Dogs are animals of integrity. We have much to learn from them.
Category: Dogs
More photographs from Neil Kelly.
(plus a few of my own!)
Couldn’t wait for a future picture parade to share these with you.
They are all of Dartmouth, Devon.
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Now here’s a few taken around the home yesterday morning.
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Before we know it, it will be summer and all of this will be forgotten!
So welcome to the first day of March!! Holidays in the offing? Here is some useful advice!
Inevitably, with so many followers (big hugs to you all) I receive emails from people who have a commercial interest in the readership of this blog.
As I did earlier in January.
Hi,
Hope you had a great weekend!
My name is Emma from BestCarSeatHub.com. I’m wondering if we can contribute a fresh and original post about pets (traveling with pets or safety of dogs) to your site Learning from Dogs. It’ll be 100% neutral and written based on your site’s tone.
In return, we’ll be sharing that post to all our networks… helping you gain new and more readers.
Let me know if you’re interested. I’m also willing to discuss any other options you have. Thanks a lot.
—
Sincerely yours, Emma Lachey.
My reply was:
Emma,
Thanks for writing me.In principle, I am happy to receive your guest post so long as you are happy for me to introduce your company as a firm of which I have no personal knowledge.
Does that work for you?
Paul H.
Emma then sent me the following guest post. It’s very useful advice in my opinion.
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Are you planning to travel with your dog in the future? While it is a great experience and you will certainly have many memories, it will also add a few new levels to your traveling experience. You will have to plan a lot more, make sure your dog is allowed everywhere you go, and make concessions on what you can do.
For most people, boarding their dogs turns out to be the better option – but it doesn’t have to be if you take these tips into consideration. For now, we will focus on traveling with your dog in the car.
The first thing you want to do is really plan ahead for your travels. Think about where you may need to take a break for your dog to go to the bathroom – and he will need to go much more frequently than he will just at home. Make sure to have some time set aside so that he can get out and walk around – a dog that wares off some energy will be much easier to deal with in the car.
Finally, make sure that you have places you can go so that your dog doesn’t have to be stuck inside the car when you go to eat. There are plenty of places that either offer outdoor seating or will be happy to pack your food up for you so that you can eat it somewhere where your dog can as well – of course, weather will dictate much of this.
If your dog has severe anxiety when he or she is in the car, you might want to consider getting medication for your dog. This is something you should only use sparingly, but it is something you want to consider.
Does your dog have a favorite toy? How about a familiar bed or blanket? If he does, you want to bring some of those with you, just to make him more comfortable. With toys, you want to get something that he will sit and play with for a long time while you are travelling – this can take away much of the stress.
Dogs get pretty excited about going in the car, especially if they aren’t the type of dogs that get to go for a ride all that often. There are plenty of dog car seats on the market today, from simple tethers or harnesses to high-tech dog booster seats that have all you can ever imagine.
Some other items you want to have?
The car seat won’t only keep your dog safe, which of course is important, but it will keep you safe as well. Dogs running around the car can really distract you from your surroundings and can put everyone in danger.
Emergencies will happen, and while you hope that you won’t encounter one, you do have to be prepared for anything. Planning in advance will ensure that you can tackle anything that might happen. Before you go on a trip, talk to your vet about anyone that he or she may know near where you are staying. It should be a priority to take your dog to the vet before you leave for your trip anyway. You also want to have the phone number of your vet so that you can call in a pinch. Always make sure that your phone has a full battery so you can look up vets in the car.
If your dog is acting quiet and a little “off,” it could be nothing – your dog could just be adjusting to life this way. However, you want to ensure that your dog has enough time out of the car and has enough water. Once your dog shows sudden signs of illness, then you want to get to work.
If you are driving, you want to map out any vets on the pathway, set an alarm for medications, bring only the highest quality dog food, give your dog adequate bathroom time, and bring all medical records with you.
Make sure that your dog always has a collar on when you are traveling. Make sure the collar has your phone number and your name on it as well. If your dog does get away when you are traveling, this is the best way to ensure that your dog will get back to you.
You might want to consider a microchip as well. You’ll want to have a recent photo of your dog on your phone so that, if the worst does happen, you will have a way to make flyers.
Traveling with your dog doesn’t have to be a terrible experience. Instead, you want to make the most of it by being prepared, taking many photos of your pup, and having the times of your lives.
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Now all that Jean and I need to work out is how to take our six dogs with us when next month we travel to Europe for a couple of weeks!!
Any ideas, Emma?
The last set of photographs that were sent to me by Graham.
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These wonderful photographs are going to be a very hard act to follow. Thank goodness for Tanja Brandt!
This dog food recall was issued on Monday.
The U.S. FDA has announced Smokehouse Pet Products of Sun Valley, CA, is expanding its recall of its “Beefy Munchies” and “Beefy Bites” dog treats due to contamination with Salmonella bacteria.
To learn which products are affected, please visit the following link:
FDA Expands Nationwide Beefy Munchies Dog Treats Recall
Please share the news of this alert with other pet owners.
Mike Sagman, Editor
The Dog Food AdvisorP.S. Not already on our dog food recall notification list yet? Sign up to get critical dog food recall alerts sent to you by email. There’s no cost for this service.
If one follows that link then you come to these details:
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February 19, 2018 — The FDA has announced that Smokehouse Pet Products, Inc. of Sun Valley, CA is recalling all sizes and package types of dog treats labeled as “Beefy Munchies” because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
“Beefy Munchies” was distributed nationwide through distributors selling to various retailers.
The product comes in individual bags, resealable bags and plastic tubs.
The plastic tub will be labeled “Beefy Bites”.
All sizes and packaging types will include a UPC code, lot number, and a best used by date of stamped on the back.
The current recall is expanded to include all “Beefy Munchies”.
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem.
The potential for contamination was noted after routine sampling and testing by the Colorado Department of Agriculture revealed the presence of Salmonella in two 4-oz packages of “Beefy Munchies”.
Salmonella can affect animals eating the products and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products.
Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever.
Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms.
Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.
Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting.
Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.
Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans.
If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
Any consumers who have purchased “Beefy Munchies” should discontinue use of the product and may return the unused portion to the place of purchase for a full refund.
Consumers with questions may contact Smokehouse Pet Products, Inc. at 877-699-7387, Monday through Friday 7 AM to 3:30 PM PT.
U.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.
Or go to http://www.fda.gov/petfoodcomplaints.
Canadians can report any health or safety incidents related to the use of this product by filling out the Consumer Product Incident Report Form.
Get free dog food recall alerts sent to you by email. Subscribe to The Dog Food Advisor’s emergency recall notification system.
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I do hope that no-one out there is affected by this recall!
Please share this with any other dog lovers that you are in contact with.
The penultimate set of photos that came via Graham.
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The last set of these breath-taking images in a week’s time.
You all take care of yourselves out there!
Seemed best to lump them all together.
Because since the beginning of February there have been four (now five as of yesterday!) dog food recalls notified to subscribed owners. Although I have copied and pasted product pictures if any of these products are relevant to you then please do follow the link to the Dog Food Recall page offering more details!
On the 9th February this was released:
Smokehouse Pet Products of Sun Valley, CA, is recalling a specific lot of its “Beefy Munchies” dog treats due to potential contamination with Salmonella bacteria.
If you go to this link you can see pictures of the product package and other details.
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Then on the same day another notification was issued:
Raws for Paws of Minneapolis, MN, is recalling specific lots of its raw frozen dog food due to possible contamination with Salmonella bacteria.
Once again, a link was offered that provided full information.
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A day later, on the 10th February, out came the third alert:
Redbarn Pet Products LLC of Long Beach, CA, is recalling a specific lot of its “Redbarn Naturals Bully Sticks” due to potential contamination with Salmonella bacteria.
Including the link to more details.
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The last alert was received on the 12th February.
Darwin’s Natural Pet Products of Tukwila, WA, is recalling specific lots of its Darwin’s ZooLogics raw frozen dog food due to possible contamination with Salmonella bacteria.
With the link to more details provided as per usual.
Wonder if there will be more alerts before the month is out! (Written on the afternoon of the 14th.)
Yes!!
The following came in yesterday afternoon:
J. M. Smucker has announced it is voluntarily withdrawing multiple dog food brands due to the presence of the drug pentobarbital.
To learn which products are affected, please visit the following link:
Smucker Withdraws Multiple Dog Food Brands
Please share the news of this alert with other pet owners.
That link contains the following brand image:
and this table:
Please share this information as best you can. Only by acting together can we prevent every single dog from eating something potentially harmful.
Reflections on being gentle to yourself.
There are three reasons why I wrote this post. A post that runs across today and tomorrow.
Firstly, this post is inspired by love! The supreme love that I receive from my darling Jeannie and the love that I sense practically twenty-four hours a day that flows from the beautiful dogs that we have here. But also from the wonders of the rural world in which I live. From sights like the one below to being visited by wild deer every single morning when I go out to feed the horses.
The second reason for writing this post is a direct result of the love that flows in from so, so many of you precious readers. You are like one big online family that I live in. And, as one hopes to do within a family, from time to time you want to open up your inner feelings.
The third and final reason for this post is wanting to explore how one might find some peace from the chaos that seems to be spread so far and wide across this planet that we all call home.
It’s a very personal journey and I suggest that if this is not your ‘cup of tea’ that you call back another day!
OK! Now that’s off my chest, here we go!
“Life’s beauty is inseparable from it’s fragility.“
Pause awhile and just let those words float around your mind.
It is a quotation taken from a TED Talk that Jean and I watched a few days ago.
The speaker is Susan David and is described on that TED Talk page as follows:
Psychologist Susan David shares how the way we deal with our emotions shapes everything that matters: our actions, careers, relationships, health and happiness. In this deeply moving, humorous and potentially life-changing talk, she challenges a culture that prizes positivity over emotional truth and discusses the powerful strategies of emotional agility. A talk to share.
This talk was presented at an official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page.
If you want to watch the talk it is a little over 16 minutes long and may be viewed on the TED Talk site here.
Let me return to that quotation. For there is no question that life, at whatever scale, from the personal to the global, is fragile. Fragile with a capital “F“!
Whether it’s the madness of our politics and governments, or nature presenting us with extreme hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes and floods, or the frustrations of life itself, especially when one is the wrong side of 65, or numerous other aspects of being human it’s terribly easy to become frustrated, or worse, with oneself. I speak from a very personal perspective as my short-term recall is now pathetic!
STOP! (You see, I wrote the word “pathetic” without thinking. Demonstrating how quickly I come down on myself. Without automatically and unconsciously being gentle on myself and being very grateful that this old Brit, born in 1944, is still able to string a few words together!)
One of the great, possibly the greatest, things that we can learn from our dogs is to be gentle on ourselves. So very often our dogs take time out to relax, to be happy and to spread their joy around the home. Look at the following photograph!
Being gentle on yourself!
But for us humans that seems a great deal more easier to say than to practice!
Yet the argument for being gentle to yourself is compelling. And the first step in that personal journey towards being kinder to yourself is to be better aware of oneself when it comes to our emotions.
I shall be continuing this inward journey tomorrow but today, holding on to that idea of how we manage our emotions, I want to close with another TED Talk. Just 18 minutes long but invaluable to watch.
The talk is given by Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD who is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University,and has positions in psychiatry and radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
As I was reading the draft of this post it did cross my mind that you do know I write from a purely personal perspective. I hold no qualifications whatsoever in the fields of psychiatry, psychology or any related disciplines. If you have found yourself to be affected to the point where you think you need proper counselling then, please, do seek help.
Part Two coming along tomorrow!
Still staying with Graham.
Simply because so many of you just loved the photographs.
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There are sufficient of those incredible photographs that came via Graham to last another two Sundays!
The following YouTube video was posted on the FB page of our local Neighbourhood Watch Association.
If I live to be 150 I will still believe that the relationship we can have with a dog is the most perfect example of us humans bonding with an animal.
A just delightful guest post!
Came from an online exchange.
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So today was the day for me. And I done it with the help of my wonderful dog.
I had been dreaming all night of running and depression and failing miserably.
I was woken at 6:30am by the sound of my dad coming back in after he had been for his normal morning walk around the village with our dog Riley. I was also disturbed by my boyfriend coughing and spluttering up god knows what, and I laid and tossed and turned as I thought oh my god today I’m going to go for a run, followed by don’t be so stupid of course your not you can’t even run down the stairs.
As the early morning light started to come in through the sides of my blinds, I pulled out my eye patches and fell back to a disturbed sleep until…. midday. I couldn’t believe it.
You lazy shit I thought, so much for your run, what a joke you are. Jumping out of bed at the thought of what my mother might say, I went downstairs and put the kettle on, I turned to my dog who had followed me down and said: “I’m going to take you out don’t worry.”
I couldn’t have put it off for any longer if I tried! I hoovered, steam cleaned, made tea, ate beans on toast, tidied my bedroom, anything but get ready to go for a run. Truth is I was terrified!
After not physically being able to tidy much more, I got ready, and put on my new Nike running shoes I had bought in the New Years sales. Riley stretched his tail wagging as he sensed that it was time.
The next twenty or so minutes were the most emotional, and longest, twenty minutes of my life I have ever experienced. I put my new running band on with my phone and beats headphones, and a Spotify playlist that played the most god awful dubstep but I didn’t care. I downloaded the couch to 5k app as I have not really ran in years and pressed start and off me and Riley headed around the village.
The walking was fine, then the lady popped up in her American accent start to run, and so I did. I started to develop a stitch in my stomach, pain in my chest and the most overwhelming urge to cry. I battled constant thoughts in my head that I could do it … blah! blah! blah!, but Riley was with me. We done it together.
“Slow down and start to walk” the voice spoke. I was glad someone knew what I was doing as I didn’t have a clue. I suddenly became awfully aware of the cars going past and thoughts of people looking at me and what they might think: she doesn’t look great; she looks like she is struggling; she must be mad. So with my fave down unable to break a smile or lift my frown I carried on with lead in hand and my faithful dog by my side. I spoke to him, praised him at how well he was doing but I can’t bring to praise myself not yet.
The dubstep tracks blasting in my ears the lyrics started on this train with no destination. And I thought this is how depression and anxiety have made me feel, I have been on a slow and steady train down to rock bottom and I can’t seem to get back up, but I feel today was a start. A little positive I suppose that I can add to my negative.
As it started to snow I thought wow I really am mad, I can’t even run these twenty mins , let a lone a 5k, 10k or yet alone this bloody great north run.
Freezing cold and following my dog in front I made it home and put the kettle straight on and slumped down waiting to make my cup of tea.
For the first time in a long time, I think I see a little light, a little tiny speck of light at the end of my long dark tunnel!
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I asked Catherine for permission to republish this because I was very moved when I read it over at her place. It seemed to say to me that this very honest and open account of what Catherine was experiencing might resonate somewhere out there with you dear readers.
Thank you, Catherine!
More importantly, thank you, Riley. Dogs do so much for us. Even saving our souls!
Learning from Dogs 