Here is The Essence of What Distinguishes Halo Kibble

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Tracie

I recently received this thoughtful and heartfelt email letter from a listener who was once a Veterinary Technician and is now a student becoming a medical doctor for humans. Her concerns are ones I have definitely raised before, but her passion for information and transparency about how most pet foods are made inspired me to share it with you. It reaffirmed my commitment to Halo’s dry foods because of their commitment to never, ever use rendered meat products in their kibble: that is the basic explanation for why Halo kibble may seem costlier than some other premium brands of dry food — their fundamental protein source is a higher quality that costs them more. For myself and my dogs, I never want to think about the possibility that someone’s loved pet (along with all the drugs in her body, her flea collars and rabies tags) is possibly in my dogs’ dinner bowls. It’s a peace of mind and health benefit for which I am grateful to pay a little more. Here is Jessica’s letter to me:

I am an avid listener of Dog Talk® and Humane Talk™, and would like to make a suggestion for a subject I’d love to hear you talk about. I was never really aware how much certain commercial pet food companies actually use rendered pets in their dog and cat food until I read an article on Dog Food Advisor (http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-industry-exposed/dogs-meat-meal/). Not only pet food, but also the other products (like soap and cosmetics) surprised me because these were commercial products I’ve been buying and had no idea.

I was disgusted to learn that when you put your pet to sleep and choose to leave them with the vet (maybe due to not being able to afford to get the ashes or lack of a place to bury), vets often sell the deceased animals to the rendering plants, tags and all. But the scariest part about this is that the Pentobarbital used to euthanize these animals never breaks down. And in 1996 veterinarians began to notice that it was requiring larger amounts of this drug to euthanize animals — the animals fed these foods had in fact, built up a tolerance over their lives! I couldn’t believe that these disgusting pet food companies are not only feeding our pets other pets (awful enough), but the chemicals we use to end their lives! And it has been proven that not even the rendering process can deteriorate pentobarbital. Sadly these companies include the biscuits on supermarket shelves which many people I know who spend tons of money on high quality dog food still give to their dogs. I have to say it’s an awkward conversation to have with your friend when you know what they are giving to their pet and they already think they’ve done everything right.

I would love it if at some point you would address this issue which could help listeners be more aware (as if the other reasons not to feed commercial pet food were reason enough) about this issue, especially the thought of your beloved pet going into commercial dog food when he passes away. Perhaps encouraging people to find out what disposal method their vet uses before they have to make this kind of decision.

I really admire your journalism and your will to spread the word of what is right. As a former vet tech (before switching gears to go to medical school) I always shuddered at the “vet diets” the vet gave out, but had I ever said anything I would have been fired. So I always hoped people could find the information in other ways. I hope you know how indirectly you have influenced the lives of so many animals through your listeners who spread the information to other pet owners.

Thank you for everything you do!

When I read this letter aloud on my Sirius/XM satellite radio show CAT CHAT® last week it was right before my guest for the show — Dr. Annie Forslund, a veterinarian from Tustin California who specializes in home pet euthanasia (www.homepeteuthanasia.com) came on. (You can hear her on DOG TALK® this week discussing end-of-life issues and “when it is time.” She will be coming back on the show soon to share her own knowledge about the presence of companion animals in rendered meat products.)

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“The Book” says Chicken & Rice, but Teddy says “Liv-a-littles” please!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Tracie

I just had another stomach-ache health scare with my younger Weimaraner, Teddy. Because Weims and other deep-chested large breed dogs are at a high risk for the life-threatening condition called bloat, I go into High Alert Mode the moment I see that Teddy is having gastro-intestinal discomfort. I have had to take him to the emergency vet clinic twice when I saw he was in distress so I wanted to jump right on and deal with the problem as quickly as possible. I even check my own book The Dog Bible in case there is something I am forgetting in my anxiety, but he exhibited all the classic signs and symptoms of a doggy tummy ache: drooling, stretching like a cat, inability to get comfortable lying down, gurgling stomach sounds and then going outside to find grass to eat — even though it was a ridiculously cold single-digit day in Vermont. I thought he was trying to eat snow which was bad enough for a sensitive stomach, but I didn’t realize that a dog could feel sick enough to find grass in the dead of winter. One thing I learned in researching my book is that occasionally eating grass is fine for a dog who is well, but once a dog has an upset stomach the grass his instincts drive him to eat will only further irritate his gut so you have to make sure he eats and drinks nothing until his stomach settles down.

Even though it was a Sunday my vet came into the office to examine Teddy to make sure he was not in the process of “bloating” or developing pancreatitis and if not, if there was something she could do to alleviate his suffering. It wasn’t until he threw up in the office that I saw what a massive amount of grass he had found under the snow and swallowed, which triggered the vomiting. My vet listened to his stomach and saw that his temperature and heart rate were normal. She determined that the pain he was experiencing was from intestinal gas that was trapped. She gave him a shot for pain and for nausea/vomiting and then recommended that I walk him around to get the gas to move inside. I asked whether I could give him some of the gel caps I had at home for people that break up intestinal gas; she looked up the safety and dosage and said to go ahead and try it. She also said to start him on some food to help move things along in the digestive tract. In fact she said getting some food in Teddy in frequent small portions would be the best remedy. Chicken and rice are always what vets (and my own book) recommend, but it’s usually a mad dash to the supermarket for chicken breast with a drooling sickly dog in the car! I was grateful that I had some shredded roasted chicken meat in the freezer so I rushed Teddy home and boiled some basmati rice, which cooks quickly, and stirred in the chicken. But Teddy would not touch it. I added a little cottage cheese for enticement. No go. I offered just a piece of chicken but he turned his head aside. He was stretching and twisting in pain. I felt so terrible. I knew that if I could get him to eat something it would get that painful gas to start moving inside him. I lifted the lid off the dog biscuit jar (where Liv-a-Little biscuits are kept to reward the dogs for returning from far away ramblings) and Teddy looked up with curiosity in his pain-filled expression. I broke one in half and held it out to him. He took it gingerly between his teeth and chewed uncertainly, as if he wasn’t sure it would go down okay. Then he looked up for the second half. He chewed that one with more confidence. I was so relieved! I offered him one biscuit after another and he kept on accepting them (my other two dogs came around in no time, having heard the biscuit jar lid being removed so I had to give them a few, too, which made the whole evening Christmas morning all over again for them). For Teddy, the Liv-a-Littles must have been like crackers are to a person who feels sick, and boy was I glad I had them to help him feel better. From now on I don’t have to knock myself out to make chicken and rice that doesn’t even appeal to a guy feeling lousy. Now I know I have his own secret remedy right in the biscuit jar! (But I’m also going to start giving him an acid-reducer pill every night before bed just to see if that helps avoid another scary belly event.)

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New Year’s Resolution: The 10% Diet For Your Dog

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Tracie

Nobody wants to admit they are carrying extra pounds — even though the vast majority of us realize that we have a little “tire around the middle” or thighs, or wherever your body tends to store its extra adipose stash (nice word for FAT which is such an unwelcome word in our culture!) We all know we could stand to take off a few pounds and also know that if we could reduce our calories by making our food portions slightly smaller — say 10% smaller — and substitute protein and vegetables for highly starchy carbohydrates, that we could lose a nice inch or two. Maybe even 10% of our body weight. And not only would our clothes fit better, but we’d feel better — lighter on our feet, less pressure on joints that might have gotten stiff or achy, and probably even increased energy.

Guess what? The very same issues apply to our dogs, who are anywhere from chubby or plump to outright obese — usually because we over-indulge them with treats and overfill their dinner bowls. Most of us have lost a clear picture of what a healthy dog looks like because most of us have let our pets expand too much. The problem with this is that all of the problems that extra pounds can cause in humans can have even more impact on the quality of your dog’s life, especially if she is a larger dog, say above 50 pounds. Dogs tend to carry extra weigh behind the neck and across their shoulders. The swiftest way to find out the truth about whether your dog is too fat is whether you can grab a handful of flesh behind the collar. Don’t kid yourself that this is “just his skin” because if that handful feels plump and spongy, you’re looking at handfuls of extra fat, attractively concealed beneath your handsome dog’s skin or fur. This weight puts extra pressure on the front legs and can cause joint and tendon problems. Since so many larger dogs get torn ligaments in their hind knees, reducing that extra weight and pressure on the front end will go a long way to reducing the likelihood that your dog will suffer from this debilitating and costly problem of a torn ACL. If she has already torn her ligament and had surgery, reducing her weight will assure you of a better recovery and long-term soundness.

I have suffered the problem of added weight in both my rescued Weimaraners. My big tall Scooby Doo tore his second ACL joint last year and the fantastic orthopedic surgeon Faulkner Besancon (at Upstate Veterinary Specialties in Latham, New York) put him back together. But he also admonished me to take some serious weight off of Scooby. Dr. Besancon grabbed a big fistful of skin behind Scooby’s collar and was able to do the same on his ribcage. He said Scooby’s life depended on me getting off this extra weight, which I had been telling myself was “all dog, just a big dog.” Scooby has such pronounced arthritis in his front knees that the vet said the extra weight would literally be the death of him and at some point would limit Scooby’s ability to walk. He said Scooby needed to lose at least 10% of his body weight (129.5 lbs. at the time).

I took his advice seriously and applied the “high protein low carbohydrate” concept to Scooby’s dinner bowl. For three months I removed all dry food and fed him increased meat (or cottage cheese, eggs, yogurt etc) and vegetables. Let me tell you that it was a revelation because we went WAY beyond 10%. It took six months of steady loss but Scooby was 89.5 lbs. yesterday and feeling fine. He’s back on his portion of Halo Spot’s stew kibble now as part of his two daily meals, and he still gets Liv-a-Little biscuits and freeze-dried chicken and salmon as treats, but I will never overfeed like I had been.

Yesterday I had to take my other enormous Weimaraner to Dr. B. because Teddy has been off-and-on lame on his front leg for over six months. It appears to be a problem with shoulder tendonitis and more tests have to be done, but when Dr. Besancon grabbed a big handful of Teddy behind his collar, and squeezed another handful on the side of his ribcage, I knew Teddy was headed for the high protein diet too. He is now 103 lbs. and my goal is a 10% reduction in his weight to 90-something lbs. I hope you’ll be inspired to do the same for your dog before that extra weight causes health problems.

Of course we could apply the same program to ourselves and wind up pretty satisfied, too! I’m about to make a lunch of cottage cheese and raw vegetables for myself. I want to go on the Doggy Diet too!

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Little Dogs With Little Tummies Need Special Kibble

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Tracie

Do you have a toy breed? A Chihuahua, a miniature poodle, a Yorkie, a miniature Doxie, or any of the combo-breeds that cross poodles with almost any other small breed? Do you have any dry dog food in the cupboard? Until recently, I would have told you to donate the kibble to your local rescue or shelter because for a really small dog there are too many carbohydrates in even good dry food. Until now: Halo’s Small Breed dry food is here!

I am still going to tell you to donate that old bag of dry food because it was made with large dogs in mind. Until now, the only special thing about food for small breeds was the small size of the kibble. But I just learned about Halo’s new food for small breed dogs and it has changed my whole way of thinking!

When Halo introduced a dry food just for the wee dogs they did not simply make kibble that is smaller for a little mouth, they came up with a recipe that is right for the little body, too. The food is entirely based on high quality chicken and protein-rich peas, along with some oats, barley, chicken liver, salmon and a whole lot of fine vegetables and fruits. It’s a beautiful thing, and a very happy day for small dogs who can now enjoy the tasty crunch and you can enjoy the convenience of a truly ultra premium kibble for the Littlest Canines.

Dry dog food is a really important part of the meal for a large breed dog or a member of a sporting breed, and especially a very active dog who gets a lot of exercise. This is true of my three large outdoor romping pooches. In my case they eat only Halo as their dry food. I rotate bags of the salmon, chicken and lamb. I’ve chosen Halo because frankly with all that I hear about problems with dry dog food I have many doubts about the ingredients that go into other dry foods. I know that Halo takes pride in using really clean and nutritious ingredients for their Spot’s Stew dry food, so they get my vote of confidence. My dogs also get real meat and vegetables at every meal, however being big guys, they really need the feeling of fullness and the extra energy that the carbs in the dry food provide.

I never thought there would be a kibble that was really the right choice for a little pooch, who does not need a large amount of carbohydrates although he can often be very active. What Halo did with their new smaller sized kibble was to change the formula to reflect the small dog’s true nutritional needs. His small body and stomach and digestive system does best if he gets primarily quality meats along with the nutrients and natural starch that vegetables and fruits provide. I still think you cannot beat Spot’s Stew in a can if you’re going to feed your dog.

As for that bag of dry dog food that was not formulated with your little pooch in mind? Give it your local rescue or shelter where they can put it to very good use (they may even be one of the lucky shelters getting Halo’s dry food as donated by Freekibble.com!).

–Tracie Hotchner

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Halo Treats Opened Window on SEER Farms Sanctuary, a Uniquely Great Rescue

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Tracie

A couple of years ago I was at the Fido Festival in New Jersey as the Petco spokesperson for natural pet foods. I brought with me a big box of bags of treats from my good pals at Halo (the whole Halo, Purely for Pets line of foods and treats is carried at Petco, and it was my favorite brand of premium, healthy food to champion when I got up on my soapbox!) It was a fun day with lots of visitors to my booth who wanted to learn more about how to avoid unpleasant ingredients in pet food and embrace the good ones. They all walked away with a bag of Halo biscuits, which served as a “lesson in a bag” for what I was talking about. By the day’s end I still had a large number of treats left so I went in search of some of the local rescues that had booths on the fairgrounds. I gave lots of the Halo treats to the Greyhound rescue and some other booths manned by the dedicated volunteers who keep rescues going across this country every day (and boy, is my hat off to each and every one of them!)

But then I came upon a booth for SEER Farms Sanctuary from Jackson, NJ, and discovered a one-of-a-kind temporary home for cats, dogs and other pets. I discovered that this uniquely brilliant facility was created as a safe haven for the dogs and cats of people whose lives were in upheaval but who were determined to save their pets by finding a safe place for them until they could be reunited again. Folks going on military duty, those in financial distress (including home foreclosure), divorce, domestic violence, medical issues — you name it, any of the misfortunes or obligations that can befall people and put their pets in jeopardy, were all welcome at SEER Farms. You can be sure that I showered them with all the Halo treats I had left, knowing they would be put to extremely good use and appreciated not just by the dogs, but by all the volunteers who walk and play with the animals to keep their hearts light until their original families can reclaim them.

Please go to DogTalkTheRadioShow.com to listen to my recent interview with Laura Pople, who heads up SEER Farms, to hear the wonderful story of how many of these pets go back to their families (who pay a sliding scale fee to have them at the Farm) and the growing network of volunteers who come from all over to keep those pets well loved and cared for until their families are ready for them again.

–Tracie Hotchner

[P.S. SEER Farms Sanctuary also benefited from the incredible kindness of Dr. Elsey’s Precious cat litters, who sent a whole truckload of Cat Attract litter to help keep the hundreds of kitties at the Farm using the litter boxes, followed by a second donation of another huge pallet of litter this year. To learn what you might be able to do for SEER Farms (or how to create a similar sanctuary in your own area!) go to www.seerfarms.org.

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A Holiday Feast For Your Dog

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Tracie

At Thanksgiving this year I was thinking of what I could give my dogs as a special holiday meal. We all know by now that the leftovers of the meal we people eat are usually way too rich and fatty for them (and probably for us, too!), but there’s still that urge to give them a special yummy meal. I was remembering that it was right around this time last year that I had a lot of fun going on some regional network affiliate television shows and showing folks how to cook a Thanksgiving meal for their pets.

I was the spokesperson for the Petco natural food department at the time, and they really do things right. When I got to the TV studio I discovered that there was already a whole display of diced vegetables that had been arranged by a professional “food prep” person. It was a layout of the fresh ingredients that looked like something Martha would do (except she, too, has food prep people who chop, dice and arrange her ingredients!) I was really impressed by the array of diced vegetables for this Thanksgiving stew I was going to demonstrate on the air — carrot, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, green peas, green beans — I couldn’t believe how delicious it looked! Then there were bowls of diced cooked turkey, and of rolled oats and of barley. The food preparation professional had it presented like a human buffet platter, something you’d see in a magazine.

There was a big pot on a TV kitchen stove and when they started filming (it was a live segment) I poured each of these beautiful ingredients into the cook pot as I talked about the importance of using high quality natural ingredients in your dog’s dinner bowl, much to the television host’s surprise. As I spooned each of the ingredients into the cooking pot I said that anyone could make a holiday stew like this for their dog out of similar ingredients they might have at home. Then I came to small bowl of what looked like a dried herb and saw that the food professional had left the container next to it so that I could identify this mystery ingredient: it was a bottle of dried kelp, which had come from a health food store. I realized that seaweed was a pretty obscure ingredient — a great one for its health benefits — and suddenly I realized where the recipe for this home-cooked doggy feast must have come from: Halo for Pets! I have always admired the ingredient list in Spot’s Stew in a can — and especially remembered that it included dried kelp. It’s an unusual and expensive ingredient — having it in the food was confirmation of the sort of hidden touches of health Halo slips into their foods (like the bits of freeze dried vegetables surrounding the kibble in their dry food).

The food prep lady had also pre-cooked the stew and put it into a pretty dog bowl, so people watching television could see the result. Frankly, it looked a little dreary cooked up this way — like oatmeal porridge. “Do you cook like this for your dogs?” the TV host asked me. “I would,” I said, “Except that this recipe is clearly the one for Spot’s Stew, and when Halo puts this in a can it actually looks a lot better than I can do it myself!”

Remembering that adventure inspired me to put away my own cook pot and instead go online to Petflow.com, where I ordered a whole case of Spot’s Stew in a can! Now I’ll have their special meal ready to serve on any national holiday or the dogs birthdays (I put DOGTALK in the code box when I check out at Petflow.com and get free shipping, too!)

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Scooby Had to “Pay the Piper” for a Tooth-Cracking Treat

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Tracie

Poor Scooby. I have continued to give him cow hooves as a chewing treat, even though I had a suspicion that is what cracked one of his large back teeth a year ago (and required dental surgery then, after pain he was living with that I didn’t realize).

At one point I got him some Spot’s Chews and he loved them. They were easy on his teeth, while at the same time having a design and ingredients that actually clean the teeth and gums. Furthermore, like everything else that HALO makes, the ingredients were healthy and did the job as described (not like some popular commercial chews that advertise they “freshen breath and clean teeth” when in truth they are made of inferior ingredients like glycerin, wheat gluten, corn products and a ton of chemicals).

However, I ran out of the Spot’s Chews and thought, “Ah what the heck — live dangerously! I’ll let Scooby have another cow hoof. What’s the worst that can happen? They already removed that broken tooth!”

Well I am here to tell you that the worst that could happen was that the cow hoof could break the big chewing tooth on the other side — and that is exactly what happened. However, I didn’t realize it at the time, so who knows how long Scooby was carrying on with a deeply cracked tooth that had to be causing him a lot of discomfort.

It was only when I was at the vet for another of my dog’s teeth that I asked the vet tech to take a quick peek at Scooby Doo, and wouldn’t you know, he had, in fact, cracked another major tooth through and through with that rock-hard cow hoof.

I am a big proponent of pet insurance and Pets Best has saved my life financially many times, but pet insurance does not cover dental! That meant that Scooby was suffering — and had to go through a big dental surgery and healing period — while I had to bite the bullet and pay for another big procedure without the help of insurance.

From now on I’m keeping a stash of Spot’s Chews and pulling one out whenever he has the urge to chew. I think of them as his after-dinner cigar! No more “jaw busters” for us!

–Tracie Hotchner

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Dogs with Nasty Gas

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Tracie

I was at someone’s house recently and their Labrador retriever let loose with some gas that was so potent it cut the cocktail hour short! As everyone was hustling out of the living room, covering their noses, the host shrugged as if it was nothing unusual, a natural occurrence everyone should simply accept, and said with a smile, “Ah well, dogs will be dogs, that’s normal.” It took me no time to set him straight that intestinal gas may be a sign of poor digestion or a medical problem — but that there are simple remedies, starting with evaluating the dog’s diet.

Low quality or excess amounts of carbohydrates contribute to gassiness. It is normal for a dog to make gas inside the intestines, but in a healthy dog the gas escapes her body unnoticed. The dog’s large intestine is where normal, harmless bacteria break down those parts of the dog’s food that weren’t digested in the stomach and small intestine. This bacterial fermentation naturally produces normal gases like carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane — but can also create hydrogen sulphide, known for its odor of rotting eggs. Your dog may be over-producing this gas as a result of eating an excessive amount of highly processed carbohydrates — which can happen on an all-kibble diet of lower quality dry food made primarily of corn and “food fragments” — the leftover debris after starchy foods are processed for human use.

Two common reasons a dog will produce nasty-smelling ga is from an improper diet or from parasites. Some breeds of dogs are renowned for having their “foot on the gas pedal” — the English Bulldog being the most frequently blamed for emptying a room with a symphony of tooting. You may believe this is one of the less-charming but unavoidable attributes you have to tolerate for love of a breed — yet in many cases all you need to do to achieve an emission-free dog is improve the overall quality of the food.

The first remedy is to switch to a higher quality, more digestible food with low carbohydrate and fiber content. Giving canned food as a third or half of the meal is also important to get your dog’s digestion working odorlessly. Temporarily stop adding fruits, vegetables or other “extras” to the food you choose for your dog, which could make matters worse.

Intestinal parasites are something your dog can pick up from drinking standing water, including puddles, ponds and lakes. The single-cell organisms “giardia” and “coccidia” can be responsible for chronic, malodorous gas; an infestation with roundworm and whipworms is also a possibility. Medical conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatic insufficiency, or even a lack of specific digestive enzymes may also cause a dog to produce excess intestinal gas.

Your first order of business is to improve your dog’s diet by lowering the amount of kibble (even a really good one like HALO) and making up the difference with a good canned food (like Spot’s Stew).

If your dog is still gassy after making those adjustments, you need to consult with your veterinarian to rule out medical issues. However, one way or another you need to treat a “gas-powered” pooch as having a problem you can solve. Your dinner guests will thank you for it!

–Tracie Hotchner

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Jackson Galaxy of “My Cat From Hell” Loves Liv-A-Littles

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Tracie

Recently I had Jackson Galaxy as my special guest on my live weekly radio show CAT CHAT® (on the Martha Stewart channel #110 of Sirius/XM satellite radio). We were discussing how he helps people overcome serious behavior issues in their cats by using treats to both entice and reward a cat for doing — or even trying to do — some desired behavior. Jackson stayed on the air with me for the whole hour because we were having such a good time answering peoples’ questions and helping solve their feline problems together.

One caller asked what sort of treats she should use for re-training her kitty. I said it needed to be a “high value” treat — one the cat would really make an effort to please you to get. I pointed put that an all-protein treat is preferable for cats since they are obligate carnivores and do best with real protein as their prize. I suggested that the person could use little bits of cheese or chicken but they are messy to deal with. I began to say there is a terrific line of pet treats made of freeze-dried real proteins, but before I could continue, Jackson Galaxy jumped in and said exactly what I was about to suggest: Halo Liv-a-Little freeze dried chicken, beef or salmon! “I love those Halo Liv-a-Littles,” Jackson said. ” I use them with all my cat behavior clients — on television and in real life.” He even went so far as to call out the brands he especially does not like (and we’re on the same page about that, too)!

I was so excited that of all the cat treat products available out there, someone whose life is all about cats like Jackson Galaxy would pick Halo Liv-a-Littles over all the others.

I was so delighted about the good nutrition advice he is giving his cat consulting clients, I offered to send him enough copies of THE CAT BIBLE to give to all the folks who were on the show in the first season (and maybe the folks at HALO will send him a few Liv-a-Littles to thank him for his good taste in cat treats!

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Stuffed Toy Alert!

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Tracie

I just this minute learned something entirely shocking: stuffed animals can KILL your dogs. I had no idea. Which makes me feel like a fool because I view myself as a lighthouse indicating all sorts of dangers to fellow dog lovers — I mean don’t even get me started on “corn gluten meal”!! — but there has been an unknown-to-me danger lurking right in front of my nose all these years!

I learned about the stuffed toy warning from the newsletter from Friends for Pets in Sun Valley, California, which is a Weimaraner (and other sporting dog) rescue from which I got my first two Weims. I am in Vermont now but I still send contributions of things and money to Friends for Pets (in fact, as soon as I read their newsletter this time, I boxed up a whole lot of new dog toys and a lot of bags of HALO Liv-a-Little biscuits to send along with my check).

The warning is as follows: do not share children’s stuffed toys with dogs, especially dogs that like to chew vigorously. These toys all contain chemicals for flame retardant and mite control that are highly toxic to pets. As the newsletter said, you might expect a child’s toy to be super-safe, but manufacturers would never expect a child to chew the stuffing from a toy — but many dogs will rip a stuffed toy to shreds, often swallowing some of the stuffing. And the stuffing can either make the very ill, or even kill them.

I have been offering stuffed animals to my own dogs for decades — the sort of big, soft stuffed toys meant for human children, not the small tightly stuffed toys made for dogs. The reason for my choice was that I have had large dogs, who are not that interested in a stuffed toy that is a mere mouthful — they absolutely adore a big fat stuffed animal like a cuddly teddy bear. When I first introduce a new stuffed toy to the household the dogs will carry these toys around for weeks whenever someone new arrives or when I return home, strutting with pride over their beloved stuffed animal. With multiple dogs in the house (I seem to have settled on three as my “default” number) I have found it is best to bring three of anything home so there is no need to wait your turn to fill your mouth with that stuffed animal. Also, with only one stuffed toy I had seen the tendency for the dogs to veer towards a tug of war with the valuable new stuffed animal, although I always nip that behavior in the bud. In fact, the incredible thing is that the dogs do not squabble over the stuffed monkeys. There are about half a dozen of them strewn around the toy basket right now. Yes, I actually have three different sizes of stuffed monkeys, with one being a huge gorilla that the dogs can barely see over as they walk with it clamped in their jaws! They are monkeys because our neighbor’s chocolate Lab, Charlie, had a beloved stuffed money that she’d had her whole life (washed many times in the machine) and my guys snitched it one day from in front of the neighbor’s house. I got them their own monkeys after returning the pilfered one. I don’t know if they can tell a monkey from another critter but I wasn’t taking any chances. The monkeys have been to the animal hospital themselves many times: one is missing an arm, they are all minus a nose or an eye because if I don’t see one of the dogs getting too excited around the stuffed animal, they can get a bit overworked about rearranging the monkey and I wind up doing emergency surgery to sew it back up!

My dogs have never shown any interest in the stuffing but I had no idea it was full of toxic chemicals (against flame or insects). And many dogs would swallow that stuff. The Friends for Pets veterinarian told a story about a dog that ate a child’s teddy bear and got an intestinal blockage. When the doctor operated he found a huge gelatin-type mass inside and so much dead tissue in the digestive tract that the dog died.

That did it: all the stuffed monkeys in my house are hitting the bottom of the trash barrel, to be replaced with stuffed toys made for quadrupeds, not for two-legged kids!

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