It's been a while since I've posted an update. Life around the Hollow got busy of the summer with adoption events and other such things that tend to happen more during the summertime.  And things quieted down on the medical front for a bit.

As usually happens though things have swung back the other way and now we have a run of medical bills to cover.

This month was Sneaser's 6 month blood work. He has to have regular checks of his renal function to ensure that his heart medication isn't hurting his kidneys.

At the same time Byron developed an aural hematoma. An aural hematoma is when the ear gets bruised and the blood causes it to puff up, pulling the skin away from the cartilage.  His ear looked like a sopapilla.  This requires minor surgery to drain the ear and re-attach the skin to the cartilage with small stitches.

 

Just after that, Lopug injured his eyes. He scratched one cornea, causing a traumatic ulceration, and developed non-ulcerative keratitis (an inflammation of the cornea) in the other.  So off to the vet he went to have his ulcerated eye sewn shut. 

 

Within the next week we will have to have Cleo the pug in to the vet for blood work and diagnostics to determine why she has started not thriving. She doesn't feel well and she's failing to gain needed weight back.

All totaled we are looking at at least $500 in vet bills for this round, so once again we are reaching out to our awesome supporters for help with the sudden rush of vet bills. If the dogs would spread them out over a couple of months it would work much better, but they like to do things in groups!

You can donate via mail, or paypal via the address and links on our website.
You can also donate via Gofundme.

Be aware that our paypal link and our Gofundme account take a percentage of the donation in fees. If you want to be sure that 100% of your donation reaches us, you can donate via paypal to pughollow@gmail.com and choose "send money to friends and family".

Any donations above our current need for vet bills will go into the Hospice fund for future vet visits.  You know we'll have plenty more of those!

Disaster Prep with Dogs: Part 4 -- Planning PAST the Storm.

This year we're adding another post to the Disaster Prep with Dogs series: Planning PAST the Storm.

We've covered identification, emergency kits, and evacuation plans, but we haven't yet covered the after part of the equation.

And believe me, we know from experience that sometimes it's the after part of the equation that presents the most difficulty from the standpoint of logistics.

You've successfully weathered whatever storm or natural disaster caused you to evacuate or seek shelter in the first place. Now what?

If your home has taken sufficient damage to be uninhabitable, where will you go? If the damage is reparable you may be able to go home relatively soon, but if you have to start over with construction, it could be months or as much as a year until you can return. 

How will you get to shelter? If your car has been damaged or totaled you may need transportation. Most rental cars specify no pets in the rental agreement.

Obviously it's not practical to have a house already rented that meets your needs, but you can at least plan some things.

Could a friend offer a place to stay or a vehicle for transport? Family? Where will your dogs stay if you end up having to stay somewhere that will not allow dogs?  How will you provide the necessary food and accessories?

In the case of Pug Hollow, we had 22 dogs and no place to keep them. Our family was 5 hours away, and our house and all our fencing and outbuildings were gone. So we were scrambling to find a place to keep the dogs until we could transport them to our family for fostering.

Now we have a plan for getting the dogs to a safe place as soon as possible.

Disaster Prep with Dogs: Part 3 - Evacuation Plans and Training

Wrangling pets to safety can be one of the most difficult parts of a pet disaster prep plan.  For that reason we suggest a little pre-planning and training.

With horses or large livestock, your evacuation plan will vary depending on the threat. For a storm, sometimes the only thing you can do is let them run in the largest pasture you can. Some people recommend opening your pasture gate to let them get away, but this puts your horse at risk for getting hit by vehicles on the road. If you have a tiny pasture and no other options I could see doing this in desperation, but it is a risk.  I would not keep my horses in the barn if a tornado was heading my way. 
In case of fire or flood, have your horse well trained to trailer. A horse that will enter and exit a trailer readily is a huge benefit to an evacuation. Keep your trailer on your truck if you think evacuation is a possiblity.

For cats we suggest a portable crate that can be readily grabbed and transported. Crate the cat before you absolutely need to do so to avoid having to chase and or struggle with the cat.

For Dogs:

1. Know where your safe zone is, the best way to get there and how long it will take you to do so. This could be in your house, in a cellar or other storm shelter, at a neighbor's house if you're talking about a storm or outside the danger zone if you're talking about flood or fire.

2. Know what you can store in your safe zone. Look at the area. Consider the number of occupants it will need to hold, and assess additional storage capacity. Can you store emergency supplies there or is it a warm bodies only space?

3. Train your dog for the space they'll occupy and how you're going to get there.
           First and foremost, work on your dog's off leash recall.  A dog who will return to you if they get loose is worth their weight in gold, even if it's just for the cookie in your hand. 
           If your evacuation plan calls for your dog to be crated, make sure they are comfortable with the crate, and enter it easily on command.
           If your plan calls for your dog to descend stairs into a cellar, storm shelter or basement, train them to do so calmly and on command. Even if you first have to carry the dog down the stairs, be sure to give them your chosen command and give them a treat. Continue to do so until they are comfortable entering and exiting the safe space.  We use "Underground!" to train our dogs to descend into the cellar. They receive treats when they are down the stairs and safely in their crates.
           If your plan calls for your dog to walk on a leash, train them to do so, both in a calm area and in a noisy, hectic, high traffic environment. 
           If your plan calls for your dog to ride in a vehicle, train them to load on command. Take them for car rides with positive consequences, such as a park visit or a food reward. We like the "load up" command to get our dogs in the van.

So many times you hear "I just didn't have time to get the dogs out..."  How much easier would it be if you could open a couple of doors, yell a command and have the dog do the rest?

4. Pre-plan the storm. If you know you have the possibility of a severe storm, get your dog harnessed and have the leash readily at hand. If you are crating the dog in a cellar, basement or other shelter, consider doing so before the storm gets to your area.  The easiest and surest way to get your dog to safety is to do it before it becomes an emergency situation.  If a wildfire is in your area, consider asking someone outside the area to watch your dog until the fire is out.

The Tail of Sir's Dental....

Today's vet visit was one that we left both feeling happy and wanting to go on a headhunt.

Stinky Sir the ancient Chi got to go in for a dental today. He lost 6 of his 8 teeth, but overall did well. He's home, getting LOTS of extra cuddles and enjoying a dinner of pureed Edgar rice.

If you just want the happy part, stop here.
__________________________________________________
We had x-rays done that revealed some really shocking things about Sir, and his history. The last set of x-rays we had done revealed Sir's formerly broken jaw and the missing part of his lower jaw bone. Those were taken with him laying on his back.

This set were taken laying on his side, and we found that he's lost quite a bit more jawbone over the two years since his last set of films. A portion of his remaining jaw may need to be removed if the bone doesn't fill back in a bit.

That wasn't the most ?!?!! worthy part of the film. At some point before he came to live with us Sir suffered a severely fractured skull (the fractures appear on both sides of his head, clustered on the side of his skull with extension to the ocular socket on one side), separation of his spinal column just below his skull and a break in his neck at the C6 and C7 vertebrae, resulting in those vertebrae fusing together. Everything is long since healed, except the separation, and none of it slows him down. We'll have to be careful of his jaw and the spinal separation though... Both could break easily and in a very bad way.

The worst part? Someone had to have done it to him somehow, intentionally or through negligence. The skull fractures are the result of pressure being applied to both sides of the skull. Being hit by a car in a manner that would have created those injures would have killed him. It makes me wish I knew who his previous owners were so I could..... discuss....... the issue with them.

Our vet's comment? "I really don't see how he's alive and thriving... but he's one of your dogs, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

Mr. Sir... you may have had a hard life, but we hope we're making up for it now

Revisiting Disaster Prep for Pets Part 2

Probably everyone at some point has heard of an emergency preparedness kit, and what they should have in it for their family. I'm not going to rehash what you need for people. I'm going to address the fact that most of those recommendations don't take into account our pets.

With large animals such as horses there's not a lot you can do to have a kit ready. Their needs as far as food and water are too large to be easily contained in a quick grab kit. The best you can do is have an extra halter and lead per horse.

With pets though you can make a grab and go kit, or a kit to be stored in a safe location.  It it's a grab and go kit you'll want to pack it in something portable... a duffle bag, large back pack, or other quickly portable container.
A kit to be stored in a safe location such as a cellar or basement can be contained in a plastic bin to keep moisture and critters out.

Things you'll want to have in your kit:

1. Water: As with humans you want a gallon per pet per day, and should plan on having at least 3 days worth for a go kit or 7 days worth for a stored kit.
2. Food: Again, three days worth per pet for a go kit and 7 days for a stored kit. If your pet requires specialized food this is especially important. If it's dry food you'll want to store it in an airtight container and swap your supply every few weeks to keep it fresh.
3. Can opener and something to scoop it out with if you're using canned food.
4. measuring scoop for dry food
5. A supply of your pet's medications. I like to keep an extra bottle of each med our dogs are on stored in my emergency supplies. As I run out of the bottle I am using on a daily basis, I replace it with my stored bottle and order a new bottle for the stored supplies. This keeps the meds from going out of date.
6. Copies of your pets shot and medical records an an air and water tight container. All of my dogs that have health conditions have a medical file that we keep on hand along with their shot records. This is useful if we have to see a vet that doesn't know the dogs.
7. An extra collar, harness, and leash
8. Toys and treats
9. Extra food and water bowl: I like collapsible bowls and recommend one of the rubber or silicone bowls such as the Kurgo Collaps-A-Bowl, the Ruff Dawg Ruff Bowl, or the Bamboo Pet Collapsible bowl
10. First aid kit for dogs and first aid guide book for pets
11. A list of emergency contacts and veterinarians around your area, and around the area to which you will most likely evacuate.
12. Extra ID tags
13. Proof of ownership: good clear photos stored in an airtight, waterproof container
14. Extra towels and blankets, and/or a bed
15. kitty litter or pee pads
16. Collapsible cat litter box, such as a Sturdibox or Go Kitty Go.
17. A kennel or crate if needed. I like to keep a pop up kennel in my kit in case I need to contain a dog somewhere. Be sure that you've acclimated your dog to the confinement.
18. drawstring trash bags and small trash bags for clean up and lining the kitty litter pan.

It sounds like a lot of stuff, I know, but you can vacuum seal the dry food, treats and the soft items such as leashes, towels, soft toys, and dog beds to reduce the amount of space they take up.  Pack it all into a duffle bag and you're ready to go on a moments notice.

Come back tomorrow for Disaster Preparedness With Pets Part 3 -- Evacuation Plans and Training

Cleo the Fat Pug

 

Been trying to get some pictures of dogs that you generally don't get to see.... And so I would like to introduce Cleo.
Miss Cleo was abandoned at Purcell Animal Welfare, and Purcell called us to come get her and Harry Houndini.
Miss Cleo... is an absolute love, who is still learning that she can ask for attention.
She's also massively obese. She came into the Sanctuary at 33 pounds and has lost 6 pounds so far. We've been careful about cutting back on her food as she has some food anxiety and we don't want her to feel too deprived.
She also has neurological issues that impact her rear end, causing her to have some difficulty walking. It doesn't slow her down much and as she loses weight she's getting more mobile. She will always have trouble walking and some day may need a cart.
And last but not least she has a potential mass. It may be a fatty tumor or it may just be a fat mass due to the massive obesity. Once she's trimmed down a bit more we will evaluate the mass and take any necessary action.

 

 

 

Pug Hollow Photo Contest

Join Pug Hollow for a photo contest!

 Photos will be uploaded daily to the website, and featured in the gallery for the contest.

Submissions will be accepted from February 15th through March 15th. Voting will begin on March 16th and run through April 16th. The top 12 submissions in each category will be featured in Pug Hollow's 2015 photo calendars.

The top three submissions will be able to choose their month in the calendar, as well as receiving a free copy of the calendar, winner's t-shirt and mouse pad.

There are two categories:

Turn your dog into the next canine Drag Superstar. Dress your dog up in his or her best makeup free drag, and submit the photo to pughollow@gmail.com. Be sure to tell us your dog's real AND their drag name.

Keep the photos clean.

Do the paparazzi hound your pooch? Dress your dog up in his or her best Celebrity Impersonation, and submit the photo to pughollow@gmail.com. Be sure to tell us your dog's name and who they are impersonating.

Keep the photos clean.

 

Revisiting Disaster Prep with Pets

It's that time of year again when Mother Nature starts gearing up for another storm season. So let's revisit our article on Disaster Prep with Pets.

Every year about this time I start getting asked to give my talk about how to prepare for a disaster when you have pets.  Everyone who has read this blog, or spoken with me knows that Pug Hollow went through an F-4 tornado in May of 2011 resulting in the loss of all our physical property.
We had one fatality and one critical injury out of 22 dogs, and we were able to quickly locate all but one of the surviving dogs. He came back the next day.
It could have been much worse. It usually is much worse.

The first step is to be aware. Disasters can happen to ANYONE, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. They can be large scale natural disasters, and impact a whole neighborhood, town, county, or even state, or they can be small and just impact one house (as anyone who has ever lost their house to a fire can tell you). Taking some steps to ensure safety before hand is just good sense.

So let's talk about where I like to start with prepping for unhappy circumstance...

Identification

 I like to have my pets tagged 6 ways to Sunday, and it doesn't just stop with the dogs. It's the cats and the horses too.

1. Microchip:

The most certain way to get your dog or cat tagged is to microchip them. They can also microchip horses and other equines. Collars, harnesses and halters can come off. Rabies tags can get lost.A microchip is going to be there as long as there is a body left.

Microchipping is done at your vet, just like giving a vaccination. It's a one time fee, and there are a number of free microchip registries out there you can use rather than paying for a yearly subscription. Some rescues microchip their pets before sending them out to new homes.

 2. Rabies tag:

A rabies tag is also a point of identification. It provides veterinary information that hopefully links to the owner of the pet. You can also go one step further and engrave your contact information into the back of the tag. A small hand engraver will cost you about $20 to $50 depending on what and where you buy.

3. Identification tag:

These are the simple hanging tags that attach to your pet's collar or harness. If your dog has a medical condition this is a good way to let people know as these can be double sided with engraving.  If you do double sided engraving I suggest your pet's name, and medical condition(s) on the front side and at least 2 contact numbers on the back. Make one of the contact numbers a land line number to someone outside of your immediate household, and preferably outside of your neighborhood. It can be a friend, family member or your veterinarian. This will ensure that even if everything around you including your cell phone is destroyed, there will still be one valid number on the tag.  I prefer to use both of our household's cell phone numbers and my father's land line number.
The downside to id tags is that they can be pulled off of the collar or harness and lost just like a rabies tag.

4. Collar plates:

Collar plates come in three types. Rivet attached, sliding, and adjustable sliding.

Rivet attached plates need a little work to get them in place, but it's not anything that your average person can't do.

1. For a nylon collar you need a nail, a pair of pliers, an oven mitt, open flame heat source, rivet kit and a hammer.  
2. Use the tag to mark where you need to put holes in the collar. 
3. Put on the oven mitt and grab the pliers. 
4. Grasp the nail with the pliers near the head, and insert the other end of the nail into the heat source.  The heat source can be the flame from a gas burner, a small blowtorch, large candle, campfire... Be sure to be careful and not set anything on fire.
5. Once the nail is hot, use it to poke holes where you've marked the collar. The nylon will melt and it will stink but this is the best way to make holes.  
6. Once your holes are the correct size for your rivets you can place the plate on the collar and use the instructions on the rivet kit to set them in place.

For a leather collar you will use a leather punch to make the holes.

If you need to remove the plate from the collar you can drill the rivets loose from the back side with an electric drill and bit.


Sliding plates are easy to put in place, and easy to remove but they only work with standard non-adjustable buckle collars.

Adjustable sliding plates are harder to find but they work with adjustable collars as well as standard buckle collars.

I don't waste space on names on collar plates. I just load them up with as many contact numbers as they can fit. 

5. Embroidered collars:

Embroidered collars can be a more expensive way to ID your dog, but there is no plate or tag to lose. They are however, susceptible to being scratched into illegible fuzz.

6. Tags for Horses

You can get halter plates that screw onto a halter and halter tags that can attach to a halter or be braided into a mane.


Considerations:
If you chose an engraved tag or plate, I suggest one that has been diamond engraved. The engraving lasts longer on a tag than laser engraving.

While I've included some links to several shops that you can purchase identification for pets and horse equipment, you may want to shop around and look for cheaper prices. e-Bay can be a good place for that, but remember... you do chance getting what you pay for.

Placement of identification is important as well.

I like to put my rabies tags on my dog's walking harness.  They don't need it when lying around the house, and it keeps them from losing it in the yard.
I also like to have two rivet plates per dog... one on their collar and one on their harness near the leash ring. If the dog has a medical condition that needs daily medication or consideration (such as diabetes, thyroid conditions, hypoglycemia, seizures, heart problems, liver or kidney problems, Addison's, etc...) I also add a medical tag to both harness and collar.

I suggest a reflective breakaway halter like the Lami Cell with plate or tag for your horse to wear in emergencies and a tag braided into the mane. A breakaway halter will keep your horse from getting into a wreck if the halter gets caught on debris and the tag braided into the mane will give ID if the halter is lost.

And that pretty much covers all the possible types of identification with the exception of tattooing or branding.

Keep an eye out for "Disaster Preparedness With Pets Part 2 -- Emergency Evacuation Kit" coming tomorrow.

Yappy Howlingtine's!

Sir, Mr. Tibbs and every doggy at Pug Hollow wish you a Yappy Howlingtine's Day!

Update on Sweetie's cancer treatment

Sweetie is doing a bit better. She takes her pain pill in the evening but still doesn't want it in the morning.
As one would expect from a grand old lady pug, she rocks the pink sweater and blue soft cone, but from the pictures I would estimate that she's probably got more than 15 inches of incisions. That's a lot of stitches!
If you can please donate a dollar or two. Our top donors will be eligible to receive a Pug Hollow 2014 wall calendar. 
Donations can be made one of three ways... You can donate directly to the veterinarian:

Colleyville Animal Clinic

RE:Sweetie Casaretto's Cancer Treatment

701 Glade Road

Colleyville, TX 76034

817-281-3449

Donate to Pug Hollow and we will forward the money on:

Pug Hollow Sanctuary

RE: Sweetie's Cancer Treatment

PO Box 244

Prague, OK 74864

or

via paypal to pughollow@gmail.com

Or you can donate via our Go Fund Me campaign:

Rescuing Old Dogs is Hard

“So do you adopt them out?”

That’s the first thing people ask when they find out that I head up a non-profit canine sanctuary.  When I explain that Pug Hollow is primarily a hospice for elderly and terminally ill dogs, and peripherally a sanctuary for dogs with lots of emotional baggage, the second thing they say is always a variation on a theme.

“Wow. That’s got to be hard. I think it’s so great that you do that. I couldn’t deal with that sort of thing.”

And then, almost invariably, they disregard you completely.

Perhaps they think other people are donating. Perhaps they think we’re rich and can cover all the expenses out of pocket. Perhaps they don’t think they can make a difference with a one or two dollar donation. Or perhaps we’re just not sensational enough to catch their attention and get them talking.

 Let’s face it… old dogs seem to automatically engender disregard, which is why so many of them need our help. And providing a safe, loving end of life environment for old dogs taken in from various animal shelters and veterinarians isn’t melodramatic enough to catch people’s attention. There’s very rarely a horrifying tale of abuse complete with graphic pictorial accompaniment. More usually it’s a melancholy tale of abandonment and neglect, highlighted by sorrow, confusion and fear that can’t be adequately captured by a simple photo.

I can show you medications, and vet bills, and pictures of the dogs themselves. I can’t show you the gradual and often subtle transformation that many of our dogs undergo as they begin to feel safe, receive treatment for any health conditions they may have, and in many cases simply learn what it means to be loved.  I can’t show you the quirky, endearing personalities that blossom more and more with each day at the Sanctuary.

I can ask you, “please.”

Please help us. We need your donations.

Please don’t assume someone else is donating, or that we’re able to cover all our expenses. Old dogs mean special food and vet bills, and we can use all the help we can get.

Please don’t think that your help doesn’t make a difference.   Even a bag of dog food frees up funds for other use.

 Please talk about us. If you think we’re doing good work, tell your friends.  Like us on Facebook, follow us on twitter, write about us on your blog. The more exposure we get the more likely our fundraisers are to succeed and the more likely people are to donate.

And whatever you do… Please, don’t disregard our old dogs.

Cancer treatment for Sweetie

Pug Hollow Sanctuary is helping one of our volunteers raise funds for her pug who has just been diagnosed with cancer. Pug Hollow is collecting funds which will then be paid directly to the veterinarian in order to help cover Sweetie's medical treatment.

 Sweetie's human caretaker writes; "Sweetie is possibly the most amazing dog I've ever met in my life. She loves all people, dogs, cats, birds, mice, and every other living creature she meets. She has a love for life that is beyond what I've ever seen in any human being. The simplest things bring her so much joy. She may be an older dog, but I'm not giving up on her. I couldn't love her more if she was my own child. She was given to me as a "free to good home" dog. The moment I saw her I knew she was meant to be mine.
Hearing the dreaded "C" word was one of the worst days of my life. I can't bear not having my beloved Sweetie around. She is the light of my life and I am hers." 

Donations can be made one of three ways... You can donate directly to the veterinarian:

Colleyville Animal Clinic 

RE:Sweetie's Cancer Treatment

701 Glade Road

Colleyville, TX 76034

817-281-3449

Donate to Pug Hollow and we will forward the money on:

Pug Hollow Sanctuary

RE: Sweetie's Cancer Treatment

PO Box 244

Prague, OK 74864

or 

via paypal to pughollow@gmail.com

Or you can donate via our Go Fund Me campaign:

Every little bit helps!

 

Wheels for Trey

 

Trey is a 14 year old pug.
He is blind and deaf.
He went through an F4 tornado in 2011 and survived.
Over the last two years he has slowly lost the voluntary use of his legs until he can no longer walk without help.

Despite all of this Trey is otherwise in good health and always in good spirits. He has a plethora of different barks that he uses to request everything from water, to a clean blanket. He also makes demands for dinner, location of his people, his nightly stump and stumble around the yard (he stumps, I stumble) and his bi-weekly soak in a hot bath... (Sunday and Wednesday. No exceptions.)

Even though most blind dogs won't use a wheeled cart due to their impaired vision, Trey seems to have been an extreme athlete in a past life. He either has no fear or no sense of self preservation.  Give him wheels and you'll have to report them stolen because he's going to haul butt!

Unfortunately Trey doesn't have wheels of his own.

If you'd like to help give an old dog who has had a heck of a life a boost in the quality of his final years, please donate.

We're aiming for a PVC quad-cart which is around $200. If we get enough we'll get him a fancy cart.
When he no longer needs it, we will pass the cart on to the next Pug Hollow dog and on down the line until we've run the wheels off of it. (If Mr. Grand Theft Treypug doesn't do it for us!)

You can mail a donation to
Pug Hollow Sanctuary
PO Box 244
Prague, Ok 74864

or donate via paypal to pughollow@gmail.com

Let's get Wheels for Trey!

A Happy Placement

Sometimes it works out like a fairytale romance.... A while back we got this from one of our adopters and she gave us permission to post it....

"I should have sent this sooner, but I just wanted to thank you again for the opportunity to adopt Archer (Nooshi). He is such a smart (very funny) pup, who has been the absolute delight of everyone we have introduced him too."

Purcell Animal Shelter Needs Your Help!!!

Purcell Animal Shelter needs your help!
They have three great dogs who desperately need homes before their time runs out.

This little man is a black male Chihuahua, that I'm estimating to be about 6-8 years old. He's a lap dog and a sweetie and needs a good place to be.

This boy is a dachshund mix who looks to be about 3. He's also a little lover. Not much else is known about him.

This lady is a senior beagle mix. She's good with kids, dogs, livestock, and likes to ride in a truck, gator or golf cart with you. She is very healthy, but she got old and her people don't want her. She is very much not likely to get adopted because of her age.

If you can give a home to any of these dogs please let us know. If you go through Pug Hollow we will arrange to pick them up and transport them to a vet for their vetting. You will be responsible for the cost of spay/neuter,  rabies shots and heartworm testing.  If we use SPOT clinic this will be about $60.  We will cover parvo shots, 1 dose of heartworm prevention/deworming, and the first month of flea and tick control.

pughollow@gmail.com

Home Cooked Dog Food for Organ Impaired Dogs

The following recipe is a good general use recipe that I developed for dogs with most kinds of organ impairment. This food has been used for dogs with liver, and kidney impairment, heart problems, diabetic and pancreatic problems and food allergies.
I have built this recipe from scratch and put many years and thousands of work into this particular recipe. It has been reviewed by several veterinarians and canine nutritional experts and is backed by a 9 page spreadsheet containing nutrient requirements and contents for everything down to individual amino acids.  While I don't mind it being shared as needed please respect the effort that went into creating it and give proper credit to the author.

"Edgar Food"

2 pounds uncooked whole grain brown rice.
2 pounds ground turkey (85% lean)
5.5 ounces uncooked pearl barley
10 ounces old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup egg
1 cup rice bran oil
1 tbsp Alaskan Salmon Oil
2 "Ultra Minerals by Vitabase" tablets crushed


Place all dry ingredients into a 16 quart stock pot. Add 1.5 gallons of water. Over medium heat, bring to a boil.

In a mixing bowl mix oils, egg, mineral tablets, and thawed, raw turkey until mixture is a homogenous slurry. Add mixture to boiling pot. Stir thoroughly. Allow to return to a boil. Remove pot from the heat, cover and allow to stand until grains have absorbed most of the liquid.

per cup fed nutrient unit amount kcal kcal/ME/day 171.3913 protein g 5.771884 fat g 11.17043 carbohydrate g 3.873913 dietary fiber g 0.362319 calcium mg 525.942 sodium mg 27.18841 iron mg 1.815652 Daily energy requirement for average 10 pound dog: kcal kcal/ME/day 325.8

Disaster Preparedness With Pets Part 3 -- Evacuation Plans and Training

There is one last area that needs to be addressed when we talk about disaster prep with your pets, and that is your plan for evacuating to safety, and training your pets for that evacuation plan. I’m going to use evacuation as our word for getting to safety, even if you’re taking shelter in your home.

Evacuation is something that happens suddenly. It's an abrupt change in routine and it's usually accompanied by high stress. If you haven’t provided your pet with at least some training or acclimation in regards to the evacuation, you can have serious problems.

For example, if your evacuation plan includes having your pet crated, you will want to have them acclimated to the crate. If you will need to have them on leash they should be well trained to walk on a leash during hectic and high traffic situations.

The first part of the process is to formulate your evacuation plan. I know that right now everyone is thinking tornado, but that may not be the only time you need to evacuate. You also need a plan for fire, both home and wild, and if you’re in a flood prone area you may need a plan for flood. A good fire evacuation plan can also be put into effect for other emergencies such as bomb threats, gas leaks, or other non-disaster evacuations that might occur.

Whether you’re fleeing a fire or taking shelter from a tornado, your evacuation will begin and end with your “safe zone”. The first thing you need to know is where you’re going to go before you can start figuring out how to get there. For a tornado your safe zone may be a cellar, a basement, a safe room, a shelter, or an interior room of your home. It may be a neighbor’s property or a relative’s home. In the case of fire or flood it will be a location outside the danger zone. Once you have established the location of your safe zone, you need to look at the location and determine how you can best utilize the space. What, besides yourself, your family and your pets can you fit in your safe zone? Is there room for additional emergency supplies beyond your “go kit”? Do you have electricity available? Do you have cellphone signal? How will you contain your pet safely within the safe zone? Will you be sharing space with other families?

Once you have determined where you’re going and how to best utilize the space, you need to determine how to get everyone that needs to be in that safe zone there in as quickly and efficiently as possible. This is where good training comes in. Evaluate your pet’s response to the preparations you’ll need to take for evacuation. Do they like to play ring around the rosy with you when you go to put their harness on? Do they get overly excited and become difficult to handle? Are they anxious about riding in the car?

If your dogs are like ours, putting on “clothes” is cause for great rejoicing and becoming complete and utter spazz dogs for about 15 minutes. Because of this we harness them early so that they have time to settle down. Those dogs that are hard to catch we place in confined areas like our bathroom, so that we can grab them more easily.

For tornadoes, training your pet to enter whatever shelter you will be utilizing on command can be very useful. This will require some pre-work on your part. Take your pet into the room, shelter, or cellar on a frequent basis and make them stay in that location for short periods of time to acclimate them. Use a command such as “go underground” when you take your pet into the sheltered area, and give them a treat. Keep them there for a few minutes and then let them go. If they will enter the shelter on their own praise them voluminously. Even if you have to carry them into the shelter, make a big deal about how good they are to “go underground”, and reinforce that getting into the shelter is a good thing.

If you have to leave your property to reach safety, training your dog to “load up” in the car is also highly recommended.  Take them for frequent car rides. Then train them to unload at their destination and enter whatever shelter you have traveled to utilize.

If you have multiple pets, training them to evacuate on command can be a life saver. It can save precious minutes in evacuation time and help prevent lost pets. You so often hear, “I just couldn’t get the dogs out in time…” But what if you could just open a couple of doors and yell “load up” or “go underground”?

With proper planning and training there should be very few instances where you have to leave your pet behind in an evacuation. Know where to go, how to get there, and make sure that your pet will be ready to go.

Disaster Preparedness With Pets Part 2 -- Emergency Evacuation Kit

Probably everyone at some point has heard of an emergency preparedness kit, and what they should have in it for their family. I'm not going to rehash what you need for people. I'm going to address the fact that most of those recommendations don't take into account our pets.

With large animals such as horses there's not a lot you can do to have a kit ready. Their needs as far as food and water are too large to be easily contained in a quick grab kit. The best you can do is have an extra halter and lead per horse.

With pets though you can make a grab and go kit, or a kit to be stored in a safe location.  It it's a grab and go kit you'll want to pack it in something portable... a duffle bag, large back pack, or other quickly portable container.
A kit to be stored in a safe location such as a cellar or basement can be contained in a plastic bin to keep moisture and critters out.

Things you'll want to have in your kit:

1. Water: For a stored kit as with humans you want a gallon per pet per day, and should plan on having at least 3 days worth. Have 7 if you can. For a go kit have several liter bottles of water, at least 1 per pet. 2 is better.
2. Food: Again, three days worth per pet for a go kit and 7 days for a stored kit. If your pet requires specialized food this is especially important. If it's dry food you'll want to store it in an airtight container and swap your supply every few weeks to keep it fresh.
3. Can opener and something to scoop it out with if you're using canned food.
4. measuring scoop for dry food
5. A supply of your pet's medications. I like to keep an extra bottle of each med our dogs are on stored in my emergency supplies. As I run out of the bottle I am using on a daily basis, I replace it with my stored bottle and order a new bottle for the stored supplies. This keeps the meds from going out of date.
6. Copies of your pets shot and medical records an an air and water tight container. All of my dogs that have health conditions have a medical file that we keep on hand along with their shot records. This is useful if we have to see a vet that doesn't know the dogs.
7. An extra collar, harness, and leash
8. Toys and treats
9. Extra food and water bowl: I like collapsible bowls and recommend one of the rubber or silicone bowls such as the Kurgo Collaps-A-Bowl, the Ruff Dawg Ruff Bowl, or the Bamboo Pet Collapsible bowl
10. First aid kit for dogs and first aid guide book for pets
11. A list of emergency contacts and veterinarians around your area, and around the area to which you will most likely evacuate.
12. Extra ID tags
13. Proof of ownership: good clear photos stored in an airtight, waterproof container
14. Extra towels and blankets, and/or a bed
15. kitty litter or pee pads
16. Collapsible cat little box, such as a Sturdibox or Go Kitty Go.
17. A kennel or crate if needed. I like to keep a pop up kennel in my kit in case I need to contain a dog somewhere. Be sure that you've acclimated your dog to the confinement.
18. drawstring trash bags and small trash bags for clean up and lining the kitty litter pan.

It sounds like a lot of stuff, I know, but you can vaccum seal the dry food, treats and the soft items such as leashes, towels, soft toys, and dog beds to reduce the amount of space they take up.  Pack it all into a duffle bag and you're ready to go on a moments notice.

Come back tomorrow for Disaster Preparedness With Pets Part 3 -- Evacuation Plans and Training

Disaster Preparedness With Pets: Part 1 -- Identification

Every year about this time I start getting asked to give my talk about how to prepare for a disaster when you have pets.  Everyone who has read this blog, or spoken with me knows that Pug Hollow went through an F-4 tornado in May of 2011 resulting in the loss of all our physical property.
We had one fatality and one critical injury out of 22 dogs, and we were able to quickly locate all but one of the surviving dogs. He came back the next day.
It could have been much worse. It usually is much worse.

The first step is to be aware. Disasters can happen to ANYONE, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. They can be large scale natural disasters, and impact a whole neighborhood, town, county, or even state, or they can be small and just impact one house (as anyone who has ever lost their house to a fire can tell you). Taking some steps to ensure safety before hand is just good sense.

So let's talk about where I like to start with prepping for unhappy circumstance...

Identification

 I like to have my pets tagged 6 ways to Sunday, and it doesn't just stop with the dogs. It's the cats and the horses too.

1. Microchip:

The most certain way to get your dog or cat tagged is to microchip them. They can also microchip horses and other equines. Collars, harnesses and halters can come off. Rabies tags can get lost.A microchip is going to be there as long as there is a body left.

Microchipping is done at your vet, just like giving a vaccination. It's a one time fee, and there are a number of free microchip registries out there you can use rather than paying for a yearly subscription. Some rescues microchip their pets before sending them out to new homes.

 2. Rabies tag:

A rabies tag is also a point of identification. It provides veterinary information that hopefully links to the owner of the pet. You can also go one step further and engrave your contact information into the back of the tag. A small hand engraver will cost you about $20 to $50 depending on what and where you buy.

3. Identification tag:

These are the simple hanging tags that attach to your pet's collar or harness. If your dog has a medical condition this is a good way to let people know as these can be double sided with engraving.  If you do double sided engraving I suggest your pet's name, and medical condition(s) on the front side and at least 2 contact numbers on the back. Make one of the contact numbers a land line number to someone outside of your immediate household, and preferably outside of your neighborhood. It can be a friend, family member or your veterinarian. This will ensure that even if everything around you including your cell phone is destroyed, there will still be one valid number on the tag.  I prefer to use both of our household's cell phone numbers and my father's land line number.
The downside to id tags is that they can be pulled off of the collar or harness and lost just like a rabies tag.

4. Collar plates:

Collar plates come in three types. Rivet attached, sliding, and adjustable sliding.

Rivet attached plates need a little work to get them in place, but it's not anything that your average person can't do.

1. For a nylon collar you need a nail, a pair of pliers, an oven mitt, open flame heat source, rivet kit and a hammer.  
2. Use the tag to mark where you need to put holes in the collar. 
3. Put on the oven mitt and grab the pliers. 
4. Grasp the nail with the pliers near the head, and insert the other end of the nail into the heat source.  The heat source can be the flame from a gas burner, a small blowtorch, large candle, campfire... Be sure to be careful and not set anything on fire.
5. Once the nail is hot, use it to poke holes where you've marked the collar. The nylon will melt and it will stink but this is the best way to make holes.  
6. Once your holes are the correct size for your rivets you can place the plate on the collar and use the instructions on the rivet kit to set them in place.

For a leather collar you will use a leather punch to make the holes.

If you need to remove the plate from the collar you can drill the rivets loose from the back side with an electric drill and bit.


Sliding plates are easy to put in place, and easy to remove but they only work with standard non-adjustable buckle collars.

Adjustable sliding plates are harder to find but they work with adjustable collars as well as standard buckle collars.

I don't waste space on names on collar plates. I just load them up with as many contact numbers as they can fit. 

5. Embroidered collars:

Embroidered collars can be a more expensive way to ID your dog, but there is no plate or tag to lose. They are however, susceptible to being scratched into illegible fuzz.

6. Tags for Horses

You can get halter plates that screw onto a halter and halter tags that can attach to a halter or be braided into a mane.


Considerations:
If you chose an engraved tag or plate, I suggest one that has been diamond engraved. The engraving lasts longer on a tag than laser engraving.

While I've included some links to several shops that you can purchase identification for pets and horse equipment, you may want to shop around and look for cheaper prices. e-Bay can be a good place for that, but remember... you do chance getting what you pay for.

Placement of identification is important as well.

I like to put my rabies tags on my dog's walking harness.  They don't need it when lying around the house, and it keeps them from losing it in the yard.
I also like to have two rivet plates per dog... one on their collar and one on their harness near the leash ring. If the dog has a medical condition that needs daily medication or consideration (such as diabetes, thyroid conditions, hypoglycemia, seizures, heart problems, liver or kidney problems, Addison's, etc...) I also add a medical tag to both harness and collar.

I suggest a reflective breakaway halter like the Lami Cell with plate or tag for your horse to wear in emergencies and a tag braided into the mane. A breakaway halter will keep your horse from getting into a wreck if the halter gets caught on debris and the tag braided into the mane will give ID if the halter is lost.

And that pretty much covers all the possible types of identification with the exception of tattooing or branding.

Keep an eye out for "Disaster Preparedness With Pets Part 2 -- Emergency Evacuation Kit" coming tomorrow.