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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Raise A Green Dog launches new Partner Program to showcase green, eco-friendly, healthy and safe products and services for dogs.

We at Raise A Green Dog are very excited to announce our new Raise A Green Dog Partner Program to showcase green, eco-friendly, healthy and safe products, companies and services for dogs!

Our new RAGD Partner Program is designed to share green, eco-friendly, healthy and safe products and services to help our readers learn about a wide variety of green-minded and environmentally conscious related companies and the products they offer to help dogs have a healthier, happier life and environment.

Over the next weeks we will be featuring these companies individually so that you, our reader, can learn more about our Partners, discover great green products and services, and make more informed decisions that relate to your dog, their health and their life.

We currently have a number of Partners offering a wide variety of products for us dogs! They include:
  • Earthborn Holistic Pet Food - producing delicious, natural food for your pet, while creating awareness about the environment and practicing reduce, reuse, and recycle in their company practices.
  • Earth Heart Inc. - provides high quality products using pure essential oils and other plant-based ingredients to help dogs with travel and stress related upsets, pests and guarding against environmental irritants.
  • Simply For Pets - creating specialized treats for dogs with special health issues.
  • Eco-Dogs.com - providing all natural, grain free dog & cat foods, and eco-friendly pet products with the end result of 'leaving smaller carbon paw prints™.
  • Uncommon Paws - offering interesting, high quality products made with the best, sustainable, natural materials; all unique, all uncommon.
  • The Dogma Online - providing natural & raw dog food with free shipping options
  • Farm Dog Naturals - creates Relief Pet Urine & Eco Cleaner that neutralizes dog urine and odors; Salvation Salve that heals crusty noses and cracked paws and Restore Salve which stops itching and heals wounds.
  • PetsHeadToTail.com - offers clothing to toys to health care and grooming products, discounted, eco-friendly dog and cat accessories and solutions for environmentally-conscious owners.
  • West Coast Canine Life - providing human quality, organic, whole foods dog food, a fresh cooked diet for your dog's optimum health.
“We are very pleased that these companies have joined us in the launch of our new RAGD Partner Program,” shared Leslie May, founder of Raise A Green Dog. “Through these companies we are able to share healthier and greener alternatives for dogs in the categories of food, toys, clothing, grooming, supplements, treats, clean up, beds, bowls and more; all made and created with sustainable, recycled, organic, all-natural and healthier ingredients and materials. “And we’re adding new RAGD Partners nearly every day.”

We are also showcasing companies in our newly created Green Dog Directory, which features resources in a variety of categories of products and services for green dogs. In addition to the RAGD Partners the directory also features Pure Pooch All Natural Grooming, shoo!TAG™ and Greener Pup.

Read our full press release for more information.

We want to thank our new Raise A Green Dog Partners for joining us in helping dogs live a healthier life, while helping the environment!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

It's National Public Lands Day and free entrance day to National Parks throughout the US!

Today is National Public Lands Day, the country's largest single-day effort to spruce up parks and other open spaces throughout this great country of ours.

Have a little time to spare today? National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation's largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands in the United States. Find out how you can clean up your National Parks, help build a trail, plant a few trees and more!

Or another way you can honor this pawsome day is to enjoy your local National Park with your dog! This special day is also a Free Entrance Day, a great day to get out there and have some fun!

Just be sure that your local National Park allows dogs. To find out, check the US National Park website, search for your local park and read up on the things you need to know section. DogFriendly.com also has some of the dog rules for the 10 most popular National Parks.

Happy weekend! Hope you have a great time with your dog!

Friday, September 23, 2011

The Washington Post features Raise A Green Dog in email to subscribers!

The Washington Post recently featured Raise A Green Dog in an email newsletter to their PostPoint subscribers.

Written by Jura Koncius, TWP reporter, we are pleased to present the article below reprinted with permission from The Washington Post. Visit TWP's Home & Garden section for lots of great (and green) tips and info for your life and environment!

Many dog owners who live the green lifestyle have also taken measures to reduce their pet's carbon pawprint.

The Web is a great source of information about how respecting the environment can lead to a healthier and happier dog. The authors of the Web site and blog raiseagreendog.com are focused on providing timely, useful information on earth friendly pet care. Pet owners have a lot of choices regarding their pet's food, supplies, toys, health care and the place where they live.

Living an eco-friendly life with a focus on pets affects the selection of your sidewalk de-icer in the winter, as well as what product you use to clean your floors.

A recent Raise A Green Dog blog post addressed the safety of drinking water for pets. Here are some of the very important issues raised in the blog that you might not have considered.

Use filtered tap water for your pet's water bowls. They suggest a product that filters out chlorine and fluoride. Do not serve them distilled water.

Don't use reuse old plastic water bottles to refill the bowl - they may leach chemicals into the water. Using a stainless steel reusable water bottle is the best choice.

Replace plastic bowls with stainless steel bowls, which won't develop cracks that can harbor bacteria.

On walks, don't allow your puppy to drink from potentially harmful puddles, ponds or streams, which could be contaminated with unhealthy bacteria and viruses.

Keep bowls clean and filled. You can wash the bowls with a combination of hot water and vinegar, rinsing thoroughly.

For more information go to www.raiseagreendog.com

Friday, September 16, 2011

Great green and organic tips for Fall lawn care!

Fall is the best time to get your lawn ready for the Winter and to give it a great head start on next Spring and Summer! So, we put together these great green tips to help you get your lawn in tip top shap to pop-up a pawsome organic and safe lawn next Spring!

But first a word about why an organic lawn; one free from the use of dangerous chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides and herbicides is so important for the health of your dog and the environment.

Our yards and lawns are sacred places for us dogs, it's where we spend a lot of our time. We play, we poo, and we enjoy time playing with our family and friends in our yard, enjoying the fresh air and great outdoors.

That's why it's very important to keep it safe, and keep it green and free of harmful chemicals. Contrary to popular belief and advertising the dangerous chemical lawn fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and insecticides that millions of people put on their lawns throughout the year are incredibly harmful to us dogs and to humans, as well. Exposure to these chemicals have been linked to cancer in dogs, as well as other major illnesses. And they have harmful effects on the environment, too!

Just think, if they kill bugs and weeds, what are they doing to children and pets?

BeyondPesticides.org has a wealth of information relating to the use and affects of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and insecticides on humans, pets and children. They indicate 'studies find that dogs exposed to herbicide-treated lawns and gardens can double their chance of developing canine lymphoma and may increase the risk of bladder cancer in certain breeds by four to seven times.' (xvii)

And, in this report and DVD "The Truth About Cats, Dogs and Lawn Chemicals," which was funded by Newman’s Own Foundation, you can learn more about the dangers and effects of lawn chemicals on your pets.

Having an organic lawn is definitely the way to go for the health and long life of you and your dog. And it really is a lot easier than you think; you just have to utilize different practices, change your way of thinking and learn more about how you can take care of your lawn naturally for full lush growth, fewer weeds and pests.

Fall is a great time to not only improve your organic lawn, but start utilizing organic lawn practices to make your lawn a safer place to be for you and your pets.

Step 1:

In early Fall (September/October in the North and late September/October in the South) take advantage of one of the good rainfalls. Get out there after the downpour and start pulling up those unsightly weeds.

We recommend using a good weed or dandelion puller (recommendations below), because it saves your back and knees, and really works to get the root out (which is your goal, so they won't come back).

Step 2:

Make sure and rake up any debris from your lawn; including leaves, weed residue, grass thatch and add all this good organic matter to your compost pile. It will become great feeding for your flowers, shrubs and vegetables next Spring.

Step 3:

Now it's time to work to thicken up your lawn by planting a good quality, uncoated grass seed. (We recommend un-coated because it doesn't add any chemical laden residue or growth hormones to your lawn and is safer and healthier). Be free with reseeding bare patches and thin areas of your lawn (best times are in September in the North and October in the South), and remember, the more grass you have the less weeds you will have. Once you've removed the weeds throw down your grass seed in thin areas; and be sure to prep the bare spots with a little raking of the soil first.

If frequent rain weather isn't cooperating, give your new seeded areas a good sprinkle when it gets dry for about 4-6 weeks to provide a good start in life.

Step 4:

About 4-6 weeks after reseeding, or in September/October/November if you aren't reseeding, we recommend putting down a good quality organic fertilizer to help give your lawn the nutrients it needs to prepare for and weather the Winter well.

We like several types of organic fertilizers, from worm poo and fish emulsions (which are sprays) to pellet based fertilizers made from feather meal, bone meal, and/or soybean meal. (More suggestions below).

The type of lawn fertilizer you use depends upon you and your dog's lifestyle. Gracie (pictured to the right) likes to get into everything, and we mean everything :). One time when we utilized a pellet based fertilizer, she spent most of her time sniffing at it, eating it (which wasn't harmful to her at all). Well, too much of anything isn't good, and she got a pretty good runny nose from sniffing it up so much. So the next time we utilized a liquid based fertilizer with a hose-end sprayer and viola! Problem solved. Even the fish emulsions we've used were a little smelly at first, but went away after about an hour.

Step 5:

If you'd like to get rid of some of that grass around the fence line, or along the patio, here's what we like to do. We use BurnOut, it's an environmentally friendly, safe product of concentrated vinegar that you can buy. As long as you use it when it's above 80 degrees for a few days, it works like a charm in killing grass and anything else in it's path!

We hope these ideas will help you have a great, green, healthy, safe and eco-friendly lawn! And if you have any trouble finding some of the products we've provided some resources below. Happy gardening!
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