I have a weakness...my dog's sad, pleading eyes. When I'm snacking on a tasty treat, it's very difficult to not give my dog, Sam, just a taste. Unfortunately, many of the seemingly harmless "people foods" that we enjoy can wreak havoc on your poor, unsuspecting dog's health.

For many years now, dog specialists seem to agree that to feed your dog on table scraps can be highly poisonous. As there is a variety of healthy, tasty foods to choose from, great care should be taken not to give foods that can harm your pet. One example being grapes.

Grapes are said to be harmful to the dog's kidneys and can eventually cause death.

Though it is not known how many grapes are considered fatally toxic, as few as 5 grapes can be poisonous to a dog that weighs 20 pounds.

What are the signs that your dog has eaten a toxic dose of grapes?

In about 24 hours your dog would start to vomit and diarrhoea and appear weak. Not withstanding you may notice these symptoms within a shorter period. Another sign is that your dog might urinate less, which is an indication that your dog's kidneys are failing.

What can be done now?

If you suspect that your dog has ingested any toxic substance, see your veterinarian immediately. It's likely that the dog will be monitored carefully and will receive large doses of fluids until the symptoms subside.

To stop this attack do not give your dog "people food". Get various tasty ingredients (suited for dogs) keeping in mind that this is not just a dog treat but also a healthy tasty snack for your pet.

Posted under Dogs

One of the most common ways to train dogs is called crate training. "Crates" are usually made from plastic or steel wire and come in different sizes. Crate training is considered to be one of the best forms of dog training.

The main reason that crate training is so effective is that dogs hate to pee where they sleep. Abiding by this principal, they learn to hold their urges to urinate until they are outside. Little by little the dog learns that outside is the place to pee.

During crate training, a puppy will spend almost all its time inside its crate. The puppy will only be allowed out of the crate during feeding time and when it is being supervised. Whenever the puppy is let out of its den (crate) it should be taken to the designated toilet area immediately.

The crate you buy should be big enough for your dog to easily move around in. A rough guide is to buy a crate that is 1.5 times the dog's length and at least a couple of inches higher than the dogs head (in standing position). Crates that are too big allow for toilet room. If your crate is too big you should block off one end to make it smaller. Plastic crates that have wire doors are the most functional crates. They are lightweight and easy to clean.

When crate training your puppy; best results are achieved when toilet breaks are frequent and at consistent intervals. This will minimize the number of accidents. Little by little you can extend the time your puppy is inside the crate without a break as the puppy will slowly build up bladder control.

It is very important that you build up a positive association of the crate. You can do this by feeding your dog close to (eventually inside) the crate and by rewarding your puppy's good behaviour by giving it treats inside the crate. Make the crate more comfortable for your puppy by putting its favourite toys and a soft blanket inside the crate.

One of the worst things you can do is use the crate as a place of punishment, or a prison. Avoid leaving your dog inside the crate for too long periods of time as your dog may begin to fear the crate.

Crate training is in most cases beneficial for both the dog and its owner. Some experts argue however that crate training can lead to psychological problems because the dog becomes so attached to the crate after passing so much time alone inside it.

It is highly recommended that you use a professional house training guide when starting to train your puppy. These not only save you a lot of time and energy, but also stress and frustration. Click the link below for more information.

Posted under Dogs

There are hundreds of Rendering Plants in the United States and they process millions of tons of dead, dying, diseased and disabled animals, fat and meat waste.

What is commonly found in rendering plants?

It's not uncommon, in a rendering plant, to find such dead animals as; skunks, snakes, opossums, cat, dogs, circus animals, raccoons, horses and foxes. In addition, the Rendering Plants also transforms billions of pounds of decaying flesh and kitchen grease, from mainly fast food restaurants, into billions of pounds of commercial meat and bone meal, tallow and yellow grease and much of it ends up in commercial pet foods.

Rendering Plants sell their products to cat and dog food companies as well as cosmetic companies. Yet they claim that by removing dead and decaying animals from our city streets, they are doing a public service and not doing it for profits.

Let's take a look inside

A look inside a Rendering Plant in California revealed A floor piled high with "Raw products" - thousands of dead dogs and cats, heads and hooves from cattle, sheep, pigs and horses, whole skunks, rats and raccoons - all waiting to be processed. In the 90-degree-heat, the pile of dead animals seems to have a life of their own as millions of maggots swarm over the carcasses.

It's as if you are witnessing a nightmare as you hear popping bones, squeezing flesh and the cries of the not yet dead animals as the poor souls emit their final sounds of agony as they face their final curtain.

During this process, a soup produces a fat of yellow grease or tallow that rises to the top and is skimmed off. The product is then sent to a hammer mill press which squeezes out the remaining moisture and pulverizes the product into a gritty powder. Shaker screens sift out excess hair and large bones. All that is left is yellow grease, meat and bone meal.

Every day of the week, Rendering Plants truck millions of tons of their products to manufacturers that put it into cosmetics and animal feed that ends up in pet food products and since humans eat meat, it can end up on our tables.

How can your pets possibly be benefiting from these products

Products labeled as meat meal, meat by-products, poultry meal, Poultry by-products, fish meal, fish oil, yellow grease, tallow, beef fat and chicken fat all are products of Rendering Plants.

There are additional ingredients, other than the aforementioned, added to pet foods and they include; flea collars from dogs, cats and other pets, Dursban from cattle insecticide patches, euthanized drugs used to put down pets and pharmaceutical leaks from antibiotics in livestock.

In spite of the fact that heavy metals from pets' ID tags, surgical pins and needles, plastic wrap from supermarket rejected meat, chicken and fish, according to Rendering Plant officials, they would incur too much cost to remove ID tags, Styrofoam trays and shrink wrap so that too becomes part of your pet food.

It's fair to say that without Rendering Plants, our cities would run the risk of becoming filled with diseased and rotting carcasses. Fatal viruses and bacteria would spread through the population but it's not safe for pet food manufacturers to use products produced at Rendering Plants.

In the final analysis, we have to understand that Rendering Plants produce products that are toxic to our pets. The drug Sodium Phenobarbital is used to euthanize pets of all type. This drug is not destroyed in the rendering process; therefore the product produced by the Rendering Plants that go into our pet foods contains sodium Phenobarbital.

The pet food companies have proven that they are not going to produce food that is wholesome, nutritional and good for our beloved pets.

They consistently produce pet foods that are killing our pets and millions of pet owners continue to buy their products and feed it to their pets. Pet owners have refused to invest the time to discover what goes into a bag of their cats' or other pet food.

There is something that all of you pet owners should realize, you are sentencing your pet to a premature and painful death. Yes, I'm speaking to you if you are one of millions of pet owners buying and feeding your pet commercial pet food. Simply put, if you fail to take time to discover what goes into the food that your pet eats the commercial pet food industry will capitalize on that and our pets will continue to to die prematurely and the makers of this food will continue to laugh all the way to the bank.

Posted under Dogs