Here’s Why People are Upgrading Their Dog Food

Do you know what’s in your dog’s food? If not, the food you’re feeding your dog could be dangerous, and there’s certain things big dog food brands don’t want you to discover.

In some cases, your pup’s daily dinner could be as bad as fast food—every time you scoop kibble into his bowl or feed him a dish of wet food, you’re serving him a fatty burger and greasy fries. Luckily, there are hundreds of new healthy dog food companies that are desperate to give you great deals if you look in the right places.

If you’ve been buying dog food from the biggest pet food brands, Dogs Naturally Magazine reports that these “healthy” meals are hiding processed foods, harmful chemicals, and dangerously fatal ingredients in your dog’s food. Worse, the more affordable a dog food brand is, the more disgustingly unhealthy it is.

To read more on this story, click here: Here’s Why People are Upgrading Their Dog Food


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Choosing The Best Pet Lizard: 3 Types of Geckos

If you’re looking to add reptiles to your family, geckos are a great and popular choice. They’re ideal pet lizards for beginners. Not only are geckos interesting pets that are so unique looking—you might even say they’re adorable, but they’re also relatively low-maintenance. While there are 2,000 types of geckos worldwide, only a few are bred to be pets, and each has varying levels of care to consider when choosing the right one for you.

“Certain gecko species are relatively low maintenance and forgiving for new reptile owners, though they still need owners to do research to determine proper husbandry before coming home,” says Dr. Kristin Gill, DVM, at Blue Pearl Specialty & Emergency Pet Hospital in Sarasota, Florida.

And “all reptiles can carry salmonella as part of their normal gut flora,” she says, so always wash your hands after handling them.

To help, here is a primer on the three most popular types of geckos that make great pets and what you’ll need to properly care for them.

To read more on this story, click here: Choosing The Best Pet Lizard: 3 Types of Geckos
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5 Things You Gotta Know About Lovebirds

Got an interest in the apapornis?  These African beauties come in some stunning colors, are highly social and are packed with personality. But before you go looking for a lovebird of your own, there are a few things you should know.

Check Out These Five Facts:
1. There are a few misconceptions about lovebirds because of their name.Lawrence Oei, a lovebird enthusiast who owns 70 lovebirds, is a member of the Belgian Lovebird Association, and runs a Facebook page for all of his birds, says, “The single biggest misconception is that you need two of them to make them happy, and the next biggest one is that they mate for life. It is actually quite easy to pair them up with other lovebirds, the key being you introduce a female to a male in an established cage.”

While lovebirds do form strong pair bonds, if you’re looking for a pet that wants to interact with you, it would be best to keep a single bird. This way, the bird will bond with you.

To read more on this story, click here: 5 Things You Gotta Know About Lovebirds
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Did You Know That Red-Eared SliderTurtles Are Considered Exotic, And Can Live Over 40 Years?

The scientific name for the Red-eared Slider is Chrysemys scripta elegans (formerly Trachemys scripta elegans), and it belongs to the Emydidae family. It is an aquatic turtle, a strong swimmer, and in the wild, will commonly be seen basking on rocks, logs, or other surfaces above the water. Turtles are reptiles, and cold-blooded, so they must rely on external heat sources for warmth. They will bask in sunlight, and in the wild, burrow down into the earth to hibernate in winter. The three main concerns in keeping a Red-eared Slider healthy are warmth, clean water, and proper diet.

Caring for Red-eared sliders requires more than just a shallow bowl with a little water and a rock. Aquatic turtles need more in the way of housing and lighting than is often thought. Take a look at the requirements before acquiring a turtle and you and your new reptile will both be happier.

Turtles can make lovely pets -- but you have to know what you are getting into. Those cute little hatchlings you see for sale will grow into large, long-lived and somewhat messy turtles. Here are 6 things you should know about red eared sliders before deciding on getting one as a pet.

1. Red Eared Sliders Get Big
Don't be fooled by those delicate-looking, cute hatchlings -- red eared sliders grow to an adult size of up to 12 inches. It will take them a few years to get to their full adult size. The significance of this relates to the size of tank your turtle will need: count on 10 gallons per inch of turtle. Your adult turtle will need a very large tank (or other suitable housing such as a pond).

2. Red Eared Sliders Should Live a Long Time
A well cared for, captive red eared slider can be expected to live up to 40 years or so. If you decide to get a turtle, you are making a commitment to care for that turtle over its whole life span (and remember, you should never release your turtle into the wild when it gets older).

3. Red Eared Sliders Cannot Be Kept in Little Plastic Bowls
Fortunately, fewer stores seem to be selling red eared sliders with little plastic bowls, but the practice is not dead. No matter what a seller tells you, your hatchling turtle will not thrive in a small plastic bowl. Get an aquarium, even for the smallest hatchlings; start with a 10 gallon if you must (I recommend a minimum of 20 gallons, though), but be aware your turtle will grow, and need a larger tank, quickly. In addition, you will need to provide UV lighting, a basking light, water heater, and a swimming area and a basking area. Housing a red eared slider is not cheap!

4. Red Eared Sliders can Carry Salmonella
It has been known for years that turtles (and other reptiles, and other animals) can carry salmonella and other bacteria. This shouldn't necessarily stop you from getting a turtle (unless perhaps you have very small children or immunocompromised members of your household), but you should be aware of the risks and take hygiene measures to prevent infections. Incidentally, the sale of turtles less than 4 inches long is prohibited in the US due to the risk of Salmonella infections.

5. Red Eared Sliders are Messy
Like all turtles, red eared sliders can be be pretty messy. Let's just say that they make a lot of waste. Plan on having a filter that is rater for 2-3 times the amount of water you have in your tank -- this will go a long way to helping keep the tank clean. Feeding red eared sliders in a container of water outside the tank can help keep the tank clean, too. Even then tank cleaning is something you will need to stay on top of, or the tank can get smelly or grow lots of algae.

6. Red Eared Sliders Will Beg for Food
Once your turtle figures out you bring the food, he or she may be quite excited to see you. And if you don't have food, they sometimes swim back and forth frantically, and manage to look like are starving and need food -- now! Don't let them fool you, though, because obesity can be a big problem in turtles.

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10 Extremely Super Big Animals

You wont believe the size of these animals. The most gigantic animals Earth has ever seen.



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How To Make A Dog Birthday Cake

Celebrate a special occasion in your dog's life with a worthy homemade treat.

The bond we have with our dogs can be truly amazing. That's why it's no surprise that there is a growing trend for celebrating a dog's birthday not only with some extra cuddles but also with an extra special treat: a cake!

But not just any cake will do for a dog — it has to stay within a dog's dietary needs, of course. Grain-free and sugar-free cakes are a healthful way to celebrate. Many dogs have allergies to grains, resulting in itchy, dry skin and other problems, and added sugar is not good for their system. They experience sugar highs and lows just like we do, and the negative effects just aren't worth it. So the following cake recipes leave these harmful ingredients out.

The first recipe uses coconut flour instead of a grain-based flour. Coconut flour is a perfect ingredient for baked dog treats because it has loads of nutrients, including protein and iron, and is far lower on the glycemic index than grain flours. The second recipe uses no flour at all.

I used liver paste for the frosting since my dog is not a big fan of cheese or peanut butter, which are the main ingredients for the frosting recipe below. Needless to say, the frosting was licked off first! Feel free to get creative (within reason, for your dog's health) with the frosting and toppings and make them suit your dog's preferences.

To read more on this story, click here: How To Make A Dog Birthday Cake

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Here's How to Adopt Dogs That Were "Too Nice" For TSA Training

It might be hard imagining innocent puppies doing anything wrong, but when it comes to service dogs, not all pups are cut out for high demands of the job. There is, however, an adoption program in place for those dogs that just don't have what it takes to work for the government—and sometimes, it's because they are "too nice."

According to the BBC, a canine was switched from the Queensland Dog Squad in Australia to a more suitable role at the Queensland's Government House as the official Vice-Regal dog—all because the pup was too nice and social. There are a few ways for Americans to adopt similar training dogs as well. The main way is through the TSA Canine Training Center Adoption Program, where you can adopt a pup without paying a fee. According to the TSA, these pups are untrained and aren't housebroken, which means you'll need these expert tips on crate training your puppy.

To read more on this story, click here: Here's How to Adopt Dogs That Were "Too Nice" For TSA Training

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Would You Give Up Your Dog to a New Home if He Bit Your Child?

Rehoming my Pug was a hard decision, but the right one; finding the right family was a struggle.

He moved so fast that I saw the gash on her eye before I even realized what had happened. My Pug had bitten my daughter, again.

Moments earlier I had been sitting on the couch, seven months pregnant, watching my dog chewing on a bone at one end of the carpet and my daughter playing with her tea set on the other side.Wow, I thought. What a nice, quiet evening.

Suddenly the toy teapot made a whistling noise and before I knew it my Pug had leapt up from his resting place, run across the carpet, and bit her on the face.

She cried, I cried, and in that moment I knew: It was time.

Our dog was the first baby of my husband and I. Adopted while we were still dating, he quickly became the fur kid at the center of our relationship. I was that momma who put a coat on him in the winter, dressed him up for Halloween, and even tucked him into his little bed at night. I attended Pug party events, threw him a birthday party, volunteered at a Pug rescue, and took great pride in this fur child of ours.

I loved him with all my heart, yet now my fur baby was injuring my human baby — for the third time.

To read more on this story, click here: Would You Give Up Your Dog to a New Home if He Bit Your Child?

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