The Pawsitive Pet Life

15/01/2024

Hey y’all, its COLD here in Austin Texas so I wanted to share some cold weather tips to keep your furry family members safe and warm.

🍵FOOD: Your dog uses more calories to stay warm. During extended cold temperature conditions you may need to feed a little extra. Continue to follow the rules for food do and don't. This is not the time to share your cold weather family chili recipe with your pupper.

🌡COMFORT: Elderly and arthritic dogs can be more affected by temperature extremes, as well as dogs that are diabetic, have heart disease, kidney disease, or have hormonal imbalances like Cushing's disease. These dogs may need more help staying both comfortable and warm.

❄️BEING OUTSIDE: Senior dogs should only be out for BRIEF potty breaks only at temps below freezing. No dog of any breed, regardless of hair length or breed, should be outside for long periods in below freezing weather.

🧸ENRICHMENT: If you will give enrichment for boredom, give safe choices - easily digestible and safe chews and treats and durable toys. Don't give hooves, pointy rawhides and plastic items that can splinter and cause dental and digestive issues. This is not the time to experiment.

☃️ICE/SNOW CONDITIONS: frost bite and hypothermia can occur pretty easily with exposure. If dogs are walking on salted or sanded surfaces, it can irritate their paws and they can lick them and ingest that salt, and it can cause troubles. Have them wear boots or wipe their paws when they come in. Also, NO OFF LEASH! A dog relies on sense of smell. Snow and ice can throw off their sniff trail off and lead to disorientation. This is a time a collar, tag and microchip update is so very important, just as important as the 4th of July.

🚘VEHICLES: Clean up any antifreeze and deicer spills, these are toxic if ingested. Make some noise, bang on the hood or honk the horn, before starting your engine if there may be a kitty taking up residence. It's best to leave your dog at home unless it's a necessity trip to the vet or,, to your local shelter for an appointment to pick a foster sibling.

SHOW ME YOUR PUPPERS STAYING COZY AND WARM!
I WANT TO SEE PICS ❤

31/12/2023

Happy New Year everyone !

31/12/2023

Please remember to keep your fur babies safe tonight. Fireworks are scary for our four legged family members. Have a safe and Happy NewYear everyone!

27/12/2023

Sharing this as most all of the shelters and rescues are COMPLETELY OVER CAPACITY. I’d like to ask everyone to PLEASE take a minute to read, let it sink in and continue to share this message.

For the love of God 🛑 STOP 🛑!!

❌ Stop DUMPING your animals
❌ Stop breeding your dogs!!!
❌ Stop BUYING your dogs from breeders - FYI you are not “adopting” or “rescuing”🙄
❗️ At this point I don’t care if they’re responsible breeders or not we have hundreds of thousands of dogs needing homes! In every frickin’ breed possible!
❌ Let me be clear - your designer breed is an overpriced MIXED BREED MUTT!! Shelters are full of mixed breeds!
❌ Stop treating your animals like they are so damn disposable
❗️moving - bet you’re taking other belongings with you - take the dog!!
❗️baby on the way - and?!?
❗️don’t have as much time - dogs sleep 12-14 hours a day on average!!! The dog is fine!
❗️dog needs more space - get out and walk them, you can rent fenced areas in Sniffspot to avoid dog parks and let the dog run and play.
❌ Stop importing dogs into the US!! For effs sake it isn’t like we don’t have plenty needing homes already.
❌ Stop expecting every rescue and shelter to bail you out of your responsibilities and then getting bitchy when they won’t or can’t. Do you have any idea how unbelievably exhausted the animal welfare world is right now?!

✅ Do get your animals spayed and neutered (aka fixed) - if that isn’t something you can’t swing financially reach out to resources for help. But don’t expect hand outs!
✅ Do reach out to resources if you are struggling with vetting or feeding costs for your pets, many rescues will do all they can to help keep an animal vetted & fed and in their home.
✅ Do look at shelters and rescues when looking to add a new pet to your home. These are not “damaged goods”. These are animals who have already been failed by humans and will be so unbelievably appreciative of their life with you!
✅ You can find a rescue dog in need in every breed if you’re patient and put in the time to look! Purebreds, your mixed designer breeds (yep doodles) etc!
✅ Be A Responsible Human!!
✅ Support your local shelters and rescues - s**t is hard right now and we’re all hanging on by a thread.

Enough is enough!!!

11/12/2023

Mondays be like …

27/11/2023

Jett and his permanently alert ear.

23/11/2023

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving 🦃

18/10/2023

Pawsitively spooky 👻🎃💀

15/10/2023

Sundays ❤️

06/10/2023

I challenge you to let every day be a Friday. Give yourself permission to be happy every day. Happy FryYay! 🐾❤️

22/08/2023

If Ty could speak, he would tell us that March 1, 2022 was the day his life changed forever. He was on the bed with his doggy brother playing with a toy. Play turned to fight, who knows how…it’s all a blur now, and then hands reached in and started grabbing and pulling, and someone bit. Two dogs fighting, hands grabbing, snapping and twisting, who knows, but then it got REALLY bad. Instead of just grabbing with hands, the human started stabbing with a knife.

When Ty was impounded at Austin Animal Center, he had multiple deep punctures, knife wounds, and he was scared out of his mind. Over the next months, staff and volunteers patiently helped him to feel as safe as he could in a shelter, and then in December 2022, a staffer carelessly scared him and, startled, he snapped, leaving a “dime sized tooth scrape” on the person’s stomach. And then, the death sentence was handed down.

We rescued Ty in January, but with no foster, he’s still living in a kennel. Ty is a loving, loyal soul, but he does have what seems like doggy PTSD, and he needs his people to be gentle and mindful. This photo was taken last night while hanging out with his friend Elisha in her apartment at River Dog Ranch. Ty loves being in a home.

Please help us find him a safe and loving home. Share, foster, adopt, donate!

https://linktr.ee/ffrptx

07/08/2023

Jumping into Monday like a boss.

29/07/2023

Rafael is looking for his forever home 🐾❤️

Okay Austin, we are scratching our heads on this one - how has this happy boy been waiting 6 months to find a family??

Rafael is a staff and volunteer favorite. They describe him as kind, friendly, easy to walk, well-rounded, and playful but not too energetic. ✔️

Rafael also spent 6 weeks in a foster home, where they said he was housetrained, food-motivated, and tolerant of the resident dog. ✔️

Sure, Rafael could use some brushing up on his leash manners when it comes to seeing other dogs, but being in a shelter will do that to ya. Plus, we offer FREE training for fosters and adopters thanks to Friends of Austin Animal Center!

Adoption fees are WAIVED, so come on in to meet Rafael soon!

A872118 bit.ly/44QV6Km