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Resolve to Prevent: Keep Your Sunday Dog at a Healthy Weight in 2016

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)

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January 3, 2016
Resolve to Prevent: Keep Your Sunday Dog at a Healthy Weight in 2016

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)

Related articles

Finding Pros for Your Dog in Boston: Veterinarians and Groomers

Talk to the Animals and Listen When the Animals Talk to You

January 3, 2016
Ready for the Big First with Champagne Mouzon Leroux L’ineffable

We pop the cork on a bottle of bubbly at the start of every month of every year as part of our Sparkling Resolution. And while it always puts us in a festive mood, we have to admit that selecting a wine for New Year’s Eve does have an extra special feel (and often cost) to it.

But, we’re always confident that getting ready for the Big First is worth the price of admission. And, besides, the search is a fun part of the lead-up to such a momentous celebration.

Penny Tells How She Found Our Selection

I found this grower Champagne with the help of the community at Boston Chowhound. One of our favorite food scouts MC Slim JB posted, “Favorite Boston-area wine shops for Champagne?”

A great discussion of Champagne followed and I was so pleased to be able to give back to the person who had found so much great food for us over the years. As often happens, when you give something out into the world, something good comes back to you. In this case, it was the recommendation of Federal Wine & Spirits as a source of great Champagne.

We’ve used and recommended this shop as a place to buy spirits for years but had not ventured downstairs to the wine section. Since I happened to be downtown running errands, I did just that and found another generous wine mentor, Len Rothenberg, to add to our continuing education on the topic.

He asked great questions. What type of Champagne do we enjoy? What are some of the grower Champagnes we've had? Price range?

He then consulted his computer inventory and came up with a short list of three grower Champagnes he had in stock. Next, he walked me through the choices to come up with Champagne Mouzon Leroux et Fils L'ineffable as the one he felt was ready to drink now and fit the taste profile I’d given him.

Finally, he gave me his card and asked if I would give him feedback on his choice. I call that getting to know the customer!

It was a great experience and I will be visiting more often to buy wines there.

We’ll update you on our bottle of Champagne L'ineffable after we’ve toasted 2016 with it!

Related Posts:

Here’s more about Our Sparkling Resolution

And, Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List (Since this is a category this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.)

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.

The Food Lover's Guide to Wine

The New Wine Lover's Companion

The Wine Bible

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Ed Cherubino

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Bollinger Rosé Champagne Is Our Choice for Our New Year's Toast!

Sparkling Wine for New Year's Eve? We Have Suggestions!

Consult Our Wine Collection Before You Shop for Bottles of Bubbles!

December 29, 2015
Ready for the Big First with Champagne Mouzon Leroux L’ineffable

We pop the cork on a bottle of bubbly at the start of every month of every year as part of our Sparkling Resolution. And while it always puts us in a festive mood, we have to admit that selecting a wine for New Year’s Eve does have an extra special feel (and often cost) to it.

But, we’re always confident that getting ready for the Big First is worth the price of admission. And, besides, the search is a fun part of the lead-up to such a momentous celebration.

Penny Tells How She Found Our Selection

I found this grower Champagne with the help of the community at Boston Chowhound. One of our favorite food scouts MC Slim JB posted, “Favorite Boston-area wine shops for Champagne?”

A great discussion of Champagne followed and I was so pleased to be able to give back to the person who had found so much great food for us over the years. As often happens, when you give something out into the world, something good comes back to you. In this case, it was the recommendation of Federal Wine & Spirits as a source of great Champagne.

We’ve used and recommended this shop as a place to buy spirits for years but had not ventured downstairs to the wine section. Since I happened to be downtown running errands, I did just that and found another generous wine mentor, Len Rothenberg, to add to our continuing education on the topic.

He asked great questions. What type of Champagne do we enjoy? What are some of the grower Champagnes we've had? Price range?

He then consulted his computer inventory and came up with a short list of three grower Champagnes he had in stock. Next, he walked me through the choices to come up with Champagne Mouzon Leroux et Fils L'ineffable as the one he felt was ready to drink now and fit the taste profile I’d given him.

Finally, he gave me his card and asked if I would give him feedback on his choice. I call that getting to know the customer!

It was a great experience and I will be visiting more often to buy wines there.

We’ll update you on our bottle of Champagne L'ineffable after we’ve toasted 2016 with it!

Related Posts:

Here’s more about Our Sparkling Resolution

And, Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List (Since this is a category this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.)

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.

The Food Lover's Guide to Wine

The New Wine Lover's Companion

The Wine Bible

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Ed Cherubino

Related articles

Bollinger Rosé Champagne Is Our Choice for Our New Year's Toast!

Sparkling Wine for New Year's Eve? We Have Suggestions!

Consult Our Wine Collection Before You Shop for Bottles of Bubbles!

December 29, 2015
Thanks to All Our 2015 Sunday Dogs

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.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Related articles

Let Your Sunday Dog Take the Lead

Thanks to All the Sunday Dog People Who Did it Right & Shame on Scofflaws

Canine Travel Alert for Our Sunday Dog Lovers

December 27, 2015
Thanks to All Our 2015 Sunday Dogs

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.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Related articles

Let Your Sunday Dog Take the Lead

Thanks to All the Sunday Dog People Who Did it Right & Shame on Scofflaws

Canine Travel Alert for Our Sunday Dog Lovers

December 27, 2015
Happy Holidays from the BostonZest Team

Happy Holidays to all our readers. And, a big thank you to everyone who has added elegant, tasteful decoration to our daily walks around the city.

This time of year, we enjoy seeing the bows and garland on wrought iron fences and railings.

Beautiful doorways wearing wreaths as seasonal accessories.

In honor of the firefighters.

Both private homes and public buildings, like the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, celebrate the season with artistic flair. We hope you'll find the time to take a walk in your neighborhood to enjoy the scene while it's fresh and beautiful.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino

December 24, 2015
Happy Holidays from the BostonZest Team

Happy Holidays to all our readers. And, a big thank you to everyone who has added elegant, tasteful decoration to our daily walks around the city.

This time of year, we enjoy seeing the bows and garland on wrought iron fences and railings.

Beautiful doorways wearing wreaths as seasonal accessories.

In honor of the firefighters.

Both private homes and public buildings, like the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, celebrate the season with artistic flair. We hope you'll find the time to take a walk in your neighborhood to enjoy the scene while it's fresh and beautiful.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino

December 24, 2015
What’s Open in Boston New Year’s Eve and Day & MBTA Schedules 2015 – 2016 plus Parking, Trash & More
Here's a rundown of what's open in Boston on New Year's Day and the MBTA schedules for New Year's Eve December 31, 2015 and New Year's Day, January 1, 2016.

What's closed? Do I have to feed the parking meters? What about street sweeping? Are the liquor stores and packies open? When do I put out my trash? And, what changes are there to the MBTA schedules? We have the answers for you, all organized in one post!

Some businesses close early on New Year's Eve but others, especially those in the hospitality business, stay open. Call before you leave if you plan to visit a business on the 31st.

Here's what we've learned about January 1st, 2016 – New Year's Day

Restaurants, bars: Are allowed to open if the owners choose

Convenience stores: Are allowed to open if the owners choose

Supermarkets: Are allowed to open if the owners choose

Retail stores: Are allowed to open if the owners choose

Liquor stores: Are allowed to open if the owners choose

City, Town, State and Federal offices and facilities are closed: This includes Schools, Libraries and the Postal Service (express mail will be delivered). Only emergency services are available.

More after the ad…

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Make your own holiday wish come true. Find the gift you really want on Amazon! And, by starting from here, you'll be supporting BostonZest and keeping the information flowing your way.

Financial Services: As the British would say, this is a Bank Holiday with both Banks and the stock markets in the United State closed. Some international markets are open.

Boston Parking: You don't have to feed the meters. Other parking rules apply.

Boston Trash Collection:

Boston Trash Collection for Christmas

The city has changed the way it publishes the schedule for holidays so that you now have to go to the city site and look up your specific address in order to get information.
MBTA Schedule Changes for New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day

The MBTA has full information on their events page. (If you are coming to this post after the holiday, that page will have changed.)

We created a PDF of the MBTA Holiday Schedule: Download MBTA Holiday Schedule 2015

Here are the important points for New Year's Eve, Thursday, December 31, 2015
The Red, Orange, Blue, Green lines and Mattapan Trolley will run on a modified weekday schedule with additional trains operating at rush-hour levels of service throughout the evening from 3 p.m. until approximately 2 a.m.

The Siver Line will run on a weekday schedule.

The Commuter Rail will run on a modified weekday schedule with additional service provided – the last trains out are listed here. Also check that link for restrictions on bicycles on commuter rail on the 31st.

Buses and trackless trolleys will run on a regular weekday schedule.

Boats will operate a regular weekday schedule.

The Ride will operate on a regular weekday schedule with extended hours until 2:30 a.m.
Here are the important points for New Year's Day, Friday, January 1, 2016

The Red, Orange, Blue, Green, and Silver lines, and Mattapan Trolley will run on a Sunday Schedule.

Some Commuter Rail lines will run on a Sunday schedule which means the Needham line will not operate.

Buses will run on a Sunday schedule with a long list of buses not operating. Check those here.

Boats will not operate.

The RIDE will operate on a Sunday schedule.
For more information, call the T’s Customer Information Center at 617-222-3200 (TTY 617-222-5146) or visit the MBTA website."
Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © iStockphoto

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December 23, 2015
Bring Clementines to the Office Party

Are you looking for something delicious and different to bring to your office holiday party? (Or just to have on your desk this week to offer to your officemates?)

How about some Clementines? This is their season and they play right into the holiday tradition of an orange in a Christmas stocking.

They're always a hit around our office. Ed and I have a small table that sits between our work areas. We use it to share a plate of apple slices or a pile of clementine or tangerine wedges for an afternoon snack.

When Ed reported to the radio station each day, he came home once and told me he wanted to bring something in for the holiday office party. I added three boxes of clementines to our grocery order and he added those to the holiday spread. They were a hit.

We separate oranges, tangerines, clementines into sections for our office table. But, you can fill a basket, build a pyramid, or stack a few on paper plates with whole fruit and let everyone peel their own.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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December 21, 2015