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Winter Walk Time? Grab the Cooking Spray First!

PetSugar — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:00:24 -0800

If your pet's still hesitant about wintertime walks, and not as willing to wear the booties as you'd hope, try the tip I was emailed just this week: Prevent those painful ice balls between paw pads and spritz the paws with a cooking spray before talking that next potty break. You'll still need to wash his feet when he gets back in (which you should be doing anyway because of the possible poisons on the sidewalks), but this will at least combat the pain that makes summertime scampering look more like slinking down the street these days.

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Do Tell: How Do You Treat Icy Sidewalks?

PetSugar — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:30:12 -0800

I've already mentioned the dangers of ice melts but what do you do when faced with steps full of snow?! I want to hear your best recommendations for environmentally (and pet) safe products to prevent slipping in wintry weather.

I know that some people use eco-tastic sand, grit, or gravel to add traction but keep plants and waterways safe, yet I imagine that can get kinda muddy, too. If you've made a home in a place with the white stuff, what will you sprinkle on the steps, driveway, and sidewalk this season?

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PetSugar Street Team: Neo-Paws Keep Paws Good As New

PetSugar — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:40:15 -0800

If your dog's trudging through snow or scampering on icy sidewalks treated with salt, it's important to keep their paw pads protected. Granted this can look a bit silly to nondog owners, but it's important since the lime-rock or calcium chloride melts are poisonous to pets. Shoes prevent the risk of a pup cutting or licking his feet, but I can tell you from experience, it's hard to find ones that stay on! If you're in the market for a new set, the ones Reuben wears here come personally recommended by the Goldendoodle's human mom, Beaner, who says:

My husband did a bunch of research and other booties seemed too short. These Neo-Paws Regular Performance Dog Shoes ($34 and up per pair) have a long strip of velcro you can wrap around the dog's legs. They take a little more effort to get them on, but they're so worth it.

I'm happy knowing this pup's protected and love hearing firsthand reviews of your pets' product picks. If you've got great things to say about your furry friends' fave items, keep sharing them with PetSugar's Street Team!

Peanut Butter Ice Cubes Will Keep Pup Cool and Happy

PetSugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:00:42 -0700

With the temps rising (and the fact that North and I would eat just about anything containing peanut butter) I was excited to try a few of the peanut butter goodies that my new Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook – a July Must Have – offered up. One of the easiest and best suited for the recent hot weather are the Peanut Butter Ice Cubes! Is there a more delicious way to stay cool on a hot day in the city? I don't think there is.

Check out the insanely easy recipe for these cool treats when you read more.

Cool Peanut Butter Cubes For Dogs
The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook

Hot days are in full effect, so keep your pup cool with these yummy peanut butter ice cubes.

Ingredients

3 cups Plain Non-Fat Yogurt
1 cup Unsalted Peanut Butter
1 tbsp. Honey

Directions
Combine all ingredients and whisk thoroughly. Pour mixture into ice cube trays and freeze solid (at least two hours).
Serve to your pup one cube at a time for some seriously enjoyable icy cool treats!

Print recipe with images | without images

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Ten Tips 'Til the Holiday: City Sidewalks

PetSugar — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:30:48 -0800

In many states, it is legal to put down lime-rock salt or calcium-chloride salt to melt the snow on city streets. However, this seemingly innocuous substance is very poisonous to dogs – when pups return inside, and lick their paws, it can cause them to throw up (or worse). Also, its rough texture can cut their little feet and put salt in their wounds, literally . . . ouch! When animals who have walked on salt-covered paths return home, be sure to clean paws off thoroughly or put booties on them before they go outside. Remember trudging through snowbanks in your boots is completely different than pooches wading through the cold stuff up to their bellies! Consider toting a little shovel or pointy-tipped umbrella to clear a trail for your pup to do his business on snowy roads.

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The Scoop: Accelerated Ice Melt Threatens Life in the Arctic

PetSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:00:35 -0700

Not only does the ice help regulate the earth's temperature, but it also sustains life by giving access to food to many Arctic creatures. Unfortunately, with the ice shelf melting at an alarming rate (about 10 percent per decade), it's having a deadly effect on the Polar Bears native to the region. Kassie Siegel, staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity explains:

The Arctic sea ice melt is a disaster for the polar bears. They are dependent on the Arctic sea ice for all of their essential behaviors, and as the ice melts and global warming transforms the Arctic, polar bears are starving, drowning, even resorting to cannibalism because they don't have access to their usual food sources.

But the Arctic ice melt doesn't just affect residents of the north. See how this will affect us here in the US, just read more.

Melting of the Arctic ice not only effects our temperature, but it also means a change in the weather patterns. It could mean less rain for us . . . which means lower crop production. Experts say that the Arctic could be ice free during the Summer within the next five years! Although it's debated that this climate change is a natural occurrence, I'm frightened to see what that Earth would look like without our Arctic friends so soon!

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Emergency Ice Qube Won't Melt!

PetSugar — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:00:56 -0700

I took along my "go-bag" when I left a previous job where all employees received this handy emergency kit we (thankfully) never needed. The handiest thing about it was its fairly small size with everything packed in.

Little did I know they make similar things for pets! There's one for cats ($55) or dogs ($55) and a variety for other home and office uses. What strikes me about the cat one is the folding litter box - pretty genius. All you need to do is grab some of your pal's favorite food and treats, since that could spoil, and you're good to go in a flash. Would you prepare for the worse and pick up one of these kits . . . or stock it on your next road trip?

Happy Birthday, Tai Shan (and Nine Other Icy Snacks For Zoo Animals)!

PetSugar — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:30:00 -0700

I could go for some frozen goodness right about now! Ice cream, margarita, even a Popsicle, I'm not picky. Now several zoos treat animals to cold relief (no artificial sweeteners or alcohol, of course), but do you know what goes into snacks like Tai Shan's Birthday "cake"? See a slideshow of ways to help animals chill out this Summer when you get started!

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Dog Days of Summer: Ice, Ice Baby

PetSugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:30:05 -0700

It's amazing what a little (frozen) water can do! If your pet's confined to a crate on hot days – and I strongly recommend you take care to make sure there's A/C or a fan nearby – try placing a few reusable ice packs under his crate pad.The simplest way to do this – resealable plastic bags! I buy the largest, gallon-sized freezer bags, fill about 80 percent with water, zip up, and lay flat to freeze! Definitely be careful if your pup's nails aren't filed down – you don't want him to accidentally puncture it and end up in a pool of water. Even though I find the freezer bags to be the sturdiest, if you've got no limit to your budget, there's the official On-Ice Bag ($50 and up) favored to keep show dogs cool when they're not in the ring.

See a couple more tips for icy drinks when you read more.

Many pups – like Samson – love to chase ice cubes (especially PB flavored) around the bowl with their tongues and adding these to water can keep them cool in the heat of the day. If you want to give them more long-lasting coolness, buy an extra stainless-steel water dish. In addition to a normal water bowl, freeze the second bowl 80 percent full of water to make an ice block. Leave both dishes on a pet's placemat so, as the day goes on, they'll have more chilly water to drink.

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The Scoop: Putting Frog Genes on Ice

PetSugar — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:00:00 -0700

Usually when I think of animal conservation, I think of protecting the animals' natural habitat, educating the masses on the need for conservation, and maybe even helping nature along with breeding, but I've never heard of putting them on ice!

In Moscow, a research team is trying to save the rarest of toad and frog species from extinction by freezing their sperm and eggs at minus 200 degrees for later use. With over 3,000 species on the endangered list, Natalia Sheshova from the Institute of Biophysics in Moscow says they are learning other ways to use science to their advantage as well:

“We’re learning to freeze embryo cells too, to give us a complete genetic picture. We hope that if a certain species does become extinct, we can retrieve the frozen cells and reproduce it.”

I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures!

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