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If you want to buy your puppy a treat that they can eat, be very careful on what you buy. Most stores carry a wide variety of chew toys that are made from rawhide. These chew toys come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. You will find them as twisted toys, braided toys, chew sticks, or in the shape of moccasins, bows, etc.
All of the rawhide chew toys look so sweet and so cute and so harmless, but these toys can be very dangerous for your puppy. Puppies have very sharp teeth, and they are capable of chewing through the rawhide chew toys very easily. If your puppy chews off a chunk of rawhide and swallows it, the rawhide could swell in their tummy and make them very sick. Worst yet, the rawhide could get stuck in their throat and swell. Even if your puppy chews very lightly and does not chew off chunks, they may end up getting to the end of the bone and then swallowing the last chunk whole.
Instead of giving your puppy rawhide chew toys, try giving them a real pig ear or cow hoof. I know it sounds gross. If you look in the pet store, where the pre-basted bones are, you will also find real pig ears and real cow hoofs, either sold separately or in bags. They look very similar to the man-made chew toys, but they are all natural. Your puppy can chew these apart without the fear of them swelling inside your puppy once they’re swallowed.
If you choose to buy rawhide chew toys for your puppy, even after the warning, please be careful and supervise them while they’re chewing on the rawhide toys. The same warning goes for the new chew toys that are sold under the name of “Greenies”. I have read many articles on these and there have been many dogs that have died because chunks can be broken off and swallowed. The dog cannot digest the chunks, which causes an intestinal blockage, which then results in surgery or, sometimes, even death.
I know the company has denied these claims, but I am not going to risk it with my dogs. There are way too many other kinds of dog toys out there to have to resort to buying the “Greenies”. It’s hard enough to keep puppies out of things that are harmful. I don’t need to intentionally give them something that could be harmful to them.
A Simple Way To Make Some Cheap Puppy Blankets
Posted on Aug 20, 2008 under puppies care | No Comment
I like to have a variety of small puppy blankets available, so I can use them on the couch or on the dog pillows or in the truck. I finally came up with a cheap way to have a bunch of small puppy blankets.
One day I was sorting through all of our blankets and comforters and I came across some comforters that had stains on them and the filling inside was all bunched up. I was going to throw the comforters away, because I knew they were no longer any good for anyone to use. Then I thought how nice it would be to have these as puppy blankets, but they were too large.
My mom had given me a sewing machine a few years ago. It was just a basic sewing machine, nothing real fancy. I don’t sew much, but my mom had an extra machine and thought it would be nice for me to have one just in case I needed to sew anything. Well, the machine finally came in handy. I took the old comforters and cut them down the middle and then cut each half in half again. I now had four small comforters instead of one large comforter.
I didn’t cut the comforter very straight, which made it more difficult to sew. If you decide to cut a comforter into four squares, try to cut as straight as you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you don’t want a lot of jagged cuts either. Once I cut the comforter into four squares, I got out my sewing machine and I sewed all the open ends closed. I made sure that when I was sewing the open ends closed that I also sewed the filling in with the seams. You want to sew the filling in with the seam to make sure that the filling stays in place.
I ended up cutting two comforters into four squares each. That’s how I made eight small puppy blankets. I can easily wash three of the puppy blankets together in my washer and the nice thing is I can use bleach on them. My puppy blankets have never changed color because of the bleach. But even if they did, it wouldn’t matter.
The blankets come in handy for all kinds of uses. I use them to wrap up the dogs when I take them to the vet. I use them to cover the car seats. I use them to throw over the dog pillows. I also use them if the dogs are chewing on greasy bones and I don’t want to mess on the floor. I can also take a puppy blanket outside and place it on the ground of our old poodle to lie on.
The puppy blankets are very light weight and very easy to wash and dry. They also last a very long time. I made my eight puppy blankets over two years ago, and I still use all eight of them today.
If you don’t own a sewing machine, you might be able to take the comforters up to a dry cleaner to have them altered. You can also look in the newspaper for someone who does sewing on the side and ask them how much they would charge to cut and sew the comforters into four pieces. I think you will find the prices a lot cheaper than buying actual puppy blankets.
P.S. If you don’t have any old comforters, you can find them pretty cheap at garage sales.
How to Pick a Good Natured Puppy Out Of a Litter
Posted on Aug 14, 2008 under puppies care, puppy behavior | No CommentWhen you go to pick out a puppy and there is a whole litter of them, see which puppies come to you and give you their undivided attention. If there are any toys around, see which ones will play with you. The puppies that are very shy or the ones that continue to play with the other puppies and ignore you would not be my first pick. These puppies are not very interested in people or are downright afraid of people. They have a lack of curiosity and adventure.
A good way to test the temperament of a new puppy is to place it on its back. If it wiggles and struggles to flip itself upright, that means the puppy is not very trusting and could have a dominant personality, which means they want to be the boss of you and any other pets you might have.
If the puppy lies on its back and stays relaxed, then it means the puppy is very confident and trusts people. These puppies tend to get along well with people and other dogs because they just want to be friends with everyone and do not want to be the boss.
When we first got Dusty, he didn’t lay on his back very well. He would stiffen right up, but he didn’t struggle to get up either. Now he rolls over on his back when he is sleeping and sprawls out all relaxed. Little One will lie on her back too when she wants her belly rubbed.
If I hold Dusty in my arms, he will lie on his back and dangle his head upside down off of my arm and sleep like this in my arms! I can carry him anywhere through the house or outside like this and he doesn’t budge. He loves lying on his back and dangling his head. Funny thing is he doesn’t do this when he is lying on the couch.
Sidney will lie on her back if you pet her, but she keeps her tail tight between her legs. As soon as you are done petting her, she rolls back upright immediately. She does not have a dominate personality, but she does break up horseplay between the dogs, kind of like a mother hen.
Macy will not lay on her back at all. She has a lot of energy and does not want to be slowed down. She does not trust other people and has to be coaxed to let them touch her. She also wrestles with any of the dogs that want to wrestle. She does have somewhat of a dominant personality with the other dogs. If she wants to wrestle, she will continue to pick on one of the dogs until they wrestle with her.
Sissy will lay on her back half-way. She doesn’t roll completely over. She lies on her side, almost onto her back. She will let you pet her chest, but not her belly. If you pet her belly the wrong way, she jumps up and attacks your hand! She doesn’t bite, but she acts like she will and she barks and whines and really shows her displeasure. It takes a few minutes for her to calm down to where you can pet her again. She is very distrusting of people to the point that she will growl at someone if they try to get near her.
Little One will lie on her back if you rub her belly. She will also lie on her back if you pick her up and put her on your chest. She gets very relaxed when you rub her belly. If you stop rubbing her belly, she will paw and nuzzle at you with her nose until you rub her belly again. Eventually, she will fall asleep and then you can quit rubbing her belly and she will continue to sleep on her back. She will only lie on her back when she wants her belly rubbed. She does not roll over on her back when she is sleeping. She has a very dominant personality and wants to be the little boss over everyone, even Sidney!
