The Fifth Paw Featured In Modern Dog Magazine

The Fifth Paw is an extra paw that helps hold the doody! No more juggling full bags of poop all the way home on you walk. Let’s you be more in control of the leash. Holds multiple bags of Poo. Great Dane tested & Approved.  As seen in The New Summer 2013 issue of Modern Dog Magazine. Thanks Guys!

Put a Little Love in Your Dogs Water Bowl <3

If you have never considered the notion of Water having consciousness or of its abilities to hold information I highly recommend you checking out the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto.

Dr. Emoto has done very interesting research into water and how water is not only conscious but also that is serves as a vehicle for information.

He exposed water to various types of music (Classical vs. Heavy Metal) as well as taping words (such as Love & Appreciation vs. Hate) to the outside (facing inwards) of the glass vessel containing water. Emoto then flash froze to obtain photographs of the resulting crystal formations that were generated by exposing to the different stimuli.

Basically, exposing water to classical music & words such as love & gratitude produced beautiful crystals, whereas exposing water to heavy metal music or words such as hate produced badly formed or non existent crystal formations lacking cohesion.

Something that I love to do for my dogs as well as myself is to fill up a big glass jug full of filtered water with the word LOVE taped to the side (facing inwards). It costs nothing, and what could be better than putting a little extra love in your dogs Bowl.

Many Happy Walks!

Stephen
thefifthpaw.com

Do Dogs Dream? A Book RuffView

Cool book! It’s a collection of interesting questions & answers, that people like me, and I’m guessing people like you (since your reading this), have always wondered about. More specifically, questions about dogs.

I have always found myself wondering things like; Do dogs see colors? Or do dogs understand what they see on Television? Only to have people look at me funny, as if to say… Are you really interested in that? Well Yeah! I find dogs infinitely fascinating. What goes on inside their world? Aren’t you just a little curious?

“Do Dogs Dream?” shares that same childlike curiosity. Covering topics such as: Do dogs dream? Can dogs laugh? Do dogs have ESP? Why do dogs touch noses? and Why do puppies’ eyes start out blue? These are only some of the questions posed in this delightful quick read. I would highly recommend “Do Dogs Dream” to people getting their first pup. I can totally see parents sitting down with their kids reading a question a day, learning things about their new family member that are not typically covered in breed books. This is a great read for anyone who loves dogs, finds them fascinating beyond measure & who yearns to know more about that gorgeous lump of fur and love sitting next to them on the couch.

Do Dogs Dream?: Nearly Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know

Till our next Ruffview, Happy tails!

Stephen Longo
www.thefifthpaw.com

Earn Money for Your Rescue/Shelter/Blog With “The Fifth Paw” Amazon Affiliate Program!

We are a small new company, manufacturing a cool new leash attachment, that lets you be “Hands Free, Doody Free!®, when walking your dog. No more juggling full bags of doody! Made right here in the USA! We need your help in getting the word out about us. It’s also a great opportunity to make some extra money for your Blog/Rescue/Shelter just by Posting, blogging or Tweeting about The Fifth Paw! How easy is that! Here’s how it works.

The Amazon Associates Program, which is like an affiliates program. Its Free & Easy for you to join, Amazon will pay you up to 10% for every sale generated through your link to our online Amazon listing of The Fifth Paw (check amazon for details). Once you sign up, you can FaceBook/Blog/Tweet about “The Fifth Paw” using the easy instructions from Amazon. You can even download images from our website, and then insert a link Amazon generates for you.

Details about the Amazon program can be found here.

To sign up for the Amazon Associates Program

Link to and/or share The Fifth Paw’s Amazon listing once signed up.

Please share this with your local Shelter!

Thanks.

A Book Ruffview! Giant George, Life With the World’s Biggest Dog!

As the weather turns warmer here on the East coast and spring fever escalates, many people’s minds turn to thoughts of compiling their summer reading lists, Well…amongst other things. Giant George fits the bill nicely as a summer read.

The first half of the book deals with the ordeals of bringing a rapidly growing Great Dane puppy named George into the family.  Throw in hiding George from the neighbors in their apartment building, a new home renovation and a baby girl and you have the makings of a real Disney movie.

As a Great Dane daddy myself, I can easily imagine the looks & comments they get when walking George, or when they brought their new, ever expanding pup to the section of the dog park reserved for small dog & puppies. Priceless.

Where the book really gets interesting though, is when it chronicles the process of getting George certified for his claim to the Guinness Book of World Records title “Worlds Tallest Dog”. I found it easy to get carried away in the story.

I also enjoyed reading how Giant George was invited, and finally made the long trip to Chicago to be featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

I highly recommend this book as a light summer read, great for the beach or a quite lunch at the park. So pour yourself a tall glass of ice tea and dive right in.

Giant George: Life with the World’s Biggest Dog

Till next time, Happy Tails!

Stephen
The Fifth Paw
www.thefifthpaw.com

“Get Your Licks On Route 66″ Tour 2013!

Last year’s month long pet adoption tour: Get Your Licks on Route 66 (by the great folks over at Fido Friendly Magazine) was a tremendous success & we at The Fifth Paw were excited to be a part of this tour which visited some 14 shelters. They have helped place over 1500 pets in the first four years in to new forever homes!

The Fifth Paw is happy to announce that we just signed on again for this years tour!
Will post more when we have dates.

Your Dog’s Disgusting Behaviors: Which are Normal, Which Represent Disease?

Disclaimer: The Fifth Paw offers this Vet viewpoint for informational purposes only. The Fifth Paw is not advocating particular medical treatment whether in this article or any other. We must all make our own decisions. It is presented here solely for informational purposes. If it resonates with you, Please discuss with your own vet first and above all please use your own judgment. Having said that, Dr. Burton Miller is currently treating my boy Caesar successfully. I asked Dr. Miller if he would like to share some of his thoughts on Holistic Healthcare for dogs.

Burton Miller, DVM
Founder, Animal Wellness Center
Huntington, New York
www.animalwellness.net

Crotch diving, butt surfing, poop eating and urinating on the floor whenever company arrives at your house. In all likelihood, your dog does one or all of these. Do they mean he is sick or normal?

When your dog sticks his nose in your Aunt Millie’s crotch, this is normal dog behavior. Dogs live in a sensory world with a rich panoply of smells to which we are totally oblivious. When dogs approach each other, they go right for the rear end area, where their sense of smell immediately gives them the “low-down” on the other dog. The area around the anus is rich in the glands that produce substances called pheromones. These immediately convey a “personal profile” of information regarding the gender, reproductive status and pack status of the other dog. Your dog is simply trying to get the same information about Aunt Millie. The problem is, it isn’t very polite. The solution? Training your dog to sit and stay when a new person enters the house and alerting guests ahead of time, to not acknowledge your dog until order is maintained. Then, by calmly extending a hand for your dog to sniff, enough information will be conveyed so that it can calm down and settle in its place.

Dragging the rear end along the carpet is not normal behavior; it alerts the owner that something is amiss with the anatomical structures called anal glands. These glands allow each dog to mark territory with their feces. If they get overfull, infected or inflamed, the dog will try to fix the problem by “scooting” its rear end along the carpet, or obsessively licking the anal area. Soft stools often precede the onset of anal gland symptoms. Solutions include having the glands emptied by a veterinarian, having the discharge assessed (is it normal secretion, indication overfilling of the gland, or puss, indicating infection?) and having the stool analyzed to determine if there are any parasites, such as Giardia or hookworm.

Changing the diet to a higher fiber formula can increase the stool bulk and dryness, which naturally empties the glands as it is passed, can be curative also. Bulk can be added by adding insoluble bran to the diet. Rice bran is my favorite. A good starting point would be 1 tsp. per 25 lbs. of pet weight added to food, during the morning and evening feeding routine; the dose can be raised according to the consistency of the feces and the presence or absence of anal gland-related symptoms.

Submissive urination is the term used to describe the tendency that some dogs, usually puppies but sometimes adults, show when dealing with new arrivals to the house. The typical scenario is as follows: the door bell rings, the friend bends down and is “in the face” of the pet, who slinks down low and pees, sometimes with a roll over to show the belly. This is normal behavior that has it roots in the dog pack dynamic – lower ranked dogs attempt to thwart aggression by the alpha dog by showing submissiveness. The solution: de-emphasize the greeting ritual both among family members and especially when company is coming over. Request ahead of time that they ignore the dog upon entering the house and only acknowledge the pet when calmness has been restored.

Eating feces is a frustrating problem for pet owners and vets alike. If the stool is from another species, especially one with a different diet (such as rabbits, horses) then this is a normal strategy for meat eaters to gain the nutrients from the plant kingdom that their diet lacks. When a hunting carnivore has a successful hunt, one of the prizes to be eaten first is the stomach and small intestine of the prey, which contains the partially digested plant matter that the carnivore cannot digest if eaten directly. However, parasites can also be obtained by doing this. Eating her own poop is another story altogether, and represents a problem. If there is incomplete digestion of food, or low level bleeding in the intestines, the stool emerges with a food-like character, which can confuse the dog into giving it a try. The solution: add digestive enzymes and probiotics to the diet; these reduce or eliminate the undigested food particles that may be attracting the dog to eat its own stool. Since low level bleeding can also change the nature of the stool, and parasites can cause this type of bleeding, have the stool analyzed for parasites, and have these treated if present.

Behavior modification can also be used to address stool-eating. There are two forms: one is to try to train the dog out of the behavior. This demands that you be present every time your dog defecates, and to provide a correction (such as a sharp tug on the leash when the dog goes towards the stool to eat it). The other is to use over-the-counter remedies that purport to change the taste of the stool to induce the behavior change. Brand names such as “Deter,” “Forbid” and all-natural “Potty Mouth” can be tried. My experience with these demonstrates they have about a 50% success rate. They appear non-toxic and are worth a try.

Dr. Burton Miller is a holistic veterinarian whose practice, the Animal Wellness Center, is located in Huntington Station, New York. Dr. Miller’s treatment modalities include acupuncture, homeopathy, homotoxicology, veterinary orthopedic manipulation, nutrition, as well as Chinese and western herbal formulations.