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On the Monday after the Orlando mass shooting, 12 specially trained golden retrievers arrived in Florida to do what they do best: provide comfort.
The dogs are part of the K-9 Comfort Dog Team, a program run by the Lutheran Church Charities that now has 130 dogs in 23 states across the country.
Each dog was picked as a puppy because of its calm demeanor, and each one was trained to be gentle, comforting, and affectionate.
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When Little Tedbird (Tedbird 4) came to live with us, she was barely 5 weeks old, an orphan that had been rescued by a nice lady. From the very first night, Little Tedbird has slept with me. She starts the night off by snoozing in the office chair next to the bed but a 1AM every night, it’s cave huggie time!
Snuggling with a kitten is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. Kittens are sweet and cuddly and soft. I’m pretty sure that simply holding a kitten can help lower your blood pressure and reduce your stress level.
But kittens are also wild and crazy — and they are frequently likely to be both in the middle of the night or very early in the morning. They like to pounce on anything that moves, including whatever is under the sheets, and their little claws are sharp! And because kittens are basically babies, they might not have their house manners down pat just yet.
In general I suggest that new kitten owners hold off for a while on sharing the bed with their furry friend. Waiting until your kitten is more mature to snuggle him in your sleep has a number of benefits, for you and for him. Here are four good reasons to keep your kitten off the big bed — for now, at least.
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The military is adopting out military members sercvice dogs without informing the soldiers and allowing them to keep their dogs.
A Congressional investigation is underway.
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My old Lab, Maddigan Lucy was a world champion eater. She once got an entire loaf of bread down in less than 2 minutes. Pizza? Gone. Once, she ate two weeks worth of protein powder in a flash. Not to mention the occasional wallet (oddly, $1 and $5 go through the digestive tract of labs intact. $20 and $50 not so much.)
Well, the science guys have figured out that labs have an eating gene.
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Digital StillCamera
Quick…what’s the worst thing you can do during an emergency involving your cat? Panicking.
In an interview with Denise Fleck, Pet Safety Crusader™, Victoria Geager asked her what are the three most important cat emergency tips that she can come up with. And here they are:
What are three tips you can give us to help prevent or prepare for a cat emergency?
A calm YOU along with a towel and muzzle. Cats pick up on our energy, so take a deep breath but ahead of time…learn basic cat first aid!
Of course I’m going to say your Cat’s First Aid Kit, but…Pumpkin puree or dehydrated pumpkin/apple fiber.
Also a covered bathroom garbage can. I’ll bet this one surprises you, but many cats choke or worse on used dental floss!
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After three long days, a 5-week-old kitten was saved from a manhole on a busy street in Phoenix. The Arizona Humane Society first got a call about meows coming from the street on Friday, but when they arrived on the scene, they couldn’t hear or see anything.
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One of my favorite series of books is the Atlantis series by Bob Mayer. In the series, the main character, Dane, has a golden retriever and they are a search and rescue team. Search and rescue dogs do work that is at the same time needed during disasters as well as upsetting when you consider they find the deceased as well as the living.
A rescue dog recently passed away after saving 7 people in the aftermath of an earthquake in Ecuador.
Dayko the hero dog, who rescued seven people from under the rubble after a massive earthquake hit Equador, passed away from heatstroke this week. To put it in more emotional terms, Dayko died because he valued saving human lives more than he valued his own life.
The training that these amazing service dogs do is also something to learn about –
They climb ladders, run through tunnels and play hide-and-seek in the snow. They also go for a dip in the pool and get a pilates workout.
Three students at the Working Dog Center work on their agility.The dogs at the WDC are training to do a wide variety of detection jobs. Some will work in law enforcement, sniffing out explosives, fire accelerants and drugs; while others will participate in disaster recovery or have a medical focus, like detecting ovarian cancer or working as diabetic alert dogs. They learn through positive reinforcement and play — and fitness and obedience are keys to their success, too, says Dr. Cynthia Otto, a veterinarian who started the WDC and is the lead investigator in a long-term study on the health and behavior of detection dogs.
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With the price of gasoline falling, more Americans are taking road trips and are bringing their dogs with them. While we are on the road, we want to keep our four-legged family members safe.
Dogs should never ride on your lap or next to you in the passenger seat. If you were to stop short, your dog can act as a projectile and go through your car’s front window. If there is an accident and your dog isn’t restrained, he could panic, get out of the car, and get lost. Accidents are not for the faint of heart. So, follow these tips to keep you and your dog safe:
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Zika virus was first identified in 1947 in Uganda’s Zika Forest. If you’re wondering, “Zika” means “overgrown” and the forest is home to The Uganda Virus Research Institute of Entebbe.
Signs of Zika virus infection include fever, joint pain and muscle aches, rashes, headaches and red eyes (conjunctivitis). Most people recover within a week without hospitalization and death is extremely rare.
Zika virus is spread through the bite of a mosquito; Aedes africanus, Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopticus have been identified as carriers, and other species may also transmit the disease.
The biggest concern with Zika virus is it appears to cause a serious and life-threatening birth defect known as microcephaly (small head). If a pregnant female contracts Zika virus from an infected mosquito bite, the fetal brain could become underdeveloped, resulting in death or severe neurological deformation.
Can dogs or cats get Zika virus?
We don’t know. At this time there is no evidence that dogs or cats can transmit or contract Zika virus. The studies haven’t been done. There is evidence that primates and humans can become infected and transmit the disease through mosquito bites.
“I think unless you’re talking about pet monkeys, which should be extremely rare cases, as far as dogs and cats, I don’t know of any information or scientific studies on that topic,” says Chris Barker, a researcher in the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at the University of California, Davis. Barker studies the epidemiology of mosquito-transmitted diseases.
Even if you live in cold regions, the larvae of these mosquitoes can remain dormant for months during cool weather and emerge as soon as temperatures increase.
There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika virus yet. The disease isn’t widespread in North America and doesn’t pose a threat in the U.S. at this time.
Although there have been no cases of Zika being transmitted via mosquito in the United States, the mosquitoes that are capable of transmitting the virus do live in the U.S. So one of the best ways to protect people (and pets) from possible infection is to practice good mosquito control on your property.
“Encourage people to limit mosquito production from their own backyards, and they should encourage their neighbors to do the same. That’s one of the best measures we can take,” says Barker. “Where we do have the mosquitoes, we want to do everything we can to minimize the mosquitoes and limit the transmission risk.”
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The late Ted Bird, age 22
Ambrose Butterbutt, age 16
Peanut Butter, age 16
Little Ted Bird, age 6 months
The late Sweetie Pie
The late Sweetie Pie
