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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

It's National Holistic Pets Day: A great day to help celebrate healthy dogs!

Happy National Holistic Pets Day!

Founded by Colleen Paige of Animal Miracle Foundation, National Holistic Pets Day is a great day to celebrate helping your dog be the healthiest and happiest they can be!

But what is holistic? And how can it help my dog? We believe holistic means caring for and treating the whole living being, their life, their health and their relationship to their environment.

To us that means taking preventative care to help your dog live a healthier, happier life by taking measures of healthy eating and healthy living; and creating a fun, happy, entertaining and engaging life for the mind.

To celebrate this special day, we wanted to share with you some of our most important tips to help your dog have a greener, healthier life and environment; and learn to live holistically like we do:

You are what you eat! And that goes for dogs too. Eating a good healthy, wholesome diet is one of the most important holistic paths you can practice with your dog. Learn more about healthier eating, the food options available and what's right for your dog!

Water is one of the most important elements to your dog's health and life. Learn about how you can keep your dog's water the safest it can be!

Your dog spends a lot of time playing and having fun in your yard. Learn how you can make your dog's domain the safest and healthiest it can be through organic lawn and garden care!

What goes in, must come out! Learn how you can reduce your dog's environmental and carbon pawprint by learning the proper ways to dispose of the doo.

Remember, part of being holistic is having a positive and loving outlook on life; so get out there and celebrate this special day with your dog! Take a nice hike, a fun walk around the park, teach them a trick or two, or play a fun game together; and remember to always have fun with your best friend!

You can learn more about how to help your dog be greener and healthier in the Learn To Be Green Section of our website, as well as sniff out pawsome healthy and green products from our Raise A Green Dog Partners! And don't furget to connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up on updates, discussions, info and more; to help your dog be the healthiest he or she can be!

And have a great National Holistic Pets Day!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Less Ticks = Happy Dogs: Review and Giveaway Earth Heart's Buzz Guard!

Oh are we happy, we have fewer bugs!

A few months ago we moved from our cabin in Tennessee to a cabin in the Mountains of Northeast Georgia. We liked all the hiking and dog agility opportunities in Tennessee, but we didn't like the massive amounts of ticks, chiggers and other nasty bugs we encountered there, neither did Mum. We also wanted to be a be closer to agility trials and other training opportunities.

So we packed up and moved to our new cabin in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

We knew that ticks would potentially be a problem for us here as well, but after our first visit we discovered that we just may be able to live our dream and live it without many of the nasties!

And that's just what happened.

We have been enjoying our time here, lots of hiking, doing some agility, and we even got to do some sheep herding and lure coursing.

But the best part is that we have a great fenced in area around our cabin and we've only found about three ticks on us over the course of our three months here doing all our fun activities. And none of them were attached!

So how are we combating ticks, chiggers and more nasties now? We're back to going natural, yeah!!! You may remember since we encountered 100's of ticks in Tennessee in just one little walk around the pasture, we had to resort to more 'chemical-based' methods to keep away the nasty tick diseases that can plague dogs and humans.

Now that we're in Georgia, we've been utilizing a product from one of the new Raise A Green Dog Partners to help us combat the nasties. Earth Heart's Buzz Guard is what we've been using with really nice results.

Mum sprays it on our harnesses, and on a bandana that we wear during our hikes and when we are out in the yard. We've only had a few ticks show up in all the hikes we've taken while using Buzz Guard. And none were attached, they came right off us when we were lounging on the couch with Mum. Mum just grabbed 'em up and disposed of them properly. We think that's amazing, considering we are deep in the forest!).

Even though you can spray Buzz Guard right on us dogs safely and naturally, Mum sprays it on our gear because we like to lick and cuddle with our kittie bros in the evenings, and essential oils aren't really good for cats, even though they are safe for dogs.

Earth Heart's Buzz Guard is made with water, polysorbate 20; neem seed oil; pure essential oils of citronella, fir, geranium; rosewood, basil, myrrh; and potassium sorbate, which we like.

Even though we are deep in the Chattahoochee National Forest, we are able to effectively manage the ticks, chiggers and other no-see-ems naturally thanks to Earth Heart.

And now for the best part:

We are giving away one bottle of Buzz Guard to try with your dog!

To enter, all you have to do is sign up for Earth Heart's email newsletter and then go and sign up for the Raise A Green Dog newsletter. Once you've subscribed (just click on the links) come back here and leave us a comment on this blog post and tell us why you want to try Buzz Guard or Travel Calm and that you signed up for the newsletters! And if you'd like (this is optional) you can go like Earth Heart and RAGD on Facebook too; and leave us some photos of your pups, we love pups!

Your deadline to enter is Midnight, August 28th, ET. We'll do a random draw on the 29th, and leave a comment with this post to let you know who won! Check back K? Because we'll need to get in touch with the winner.

And there's more!

Yep, the nice folks at Earth Heart have agreed to give our readers a chance to buy one get one free of their Buzz Guard or Travel Calm products. All you have to do is visit their website, enter the code HURRAH RAGD in ‘special instructions’ or ‘note to seller’ at checkout when you order a bottle and you'll receive a second bottle (2 fl. oz.) FREE with your order of either Travel Calm or Buzz Guard. If you don’t specify which product you’d like to receive for free, one will be selected for you. This code is good for one-time use with a single purchase (one bottle, please) between August 18 and 28, 2011.

Please follow all the instructions, or your eligibility for the giveaway or BOGO will be at risk, K?

Disclaimer: Earth Heart Inc., is a partner of Raise A Green Dog and we do receive compensation from them in the form of advertising. However this review and all the reviews through the Raise A Green Dog are of our personal, independent and honest opinion. The products and the claims made about specific products within this blog post have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease or any other ailment your pet may have. The information provided is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your veterinarian or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. You should not use the information in this blog post for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment for your pet. Please talk to your veterinarian about using any supplements or products geared to help your pet. Giveaway is open to individual in the US, +18 years or older; no purchase is necessary to enter; winner will be chosen via random.org.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Fluoride Awareness Week, a great time to bring awareness to the dangers of fluoride in our water supply.

This week, August 8th-13th, is Fluoride Awareness Week, a great week to bring awareness to the dangers of fluoride in our water supplies.

“In a nearly unprecedented about-face, U.S. health officials recently admitted that Americans are getting too much fluoride, “ said Dr. Mercola, founder of Mercola.com, one of the most popular alternative health websites in the world and promoter of Fluoride Awareness Week. “Coupled with disturbing new studies showing the detrimental effects fluoride can have on children, we thought this would be a perfect time to help educate the public on the dangers of fluoride,” Mercola added.

The practice of adding fluoride began in 1945 after about 40 years of research indicating that fluoride may reduce cavities. First started through an experiment by adding trace amounts of fluoride to the water supply in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the five year study of the benefits of adding fluoride to the water supply concluded in a reduction in cavities in that area. By 1951 fluoridation became a policy of the U.S. Public Health Service to the point now that over 60% of the US water supply is fluoridated.

But within the past years individuals, governmental agencies and scientists have begun to understand that the fluoridation of the US water supply may do more harm than good.

According to the National Toxicology Program, "the preponderance of evidence" from laboratory 'in vitro' studies indicates that fluoride is a mutagen (a compound that can cause genetic damage). It is generally accepted that if a substance can induce genetic damage there is a heightened risk that it could cause cancer as well. (source: FluorideAlert.org)

So what can you do?

Here are some tips to keep your dog's (and your) water healthier and safer, and reduce the amount of dangerous chemical ingestion, as well as how to utilize best overall drinking water practices:
  • Utilize a water filter for your dog's water that filters out both chlorine and fluoride.
  • Avoid distilled water or water treated with reverse osmosis, as it lacks beneficial minerals and nutrients normally found in water.
  • Never reuse plastic water bottles for your dog's water, the bottles can leach dangerous chemicals into the water.
  • Purchase safe reusable water/beverage bottles - Safer choices include bottles crafted from safer HDPE (plastic #2), low-density polyethylene (LDPE, AKA plastic #4) or polypropylene (PP, or plastic #5). Best bests are made of stainless steel.
  • Provide your dog with a stainless steel pet water fountain to encourage more drinking of fresh, filtered water; which can discourage them from drinking from potentially harmful sources.
  • Replace any plastics dog bowls with stainless steel to further prevent leaching.
  • Keep your dog's water bowl full and clean at all times and provide water often. (Clean the bowls at least once a day with hot water and vinegar, and rinse very well).
  • Don't allow your pup to drink out of potentially harmful ponds, streams, rivers or puddles to avoid contamination with unhealthy bacteria and viruses.
  • Utilize safe lawn care practices, organic and all natural fertilizers, and avoid areas with your dog where dangerous lawn chemicals are used to help keep your dog and you safe, as well as the water supply.
  • Don't allow your pet to swim in chlorinated pools, or stagnant contaminated rivers, streams or ponds.
  • Don't allow your dog to drink out of public or shared dog water bowls.
  • Get a filtered bath/shower head for your dog's bathing area.
  • Utilize environmentally friendly shampoos, conditioners, cleaning products, laundry detergents, non-chlorine stain removers and other items to keep your water cleaner in your community, around your dog and you.
  • Keep your pup from drinking out of the garden hose, the combination of leaching plastic, chlorine and fluoride can be dangerous.
  • Take your own filtered water on trips and outings, avoid bottled water and utilize a bpa-free water container or dog water bottle.
  • Read up on other safety measures to help keep the water your dog drinks, healthier.
These are a lot of guidelines. But by taking part in as many of these tips as possible you can help your dog (and you) live a longer, happier and environmentally friendly life.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Helping Husky rescue with spun Husky fur!

What a great way to reuse to help dogs in need!!!

While pondering a way to help Huskies in need of rescue, Pat Tetrault and Janet Whitesell came up with the idea of the Siberian Husky knitting project to raise needed funds.

Through the Save Our Siberians - Siberspace Rescue Fund the undercoat of huskies is sent in and spun into yarn. The yarn is then knitted into articles that are sold via an Internet Auction to raise funds for Siberian Husky Rescue. The crafts made from the yarn include hats, scarves, dreamcatchers and mittens; all created with the undercoat of huskies!

Here's a vid all about the project:

For more information, to send in fur, or to bid on knitted items, visit the Save Our Siberians - Siberspace Rescue Fund website auction page.

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