lucky dog organics

Did you know?...

We found these interesting facts via the great folks at Planet Green :

68 lbs: Amount of clothes and textiles the average American throws out each year.
 

10 percent: Percentage of all agricultural chemicals in the US that are used to grow cotton; 25 percent of insecticides are used for this purpose as well.

1/3 lb: Amount of chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) used to grow enough cotton for just ONE T-shirt.

47 percent: Percentage of chemicals used to grow cotton that are considered "possible", "likely", "probable", or "known" human carcinogens (these are acephate, dichloropropene, diuron, fluometuron, pendimethalin, tribufos, and trifluralin) according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

67 million: Annual bird deaths attributed to pesticides; pesticides are also suspected to be responsible the severe drop in honeybees and the increase in frogs with extra legs and eyes.

2.5 billion lbs: Amount of post-consumer textile waste removed from the waste stream each year, by the US textile recycling industry (which actually re-purposes rather than recycles).

So, think about this next time you are buying yourself or your pet that cute new cotton toy, shirt, collar, etc. Seek out items that are made from organic, recycled, or alternative sources (like the West Paw fabrics made from plastic bottles!) If you click up on the Planet Green Hyper Link you can read more on this interesting subject!

One more ping.fm repost - regarding Salem Living Green Fair press

Lucky Dog Organics mentioned in Salem Gazette regarding our participation in the Living Green Fair! http://ping.fm/JOTNU Woo Hoo!

Repost from earlier Ping.Fm

It's a rainy day here in Boston and as I feed my dog her lunch I am thinking heavily of the TRUST we put in our pet food companies. We need to believe that they are working for the benefit of our pets...not their pockets. However, the food recalls of 2007 showed that there was corruption afoot in the industry. Some good companies were brought into the mess because they TRUSTED their suppliers. The trickle down effect was enormous! It changed the way we went about things ....as consumers, as retailers, and as health practitioners. The grey weather always gets me thinking of such serious things so I did a little online research and decided to post the two things that came up on our beloved Google. One is scary.... http://ping.fm/sE5rW There are EXTREMELY HIGH levels of zinc in some nutro foods and this can cause catastrophic issues with your cats! Consider this when feeding it to your feline kids. This other one atleast BEGINS to offer some of the people and pets affected by the recall in 07 SOME closure. The owners of ChemNutra Inc have changed their plea to Guilty in their roles of supplying tainted wheat gluten to a large list of U.S. pet food manufacturers. http://ping.fm/tiZfz With all this said, you might wonder what I feed my own dog. Bella eats Nature's Variety Frozen Raw as her main source of health and wellness with the occassional snacks of Orijen Fish Formula or Addiction Wild Kangaroo and Apple. Take care everyone and hug your pets for Bella and I today!

Planning any weekend gardening?

If your pet is anything like Bella.... the surest way to their furry heart will be with the planting and organic nurturing of a lemongrass plant. Bella loves the lemony taste and the nutrients that lemongrass provides and would be pleased as punch to hang out for hours in a patch of lemongrass....just chewing on leaves. Some of the human benefits of lemongrass that our pups and kitties might be enjoying are it's cleansing qualities. It helps to detoxify the Liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder and the digestive tract. It cuts down uric acid, cholesterol, excess fats and other toxins in the body and stimulates digestion, blood circulation, and lactation. Lemongrass can also alleviate indigestion, gastroenteritis and reduce blood pressure. Be sure to make yourself a cup of tea with a 2 inch split section of lemon grass, couple of slices of fresh ginger and lemon, some honey and boiling water as you sit back and watch your cat and dog draw treats over who gets to hit the lemongrass plant first.

An apple a day..... or why you need to brush your pet's teeth!!!!

A study published in the February issue of the Journal  of the American Veterinary Medical Association discusses the connection between canine periodontal disease and cardiovascular diseases such as cardiomyopathy and endocarditis.With gum disease occurring in nearly 75% of all adult dogs...this study brings attention to the importance of canine dental health. Train your dog to allow you to brush his teeth or offer great treats such as Zuke's Z-Ridge Dental Treats!

Class IV Lasers and Their Therapeutic Benefits

 Therapeutic laser therapy is being shown to not only assist with the treatment of post op pain and speed up healing but it is also showing to help heal a myriad of ailments ranging from snake bites to bladder inflammation and has even alleviated pain in an area that historically has been one of the most challenging to treat, the core muscles that support the lower spine and assist with it's stabilization.

While Class IV lasers are not miracle workers, they have become powerful tools in pain management and provided great success in the treatment of orthopedics, hip dysplasia and even infectious coughs. The power seems to be in the laser's ability to increase endorphin release while decreasing inflammation and restoring the metabolic function of the tissue by "normalizing" it.This makes Class IV cold lasers an ideal non invasive treatment for any pet.

Check with your local veterinary hospital to find out who in your area utilizes the healing power of lasers in their practice. For more information go to Lite Cure, a manufacturer of Class IV lasers used in both human and veterinary medicine.

Health Concerns in Working Dogs: A Study

Morris Animal Foundation recently released the results of an online survey with over 1000  guide dog handlers in order to ascertain what the top health concerns were for these working dogs and which ailments contributed to early retirement. The current average career span for guide dogs is 96 months for German Shepherds, 88 months for Golden Retrievers, and 86 months for Labrador Retrievers. Allergies and arthritis were top concerns with both current and previous dogs. The following is a sampling of those results:

• Orthopedic Problems: 42% considered this their top concern and main reason for early retirement.
• Skin Problems: 30% of current and 40% of previous guide dogs suffered from these ailments.
• Ear Problems: 21% of current and 35% of previous guide dogs reported to have ear related issues.
• Cancer and Tumors: 28% of previous guide dogs retired early because of cancer.
• Gastrointestinal Disease: 14% current and 19% previous had gastrointestinal disorders.
• Cataracts: 15% of previous guide dogs retired early due to vision problems due to cataracts.

While over 30% of the owners were able to handle the veterinary care for their dogs, the guide dog schools helped assist many of them with some of the medical bills. When making decisions on your yearly contributions please consider supporting the non profits that make this invaluable service available to so many who would other wise have limited access and a lower standard of living.

Follow this link for more information about the schools that train these valuable companions for the disabled.

When your dog makes you feel bad about skipping the gym

There is a gene mutation found in some Whippets that creates a dramatic effect known as double muscling and results in a "Bully" Whippet. Technically speaking it is a 2-bp deletion in the MSTN gene.In the homozygote state this results in the double-muscling phenotype known as the "Bully" Whippet. The mutation creates a premature truncation of the protein at amino acid 313, removing about 17% of the protein. The only other animals this has been found in appears to be cattle and sheep.

There is a great article that gets into the specifics of the gene mutation and how it appears to happen in the Whippet gene pool. It is called A Mutation in the Myostatin Gene Increases Muscle Mass and Enhances Racing Performance in Heterozygote Dogs Please click the title to be brought to the article at PubMed Central.

In 2007 The New York Times published a very informative article that discussed how breeders were employing eugenics in their breeding programs and the potential problems that come into play with such pointed gene selection.The article was entitled As Breeders Test DNA, Dogs Become Guinea Pigs.

In these photos of Wendy, taken by Stuart Isett for The New York Times, you see an excellent example of how the mutation effects the musculature of a normally slender Whippet.

An interesting chart that explains the spread of the mutation was featured in the NY Times article and is included below.