Household Chemicals and Your Pets

I created this blog for several reasons. One was to keep track of my puppy families. But another is to offer up information I hope will be helpful, not just to my families, but to all pet owners.

This week I’m doing some research into items commonly used inside and outside our homes with regard to how they can affect our pets. There is, fortunately, a lot of information on the web and I hope to share some of those links with you here.

I’m sure all of us have had the unfortunate experience of losing a pet prematurely, or have close friends who have. Havanese, for example, should live from 12 to 14 years. There are many who live well beyond 15 years. And, sadly there are some Havanese who don’t make it to their 8th birthday. Sometimes accidents take the lives of our dear ones but, as often as not, cancer is the cause. Exposure to chemicals in and around our homes has long been suspected of causing these cancers.

Think about all the products we use on our floors, on our carpets, on our driveways, in our gardens and on our lawns. Then think about your pet who spends the majority of its time in these areas.

The Truth About Cats, Dogs and Lawn Chemicals” is a PDF file put out by pesticidewatch.org and it is a real eye opener! I encourage all my readers to take a good look at this document.

I also hope my readers will feel free to comment on this article and add any information they have discovered about household chemicals or green alternatives.

One final note…I would appreciate your spreading the word about my blog. The more readers we have, the more information we can disperse…a kind of forum for all dog families! 

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Update on My Own Havanese Family

Here are some photos I took the other day of the five Havanese in my life.  Maxi’s puppy, Digger, (formerly Burst) lives with my daughter on the weekends and with me during the week so he doesn’t have to be cooped up while she’s at work. Lily is the girl I bought from Kathy Ambler. And, of course, Phoebe, Maxi and Marli are my older girls.

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Update on Georgie (now Brutus)

Hi Jacqui, hope you received my little video of Brutus. (It’s at the bottom of this post!)
I accidently touched the send button before I typed in the message. Just wanted to let you know how much he loves the blanket you sent home with him. My husband jokes that we should have called him Linus.

Michelle writes:
Brutus (Georgie) likes to be close to me, I was sitting at the table reading and he squeezed his little head between my foot and the bar on the chair and took a little nap.

On Sept. 9 Michelle wrote:
Brutus was not very happy when I blocked him from the big rocks. Thank you for letting me know about the dangers of jumping when they are pups. I was going to ask the vet tomorrow when we go for our first visit with his new vet. I don’t know why I didn’t thinly to ask you if it could harm him.

 With the photo below she wrote:  It was definitely meant for us to have the biggest and not the smallest puppy from the liter. This was snapped just before we had a discussion on why little boy can not touch my puppy unless the are sitting on the floor with Aunt Shell next to them.

Two very happy smiles. These are the shots that warm my heart. 
When Brutus is not napping on the vent (which we closed off so he won’t get sick from air blowing directly on him) he enjoys napping on his place mat.
 

Update on Boomer

For those who may not remember, Boomer was one of the two puppies I had to bottle feed because he was so small. Not so anymore!!! Here is a report and photos from his new family.

Hi Jacqui!
I wanted to give you a little update on Jackson (aka Boomer)! He is doing GREAT!  We can’t believe we got so lucky to have such a good little puppy!
He is growing so much and at his last Vet visit weighed in at about 4.5 lbs!  He has completely adjusted to the routine at our house and has even learned a few little tricks!
His latest is ringing the bell at the back door everytime he needs to take a potty break outside (Yea! No more accidents in the house!) Right off the bat we were able to teach him to fetch (his favorite game to play) and last week he learned to “sit” and “shake” on command!  He can follow with the leash and is learning to stay in the yard… Such a smart boy!
Our favorite time with him is after Logan goes to bed and he gets some quiet couch time with Joel and I and lot’s of extra snuggles…. 
He’s so sweet and loves to play… doesn’t chew on much (other than his toys) and is definitely my little shadow during the day when it’s just him and I. Everyone who meets him is smitten and I’ve passed out your website/blog to a few people like us who may be looking for a puppy in the future!
 We are so happy with him!
Hope everything is going well,
Enjoy the pictures!

Samantha