It’s the end of January and cabin fever is rampant  throughout much of the United States.  Don’t you think your dog feels the same way?

As with people, dogs must keep their minds and bodies fit and active.

The ancestor of the dog, the wolf, covered up to 20 km a day. A dog which is involved with too little exercise is open to the same risks as humans by becoming overweight, putting too much strain on joints, and being at higher risk of cardio-vascular diseases, a weak immune system and increased incidence of skin diseases.

In order to maintain his mental health, it is important for the dog to have sufficient variety in his life and  contact with other dogs. If you own just one dog, you should regularly look for places where many different, friendly dogs can meet off the lead.

If you are alone with your dog on a walk, occupy him with  obedience exercises, games of “fetch” or exercises of skill. There are a huge selection of fetch and frisbee toys available on the market.  So much so that it can be difficult to choose. We like the Dog Whisperer line of Dog Toys by Cesar Millan.

When you praise each accomplishment these exercise periods will make your dog very happy and more balanced!

In 2011, it is estimated that among U.S. women, there will be 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer (includes new cases of primary breast cancer among survivors, but not recurrence of original breast cancer among survivors).

Awareness Starts One Person at a TIME! All women need to stay attuned to breast changes:

• Lump, hard knot or thickening inside the breast or underarm area
• Swelling, warmth, redness or darkening of the breast
• Change in the size or shape of the breast
• Dimpling or puckering of the skin
• Itchy, scaly sore or rash on the nipple
• Pulling in of your nipple or other parts of the breast
• Nipple discharge that starts suddenly
• New pain in one spot that doesn’t go away

Spread the word this month to save lives!

To the right -> Breast Cancer Awareness Dog Toy from GregRobert Pet Supplies

Before training your dog you need dog treats.  You will have a much easier time teaching your dog new tricks if you have treats.  Small treats are the best to use for a few reasons.  First, you do not want to over feed your dog with treats, that would not be healthy at all.  Also, small treats are eaten quickly so your dog will not lose focus on the task at hand.  You should also use treats that your dog is excited to eat.  Peanut butter dog treats and pork flavored dog treats are flavors your dog will love.  Tiny treats that my dog loves are Mini Grahams Dog Cookies – 8 oz, shown to the right.  The Mini Grahams Dog Cookies – 8 oz are great to use when training your dog because they are made of wholesome graham.

When using treats, you need to make sure that you are using them as a reward instead of a bribe.  Let me explain the difference.  A reward is when you give your dog a treat after she displays the behavior you are teaching her too.  A bribe is when your dog will not do a trick that she can do easily unless you give her a treat.  For example, if your dog will only “sit” AFTER you give her a treat, that is a bribe and is a misuse of treats.

Another thing to remember when using treats as a reward is to keep the treat out of your dog’s sight when she is learning a new trick.  Although you will reward her with the treat once she successfully completes the behavior, you do not want her to only do the trick for the treat.  You want your dog to be motivated to do a behavior because she sees your hand motions telling her to do the trick, not because she sees a treat.  Once your dog can complete the behavior consistently, start rewarding her with treats less and less.  You can not stop giving her treats altogether, but instead of giving her treats each time she does the behavior you can reward her with a belly rub or a toy.

However, treats alone will not teach your dog new tricks.  You will also need to use positive reinforcement.  Praise and petting works well in this regard.   And of course will need to have lots of patience!

As with nutrition labels on human foods, dog food nutrition labels will list the ingredients from heaviest to lightest.  If your dog food has meat products in it, it is likely that either meat or water will be the first ingredient.  Meat is made up of water, so water usually becomes a “heavily weighted” ingredient in your dog’s food when meat is present.

Do you ever notice that your dog’s food says it contains “byproducts”?  This does not have a definitive meaning, as it could be a bad thing or a good thing.  For example, liver is considered a “byproduct,” but it actually contains very healthy nutrients for your dog. However, “byproducts” can sometimes mean that your dog food contains unhealthy meat byproducts like udders, intestines, brains, even blood!  If your dog food contains byproducts, try to find out which byproducts the food contains.

Keep in mind that the FDA would not approve dog food that could potentially harm your dog.  If your dog food is labeled “complete and balanced,” this means that it is safe for your dog because it contains a healthy balance of nutrients.  You should not trust a label that says the food is made of “human-grade ingredients.”  Nor if it says “made in a USDA inspected facility.”  Neither of these two labels are approved by the FDA, and do not prove that the food is healthy for the dog.

I pay a lot of attention to the food labels of my dog’s food.  One dog food brand that I found that I really like is Earthborn Holistic.  For my adult dog, I feed him the Earthborn Adult Vantage Dog Food, pictured above.  It has a large amount of meat proteins like chicken meal and whitefish meal.  It also has high levels of calcium and phosphorous which help maintain strong teeth and bones.  It also contains healthy grains that aid in digestion, like oatmeal and brown rice.  Also, it is infused with Omega 3′s and 6′s, and we all know how healthy these fatty acids are!  My dog absolutely loves the taste of Earthborn Adult Vantage Dog Food, and yours will too!

If you have a dog that weighs less than 20 pounds, Earthborn Holistic has a formula of dog food specifically for small dogs:  Earthborn Small Breed.   It contains the same beneficial ingredients as the Earthborn Adult Vanage Dog Food, but is made to provide the special nutrients little dogs need to live a long life!

Most veterinarians will recommend that at minimum you provide your dog with a half hour of aerobic exercise 3 or 4 days a week.  You may already realize this, but the larger the dog is, the more exercise he will require.  You can either exercise a larger dog longer, or at a higher intensity.

So what type of exercise should you do with your dog?  Well, whatever you and your dog like to do!  Exercise can range from simply running to playing fetch.  If your dog enjoys swimming, as some dogs do, this would be a great form of aerobic exercise!  My dog absolutely loves swimming and playing fetch, and I found the perfect toy to combine these activities.  I bought him the Chuckit! Amphibious Toys for Dogs, pictured above.  You can choose from a boomerang, bumper, or ring.  I have bought all 3!  They all come in bright colors for easy visibility, which is great because you can throw them very far!  You can use the Chuckit! Amphibious Toys for Dogs in the water or on land, but they are particularly great to use in the water because they float!

Its no secret dogs love playing fetch.  If your dog does not like swimming, you can of course play fetch on land.  A great toy is the Flying Squirrel Fetch Toy for Dogs, which is a colorful disk that can be thrown a very long distance.  They come in 3 different sizes, so you can find one that will be a perfect size for your dog.  A great toy you can “fling” really far is the Air Kong Dog Fetch Stick.  There is a string that you hold onto to fling, and it is attached to the end of a cylinder shaped toy made of the same material from tennis balls.  Your dog will love it!

That need is instinctual, at its peak in puppyhood but noticeable throughout most dogs’ lifetimes. This tugging action puts pressure on the teeth and gums, toughening and cleaning them to keep the canine mouth healthy.

Modern dog food does not require tearing or even much chewing, so your dog’s teeth aren’t cleaned naturally, leading the way to plaque buildup, decay and even gum disease.

Poor dental health creates an opening for bacteria and is linked to a number of chronic infections and diseases, including kidney and heart ailments. While it doesn’t replace the need for brushing and dental checkups, rawhide chews bring back the natural cleaning effects of tugging and prolonged chewing, gently rubbing off plaque and toughening the teeth and gums.

Rawhide also saves your favorite shoes, furniture legs, toys … you name it, a dog will find a way to chew it. Rawhide offers your dog a safe outlet for his gnawing needs and relieves his boredom for hours on end. For a dog who truly loves his chews, try Dingo Double Meat Bones, - these will give him a real run for his money.

So let your dog indulge guilt-free … not only does he love his rawhide chew, it’s good for him! And for you.

The Dogsaver toys are the perfect toy for tossing and chewing! These bright candy-colored toys are constructed of super durable synthetic rubber, ideal for tough chewers and rambunctious fetchers.

It even floats for fun summer water games!

In addition to the lifesaver shaped toy (pictured to the right),  the Dogsaver Retriever is the perfect toy for tossing, flinging and chewing!  These are also bright candy-colored toys and constructed of super durable synthetic rubber, ideal for medium chewers and rambunctious fetchers.

All of these dog toys are great for fun summer water games with excellent bouyancy.

As in humans, some dogs have problems maintaining proper weight levels - especially as they get older.

Weight gain can be due to inactivity or a natural tendency to gain weight.  Most veterinarians consider overweight dogs at risk for a number of health problems.  If your vet recommends physical activity for your dog, it is important to provide opportunities for this to happen.

PRO PAC ® Low Fat Rice & Chicken Meal Formula reduces fat and calories without reducing the nutrients necessary to maintain optimum health. This, along side an active lifestyle can extend your dog’s life and/or the quality of life.

PRO PAC ® Low Fat Rice and Chicken Meal Formula is naturally preserved and contains no by-products. 100% guaranteed.

Animal feeding tests using Association of American Feed Control Official procedures substantiate that PRO PAC ® Low Fat Rice & Chicken Meal Formula provides complete and balanced nutrition for maintenance of adult dogs.

Dog nutition is an area where there are innumerable opinions and no single opinion is correct. Much research has been performed on the subject and, although some is indeed conflicting, some basic principles and guidelines have emerged. For example, horses have different requirements than people and people have different requirements than dogs. Young dogs have different requirements than old dogs and exercising dogs have different requirements than lap dogs.

Although dog food companies do a pretty good job at providing fairly well-balanced nutrition for the average dog, there are some conflicting issues that make them subject to scrutiny before one walks into a pet store and picks up just “any  ‘ole food.”

For one thing, every dog food company needs to make a profit. Therefore, they need to use ingredients that are inexpensive enough for the food to be profitable because the consumer won’t buy it if it is too expensive. Secondly, the more shelf space taken up by a single company ‘s brand of food, the more likely it is that the consumer will see the food and buy it in the first place. Most puppies, for example, do just as well on “adult” dog food as they do on “puppy” food as long as you know what to look for on a label. Pictured above is Puppy Vantage – Earthborn Holistic food – a favorite of ours.

As long as the “fine print” on the label says that the food meets the nutritional requirements for growth, then you may feed it to your puppy. However, a company that sells food for both puppies and adults has twice the shelf space than one which sells only one type of food. Quality is a different issue and we will discuss that later. The issue of adult dog food vs. puppy dog food is also affected by the fact that we, as consumers, are programmed to think that the food has to be different. For large breed puppies that grow quickly and are prone to hip dysplasia and other bone and joint disorders, over-nutrition can actually be harmful. These puppies need to stay lean as they grow. Therefore, the extra calories and protein found in many puppy foods may actually be detrimental if the puppies are overfed.

A fourth issue is one of convenience: most dog owners would balk at the thought of providing whole, freshly killed prey so that their dogs could eat, not only the meat, but the organs and partially digested stomach contents, and then chew on the bones. The little chunks of processed dry food or the easily opened cans are addicting to us. Zoos found out a long time ago that tigers do better on at least some raw meat. One would have to wonder if our pets are all that different. Standard commercial diets keep 99% of the dogs in our lives very healthy. It is that last 1% that we need to be knowledgeable enough to feed properly.

Farmington Hills, MI - September 12, 2010 – www.GRpet.com (GregRobert Pet Supplies) is proud to announce the launch of a completely redesigned, state-of-the-art website. This new and improved site will provide customers the option to search and find pet products easily.  The site offers a clearer interface, more social networking features and more detailed product information.  In addition the GRpet.com site still offers:

1.   Ability to access order status 24 hours a day 7 days a week
2.   Automatically receive updates on the status of their order
3.   Print out and view their order details at any time
4.   Send and receive messages with GRpet.com customer service
5.   Track their order history with GRpet.com and much more

GRpet.com has also expanded product offerings and added new product categories.   Ray Joyce, President of GregRobert Enterprises, LLC states: “While GRpet.com has always offered a wide range of high quality Pet Products, this summer we expanded our product line from 15,000 products to over 20,000 products.  With the expansion, it was time to evaluate the customer experience and focus on simplifying the website.  We are excited to launch the new website and receive customer feedback.”

Visit GRpet.com:

GRpet.com was  founded in 2002 by Ray Joyce, and has grown yearly to become a widely recognized and trusted pet supply retailer.