The News At Home
Well, it’s official. The neighbors put a “For Sale” sign on their lawn a few days ago and that means that Zoey’s boyfriend will be moving. She’s known this chocolate Lab since he was a puppy and at first she played mommy very well to him but the older he grew, the more in love Zoey seemed to be.

The other day, the Lab’s owner was playing rough and tumble in the backyard and was in the snow, right on top of the dog. Zoey barked hysterically and finally decided to take matters into her own hands…umm, teeth. She bit down on a part of the fence and started yanking on it with more determination than I’d expect from a little girl. The neighbor, seeing her frustration, let the Lab go. Leaping to the fence, Zoey’s boyfriend wagged his tail, gave her a huge lick across the top of her head and bounced back for more rough play, leaving Zoey to pine at the fence. Tease!

Zoey’s going to miss this guy badly and we’re going to miss the antics that always make us smile. Here’s hoping that whoever buys the house has a friendly dog that will recognize a sensitive female when he sees one. And here’s hoping that that the Lab won’t mind seeing Cassie happily waving goodbye as he leaves.

New Booklet: Raw Food Recipes

Feeding a raw diet? Want to be sure it’s balanced? Raw Diet Recipes is the latest addition to our library. Providing balanced recipes for the raw fed dog while giving consideration to body weight and activity level makes this a healthy addition to your reading material.

This booklet, in conjunction with other material in our Writings section, helps to support our charities: Hemopet and the local No-Kill shelter.

What’s New at monicasegal.com
Our New Health Section

We’re very excited about this new Health Section because we know that it will help you to help your dogs. This is where you’ll find products, reading material and information specifically geared toward a certain state of health.

Don’t forget to check out the Life Stages area for information about wellness throughout life stages such as health maintenance, reproductive issues and stress and anxiety. After all, we want to support health rather than waiting for problems to arise.

However, when you do need help for a specific issue, we’ve included sections that address cancer, skin and coat, kidney and liver, joint support, heart and lung, as well as allergies!

Seminar Reminder
The seminar in North Carolina is starting to fill up.

Don’t forget to join me on May 1, 2005 at the
· APS Felicite Latane Animal Sanctuary
· 6311 Nicks Road
· Mebane (near Chapel Hill), NC

Speaking engagement 9am-4.pm.
Check-in time: 8:30am-9-am.
$ 50 per/person
Catered Lunch $8.00 per/person (Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian)

All profits from this seminar will be donated to the Animal Protection Society of Orange County

For further information or questions, please contact
Chris O’Connor
Email: cogoldens@bellsouth.net
Phone: 919.942.0629

Myth of The Month

Adding half an eggshell to 1 pound of raw meat will balance the calcium to phosphorus ratio in a dog’s diet

True – but is it really applicable? For instance, here are the amounts of phosphorus in a few meat sources:

708 mg: Ground Turkey
776 mg: Ground Beef (lean)
794 mg: Ground Pork
962 mg: Beef Heart

None of these meats provide calcium in an amount that would be noteworthy or affect nutrient values by much at all. Since half an eggshell provides about 1,000 mg of calcium, it balances the amount of phosphorus in each of the meats noted. Now let’s take this a step farther.

A 60 pound dog would be receiving pretty much all of his/her calories from 1 pound of ground pork. This dog requires about 1363 mg of calcium and the same amount of phosphorus. Neither of these minerals has been provided at the correct level. However, reality is that the full diet will include other foods rather than pork meat alone. In this case, we may or may not provide enough phosphorus but it’s highly unlikely that calcium would be correct if we rely on half an eggshell.

Always start by considering the weight and caloric requirements of your dog. Do the math rather than relying on an instruction that may be easy to apply but leaves you dog’s diet lacking.

The National Research Council established the minimum requirements of dogs and published the 1985 results.

In 2003, the National Research Council presented their newer findings of recommended allowances, rather than minimum amounts of nutrients however, the findings remain unpublished as we wait for final numbers.

You will notice that the amounts are listed per kilogram of bodyweight. One kilogram = 2.2 pounds. A detailed list of foods and weights can be found on the USDA website. At other web sites, you can also find calculators and converters to help you convert grams to ounces, kilograms to pounds and much more.

Tip of The Month

Attention all canine athletes! It’s time to tell your owner that if you’re expected to have bursts of energy when you’d rather be sleeping, there’s a trick to keep in mind:

Fruit drinks or fruit snacks (especially bananas) between runs can help. You need potassium to keep muscle cramps from slowing you down and help your electrolyte levels as well. Ask your owner to take banana chips or a fruit drink (combined with a meat broth if necessary) on the next outing and show him/her how you can fly.

Until later...

Monica

A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down.
-- Robert Benchley