Secondhand smoke kills pets too

If you smoke, please refrain from smoking around your pets. Secondhand smoke can cause the same respiratory effects in dogs as it does in people, and they may develop life-threatening nasal and lung cancers.

Nicotine is also highly toxic if ingested, so keep all tobacco products out of reach. If a dog accidentally eats any tobacco product, they run the risk of collapse, coma and possibly death. If your guests smoke, be sure to point them outside and have an ashtray for disposal on hand.

For more information about protecting the health of your furry friend, please visit the ASPCA’s Guide to Pet Care.

The ultimate in recycling.

Photo from Dogs Life Magazine
Originally uploaded by Dog's Life Magazine

Choose adoption over pet stores because it's the right thing to do. With so many wonderful dogs out there, rescue dogs are a great way to enrich your life. When buying puppies from a pet store, you may unknowingly be supporting puppy mills.

All breeds, ages and sizes are available at shelters, rescue groups and your animal control. Dogs who are a little older make great pets because they usually come potty trained and aren't as hyper as a puppy. To search for a specific breed, size and age; visit Petfinder.com.

For a great article on pet adoption, please check out Dogs Life Magazine. Click on photo to visit their Flickr photo-stream.

It's Nat'l Pet ID Week – April 18-24.

Here's Cercei!
Originally uploaded by reneetellezphotography

Here are four things you should do, if you haven't already:

• Take a picture of your pet and make sure you have a current image on your computer or at any of the following places: Flickr, Snapfish, Shutterfly, Dogster or any of the many photo/file sharing sites. You may also want to have one put in your pet's chart at the vet's office.

• Microchip your pet. Any vet's office will do it. It's cheap and is a great way to permanently ID your pet.

• Make a contact list for your pet. This is a list of names, phone numbers, email and addresses of people that know you and your pet well.

• Register with a pet ID and recovery service.

Visit Dogster.com for more information. They also have a coupon for $3 off the "Together Tag", which is in partnership with the American Red Cross. We are currently enrolled with the American Kennel Club's Companion Animal Recovery.

I hope that none of us ever have to use these programs, but it's a great idea to have in case of an emergency. Let's keep our pets safe!

Only a few more weeks to sponsor us.

With hard economic times among us, animal shelters are needing help more than ever. Can you spare just $5? $10? Whatever the amount, every little bit counts. Please sponsor me in this wonderful fund raiser. Go to my personal Walk & Wag page.

Happy Spring!

see more dog and puppy pictures

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