Archive for January, 2009

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Animal Planet casting dogs for TV show

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Animal Planet casting producer LaGrande Powe was on hand to scout dogs for the upcoming season of “It’s Me or the Dog.” This is the Supernanny of dog shows hosted by Victoria Stilwell, a stern Brit dog trainer who’s considerably easier on the eye than Cesar Milan. Stilwell takes unruly dogs and clueless owners and transforms them into rule-abiding families with a clue.

Parents mingled, nibbling on human treats, while pups, nibbling on doggie treats at the Pawbar, stayed on their worst behavior for a shot at stardom.

If you think your dog has potential to be a show candidate, call (877) 44-DOGGY or go here.

And if you’re a downtown dog owner, be sure to check out Pussy & Pooch’s event page for fun parties and mixers.

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How Vaccines Work

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Why does your pet need a set of boosters when beginning a vaccination program? Doesn’t a single “shot” work? How do vaccines work to protect your pet from illness?

Clients often ask these and similar questions about the life-saving vaccines we recommend. It is helpful to learn the basic mechanism of how they (vaccines) do their job so that there is a clear understanding of the strengths and limitations of vaccines.

The study of vaccines is called vaccinology. Researchers carefully produce test vaccines to help define the way they produce immunity in the host (in this case, your dog or cat). These intensive studies provide the basis for commercial vaccine production. Extensive testing for efficacy (effectiveness) and safety is carried out before the vaccine is licensed.

Some vaccines contain either whole viruses or bacteria that have been treated to “weaken” them significantly. These are term MODIFIED LIVE vaccines. Another vaccine class is manufactured by killing the disease agent. Sometimes an adjuvant (a component to make the vaccine more reactive in the system) is added. These are termed KILLED vaccines. Many newer vaccines are SUBUNIT vaccines. These vaccines are manufactured by extracting components of the disease agent that normally act to stimulate a response in a host (antigenic moiety). New genetic technologies provide an even higher level of safety in vaccines. Selecting only specific key components for inclusion into the vaccine enhances their safety by eliminating unwanted parts of the agent (such as certain cell wall components) that produce common vaccine side effects such as fevers.

When a foreign agent enters the body, the immune system rallies and sends sentry cells to protect the fort. If a novel agent is identified, a complex series of events ensues that results in the production of antibodies or cell-based immune responses. In the immune system, cells are educated to recognize these new foreigners, and remember the important response information (memory cells). It is the memory cells that provide the key to long-term vaccine-induced protection against these agents. Memory cells may keep their programming for many years. Natural infections and vaccines both produce protective reactions in the body.

Immunity to a disease depends on a functional immune system. Animals under significant stress, such that their system defense is “tied up” doing other work, or is weakened to the point of not being able to muster the forces will not develop full immunity, even if the vaccine is fully potent. Sometimes also, in very young puppies and kittens, the maternal antibodies that their mother passes on to them interfere with the response to the vaccine, and so boosters are given until the maternal interference naturally degenerates. The youngster is then capable of a full immune response. Because youngsters lose the protection of the mother’s transferred antibodies at different ages, the vaccines are given so that the schedule covers the timeframe from earliest to latest age of maternal protection loss.

Boosters are essential for most vaccines because the proper education of these memory cells requires the presentation of the offending foreigner more than once. This “anamnestic” response is a learned programmed reactivity, and one-time exposure may sometimes not be enough to trigger memory.

Note that vaccines are produced against the most common types of disease agents. Within a family of bacteria or viruses, variants can be present, or may emerge by the process of genetic mutation. For this reason, new disease types may emerge and vaccines may need to be adjusted to cover the animal against a new subtype of the agent.

An important thing to remember is that the animal is not considered fully vaccinated until ALL of the booster series is complete + 2 weeks. It takes 10-14 days following the vaccine administration in order to complete a full response.

No vaccine is 100% effective due to the reasons given above, and others. Even so, most are very close to it, and the horrible illnesses they prevent are much less common now thanks to the widespread acceptance by owners of the vaccination recommendations given by their health care team. Though vaccines can produce side effects, when they are administered to reflect the risk and lifestyle of each patient, the probability of side effects is low indeed. Their cost is also miniscule when compared to the cost of treating a case of one of the preventable, severe diseases we protect against. The pet population is fortunate indeed in these modern times because of excellent control of epidemics by vaccination and hygiene that in past times, lead to widespread death and serious illness.

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First Commercially Cloned Dog

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Six years ago, a Boca Raton family froze their dog Lancelot’s DNA.

Monday they picked up their new pooch that just happens to have all their former dog’s genes.

“The only sad thing about dogs is that they have such a short life, wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could live your life with the same dog,” said Nina Otto, Lancy’s owner.

Turns out you can… sort of.

“It truthfully is amazing to me that this process has come to be and that I am getting, if not my dog, certainly the essence of Lancelot and it looks so much like him that, well… He’s a clone, so he should look like him,” said Otto. “Lancy was the first dog, commercially that they did clone because his DNA was frozen and very viable.”

Bioarts International CEO Lou Hawthorne, a cloning and stem cell research guru, brought little Lancy to Miami International Airport from Korea.

The adorable Lancy is cute as a button, but a clone is a walking controversy.

“People think that cloning dogs is a stepping stone to cloning people. Dogs are actually harder to clone than people,” said Hawthorne.

The 3-month old puppy is reportedly a clone of a canine the Otto family just couldn’t live without, their yellow 11-year-old Labrador Sir Lancelot, who died last year on New Year’s Eve.

“Lancelot was very human and he… He just… We used to call him our prince charming, ” said Otto.

The price of royalty is steep. For what it cost to buy a modest home or fancy car, the Ottos cloned the dog they say was worth so much more.

“It cost over 150-thousand dollars, so it was a lot of money. So, as I said before I did sell something that was precious to me to get something that was even more precious to me,” said Otto.

Nina Otto sold some big time jewelry to finance what she describes as the future.

“Yes, it’s expensive now, but as we know with everything, once it becomes college knowledge, it loses its value and it will become less expensive, ” said Otto.

Sitting on 12 acres in Boca Raton, the Ottos have 9 dogs, 4 birds, 10 cats, 6 sheep and now little Lancy.

The bright ray of life will fit in just fine, but in a dim economic climate why would someone spend six figures on a dog.

“It was last may. I probably, at this point and time I would’ve said, you know, we really shouldn’t do it, it’s just economically not a good idea, but it was done, so thank god and thank god… The money is gone and he’s here and that’s what’s more important to me,” said Otto.

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Peanut Butter Pet Food Recall

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

PetSmart – The Facts

Peanut Butter Pet Food Recall
PetSmart Facts
January 23, 2009

Voluntary recall information

With the recent FDA announcement of a salmonella investigation involving peanut butter products distributed through the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), we are working closely with all of our vendors to verify whether there are any implications for our customers and their pets through the products sold in our stores.

Although we’re not aware of any confirmed illness related to these products, we voluntarily removed 12 products as a precaution.

What has been recalled?

At this time, only these UPCs are affected.

Here’s the updated, complete list of products included in the recall with their UPC code, also known as a bar code.

Check the description and UPC of any food you may have against this list. The UPC can be found on the product label under a series of bars. If you need help, ask any PetSmart store associate.

UPC Description Date Recalled Stores Affected

Canada and U.S.

063725542005 Carolina Prime
6″ Rawhide Bone Peanut Butter
Rawhide January 23, 2009 U.S. and Canada

063725542003 Carolina Prime
4″ Rawhide Bone Peanut Butter
Rawhide January 23, 2009 U.S. and Canada

063725542000 Carolina Prime
2pk Hooves Peanut Butter
Hooves January 23, 2009 U.S. and Canada

063725542007 Carolina Prime
6″ Beef Shank Peanut Butter
Dog Bone January 23, 2009 U.S. and Canada

09109333354 Healthy-hide Deli-wrap (Salix)
3-pack, 5-inch Peanut Butter Treats January 22, 2009 U.S. and Canada

US Only

73725702900 Grreat Choice Dog Biscuits Small Assorted 32 oz. January 20, 2009 U.S. only
73725700601 Grreat Choice Dog Biscuits Small/Medium Assorted 4 lb. January 20, 2009 U.S. only
73725700605 Grreat Choice Dog Biscuits Small/Medium Assorted 8 lb. January 20, 2009 U.S. only
73725702755 Grreat Choice Dog Biscuits Small/Medium Assorted 10 lb. January 20, 2009 U.S. only
73725700638 Grreat Choice Dog Biscuits Large Assorted 8 lb. >January 20, 2009 U.S. only
73725700779 Grreat Choice Dog Biscuits Extra Large Assorted 8 lb. January 20, 2009 U.S. only
73725700766 Grreat Choice Dog Biscuits Peanut Butter 4 lb. January 20, 2009 U.S. only

What about other peanut butter products?

We’re in communication with all of our vendors to make sure there are no other products implicated by the FDA announcement, and that we have the most updated and accurate information to share with you concerning this recall.
We’ll continue to keep you informed of any developments regarding the recall by posting any updated information on this website, as well as in our stores.

What is salmonella?

Salmonellosis is an infection with bacteria called salmonella. Most persons infected with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment. However, in some persons, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. In these patients, the salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness.

Have any pets become ill from these products?

We’re not aware of any confirmed illness related to these products. These products were recalled voluntarily as a precaution, not because pets were getting sick.

Our focus remains on making sure that Pet Parents have the right information to take care of their pets, and recalled products are removed from our stores and website as quickly as possible.

What we’re doing about the recall

Any news that involves a pet food recall naturally causes uncertainty and worry for our customers. We are deeply concerned, and our first thoughts are for the well-being of you and your pets.

Please be assured that, as always, we handled this recall with the utmost urgency to ensure our shelves and website are free of recalled product.

We immediately removed all recalled product, and have precautions in place to make sure they are not re-stocked.

To the best of our knowledge, and based on information from our suppliers and government regulators, customers can continue to use pet food and treats that haven’t been subjected to recall.

What should you do?

If you purchased any recalled treat products, you should discontinue use immediately and return the pet food to any PetSmart for a complete refund or exchange.

If you have any concerns that your or your pet’s health has been affected by any of these recalled treat products, we recommend you contact your medical professional.

Keep informed. At PetSmart, we’re committed to keeping you informed of any developments regarding the recall. We’ll continue to post any updated information on this website, as well as in our stores.

If you have any additional questions about this recall, please call PET SMART Customer Service line at 1-888-839-9638.

Source

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=196265&p=factset16

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Dog Biscuits Recalled

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

Albertson’s is pulling some dog biscuits off the shelf due to possible salmonella contamination.

Happy Tails multi-flavored dog biscuits were made with potentially contaminated peanut butter. The biscuits were sold in eight states, including Oregon.

This is the second brand of dog treats added to the recall after PetSmart pulling some Grreat Choice dog biscuits last week.

The recall could turn out to be the biggest in U.S. history as it now includes more than 200 items from snacks to prepared meals that were made with peanut butter products from Peanut Corporation of America’s Blakely, Georgia, plant.

Nine people have been sickened in Oregon, along with more than 480 nationwide and in Canada.

Eleven deaths are linked to the tainted peanut butter products.

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Canadian shelter has dog for Obama family

Monday, January 26th, 2009

A Canadian shelter is hoping a rescued Labradoodle puppy will make an ideal gift from Canada’s government for US President Barack Obama on his first foreign visit, likely next month.

The Winnipeg Humane Society helped police break up an illegal puppy mill in the city in December, and seized 55 Labradoodles, including 21 puppies and two pregnant females.

One of them, named “Lilly,” has since given birth to a litter of 11 “bright and happy” puppies, the shelter’s executive director Bill MacDonald told AFP.

“When I learned that President Obama’s first official state visit would be to Canada, and that he was looking for a puppy for his daughters, I thought a shelter puppy would make a great gift from our government,” he said.

Obama promised daughters Sasha, seven, and Malia, 10, a dog as a reward for their forbearance of the rigors of the presidential campaign.

The list of breeds in contention was narrowed by Malia’s allergy to dogs, making it necessary that the first family pick an allergy friendly breed.

The US president has said his preference would be to adopt a pound dog rather than getting one from a breeder or pet shop, and narrowed the search to either a Labradoodle or Portuguese water dog.

“We’re now going to start looking at shelters to see when one of those dogs might come up,” Obama told ABC’s This Week in an interview.

MacDonald said he wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office which passed on his dog offer to foreign affairs officials, who are considering the proposal.

The cute and cuddly Labradoodle is a cross between Canada’s iconic Labrador Retriever breed, which originated on the Atlantic island province of Newfoundland, and France’s Poodle. Labs are the most popular breed in the United States, and crossing and dog with the nonshed poodle usually results in a lower-shed pet.

Lilly’s litter, now in foster care, will be ready for adoption in the third week of February when they are done nursing. The brood includes blonde and black pups.

Obama is expected to visit Canada in February or March. A date has not yet been announced.

The Obama family has also received offers of a hairless dog from a canine club in Peru, and search help from the American Kennel Club.

What kind of dog the Obamas will ultimately choose has drawn enormous public interest, and seems likely to spark a bump in popularity for whatever breed the first family ultimately settles upon.

Every president since Calvin Coolidge, elected in 1923, has had at least one dog in the White House, according to dogsinthenews.com.

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Dog Owners Are Warned About Chicken Jerky

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

The Food and Drug Administration continues to caution consumers about a potential connection between dogs becoming ill and the consumption of chicken jerky products (also described as chicken tenders, strips or treats) imported from China.

The FDA issued a warning in September 2007 but does not have the authority to demand a recall. At least one firm in Australia has recalled its chicken jerky product, and the recall notification said the chicken jerky product was made in China.

Symptoms include decreased activity, vomiting, diarrhea (sometimes with blood) and increased water consumption and urination. Although most dogs seem to recover, some reports indicate that dogs have died from renal failure. The poison has not been identified.

Veterinarians and consumers should report cases of animal illness associated with pet foods to the FDA consumer complaint coordinator, at http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/complain.html, in their states.

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Afghan war dog coming to Canada

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

An Afghan war dog that has protected NATO soldiers fighting here is moving on to a more peaceful life in Canada.

The friendly white dog named Mushe, whose furry mug was splashed across Canadian newspapers in mid-November, will go to live on an Ontario farm next spring when the two military police soldiers who have adopted her finish their tours.

Mushe has become a life-protecting companion for those soldiers, their comrades, and an Afghan police detachment at their small outpost in one of the most violent areas of southern Afghanistan. She goes on patrol, entering compounds before the soldiers and police, barking if anyone is there. She keeps Afghan men of fighting age at bay, letting only small children near the soldiers and police.

After Mushe’s story was published in Canwest newspapers across Canada in a story on pets at Canadian bases, Canada’s military brass decided to grant approval for the dog to be flown to Canada, where she’ll live in Chatham, Ont.

“Family friends have a large farm back home,” said Cpl. Gordon Martin of 2 Military Police unit in Petawawa, Ont., who, with Cpl. Nikki Bucci of the same unit, first proposed bringing their wartime companion to Canada. “They have a few hundred acres so they have all the space and the room for her. She can’t be penned up – she’s not a dog used to being in close quarters. Having her run around on the farm – I think she’ll feel right at home.”

In early December, Bucci had travelled from their outpost in war-ravaged Zhari district to the NATO base at Kandahar Airfield, and while there, made initial inquiries about Mushe’s prospects of moving to Ontario.

“A couple of days later we got the phone call from HQ which said it was approved,” Martin said.

The veterinary contingent at the airfield base, who are responsible for dogs used in bomb-sniffing and security operations, have agreed to provide Mushe with the shots she’ll need for clearance to live in Canada, Martin said.

The born-and-raised Afghan dog’s street smarts exceed those of at least one specially trained import. On an operation last week, an American bomb-sniffing German shepherd on its first mission away from the NATO base found a container holding liquid residue from insurgents’ homemade explosive. The animal promptly began lapping it up, a few hours later suffering an uncomfortable bout of diarrhea.

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Doggie Banana Biscotti

Monday, January 19th, 2009

Banana Biscotti

4 cups flour

1 cup oatmeal (ground fine)

1/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil

1 egg

1 1/2 cup pureed banana

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/3 cups well chopped peanuts

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons vanilla

You may need small amount of water.

Preheat oven to 325.

Add all dry ingredients to large bowl, form a well with dry ingredients. Blend oil, banana, and egg with blender or food processor. Add a bit into well, start to incorporate wet with dry ingredients. Adding a small amount until all is mixed. Ay this time you may have to add a small amount of water. Add 1 teaspoon at a time. Knead with your hands until you have a soft non-sticky dough.

Form dough into a log, approximately 2 inches wide by 2 ½ inches high. Now flatten the log, until it is approximately 6 inches wide and 1 inch high.

Place log into a non-stick baking sheet that has been lightly greased. Place in oven, bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven, cool for 10 minutes. With a sharp knife cut across the log in ½ inch pieces. (If your dog is a small breed cut Biscotti once more in the middle, making two cookies, instead of the larger 1 cookie).

Place all cookies back on baking sheet, bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Let the Biscotti air cool for 2 hours. Store some in an air tight container, freeze some for future needs.

These Biscotti are packed full of nutrients, fiber, protein, Vitamins, and Carbohydrates, along with Omega 6 fatty acids and loads of trace elements.

Enjoy!

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Movie Reivew

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Hotel for Dogs

Guaranteed to provoke a sophisticated film goer’s inner W.C. Fields, Hotel for Dogs may have a case of artistic mange, but it’s commercially foolproof: The kids are cute, the dogs are cuter, the dogs outnumber the kids, and the adult world is defeated by truth, justice and Don Cheadle, who apparently never heard Fields’ prohibition about working with children or animals. Cheadle escapes with his career intact, if not necessarily his dignity.

This comedy, starring perfectly pleasant up-and-comer Emma Roberts (Julia’s niece), is about kids, not parents. Andi (Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) have been parentless for three years, smuggling their dog Friday from foster home to foster home, always getting evicted after infractions, violations or minor criminal acts. Their social worker Bernie (Cheadle) is so desperate that he has placed the kids with Lois and Carl Scudder (Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon), married rockers who appear to have more fleas than the entire four-legged cast.

Deprived of affection, guidance and decent nutrition, Andi and Bruce stumble on an abandoned hotel in downtown Los Angeles and decide to turn it into a home for unwanted pups.

For all the latent social criticism of Hotel for Dogs, it’s a candy-coated romp through death and abandonment. Like some grim Peanuts strip come to life, none of the young people in the film ever has anywhere to be, or anyone to answer to, outside of one another and the hotel, where Bruce rigs up automatic feeders, toilets (yes!) and a virtual amusement park for the growing number of dogs that wander into the place. The obvious questions of hygiene are answered in loving detail, and if you know kids who respond more positively the higher a movie’s yuck factor, they’ll be delirious by the end of Hotel for Dogs.

On the upside, the movie could do something really positive for the cause of homeless pets: If audiences respond the way they should, dog shelters could be emptied in a week.

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