Thursday, October 13, 2011

How Often Should You Vaccinate Your Cat or Dog?

In part 1 of this 4-part series, Dr. Karen Becker talks with Dr. Ronald Schultz, a pioneer and expert in the field of veterinary vaccines. Listen as the doctors discuss the history of dog and cat vaccines, and the real reason behind why your puppy or kitten receives so many vaccines in the first year of life.



To view the full 4-part series, read additional information on this subject, and download transcripts of this informative discussion, please visit this link to the Mercola Healthy Pets website.

Amazing Photos of the Most Unlikely Animal Friends

From Cesar's Way magazine:

Scientists have debated for years whether dogs are capable of love and other supposedly human emotions. Researchers have discovered that these are core emotions controlled from the lower part of the brain, which is common to other animals. And it has been shown that both dogs and humans have rising levels of the hormone oxytocin when they’re engaged happily with each other.

Click HERE to visit Cesar Millan's website to read the rest of the story and to view more gorgeous photos of unlikely animal friends.

K-9 Hereos of 9/11

This is a wonderful e-mail that I received in honor of the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

OLD WONDERFUL FACES SAY IT ALL...

True heroes of 9/11 still with us today:


Moxie, 13, from Winthrop, Massachusetts, arrived with her handler, Mark Aliberti, at the World Trade Center on the evening of September 11 and searched the site for eight days.


Tara, 16, from Ipswich, Massachusetts, arrived at the World Trade Center on the night of the 11th. The dog and her handler Lee Prentiss were there for eight days.


Kaiser, 12, pictured at home in Indianapolis, Indiana, was deployed to the World Trade Center on September 11 and searched tirelessly for people in the rubble.



Bretagne and his owner Denise Corliss from Cypress, Texas, arrived at the site in New York on September 17, remaining there for ten days.


Guinness, 15, from Highland, California, started work at the site with Sheila McKee on the morning of September 13 and was deployed at the site for 11 days.


Merlyn and his handler Matt Claussen were deployed to Ground Zero on September 24, working the night shift for five days.


Red, 11, from Annapolis, Maryland, went with Heather Roche to the Pentagon from September 16 until the 27 as part of the Bay Area Recovery Canines.



Abigail, above, was deployed on the evening of September 17, searching for 10 days while Tuff arrived in New York at 11:00 pm on the day of attack to start working early the next day.


Handler Julie Noyes and Hoke were deployed to the World Trade Center from their home in Denver on September 24 and searched for five days.


Scout and another unknown dog lie among the rubble at Ground Zero, just two of nearly 100 search and rescue animals who helped to search for survivors.

During the chaos of the 9/11 attacks, where almost 3,000 people died, nearly 100 loyal search and rescue dogs and their brave owners scoured Ground Zero for survivors.

Now, ten years on, just 12 of these heroic canines survive, and they have been commemorated in a touching series of portraits entitled 'Retrieved'.

The dogs worked tirelessly to search for anyone trapped alive in the rubble, along with countless emergency service workers and members of the public.

Traveling across nine states in the U.S. from Texas to Maryland, Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas, 34, captured the remaining dogs in their twilight years in their homes where they still live with their handlers, a full decade on from 9/11.

Their stories have now been compiled in a book, called Retrieved, which was published on the tenth anniversary of the attacks.

Noted for her touching portraits of animals, especially dogs, Charlotte wanted 'Retrieved' to mark not only the anniversary of the September 2001 attacks, but also as recognition for some of the first responders and their dogs.

'I felt this was a turning point, especially for the dogs, who although are not forgotten, are not as prominent as the human stories involved,' explained Charlotte, who splits her time between New York and Amsterdam.

'They speak to us as a different species and animals are greatly important for our sense of empathy and to put things into perspective.'

Monday, October 3, 2011

Hero Dogs of 9/11

From CesarsWay.com

Ten years after that fateful day, a rescue dog named Abby is enjoying her retirement

At first glance, Abby the black Lab doesn’t look her age. There are very few gray hairs on her muzzle, and she’s as alert and intelligent as she ever was. Watch her on her daily walks with Debra Tosch, though, and you can see the decline. The back legs are starting to go, and she just can’t move the way she used to. At 14, Abby is an elderly dog in the twilight of her life.

But what a life she’s had!

Abby’s a retired search-and-rescue dog, and she and Debra, who was her handler, worked in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit. They also worked California’s deadly La Conchita mudslide in 2005. Just two days before she retired, on her 11th birthday, Abby searched for survivors at the scene of a train wreck in California. And she’s one of the few dogs still living who hunted through the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center desperately seeking signs of life after the September 11 attacks 10 years ago.

Read the full story on the Cesar Millan's website.

The Original Motorcycle Dog