Thundershirt - Do They Really Work?

In a single word YES!

I am a professional trainer and I have used the ThunderShirt on a lot of puppies and dogs with amazing success.

When a dog suffers from anxiety it can come out in many different ways; frightened, shaking, barking, excited jumping, aggression towards people and/or dogs or an over excited dog.  Most of the times these bad or negative behaviors are due to anxiety.  As the dog owner we believe we just have a bad behaved dog when certain situations arise.

Is your dog great at home but when you take him for a walk he turns into Cujo? More then likely it's due to your dog feeling very anxious when he is away from home.  The ThunderShirt relieves this anxiety so your sweet dog at home is the same sweet dog when going out of the house.

I worked in a pet retail store and sold a lot of ThunderShirts.  A dog would come into the store, scared, tail tucked under and legs shaking.  I would put a ThunderShirt on the dog and within literally minutes the dogs tail would be up, shaking stops and the dog now feels confident and assured.

I'm also a dog trainer and use the ThunderShirt often for over excited puppies.  Once I put the ThunderShirt on, the puppy I could not get to focus for 1 second is now sitting, listening and obeying his commands.

If I had not seen the truly positive effects the ThunderShirt has with my own eyes, I would never believe that something so simple can be so effective for a dogs anxiety.






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Senior Dogs Mask Their Disease

Tips and things to consider with your senior dog.  Why do older dogs “hide” their illness from us?
“If they acted sick [in the wild] …they would lose their position in the pack.”
This is an excellent video.  I’d never heard this explanation about older dogs, or dogs in general, before and it makes perfect sense!
Dr. Dressler of South Shore Vet Care talks about health tips for our Senior Dogs and Pets
Dr Demian Dressler of South Shore Vet Care in Kihei Hawaii, brings us up to speed about our Senior pets and shares a few health tips that can extend their life span.


Tagged as: health tips, older dogs, senior dogs, senior pets, veterinarian

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Banana & Peanut Butter Dog Cake

Dog cakes make any occasion a special one. But if your next dog party plans are small, or your dog is small in stature, you may want to consider making this dog cake recipe into mini muffins. That's what is pictured below. We like to have several dogs test our homemade dog treats, so we made little treats to pass out to all our taste testers.
Make this dog cake extra rich with the optional cream cheese frosting. See our tips below for more fun ways of decorating the cakes and dog muffins.
Banana & Peanut Butter Dog Cake Recipe Mini Muffin Version  

Ingredients:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1/4 cup molasses, blackstrap
1/4 cup peanut butter
4 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350° F
In a stand mixer bowl, add the canola oil, applesauce and molasses.
On low-medium speed, thoroughly combine.
Add the peanut butter, and mix until combined.
Add the eggs one at a time, until all combined.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and cinnamon.
Using the lowest setting, or the stir setting on your mixer, slowly add the dryingredients.
In a small bowl, mash the bananas.
Take the mixing bowl off the stand. Fold in the mashed bananas, making sure they are well incorporated.
Using a baking spray with flour, generously spray each 8 inch pan.
Divide the batter between both pans.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean. Rotate the pans on the racks half way through the baking time.
Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Remove the cakes from the pan, and cool completely on a wire rack. Cream Cheese Dog Treat Frosting8 ounces cream cheese (low or fat free)2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. plain yogurt (low or fat free)
flour (see note)
Note: You will need approximately 3 Tbsp. of flour. You can use any type of flour for this recipe. Keep in mind that if you use wheat flour (or another type of flour with specs of color) it may affect the end color of the icing.
Mix first three ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
Mix in one tablespoon of flour at a time until you have a good consistency for spreading.Storing - This dog cake recipe will keep fresh in the refrigerator for about 5 days. Freeze the cakes for up to 3 months. If you choose to freeze the cakes, wrap each one individually with plastic wrap. Then wrap each one with heavy duty aluminum foil. Then place each one in a labeled freezer bag. It may seem like a lot of work, but it will keep the dog cakes delicate texture fresh longer.
Yield - Two 8 inch round cakes.
Decorating Ideas - For an all out special dog cake, make enough cream cheese dog frosting to put between the two cakes, on top and the sides of the layered cake. Or, my favorite decorating idea is to cut half inch banana slices and place them as the layer between the two cakes. Then frost the top of the cake with cream cheese frosting. If your dog is watching his calorie intake, you should limit the amount of icing you put on the cake. One idea is to use the frosting to make small polka dots and write a happy note on top of the cake, like "#1 DOG". You can omit the frosting all together and use banana slices as the decoration.
Mini Muffins - Using a mini muffin pan with 24 cups, you will be able to fill your pan twice to get a total of 48 muffins. Bake at the same temperature, but for 10 minutes. Turn the pan half way for even baking. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing the muffins. Cool the muffins on a wire rack. We like this version of creating mini muffins best because it is so versatile. If your dog is small, you can easily break apart one muffin for two servings. Or, for larger dogs, they get their very own muffin. The muffins also travel very well, so you can make extras for dog party favors, or gifts. We used a scant tablespoon cookie scooper to easily measure the right amount of batter into each cup. The muffins rise quite a bit, so don't overfill the muffin cups.

Paper Liners - We used plain paper liners, but it would be adorable to make these muffins with paw print cupcake liners. Or, match the colors of your dog party, or the season, to make your homemade dog treats more festive.

Stand Mixer - If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use a hand held one instead. But, we recommend the stand mixer due to its many speeds and large capacity for heavier dog treat batters.

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Good Dog Beef Biscuits

Ingredients
1/2 cup dry milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon parsley
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
1 small (2.5 oz) jar beef baby food
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup rye flour
1 cup cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup cracked wheat
For the Glaze - 1 egg, 2 tablespoons beef broth
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 ° F (165 ° C).
In a large bowl, combine the dry milk, egg garlic, parsley, oil, honey, baby food, and broth. Gradually blend in the flours and cracked wheat. Add enough wheat flour to form a stiff dough.
Transfer to a floured surface and knead until smooth (about 3-5 minutes). Shape the dough into a ball, and roll to 1/2-inch (12 mm) thick. Using bone-shaped cookie cutters, make biscuits! Transfer to ungreased baking sheets, spacing them about 1/4 inch (6 mm) apart. Gather up the scraps, roll out again, and cut additional biscuits.
Bake for 30 minutes. Whisk together the egg and broth for the glaze. Brush biscuits with the glaze on both sides. Return to oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Let cool overnight.
Makes several dozen small bones that freeze well. Or 2 1/2 to 3 dozen large bones, depending on the size of cookie cutter you use.
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Gourmet Salmon Cakes for Dogs

Health benefits of salmon, such as the goodness of fish oil for dogs, the high amount of protein, vitamin D and the Omega 3 fatty acids.

Salmon Cakes for Dogs


Ingredients:
Salmon Cakes
1 14.75 oz can of wild Alaskan salmon
2 egg whites
1/4 cup sour cream, low or fat free
2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 cup carrot, shredded
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1 tsp. dried dill weed

Yogurt Tartar Sauce
1/4 cup plain yogurt, low or fat free
1/2 tsp. dried dill weed

Instructions:
Salmon Cakes
Preheat oven to 375° F
Drain liquid from salmon. Remove bones and skin, if any.
In a medium bowl, mix together salmon and next four ingredients (through shredded carrot).
In a separate shallow dish, mix together the plain bread crumbs and dill weed.
Using a cookie scooper, scoop one ball and lightly flatten into a patty form.
Dredge or thoroughly coat the patty in the bread crumb mixture.
Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Repeat until there is no more salmon mixture.
Bake for 12 minutes. Then flip and bake for 12 more minutes.
Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

Yogurt Tartar Sauce
Mix together yogurt and dried dill weed.
Cover and refrigerate until salmon cakes are cool.

Storing & Yield: Any dog treat recipe with meat should be served quickly. We recommend one week in the refrigerator. You can freeze these salmon cakes for 2 months. If you are using a 1" cookie scoop, this recipe should make 2 dozen salmon dog treats.

Tips & Techniques
Be sure to drain the salmon very well. Otherwise the mixture will be too moist and will not hold together. If you have already combined the salmon mixture and it is not holding together, add one tablespoon of plain bread crumbs at a time, until the mixture stays together.

To save time you can use pre-shredded carrots.

If your dog needs or prefers softer treats, you can bake the cakes for 10 minutes on each side.


     


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