Bark City Doggy Daycare

It's that time of year again: Everyone is walking around with tissues in their hands and pockets, eyes red and puffy, and in a Benadryl coma. ALLERGY SEASON. Humans are not the only ones to suffer. Dogs can too. Dog's exhibit seasonal allergies a little bit different than humans. Their symptoms are generally skin issues: allergic dermatitis. Your dog will be ITCHY. Fido will be scratching excessively, biting and chewing on spots of the body and rubbing against surfaces.  You may also notice that your dog's ears are chronically infected with rashes, yeast and bacteria. This will cause your dog to be constantly scratching the ears, head shaking and there will be hair loss around or on the ear.  Hot spots: These are localized areas of the skin that become red, scabby and infected.  Generalized redness: Puffy eyes, red oral tissue, red chin, red paws... Allergies are an immune system response. Canine's with an already weak immune system may develop respiratory issues ...

This is Marley. Marley was my first dog (American bulldog/mastiff mix). We adopted him from the Humane Society. He was 2-yrs-old and had never been outside. He wasn't house trained and had food anxiety (he would get nervous and start shaking if a human was in the same room when he was eating... tells you something, right?) We had A LOT of work to do with Marley, but eventually he became a somewhat normal dog (like eating 2 lbs of burger right out of a pan on the stove or leaping over the back of the couch to be the first one to greet whomever was at the door). BUT, Marley always had food anxiety on the of his mind. It just sometimes lurked around the corner as a subtlety that we forgot about...Until we put him on a diet. Looking back on the infamous diet, I probably should have done a lot of things differently. I should have added fillers (like pumpkin!) to his food instead of just giving him smaller portions. That would have been a great option since I was dealing with a dog t...

For the last couple weeks, I have written about two products Honey Bees produce: Honey and Royal Jelly . This week, I will write about:  Bee pollen is the plant pollens collected by worker bees that is combined with plant nectar and bee saliva. It is then packed into pellets in the hive and used as a food source for male drone bees. Historically, it has been touted as a complete food source. It is composed of about 40% protein , free amino acids, a multitude of vitamins, minerals, folic acid, enzymes, co-enzymes, antioxidants, Quercetin , carotenoids and rutin . Once ingested, it is rapidly and easily absorbed into the body. Within just two hours of ingestion, it can be found in the blood, cerebral spinal fluid and urine. Throughout history, Bee Pollen has been used for a multitude of medical problems as well as to correct an unbalanced diet. It should be noted, that not much research has been done on the actual validity of the health claims other than case studies by in...

Occasionally, on those really hectic days, I swing by the grocery store to buy a rotisserie chicken for dinner. After my family has devoured most of the meat, I use the left over scraps (bones included) to make chicken broth. Lots and lots of chicken broth that can be froze and used for any future recipe. I should first note, that some of these pictures contain ingredients like ONIONS or GARLIC (I was making it for humans, not dogs). Never give you dogs onion (or garlic). It's poisonous. And when in doubt about your ingredients, you can always double check on this Humane Society link .  Here are some ingredients that are good for dogs that would be good in any chicken stock: Parsley Greek Oregano Basil Thyme Carrot Celery Green Beans Peas  Squash and of course: Chicken scraps and bones  Now for the chicken broth steps: First grab a giant stock pot with a colander that fits inside of it.   Next grab your ingredients. In this picture, I have s...