Tenderfoot Training

05/10/2024

This is very important to read.
Purina fought hard to deny any issues re: sick and dead animals.
We understand lots of people are loyal to Purina and change is hard, but for the sake of your animals please make a better choice.

91% of the complaints were regarding Purina Pet Foods.

05/07/2024

04/28/2024

Awesome help from Dogs Naturally. We highly recommend you follow them, and keep yourself informed on the more natural remedies possible for your animals. We've even learned things for ourselves. :)

Dog anxiety is common and can stop your dog from enjoying everyday activities. If your dog gets stressed, try these natural solutions ...

04/28/2024

Always the best ideal. ❤ ❤ ❤

💙 🐶 🐾

04/28/2024

We all need to step away from the rice mythology.
Pumpkin is way better. :)

When dogs have digestive issues, you might think of giving them rice, but it’s not the best choice.

Rice lacks essential fiber and nutrients needed for recovery and carries risks like arsenic contamination, which can lead to serious health issues.

Rice is also high in carbohydrates, increasing the risk of diabetes—now affecting 1 in 300 dogs.

Nutritionally, rice offers little value, lacking in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients crucial for a dog’s diet. Furthermore, substituting meat with rice in dog food reduces the intake of essential amino acids like taurine, necessary for their health.

Dogs have thrived for millennia on meats and specific plant materials, not on processed grains like rice.

Choosing alternatives that align with their natural dietary needs is crucial for their wellbeing. For more insights on why rice might not be the right choice for your dog.

Visit Dog's Naturally Magazine for more information! https://bit.ly/3T53JOZ

03/06/2024

Crate training isn't for every dog, but there would certainly be a lot less dogs in shelters if more dogs were crate trained. It prevents so many problems. It helps with house training. It teaches them how to self entertain (give them a safe, chew toy) and patiently be alone. It gives them personal space and quite time, which we all need. It keeps them safe when you are away which is vital in their first 2 yrs of development. And it keeps your stuff safe. All good reasons to crate train.
Great article from Whole Dog Journal.

Whole Dog Journal outlines five things you can do if your dog refuses to get in a crate or suffers from dog crate anxiety.

03/06/2024

Good news!

Colorado Springs dog owners might be relieved to know that cases of the mysterious respiratory illness that hit the region last fall are in decline since the beginning of 2024.

02/29/2024

in case you are contemplating a new puppy - PLEASE avoid the temptation of getting two.
We beg you!!!!!!

Most training professionals strongly recommend against adopting two puppies at the same time as it can prevent bonding with their owner.

02/25/2024

Save this to your phone (after you watch it :) )

Knowing how to do CPR on a dog before your dog actually needs it can make the difference between your dog living or dying.

02/23/2024

If you have a dog that resource guards PLEASE read this.

The most important thing is to teach your dog to share items with you.
Hold the toy when you play together, hold the chew toy and share it. Our dogs bring their bones and toys to us so we will play, or hold it while they chew on it.
Teach them to drop things to you when you ask. (see our Instagram page to learn how)


Relationship training answers these problems without the use of harsh devices, or relying on food to trade with. Relying on trading "up" when a dog is guarding can stop working, because the value of the trade isn't always a guarantee. They might not let go of a squirrel for a piece of chicken. Or you might not have food readily available in that moment. Teach them what you want in advance so you don't have to deal with problems down the road.

If you have a dog that already prone to guarding then this article, by Whole Dog Journal, is the one to read.
Each situation is unique, don't push them to the point they need to bite. Be smart.
This is a great article to help guide you through an uncomfortable moment.

Whole Dog Journal‘s mission is to provide dog guardians with in-depth information on dog food, training, behavior, health, and more.

02/18/2024

Prevention is ideal but not always realistic.
Knowledge is the best tool you have.
Common treatments can result in a cyclical issue and be very hard on your dogs GI system causing lifelong issues.
Diatomaceous earth is a natural remedy and is worth investigating.

Giardia in dogs is a protozoal infection that can be hard to clear. Giardia cysts can survive for quite some time require extra sanitation.

02/18/2024

Socialization should be customized to the individual puppy/dog.
Great article from Whole Dog Magazine. :)

Puppies can be around other dogs at around 8 to 10 weeks, however, they need a week to adjust to their new home before meeting large groups.

02/16/2024

Not many people know about this.....

Tick paralysis is a condition caused by a neurotoxin excreted by a feeding tick. Fortunately, it resolves quickly with removal of the tick.

02/12/2024

Super important to know how to guard against bloat and how to identify it. It is an emergency situation and should not be ignored - time is of the essence.
Important things to do:
* Do not let a panting dog eat his meal just yet. Let him calm down before he eats.
* Feed wet meals - even if you feed kibble it is very important to wet the food. It will discourage your dog from drinking too much after a meal and creating a heavy stomach. Dogs should get most of their moisture from the food they eat.
* Make sure your dog rests for an hour after meals.
Be sure to read the rest of the article for more important information.

Recognizing signs of bloat in dogs as soon as possible is critical to getting timely emergency treatment for this critical condition.

01/31/2024

If you are feeding your dog rice OR if there are grains in their kibble/food, PLEASE read this article below. Just say NO to rice - your dogs/cats are not meant to eat rice, it stresses the pancreas and can lead to life long issues.

This is an article from a while back about pancreatitis. Hope it helps. Dr Judy Morgan’s Yin Yang book also has a pancreatitis recipe in there.
*** Pancreatic Dog Parents *** and also about RICE
Here’s an interesting write up for all of y’all being told your dog with PANCREATIC ISSUES needs less FAT in it’s diet.
By Dr. Cathy Alinovi DVM
I have to admit I have some strong opinions. And I know some of my opinions are completely contrary to “everything you read on the Internet“. But there’s always a reason I disagree.
So what am I talking about today? Rice.
It’s everywhere. Even conventional veterinarians who are adamantly opposed to people food, they’ll tell you “feed chicken and rice“ if your dog has a sensitive stomach or diarrhea or some thing like that.
What’s my problem? There are three aspects that I feel should also be covered:
First, rice is definitely bland for us humans. That BRAT diet thing. Banana, rice, applesauce, toast. So if we have the flu, we’re supposed to eat these bland foods. That’s for humans! There are times what works for humans works for dogs and cats. In the case of a sensitive stomach, it’s absolutely not the case!
Why is that? You might ask
Humans produce lots of amylase. Amylase is a digestive enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates. Specifically rice. Dogs and cats have very little amylase by comparison. And if their intestines are messed up, dogs and cats have even less amylase. So if you feed them rice and their guts are screwed up, you’re likely to make things even worse!
Some people think rice is a good binder. Plug the dog up. I would argue with you that cheese is more likely to plug up the system.
But if you wanted some thing that’s socially acceptable and a little bit easier to digest and known to help with diarrhea: how about canned pumpkin?
So when we’re talking general dietary distress and look at the chicken and rice concept, I would argue that it’s more appropriate to feed chicken. Only. Unless of course the dog or cat is sensitive to chicken.
What do we use rice for? Me personally I think it makes my sushi rolls taste absolutely fabulous! But if I eat 75% carbohydrates at every meal, like many common dog food diets, I won’t fit through my front door. Because most dogs and cats are neutered, they no longer have the hormonal driven ability to maintain lean, muscular body weight. They are like post menopausal women. Say the word carbohydrate and we all get fat.
We can try to argue that there is nutritional value in rice. Let’s be real. It’s primarily a very cheap filler, AKA a source of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates turn into sugar. Excess sugar is stored as fat. Rice makes us fat.
Now here’s my pet peeve. To explain this, I’m going to give a short science lesson. (by the way, every veterinarian, physician, nurse, chiropractor, healthcare, professional, learns this information the very first year of medical training. Maybe they forget?)
Food is primarily made up of protein, fat and carbohydrate. Sure, there’s a little bit of vitamins and minerals but it’s mostly protein, fat and carbohydrate. So we eat our food. It goes into the stomach. A well functioning stomach has high levels of acid. The acid breaks proteins down into tiny little pieces called amino acids. The amino acids are absorbed by the body and turned back into muscle. Like, you know, muscle. Or the heart. Because the heart is a muscle. Next the food goes into the small intestines. The duct from the gallbladder is right across the intestinal street from the duct from the pancreas. The gallbladder contains bile. Bile breaks down fat.
So what’s left? That’s right. Carbohydrates. The primary job of the pancreas is to digest carbohydrates! Not fat. Not proteins. Sure, the pancreas has a small function of digesting fat and protein; the primary job of the pancreas is to digest carbohydrates!
So if a dog has an upset stomach, it’s always possible that it has a pi**ed off pancreas. If there’s any possibility at all that the dog has a pi**ed off pancreas, why in the world would we feed rice which makes the pancreas even more pi**ed off?
Now you’re probably asking yourself why in the world your veterinarian told you that pancreatitis was a fat problem? That is a beautiful question! There is a blood test to evaluate the function of the pancreas. It measures pancreatic lipase. (Lipase is an enzyme that digests fat – AKA lipid.) So if the pancreatic lipase is high, the dog has pancreatitis. But it doesn’t mean the illness is a lipid or fat issue, it just means the lipase is high, but we absolutely need to stop feeding freaking carbohydrates because the primary enzyme made in the pancreas is amylase.
Why are 99.7% of veterinarians continuing to tell people that their dog has pancreatitis and absolutely must avoid fat? Marketing. Pure and simple.
It’s the pet food companies teaching the veterinarians that it’s a fat problem. And it’s a matter of forgetting the first year of veterinary school. I kid you not. Every single veterinary student learns in physiology class first year of vet school the primary function of the pancreas is carbohydrates metabolism.
So please. Skip the rice. It’s a cheap filler, has very little nutritional benefit and could be making things worse especially in dogs with pancreatitis.

01/28/2024

Hopefully you never need this, but always good to know.

Dogster is a publication where dog lovers come together to get the latest expert advice about dog behavior, health, news and entertainment.

01/24/2024

Come on Colorado - let's do this!
Find these boys a forever home.

Update:
These dogs are still in Chicago. The adult children have dumped them at a shelter and are staying in their deceased parents home without the dogs.

***Bonded brothers 8 years old. Need a foster in Colorado ***

Their human passed away recently and 2 Blondes All Breed Rescue will help if they can find a foster. Can anyone help save them? If they go to a shelter they don’t have a good chance given their age and that they are a bonded pair.

https://2babrescue.com/foster

01/20/2024

Stay safe everyone!

Here are some great cold weather safety tips!! Be very careful around ice melt with your dogs. There are some extremely dangerous chemicals in ice melt, that's not pet-safe. These chemicals are hazardous and can cause severe skin irritation, gastrointestinal upset, kidney failure, and even death. Another really big one to keep your eyes peel for is antifreeze. Antifreeze is poisonous to all living beings. Any amount can be potentially fatal. The toxin's sweet smell and taste in antifreeze appeals to an animals sweet tooth. After drinking acute kidney, failure occurs within 36 to 72 hours in dogs and 12 to 24 hours in cats. Symptoms to watch for are lack of appetite, lethargy, drooling, depression, vomiting, seizures, coma, and death. It's possible a pet can be saved if they only consumed a small amount and started receiving the needed treatment immediately. It's imperative that you act quickly when you see any strange behaviors. Also, leaving your pet in a freezing car is just as dangerous as a hot car. Just because most pets have a nice fur coat on doesn't mean they will stay nice and toasty in freezing temperatures in your parked car. Just doing my part to keep us all safe this winter!!

01/13/2024

Very important to right now!!!! 🥶🥶🥶

PSA... With the upcoming forecast of snow and temperatures dropping into the negatives, take extra precautions to keep your pets safe and warm this weekend. Like humans, dogs, cats and all other pets generally kept outdoors are susceptible to hypothermia and frostbite, which can develop in as little as 5 to 10 minutes with the high winds, snowfall, and extremely low temperatures we're about to experience. Pets can't survive in these extreme conditions. If you absolutely can't bring your pets inside, please ensure they have adequate shelter and ways to keep warm.

IF YOU'RE CONCERNED FOR AN UNATTENDED PET OUTDOORS PLEASE CALL...

Larimer County: Animal Protection and Control at 970-226-3647, extension 7

Weld County: Contact your local authorities

All other cities and counties, check with your local humane society or local authorities on the proper procedures.

For more tips and tricks on cold weather care, check out the NOCO Humane blog post:
https://www.nocohumane.org/blog/pet-safety-during-winter/

Or the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is another great source for extreme cold weather tips to ensure pet safety go to:
avma.org/ColdWeather

01/11/2024

If you are at all interested, this is a great article regarding Purina recalls.
Enough said.

Purina tells pet owners

01/07/2024

Lots of reasons a dog might refuse food. Good to know them all.

If your dog is sniffing food but not eating they may just be a picky eater, or they may have a health issue that's stopping them.