Flannel hits the Cape Cod beaches

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We walked Lily and her friend Flannel on the beach this morning. Flannel is a beautiful black lab who (of course) loves the water. It was quite warm this morning on the Cape, so we let Flannel go in and out of the water (Lily is not a swimmer) to her heart’s delight.

Afterwards, Flannie had a nice shower and both dogs had a good nap in the living room.

Flannie has also exhibited quite a talent for finding tennis balls. She has an inner radar that allows her to sense when they are under a bush or hidden along a trail. If they are right out in the open, she is not interested….too easy.

She is a wonderful role-model for everything that is fabulous about this breed. There are so many of them in shelters and I can see how hard that must be for them. They love adventure and they love people. (They love their breakfast and dinner too!)

Understanding dog cat urine reagent tests

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One thing to note about purchasing bottles of urine reagents (often called dip sticks) is that the reliability is compromised by the air, sunlight etc. every time the lid is opened.

Bottles of strips are made to be used up in 3-4 months. If the pet owner is testing often–every day or every other day as if often the case when an animal has been diagnosed with diabetes…then there will not be a problem.

But for preventative care, if the bottle is opened every few weeks, then in just a few months, they results may no longer be effective. That is why it is critical to have specially packaged test strips if you are using the strips to practice preventative medicine.

supporting The Magic Bullet Fund for Dogs with Cancer

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I may have mentioned this before, but there is a wonderful organization that exists to financially help owners who have dogs that have been diagnosed with cancer.

They can’t help everyone in that situation of course, but they have been in existance for several years and have helped many people and animals.

Every dollar is helpful, so please check out http://www.themagicbulletfund.org/

I just received their email newsletter and there are 2 more dogs who are requiring assistance.

Dogs allowed on the Cape Cod beaches at long last!

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Last Tuesday was a very auspicious day here on Cape Cod. In most areas, including Harwich Port, dogs are now LEGAL on the beach! Hooray!

The day after Labor Day is when most beaches allow dogs back on during the day. There are still some hold-out beaches who post September 15th and even September 30th, but they are the exception.

Lily and I celebrated on Tuesday by walking down to the beach. It was a lovely warm day, very few people on the beach and we had a great time. There will be many more beach walks with her before my trip is over and I look forward to all of them!

Wellness and preventative care for dogs and cats too

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With all this talk about health care reform, there have been some very encouraging articles about companies that are implementing wellness programs and preventative care strategies for their employees.

Some of the things are so simple, yet really effective….encouraging people to use the stairs instead of elevators, taking the junk food out of vending machines, serving healthier snacks at meetings, etc.

It looks like there is going to be a big wave of people becoming more responsible for their own health. This will extend to the care of dogs and cats too which is really great.