It never seems to amaze me how tightly knit the pet community really is. I used to go for walks on a nightly basis just to get some exercise after dinner. On occasion I would see people as I walked, but never really took the time to stop and say hi. We have now had our pet for a couple of years and every time we go for a walk it takes us twice as long to finish because we stop and talk to every pet owner along the way. It makes the walk a social event instead of exercise. Although I might not have a big Facebook following, but I do have a lot of friends aquaintences within the pet community. Also my walks have become my best source of pet information. I usually get the best advice about what pet groomer to use ,where to go for walks, training techniques, and even how to help my pet of it is sick. I don’t know about other pet owners but I really enjoy my walks now. Does anyone else have similar experiences when walking their pets? We would love to hear about them.

The answer is YES! Dogs, just like humans, can certainly get sunburned. Mostly in areas where there is not a lot of hair such as their bellies and inner thighs. Also be careful of dogs with light colored noses. Obviously, hairless dogs are very prone to sunburn as well. If your pet loves to sunbathe or you’re going to take them out into the sun for any long period of time it is recommended that you apply sunscreen. There are sunscreens created especially for pets. Be sure not to use your “human” sunscreen on them. The zinc oxide found in normal sunscreen can be harmful to your pet if they decide to lick it off. The pet sunscreens do not contain zinc oxide and are safe if ingested. You can find doggie sunscreen in just about any pet store. Here is a link to a brand we sell on seniorpets.com

http://www.seniorpetproducts.com/product/pet-sprayon-sunscreen-p2246.html?&parent=0

Remember sunscreen needs to be reapplied every few hours, just like on us humans. Enjoy the sun with your furry friend this year and don’t let them get sunburn!

The other night Luke and I decided to take a late night walk. Usually we don’t go out walking after dark but I was having a stressful week and thought it might be nice. Shortly after we left the house we were crossing a neighborhood street and low and behold some bozo comes racing down the street and misses Luke and I by about 10 feet. It immediately made me think that we needed to take some safety precautions if we were going to make this walking after dark thing a habit. The next morning I went straight to the computer and ordered Luke one of these from seniorpetsproducts.com:

http://www.seniorpetproducts.com/product/puplight-safety-flashlight–p2244.html?&parent=308

We have since taken a few more walks after dark and I feel much, much safer! Here are a few other tips as well:

Be Visible-The safety flashlight was a great purchase, also wearing bright clothing or something reflective will do the job as well.

Keep Your Dog on the Lead- Don’t let them walk off the lead at night; it is too dangerous to not have control of where they can go. It’s also important to keep the lead fairly close to you so you can have better control as well.

Tell Someone Where You are Going- If, heaven forbid, something were to happen to you and your pup while you are out at least someone knows you where you are and can be aware if you don’t return when you say you will return.

Walking the dog at night can be very refreshing and great exercise for our four-legged friends right before bed but please be safe out there!

Jack

I really wanted to take some nice photos of Luke the other day and it was one of the most frustrating experiences ever! I decided to look up some tips online that might help me out. I wanted to share a few things I learned. For starters, use natural light. Not only do the photos look better but also flashes cause red eye and they can really spook your pet. Don’t try and make them sit or stay in a certain spot. Instead go to them. Follow them around and try and capture them naturally. Going along with that same idea it helps if you surprise them. After a while they get what you are trying to and become even less cooperative. Last but not least be patient! If your pet feels that you are stressed or getting frustrated with them they will feed of that. If you’re calm and collective most likely they will be too. I hope this info was helpful and you can have a more pleasant experience next time you go to snap photos of your furry friend.

I realized Sammy was getting old when I saw her limping around the house. It was hard to see our dog go through so much pain. I never really knew what to do for her besides making her as comfortable as possible. Luckily with the technology of medicine our pets no longer have to suffer from similar degenerative joints. Many of our readers currently have senior pets that they love very much. We understand that with age dogs and cat joints begin to breakdown. To ensure the best quality of life for your pet Senior Pets is having a sale on Chondro Flex II chewable tablets. These pills are designed to target joint problems and provide maximum therapeutic support for dogs and cats with a predisposition to degenerative joint disorders, pain, inflammation, and joint stiffness. This supplement effectively can reduce inflammation and support connective tissue maintenance and repair, including joints, synovial fluid, tendons, ligaments and cartilage. We hope this blog post might be of help to our readers, it sure was a big help to us, and especially Sammy!