A balanced diet for your pup! – What to avoid

It’s time for a new series – A balanced diet for your pup! This is such an important topic that we’ve decided to make it into a series of blog posts. Let’s begin!

So many of us, as dog owners wonder what would be the best diet for our pup. Answers to this question may vary based on who you ask. Your vet will most likely recommend serving dog chow and it’ll most likely be the brand which you can buy at his clinic while on the other hand you dog trainer be likely to recommend a Raw Food/BARF diet. Let’s first discuss the foods and ingredients we should avoid!

What should we watch out for?
Try to eliminate grains, especially if they’re in the top 3 ingredients of your dog chow. You pup would never reach for grains on it’s own. They are usually added to dog chows as a form of carbohydrates to make you dog feel full. Try to think of what your dog would reach for living in it’s natural habitat. The diet would definitely be meat based and enriched with fruits, veggies, and herbs.  Another thing we should never give to our dog is chocolate and sweets. Our pets have trouble digesting chocolate and we can cause a lot of damage by letting them eat our sweets. You can be sure that if your chihuahua eats a whole bar of chocolate you’ll be rushing to your vet’s ER.  Another thing we should look out for are grapes.  Grape seeds are toxic for dogs, eating 1 or 2 shouldn’t hurt anyone but be sure to eliminate them from your pup’s diet. If you have a vineyard or are growing a few vines in the garden be sure to keep the high up and and out the reach.  Garlic and onions may be ingredient staples of your favorite dishes—even some dishes that you share with your dog. But you should think twice before letting your pet lick up the rest of your garlic and onion-based broth from your homemade chicken soup. Any member of the Allium family—onions, garlic, leeks, and chives are the most common reported to cause toxicity because they contain N-propyl disulfide. This compound damages the oxygen-carrying substance found in red blood cells called hemoglobin which can lead to anemia and many other medical disorders. The last thing we’d like to talk about is chicken. Chicken meat is known for causing allergies for dogs. Even if your dog has been eating chicken their whole life, they could suddenly develop an allergy to the meat. Chickens are genetically modified these days and stuffed with chemicals which causes more and more allergies for pets. If you see signs or allergies like intensive scratching, baldness, red spots, etc. be sure to contact your vet. They may suggest trying a dog chow which doesn’t include chicken.

We think these are to most important topics to cover for today’s post. Be sure to check back soon for the next topic in our dog diet series!

What do you feed your pup with?

Relax and Calm Your Animal

Hey, guys!

We’ve released a new album called Relax and Calm Down Your Animal Companion (Calming Music & Nature Sounds for Dogs and Cats, Pet Therapy Ambient). It’s made up of 30 tracks which are meant to calm and relax your pets. These songs are perfect for relieving stress and preparing your pet to sleep through the night. Be sure to listen to the album on Spotify and if you enjoy it, be sure to download!

You can also buy it on iTunes and on the others online stores:

                                                                    

Breed Introduction – French Bulldog

Hey there!

Here’s another post from the “Breed Introduction” series! Today we’ll be introducing the French Bulldog also know as a Frenchie. These adorable pups have people very popular recently but there are a few things you should know about them before considering adoption or buying from a breeder.

French bulldogs are a domestic breed which was created by crossing bulldog ancestors in England with popular ratters in France in the 1800s. Bulldogs were very popular in the past, especially in Western Europe. One of its ancestors was the English bulldog. Americans had been importing French Bulldogs for a while, but it was not until 1885 when they were brought over in order to set up an American-based breeding program. They were mostly owned by society ladies, who first displayed them at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1896.

Just like most domestic dogs, Frenchies require a lot of attention from their owners and shouldn’t be left alone for long hours. They have fairly minimal exercise needs but do require at least daily short walks. The French Bulldog is sometimes called “Frog dog” or a “Clown dog”. Frog dog is in reference to the unique way they sit with hind legs spread out.  They have a single short coat which means they can become cold very easily. They are very delicate when it comes to extreme temperatures and also shouldn’t be flown in cargo. French bulldogs can also suffer from an assortment of back, disk and spinal diseases and disorders as well as eye issues. All of these disorders should be taken into consideration before becoming an owner! You should also know that they are very happy, friendly, compassionate and patient dogs. When it comes to coat colours, acceptable colours under the breed standard are the various shades of brindle, fawn, tan or white with brindle patches (known as “pied”).  You can find much more information online but here are just a few things that are worth knowing before thinking about adding a Frenchie to your family!

Leave a comment telling me what breed we should introduce next!

 

 

How many lives does a cat have?

“How many lives does a cat have?” is a question that, at least once in the life, everybody asks to himself.
Maybe for his agility and his ability to not fall, in a lot of Countries, people think that cats have more than one life.
But how many lives does the cat have actually?
It depends on the Country. In the Catholic-Christian Countries, they have 7 lives while, in Great Britain and others, even 9!
I’m going to explain the reason of these number.
“7” is considered as the number of perfection, universality, and equilibrium. In a lot of cultures this number has a high esoteric value and symbolisms:
– for the ancient Egyptian, it was life symbol, in fact, pyramid had built by the meeting between a square (4 sides) and a triangle (3 sides)
– Plato linked this number to the concept of eternity
– for Pythagorean people, 3 symbolizes “humanity” and 4 “divinity”. So 7 meant meeting between human and divinity
– in the Middle Age, 7 were Fundamental Sciences
– in Christian Age, 7 has a lot of references
– for Buddhist people, is the number of fullness

Moreover, this number is linked to the moon. Moon Cycle is made of four phases, each one composed of seven days.

But why do English people consider cats has nine lives ?
Because 3 is the number of perfection, and three times 3 means “absolute perfection“.

Dog’s vision

Continuing with the curiosity of dog’s world, today we are going to talk about dog’s vision.
I think all people, at least once in their life, ask themselves: “Can the dog see?” and “Can the dog see the colors or only black and white?” and again “Which colors can dogs see?”… In this post, we will try to answer these questions and will focus on other aspects regarding dog’s vision. We can start!

Movement vs Detail

Dog’s eyes are more sensitive to the movement than to the detail. In fact, the dog sees up close in a very blurry way. To see the details of an object, the dog has to be at least 50 inches from it. All this has been proved thanks to a test: if the dog owner stands 300 yards away, probably the dog can’t see him, but if the dog owner is on the move, the dog can see him even up to 2 kilometers far. Don’t forget, the dog was born to hunt, so seeing objects on the move is maybe the most important feature of his vision.

Colors or Black and White

Dog’s eyes structure is very different from human’s eyes structure, so that makes the difference in the perception of colors. Dog’s eye has more retinal rod than cone cell, compared to human’s eye. Retinal rod permits to see black and white also in low light. While cone cell permits to recognize the colors even if they don’t appear significantly in dog’s vision. In fact, the dogs can’t see as many colors as humans. Green and red are seen as yellow tones but they can see blue and violet very well.

Field of vision

Dog’s field of vision is more or less 240°, with a binocular visual zone of 80° and two monocular visual lateral zones of 80°. It all depends on the dog’s breed, based on his anatomy.

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New Album – Keep calm little Doggy

Hi pet lovers!

This is my new album! I hope you and your four-legged companion can appreciate it!

Listen to the music:

You can download the album from iTunes store: and Amazon store as well:

Separation Anxiety

Hi again!

Since we’ve started to talk about behavior problem in the last post, I’d like to continue the topic and talk about separation anxiety. This is a major behavioral problem which touches many dog owners.

 

• What is separation anxiety? What causes it?

  Separation anxiety is when dogs become triggered by being left alone. They are often afraid of being left by their pet parents or people they are attached to. Some pets may also show signs of anxiety when their owners are preparing to walk out the door. Many dogs start barking seconds after being left alone and often show distress behavior within a short period of time. These behaviors can often lead to self-harm and household destruction.

• Common symptoms
  – Urinating and Defecating
  – Barking and Loud Howling
  – Chewing, Digging and Destruction
  – Escaping
  – Pacing
  – Coprophagia – some dogs defecate and then consume their excrement

• Treating separation anxiety

  First of all, be sure to visit your vet and make sure that your dog is healthy. Once you’ve done a check up, you can try to begin treating your pet’s anxiety problems. I would recommend meeting with a specialist but you can it’s not necessary.

  “If your dog has a mild case of separation anxiety, counterconditioning might reduce or resolve the problem. Counterconditioning is a treatment process that changes an animal’s fearful, anxious or aggressive reaction to a pleasant, relaxed one instead. It’s done by associating the sight or presence of a feared or disliked person, animal, place, object or situation with something really good, something the dog loves. Over time, the dog learns that whatever he fears actually predicts good things for him. For dogs with separation anxiety, counterconditioning focuses on developing an association between being alone and good things, like delicious food. To develop this kind of association, every time you leave the house, you can offer your dog a puzzle toy stuffed with food that will take him at least 20 to 30 minutes to finish.” – ASPCA

  If your dog has a severe case of separation anxiety, it requires a more complex desensitization and counterconditioning program. I would recommend trying the counterconditioning program with the help of a specialist. We often do not understand all the signals that our pet is sending and may need someone, who can help us meet their needs. I would also try the “Crate Method” which requires you to teach your dog that the crate is it’s “safe place”. Crate training does not suit all dogs. You should definitely monitor your pup while being at home and be sure that it doesn’t show any signs of stress while being in the crate. Exercise and aerobics are also great for helping your pet relax. Be sure to take him for an intense walk, run or swim before leaving him alone. Your dog will come back tired and probably want to rest for a while. Play some relaxing music for pets and allow your beloved friend to relax and calm down after a physical effort. You can also read through the ASPCA article linked above for more tips given to you by professionals.

  

Your pets want to be calm and happy!

Hi there,

I’ve decided to get back into writing on this blog! Many of your pets suffer with anxiety problems, stress and fear so I thought it would be a good idea to share my tips on dealing with that! I would like to show you what music does to animals and how it helps to solve behavioral problems. There will be many posts coming soon but for now take a look at this youtube video including my music!  Just click on the photo below!

See you soon friends!

 

Piano Music for Pets

 

Listen to the music:

You can download the album from iTunes store: and Amazon store as well: