An Increase in Vigilance On Their Produced Food Says China...

Well I suppose we all knew this was coming. The Chinese premier has passed a new law that dictates stronger supervision and more severe penalties for negligence of Chinese companies producing dangerous products.
This of course comes on the heels of a massive world wide rejection of many Chinese produced products, from toothpaste to seafood.
I really do hope that something happens, as unfortunately, we Americans rely heavily on products "Made In China." Try going to the grocery store or any store for that matter and not buying anything made in China. It's harder than you might think. Outside of the obvious issues I have with their political views and the tragic pet food poisoning of earlier this year, I'll be wary of any Chinese products for a while now.
Take a few seconds and choose to remember the helpless victims of that tragedy, and stay alert.

Read more from Brandon James in Planet-Pets.com's free monthly pet newsletter, The Scoop or check out the website at www.planet-pets.com.

A New Puppy In The House: Welcome Home!

On your new puppy's first day home, one of the best things you can do for him is give him a complete tour around the house on a loose leash. This is the pup's first introduction to whatever limitations you want to put on his future access to your possessions - your furniture, golf clubs, books, the kids' toy shelves, etc.

This is not the right time for disciplining him or saying "no." (The puppy might begin to think that "no" is his name!) Instead, use a guttural "Yack!" combined with a very slight tug-and-release of the leash as he sniffs to warn him away from untouchables. He's new at this, but just saying, "Puppy!" in a happy voice may be enough to get him to look at you - "Good dog." Back to happy chatter as you move on.

All you are doing is letting him know by means of prevention what things he will have to avoid in the future. Be sure to use growling sounds that he’ll recognize and understand. Let him sniff first because he'll remember the objects more by scent than by sight. He looks up at you and he is praised. Think of it this way: "No!" means "Don't do that!" whereas "Yack!" means "Don't even think of doing it!" Chit-chat is natural and pleasurable to both of you; but in the beginning, the puppy will only pick up on his name because everyone uses it in connection with things he finds pleasurable - play, food or praise. If you use the word "din-din" many times while fixing his meals, that word will stand out in the midst of a five minute speech on nutrition as a clue to the observant pup that he is about to eat. The human-canine teaching language is based on short, simple words that are consistently applied to specific actions.What this first guided tour also teaches your puppy is the layout of his new home, what it looks like, smells like, even feels like (rugs, carpets, tile, or wood), most importantly, that some things are off limits, even to adorable puppies.

There is one more important lesson he is learning from this adventure: that you are his new Leader, the He or She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. If you do not take on this role, your new fuzzy puppy will. Somebody's got to do it, and he'll fill the vacancy immediately! You may be familiar with the saying, "Lead, follow or get out of my way." Every dog is born knowing it and continues to live by it!

Once the house tour is over, now it's down to specifics. Show your puppy where his water bowl will always be. Let him investigate his crate. Then take him outside (still on leash) to the exact area where you want him to eliminate. Stand there until he does. (Have patience! He's new at this.) Praise quietly as he goes, after which you can make the same kind of tour outside, with warnings about flower or vegetable beds, bushes or plants. Or you may live in a city and by law must curb your new dog. Be sure to go to the quietest no-parking spot you can find. If you remain on the sidewalk, he will naturally want to join you, so stand down in the street with him. It will take time, plus your casual, confident attitude, to get him used to the noise, the confusion and the speed and size of trucks and taxis. No outside walking tour at this time. Wait until his immunizations are complete, by which time he will also be more accepting of city life.

Note: If the original trip home from where you picked up your puppy took more than an hour, reverse the two "tours" to let the pup eliminate first.

Pet Food Recall Waves Continue...

On March 16th, 2007, Menu Foods Inc., a company out of Ontario, Canada, was forced to issue a nationwide recall on all it's "cuts and gravy" styled foods, manufactured for most of the top brand names on our shelves. The initial echos are still reverberating, now across the globe. In a country where, for all intents and purposes, the pet food industry is allowed to regulate itself, Canadian organizations and citizens alike are angry that there has been no investigatory actions taken. This even 2 months after the recall was announced. Federal Minister of Agriculture Chuck Stahl said four weeks after the initial recall that while the Canadian Government is willing to review whether pet food should be regulated that it doesn't mean that it necessarily will or should be regulated saying that "regulation in the United States didn't prevent the recent deaths of pets from tainted food." Now this being my own opinion, and as flippant as his comment initally appears to be, he's got a point. I always find issue with people out there who automatically think that because a governmental body said they're going to "regulate" an industry, it means that said industry is now squeaky clean. My viewpoint is, for the most part, grandeous bureaucracies are often so large and cumbersome that when and if an event occurs like this recall, they are so slow to action that it's almost farcical. It's often like watching the Titanic turn on a dime. With quite a few class action law suits floating out there on the horizon, the subject of this recall becomes real quite quickly. No matter how much blame or legal action is thrown around, nothing will mend the damage already done. I am truely sorry for anyone who reads this post and has been directly or indirectly affected by this awful event. Unfortunately sometimes it takes a disaster of large proportion like this to wake us out of our day to day monotany, make us sit up and really take an active role in shaping our lives. Not just being victim of circumstance. Most recent list of recalled foods: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/PressRelease05222007.htm Canadian Government Ignores Calls to Investigate Food Industry: http://www.ccnmatthews.com/news/releases/show.jsp?action=showRelease&searchText=false&showText=all&actionFor=653692 Pet Food Recall Widens: http://www.planet-pets.com/petfoodalert.htm www.fda.com