It seems like a lifetime ago when I was trying to prepare our Bassett Hound, Fred, for the arrival of our first child. Imagine my thoughts of envy when I found this cd – Baby Sounds For Pets. My first thought was “I could have used that”!!!! But then I just decided to be excited for those of you that are lucky enough to have something like this available to you. This is so perfect for getting your furry friend ready to “move it on over” and be the “big dog” instead of the baby. Every dog is different and some have a harder time than others but all of them require lots of patience. And if you’ll ever notice, couples always seem to get a dog first, then have children. Do you think this somehow is a prequel to the real thing? Well, the bottom line is……if you don’t have the patience, just get the cd. Back in the day, and I mean WAY back in the day, my Mother would have told me “play the cd every day….it makes for good birth control”. Well…….28 years and two kids later I think “the cd? – the kids – the cd? – the kids”. Maybe I didn’t listen to it long enough:-) She must have left that part out:-)

This can be found at www.babysounds4pets.com

I was shocked when I learned that Xylitol is toxic to dogs. It’s something that we don’t think about. We tend to think that if we can consume “it”, our dogs can too. There has never been a bigger misconception than exactly this. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol used in candy and chewing gum. It is also found in chewable vitamins and throat lozenges. Just 3 grams of xylitol can kill a 65 pound dog. Because the amount of sweetener used in sugar-free chewing gums varies by manufacturer and product, the number of sticks of gum that would prove fatal to a dog that size can’t be stated with precision. As a general rule of thumb between 8 and 10 pieces of gum might be deadly to a 65 pound canine, but a smaller dog could easily die after ingesting far less, possibly as few as two sticks of gum. A dog that has eaten Xylitol can be rapidly hit by a dangerous drop in blood sugar that causes weakness, lethargy, loss of coordination, collapse, and seizures. Those symptoms can develop within 30 minutes and your dog will need immediate veterinary treatment to survive. Without help, irreversible brain trauma occurs and the patient dies. If you think your dog has consumed sugarless gum or any other product containing Xylitol, call your veterinary immediately.