canineguardiansforlife.com

FERGIE

admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:00:17 +0000

Wendy Marcks adopted her beloved FERGIE in October of 2006, and lost her this January. We well remember the day Wendy arrived to meet her little furbaby and take her home ~ it was a match made in Heaven! The pictures we’ve received over the years have been funny and wonderful, and usually in costume. Wendy writes: “She loved everyone and made everyone laugh with her antics. I am heartbroken to have lost her so soon, but I feel she as been with me always. I have never had such a funny little soulmate as FERGIE. I told everyone she was Me as a dog ~ our hair was the same color! Please know how very, very grateful I am that you brought Fergie into my life. She is one of a kind, and I am lucky to have had her love.”
Romp and play at the Bridge, sweet FERGIE….we will all see you again!

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iGive – Search the web & help CGL Earn Money

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:04:19 +0000

Don’t forget to earn money for CGL by shopping and searching the web with igive.

Help us raise money every time you search the web! iSearchiGive.com is a search engine powered by iGive.com, the internet’s first online shopping mall where a portion of each purchase is donated to your favorite cause.

No hidden fees. No vague percentages. No limits. And, donation checks are sent promptly, every month to CGL.

The Dangers of Bloat in Dogs

wrcahess — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:09:10 +0000

Bloat is the distention of the stomach, caused by a build-up of gasses. No one knows why it happens, only that it’s more common in the large or giant breeds. Bloat is a serious condition that can be deadly and every dog companion should know the signs of bloat. PETS FIRST has an excellent article on bloat that is worth reading. If any of the signs of gastric distress (as described below) are noted in your dog, run, don’t walk, to your vet. Quick action is necessary to save your dog’s life.

One type of bloat is gastric dilatation. The signs are excessive salivation and drooling, extreme restlessness, attempts to vomit and defecate, evidence of abdominal pain (the dog whines and groans when you push on the stomach wall) and abdominal distention. Any or all of these symptoms can indicate problems don’t wait to see if your dog will present more than one or two.

Gastric torsion of Volvulus shows all of the above signs in greater severity. A dog in distress due to torsion may have pale gums, shock symptoms, and may collapse.

Click the link to read the article in its entirety: Bloat in Dogs (pets1st.com – Resources for you and your pet).

2012 CALENDARS

wrcahess — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:06:52 +0000

For the Love of Rescues still has calendars available for 2012. If you haven’t gotten yours yet, you really should. The dog photos are absolutely adorable and your purchase includes a donation to Canine Guardians for Life. (Don’t forget to click on our name when you buy your calendar.) It’s still early in the year and a calendar always comes in handy. I’ve got a calendar in several rooms of my home to help me keep track of things I shouldn’t forget. I’ve got one in my bathroom to remind me of daily events and one in the kitchen to give me a reminder of the month ahead. I’ve got a third in my laundry room to help me keep track of the various medications that my animal companions take.

Be sure to get your calendars before they run out! Visit For the Love of Rescues

Mental Stimulation for Your Dog

trichard — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:05:09 +0000

Just because the snow is coming and the weather is getting colder doesn’t mean your dog needs to get any less exercise. While continued walks and romps in the snow are ideal for physical exercise, there are also a lot of ways to mentally tire your dog out inside your home! As is often reported after a group training class, or a private in-home session with clients, the mental work training requires is exhausting for dogs! Dog’s stamina quickly adapts to routine physical exercise but their brains rarely ever adapt in the same way to learning something new.

Here are a few relatively simple ideas:

Try training new behaviors. This will both mentally exhaust your dog and it sure will come in handy in the future! Some both physically and mentally exhausting ideas include: Go to bed, Come when called, and Leave it. Clicker training can also be a really fun way of teaching new behaviors! If you don’t know how to train these, please contact a positive trainer in your area or check out my shortened list of recommended resources at the end of this article.

Even more fun than teaching obedience, both for guardian and dog, is teaching tricks. Tricks are exhausting but also more motivating than “commands”. Technically tricks and commands are the same thing, but our attitude towards teaching them and showing them off seems to be different. Some relatively simple examples to try include: Roll over; Touch; Spin; Bow; Dance; High Five/High Ten.

“Find it” games can also be a lot of fun. Start off by having your dog by your side, having a few treats in your hand, toss the treats down to scatter on the floor as you say “find it”. Graduate this to having your dog(s) either do a sit-stay at a distance while you toss the treats down and release them to “find it” or have a helper hold your dog while you toss the treats before telling them to “find it” and releasing them. From there, you can either be sneaky and hide a tasty treat while your dogs are elsewhere, call them in the room and tell them to find it (encouraging them along the say) OR have a helper hold them out of sight and do the same thing. “Find it” games are great because they also use their sense of smell to their advantage! Exhausting!

Meeting new people, places, or other dogs is a great idea to wear out your dog. Socializing can be exhausting (this also holds true for people)! Plus, meeting new people, other dogs, or going to new places really stimulates their mind and increases their social circle (of course, this is assuming you have a dog who enjoys the socializing).

Treat dispensing toys and puzzle toys are great ways to both feed your dog breakfast or dinner and really make them work for it, tiring them out in the process. What I’m talking about here are not so much stuffed kongs, but rather toys that need to be pushed around in a certain way in order to get the food to be pushed out. See my specific recommendations at the end of this article.

Similar to the toys just described, bones and stuffed toys (such as Kongs or marrow bones) are great too. Ice toys are a great alternative, especially for crate time. Ice toys are very simple to make and basically consist of kibble in a Tupperware bowl. Add in a couple of cookies, carrots, globs of peanut butter, safe toys, and/or whatever else you think your dog might enjoy (really get creative here!), then add an inch or two of water (depending on the size of your dog and their motivation to get to the food). Freeze it all overnight and the next day, pop it out and let them have at it! Chewing tends to be very relaxing for a dog so giving them something to really work on for a while can really calm them down and of course keep them mentally and physically busy!

Those are just a few ideas for simple ways to really give your dogs some mental stimulation as well as the slightly harder to come by physical stimulation during the winter months. Please feel free to contact me if you would like specific ideas for how to teach your dogs any of the above behaviors or see the following resources:

YouTube.com – Look up “dog tricks” and you will get all kinds of good ideas!

Books:
101 Dog Tricks: Kyra Sundance
The Culture Clash: Jean Donaldson
Quick Clicks: Mandy Book & Cheryl Smith
Play With Your Dog: Pat Miller

Favorite Treat Dispensing Toys:
Tricky Paw
Bob-A-Lot

Also, please check out my Amazon site for a list of recommended products:
http://astore.amazon.com/missbeha-20