Archive for April, 2009

Does your dog love tomatoes?

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
murphy4Today my daily walk at the nearby park was slightly different from other days.  I had a companion with me, all 60 minutes of it.  This was an attractive white  four-legged and friendly companion.  It was Murphy, my neighbor’s dog that decided on a morning  jog too!

Murphy is a two-year old, lively dog.  He is great fun and is loved by the whole neighborhood.  Most dogs have scores of friends in the neighborhood; but what is special about Murphy is that he expects a small treat after honoring us with his company.

What he expects is small, round, red, sweet and sour… Murphy LOVES tomatoes.  He runs behind every hawker and vegetable vendor in the hope of earning some tomatoes, by his beguiling ways.

But are tomatoes good for dogs? The vegetable contains an alkaloid called tomatine that gets metabolized and rendered safe, as the tomato ripens.  This means that only ripe tomatoes are good for your pet.

Though tomatine is proven to be an  anti-fungal and anti-bacterial alkaloid, remember that  green tomatoes with the presence of the alkaloid, before its metabolization should be strictly avoided in pet food.

It is always good to know what food is safe for your pets and what is not.  As a rule, always avoid these ingredients in pet food.  As far as possible avoid these ingredients
  • Baking poder and baking soda
  • Alcoloic beverages
  • Coffee and chocolates
  • Grapes and raisins
  • Onions
  • Macadamia nuts
101 Delicious Recipes for your Pet Dog  offers you so many easy to prepare ideas for your dog. The ingredients are safe and easily available, the recipe simple and basic, the cost  easy on your pocket.

Buying the book will ensure that your dog has fresh and nutritious food day after day after day.

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Easter Egg Hunting

Sunday, April 12th, 2009




Dogs love Easter Egg Hunting games just as little children do.  You can get colorful plastic eggs and fill them with doggie treats instead of candy.  Hide them in places your dog is familiar with, but will take him some time to reach.

At first show him what the game is.  Keep the egg right under his nose and ask him to “fetch”.  Then keep it under the cushion and ask him to ‘fetch” it.  Soon as your dog gets the drift of the game and understands what he has to fetch, start making his search for the egg a little tougher, every time you hide it. 

You can now hide the egg outdoors too.  With his sharp sense of smell, a dog would find the exercise exhilarating and great fun. This is an excellent game you can play with your dog for any length of time, be it 5 minutes or 55 minutes. 

Teach and allow the dog to open the plastic egg and eat the treat you have placed inside, only if you are sure he will not eat up the plastic egg too!  If he is the sort that loves to chew on plastic, then teach him only to fetch the egg and you open it to hand over the treat to him.  This is quite tricky, but with some training he can be disciplined to fetch only.

On the occasion of Easter, besides the colorful Easter Dog parade conducted in several cities, you also have myriad Easter Egg Hunting games for dogs.

Today, Saturday, April 11, you can take your dog to the nearest Easter Egg Hunting Adventure and I am sure he will love it.  Some organizers manage to fit in lucky coupons in the eggs. If your dog tracks down the egg he would be eligible for a hamper of great doggie gifts!

Here’s wishing you Happy Easter!

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