“Tips on preventing seasonal weight gain for your pets - Sacramento Bee” plus 1 more |
| Tips on preventing seasonal weight gain for your pets - Sacramento Bee Posted: 13 Dec 2010 03:00 AM PST Putting on extra pounds is a seasonal hazard during the wintertime for both dogs and their owners. The frigid weather can make it very difficult for you and Fido to get the exercise needed to keep healthy and fit, and just a few extra pounds on your dog could really affect his health. The American Kennel Club Canine Partners Program offers the following feeding tips to help prevent seasonal weight gain in your dog. - Healthy weight. Weigh your dog before winter sets in so you can see what his healthy weight is and monitor it throughout the season. - Calorie counting. Cut back on your pup's regular food prior to a big holiday meal. Depending on how much you regularly feed him, try giving him 1/4 cup less and see how he does. You can also try replacing the missing food with canned string beans for about two weeks and then resume normal feeding. - Too many treats. An area that is often overlooked is treats. They can be loaded with calories, and since your pup isn't getting the recommended amount of exercise during the winter the treats can really add up to extra pounds on Fido. Try and cut back on treats during the winter season or replace them with crunchy vegetables like baby carrots. For more information on how to have fun with your dog, visit the AKC Canine Partners website at www.moredogfun.com. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Pets can influence holiday travel - MySanAntonio Posted: 12 Dec 2010 09:53 PM PST During the holidays, there are three types of pet owners: the people who travel with their pets, the people who travel without their pets and the people who don't travel at all because of their pets. I am the third pet owner. With three dogs and a cat, it seems easier to stay at home during the holidays than to hire a pet sitter to stay with them or put them in a kennel, which often must be booked months in advance. On rare occasions when I do travel over the holidays to visit family, my trips are often short because I don't like leaving my pets for extended periods nor can my budget always afford it. It can be expensive to house dogs at a kennel or even pay an overnight sitter to manage the menagerie. Pets definitely influence my holiday plans, but to what extent do they influence your holiday travel plans? According to a Holiday Pet Travel Survey study of 7,000 pet owners conducted by PetRelocation .com (a company in Austin that helps companies with relocating employees who own pets), about 63 percent of pet owners travel at least 50 miles with their pets over the holidays. That's good news for pets who like to travel. But a whopping 85 percent of those surveyed said they keep their holiday travel short and sweet, taking trips of seven or fewer days. That probably applies to both pet owners who travel with pets and people who can't bear to leave their pets behind for too long. The survey also revealed that 71 percent of people traveling with pets restrict travel to their home state during the holidays (probably to avoid flying their pets); and 85 percent of pet owners said that their pets influence where they choose to stay during the holidays. A third of respondents said they stay at pet-friendly hotels and 66 percent stay at the home of friends or family during the holidays. This may have something to do with the availability of pet-friendly lodging, which is often more difficult to find during the holiday season. Of those who travel with pets during the holidays, nearly all of them indicated they only travel with dogs. My Miss Kitty says it's because cats don't like car rides, sleeping on strange beds, or following their masters on new adventures. "What is wrong exactly with traveling to the easy chair or crawling under the couch for a new adventure," she asks. I can't imagine her wanting to get in the car for anything. When traveling with dogs during the holidays, 42 percent of pet owners said their No. 1 challenge was making sure their dog doesn't become stressed during the trip. Some dogs will handle the travel better than others, so it pays to take your pets on a few local excursions to see how they handle car travel. Finding pet-friendly transportation was the second biggest challenge, according to 28 percent of travelers, which is probably why most trips are short and most people choose to drive with their pets. When asked why people choose to travel with their pets at all, 71 percent of pet owners said it was "because pets are part of the family and should be with the rest of the family during holiday occasions." That's nice to hear. Happy holidays to you and your furry friends — wherever you may be. Send your pet stories and questions to Cathy M. Rosenthal, c/o Features Department, San Antonio Express-News, P.O. Box 2171, San Antonio, TX 78297-2171, or cathy@petpundit.com. Cathy's advice column runs every Sunday. During the holidays, there are three types of pet owners: the people who travel with their pets, the people who travel without their pets and the people who don't travel at all because of their pets. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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