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The Thundershirt:
With its patent-pending design, Thundershirt’s gentle, constant pressure has a dramatic calming effect for most dogs if they are anxious, fearful or over-excited. Based on surveys completed by over two thousand customers, over 80% of dogs show significant improvement in symptoms when using Thundershirt.Thundershirt is already helping tens of thousands of dogs around the world, and is recommended by thousands of veterinarians and dog trainers.
As for WHY Thundershirt’s gentle pressure works to calm a dog, experts such as Dr. Temple Grandin believe that pressure has a calming effect on the nervous system. Using pressure to relieve anxiety has been a common practice for years. For example:
- TTouch dog trainers use pressure to address a wide variety of anxieties.
- Veterinarians use pressure to relax cattle when they are administering vaccinations.
- People with autism use pressure to relieve their persistent anxiety.
- Children with certain behavioral problems use pressure shirts and weighted vests to relax and focus.
- Parents use swaddling to calm an inconsolable newborn infant.
Until now, there just hasn’t been a well-designed, inexpensive pressure wrap commonly used for dog anxiety. Thundershirt is changing that! Thousands of veterinarians and dog trainers now recommend Thundershirts for their anxiety cases.
We wanted to thank you for ordering the Thunder Shirt for Gidget. Heather, the fit is great. To be very honest, Kris and I were VERY skeptical about the Thunder Shirt but we figured that if it doesn’t work, it’s a great coat for her to wear in the winter when she walks in her cart.
But Kris and I are both believers now. The Thunder Shirt was nothing short of miraculous for Gidget! Last night we didn’t get it on her until after she’d already heard the thunder. However, her level of reactivity after the shirt was on was probably 60% – 70% what it typically would have been without the shirt. So we considered it a success.
Knowing that more storms were expected we had Gidget sleep in the shirt. This morning when the thunder started, it was as if we had a different dog. The same thunder that would have had Gidget racing around the house, trying to crawl up the chimney in the fireplace and barking like a mad dog, merely garnered a few barks this morning! In fact, Gidget was so relaxed during the storm that she ate breakfast, got a few drinks and relaxed on the bed – legs sticking out behind her with her tail wagging! At times the thunder was so loud that I could hear it in the shower – but Gidget never reacted!
Thank you so much for bringing this wonderful product to us. I think that the Thunder Shirt will make a huge difference in Gidget’s life – especially as spring and the associated storms roll in!
Do you have an overweight pet???
Pine Village Veterinary, K9 Kingdom and Healthy Pet Produts are sponsoring a weight loss clinic! It is a fitness competition you won’t want to miss!
Follow the link below for details:
http://www.myk9kingdom.com/blog/see-spot-slim-a-fitness-competition-you-wont-want-to-miss/
In order to correctly answer this, it’s very important to understand that all dogs need to chew and that their teeth and jaws were made for tearing meat and crushing bones. Working their jaws, teeth and gums is what helps keep their teeth clean and tartar free. Contrary to what we’ve always been told, kibble does not keep their teeth clean. Encouraging your dog to chew bones throughout their life is the most effective way to build and maintain dental health.
Puppies and adolescent dogs have a greater need to chew than do adult dogs. They have baby teeth (or teething teeth) that are razor sharp until approximately 6 months. I believe every puppy needs a Kong and this is the only product I recommend leaving them alone with. The Kong Company sells many Kong “stuffing products.” I don’t recommend these because they can contain less desirable ingredients. Try using a quality canned food with kibble, peanut butter or plain yogurt mixed with cheerios. All these combinations can be frozen which will take your dog more time to consume. Another great trick is to wet a wash cloth and freeze it. Yes, just like we do for babies! The cold helps alleviate the discomfort of the teeth pushing through the gums.
Once puppies have their adult teeth they can have antlers and raw meaty bones. They love to chew on deer, elk and even moose antlers. Antlers are as hard as bone and won’t splinter, but they must be fresh. The best raw meaty bones are the dense weight baring ones. They love to get the meat off of the outside and the marrow from the inside. Options are the femur bone from cows and buffalo. These can get messy so either put your dog outside or designate an area in the house that you can spread an old comforter out and let him go to town! Raw meaty bones will give your dog hours of chewing pleasure you some “doggie down time” as well! After your dog has spent hours on their bone it will be so clean you would have thought it were a store bought bleached one. This bone will still be safe to chew on for another week or two and clean enough to be carried throughout the house.
Another great chew that is totally natural, digestible and won’t stain your carpet is the “Bullie Stick” These are literally stretched and dried bull penises cut into many various sizes for different sized dogs. They love them as well as other types of body parts such as trachea’s, pig ears, cow hooves etc. There is always rawhide as an option depending on the type of chewer you have on your hands. I recommend the Wholesome Hide Brand. Although choking or intestinal obstruction with rawhide is a potential risk, it’s quite rare, and can be avoided with a little common-sense. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as an indestructible chew or toy.
There are many products available that are marketed as edible and non-edible dental chews. Please, use extreme caution before choosing any of these. Remember that companies are very skilled at making a product appear safe and wholesome. Read every single ingredient and buy made in the good old USA only, for many apparent reasons.
All dogs big and small have a natural instinct to chew and exercise. If we inhibit them from this it could manifest into other behavioral problems. Simply put “let your dog be a dog!”
Probiotic has been the latest buzzword in the human supplement world and they are even being added to foods. As you would guess, this new healthy trend has now trickled over into the pet industry. It seems that a host of brands are adding probiotics to their food and new probiotic supplements for pets are showing up all the time. But what are they and does that necessarily mean our pets can & will benefit from them? The answer is absolutely! Probiotics are and always will be an essential supplement for improving the overall health of our pets.
So what are Probiotics? They are live microorganisms AKA “good bacteria” that live in the digestive track where 75 % of our immune system support develops and lives. There are more than 500 different bacterial species that keep intestinal linings healthy and assist in breaking down food. Beneficial organisms are also believed to help regulate healthy immune response.
The balance of this friendly bacteria can be disturbed by such things as simple aging, poor diet, stress or antibiotic use. For these reasons and many others it’s important to complement your immunity system with a probiotic supplement. Although some pet foods have now started adding probiotics, I’m still recommending that we give and or take them in supplement form. Reason being, probiotics are live microorganisms that begin dying immediately after they are manufactured. This process also exposes them to a high degree of heat, which also takes away from their effectiveness. So, if they are added to the food before the cooking process, most if not all will die. Some companies will spray the probiotics on after the cooking process. This procedure is better as long as the company allows the food to cool before hand. So, depending on the ethics of the company it’s essentially a marketing ploy. Not to mention that the probiotics would have to pass through hostile stomach acid and bile to get to the intestine. The intestine is where the probiotics need to plant in order to seed the dog’s intestinal tract with healthy flora .
One more thing to consider when shopping for a good probiotic is to see if prebiotics are added. “Pre”biotics are the nutrients that act as the energy source or food for the “good” bacteria that live in the intestinal tract. They help the beneficial bacteria thrive. Prebiotics are a specialized form of fiber that occurs naturally in foods such as chicory, asparagus, artichokes, garlic, honey, wheat and oats. One of the most common prebiotics is FOS or fructooligosaccharides. These, unlike “pro”biotics, are not vulnerable to heat and have a stable shelf life.
The Right Probiotics Will:
1. Help maintain a healthy digestion
2. Help treat diarrhea and prevent diarrhea and constipation.
3. Help eliminate smelly stools and bad-smelling gas
5. Help counteract the destructive side effects of antibiotic therapy
6. Help prevent shedding and scratching caused by stress from digestive imbalances
7. Improve dog smell overall.
9. Help control yeast and yeast related rashes and skin problems.
10. Helps reduce hairballs in cats.
We discuss all of the above ailments on a daily basis here at Healthy Pet Products. So, chances are your pet has at least one one of the above ailments. Hopefully this has encouraged you to start your pet on a good probiotic and on a better road to health and wellness.
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