Tag Archives: dog
DogDaz Zoo: My Pets – My Heart
I am not sure that I would know how to be in the world without the love of my pets. They ground me. They force me to be present and caring. They love me at my lowest, at my highest, and even when I have not brushed my teeth or combed my hair. They keep me honest and they make me smile. I am a better human because of my pets. Thank you Louise, Sofie Bear, Noel, Nine, Stella, and Mini Cooper for letting me be your caretaker. You are my furry heart.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
DogDaz Zoo: Why Adding ‘Human Food’ Is So Important
HERE’S WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO ADD FRESH “HUMAN FOOD” TO YOUR PET’S KIBBLE
Today, ninety-six percent of pet owners around the globe are feeding dry commercial pet foods. Of those 96%, there is a large majority that believes dried commercial pet food is really all their pet needs and would never stop to consider the benefits of adding fresh “human food”.
(“Human food” definition in this article: clean sources of meat-based proteins and some organic plant matter, not beer and nachos 😉)
There are many reasons why some of these pet parents feel this way, however the most popular reason today seems to be the 50-year-old rumor that is in existence and still spreading.
You know the one: “Giving your animal table scraps is bad!”
How or when did this terrible rumor start?
Well, if we go back in time, research shows that shortly after the invention of processed pet foods, manufacturers were having a hard time convincing pet parents to make the switch from foods in their refrigerators to their commercial pet foods.
So in 1964, the pet food industry, along with the PFI, joined together with a whole bunch of marketing dollars and launched one of the most influential campaigns the pet world had ever seen: the “Ban All Table Scraps from your Pets’ Bowls” campaign!
Through thousands of newspapers, magazines, and news stations, the public was warned about the dangers of table food scraps or “human food” and the importance of feeding “processed” commercial pet food. From there, the giant smear campaign took off!
Not only did this clever campaign work, but it was so impactful that now, 50 years later, folks are still in fear of offering anything that is not labeled pet food.
SO IS IT A GOOD THING TO ONLY OFFER YOUR PET DRIED KIBBLE?
Not according to ongoing research it isn’t, especially with today’s cancer rates being 1 in 2 dogs!
In a 2005 study conducted at Purdue University on Scottish Terriers, the results showed that adding fresh vegetables to dry commercial kibble actually prevented and/or slowed down the development of transitional cell carcinoma (aka bladder cancer)!
In the study, dogs ate a diet of dry commercial pet food, while some got an assortment of vegetables added to the mix at least 3 times per week.
When the study was concluded, according to the researchers, they weren’t really shocked by the results.
Here’s what they found:
Dogs that ate any green leafy vegetables, like broccoli, had reduced the risk of developing bladder cancer by 90% and the dogs that consumed any yellow – orange vegetables like carrots reduced the risk by 70%!
Seriously! A lousy carrot helped smash the potential of cancer.
( http://ilarjournal.oxfordjournals.org/content/55/1/100.full ) (Raghavan, Knapp, Bonney, 2005) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16013542/
Yes, of course cats are obligate carnivores (must have meat to survive) and our dogs are facultative carnivores (carnivores with omnivorous potential if circumstances demand) so offering clean meat-based protein sources should always be top priority and essential.
However, because today’s world is ever-so changing due to factory farmed livestock being fed genetically modified grains and our planet being contaminated with every type of pesticide, fungicide and larvicide, the importance of fresh, organic plant matter to help detox the body couldn’t be more crucial.
So if the “cancer reducing benefit” doesn’t tickle your fancy enough to convince you to add any “human fresh foods” to your pet’s bowl, then maybe think of it this way:
How bad would it suck if someone forced you to eat dry processed foods your whole lIfe?!
writen by: Rodney Habib – Pet Nutrition Blogger
———————————————————————————-
DogDaz Note: Louise and Sofie get canned veggies, greenbeans (Lulu’s favorite), peas, carrots, and sometimes mixed veggies, with NO SALT. I open the can and rinse the veggies under water, even if it says no salt, because I don’t trust the canning process. Louise likes her veggies mushy. Somedays, they get pumpkin instead.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Wordless Wednesday: The Winter Sky
The northern winter sky on the Magothy River, it kind of leaves me ‘wordless.’
Have a wonderful Wednesday.
This is a Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop. Thanks to BlogPaws for the hop. Head over there and see what they are blogging about.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Monday Mischief: Sofie Plays Hamlet
To jump, or not to jump, that is the question: 
“Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.–Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember’d.” – Hamlet by William Shakespeare
————————————————————————-
Alas, I guess I better not. My Mom would kill me. – Sofie Bear
What mischief did you get in today?
——————————————————–
This is a blog hop. I hopped it from MYBrownNewfies. Check them out for more mischief.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Black and White Sunday: CatNip Preferred
Why is it that no matter how many fun toys a dog has, the cat toy is always preferred?
Is that a cat paw sticking out from under the bed about to grab Sofie?
Have a great Sunday!
This is part of the Black and White Sunday Blog Hop. Thanks to Dachshund Nola and Sugar for hosting.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Wordless Wednesday: Cold Day and a Cormorant
I had to do a lot of calling because the dogs wanted to swim out to the platform in the icy water and eat the Cormorant. I am afraid she would have eaten them.
It is interesting that there is 2+ feet of snow up by the house but not on the banks of the river.
Have a wonderful Wednesday.
This is a Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop. Thanks to BlogPaws for the hop. Head over there and see what they are blogging about.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Monday Mischief: 29.2 Inches (74 Centimeters) of Snow
2 PM Friday 8 AM Saturday 8 AM Sunday 29.2 inches of snow Lost the fence.
This record breaking blizzard was not fun. The dogs want the grass back!!!! Finally, Louise taught Sofie how to make a path to the pine trees where the snow was a little less deep. Happily spring is only 47 days, 3 hours, 7 minutes, and 24 seconds away (time now 23:22 EST).
What mischief did you get into today?
——————————————————–
This is a blog hop. I hopped it from MYBrownNewfies. Check them out for more mischief.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Black and White Sunday: Zonked Out!
After a romp in the tall snow, Lulu looks like a puppy.
Have a great Sunday!
This is part of the Black and White Sunday Blog Hop. Thanks to Dachshund Nola and Sugar for hosting.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
Monday Mischief: The Nap
Louise does not really like any one (except maybe Mom) touching her. But Sofie, ever since she was a puppy, has made it her mission in life to cuddle up to Louise. Secretly maybe Louise likes it, but I don’t really think so. BOL (Bark Out Loud)
——————————————————–
This is a blog hop. I hopped it from MYBrownNewfies. Check them out for more mischief.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
