Pet stocks can endure tough markets

By Karen Richardson – WSJ – Even when times are tough, pet lovers typically don’t scrimp when it comes to health care for their furry and feathered friends.That is lucky for pets — and for the companies that make money providing veterinary care.    

Read Full Post »

Calming with the canine

By Ben Muessig – Tribune-Review – Toby slowly extended his front paws in a stretch, and a room of adults followed his lead, learning the Downward Facing Dog pose from a downward facing dog.
Before the first "doga" class at Animal Friends last Sunday, dogs barked and yelped, socializing with their leashes dragging behind them. By [...]

Read Full Post »

Honesty is best when a family is losing pet

4 Kids Early Learning Network Post-Gazette column – Q. Our family's dog is very old and he'll have to be put to sleep one of these days. I know it will be hard on my two younger kids, who are 3 and 4. Is there any way I can prepare for this?
A. Often, the death [...]

Read Full Post »

Mid-Atlantic English Springer Spaniel Rescue Picnic, June 10 in South Park

By Linda Wilson Fuoco – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – People will be seeing spots, and freckles, at a picnic in South Park on June 10, 2006 sponsored by Mid-Atlantic English Springer Spaniel Rescue.
A highlight will be a "parade of rescues," springers that were placed in new homes after their owners became unwilling or unable to care [...]

Read Full Post »

Steps put pets on top of the world

By Linda Wilson Fuoco – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – While many people struggle mightily to keep dogs off couches and beds, other people are producing and promoting products that make it easier for dogs to gain access to furniture designed for humans. Have you seen the television commercials for Doggy Steps?     

Read Full Post »

Man sues vet over dog’s death

By David Hunt – TRIBUNE-REVIEW – A basset hound's induced death in 2004 has led a Hempfield Township man to file a five-count malpractice lawsuit Thursday in Westmoreland County court.
Randy Slagle, 55, is suing Cathy M. Schweingruber and East Suburban Animal Hospital, of Export, over an allegedly hasty decision to euthanize 11-year-old Ezekial Watson Slagle. [...]

Read Full Post »

West Deer Township Rabies Clinic

Rabies clinic from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 27, 2006 at the West Deer Dog Shelter, 109 E. Union Road. Cost is $6 per inoculation. Proceeds benefit the shelter.
For more information, call 724-265-3680.

Read Full Post »

Dieting With Dog Helps Lose Weight

WPXI-TV – PITTSBURGH – People read books and try all kinds of products, but the weight loss answer may be as close as the nearest animal shelter.
The latest way to lose weight has a little more bite to it.
It's the dog diet. (www.thedogdiet.com)

Read Full Post »

Dog Dieter Credits Canine With Eating Tips

John Cater Reporting – (KDKA) PITTSBURGH – It has been said that a person can find their key to a successful diet by looking at life through the eyes of their dog if they're willing to listen.

Read Full Post »

Fund pays to neuter pets

By CS Glessner for the Tribune-Review – The Nardecchia Spay and Neuter Fund, an organization started by a small group of big-hearted people in Cambria and Somerset counties, has vowed to make a difference in the lives of less forunate dogs and cats living in those [...]

Read Full Post »

Rendell fires state’s dog law advisory panel – Seeks to reverse image as puppy mill capital of East Coast

By Tracie Mauriello and Tom Barnes – Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau – HARRISBURG – Trying to rid Pennsylvania of its reputation as the "puppy mill capital of the East Coast," Gov. Ed Rendell has fired all 14 members of the state Dog Law Advisory Board.
Mr. Rendell, a pet lover who owns two golden retrievers, said [...]

Read Full Post »

Rendell dismisses dog-law advisers: He cites the poor conditions at Pa. “puppy mills.” Board members contend they are not at fault for inaction.

By Amy Worden – Philadelphia Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau – HARRISBURG – Members of the Pennsylvania Dog Law Advisory Board have received pink slips from Gov. Rendell, in what he called the first step toward addressing inhumane conditions at the growing number of commercial dog breeding operations.
The action comes as animal-welfare advocates increase pressure on officials [...]

Read Full Post »

Boy Scout Fundraiser for Police Dog

Castle Shannon Boy Scout Troop 350 will sponsor a spaghetti dinner, 3-7 p.m. Saturday, May 13, 2006 at the St. Anne School gym, 4040 Willow Ave.
Part of the proceeds will be used to buy a bulletproof vest for Nitro, the Castle Shannon police dog. Cost: $6 adults; $4 children; free for children [...]

Read Full Post »

Fat cats, hog dogs – Overfeeding, table scraps lead to an ‘epidemic’ of overweight pets

By Linda Wilson Fuoco – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - In this era of pet resorts, doggie yoga, feng shui pet gardens and Retin-A acne treatments for cats, it was just a matter of time.
A weight-loss contest for your pet.
Your dog or cat can win money, a year's supply of pricey pet food and free airline [...]

Read Full Post »

Marshall Twp. Rabies Clinic

Marshall township will hold a rabies clinic from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 30, 2006 at Warrendale Community Park, Mount Pleasant Road. Cost is $7 per pet. Dogs must be on a leash; cats must be in carriers.

Read Full Post »

Dogs face epidemic of knee-ligament injuries

By Kevin Helliker – The Wall Street Journal – A dog named Paddi was chasing a cat through a suburban Seattle neighborhood when suddenly she pulled up lame. So tender was Paddi's hind leg that her owner, physician Kevin Bulley, had to carry her home.
The diagnosis turned out to be a ruptured cruciate ligament, an [...]

Read Full Post »

Low-Cost Rabies Clinics

The Allegheny County Health Department will hold two low-cost rabies vaccination clinics on Saturday, April 8.
The clinics will be held at:

Holiday Park Animal Hospital, 1999 Route 286, Plum, from 9 a.m. to noon. Call (724) 327-7100.
East McKeesport Pet Hospital, 1112 Route 30, North Versailles, from 2 to 5 p.m. Call (412) 824-1023.

The vaccinations are $8 [...]

Read Full Post »

Spay Day in April: 1/2 Off Every Tuesday

The Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania is scheduling a "Spay Day" every Tuesday in April.
Every Tuesday in April, any spay/neuter surgery will be half off the normal price. The price varies based on the size and weight of the animal. To schedule a spay/neuter surgery, call 412-345-0350.

Read Full Post »

From Lap to Lap, via Internet and Airline

By TRACIE ROZHON – NYT – If you want something badly enough, you'll find a way to get it. Even a pedigreed dog.
We bought Reilly, our Irish terrier puppy, over the Internet. She was shipped in by Northwest Airlines in a tiny plastic carrier, arriving in upstate New York on a bitterly cold night in [...]

Read Full Post »

It’s a dog’s life for pampered pets

April E. Clark – Glenwood Springs Post Independent Staff – There’s an aging golden retriever in the valley with a dye job to die for.
And that’s just a sampling of the lengths some pet owners go to when pampering their babies – yes, “babies.”
Today, Fido stays dry with a water-shedding raincoat, and warm with a [...]

Read Full Post »

Dog flu outbreak taking bite out of pet businesses

By Amy Bryer – The Denver Business Journal - Doggy daycare centers, boarders and groomers are feeling a financial bite since an outbreak of canine influenza first appeared in Denver in January.
Some have lost thousands of dollars after having had to shut down for days or weeks at a time to disinfect their facilities and prevent [...]

Read Full Post »

Never mind the mutt, how about a pugahuahua?

By the Albany Times Union – Where the word “mutt” once sufficed, pop-culture aficionados and dog-lovers alike are uttering “labradoodle” and “snorkie” and “puggleBreeders are embracing the idea — once anathema — of combining different purebred dogs. They have produced the taco terrier (Chihuahua + toy fox terrier), the bullmatian (bull mastiff plus dalmatian), the [...]

Read Full Post »

Webster Beagle Club

Rostraver, PA — The Webster Beagle Club is sponsoring a rabies clinic from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Rostraver Central Fire Co., Fells Church Road. Donation is $6, and inoculations for lyme disease, parvovirus and distemper are available for additional fees. Participants receive free hot dogs, coffee and gifts from Dad’s Dog Food. [...]

Read Full Post »

Del Monte Foods bulks up on pet food

Del Monte Foods Co. is bulking up its Pittsburgh-based pet foods operation by buying the Milk-Bone brand from Kraft Foods. Recent adverse publicity surrounding the popular Greenies®  treats highlights the opportunities available in the Pet Treats/Snacks business. It is ripe for competition.   

Read Full Post »

Local veterinarian takes his expertise on the road

Kristy Graver – North Journal Staff Writer - When it comes to veterinary medicine, Dr. David Ruble is on a roll. The Allison Park resident operates Vet to Pet, a mobile clinic that services ailing animals throughout the Greater Pittsburgh area.
“I enjoy helping people,” he says, “and my days are a lot more eventful.”
For seven years, [...]

Read Full Post »

BioVision hopes pet project will help people

by Kristen Kunz – The Denver Business Journal – Amid beeping heart monitors, bright lights and doctors in scrubs, 1-year-old Aeowen lies sedated on an operating table. Her belly is shaved, her tongue hangs from the side of her mouth — and her furry ears flop backward.
The Papillion dog is having a surgical procedure called [...]

Read Full Post »

Parvo: For dogs, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

By Linda Wilson Fuoco - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Canine parvovirus is a highly contagious disease that is especially dangerous for puppies. While the incredibly hardy virus thrives year-round, veterinarians see more cases in the spring and summer when people and their dogs are out and about more because of the nice weather.The good new is that [...]

Read Full Post »

Wildlife: Don’t treat dogs to grapes or raisins

By Scott Shalaway – Post-Gazette – It was a simple question, but to Daisy, my family’s yellow Lab, it’s the highlight of her day. “Wanna go for a walk?” She loves to roam the fields and woods as much as I do. I like to think it’s my companionship she loves, but she always begins [...]

Read Full Post »

Spay Day USA 2006

The Doris Day Foundation’s 12th annual Spay Day USA will be February 28, 2006. 

Read Full Post »

Dogs Like Us – Bioethics

By TED KERASOTE - Kelly, Wyo. – THE 130th Westminster Dog Show comes to New York today, with its thousands of contestants, ranging in size from two-pound Chihuahuas to 120-pound Great Danes. As the highly groomed dogs prance down the runways of Madison Square Garden — the floor-length coats of the Afghan hounds swaying, the teased [...]

Read Full Post »

DNA database aims to tackle dog thefts

Concern at soaring toll of stolen pets in Britain – Yorkshire Post – David Hogg – GENETIC material from dogs is being collected in a huge computer data bank as part of a drive aimed at halting the rising trend in pet thefts. The Missing Pets Bureau has launched its DNA Identification scheme aimed at [...]

Read Full Post »

This taxi puts your pet in the passenger seat

Bark-N-Ride joins a growing industry that caters to busy dog and cat owners
BY NANCY YANG – Pioneer Press – No time to take Spot to the groomers? Too busy to bring Fluffy to the vet?
Barb Romans has the solution — let her do it. For a price.  

Read Full Post »

Best friend to pets – Dr. Bill Ames

By Misty Chybrzynski for the Valley News Dispatch - After a 43-year tenure of treating and performing surgery on countless animals in the local area, Dr. Bill Ames will relinquish some of his duties and move into semi-retirement this month.
Ames, 71, of New Kensington, established the Rainbow Pet Care Center in Natrona Heights, Harrison, in March [...]

Read Full Post »

Pet obesity a growing problem

By GLEN BOLDUC – Staff Writer -  It’s the whining. That constant yapping, the nipping at the heels, the incessant begging. “It drives me crazy,” said Carol Caswell of Pittston. She tries to let Dakota, her 6-year-old Yorkshire terrier, outdoors first. “If that doesn’t work,” she said, “then I’ll try the food.”   

Read Full Post »

It’s official: Walking dog is good for pet and owner

By Linda Wilson Fuoco – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Dogs of many breeds and breed mixes are frequent fliers on the sidewalks of Mt. Lebanon. Most walk briskly, and most walk with obvious glee, with tails aloft and wagging. They walk on leashes attached to people, for Mt. Lebanon is a town where [...]

Read Full Post »

Dad’s Pet Food in Meadville

The recent tainted Diamond Dog Food scare has me investigating pet food manufacturers. I found one right here in our backyard, DAD’S Pet Care.  I don’t know anybody using their products, but the founder’s depression-era story about a Springer Spaniel is worth a mention: 

Read Full Post »

Local Beagle a Victim Of Tainted Dog Food

INDANIA COUNTY — WJACTV.com — Diamond Pet Food Company started announcing last month that some of their dog food may be contaminated with a toxin found in corn. The Buggey Family of Indiana had fed their dog that food. Now they’re just one of more than a hundred families who’ve reported their [...]

Read Full Post »

Dogs Excel on Smell Test to Find Cancer

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. – NYT – In the small world of people who train dogs to sniff cancer, a little-known Northern California clinic has made a big claim: that it has trained five dogs – three Labradors and two Portuguese water dogs – to detect lung cancer in the breath [...]

Read Full Post »

Helping families cope with loss of pet

By Kristy Graver, The Signal Item – When Mark and Kristine Ferrans lost their beloved golden retriever, Kelly, to cancer last spring, they decided to give her a heartfelt send-off by scattering her ashes in a grassy field where she used to run wild and free.
After researching Chartiers Custom Pet Cremation in Bridgeville, the Wexford [...]

Read Full Post »

After Recall of Food, Veterinarians at Cornell University Rush to Save Poisoned Dogs

By MICHELLE YORK – New York Times – ITHACA, N.Y. – Jan. 7 – On Friday morning, when their 4-year-old golden retriever, Minnie, was near death, Robert and Janice Lugo called in sick to their jobs, carried Minnie to their car and drove her to a top animal hospital four hours away. 
They were in such [...]

Read Full Post »

Pampered pets are big business

The field of catering to our four-legged friends is booming

Anita Dufalla, Post-Gazette

By Patricia Sabatini – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – At the Cozy Inn in Plum, pampered guests can indulge in hydro and Swedish massages, hot oil treatments, therapeutic body scrubs, pedicures and facials. Of course, there’s also the standard flea bath, the first hint that the [...]

Read Full Post »

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pet Food Editorial

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial: Dogged oversight / The FDA should give closer scrutiny to pet food – Dog owners in Pennsylvania and 22 other states just got a sobering glimpse of the gaps that may exist in regulating the safety of food for America’s 76 million pet cats and 61 million pet dogs. Contaminated dog food [...]

Read Full Post »

FDA bones up on Greenies

New York Newsday – BY Staff Writer DENISE FLAIM – Up until recently, Jean Marcellino of Huntington kept an odd souvenir on her dining-room breakfront — an uneven green ball of compressed wheat gluten better known as a Greenie, the most popular dog treat in the country.

Read Full Post »

Why are there so many old dogs? Life expectancy has climbed dramatically

Bernard D. Goldstein, M.D. in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Did you ever notice how many old dogs are of an age equivalent to a 100-year-old human? It is accepted wisdom that multiplying by seven can convert the age of a dog to the equivalent age of a human. A 15-year-old dog should be the same age [...]

Read Full Post »

In cold weather, it’s still critical to keep dog hydrated

By Meg Dedolph The Beacon News STAFF WRITER — With winter threatening to turn your pet from pup to pupsicle, some animal experts have a few tips on helping the four-footed weather the cold.

Read Full Post »

High-end mutts sit up and beg for respect

from The Wall Street Journal — With her silky coat and full repertoire of tricks, Roxie could be a contender for one of the canine world’s top prizes, the coveted Best in Show ribbon at the Westminster Kennel Club competition. There’s just one problem: her ancestors. Roxie’s not a purebred, she’s a mutt. She is [...]

Read Full Post »

Be careful with all dog treats, not just Greenies

By Anya Sostek, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – In less than 10 years, Joe and Judy Roetheli went from owners of a dog with bad breath to creators of the top-selling dog treat in America. But dog lovers giveth and, on the Internet at least, sometimes they taketh away. In the past few months, chatter about Greenies dog [...]

Read Full Post »

Diamond pet food recalled for deadly fungus

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS – COLUMBIA, S.C. — http://www.diamondpet.com — A pet food company has advised retailers in more than 20 states to stop selling some of its dog and cat food that may be contaminated with toxic fungus. Several dogs have gotten sick and some have died. 

Read Full Post »

Why Dogs Eat Grass

By Sarah Penrice Dog Health – http://www.dogflu.ca/ — Ever wondered why your dog eats grass? Well the answer to this question is simple, or is it? We as humans know that eating healthy food will help us live more fulfilling lives. Do dogs know the same? 

Read Full Post »

Cross-Genome Analysis will aid Canines and Man

The jounal Nature (Dec. 8, 2005 issue) announced the public availability of a detailed map of the dog genome. The DNA is mostly from a female boxer named Tasha.
Dogs share a key branch point with humans in the evolutionary tree and their map is expected to give scientists further insight into how genomes work. The [...]

Read Full Post »

Just Dogs Gourmet

The vision of our business began five years ago when Colleen brought home Lucy, her new Golden Retriever puppy. Colleen had read that treats were an [...]

Read Full Post »

Acupuncture for My Border Collie

Does “holistic” veterinary care really work?
By Jon Katz in Slate.com - I have a troubled dog. Orson, my border collie, came to me when he was 2. He had issues. So, we’ve been to trainers and behavioralists and tried any number of different training methods. We’ve herded sheep. Chased geese. Practiced positive reinforcement. I’ve used hand signals [...]

Read Full Post »