Diagnose Your Pet-Online?

By Tonia Evans
It’s Sunday-your Vet is closed till Tuesday, and all of a sudden your dog is doing something weird. You know it’s not an emergency, but you wish you had some more information to assess the situation and be better informed-maybe offer some home care for comfort. Great idea, but where do you turn?

You could call some of your best friends, they always have some advice to share, even if they’ve never had a pet before in their entire lives-they seem to know someone who has and they’ll have your tail spinning in no time! Or you could call your mom-she loves your Cookie Muffin Baby as if he were her own grandchild-right? I know it’s her grand-dog-this is a good mom. But lets face it-she might start getting more emotional than you are, and this could turn into a crazy scene on Sunday. Better not get the whole family involved!

On The Net I stumbled upon http://www.familypetservices.com, Their site says they’re “Striving to be the best 24 hour online pet care reference on the internet…” and after a quick review-I found it to be totally interesting-until I surfed up the cat option to diagnose my kitties skin bump-and suddenly the page read-”Coming Soon.” I guess they’re not cat savvy yet. They only started in 2000, I’ll give them a while-and check back.

To Diagnose Your Pet Click Here:http://www.familypetservices.com/cgi-bin/petdata/firstaid_interdata.asp

Remember-this can never replace going to a veterinarian for real-hands on medical care-but you already know that!

If you like this post please comment below-G-rated please!

Pictures Gallery-Maggie’s Dog House Event

By Tonia Evans

We had so much fun at this event, but everyone was very cold, being outside. A lot of locals came out and we got to meet lots of friendly and beautiful dogs.

The vendors had a variety of products and there were pet sitters and dog walkers available too. Pet owners seemed like they have a lot of fun. Tracy Woodman, writer of Trendy Tails, took pictures of the canine police dogs, but the pictures don’t really do the demonstration justice, as these dogs are so well trained that I recommend seeing them in action when you can-it’s very impressive. Enjoy!

Tonia

Lucy Celebrates The Biggest Loss of Her Life-30 Pounds!

By Tonia Evans

Get The Inside Scoop On How Your Dog Can Lose Weight too!
It’s Possible-with a healthy diet, and exercise.

Like many American dogs-Lucy had a problem with being overweight. Sure her pet parents thought she was simply Big Boned-but when her veterinarian had to schedule knee replacement surgery, at only 5 years old-the family finally realized they had to take her weight (Loss) seriously.

Lucy’s not alone, I’ve read that almost half of all the dogs veterinarians treat are overweight or obese. Now there’s hope for dogs (and cats) to lose weight, and it all starts with a plan.

Read more

Set A Trend-Support Spay/Neuter

By Tracy Woodman

“A monthly column Sniffing out trendiest pet pampering products and services.”

I can’t think of a better way to support Spay/Neuter efforts in Massachusetts than by buying an animal friendly license plate. Go Pet Friendly with your automobile and you’ll immediately be noticed as an animal lover around town!

A great program was implemented by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Massachusetts Animal Coalition (MAC)- a pet friendly license plate! The initial cost is 40.00 and 81.00 every other year upon license plate renewal.

Read more

PET INDUSTRY CLASSES & WORKSHOPS

By Tonia Evans
Here is a list of upcoming classes, For Tickets go to Classes & Workshops

Free Animal Welfare Promoters Workshop

Register for Saturday March 7th 9-10AM, Wed March 25th 5-6 PM, or April 8th 7-8 PM

Read more

“Best In Show” Drives South Shore Dogs To NY City

By Tonia Evans

Let’s Take A Sneak Peak and Get To Know
The Local Dogs That Will Be Attending The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show!

They’re barking up the right tree! About 2,500 canines from around the country will be competing for “Best in Show” at the 133rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, February 9-11th, in New York City-and some of the dogs are from right here in the South Shore!

We’ve asked their pet parents and handlers to share a little bit about their beautiful dogs. Make sure to watch them on TV or follow up by watching the Westminster Kennel Club online videos -go to: http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/ for more information. Read more

Paws In Print

By Tonia Evans

Pet Food Politics

The Chihuahua In The Coal Mine

Marion Nestle 2008

Pet lovers- do you feed your dog or cat manufactured pet food? Then you won’t want to miss reading the book Pet Food Politics-The Chihuahua In The Coal Mine, written by Marion Nestle. It gives a comprehensive account of how the pet food recall came about in 2007. It sheds light on what was secretly happening within the pet food companies-lots of details they wouldn’t want you or your favorite pet to know about! Read more

Trendy Tails

By Tracy Woodman

“A monthly column Sniffing out trendiest pet pampering products and services.”

In December I attended the Bay Colony Dog Show held in Boston at the Bayside Expo Center. As a proud pet parent of three dogs named Rocky (Puggle), Jake (Puggle) and Sasha (Brussels Griffon) and two cats named Caesar and Isaac, I couldn’t wait to uncover new and trendy dog products and share them with our South Shore Pet.Com readers! Read more

Healing After The Loss of My Dog

By Tonia C. Evans

Healing After The Loss of My Dog

Holly Dog

“Losing a pet is a profound loss, because they are with us everyday, and they know us more intimately than we know most people. For that reason it’s important to give yourself the time to rest, to be sad, to cry and reflect on the season of life we have with our beloved companions.”

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”
(Roger Caras)

Holly was my life dog. She wasn’t my childhood dog, or the family dog- she was all mine and I was hers, and now she is gone. Last Friday Holly became so sick, that I made the most difficult decision, to have her put to sleep. I wanted so badly to taker her home with me, and try the antibiotics that the doctors offered, but as an animal care specialist I knew deep in my heart that this time around, a few days of antibiotics were not going to make a difference for Holly’s quality of life. Read more

Border Collie Demonstration at Soule Farm Days

By Tonia Evans

This fall I was fortunate to attend Soule Farm Days, a weekend event that has music, vendors, delicious farm fresh food, activities for kids and my favorite-a Border Collie Demonstration. When I was in college, about to graduate with an Associates Degree in Animal Care, I was so fascinated with the Border Collie that I did my final report on them. Read more