Harper just turned “one” on New Year’s day and he’s pretty excited about it! When you were that age (about 12 in human years), you probably had energy to burn, too. And, your favorite fuel was likely cookies.
We met up with this spirited Springer Spaniel after he’d been on an “extremely” long walk to help burn-off a bit of that puppy energy.
Harper was refueling at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Exeter Street where Sunday newspaper vendor Jimmy Taylor sets up shop with a supply of cookies for neighborhood dogs.
Harper wasted no time chowing down on several obviously irresistible treats to help him regain his strength.
At only a year old, Harper has already learned that when it’s time to refuel, you can’t be shy about asking for more. After all, you gotta keep up your strength for those long walks.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Harper just turned “one” on New Year’s day and he’s pretty excited about it! When you were that age (about 12 in human years), you probably had energy to burn, too. And, your favorite fuel was likely cookies.
We met up with this spirited Springer Spaniel after he’d been on an “extremely” long walk to help burn-off a bit of that puppy energy.
Harper was refueling at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Exeter Street where Sunday newspaper vendor Jimmy Taylor sets up shop with a supply of cookies for neighborhood dogs.
Harper wasted no time chowing down on several obviously irresistible treats to help him regain his strength.
At only a year old, Harper has already learned that when it’s time to refuel, you can’t be shy about asking for more. After all, you gotta keep up your strength for those long walks.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Here’s a great resolution for you to make on behalf of your companion animals. Resolve to prevent all possible damage to their health and do what you can to keep them healthy and happy in 2016 and beyond. Today, we'll talk about obesity and take up other preventative topics in the month ahead.
Did you know that when surveyed by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), more than one-third of veterinarians reported that 41% to 60% of their time was spent treating preventable health issues?
(Photo courtesy of the AVMA)
Prevent Obesity
According to The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP), “57.9% of cats and 52.7% of dogs are overweight or obese.” Since you have complete control over the amount of food and exercise your dog or cat receives, you can prevent or reduce the risks associated with obesity.
What are those risks? The APOP lists: osteoarthritis, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart and respiratory disease, cranial cruciate ligament injury, kidney disease, many forms of cancer, and sadly a decreased life expectancy of up to 2.5 years.
Your veterinarian can help you set an ideal weight for your pet and guidelines for an appropriate exercise program to help with weight loss. The APOP offers a collection of tools and tips.
To start, calculate how much food (including treats and chews) your dog or cat has been consuming on a daily basis. Review this with your vet and set a new goal. Measure out the daily food and treats you will offer under the weight loss plan. Be sure none of the people around your pet is sabotaging your efforts by sneaking extra calories to the dog or cat.
Exercise is the second half of the healthy pet equation. Daily walks for dogs or play sessions for cats can be increased in time and intensity. Your critter not only will lose weight and build muscle but also will enjoy the mental stimulation.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.
Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino Photos: (Photo courtesy of the AVMA)
Here’s a great resolution for you to make on behalf of your companion animals. Resolve to prevent all possible damage to their health and do what you can to keep them healthy and happy in 2016 and beyond. Today, we'll talk about obesity and take up other preventative topics in the month ahead.
Did you know that when surveyed by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), more than one-third of veterinarians reported that 41% to 60% of their time was spent treating preventable health issues?
(Photo courtesy of the AVMA)
Prevent Obesity
According to The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP), “57.9% of cats and 52.7% of dogs are overweight or obese.” Since you have complete control over the amount of food and exercise your dog or cat receives, you can prevent or reduce the risks associated with obesity.
What are those risks? The APOP lists: osteoarthritis, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart and respiratory disease, cranial cruciate ligament injury, kidney disease, many forms of cancer, and sadly a decreased life expectancy of up to 2.5 years.
Your veterinarian can help you set an ideal weight for your pet and guidelines for an appropriate exercise program to help with weight loss. The APOP offers a collection of tools and tips.
To start, calculate how much food (including treats and chews) your dog or cat has been consuming on a daily basis. Review this with your vet and set a new goal. Measure out the daily food and treats you will offer under the weight loss plan. Be sure none of the people around your pet is sabotaging your efforts by sneaking extra calories to the dog or cat.
Exercise is the second half of the healthy pet equation. Daily walks for dogs or play sessions for cats can be increased in time and intensity. Your critter not only will lose weight and build muscle but also will enjoy the mental stimulation.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.
Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino Photos: (Photo courtesy of the AVMA)
We like to pause at the end of a year to look back on the wonderful, new dogs we've met along the way and to take another look at those who are among our best pals.
We enjoy seeing dogs, meeting dogs, and talking to dog pals and their people as we wander around Boston. We take photos of some of them and this group is just a peek at the great ones we've met and featured both here and as a photo to accompany Penny's City Paws newspaper column.
Thanks for posing for us and thanks for making our days more interesting and fulfilling.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.
We like to pause at the end of a year to look back on the wonderful, new dogs we've met along the way and to take another look at those who are among our best pals.
We enjoy seeing dogs, meeting dogs, and talking to dog pals and their people as we wander around Boston. We take photos of some of them and this group is just a peek at the great ones we've met and featured both here and as a photo to accompany Penny's City Paws newspaper column.
Thanks for posing for us and thanks for making our days more interesting and fulfilling.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.
Poppy loves her food and loves to lick-and-lick-and-lick the bowl clean. Now she can do that to her heart's content without chasing that bowl across the floor. That's because of the sticking power of her her new ezpz Happy Bowl.
This product was not designed for dogs but it certainly works to keep a bowl stuck to the floor while our dog dines in her energetic mode. It would also work for a dog or cat who spills their water or pushes food around. (Our Maggie Mae loved to push food away.)
We have some small stainless steel restaurant supply prep bowls that pop into the ezpz perfectly. (We bought the prep bowls in an Asian market and they are 4 11/16 inches wide.) Since we weigh Poppy's food, they work well for us on our kitchen scale.
It does take longer to feed our little Poppy now, since she will spend a good five minutes in non-stop, high-speed licking once the dish is empty. (The photo above gives you some idea of her licking skill. That is a pink tongue cleaning the outside of her pink bowl.) We love watching her enjoy her food right down to the very last "maybe there is some left over here" lick.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.
The sight of a person enjoying an afternoon in a park with their dog as companion brings a smile to our faces. We’ve made many friends in Boston because of our dogs. And, those dogs have made friends with a good many other canines on our daily strolls.
Here's a sweet French Bulldog named Chunk sitting on a park bench with Poppy. Chunk is a she and one of the nicest, most people oriented dogs you could ever want to meet. Yes, she has her favorites like our friend John who has to give her special attention when he sees her. She would much rather share the bench with John than with Poppy.
Chunk wasn't sure what to make of this Poppy dog. For the most part, Poppy gives dogs a quick sniff and then she's back to her constant, worried watch for noisy things.
Some dogs are dog oriented and some are people oriented. Our Poppy has a few folks that she adores and a lot of folks that she likes. Most of the time outside, she's more concerned about noise and trucks than people or dogs. But she does enjoy a sit on a bench when there are no trucks or construction locations in sight.
And, if a friendly dog like Chunk wants to share her bench, that's fine with her.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.
.