Hooray for puppy love this Valentine’s Day!

We will be having a small (for ThoughtsFurPaws) contest for the hub-a-bub heart-happy holiday; it’s being generously sponsored by the following brands: Stella and Chewy’s®, Spring Naturals™ and Lickety Stik® by PetSafe®!

This Contest Is Nothin' to Snooze About; a Previous Entrant Can Tell You!

Did you know that, according to Business Wire, pet parents are so so enamored with their special furry someones – that as many as 64% of Americans pet owners will spoil their pet with a special gift this love season? They spend as much as $15 billion dollars collectively to celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Well ThoughtsFurPaws and the aforementioned companies are happy to announce the Valentine’s Contest for Pooches for 2012!

Love to shower your pet with kisses? Then you’ll love Stella & Chewy’s® Carnivore Kisses™ Treats! These freeze-dried treats are made with only natural, premium raw meat and will perfectly compliment your pet’s diet. Every recipe is made without grains, glutens, fillers, added hormones or antibiotics, artificial preservatives and colorings. Carnivore Kisses are 100% nutritious and delicious and are available in 100% Angus Beef, 100% Chicken, 100% Duck and 100% Wild Alaskan Salmon.

Spring Naturals™ is a fresh new line of natural dinners and treats designed to nurture the health and well-being of dogs of all ages and breeds. The family of no-compromise recipes is made with real meats, whole vegetables, whole fruits and whole grains – meat, poultry or fish is always the first ingredient. Then whole chickpeas, green peas and eggs are added to offer pets a unique blend of high-quality proteins. And since these products do not contain meat, poultry or fish meals of any kind, they can be formulated without high-glycemic ingredients like corn, wheat, soy, potato starch or rice. Recently recognized by Pet Business in their 2011 Industry Recognition Awards, Spring Naturals was chosen as the year’s top pet food. Available in Whole Grain and Grain Free varieties (Organic line will arrive this March), Spring Naturals dinners and treats are made by a family-owned company in the USA.

For the pooch with model behavior here is a treat as lovely as he is. Lickety Stik® by PetSafe® is a new and innovative liquid treat for dogs that provides a healthy, all-natural snack while on-the-go. Designed with pet parents’ convenience in mind, Lickety Stik® is easy to throw into a purse or keep in your back pocket when heading out to the park or when packing for a road trip. Most importantly, dogs can’t get enough of this treat! With only 1 calorie in every 10 licks, this is a treat both consumers and their pets can feel good about. Lickety Stik® is available in three irresistible flavors – Savory Chicken, Braised Liver or Smoky Bacon. No matter your Valentine’s Day plans, Lickety Stik® is easy to pack, easy to treat and easy to fall in love with.

*** You can enter the contest by sending me a photo of your cute puppy or dog – he doesn’t have to be dressed up or doing anything silly – just send me your fave dog photo and tell me why it’s your fave and a little background behind the taking of the picture.***

 ♥ ♥ Email them to thoughtsfurpaws@gmail.com; please put “Valentine’s Day Contest” in the Subject Line. ♥ ♥

The most-interesting and very inspiring book, Pure Gold, about Holli Pfau, a Golden lover and all-around friend to animals, rescuer, and how she came about having SIX rescues and was able to train them, is enlightening, inspiring, and full of love, hope, and stirring stories that make you laugh, cry and talk/laugh out loud all at the same time. (“Hey – Benson did that SAME thing when we first trained him!!”)

Pfau’s dogs “guided” her to a career in animal-assisted therapy, sending her into wilderness adventures in one of my favorite places on the entire Earth — the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Her dogs: Nikki, Bodie, Tucker, Sophie, Daisy and Chatter each have their own little personality quarks that will warm your soul as you leaf through the pages – turning each one with more fury than the previous so you can find out what happens next…

Along the way or rescuing and training and bringing up these guys, she decided to add “rally obedience” and agility to the assortment of activities for the dogs. In each and every case, the golden-colored, sweet-hearted and level-headed dogs led her along the way…

Thus, Pure Gold is a tale of the unexpected escapades that come up when you have one (or SIX!) wonderful Retrievers – and it also, in great detail, tells the reader in narrative form and with humor and wit, of the fruitfulness of one’s life who owns rescued dogs…

Holli Pfau and two of her Golden rescues

Pfau totally nails the kinship that is formed between rescuer and “rescuee” if you ask me… although my family and I have rescued mostly cats, and only one Golden (Gibson – the white one), I personally also helped to rescue and recover a puppy mill Basset Hound and have been part of the rescue of many other animals through my volunteer work.

*** Pfau has a blog on the website you should check out: one of my favorite blog posts – “The dogs made me do it.” ***

This detail was taken from the Pure Gold website:

“Inspired by the lives, antics and talents of her six rescued or second-hand golden retrievers, Holli Pfau wrote Pure Gold to support the efforts of Golden Retriever Rescue and other dog rescue and adoption programs.”

Chatter the Rescue...

Pfau says on the website that she wrote Pure Gold to assist in efforts to rescue and place Golden Retrievers and other dogs in their forever homes. Fundraising for rescue is a special program available to 501(c)(3) non-profit dog rescue organizations, humane societies and shelters across the country. These groups can purchase autographed copies of Pure Gold at the wholesale price, sell the book at list price, and retain all profits for their programs.

BRAVO Pfau… BRAVO.

Some organizations that are supported by Holli and the profits of this book include:

Golden Retriever Club of America (GRCA) and Land of Pure Gold Foundation…

*** On my account, (coming from a total bookworm here as well as a rescue advocate and Golden-obsessed dog-lover), this book gets a full FIVE STARS!! You guys must got and read it! Check out puregoldbook.com for more information, fun pictures, blog posts, author information and cool stuff about each pooch! ***

♥This Year’s Event to Shine a Light on Pet Adoption!

♥ On November 16, 2011, Petside.com, the premier site for pet owners and pet enthusiasts, will host its 4^th Annual Pet ‘Net Event to

raise awareness of pet adoption.

Check out my 2010 Pet Net post here, my 2009 0ne here, and the first one in 2008 here... to read ALL past blog posts for Petside.com Pet ‘Net Events, click here!

I’ve been a part of this esteemed group since the first year! I have great respect and admiration for not only the folks over at Petside.com, but also for my fellow Pet Net bloggers. I’ve been lucky enough to write beside and in partnership with such beloved and leading bloggers as Caroline G. of Romeo the Cat. We’ve written about pet safety, pet rescue and more. This year we’re going back to our roots and posting about pet adoption… we all know this is a topic that cannot be publicized, featured on TV, written about, talked about, or blogged about enough:)

But this year’s event is bigger than ever, and features:

- a comprehensive hub page of adoption-related articles from the web’s very best pet-bloggers

- a social media donation campaign to engage the pet community at large

- a blogger competition with the winner receiving a $500 donation from Petside to the shelter of their choice

♥ Petside.com’s Pet ‘Net Event maintains its commitment to educate people and honor the pets who love them. While revisiting its inaugural topic from 2008, The 2011 Pet ‘Net Adoption Event marks the first in a partnership with IAMS on a social media donation campaign.

♥♥♥ Calls to action on Twitter this year will yield food donations as part of Iams Home 4 the Holidays Bags 4 Bowls initiative. For all information related to the social media donation campaign, please visit www.Petside.com/PetNetDonations. IAMS has been holding Home for the Holidays for decades and has made such a huge imprint on the issues of homeless animal populations, shelter donations, food donations and more. The program is championed by Helen Woodward Animal Center President, Mike Arms, my personal hero.

♥ Petside.com is ranked among the top 5 Pet Websites & offers unique editorial features, expert Q&A’s, tools and how-to videos. And, they are a great resource for all types of information on all types of animals. Petside.com carefully and personally (or corporate-ly??? lol) chooses the bloggers who represent their quest to inform the animal-loving public about related issues, and thus, participate in each yearly event, so please be sure to stop by and check it out next Wednesday

Don’t forget:

Franklin Smith, from Ohio Basset Rescue, survived appalling conditions at a puppy mill before his rescue.

WHEN:       Wednesday, November 16, 2011                    

WHERE:      http://ThoughtsFurPaws.com and www.Petside.com/PetNet2011

Next Wednesday when I post, I will give you a list of the other bloggers involved! 

And…. just as a little teaser, on my blog, you will be hearing a very special adoption story — and an adoption angle not often taken. I will be telling, at length, the story of Franklin Smith, the rescue Basset Hound who is a former puppy mill stud. My sister and I (and her man at the time) drove three hours to go visit him & ended up taking him home after he got along with our other Basset, Henry the Horrible.(You gotta’ click on that link and read about Henry– he is a devil dog, counter-surfer, howler, squawker dog!)

Franklin went from surviving day to day in a hellish cage not even big enough for him to stand in — to living in my sister’s free, fun and fabulous, no-rules home environment where he is wholly loved and absolutely cherished…for the first year-and-a-half I was the dog-sitter, coming about twice a week spending about 5 hours a night.

Franklin, though so happy that you would think he actually forgot his atrocious beginnings (!!), still faces a long road, and big bumps (for sure) and debilitating detours may still remain…

STAY TUNED…

This post is in honor of Petfinder.com’s “Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week” – which starts on Saturday, Sept. 17th and goes through the 25th.

The special week is devoted to giving those pets who are often overlooked at shelters and rescue groups for whatever reason a better chance at finding homes, no matter the reason — they’re old, the wrong breed, have special needs, or are simply different or the wrong color. Big black dogs. FIV+ cats. Senior pets. Special-needs animals. Many factors can make a pet seem “less adoptable.” So to promote these unusual (or, in some cases, too common) animals, Petfinder has designated Sept. 17-25, 2011, as “Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week.”

Petfinder.com is doing some special things to pay tribute to this week. Here’s a main hub page of all the stories being done; and here’s a Photo Gallery of some four-legged friends who are having a tough time finding a home. You can also see the Facebook page, which will be filled with messages and blog posts and pictures and fun stories.

I have a special place in my heart for these types of pets. Many times when I visit my favorite local shelter – the Friendship APL – my Mother and I talk about how we would take all the kitties over age 8 or 10 and bring them home since it seems that about 75% of adopters there want kittens or cats under the age of 2 (statistic from Executive Director of the shelter).

And this brings me to a story that I wrote a LONG time ago for a different publisher about this issue.

Many people think animal rescues or “shelter pets” – as Mike Arms of Helen Woodward Animal Center has said — are places (or things) where the pets are banged up, imperfect, unwanted. And some of them are. The word shelter has come to have a negative and ill-perceived undertone in today’s world. But in reality, rescue pets end up being the best kind to have because their little souls have seen so much in life that they would do anything to make you happy and to be loved in return.

How do I know? Because I’ve had rescue pets for my entire life – for 30 years. Too many cats to count and about five dogs. Plus we’ve fostered feral cats, indoor cats, and puppy mill Basset Hounds — who are the most injured and damaged of the injured and damaged…

And I happen to have a few friends in animal rescue because of the work I do locally and at a state level with animal welfare groups.

Running an animal rescue is hard work. And it’s not for the faint of heart. Most rescues are funded by donations only and are run on a volunteer basis. If not for the big wide open hearts and equally large open wallets of people who run and volunteer at these facilities and give in-kind with time and consistently donate money, hundreds of thousands more pets would die each year.

My well-respected friend, Amy Weitzel, is the Founder of Multiple Breed Rescue (MBR) in Elyria, Ohio. For years she actually ran TWO rescues – one was a state breed rescue. Now she focuses on one — MBR from her personal home and farm. This is one of the most sensible things she ever said to me:

“If you are willing to find the RIGHT dog and not just the first dog you see then the puppy mills and backyard breeders would not exist,” Amy said.

That’s the whole reason she got involved. She bought a cute little Jack Russell Terrier (JRT) from a pet store awhile back. She was uneducated about the process, and was horrified after she researched where the puppy really came from.

“Do you know not ONE pet store clerk asked if I had experience with JRT’s? Not one pet store clerk asked if I had any other dogs. Did you know female JRT’s do not get along with other female dogs 90% of the time?” Amy recounted. “Not one person said a thing. I was some young kid with a credit card. Heck they didn’t even ask me how old I was.”

Pet stores, puppy mill stock sellers (Internet breeders) and backyard breeders don’t care about the dogs themselves, they care about making money off of them…they care about churning out litter after litter to make the big bucks off the parents.

And as Amy so eloquently put it, we are in a society of “I want it now…” hence the reason pet stores are so successful.

Therein lays one of the challenges of running a dog rescue or a shelter.

“Adopting a pet takes a little effort. You have to find a pet that interests you, complete an application, meet the dog, etc.,” Amy said. “All of this takes time. Usually a week or two. People don’t want to wait that long. Unfortunately our society treats dogs like they treat a new CD that was just released. GOT TO HAVE IT NOW. Go to the store, buy it and when they get bored with it throw it away and get a new one.”

Thus Amy began her crusade to save animals from untimely deaths. It’s not an easy job. She doesn’t get paid. She doesn’t get reimbursed in any way. Most of the time she ends up in the red. Many times she spends tons of money to recuperate the dogs, have them spayed/neutered, get them their shots, only to have a potential adopter rudely scoff at her $100-$200 adoption fee. And remember – Amy travels around Northeast Ohio pounds taking the MOST UNWANTED and most “UNADOPTABLE” dogs they have. She doesn’t take the cute puppies; she doesn’t take the purebreds; she doesn’t take the ones with no health problems. She takes the “tough to take” ones.

“Normal adoption fee is between $100 for a dog I get in that is already fixed and $200 for a dog that I had to get everything done and pay a pull fee for,” Amy said. A pull fee is a fee that pounds charge Amy to save a dog that is on death row. Yes, they actually charge her to save a dog’s life. “If it is in an older dog and even though I have a lot of money into the dog I will adopt it out for $100. I might have put $300 into the dog but it is 10-years-old. I am just lucky to find it a home.”

That’s the whole purpose of Amy’s Multiple Breed Rescue – to help all the “mutts” and all the “hard to adopt” dogs from the shelters.

“When I say ‘hard to adopt dogs’ I am speaking of the dogs that might require more medical attention due to skin allergies, broken bones, eye infections, etc. or dogs that are older and black – the most common in all shelters” she said. “There are rescues out there that, although I think they do a great job, stick to the easy to place dogs, leaving the dogs that really need help at the shelters to die. I personally like to take the leftovers, the dogs no one looks at twice, they usually turn out to be the best dogs!”

Amy placed about 183 dogs in loving, forever homes in 2010. She saved 183 lives. All in all, since the start in 2005, she has saved a whopping 730 dogs. This is a one-woman show, keep in mind. Yes, she has foster families and tons of volunteers, but she started out of the goodness of her heart when she realized the “less adoptables” being skipped over. Amy now takes in anywhere from two to 20 dogs a month, depending on how much space she has in her home and in foster homes. (The majority of the dogs stay at her home and large farm.)

Amy has adoption events at places like PetSmart and local festivals and stuff every month and has a whole slew of volunteers and caring foster parents who help her.

She thinks the biggest hurdle is getting the word out about adopting. It’s hard to educate people about adoption because they either don’t listen or don’t care. (I can’t say that I argue with her. Many of my regular readers know how strongly I feel about this.)

“Animal rescue isn’t a moneymaking business so it isn’t like we have money to spend on advertising. Most of the media don’t care about pet adoption because again, it isn’t a moneymaker,” Amy said. “I dream about having billboards and large newspaper ads with statistics and facts about the pet overpopulation problem and about the adoption option vs. the pet store or backyard breeder advertising in the newspaper, on the Internet or on the telephone poll.”

Don’t we all?

The "Less Adoptable" Liz: See Her Description at the Bottom

All of this brings me to my main point: pet adoption is really the only viable option there is. Even if you want a purebred dog, go to that breed’s local rescue chapter and save one’s life. You can find any breed rescue in any state on Petfinder.com. You can find any dog or cat that you want on Petfinder.com. And if you want the animal bad enough – you’ll figure the ways and means out.

But please, first consider one of the less adoptable ones. Consider what they might have been through in life already. Consider what they’ve seen and felt and heard. Consider how long they may have been in a cage. Consider the raw emotions they must have – although animals are masters of disguise and stronger than all humans in terms of emotional strength. For once, consider adopting a less adoptable pet. They have so much to give (I can tell you from personal experience.) They just want to be loved and I GUARANTEE that they will give you all that you need or expect and more in return.

And remember: every time you buy a dog from a pet store, another dog dies in a shelter somewhere.

To follow Amy’s everyday life, visit her dog rescue blog, A Dog Rescuers Life.

Click here for a picture gallery of Petfinder’s Less Adoptable Pets.

And remember:

“Saving just one pet won’t change the world… but, surely, the world willchange for that one pet…” (courtesy Petfinder associate)

Pictured: Liz, beautiful black & white Persian mix with luxurious fur. She is a lap cat who needs a quiet home without other cats. If she is displeased, she may poop just outside the box, a problem that can easily be remedied. Check Maumelle Friends of the Animals for more information about her!

With biting wit that’s hard to come by naturally, and seriously goofy stories, I promise you ,valued readers, that you will be thoroughly entertained by Flea Biters. It’s a great take  on the lives of a young twenty-something and his rescue Shepherd, as well as his newer nephew, a young Husky rescue.

Flea Biters combines fantastic photography with the funny, zany antics of these two pups. Written by William Fueglein, a dear friend of mine, the love, dedication, loyalty and admiration to each by the other thoroughly shines through in his “tails” and is something that we all will be able to feel by reading this blog.

And as you all know, we have to start somewhere, so I am asking my loyal readers to please go over and say Hello  or Woof-Woof or give a howl to Billy, Mack (Shepherd) and Hustle (Husky). We in this close knit family of pet bloggers all support each other — so I’m asking you to please go by and say hi. I promise you will end up laughing, interacting, and hopefully subscribing to Flea Biters!

My fave posts: “Police Dog Takes Down Bad Guy” and “English Bulldog Vs Pug”

Here are two pics of the main stars of Flea Biters, in order, Mack and Hustle:

Mack

Hustle

So please go on over to Flea Biters and tell them that ThoughtsFurPaws sent you! And if you know of a new pet blog in town, please let me know so I can review it! Thanks everyone

Before I move on to the second part of the IAMS/Eukanuba tour, I wanted to show you the following pictures that IAMS let us use from their Catteries, which show the open-air space and how happy the pets are… there’s also one of some food-testing Labrador Retrievers: now they look real bloody and miserable don’t they PETA????

Dogs With a Trainer...How Happy are They??

*** Okay, so now we go on to the visit to the Leipsic Manufacturing Plant. Remember the video I showed you all of the people who work there on my previous post? Well their care, passion and pride for their jobs and the animals shows in how they talk to you, in their actions, and in how they carry out their day-to-day tasks.

We had a lecture from Dr. Amy Dickey, who is a Chief Nutritionist for the company. She explained how IAMS has been around since 1951. The company works around the cornerstones of the dietary matrix:

Protein

Fiber (for GI tract health)

Custom Carbs

Fat – Omega-3 fatty acids for balance; benefits skin and coat and reduces inflammation

These are the nutritional pillars that lead the the IAMS and Eukanuba creations like weight-loss diets, high-fiber, etc. Each brand is made with chicken muscle and skin, meal – which means cooked skin and bone, and by-product meal, which is cooked internal organs. So there’s technically no real “by-products” in IAMS and Eukanuba like you have in other pet food brands, which just use the whole entirety of the chicken – even the gross parts – to make their “by-products.”

It was explained to us at Leipsic that it’s actual human food-grade material that’s used. The World-class Microbial programs at Leipsic have been benchmarked; the site is now swabbed in 30 different places a day in the testing phase to ensure health, cleanliness, and a spic and span micro-lab.

The manager of the plant actually put it like this: “We want a food plant, not a feed plant.” He also said that everyone who works here is in a “leader, student, owner, teacher, role model” position.

Leipsic is the largest food plant in terms of volume; and its generally the place where IAMS new food initiatives start and roll out. Here the company receives 8 various frozen meats, and 82 raw materials to create 86 different formulas.

The Leipsic Plant makes, packs, and ships to 28 countries!! IAMS also makes a point to check its product in random stores to ensure there was no tearing of the bags, cross-contamination from shelf-side products, etc.

Obviously, the lab at Leipsic is quality and food-safety driven. Just a handful of tests are performed before a batch is made – a handful of nearly 200 Q/A tests!! This in-process testing is done to look at things like the Ash and Crude Moisture content, as well as protein and fat. Materials come into the plant every single day – some are high-risk – so IAMS tests every single material that arrives into Leipsic. They also test for toxins, of course.

The Leipsic warehouse where the food is stored and put onto trucks is 350,000-sq-ft!

Our visit to the Corporate Headquarters of the Proctor and Gamble’s Pet Health Brands was equally stimulating. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to offer up of that event as my camera was malfunctioning. I did borrow one photo from Amy at Hearts Into Home. She also provided me with the final list of we bloggers who went to the Influencer Summit:

• Dr. Jessica Vogelsang, Pawcurious
  

  Pet Bloggers and P&G Pet Care Employees

• Susi Szeremy, Knobnotes
• Jaime Lynn Smith, Thoughts Fur Paws
• Paris Permenter and John Bigley, Dogtipper and Cattipper
• Joanne McGonagle, The Tiniest Tiger
• Jennifer Costello, My Brown Newfies
• Jennifer Phelps, Preston Speaks
• Pam Hoerauf, The Daily Oskar and Pet Blogs United
• Lynette Robinson (Canadian!), My Wee View
• Jackie Lindsay (Canadian!), Dogs, Dogs, Dogs
• Amy Urquhurt (Canadian), Hearts into Home

The visit we took to the Corporate office was, to me, a crucial part of our trip at Behind the Paw. Why? Because there was a representative from nearly every division of Pet Care there, and they put us on the spot! After we had our turn asking them questions about the company, they turned to us for information on the state of the blogosphere, the image of IAMS and Eukanuba, and more.

It was dually entertaining and informative.

The experience I had at the Behind the Paw Influencer Summit was one-of-a-kind; I met some of the most intelligent and some of the most passionate (overused word, we all agreed on that!) pet folks in the industry. I can guarantee you this: each and every IAMS/Eukanuba worker that we came across LOVES and CHERISHES their pets EXACTLY how you and I do. They have silly nicknames and pet voices, they have little intricacies and hobbies, they have all this and more. But mostly, they have LOVE. They have unsurpassed LOVE for animals that drives their passion to be and do better for them every day.

This passion-machine drives the development of new products and is the same one that comes to the rescue like IAMS did in Joplin, Missouri this past week. They have such a big heart for the animals; P&G has donated nearly 8 tons (33,125 bowls) of dog and cat food to help the animals in Joplin that were displaced by the F5 tornadoes. The food was distributed to several locations throughout the region to help save the lives of the many dogs and cats that were affected. Also last month they sent nearly 12 tons of food to Arkansas and Alabama.

So I feel it necessary to send a big fat warm thank you (and an equally big fat warm HUG!!!) to the folks at P&G Pet Care, and those workers from IAMS and Eukanuba who kindly hosted us. Thank you Beverly, Jason, Vicki, Eric, Jen, Dr. Dickey, Amy (our Leipsic guide – she was the BEST worker in that place! She’s on the video, and forgive me please if that’s not your name), and all the folks at IAMS and P & G. I do apologize if I’ve left anyone out.  Also, thank you to Chad Darwin, a whiz from the PR company that reps IAMS who caters to every whim I have when needed, even at BlogPaws:)

I am now better educated about not only pet nutrition, but also pet foods and how the science behind IAMS pet food really makes sense. These foods REALLY do what they say on the bag – REALLY. I SAW it. I learned it. I know it.

I have become a total IAMS ambassador. 100% all the way. I will be forever loyal to this brand for all they do to care for, feed, love and adopt out animals.

IAMS and Eukanuba are much more than pet foods…trust me.

You have no idea what goes into creating these formulas; you have no idea how much love and respect these people have for all pets. I can’t wait to tell you about it. Check out this video-its from the Leipsic Manufacturing Plant that we visited and it really displays how these people feel about pets.

Today and tomorrow/Monday I will share with you the wonderful and amazing experiences I had while at the Proctor & Gamble and IAMS-sponsored Behind the Paw Influencer Summit.

For all intensive purposes, every time I say IAMS in this post, I am referring to both IAMS AND Eukanuba – it’s just easier to type IAMS.

IAMS believes in backing up their nutritional claims with real science. They use actual scientific data  to prove that their products do what they say, i.e., weight-loss, skin and coat help, etc. In fact, they have 25 sites worldwide doing studies on food, nutrition and other areas of the pet food arena. They fund worldwide experts and partner with them; most of these experts are at universities.

So let’s first cover the issue that everyone wants to know about: the PETA video. I refuse to put a link to the video on this blog (or ANY link to PETA), but you can find it on YouTube. If you haven’t seen it – DON’T watch it, it’s all bullshit. (Forgive my French  but you all know how passionate and outspoken I am.).

IAMS opened the Sinclair Research Center sometime in the early part of the 21st century; I do not know the exact date but it was around the year 2000. They already had Pet Health and Nutrition Centers at other sites that were efficient and functional, providing great information for the company about the palletability of the food, ie does is taste good? So they hired a worker to be an animal advocate for the Sinclair location. This person was supposed to watch over the animals in the Nutrition Center and take care of them (you’ll here more about the Nutrition Center and its testing practices later).

So the woman who was hired ended up being an undercover worker for PETA. After working there about 3-4 months, she secretly and ILLEGALLY took a video of some Beagles; these Beagles were being prepared for spay/neuter procedure so they were lined up on a table next to each other. Two of them had muscle tissue tests taken, which means they had less than a 1-inch suture on their legs. The PETA worker sprayed them with Iodine, which, when dried, looks like dried blood (ask your vet if you don’t believe me).

Someone from PETA took that and doctored the video up to make it look like there was raw muscle hanging out of their legs. In reality, these Beagles were just getting a normal veterinary procedure done. And they whine and cry because, according to veterinarian Dr. Jessica V from PawCurious, when animals come out of anesthesia, they are totally freaked out and scared, so they often whine, scream, bark, or cry while the medicine wears off. Dr. V said this is totally normal.

*** We all know PETA’s record of killing animals. (Well maybe not ALL of us…)  And we’ve heard rumors that they are secretly aligned with the domestic terrorist organization, ALF. And we all know about their smear campaign tactics and flat-out personal attacks on people and organizations. And we all know how they spew venom at their adversaries instead of acting in a respectful manner. So I beg of you, if you don’t believe what I’m telling you about PETA, please check out the links below to really measure the validity of what this organization says not only about IAMS, but about everyone else too. They have a record of lies, betrayal and misinformation. So if they can do all off that, can you really rely on what they are showing and telling you??? Please, I also beg of you, check out the IAMS Truth website. And read about the Animal Welfare Advisory Board they created. IAMS is, simply an innocent victim of a PETA smear campaign.  The links below will tell you more about PETA and the head of the organization.

http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2011/03/16/hey-peta-i-dont-think-ethical-means-what-you-think-it-does/

http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=5374

http://thoughtsfurpaws.com/dogs/peta-kills-pets/

Okay, on to the real good stuff now! Unfortunately, I cannot display any pictures of the actual visit as we were not permitted to photograph what we saw for obvious proprietary reasons. I can, however, attach some videos that show how amazing and pet-passionate the IAMS team is. (And some photos from the bowling night we had, and some photos permitted for use.) The WHOLE team. Every single person in the IAMS organization is just as much of a pet-lover as you and I. Some of them are even Animaniacs like me! I was happy to hear the passion, emotion, love and good intent in all of their voices – “their” being EVERY SINGLE PERSON we met in the IAMS/Eukanuba brand, and that’s A LOT of people – hundreds. Don’t forget to check out the Leipsic Plant Video I linked to earlier.

So today I’m going to tell you about the Pet Health and Nutrition Center, which was our first stop and my favorite part of the tour. This is where the food testing is done with the animals. I’m not quite sure how many pets are there, but the ones that are there live the good life. There are cats and dogs here; the dogs come from family breeders. I was impressed to hear that, in their first year, each animal is cared for and trained, and IAMS spends $10,000 per pet in the first year alone; this is spent solely on their care and training. They do this so to improve adoptability, because once the food testing phase is done on the pets,they are adopted out. This is usually when the pets are five or six.

The Animal Welfare Board I mentioned earlier is a big part of IAMS and the Pet Health and Nutrition Center (PHNC).  Angela Morris runs the IAMS office and she’s a beautiful person with a serious passion and love of all four-legged creatures.Dr. Jessica Lockhart is the Staff Animal Behaviorist and she shares the same love, respect and adoration of all the pets. And yes. IAMS pays to have a professional behaviorist for the animals. Overall, the animal welfare group seeks to:

- increase successful adoptions

- enhance animal socialization

- educate others about current and future programs

- provide effective training to make pets adoptable and adaptable to a kennel

The Animal Welfare Board also employs Animal Welfare Specialists (AWS). It’s their job to see that certain things are done, like grooming, socializing, exercising, improving “adoptability, ” health monitoring, and reinforcing skills that are already taught.

There’s a large Home Environment Room (HER) for the animals the PHNC, which is where the AWS, the behaviorist and several other pet-welfare and care employees are. The Home Environment was made to teach the animals what it’s really like to be in a home. And it is amazing. There are sounds, smells, sights, surfaces, people and manners that the pets learn and experience in the HER. This place looks like a real family room in a house or condo.

The PHNC has a dog-walking program so that the dogs get exercise and socialized every single day. This exposes them to strangers and helps the employees with handling training and environmental orientation. So, its not like the dogs sit in kennels all day long and wait to do a split-plate food test. They get taken out to play with the other dogs, they get walked a few times a day, they go into the HER for a while, and all of this equals a healthy and happy dog.

Oh yeah, the dogs are NEVER de-barked and there is no ear- or tail-cropping done.

One of the happy, healthy IAMS dogs at the PHNC

IAMS even has created goals for the socialization program for the cats and dogs, the end goal being to produce well-adjusted adoptable animals. The successful “research candidates” demonstrate typical species behavior in the end. I can’t say that the dogs are kept in kennels because it’s like, ten steps up from a kennel. It’s a climate controlled room; each dog has bar-style doggie doors if he wants to go outside; each dog has a privacy area where he can go and no other dog can see him. It’s truly impressive.

And believe you me… I SAW and played with these well-trained and well-behaved dogs (we saw a group of about 12 black labs). Not one of them barked or jumped up or acted in an unacceptable manner. They were friendly, they gave kisses on your hands, they wagged their tails, and they were happy. HAPPY food-testing Black Labs. Black labs that will be adopted soon and go to a home. It was AWESOME.

There’s an adoption program in place at the PHNC called the Companion Connections Adoption Program. Before adoption there’s behavior moderation. And because of in-home testing, which IAMS also does, there are many controls and comparisons in place.

And as for the cats, they all live in a cageless habitat, all together in huge rooms filled with stimuli, in groups of 10 or so (don’t quote me on that – I didn’t count!). The cats are also trained and cared for in the first year (with the same figure as mentioned above) so as to acclimate them to the “catteries”  that are in place at the PHNC. They are never de-clawed; they are kept as natural as possible. They are also micro-chipped. Here they also have employees whose sole job is to play with and socialize the cats at the PHNC.The cats are all bred on-site to avoid because its a pathogen-free colony environment.

A healthy happy IAMS food tester...sweet kitty!

The IAMS group believes in early adaptation. They have a “Kitten Kindergarten” in place for this reason. At two to seven weeks, any cat is in its inherent “sensitive period.” The PHNC provides a safe place where they can explore and interact during this time. There are also Designated Training Teams in place for the kitten and the puppies. They also have what’s called “Modified Exposure,” where puppies arrive at eight weeks of age and then spend 4-6 weeks off-site getting exposure to outside environs.

Overall, Dr. Lockhart and the IAMS testing team believe in early neurological stimulation, early being 8-10 weeks. This period is the animals’ “fear period.” The systematic early exposure to a variety of environments BEFORE the fear period limits the development of fear in adulthood. The exposure during the sensitive period is vital for forming lifelong behaviors.

Plus, this entire building is quarantined to avoid any type of infection or disease.

There’s also a “Puppy Pre-School,” which is similar to the Kitten Kindergarten. It provides a safe place for the puppies to interact and explore. They also get exposure to the adult dogs and different breeds.

Flat Maxwell and Co.

These Continued Socialization programs were put in place to help the dogs and cats develop to be perfectly trained, well-socialized and further trainable. And it works. This team has no problem adopting cats and dogs out when it’s time. They want to produce “good family citizens.” I mean, it seems that this place and its people are really is more concerned with the well-being and adoptability of the animals then it is the actual food testing!!!  The Split-Plate Tests that they do simply offer IAMS on one side, and something else on the other. The other two types of food testing include metabolism testing (ie, urine and feces testing for metabolism), and Bio Assay, which I’m a bit confused about and will ask Beverly - the social media rep for the brands.

Check her out at PetCareBev on Twitter; she always has interesting things to say and is responsible for the many Flat Pets now floating around the blogosphere! This includes my new Flat Maxwell, seen to the left with Flat Tyler and Flat Eli.

But it seems to me that that the actual testing is one teeny tiny part of the lives of these precious pets!!  They are ALL so loving and gentle — it’s amazing.

IAMS has really outdone themselves with the PHNC and the programs they’ve instilled there. And the people who care for these pets are just like you and me – they LOVE animals, and they give them the best care possible.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a dog and cat food company that cares for animals and loves them as much as the IAMS/Eukanuba folks…

So stay tuned if you want to learn more about IAMS and Eukanuba. Tomorrow and Monday we’ll discuss the Leipsic Manufacturing Plant – which is one of the places the awesome IAMS and Eukanuba foods are actually made. This place is AMAZING and you have to tune in to hear why….

*I’ll also tell you who else was at the Influencer Summit with me! New friends…yay!!!

It's a Sleepy Afternoon...

Everyone be sure to tune into ThoughtsFurPaws for the next couple of days. I just returned from a three day visit to IAMS/Eukanuba and Proctor and Gamble Pet Care. You will get exclusive details on:

- how they test their food and what makes the claims on the food bags legit

- how the animals that test the food are absolutely loved and cared for — better than most shelters!

- how many animals are testing the food

- what the premium food actually does for your pets…seriously….it enriches lives and you’ll see how

- other little tidbits about IAMS/Eukanuba and P&G Pet Care — they’re AMAZING guys!!!

Renowned Animal Communicator & Energy Therapist at The Healing Journey, Barb Borkowski wrote the following post. We met through Linked In and I was so excited to feature a guest post from her; I’ve never met an animal communicator before.

Barb Borkowski

Barb has a gift that allows her to speak for animals. Working with animals has been very beneficial. Barb has assisted with behavioral problems caused by anxiety, fear, grief, loneliness, separation anxiety and stress. Sessions include communicated information and energy balancing. Energy therapy helps to decrease stress & promote relaxation. Barb assists owners of horses and dogs to have a better understanding of their pets.

One of the first questions I asked Barb was, “how ever did you become an animal communicator?” And lucky for me, she has a post on that very subject. It’s contents are posted here below:

Many of my clients have asked me how I became an animal communicator. Did I take classes? How am I able to do it? The answer to that is simple. I was born with the ability to know what animals need and what they would like people to know.

As a toddler  my best friend was my great-grandfather’s Collie, Long John. There are pictures of me standing beside him, my hand touching the top of his head. As I got older, I spent a majority of my time outdoors with my dad’s Beagles. I felt such a connection to those dogs. They knew my thoughts and feelings and I knew theirs. Animals are so in tune with human emotions.

Growing up, my intuition was very keen. I did not like knowing things about people, animals or future events. That frightened me and I did not want to be considered strange. I decided to tune out all intuitive thoughts.

Years passed and my journey brought me back to my roots. After establishing my massage therapy business, The Healing Journey, I started to receive requests from clients to help their pets. Reluctant at first, I accepted. Word spread of how I was able to help animals who had behavioral problems. After several years of giving free advice, I included animal communication as a part of my business.

What once was considered a curse by me is now the greatest blessing. Relaying to pet owners what their 4 legged friends need and would like them to know is such an honor. Through my work, people have a better understanding of their pet. That leads to a closer relationship. You see – I was born to be an animal communicator.

And a final post that I will share with you is an excellent poem — I happen to love animal poetry; many of you know I often post dog poems and cat poems or pet loss poems. They help heal and comfort. Here is Barb’s poem, entitled “4-Legged Friend.” (You might need a Kleenex, FYI…)

The love held in your heart
Captivates me from the start

Barb's Dog

Holding you in my arms

You lick my face with all your charm

Watching you as days go by
You quickly grow, I wonder why
That you are given so little time
To live on earth and be all mine

Years pass by, you run and play
I know one day you cannot stay
For time takes a lasting toll
One day you’ll have a new role

To leave the world and be set free
I know you will be watching me
With a saddened heart I will go on
Because of you I can sing a song

The day has come to say goodbye
Holding you, I start to cry
Memories come rushing in
Of  how you’ve been my best friend

Losing you, I will go on
You worry that I’m not that strong
Because of you my life was blessed
And filled with so much happiness

Thank you, my 4 legged friend
In due time my heart will mend
A part of me, you’ll always be
My friend for all eternity

You can follow Barb’s daily journeys at her blog, The Healing Journey.

We all know her as Bev; well, some of us know her as Tyler’s Mom, or Flat Tyler’s Mom, and even more of us know her as “the awesome IAMS lady.” Regardless, Bev is good people. In fact, she’s GREAT people. And she’s doing am equally great thing.

Bev has taken it upon herself to raise money for Small Paws Rescue for the entire month of March.

Small Paws Rescue (www.SmallPawsRescue.org) is who brought Bev’s beloved dog Tyler to her, and, in turn, she is forever grateful, as most of us are for our fur-babies. But even before the days of Tyler the Bichon Frise, Small Paws was important to Bev.

Why?

Bev and Tyler

Because they are a courageous group of about 800 volunteers and 6,000 supporting global members. In the past 12 years, they’ve single-handedly assisted in the rescue, placement, release, and/or adoption of over 8,000 Bichons, Bichon blends, and dogs that have a passing affiliation with a Bichon. They’ve essentially sent nearly 10,000 of these oft-passed little mill dogs to loving, kind, caring forever homes like Bev’s.

And now Bev wants to give back. Wouldn’t you?

Similar to most breed rescues you may’ve come across, Small Paws follows the Holy Grail mantra in the animal welfare world: the “no-kill” philosophy. This, unfortunately, means that costs literally sky-rocket. Because this means that each and every dog has to be taken care of in a foster home until he finds his own forever home. And that means that every dog has to see a vet before he can be placed in a home.

Do you know how much it costs to fix, feed, vet, provide shelter for, give medicine to, and buy toys for just one dog? Well imagine that costs times 1,000, which is a bit over the number of dogs that Small Paws will probably save this year. And that’s not even counting the dogs who require extra veterinary assistance for injuries, diseases and more costly fixes.

This is what Small Paws is up against right now.

Flat Tyler

They need our help. Everyone’s help. Even if it’s just a dollar. Even if it’s a bag of food. I go to the APL all the time and drop off bags of food and cat litter and they are eternally grateful.

Bev tells me that nearly all the donation money Small Paws gets goes to pay vet bills. Why? Because the little sweet, fluffy dogs that Small Paws rescues generally come from deplorable situations. Hoarders. Mills. Auctions. Death Row. So the amount of money that’s necessary to nurse them back to mental and physical health is sometimes exorbitant. But it’s worth every penny to Bev. And to me.

Bev is my good friend and I am going to support her in any way that I can. I am asking you all to please please do the same.

Bev is focusing on Small Paws on her blog, www.PetCareBev.com. But what she’d really like your help with is the giveaway she’s doing at www.MyFlatPet.com. My Flat Pet is her hobby site. She has a famous Flat Tyler cut-out; a life-sized photo of her dog Tyler that she takes to different places to photograph. Some of you might have met Flat Tyler at Blog Paws in Denver. The photos end up on My Flat Pet.

During the month of March, to encourage people to donate (and to increase the flat pet population), Bev is going to give away FOUR flat pets.

Also, Karen Nichols, the Catster blogger and the owner of Flat Skeezix, has also offered to create one of her amazing, personalized mixed media pet portraits to use as a give-away during the Flat Tyler Small Paws Fundraiser!

This is an incredible prize worth $100.00! You can see some examples here. She will give away the pet portrait at the end of March.

More details are here,  and also here.

So please, do what you can to help my good friend Bev and her cause this month. Its definitely worthy, and just think of the little fluffy lives your dollars will be saving. And who knows – you may even get your own Flat Pet out of it!