save millions of animal lives by relieving shelter overcrowding through fostering.  FosterSpot reduces the number of euthanized animals in the U.S. by creating a network of willing and available foster homes to help with shelter overcrowding.  The public is called upon to register as temporary foster parents. Registered fosters receive alerts about animals in need in their area.  Shelters can reduce the number of animals they are directly caring for by listing animals on FosterSpot that are suitable for fostering by ...

How to Choose the Best Pet Sitter

If we could take our pets everywhere we go, we would, but that simply isn't realistic.  So often we have to leave our pets at home for longer than a few hours, and just that fact alone has pet owners everywhere frantic with the question, "Who's going to watch my ____"?  As a pet owner, you do everything you can to make sure they are safe and happy, and you would want the same in a pet sitter.  So how do you know that you are asking the right person to take care of your pet? If you are like so many pet owners who despise the idea of boarding, finding the right pet sitter is so important.  Here are some tips to make sure you are trusting the right person(s). 1. Word of Mouth - Start by getting recommendations from other pet owners that you see at places like the dog park, ...

Smart (But Weird) Puppy Proofing

The world is full of products meant for dogs, whether the product is meant to provide safety, fun, or medical attention.  This newest puppy product we've come across definitely falls into the weird category, but not for any other reason than the way it looks!  Ever hear of Puppy Bumpers?  This product is like an overstuffed collar, but don't let it's way of making your puppy stand out turn you away - this product was designed to provide a safety feature that will be helpful to so many pet owners. Picture your puppy or small dog wandering out onto your fifth story balcony of your apartment where the only thing separating him from the ground below is the typical prison-like bar fencing.  Wouldn't you feel better if your puppy had a safety feature around its neck that kept him from being able to squeeze through the openings and falling to the ground?  Introducing ...

13 Dogs Find Themselves in Guinness Book of World Records

The Guinness Book of World Records is full of set and broken records, some amazing, some weird, and others just plain out of this world.  Setting the newest record are 13 dogs jumping rope at the same time, making for not only an impressive trick to accomplish, but providing a humerous anecdote to the world of pet news!  The record set?  The most dogs skipping on the same rope. As most inventions and discoveries are made, this record setting dog trick happened purely by accident.  The dog handler at Uchida Geinousha's 'Super Wan Wan Circus' in Japan said, "One day Mayonnaise, an incredibly curious poodle, started to try and skip with us.  She clearly really enjoyed it and we decided to get the other dogs involved.  It’s become part of their playtime." What started as a routine jump rope session for humans turned into a fun and rewarding event for these 13 ...

Pet Bird Survives Hurricane Irene, Found in Central Park

Upper West Side, NY - Owners of Josie, a pet Cockatiel, now believe in miracles due to the impossible happening.  Just before the start of Hurricane Irene, Josie was lost and thought to be missing forever.  It wasn't until two days after the hurricane that the pet bird was found, barely hanging onto its life.  Surprising not only his owners, but the rescuers and veterinarians that took care of him, Josie survived what he would describe as a harrowing tale if he could say more than a few learned words. What started as a routine trip to the vet on Friday, August 26, ended in disaster when not only Josie, but Cliffy, also a cockatiel, were startled and flew out of their bird carrier.  Owners, Jim DiGiovanni and John Casserly were shocked to watch as they got further and further away from them, just hours before the start of Hurricane Irene. DiGiovanni, a 62-year-old ...