Pet Blog By Bocci @ Bocci's Beefs: 6/1/13

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Sunday's "Living With Your Pet" Tips: The Scoop On Pet Vomit

Fabulous photo of me by John Clark of Clark Creative

How's that for an enticing title? While we don't want to gross you out on this steamy Sunday, we thought this article by Dr Karen Becker, one of our favorite holistic veterinarians, was well worth reading. For us, it falls into the "we had no clue" category, and since we pets tend to expel stuff from our mouths (most often without much warning), it would certainly be helpful for those who love and care for us to know the differences among the different types of, well, stuff that comes out of our mouths. It turns out that it's not all "vomit".

Until she read Dr. Becker's discussion, Parental Unit didn't know that the types of "stuff" coming out of our mouths is divided into three, very different categories: vomit, regurgitation, or expectoration. And it's important to know the difference, so you humans can decide whether we need to be examined by a vet, and even what to tell said vet about the "event". Based on this information, Parental Unit has concluded that I'm apparently regurgitating a bit of water and mucus fairly regularly, but only after I arrive home from a walk and drink water right away-Parental Unit will ask my doc about this during our annual visit scheduled for this week, and we'll let you know what he says.

We'd love to hear from you about this delightful issue...did you know the difference among these three types of "stuff" (for lack of a better word)? Let us know!

Saturday Pet Blogger Hop, Plus...Border Collies Cut A Rug!

Take the time to watch this all the way through-wow! Both dogs probably performed a few quick brain
surgeries after their dance performance...just to show off.

Now on to this week's Pet Blogger Hop!

Happy Saturday to everyone-and whadayasay we dogs go hoppin' right away?! We'll meet at the Old Elm Tree, chase some squirrels, and then visit everyones' blogs together-how does that sound? And we're officially giving up on Timmy!

Photo by www.rachellaurenphotography.com

Here are just a few, easy-to-follow rules for joining this hop:

Use the Linky tool provided to sign up. Note: if your blog is not pet-related it will be removed from the list.

Follow the three hosts at the top of the list (and while you're at it, follow us-we'd appreciate it!)

__ Peruse these fabulous blogs and follow and comment as you desire.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Week # 65 of "Living with Your Pet" tips gathered for the pet lover in all of us.

Burt's Bees New Line Of Pet Products: Review And Giveaway!

We were so excited to try out a few of the new pet products from the venerable and beloved Burt's Bees line of personal care products, and even happier to be able to share a few of these excellent products with you! We're giving away to one lucky winner, one each of Burt's Bees dog deodorizing shampoo with apple and eucalyptus (16 oz), and oatmeal conditioner with colloidal oat flour and honey (10 oz). Please see the details at the end of this post to enter to win.

Burt's Bees began their entrepreneurial adventure selling tins of beeswax lip balm and hand salve at local craft fairs way back in 1984, and have been enticing customers with their (99% natural) line of personal care products ever since. Just this past April, Burt's Bees launched their first ever line of pet grooming products (starting with us dogs), that includes shampoos for both adult dogs and puppies, a multi-care dental spray and a "calming" spray with lavender, among others. Burt's Bees pet products are distributed by Fetch4Pets and are currently available at PetSmart, Petco and other local pet specialty stores.

We received one of each of the above-listed products to try, but will only be reviewing the deodorizing shampoo and oatmeal conditioner in today's post. Parental Unit (unfortunately, from my perspective) has bathed me twice with these products, and the results have been consistent and excellent (According to her, only. I hate baths no matter the quality of my "grooming" products).

Here's my bath being drawn...Parental Unit always adds a bit of shampoo to the water to get my cleaning started-notice the light "sudsing" action of the shampoo.

And yours truly, still mercifully dry and awaiting my fate.

All wet and dreading the application of shampoo...not happy!

The deodorizing shampoo with apple and eucalyptus was very light and thin in consistency, which made it extra easy to lather up and apply. What we particularly appreciate about this shampoo is the fresh, natural and incredibly light scent. Both Parental Unit and I hate heavily perfumed products of any kind, particularly those that are applied to our skin. (It also makes us think that the manufacturer is trying to hide inferior ingredients with a heavy, fake scent). Parental Unit was pleased with the way the shampoo cleaned and refreshed my coat, and I was pleased that I've had no itching issues after either bath. By the way, either one or two shampoos worked to leave me smelling, well, clean!

Just when I thought we were finished...here comes the conditioner! As you can see, it's nice and thick and creamy, with just the barest scent of honey. It's non-greasy, rinsed easily and softened my coat.

Whew! Done except for the towel dry!

We definitely give these Burt's Bees pet grooming products a four paws up (if used on other dogs) and a two thumbs up from Parental Unit!

And now, on to our giveaway!

Please note: If the rules are not clear to you, feel free to ask at: jdemarti@columbus.rr.com. Likewise, if you've chosen to enter, please check back at the appointed day to see if you're a winner. And if you're one of the lucky ones, please provide your mailing address to Parental Unit at the above e-mail address. Thanks!

One lucky winner (continental U.S. only) will receive one, Burt's Bees 16 oz deodorizing shampoo and one 10 oz, oatmeal conditioner.

Here are the requirements to enter: No anonymous comments, please!

1. "Like" our Facebook page: See top of right sidebar or click here: www.facebook.com/pages/Boccis-Beefs/190090017696328?ref=stream

2. You must give this giveaway a shout-out on your Twitter or Facebook page by using the buttons below this post-easy!

3. Comment on this post and indicate in your ONE comment that you'd like to enter this giveaway.

This contest will run from today, Friday June 28, 2013 through Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at 8:00 EST.

Good Luck!

Take The Dog Rescue Pledge!

We're thrilled to promote this great online initiative from P. L. A.Y., Pet Lifestyles and You, and Nebo, an interactive marketing company, in conjunction with Petfinder.com, that together with you, me and hopefully hundreds of thousands of pet lovers will help spread the good word about pet adoption. And you know, this is only possible if we help to educate people about shelter pets: there remains an overwhelming negative public perception of these beautiful orphaned animals-that they're somehow broken, or "unclean" and/or more difficult to train. And although none of these stereotypes is true, they persist. In fact, only a small percentage of people in the United States will ever walk into a pet shelter.

So we're asking you to Take the Pledge to help enhance the perception of rescue animals and encourage people to adopt their next pet from a shelter. Won't you join us by taking The Pledge and prominently displaying this lovely badge on your blog? And while you're at it, check out The Pledge's Facebook page, give it a "Like' and keep up with this powerful movement!

BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop!

Today's "Theme" over at BlogPaws remains "Feline Mania" or "Catitude", given that it's still June and officially "Adopt-A-Cat Month. So we thought we'd share our own "catitude" with you today, although we must admit, Bella is mostly a sweetie. But now that we think of it, don't all felines exude "catitude" just because they're, well, cats?

Do you detect "catitude" in any of these photos?

P.S. Stay tuned for another fabulous giveaway coming in the next few days: We'll be reviewing Burt's Bees new line of pet products!
Now on to the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop. We'd love to see your smilin' face!

And The Winner Of The ASPCA Gift Pack Is...

It's time to announce yet another winner - would you look at all those fabulous prizes, courtesy of the ASPCA! We're once again turning to our trusted Random Sequence Generator to pick a winner from among our hopeful entrants. We plugged in the numbers 1-9 because there were nine comments. However, we are going to eliminate #4 from contention if it appears first, because it was deleted by the author. Here's what came up:

Random Sequence Generator

Here is your sequence:

Timestamp: 2013-06-26 00:13:28 UTC

The lucky number 7 is the first number and that comment was left by Diana Stanhope. Let's all put our paws together in a round of applause to congratulate Diana! Thanks so much to all who participated-we appreciate your efforts. Please contact us with your mailing address at your earliest convenience, Diana.

While you're here, why not check out the latest update on the 2013 Rachel Ray $100K Challenge, and see how you can help a shelter near you come out on top! As always, we appreciate your support.

Sunday's "Living With Your Pet" Tips: Holistic Veterinary Resources

Fabulous photo of me by John Clark of Clark Creative

Our friends at Dog Channel.com, Dog Fancy's online presence, provided these excellent resources for you to research alternative and holistic veterinary practices. If you're anything like Parental Unit, you take care of us every day with exercise and high quality food, check us out during grooming and bathing for anything suspicious, and take us to our yearly vet check. But holistic and alternative care practitioners for both humans and pets, advocate different treatments than those used in traditional western medicine, like acupuncture, for example. And also take a more proactive and, well, holistic approach to creating and managing health, rather than simply treating disease.

We're printing out this list to keep handy, so Parental Unit can remember to be proactive rather than reactive, if at all possible. How about you? Have you sought alternative and/or holistic medical treatments for your pet? And if so, let us know which ones and whether they were successful.

Saturday Pet Blogger Hop Plus...Cat And Banana Peel Don't Mix!

Now on to this week's Pet Blogger Hop!

Happy Saturday to everyone-and whadayasay we dogs go hoppin' right away?! We'll meet at the Old Elm Tree, chase some squirrels, and then visit everyones' blogs together-how does that sound? And we're officially giving up on Timmy!

Photo by www.rachellaurenphotography.com

Here are just a few, easy-to-follow rules for joining this hop:

Use the Linky tool provided to sign up. Note: if your blog is not pet-related it will be removed from the list.

Follow the three hosts at the top of the list (and while you're at it, follow us-we'd appreciate it!)

__ Peruse these fabulous blogs and follow and comment as you desire.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Week # 64 of "Living with Your Pet" tips gathered for the pet lover in all of us.

Take Your Dog To Work Day!

Do we all know that today is the 15th annual "Take Your Dog To Work" Day? Thanks to Pet Sitters International who first celebrated this fine occasion way back in 1999, many of us can now bring our dogs with us to work on this special day...and every day!

Pet Sitters International created this day to "...celebrate the great companions dog make and to encourage their adoption from humane societies, animal shelters and breed rescue clubs." What a great idea and a great cause to promote!

Although Parental Unit isn't working today, we'll share with you some photos from my visits to Professor Belland's class at the Columbus College of Art and Design, where, you might recall, I've been a guest lecturer for several years.

Here I am conferring with Professor Belland prior to one of my lectures.

And here we are post-lecture. Look how pleased the Professor is!

And surrounded by my adoring students...

What about you? Did you bring your best buddy to work today? We'd love to know!

BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop!

Today's "theme" over at BlogPaws for the Wordless Wednesday Hop is "Kitty Power", a continuation of Adopt-A-Cat Month that extends through the merry, merry month of June. Take a look at their photo of a gorgeous green-eyed feline...

But we here at Bocci's Beefs would be remiss if we didn't feature our own purrty green-eyed kitty.

Now on to the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop! Join us and have some fun!

Annie The Broadway Musical And The Adventures Of Sandy Part IV!

First up, we wanted to remind you of Pedigree's partnership with that enchanting Tony-nominated musical, Annie: Two dollars from every ticket sold go to the Pedigree Foundation, up to a whopping $1million bucks, which in turn, go directly to help animals in need. Kudos to Pedigree for their generous and unwavering support for shelter dogs!

Bill Berloni and Sunny, Broadway's latest "Sandy".

But let's not forget Broadway animal trainer extraordinaire Bill Berloni's 35 year association with Annie and that lovable scruffy mutt, Sandy. If you remember from our earlier posts, Berloni adopted the first Sandy from a New York shelter for $7 and made him a Broadway star-and he's been dedicated to saving shelter dogs ever since. In fact, every one of the countless dogs and most of the other animals Berloni trains for the stage, movies or television are rescues.

While Berloni is there for nearly every performance of Annie, expertly coaching Sandy through his nine and a half minutes of stage time, Berloni and his wife and business partner, Dorothy, envisioned a little more onstage time for a dog...like the first play that stars a dog. Berloni says that "For 30 years I've been waiting [for someone] to write "Lassie the Musical". And he wasn't kidding. He really was "looking for a story to tout the human-animal bond" and he found it in Because of Winn-Dixie. He and his wife acquired the rights to the children's book, and their musical of the same name will debut at the Arkansas Repertory Theater this December. And yes, the dog (another scruffy rescue) will be on stage the entire play. Berloni said in another published interview that they specifically "...wanted to do our first show in middle America. Then we hope other theaters will pick it up and we eventually want to play on Broadway."

While you're waiting for the premier of Because of Winn-Dixie, check out Berloni's book, Broadway Tails, an autobiography of his work with rescue animals for the stage and screen. And the latest edition of the book has a bonus chapter on his search for the new "Sandy"-what's not to love?

We'll end our series of posts based on our conversation with Bill Berloni, with an anecdote that illustrates the unexpected challenges of working with animals for a live performance. If you're lucky enough to see this version of Annie, pay special attention to Annie and Sandy onstage for the hit song, "Tomorrow". In this production, the music director added a french horn in the last note of the song-and that unfortunately set Sunny howling. So instead of Sunny looking straight ahead at the audience as planned, he's now looking offstage at Berloni in an attempt to avoid that howl!

Sunday's "Living With Your Pet" Tips: Be A Good Pet "Parent"

Fabulous photo of me by John Clark of Clark Creative

On Father's Day, we thought we'd share ideas (rather than tips) from a guy who's both a human parent and a pack leader: Cesar Millan. If you receive his newsletters like we do, you'll notice that while his focus is always dogs, his message extends beyond canines to both humans and our larger world. In today's newsletter, he discusses the differences between the role fathers play in human and canine packs-and those roles are significantly different.

He also reminds us that as much as we love our dogs and have made them part of our families, we're still two very different species, and you're really not doing your beloved pooch any favors by treating them like a human child. "Let dogs be dogs," Cesar says. And we couldn't agree more.

So what are you dogs and cats doing to help your humans celebrate Father's Day (while still being true to your species, of course)? Let us know!

Saturday Pet Blogger Hop Plus....Pure Puppy Sweetness!

Now on to this week's Pet Blogger Hop!

Happy Saturday to everyone-and whadayasay we dogs go hoppin' right away?! We'll meet at the Old Elm Tree, chase some squirrels, and then visit everyones' blogs together-how does that sound? And we're officially giving up on Timmy!

Photo by www.rachellaurenphotography.com

Here are just a few, easy-to-follow rules for joining this hop:

Use the Linky tool provided to sign up. Note: if your blog is not pet-related it will be removed from the list.

Follow the three hosts at the top of the list (and while you're at it, follow us-we'd appreciate it!)

__ Peruse these fabulous blogs and follow and comment as you desire.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Week # 63 of "Living with Your Pet" tips gathered for the pet lover in all of us.

Pets Add Life: Video Outtakes

As you ease into your weekend, we thought we'd share these outtakes from our all time favorite pet videos. Pets Add Life (PAL) has done such a wonderful job encouraging people to adopt multiple pets with their classic "Dog Wants a Kitty" and other videos and advertising campaigns. We're not quite sure what makes us nearly cry with laughter at every video and outtake-maybe it's the dogs talking or that sweet voice over... And we have to give a thank-you and shout-out to their creator, Andrew Grantham-check out his Facebook page and new, Talking Pets YouTube channel!

PAL is produced by the American Pet Products Association (APPA) and is a non-profit PSA campaign "designed to demonstrate the joys and benefits of responsible pet ownership" and to encourage adoptions of all types of pets. We agree, we love it, and we hope you enjoy!

If you think these videos are funny, let us know why-we'd love to hear from you!

ASPCA's Rachel Ray $100K Challenge And Gift Pack Giveaway!

We're giving away this ASPCA gift pack! See details at the end of this post to enter!

We're thrilled to help promote this year's $100K Rachel Ray challenge, where 49 pet shelters across the country will compete to save lives. During the months of June, July and August, these shelters will work with their communities to save more orphaned animal's lives than they did during the same three-month period the year before. The ASPCA and Rachel Ray will award a $100,000 grand prize to the shelter that achieves the greatest increase in lives saved during this three-month time frame. Ready, set
go! A combined total of 2,047 pet lives have already been saved during the Challenge's kickoff weekend starting June 1-2, 2013!

But wait, there's more. The shelter contestant that does the best job engaging it's community members to help save more animals will win $25,000. And those organizations that do the best in their divisions will be eligible for between $10,000 and $25,000 in additional grants. They'll be a whopping total of $600,000 in grant funding awarded for increases in animals saved and well as for various other participatory events.

Why not check to see if one of your local shelters is participating and ask what you can do to help them save more precious lives and come out a winner. And while you're there, you just might want to add a new family member... As always, thanks so much for your support!

And now, on to our giveaway!

But first, a word about entering...please, do follow all of the rules! We've made it particularly easy to enter: We're asking for you to "Like" or Facebook page (prominently displayed on our right sidebar), and to give the contest a shout-out on either your Facebook page or your Twitter account. We're also requiring you to leave a short comment saying specifically that you'd like to enter-easy peasy!

Please note: If you don't have a Facebook or Twitter account, or are otherwise unwilling to follow these three requirements, please don't enter the contest. If the rules are not clear to you, feel free to ask at: jdemarti@columbus.rr.com. Likewise, if you've chosen to enter, please check back at the appointed day and check to see if you're a winner. And if you're one of the lucky ones, please provide your mailing address to Parental Unit at the above e-mail address. Thanks!

One lucky winner will receive a very special ASPCA gift pack containing these fabulous prizes:

· Oval ASPCA Logo Bumper Sticker

· ASPCA Pet Frisbee

· ASPCA Orange Wrist Band

· ASPCA We Are Their Voice T-Shirt

· ASPCA.ORG Logo Magnet

· Fight Cruelty Tote

· Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals Cookbook

· Rachael Ray Nutrish^® Soup Bones^™ Real Chicken & Veggies Flavor

· Walker’s Shortbread Cookies in Chocolate

· ASPCA Action Booklet

Here are the requirements to enter: No anonymous comments, please!

3. Comment on this post and indicate in your ONE comment that you'd like to enter this giveaway.

This contest will run from today, Thursday June 13, 2013 through Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at 8:00 EST.

Note: if you choose to enter, please promptly check back to see if you won. If you're the lucky one, please send us your home address ASAP.

Good Luck!

BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop!

BlogPaws is continuing their theme of Adopt-A-Cat Month (and rightly so since it extends for the entire, lovely month of June), with a plea to all cat (and dog) owners to have their pet's teeth and overall dental health checked by a veterinarian. Good dental health is just as important for felines as canines, as our experience with Ms. Bella demonstrates: last year we had Bella's teeth cleaned for the first time in her eight years, and she had to have two rotten teeth removed, and receive a month-long course of antibiotics. Needless to say, she perked up right away, and we learned our lesson.

Little Ms. Clean Teeth...

Who still likes to nap in a comfy spot...

And hang around her best buddy.

Now on to the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Hop! Link Up!

Annie The Musical And Pedigree Announce Sandy's Rescue Pals Plus The Adventures of Sandy Part III

If you saw the Tony Awards the other night, you saw Sunny the former shelter dog, who plays Sandy in the Tony nominated revival of Annie, make a show-stopping, lip-smacking appearance with the host, Neil Patrick Harris. Now there's an adorable duo! But Sandy's got even more show-stopping ideas up her paw - in partnership with Annie's current production team, Pedigree, and a New York animal shelter called Bobbi and the Strays'.

Sandy aims to help her own kind (dogs in shelters), by facilitating a weekly introduction: a dog looking for his or her forever home will do a "meet and greet" with Annie's matinee audience every Wednesday. The kickoff for "Sandy's Rescue Pals" was May 8th and included Sandy's trainer, Bill Berloni (featured in two previous posts) and several stars from the Annie cast. What a fabulous idea: a shelter dog who became a Broadway star helping other shelter pups get their forever home!

Here's Berloni and that day's shelter pooch, ready for adoption.

And Annie herself (far right) along with other members of the cast, the adorable adoptable, and Berloni (center).

Next week we'll post our final installment of our interview with Bill Berloni, where we'll share more behind-the-scenes stories from Annie, and a preview of Berloni's latest adventure-the first ever play where a dog is the star!

Sunday's "Living With Your Pet" Tips: Top Summer Safety Advice From The ASPCA

Fabulous photo of me by John Clark of Clark Creative

The weather is starting to go from pleasantly warm to piping hot, but you still want to make sure your four-legged friend gets enough exercise and outdoor play. What to do? Well, we think it's better to be safe than sorry, and as usual, we've turn to the experts for some summer safety tips for you and your pet. The ASPCA has put together some of their best pet hot weather safety tips to help you and Fido navigate summer unharmed, and hopefully remain in peak condition. These tips also include several links to related topics like proper hydration and how to handle your dog during fireworks season.

We all know by this point not to leave our dogs in a closed car (or even one with the windows cracked), for even a second. But we were surprised to learn that shaving your dog to keep them cool is a "no-no". Not that Parental Unit has ever shaved any of her dogs, but she didn't realize that our fur serves a purpose, and among other things, protects us from sunburn. And she's never had a dog with a light-colored nose that might require a bit of sunscreen for extended outdoor activities.

We hope you enjoy these helpful dog care tips while you're enjoying your Sunday.