Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m allergic to my dog?” Some people do think it’s their dog they are allergic to, but it’s not the dog itself they are allergic to but the dogs dander and even their saliva.

Dogs dander is the dry skin that flakes off then floats through the air, thus giving us the allergy. The dander, (which are very “tiny particles”), become airborne and they get trapped in curtains, carpets, and on furniture, as does the saliva, once it becomes dried. This is also why you keep sneezing and wheezing, even when the dog is not in the same room as you.

I’ve always had some sort of allergies as a child and as years went by it turned into asthma. As a child we always had dogs and for the last 25 years I started raising German Shepherds with my husband.

At one time I had 3 German shepherds sleeping on my bed with me. Zeus, Star and their baby, we named Baby. (She was the only pup in the litter).

My asthma kept getting worse and my doctor told me to keep the dogs out of my bedroom, get an air purifiers, vacuum daily, etc. etc. So after I got released from the hospital for another asthma attack, I decided to get an air purifier – but I never kicked my dogs out.

To make a long story short, Zeus, Star and Baby have all passed over the Rainbow Bridge, all being 10 or older, and Zeus’s grandson, Jericho, is now (as we speak), lying on my bed. (He’s 12+ years old).

As for my asthma…I guess I out-grow it? I still have dogs – so I can’t explain why it suddenly cleared up. I haven’t had to reach for my inhaler for about 3-4 years now, (but of course I still keep one handy – just in case).

Dogs have always been part of my life. I wouldn’t know what to do without at least one or two. If a person has to get rid of their dog… is there life after dogs?

I couldn’t get rid of my dogs, but for a person who has allergies to the dog dander, you can get dogs that are referred to as, “hypoallergenic”. These are breeds that don’t shed much, although there are no dog breeds that are 100% allergy free. They all produce dander, even the hairless breeds like the Chinese Crested; but these “hypoallergenic breeds” are considered to be better for people who are allergic to the dogs dander.

To reduce your exposure to dog allergies

* Buy a HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner and keep your floors vacuumed regularly.
* Wash the rugs and all dog bedding on a regular basis.
* Keep furniture vacuumed – if your dog gets on the couch, place a slipcover on it to help cut down the dander that collects on the couch.
* Bathe your dog a couple times a month to remove dander. Use the correct shampoo for his coat, as bathes tend to take out the natural oil that he need to keep his skin and coat healthy.
* Finally, although this is hard for some dog lovers, your dog should not be allow in your bedroom

1 Cup Soy Beans
2 Drops Soy sauce
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
Dash Sea Salt

Combine ingredients. Spread in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet. Bake,  (stirring occasionally) for 25 minutes at 325°  Serve warm & crunchy  or  chill for a ½ hour – roll rounded tsp into balls.  @ only 25 calories per mouthful.

Taken from “Howling Good Dog Cookies“

Don’t buy a dog without any knowledge of how to take care of him. There is a lot of time and patience involved in owning a dog, and one must be prepared with that knowledge and commitment.

I was reading about this woman who has a 7 month old German shepherd/lab  mix and had several questions like, how to stop him from digging holes, jumping up on her or her guests, how to stop him from pawing at her and whining for attention from her because he wanted to play. It sounded like this was her first puppy and didn’t know how to cope with him. I would think that if someone was going to get a dog, either a pup or an adult, they should have at least read up on the care and responsibility of owning a dog.

For those who are new to dogs, I have these suggestions:  Read, learn, talk to others, and get answers before you get a dog. It’s okay to ask questions, but don’t get a dog without any knowledge of how to take care of him.

First of all you must remember he’s only a puppy. Just like small kids, they have to be taught some manners. Hitting is definitely a no-no, unless you want a dog that becomes afraid of you, or one who becomes aggressive.

Basic “manners” you need to teach him.

1. Sit - Keeps him from running all over while you are trying to talk to someone and keeps him from jumping up on you

2. Stay - Keeps him where you want him

3. Heel - This keeps him more under control when you take him out for walks.

4. Come – This is important for his safety. If he should get loose, you need to get him back to you before he gets hurt.

5. Off – You can teach him off so he doesn’t jump up on you, or to teach him not to get on your furniture. Etc.

6. Give – This is also important. If he has something in his mouth that is harmful, you want him to give it to you before he eats it.

Puppies and adult dogs love getting attention from their masters. Have time to play with him and pet him. This builds the bond between you and your dog. When playtime is up, give him a treat and keep toys for him to play with to keep him busy. Kong toys are great, because you can put treats inside for him to dig out. It will keep him busy for quite some time. Try putting peanut butter inside the Kong toy. That will keep him busy for a while.

As for the jumping up on your guests, teach your dog to sit. If he’s sitting, he can’t jump on anyone. I taught my German shepherd, Zeus, not to jump on me. He was a year old and was not taught any manners when he came to live with me. When I saw him make his move to jump on me, I just stretched both arms out in front of me and pushed him away (gently), saying the word, OFF and finally he gave up playing that game and doesn’t jump on me any more.

Don’t give up on him. After all, he’s just a puppy and puppies take work. He needs your love, time and patience.

1 Egg
2/3 Cup Beef or Chicken Broth
2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
3 Tbsp Rolled Oats

Whisk together the egg and broth in a large bowl. Gradually stir in the flour and oats. Place dough out onto a floured surface and roll out to ½ inch thick. Cut cookies using a round doughnut cookie cutter. Place on a greased, shallow microwave-safe plate. Arrange cookies on the dish without crowding them. Cover with a paper towel. Cook in microwave on high until firm, about 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Coming soon: www.dogspoiler.com As soon as this is up and running you’ll have a chance to buy my doggy recipe book called, “Howling Good Dog Cookies” It not only has recipes for dog cookies, but dog biscuits, treats, gravies and deserts, microwave, frozen and bread machine recipes, etc. All for the love of your dog. Plus several recipes for doggy shampoos and hot spot treatments and much more. Please bookmark www.doggyknows.com and come back often.

For more dog recipes, go to “Howling Good Dog Cookies“

Before buying a dog there are some important questions that you will need to ask in order to pick out a good and healthy pup or adult. You need to know where to go to buy a good dog and where you should never go. This article will help you with these decisions. After all, if you decide to get this dog, it will be yours for his lifetime. You need to know the answers to help make the right decision.

When you are looking for a puppy or and adult dog and found the breed you want, here are some questions you need to ask the breeder.

Questions

1. How big will this dog be as an adult?
2. How much does he eat and what kind of food is he used to?
3. Is this breed good with children?
4. How much exercise does this breed need?
5. Is there a lot of grooming needed?
6. Does this breed shed a lot?
7. What health problems are common in this breed?
8. Is this breed outgoing or reserve?
9. Is this breed high-strung or relaxed?
10. Do they get along with other breeds well?

After you made the decision on what breed of dog you want, you need to know where to go to purchase one.

When looking to purchase the pup or adult, be careful when buying from a backyard breeder. What is a backyard breeder? I’m glad you asked that question. Usually backyard breeders are only interested in the money, so they don’t care who they sell to. Most backyard breeders don’t worm the pups or give any shots because they don’t want to put out any more money than they have to, and they offer no health guarantees. Now, I’m not saying that all backyard breeders are bad, but you have to be careful.

Ask More Questions

There’s still more questions that need to be asked to both a backyard breeder and/or to the ones that are said to be ‘”reputable breeders.”

1. Ask to see the pedigree (if they are pure-bred dogs)
2. Ask to see the parents – to get an idea how the pup will turn out and to see what kind of condition the parents are kept in
3. Ask what kind of health problems the parents may have had in the past
4. Ask when the pups were born
5. Ask for documentation of worming and shots
6. Ask what kind of health guarantees they offer
7. Ask if there were any long-coated dogs or dwarf dogs produced in any of the “lines” in the parent’s background.
8. Ask if there were any hip dysplasia in these “lines” in the past.

If you are looking for a pet/companion dog, you can also go to your local animal shelter and adopt a dog. The shelters are full of dogs just waiting to find a loving person or family who would give them a forever home, before their time is up.

Ask questions. Choose wisely. The welfare of the dog is of the up-most importance.

Now that I’ve told you where you might be able to find a good place to buy a puppy or adult dog, I will tell you where you should never buy a pup.

Never and I repeat, never buy from a pet store! This is because almost all of these cute little puppies that you would spend your money on, would go to a real ugly and brutal industry called, Puppy Mills. I know, you think you have to save this poor little pup because he looks so sad in the pet store window, but in all reality, every time a person buys from a pet store, it fuels the fire.

The more one buys from pet stores, the more the puppy mill has to produce to keep up with the demand and the poor bitches having these pups will be continually bred until they died. You think the puppy looks sad, you should see what the poor sweet mother looks like. Don’t even get me started on this subject.

I’ll just leave you with this thought, for these dogs that can’t get the love they so deserve

If people everywhere would stop buying dogs from the pet stores, the pet stores would have to stop ordering pups from the puppy mills. Without the demand for pups, the puppy mills would have to shut down. What a day that would be!

Once and awhile I will share with you some of the facts from my book, “365 Fun Dog Facts“

Sweetener Xylitol

Did you know that this sweetener Xylitol, can be toxic to dogs? This sweetener is found in sugar-free gum, sugar-free cookies and candies. Although there is insufficient data on this sweetener, it suggests that it’s linked with sickness and liver damage in pets. If your dog ingests a large enough amount of this product, it may have a sudden drop in blood sugar that causes depression, loss of coordination and seizures. The signs can develop rapidly, some less than 30 minutes of ingesting Xylitol. It is very important that the owner of the dog get veterinary treatment immediately, as this could be a life-threatening problem for him.

Once in a while  I will share with you a recipe from my book, “Howling Good Dog Cookies”

Peanut Butter & Banana Dog Biscuits

1 Egg
1/3 Cup Peanut Butter
½ Cup Mashed Banana
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
½ Cup Wheat Germ
1 Egg white, lightly beaten (for brushing on biscuits)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Stir together the egg, peanut butter, banana, and honey in a medium bowl; blend thoroughly. Stir in the flour and wheat germ; mix well. Turn dough out onto a floured board and roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter, place on prepared baking sheet, and brush tops with egg white. Bake biscuits in oven until dried and golden brown, about 30 minutes, depending on size. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Years ago when we first started breeding and showing dogs, we had a dog that we named Thunder Road. He was the only sable German shepherd in the litter. It was our first litter and they all got parvovirus; one died. Thunder spent the longest at the Vets. They called me up at 1:00 am the morning of his 6th day at the Vets and said he was slipping away. They wanted to know if they could give him a strong steroid shot to try and jolt his system back. I said, “YES”. Later that morning they called me and said he was doing much better. We went to visit him again; just like we did every day that he spent in there. He made a full recovery and Thunder was never sick a day in his life after that.

But all good things have to end. Just like every night, I take my dogs from their outside kennel runs to their inside runs in our 30×40’ building. I gave the dogs their cookies for the night after feeding them and cleaning the kennels and said goodnight to each of them, pulled both double doors down for the night, turned the light off, left the radio playing and locked the door behind me. Thunder was lying on his blankets in the front of his kennel run, where he slept every night. I found him the next morning in the same spot I left him. He had passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was a great dog. I still miss him.

Reinier’s Thunder Road
June 4, 1987 – January 31, 2000

“Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog”.
~ Sidney Jeanne Seward ~

For those who show dogs or have been to a dog show,  you can relate to this.

Ever wonder what a dog inside the show ring is thinking, when his owners are double handling outside the ring?

My mom and dad, standing quietly by this roped off area with me and suddenly I get pulled away inside the ropes by this strange guy who they call my handler. He takes me away from them and makes me stand funny and another strange man, or sometimes a woman, walks up to me and stares at me, then rips my mouth open, slides their hand down my back and the most embarrassing thing happens after they lift my tail…I can’t bring myself to tell you what thy reach down and grab, in public no less! How humiliating! Then my handler lets me walk away from what he calls the judge, but brings me right back in front of him…but I see my mom better now. She is making funny noises and waving at me. Gee, she looks funny jumping up and down. Maybe she wants to play, but wait….my handler is pulling me away and we are running in circles. I see my dad now. He is running away from me and calling me, but my handler tightens up the leash and pulls me back to him and keeps running. Now mom is calling and running around…she’s yelling at dad now…wait…she’s calling me. No dad is calling. Which way do I go? My handler is yanking on my leash and won’t let me go to them, so why are they still calling me?

I have to run all the way around this roped off area. Seems rather silly to run in circles. My mom and dad must think so too, because they only run part way up and then run back. Let’s see, where are they now? There they are. This is strange. First they run towards me calling my name and then they run away from me. They sure are acting funny. I’m so confused.

Now this judge is playing musical dogs…I get to be first in line! Now I can see my mom and dad much better. Wish they would stop jumping up and down. Now this judge gives my handler some sort of colored material and I finally get to come out of this roped off area and back to my mom and dad.

Hi mom! Hi dad! I get a nice pat on the head and …what do I get now? I get pushed back into my crate. They must be upset with me. Maybe I should have tired harder to come to them when I was called. I don’t understand. Oh well…at least I got a cookie.

This past summer I went out of state to visit my parents. They have a small dog they named, “Baby”. It’s a cute dog, but they have him soooo fat! I went to pick him up and man is he heavy. My parents live in an apartment on the second floor. My dad, (who has a bad heart), has to carry this heavy dog down 2 sets of stairs, so he can go potty 3-4 times a day.

When I was visiting, I saw why he’s become so fat. They feed him twice a day with his regular food, but they also feed him table scraps at every meal, plus dog treats several times a day.

My mom took a couple bites of her hamburger and feed the rest of it to Baby. Than dad gave him some of his.

I know they love the dog and love to spoil him, but in actuality, all the extra weight on the dog is not good. It puts stress on all his joints and internal organs.

I did mention to them that he is too fat, and of course they agreed with me, but said they love to spoil him and can’t resist feeding him when they eat.

I could see that they weren’t going to change anything they were doing with the dog, and I didn’t want to hurt them by telling them that they were ‘killing their dog with kindness’, so I didn’t push the subject any more.

“Baby” is already having health problems. It’s hard for him to walk and is starting to have breathing problems, and he’s only 3 years old.

Obesity is unhealthy, but if the owner is not convinced that obesity is dangerous to their dogs health, than the dog is doomed to an unhealthy life. I hope those who read this, who has an overweight dog, would listen to their Veterinarian, or others who try to tell them that reduction in weight in an obese dog is necessary.