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Here’s another amazing Guest Blog post, thanks to freelance writer Bernice Spradlin! Dogs and cats, like humans, are healthier when they exercise and eat right! It’s pretty hard to get your dog to do squats. And if you think that’s difficult, try and convince your cat to do some bench presses. However, helping your pets build strong bones, joints and muscles isn’t that tough when you focus on activities that they enjoy. As our pets age, health issues like arthritis and joint problems in the hips, knees and spine as well as decreased muscle mass can limit their activity and their happy, healthy lives—especially if your older pet requires a surgery for something like hip dysplasia. However, an active, older pet with strong bones, joints and good muscle mass will be mobile and have little health issues throughout their senior years. The key is to maintain an active lifestyle and a healthy, well-balanced diet—filled with happy dog walks, swims, and games of fetch. And don’t forget your cat! You can get them to play hide and seek and use a string toy or laser pointer for chasing around the house.

You can also supplement with bone and join supporting vitamins, like glucosamine or essential fatty acids, that you can purchase online for a fraction of the cost you pay at a local U.S. pharmacy. Of course, before you begin any new activity with an inactive, older pet, be sure to consult with your veterinarian—especially if your dog is a breed that is prone to hip dysplasia.

For building joint and bone strength in pets…

1. Feed your pet a well balanced diet

Check out the ingredients that make up your pet’s food, and a diet that is rich in bone meal, which is high in phosphorus, vitamin C and calcium, will help strengthen bones and lubricate joints.

2. Exercise your pet regularly

Exercise equals strong bones in cats and dogs. For dogs, take them on walks twice daily of at least 30 minutes in length and play with him often. With cats, focus on safe, indoor exercise—like chasing toys, a cat maze or a laser pointer. Both cats and dogs need an outlet for the massive amounts of energy they store up sleeping during the day while you’re at work. Regular exercise will also help them sleep through the night.

3. Feed your pet healthy treats

Avoid treats that don’t provide much as far as nutritional value, or feed your pet treats in moderation, or find some natural or homemade treats that are lower in trans fats and higher in protein and bone and joint supporting nutrients.

4. Supplement with glucosamine

Glucosamine helps strengthen the joints and bones of your pet. Just ask the professionals at the American Animal Hospital and the American Association of Feline Practitioners who recommend glucosamine for cartilage strengthening and repair. You can find vet-approved, over the counter supplements that are high in healthy Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids for pets—just like you can for humans.

For building muscle strength in pets…

1. Encourage jumping

By that I don’t mean encouraging jumping on you, your spouse or the mail carrier, but dogs and cats that jump over things retain strong muscle mass and enhanced agility. For example, with dogs you can set up a mini obstacle course and get him or her to leap over low fences and hurdles that are less than a foot from the ground. For cats, you can hardly stop them from jumping, but keep things safe by allowing them access to a cat-appropriate maze set up indoors.

2. Everyone loves a game of tug-of-war

Of course you need to be careful of your pet’s teeth and spine when pulling, but by keeping the tug of war at ground level (don’t pull your pet up off of the floor) it will give their legs and shoulders a good workout.

3. Play fetch

This is easier with a dog than with a cat, but retrieving not only builds up your dog’s cardio and endurance levels, if you throw a ball up hill it will strengthen leg muscles as well.

4. Set up a play date

You like to exercise with a buddy—so why wouldn’t your pet? Romping around the yard or house provides excellent full-body exercise for your cat or dog. Just be sure to pair them up fairly as far as size (i.e., pairing a Doberman with a miniature Poodle just isn’t fair). This way, everyone has fun and no one gets hurt.

Bio: Bernice Spradlin is an avid hiker and runner. She works at a gym in Brooklyn, New York, where she gets great inspiration for her freelance health-related articles and blogs. In her off time, you can often find Bernice jogging the East River path along the waterfront and enjoying the cool breeze. Bernice is currently looking for freelance writing work, and can be contacted at BerniceG.Spradlin@gmail.com.

12 dogs of Christmas graphic produced by Pet365 – a UK stockist of brands like Waifs and Strays & Hamish McBeth.

Trips with your pets can be lots of fun! If you know how to do it right. Traveling with your pet on an airplane can be one of the most stressful and potentially dangerous ways you can travel with your pet. How can you make the experience as safe and enjoyable for you and them as possible? Educate yourself, be prepared, and understand not all pets can learn to enjoy jetting off as much as you. Read on for our tips from our own personal experience with flying both our dogs and cats when we moved cross-country and around the world!

If you can not drive, and if your pet is small enough to fit in an approved-size carrier under the seat in front of you, plane cabin travel is infinitely safer than flying a pet in cargo. If you are moving with multiple pets and need to fly them to their new home, consider making multiple trips or have friends/family fly them so they can go in the cabin. Sometimes, cargo is the only option when moving with your pets.

Fly nonstop: Our #1 flying with pets tip is BOOK DIRECT NON-STOP FLIGHTS. Take off and landings are the noisiest/scariest for pets, and layovers make trips longer. It’s riskier if your pet has to change planes. Delays on the runways are often when pets overheat or freeze to death in cargo.

Pets as cargo: Cargo is the most dangerous way to fly with your pets – read a USA Today article on the dangers of flying pets as cargo here. Flying pets as cargo should be avoided if possible. Sometimes it is the only way you can move with your pets. Make sure you have very strong crates in excellent condition. Consider multiple TSA-approved locks for the crate doors and hiking straps around the outside just in case the crate falls and the connections break. Write your phone number with a sharpie on the crate itself. For dogs, do not put any kind of bedding in the crate that could be eaten. Only a totally-chew proof bed may be safe. Yes they will be less comfortable, but they will not die like they might if in this super stressful situation, they chew up and eat their bedding. That means no newspapers, no pee pads, nothing chewable in the crate.

Pets in cabin: If your pet is small enough to fly in cabin, it is much safer than cargo. Call the airline for their rules, restrictions, and costs — every airline is different. You need to make a reservation for you pet when you book your ticket. Airlines limit the number of pets on each flight. Don’t just show up at the airport with your pet!

For pets flying in cabin, at home line the carrier with several layers of pet pee pads. You are not supposed to take a pet out of the carrier in the plane or terminal, except when going through security. We’ve heard of surreptitious pad changes done in a bathroom, and some airports do have pet ‘relief’ areas inside. Some pets respond to the stress of flying by ripping up – even eating – whatever is in the carrier. Be ready to pull out the pads for their safety, if needed. No in-flight napping for you!

Crate train you pet: Get your pet comfortable being in their travel crate for as many hours as they will be on the plane. For longer flights, train your pet to sleep in their crate at night, and then try to book a night flight.

Vet approval: Get your pet checked out for flying by your vet before you book your tickets. Some pets have subtle medical conditions that make it very dangerous for them to fly.

Tip: Planes are very loud. Loud noise is very stressful on pets. Even calm pets will often be so stressed by the noise they will go to the bathroom in their carrier. Ask your vet if and how much you can restrict food the day before and day of your flight. 

Give your pet a sedative? Sedatives have risks. Many vets will not prescribe them for plane travel. You and your vet will have to weigh the risks. Even if your vet says it is medically safe, it may be scarier for your pet to be sedated and woozy trying to cope with all the scary parts of plane travel.

ID and harness: If your pet isn’t microchipped yet, get them chipped at least a few weeks before travel. Register the chip with phone numbers at both your departure and arrival locations. A breakaway safety collar with an ID tag is essential. For in-cabin travelers, also add a harness. Use the safest escape-proof harness you can find with plastic buckles, minimal metal. Get your pet used to wearing it at home. Put the collar and harness on them at home before you put them in the carrier.

At the airport: Ask for a private TSA screening room. Almost all airports now offer optional private screening rooms. These are much safer for fearful pets and for all cats.  You have to ASK for them at the TSA screening checkpoint. They take more time, so be sure to arrive an additional 30-45 minutes before your flight’s suggested checkin time.

Pets have to be taken out of their carrier to go through the airport security. Relaxed dogs can be held and walked through the xray machine.

There are so many wonderful ways you can help homeless pets, sometimes it can be a little overwhelming trying to decide what you can do to help! Not to worry, the founders of Rock & Rawhide have put together a list of five (simple!) ways you can help out furry friends in need! You can put their ways to work both this holiday season and the rest of the year too. Rock & Rawide is an organization that aims to reduce stress and increase adoptions for dogs and cats in shelters by providing toys and other items that serve as a form of occupational therapy. Founders Sean-Patrick Hillman and Kylie Edmond  rescued their own pup on the very day she was supposed to be euthanized, and hope to help others to get out there and make a difference for homeless pets too.

5 Ways to Help Homeless Pets

1.       Donate Goods: No use keeping those old blankets and towels locked up in the closet. Put them to use by donating them to your local animal shelter to keep animals warm during the harsh winter weather. Pet food and toys help, too!

2.       Volunteer your Time: Spend some quality time with cats and dogs who don’t typically get a lot of affection. Make their holiday season special by volunteering to take dogs for a walk, play fetch with them and scratch their bellies at your local facility.

3.       Organize a Drive: Anyone can do it! Print some flyers and pass them out to local homes and businesses to see if your community members are interested in participating in a toy or blanket drive. You may be surprised at how many big hearts are out there, ready and willing to donate to a worthy cause.

4.       Adopt or Foster: If you have the resources, adopting a pet into your loving family will save a life and bring your family loads of joy and laughter. While the best case scenario is to give an animal a home forever, providing temporary care for those who only need a home for a few weeks or months can prepare an animal for adoption into a permanent home and help prevent overcrowding in shelters.

5.       Report Abuse: If you see something that even remotely resembles abuse, don’t turn a blind eye to it. Report the behavior to your local shelter so the appropriate group can investigate the matter. Always better safe than sorry.

Happy holidays to you and and your family!

Nope, it’s not a website about how calcium is good for your dog’s bones! Dog-Milk.com is a website for modern dog lovers. Always up to date on the the latest new products, this site is widely read by dog enthusiasts, pet retailers, publications, and product designers from around the world. Dog-Milk is the place to go for cutting edge and modern designs to suit your furry best friend. Nothing is for sale on Dog-Milk.com — they just feature cool items and direct you to the place you can purchase if you want to! And did I mention there is a lot of cool stuff to find here? What makes them one of our favorite sites is their commitment to animal rescue and promoting pet adoption! Dog-Milk has chosen advertisers who donate a percentage of their sales to adoption organizations, and they also support local charities and rescues through attendance and and coverage of fundraising events. Check out Dog-Milk.com for a website dedicated to modern dog design!

Giving a pet as a gift… this time of year, this is a hot controversial topic among rescues and animal welfare advocates! “Don’t give pets as gifts!” is so often the holiday refrain! Shelters and rescues will often deny adopters who reveal they are adopting the pet to give as a gift. But is this just one more holiday myth that should be busted, like black cats being in danger if they are adopted out before Halloween? We recently discovered a comprehensive study (published by the respected National Council on Pet Population Study & Policy, see quote below*) that showed that pets adopted from shelters and given as gifts were actually returned LESS often than regular adoptions! We don’t know if the guilt factor means the pet wasn’t returned, but may have been banished to a backyard or ignored, but perhaps there is something to the idea that an adopted pet carefully given as a gift – in the right circumstances – is a wonderful thing!

Give the gift of an adopted pet – but not the actual pet!

In those studies, “gift” is listed as a reason that owners do sometimes relinquish a pet to the shelter. It may rank in the #9 category out of #10. So how can someone give a pet as a gift, and have it be a wonderful thing for both the receiver of the present, and the pet being gifted? We highly recommend the gift not be a surprise. Why do people think that gifts given as surprises are any better than those that are anticipated and then received? They don’t have to be! If you want to  give the “gift” of the pet adoption wrapped up in a pretty box, then how about a photo of the potential pet in a frame, a collar, leash and ID tag, or a stuffed animal wrapped up? Or take the recipient on a “surprise” trip telling them their gift is at the destination – your local animal shelter!

Giving the gift of the adoption in this way has so many advantages. It allows the recipient to participate in picking out a pet that is he best match for them! The gift becomes not just a moment, but a shared process of going to the shelter to meet the potential adoptees – and also lets you give the gift of a pet adoption even if you don’t live nearby.

This way also allows a recipient to kindly decline if the pet you had in mind or the time is just not right, without the tragedy of a pet being returned to a shelter. Why is it bad to return a pet, when they were already in the shelter in the first place? It is very stressful on a pet to go from a shelter, to a home, back to a shelter. Pets that are adopted begin bonding immediately to their new person. When returned they are more likely to have trust and adjustment issues if they adopted again, and sometimes the stress shows itself in behavior or health issues too.

This is how we see pets as wonderful gifts, a gift of friendship and companionship, to be cherished and loved for the rest of their lives.

* Reference note from above: Highlights of five scientific papers based on the findings of the Shelter Relinquishment Survey and the Household Survey showed: “Contrary to what many shelter workers would expect, these data showed that dogs received as gifts were much less likely to be relinquished to an animal shelter than those who were acquired directly from an animal shelter, a friend, a pet shop, or as a stray. Dogs whose owners paid $100 or more for them were less likely to be relinquished. “

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Not sure what to get your dog-loving family member for the holidays? Unsure what kind of gift would keep giving for your best friend? How about a subscription to The Bark, a premier dog culture magazine.  Interesting articles, helpful tips, the latest supplies and accessories, heartwarming stories – The Bark is full of all things dog! Perhaps best of all, they support pet adoption in a big way!  The Bark offers a special deal for friends and fans of Adopt-a-Pet.com: a subscription for $12 a year…and $6 of every order goes to supporting us as we work hard to find happy homes for every homeless pet!  They’re putting their money where their bark is by helping us continue to help shelters. This is one stocking stuffer that will last the whole year and make any dog-lover smile. Click here to subscribe or for more information.

When the weather outside is frightful… is a Christmas tree inside so delightful? Not for your pets unless you understand the dangers that Christmas Trees can be for pets! Pine trees and pine needles can be toxic if ingested, but even more commonly pets – especially cats – seem to be fascinated by the water in the tree’s stand. Many will drink out of it, and then become violently ill because of not only the toxicity of the pine sap, but because of the fire retardant that is sprayed on almost all real Christmas trees (unless you’ve cut it yourself). And they don’t have to drink the tree water to get sick — even just pawing at or rubbing against the tree while exploring around and under it, like to investigate those fun ribbons you’ve decorated your presents with, will rub the toxins off on their coats. Cats especially, but dogs too, lick themselves to groom and will lick the toxins off themselves. And that is only the beginning of the dangers of Christmas trees and the holidays for our pets! Read on for more safety tips to keep your dogs, cats, rabbits and other pets safe through the holiday season.

• Christmas Trees: KEEP PET OUT OF THE ROOM with the tree. Fake trees are safer, but needles and decorations can still be ingested. Close your pets out of the room with the tree, or surround the tree with a pet-proof playpen fence – you can decorate it too, and the brass-colored ones look very festive!. Do not  allow pets to come in direct contact with the tree, ever.
• Christmas Tree water: COVER completely with tin foil, so that if a pet happens to get into the room by mistake, they cannot drink or play in the water.
• Pine needles: sweep them up daily to avoid tracking them into areas where you have your pets. Pets really do eat them – even the fake tree ones – and they can cause an intestinal blockage or puncture, not just painful, but potentially fatal… or thousands of dollars at the ER vet.
• Decorations: keep them out of reach of pets, especially holiday lights. Cats and rabbits often love to chew on string-like things, including electrical cords. Use strong tape or computer cord covers (i.e. plastic tubing) to completely cover cords and firmly attach them to flat surfaces, so pets cannot possibly chew them.
• Tinsel: There is just no way to make this popular decoration pet safe. Do not use tinsel!
• Holiday plants: Poinsettia and other popular holiday plants can be toxic, and often very attractive for pets to nibble on. Keep them outside away from pets, or gift them to people without pets. Use fake versions made out of fabric instead – they will last for many years and are very hard to differentiate from the real poisonous plants.
• Candles: Kittens and cats who have never seen candles are often drawn to putting a paw in the flame. Ouch! Use enclosed latern-style candle holders to keep kitten mittens safe.
• Ribbons and bows: felines find these so enticing, and they can be fun for supervised play, but put them out of reach inside a cabinet or drawer when you’re done. Or better yet, give them a safe crumpled up ball for wrapping paper instead!
• Gifts: Ooooh what’s in that box? You may not know what is inside a wrapped gift, but dogs noses know, especially if it is food – and it could be potentially fatal if its a gift box of chocolates, nuts, etc. Keep unknown gifts in a closet until it is time for them to be opened – by you, not your pets!
• Visitors: Fun for you, but sometimes frightening or overwhelming for your pets. Also comings and goings of visiting family and friends can mean stressed out pets may make a rare bolt out the door. Keep pets in a secure area, like a quiet room with a closed door, when visitors are in your home.

 The holidays are a time of giving!  People tend to be a little kinder, smile a little bigger, and hopefully do a little more to help homeless pets.  Are you looking to adopt a pet as a gift for your family  (or yourself!) this holiday season? Many shelters and rescues use this time of year for super fun adoption fairs at holiday-themed events around town. One really spectacular one to check out if you are in Southern California is the annual Grinchmas celebration at Universal Studios Hollywood. Who doesn’t love the hero dog of the class Dr. Seuss story, not to mention all the adorable little Whos? The pet adoption part of this event is called the  Have a Heart Pet Adoption Fair and is presented by Universal Studios Hollywood and L.A. Animal Services. It takes place Noon to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, December 10 and 11 — and as it is located just outside the theme park’s main entrance, it is totally free for everyone to enjoy! For potential pet adopters who aren’t nearby, check out your local animal shelter and rescue for special holiday adoption events. Or make your own holiday celebration by adopting a pet and saving a life. Happy holidays!