Try planting Mint plants around your yard as a natural way to help in preventing fleas. I just picked up Pineapple Mint, Majito Mint, Chocolate Mint, Spearmint and Peppermint plants. I am putting them in large outside pots to put around the back yard. I am trying this to allow the plants to grow to maturity and not allow the dogs to trample them.
Games to play with your dog on those cold days:
When it is cold and wintery outside, does your dog get bored and restless? What about playing Hide and Seek with it? Have someone hold onto the dog and you go into another room and hide. Start calling for the dog to come to you until it finds you!
TIPS AND TRICKS!
1) When a dog has an upset tummy and diarrhea, try 1 lbs carrots, cleaned and in small pieces cook them in 1 quart Water for about 1 hr. add a tiny bit of salt and blend it. Add another quart of water and give it to the pet in small portions.
If carrots are getting cooked over a certain amount of time, they develop a sort of antibiotic. This soup also helps with diarrhea with children ( it was actually discovered to help children and adults in the early 40 in Germany and still to this day people use it successful.) If the diarrhea lasts longer than 3 days, please see your vet! (Thanks Nike)
2) Natural Flea Repellent: Shampoo as normal, pat dry, then spray a mixture of 3/4 apple cider vinegar and 1/4 warm water over coat. Massage into skin.
3) Put a ball in your dog's food bowl to stop her from eating too fast.
4) Keep a cheap (dollar store) vegetable brush near the back door and save it for scrubbing the bottom of shoes after "stepped in it" mishaps!
5) Here is a tip to get tear stains cleared up.
Feed a tablespoon of yogurt daily for about 10 days to see if the stains around the eyes will go away. If not it may allergy, to include but not limited to a flea bite.
6) Do you use a spray water bottle to stop the furry friend from barking? Next time try Lemon Juice. Dogs don't like citrus fruits so a spray in the face with this will help train that excessive barking is not acceptable. I use and can't believe the improvement here.
7) I just found this on FB. Hey all you pet lovers! Did you know that Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner is great for cleaning up pet messes, especially on carpet! It is an antibacterial which is a bonus! I have been using this for a while and it works! Google it! I'm going to try it
8) Did you know that when a dog yawns, it is their sign of telling you they accept you or the other dog they are being introduced to.
9) Have I told you that STAINS make me mad? I am out to get them. We all know not one thing will work on every stain. I accidently picked up Shout Triple Action the other day when I was after a stain. I was impressed in how well it worked on that carpet stain. Then next time you are going after one try that out.
10)When meeting a strange dog or person, non socialized dogs will raise their hackles (hair on their backs and necks). This is more noticeable in short haired dogs, which makes them look larger than they normally are.
11)Does your dog keep jumping your fence? Well forget the black pepper by the fence. Get mouse traps and strap to the top of the fence. After those paws getting snapped a couple times your furry friend wil
12) Remember, if the weather’s too cold for you, it’s probably too cold for your pet. Animal companions should remain indoors as much as possible during the winter months and never be left alone in vehicles when the mercury drops.
13) Massaging petroleum jelly into paw pads before going outside helps to protect from salt and chemical agents. And moisturizing after a good toweling off helps to heal chapped paws.
14) I recently learned that disposable, absorbing baby diapers can be very dangerous to dogs. One of our adopted dogs got into the trash and ate on an absorbing diaper. The product that keeps the moisture away from the baby is poisonous to the dog. He had a horrible rattling sound in his throat. Come to find out his throat was burned and the pads of his feet started peeling away as if they had been burned. Anyway, the moral here is to make sure you throw those diapers somewhere that a dog cannot pull them out of the trash.
15) Did you know that you can use simple Corn Syrup or any kind of syrup if your dog has not been eating and is laying lethargically? A tablespoon of any kind of syrup will get the blood glucose level up again and just may save your dogs life. Blood glucose is very critical in puppies because they don't have a lot of stored fat to absorb the glucose from so 8 hours with out food can get their blood glucose bottoming out.
16) Constipation/Diarrhea Help: It's quite remarkable that fresh pumpkin cooked and mashed or canned pureed pumpkin (if using canned: do not use the pie filling variety but the 100% natural canned pumpkin) can work wonders for both the occasional bout of diarrhea or for the opposite, constipation in dogs. It has been reported that it firms up dog's loose stools or diarrhea within a few hours. How much pumpkin should you give? It depends on the size of the dog but as a rule of thumb a couple of teaspoons daily for a small dog or a couple of tablespoons for a large dog. You may have to disguise it in you dog's favorite food. For more details, check out this website - http://www.dogchatforum.com/diarrhea-dog.htmIf you have leftover pumpkin, you can measure out some portions and freeze in separate freezer bags for use on another day. Then you only have to thaw out what you need!
17) Research shows your Senior dog needs about 500 milligrams of glucosamine and 400 milligrams of chondroitin per 25 lbs. of body weight to help relieve painful joints. When you buy that Sr dog food and pay extra, check the label for those two ingredients. That is what you are paying extra for. A good brand to try is Wellness Super5Mix Dry Dog Food, Just for Seniors Recipe.
18)I just learned of a non-chemical way to treat worms, including heart worms. Treat your dogs with Black Label Guiness Beer Draft. Use 1 oz/25 lbs of dog. The first month, dose two times. two weeks apart. After that, dose once a month. Don't waste the left over. Finish off that bottle. Doctors say a little beer is good for us. LOL! Here is the url to read the whole article about this: http://newdoginfo.blogspot.com/2011/04/heart-worm.html
19) Have you ever made your own doggy treats only to have them be moldy in a couple of days and the only thing to do with them is to throw them out? Well I have a solution! After cooking your treats, place them on a fppd dehydrator overnight. You can then bag them and freeze them. Hope this helps you save some of those treats without having to use preservatives for longevity.
20) Yogurt-make sure it’s the plain kind, but a little yogurt is filled with good bacteria and will help with digestion. If your dog is taking antibiotics, yogurt will help keep some of the "good" bacteria in his tummy to keep it from getting upset.
21) Before you can teach your dog any behaviors, you need to teach her to check in visually on a regular basis. The easiest way to do this is to give her a treat every time she looks at you. Get a bait pouch (I use a canvas carpenter's apron) and wear it so you'll always have treats handy. You don't need big treats, little ones will do. You can use any number of things - Cheerios or Chex, tiny bits of hot dog, even kibble will work. (You can use part of your dog's daily food ration as treats.) If you can stand the taste of hot dogs for a couple of days, tuck a few tiny pieces in your cheek; when your dog looks at you, spit a piece of hot dog at her. It won't be long before she'll be checking in on a regular basis.
22) Did you know that Shrimp tails provides needed calcium to our furry friends and they love them. And, according to Science Daily, eating shrimp shells could even lower cholesterol.
23) Herb dog treats can use the health benefits of fresh herbs. For example, oregano can heal bacterial infections. Mint freshens up that famous doggie breath! Parsley helps soothe inflamed joints. This means it can help relieve arthritis pain. Lavender calms and soothes an anxious pup. Rosemary soothes the stomach. So, really, you can mix and match your herbs.
24) Get your crate and put it in a quiet place. Cover it partially with a towel or cover and then give him some toys and something to sleep on. Now, leave the door open and let your dog discover it. Many times, a dog will figure out that it is a bed and start using it immediately, crate training themselves.
25) Keep your dog from rolling in pooh or smelly stuff in the yard by spraying cologne around its neck.
26) Do you have trouble with doggy smells in your house and car? Find baking soda products for smell. You know just like we use baking soda in the refrigerator. I have a friend who pours baking soda on the carpet when her dogs have an accident in the house. Also, don't forget those wonderful aromatic candles... Additional info for the doggy smells, pour 1/4 cup of peroxide in a spray bottle add 2 Tablespoons of baking soda. Mix it thoroughly. Use this to get out those stubbon spots. Then sprinkle carpet with baking soda and vacuum.
27) When using a time-out, make it short - from one to five minutes. If you make a time-out too long, your dog might forget what she did that caused you to leave her there. It should be a calming down period that conveys a message.
28) In a stressful situation, do not try to reassure the dog by stroking or cuddling, as this intensifies the stress in the dog. In the dog world, when a dog is in an unstable state, and you try and give him reassurance with affection, the dog sees you as being in a weaker state than his own. This intensifies the instability. You need to give off a stronger, more stable energy the dog can feed from. (Dog Breed Info)
29) When house training a dog no matter what age, get a kennel that is just large enough to sit in. Put the dog in this and take him out every 2 hours to go potty outside. When he is done put him back in the kennel. Do this for 2 days. At the end of the 2nd day, your dog will be house trained. (Thanks Doc Walker, dvm)
30) When that puppy you adopted starts chewing on your wood work, take one of those frozen carrots out of the freezer to let it chew on. Or, take a wet wash cloth roll it up and freeze it. Give that to the little one to chew on. (Thanks Pat)
31) Use Cottage Cheese or plain yogurt mixed in with your dog food to help with issues with changing foods.
32) REMOVED BECAUSE IT WAS PROVEN NOT TO WORK!
33) For an older dog starting to have hip problems. Give them 1 tums a day. according to the research it will help counter the calcium loss.
34) Here's an idea to help keep you keep your fur-ever friend cool: Get a 2liter pop bottle and fill it 3/4 full of water and freeze it Place it on the floor on a towel near the dog. The dog usually goes and lays beside it. They also lick the cool condensation.
35) You know how dogs like to eat their own pooh? Well, a friend just told me to mix fresh pineapple in with their dog food and it will stop them from doing that. I say it is worth a try! Update! I tried this with some puppies I have been training. It seems to work. Woohoo! This is very good news because I had a puppy returned because it was eating its pooh. Go figure! :)
36) When potty training, the time between letting a dog out to potty is 30 minutes for every month of age for the dog. So by the time the dog is 1 year old, it should easily be able to make it 8 hours.
37) When changing your dog to a new food for what ever reason, try put a few drops of lime water in the food. This is used to help with the diarrhea that they get with an abrupt change to the food they take.
38) I just learned that if you use Lime Powder on your lawn or area where your pet is using for the bathroom, it will help with the smell that can develop and also help to restore the grass in that area. Make sure you are getting Lime Powder from the garden section not HYDRATED lime from the cement/mortar/grout section. You can also use Lime Juice. It doesn't last as long. The Lime powder should be applied about every two weeks. This is safe for your dogs.
39) Did you know that if you mix some water with listerine and spray around your dog kennel area that it will help keep the bugs away? Why does that surprise us, have you ever tasted listerine? aach! LOL!
When it is cold and wintery outside, does your dog get bored and restless? What about playing Hide and Seek with it? Have someone hold onto the dog and you go into another room and hide. Start calling for the dog to come to you until it finds you!
TIPS AND TRICKS!
1) When a dog has an upset tummy and diarrhea, try 1 lbs carrots, cleaned and in small pieces cook them in 1 quart Water for about 1 hr. add a tiny bit of salt and blend it. Add another quart of water and give it to the pet in small portions.
If carrots are getting cooked over a certain amount of time, they develop a sort of antibiotic. This soup also helps with diarrhea with children ( it was actually discovered to help children and adults in the early 40 in Germany and still to this day people use it successful.) If the diarrhea lasts longer than 3 days, please see your vet! (Thanks Nike)
2) Natural Flea Repellent: Shampoo as normal, pat dry, then spray a mixture of 3/4 apple cider vinegar and 1/4 warm water over coat. Massage into skin.
3) Put a ball in your dog's food bowl to stop her from eating too fast.
4) Keep a cheap (dollar store) vegetable brush near the back door and save it for scrubbing the bottom of shoes after "stepped in it" mishaps!
5) Here is a tip to get tear stains cleared up.
Feed a tablespoon of yogurt daily for about 10 days to see if the stains around the eyes will go away. If not it may allergy, to include but not limited to a flea bite.
6) Do you use a spray water bottle to stop the furry friend from barking? Next time try Lemon Juice. Dogs don't like citrus fruits so a spray in the face with this will help train that excessive barking is not acceptable. I use and can't believe the improvement here.
7) I just found this on FB. Hey all you pet lovers! Did you know that Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner is great for cleaning up pet messes, especially on carpet! It is an antibacterial which is a bonus! I have been using this for a while and it works! Google it! I'm going to try it
8) Did you know that when a dog yawns, it is their sign of telling you they accept you or the other dog they are being introduced to.
9) Have I told you that STAINS make me mad? I am out to get them. We all know not one thing will work on every stain. I accidently picked up Shout Triple Action the other day when I was after a stain. I was impressed in how well it worked on that carpet stain. Then next time you are going after one try that out.
10)When meeting a strange dog or person, non socialized dogs will raise their hackles (hair on their backs and necks). This is more noticeable in short haired dogs, which makes them look larger than they normally are.
11)Does your dog keep jumping your fence? Well forget the black pepper by the fence. Get mouse traps and strap to the top of the fence. After those paws getting snapped a couple times your furry friend wil
12) Remember, if the weather’s too cold for you, it’s probably too cold for your pet. Animal companions should remain indoors as much as possible during the winter months and never be left alone in vehicles when the mercury drops.
13) Massaging petroleum jelly into paw pads before going outside helps to protect from salt and chemical agents. And moisturizing after a good toweling off helps to heal chapped paws.
14) I recently learned that disposable, absorbing baby diapers can be very dangerous to dogs. One of our adopted dogs got into the trash and ate on an absorbing diaper. The product that keeps the moisture away from the baby is poisonous to the dog. He had a horrible rattling sound in his throat. Come to find out his throat was burned and the pads of his feet started peeling away as if they had been burned. Anyway, the moral here is to make sure you throw those diapers somewhere that a dog cannot pull them out of the trash.
15) Did you know that you can use simple Corn Syrup or any kind of syrup if your dog has not been eating and is laying lethargically? A tablespoon of any kind of syrup will get the blood glucose level up again and just may save your dogs life. Blood glucose is very critical in puppies because they don't have a lot of stored fat to absorb the glucose from so 8 hours with out food can get their blood glucose bottoming out.
16) Constipation/Diarrhea Help: It's quite remarkable that fresh pumpkin cooked and mashed or canned pureed pumpkin (if using canned: do not use the pie filling variety but the 100% natural canned pumpkin) can work wonders for both the occasional bout of diarrhea or for the opposite, constipation in dogs. It has been reported that it firms up dog's loose stools or diarrhea within a few hours. How much pumpkin should you give? It depends on the size of the dog but as a rule of thumb a couple of teaspoons daily for a small dog or a couple of tablespoons for a large dog. You may have to disguise it in you dog's favorite food. For more details, check out this website - http://www.dogchatforum.com/diarrhea-dog.htmIf you have leftover pumpkin, you can measure out some portions and freeze in separate freezer bags for use on another day. Then you only have to thaw out what you need!
17) Research shows your Senior dog needs about 500 milligrams of glucosamine and 400 milligrams of chondroitin per 25 lbs. of body weight to help relieve painful joints. When you buy that Sr dog food and pay extra, check the label for those two ingredients. That is what you are paying extra for. A good brand to try is Wellness Super5Mix Dry Dog Food, Just for Seniors Recipe.
18)I just learned of a non-chemical way to treat worms, including heart worms. Treat your dogs with Black Label Guiness Beer Draft. Use 1 oz/25 lbs of dog. The first month, dose two times. two weeks apart. After that, dose once a month. Don't waste the left over. Finish off that bottle. Doctors say a little beer is good for us. LOL! Here is the url to read the whole article about this: http://newdoginfo.blogspot.com/2011/04/heart-worm.html
19) Have you ever made your own doggy treats only to have them be moldy in a couple of days and the only thing to do with them is to throw them out? Well I have a solution! After cooking your treats, place them on a fppd dehydrator overnight. You can then bag them and freeze them. Hope this helps you save some of those treats without having to use preservatives for longevity.
20) Yogurt-make sure it’s the plain kind, but a little yogurt is filled with good bacteria and will help with digestion. If your dog is taking antibiotics, yogurt will help keep some of the "good" bacteria in his tummy to keep it from getting upset.
21) Before you can teach your dog any behaviors, you need to teach her to check in visually on a regular basis. The easiest way to do this is to give her a treat every time she looks at you. Get a bait pouch (I use a canvas carpenter's apron) and wear it so you'll always have treats handy. You don't need big treats, little ones will do. You can use any number of things - Cheerios or Chex, tiny bits of hot dog, even kibble will work. (You can use part of your dog's daily food ration as treats.) If you can stand the taste of hot dogs for a couple of days, tuck a few tiny pieces in your cheek; when your dog looks at you, spit a piece of hot dog at her. It won't be long before she'll be checking in on a regular basis.
22) Did you know that Shrimp tails provides needed calcium to our furry friends and they love them. And, according to Science Daily, eating shrimp shells could even lower cholesterol.
23) Herb dog treats can use the health benefits of fresh herbs. For example, oregano can heal bacterial infections. Mint freshens up that famous doggie breath! Parsley helps soothe inflamed joints. This means it can help relieve arthritis pain. Lavender calms and soothes an anxious pup. Rosemary soothes the stomach. So, really, you can mix and match your herbs.
24) Get your crate and put it in a quiet place. Cover it partially with a towel or cover and then give him some toys and something to sleep on. Now, leave the door open and let your dog discover it. Many times, a dog will figure out that it is a bed and start using it immediately, crate training themselves.
25) Keep your dog from rolling in pooh or smelly stuff in the yard by spraying cologne around its neck.
26) Do you have trouble with doggy smells in your house and car? Find baking soda products for smell. You know just like we use baking soda in the refrigerator. I have a friend who pours baking soda on the carpet when her dogs have an accident in the house. Also, don't forget those wonderful aromatic candles... Additional info for the doggy smells, pour 1/4 cup of peroxide in a spray bottle add 2 Tablespoons of baking soda. Mix it thoroughly. Use this to get out those stubbon spots. Then sprinkle carpet with baking soda and vacuum.
27) When using a time-out, make it short - from one to five minutes. If you make a time-out too long, your dog might forget what she did that caused you to leave her there. It should be a calming down period that conveys a message.
28) In a stressful situation, do not try to reassure the dog by stroking or cuddling, as this intensifies the stress in the dog. In the dog world, when a dog is in an unstable state, and you try and give him reassurance with affection, the dog sees you as being in a weaker state than his own. This intensifies the instability. You need to give off a stronger, more stable energy the dog can feed from. (Dog Breed Info)
29) When house training a dog no matter what age, get a kennel that is just large enough to sit in. Put the dog in this and take him out every 2 hours to go potty outside. When he is done put him back in the kennel. Do this for 2 days. At the end of the 2nd day, your dog will be house trained. (Thanks Doc Walker, dvm)
30) When that puppy you adopted starts chewing on your wood work, take one of those frozen carrots out of the freezer to let it chew on. Or, take a wet wash cloth roll it up and freeze it. Give that to the little one to chew on. (Thanks Pat)
31) Use Cottage Cheese or plain yogurt mixed in with your dog food to help with issues with changing foods.
32) REMOVED BECAUSE IT WAS PROVEN NOT TO WORK!
33) For an older dog starting to have hip problems. Give them 1 tums a day. according to the research it will help counter the calcium loss.
34) Here's an idea to help keep you keep your fur-ever friend cool: Get a 2liter pop bottle and fill it 3/4 full of water and freeze it Place it on the floor on a towel near the dog. The dog usually goes and lays beside it. They also lick the cool condensation.
35) You know how dogs like to eat their own pooh? Well, a friend just told me to mix fresh pineapple in with their dog food and it will stop them from doing that. I say it is worth a try! Update! I tried this with some puppies I have been training. It seems to work. Woohoo! This is very good news because I had a puppy returned because it was eating its pooh. Go figure! :)
36) When potty training, the time between letting a dog out to potty is 30 minutes for every month of age for the dog. So by the time the dog is 1 year old, it should easily be able to make it 8 hours.
37) When changing your dog to a new food for what ever reason, try put a few drops of lime water in the food. This is used to help with the diarrhea that they get with an abrupt change to the food they take.
38) I just learned that if you use Lime Powder on your lawn or area where your pet is using for the bathroom, it will help with the smell that can develop and also help to restore the grass in that area. Make sure you are getting Lime Powder from the garden section not HYDRATED lime from the cement/mortar/grout section. You can also use Lime Juice. It doesn't last as long. The Lime powder should be applied about every two weeks. This is safe for your dogs.
39) Did you know that if you mix some water with listerine and spray around your dog kennel area that it will help keep the bugs away? Why does that surprise us, have you ever tasted listerine? aach! LOL!