Pet Blog By Bocci @ Bocci's Beefs: 5/1/16

Monday, May 30, 2016

Memorial Day Tribute To Human and Canine Soldiers

We originally posted this story and infographic on Memorial Day 2014, but, gosh darn it, we think it's interesting enough to post again!

Human and dog soldiers paying tribute to fallen Marine canines.

As we celebrate the close of a long weekend, hopefully with a cookout and lots of friends and family, we imagine that you will take a few moments to honor our fallen soldiers. Hundreds of thousands of brave men and women have given their lives for our country, and alongside them have fallen countless canine soldiers, who rightfully deserve tribute.

To honor these four-legged heroes, our friends at Pet360 have compiled a fascinating description and accompanying slide show of the most common dog breeds serving our country. We tend to think of the German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois as the top military dog breeds, but there's a lot we didn't know about the wide variety of breeds used and why.

And to provide a few conversation starters at your picnic today, or if you just like to sound like a know-it-all, Forbes has put together this cool info graphic to help us remember exactly why our country has set aside this day for remembrance of our fallen soldiers.

Here's to a satisfying Memorial Day to all of our blogging friends!

Tiny Farm Dog Does Her "Chores"

Little Lola is both cute and friendly...and a hard worker around the farm, too!

BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop!

This Wordless Wednesday, BlogPaws is celebrating the 28 day countdown to the BlogPaws Conference in Phoenix! Don't miss their fun video where lots of last years' attendees let the world know why they love to attend the BlogPaws Conference!

Meanwhile, back at the Ohio ranch...

My narcissistic feline sister wanted her mug in today's post—she even demanded a close-up!

Now on to the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop—why not pick out some new blogs to visit today?

Pet Cancer Awareness Month!

None of us want to think about cancer...we'd rather guard the yard from squirrels!

It looks like November might be the "official" National Pet Cancer Awareness Month, but beautiful May is also mentioned frequently as the month to draw attention to pet cancers. A huge thanks to our good friends at Tripawds, who have embraced May to highlight the many dogs and cats who have lost a limb to cancer—and who are continuing to thrive as tripawds!

Clever icon courtesy of Tripawds...and while you're visiting their site, why not check out the plethora of information Tripawds provides about pet cancers? Knowledge is key to prevention and treatment, you know!

You may also want to read this article published in Modern Dog Magazine and written by Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. It makes clear that the biggest reason behind cancer awareness campaigns is to ensure that pet owners know how to recognize the warning signs of cancer, so your beloved pet can have a thorough veterinary checkup as soon as possible. Here are the signs of cancer in dogs as listed in the article: "The Veterinary Cancer Society suggests checking your pet regularly for signs such as swollen lymph nodes, sudden weight loss, enlarged lumps, vomiting, diarrhea, and lameness."

We strongly believe that knowledge and preparedness are keys to keeping all of our pets healthy and safe— and that's what we all want for our four (or three!)-legged family members, don't we?

As always, thanks for your continued support and all you do to help our animal companions!

"Sunday Selfies" BlogHop For Pets!

Here's our Sunday Selfie...yes, I live with a cat!

As always, thanks to Cat On My Head for hosting this fun pet blogger hop!

Adorable Puppy Sees...Himself!

It doesn't get much cuter than a gorgeous pup seeing himself in the mirror for the first time—and wanting to play with his new companion! Parental Unit remembers one of her dogs from long ago, a pug named Ollie, who as a small puppy, piled all of his toys in front of the full length mirror. He seemed to want to share with the little fella looking back!

Is it any wonder we love dogs?

BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop: Pets Are The Reason!

I'm glad that not only Parental Unit, but all of her pet blogging buddies Love Animals!

Today's call to action from our friends at BlogPaws is "Pets Are The Reason", and ain't that the truth! You humans do a great job of coming together through BlogPaws and many other wonderful organizations to help animals in need—thank you! And you also help spread lots of great information about companion animals so pet parents around the world can better provide for the needs (and wants!) of their beloved pets. Thank you again!

Meanwhile, back at the Ohio ranch...

The weather's finally cleared in our neck of the woods and we're ready for some outdoor action!

But don't forget to check out the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop for some indoor action first!

Is That "Love" In Your Dog's Eyes?

Well, the answer to that question just may be a resounding "Yes"...or not. Could it be the treat in your hand, Parental Unit, that makes me love you like I do?

You know that we just love to read about animal cognition and at least occasionally, share that information with you—it's an endlessly fascinating topic to both Parental Unit and me. Nearly a year ago, Anderson Cooper did a segment for 60 Minutes about what scientists and other smart folks have learned from studying dogs. And since Cooper is a major dog lover, he was interested, too.

Check out this 60 Minutes Overtime segment with five minute video and see what you think. Could it be that canines are just "scamming us", as Cooper wonders? Let us know!

P.S. Our opinion? We think there's a real bond between dogs and humans...treats or no treats!

National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day!

Yup, that's today, folks!

We've written about this issue several times before: How to be at least better prepared to protect your human and animal companions in an emergency. None of us can be perfectly prepared for a natural or other type of disaster, but having some basic strategies in place will certainly help us to be a bit more confident should disaster strike.

And none of us want our beloved pets to be injured or left behind if we can prevent it—that's why we have to prepare on our pets' behalf. This article from one of our favorite holistic veterinarians, Dr. Karen Becker, is particularly helpful because it provides a comprehensive list of items to prepare ahead of time and what exactly to do during the emergency itself. Generally, the following tips will help you prepare:

__ Create (or buy) a pet emergency kit and store in a safe place.

__ Know where you can seek shelter if you have to evacuate, including addresses and phone numbers (Add pet friendly hotels to your list).

__ Have two written plans for you and your family: one if you're home when disaster strikes and one if you are not home.

__Keep a photo of your pets with you at all times (hard copy as well as on your phone), and place pet alert stickers in your windows.

We understand that none of us want to think about anything "bad" happening, but if we don't think about it for just a little while, we can't be prepared if something bad does happen, right? And since we pets can't protect ourselves, you humans have to plan on our behalf. As Dr. Becker says: "There will be few times in the life of your beloved companion that he will need you more than in the event of a disaster."

Have you prepared for me, Parental Unit?

How many of you have both human and pet emergency kits safely stored in your home? Please let us know!

BlogPaws Wordless Wedensday Pet Blogger Hop: "Learn To Earn"!

If you ever wanted to learn more about blogging and social media—and how the two go together, the annual BlogPaws Conference is a treasure trove of keynotes, workshops and networking just for you!
And today's Wordless Wednesday "theme" over at BlogPaws is "learn to earn" which is exactly what can happen at their splendid conferences. Check it out!

Meanwhile, back at the Ohio ranch...

It's been so rainy here, I haven't been motivated to get out of bed!

Maybe visiting my blogging buddies at the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop will rev me up!

Dealing With Difficult Dog Owners: From One Dog To Another

Dr. Spot is here for you, my fellow canines!

Dear Dog Owners,

Whether you know it or not, your dog is really smart. In fact, he or she is actually smarter than you, but unfortunately, your intellect isn't sufficiently advanced to grasp that idea. (Yes, humans tend to think they're the center of the entire universe...).

Anyway, Parental Unit has been working closely with Dr. R. L. Spot, a medical doctor trained in canine psychiatry, to ensure that all of my canine pals have access to his wildly popular advice column: Dealing With Difficult Dog Owners, debuting online tomorrow, Tuesday, May 10, 2016! Dr. Spot has already helped dogs the world over ~~take advantage of~~ work with their problematic owners to ensure they receive, well, the best of everything!

Don't get enough walks and off-leash time? Left alone at home too long? Getting less than stellar food? Dr. Spot will counsel each of you individually to help you gain the "upper paw", so to speak, in your household. Yes, it is your home, by the way—the fact that you don't pay the mortgage or rent, or even chip in for any other expenses is a mere technicality.

Dr. Spot will also be offering a series of online classes to help dogs take a "deeper dive" into understanding themselves and what motivates their owners—"you can never know too much about human behavior" is Dr. Spot's guiding philosophy.

We're excited to see you all right here starting tomorrow: www.difficultowners.com, where the good doctor looks forward to personally answering each and every one of your questions. Until then, visit Dr. Spot on his Facebook page and Twitter feed, where he'll dispense even more valuable advice for his fellow canines.

In solidarity,

Bocci and Dr. Spot

The Sunday Pet-Selfies Blog Hop + #MothersDay!

First, we must wish our Parental Unit a Happy Mother's Day!

We also thought we'd offer you this glimpse into the origins of Mother's Day from the History Channel—it's fascinating!

And, of course, thanks to The Cat on My Head for sharing the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop!

Now, let's visit our blogging friends and take a gander at their Sunday Selfies...
P.S. Stay tuned tomorrow about a very special announcement about our new blog!

And The Winner Of The #ASPCA150 Gift Pack Is...!

We've chosen the lucky winner!

We are thrilled to be able to share with you the ASPCA Pledge to Help Animals, 150 Days of Rescue Campaign that's part of ASPCA's 150th Anniversary celebration. See more details about this fun and important campaign here: http://www.boccibeefs.com/2016/04/pledge-to-help-animals-and-win-aspca.html

And now, we're super excited to announce the winner of our ASPCA 150th Anniversary Commemorative Gift Pack! Thanks again to the ASPCA for generously donating this gift to one of our readers.

As usual, we left the choice of our winner to our friends at Rafflecopter — and here's who they randomly picked:

Pick the Winner(s)

Kate Volz

lyricintime2803@yahoo.com
- Monday, Apr 25 @ 08:40 pm
- Tweeted a Messagehttps://twitter.com/high_volzage/status/724759811045380096
- United States(74.79.68.20)Location is approximate. Click here for more details.
  
  Congrats to Kate! Let's all put our paws together in a round of applause for Kate Volz! And a huge thanks to all who entered—we surely appreciate your support.

BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop: Happy Mother's Day!

Today's "theme" over at BlogPaws is appropriately, Happy Mother's Day—a blog hop celebration of all human and pet Moms! That makes our post from yesterday even more apropos...

Meanwhile, back at the Ohio ranch...

Me and my Parental Unit are heading to the dog park to get an early start on our Mother's Day celebration. Isn't that the perfect gift for her?

But first, let's all check out the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop and see how our blogging buddies are celebrating.

Mother's Day Gifts For Pet-Loving Moms

Whether you're a human child or a four-legged one, you really should get a gift for your female parental unit. No, looking cute is not enough!

We think these gift ideas from The New York Times are incredibly creative and are sure to please any pet-loving mom and/or bride. From hand-dyed dog leashes, to modern dog beds for a sophisticated decor, to a wooden weather vane in the dog breed of your choice, these gift ideas run the gamut—and all are unique and (mostly) practical, too. Don't you love that "kitty cave"?

Photos courtesy of The New York Times

Let us know what you plan to get your female parental unit this Mother's Day—we'd love to hear your gift ideas! I haven't chosen a present yet, but I can tell ya, my Parental Unit deserves something real nice, and I bet yours does, too.