music calms the savage beast

Well, your dog is likely not a savage beast, but does your pup get distressed in the car when going to the vet, on a long car trip or just to grandma’s house? I found a new CD developed to calm your dog while traveling. From Through a Dog’s Ear: Music to Calm Your Dog in the Car is a 74 minute CD filled with calming classical music for you and your dog to enjoy and relax.

For $14.98+shipping you will receive the CD plus a booklet which addresses three degrees of dog anxiety from no visible issues to moderate/extreme distress. A 20 minute “travel prep” can be played before you get in the car to set the stage for an enjoyable trip.

The remaining soothing tracks should help calm your nervous canine so you can both enjoy the ride.

If you do purchase it, please come back and let us know what you think…Happy traveling!

four paws pimple ball recall

Just a quick note to let you know about an important recall from Four Paws. Four Paws, who offer a full line of dog and cat products are best known for their Wee Wee pads for puppies.

They have issued their own recall of the Four Paws Pimple Ball with Bell toys which recently resulted in the the amputation of a dog’s tongue. Due to an apparent design flaw, the second hole in the toy is sometimes missing or covered up resulting in a suction effect and in this case resulted in the amputation of the dog’s tongue.

The company has personally addressed the issue with the dog’s family and the Executive VP is heading to the manufacturing facility to address quality control issues. While Four Paws is under no legal obligation to recall the products, it appears they are being proactive and socially conscious.

If you would like to read more information on the situation here is an article from the Sun Sentinel in South Florida. And here is a link to the Four Paws website with refund information.

If you have this toy - take it away from your pup immediately and return it to Four Paws for a replacement.

Planet Dog strawberry toy

It’s minty & buoyant and is ranked a four out of five on the chew-o-meter rating. Planet Dog produces durable, non-toxic, recycleable toys for big chewers. We tested them in Henry’s Lab and here’s what Riley’s Mom had to say…

“I actually had to take this away from him at night so he could go to sleep! I did find that the strawberry was a bit large for his little mouth at the time*. But now that he is three months old and 25 pounds, the “strawberry” is a better fit for his mouth. The main problem is that while the idea of putting treats inside a toy is a great idea in theory, my puppy didn’t and doesn’t really quite understand what he’s supposed to be doing with it. I haven’t tried anything pasty yet, such as peanut butter, as I am a new Mom to a puppy and would like to check with my vet first before giving him anything other food specially designed for puppies, but he does get excited when he hears me shaking it!”

UPDATE: We are happy to report that Riley has finally found the treats inside!

*Also, a note on the size…it is very important to buy toys that puppies cannot swallow as they like swallowing all kids of things. So if the toy is a little too big in the beginning, don’t worry, he’ll likely soon grow into it.

Henry’s Lab ranking:
     

toys for big dogs

I don’t know about you but my dogs love toys but because they are serious chewers, the toys never last long. It’s a race between Henry and Jess to see who can get to the squeeky in the center first - usually pulling out all the fluffy guts just for fun. I once bought a dog toy made out of fire hose which was suppose to be indestructable, the store said to return it if your dog chewed a hole in it. Henry had four holes in it within ten minutes (I timed him). I brought it back.

One toy that was recommended to me which is the only toy they didn’t chew up was an Egg Babies Dog Toy. The Egg Babies toys are soft toys shaped like turtles and platypus’ (not sure where that one came from…) and they have an opening on their tummies and soft eggs (with squeekys) inside. My dogs just love pulling the eggs out and waiting for you to put them back in. Sometimes I put treats in there and they like trying to get those out, too.

There are also some other similar ones shaped like a house with soft, squeaky squirrels in it (my pups especially liked that one - what with their obsession with squirrels and all), etc.

So treat your big chewer to a toy they’ll love and one you won’t have to replace after ten minutes! Henry and Jess recommend Egg Babies.