Now We Have Dogs

15/05/2023

03/05/2023

03/05/2023

03/05/2023

Plain kefir is an excellent source of probiotics. 🥛⭐ Try adding some to your pet’s diet for a healthier gut! 👌

Today’s free article is all about food-based sources of probiotics you can offer your pet. Read it on the bark & whiskers website: https://bit.ly/44aqunF

30/04/2023

We know that it's not an easy job to care for sick animals day in and day out, so we want to say a big THANK YOU to all the incredible veterinarians out there.

We are truly honoured to work and partner with some of the best out there - their dedication and compassion make a world of difference for our pets, clients and community.

Happy World Veterinary Day!

30/04/2023

🚨 BACK IN STOCK 🚨

kin+kind Flea/Tick Repel Spray for Dogs & Cats | Lemongrass

Active Ingredients:
✅ Lemongrass Oil
✅ Rosemary Oil
✅ Cedarwood Oil

⬆️ All-natural essential oils that kill and repel pests!

Each ingredient, including every essential oil, is vet approved to ensure safe concentrations for your pet.

🛒Get it here: https://drjudymorgan.com/products/kin-kind-flea-tick-spray-for-dogs-cats?_pos=1&_sid=b62676003&_ss=r

30/04/2023

Learn more about coyotes and how to avoid coyote-human conflict.

28/04/2023

✂️ Trimming your dog's nails can be a stressful experience ... but it doesn't have to be. You need to start preparing for nail trimming weeks in advance ... by making nail trimming “quality time” with your dog.

Days or weeks before you even bring out the clippers, start massaging and holding your dog's paws ... and give lots of cuddles and treats. And when it's time to do some trimming, keep the treats handy. And if you can only do 1 or 2 nails at a time, that's okay. Soon you may be able to progress to an entire paw ... and then all 4. Just keep the stress level low ... for both of you.

🐾 With a lot of patience and a positive attitude, your pup will start associating the clippers and nail trimming with treat time and snuggles.

Click here to read how to trim your dog's toenails.
https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/trimming-your-dogs-toenails/

28/04/2023

TELL ME WHEN I GET IT RIGHT!

Imagine this – You work for someone who continually reprimands you. You never know from one day to the next if there is anything this person is happy with, because the only feedback you receive from them is what you are doing wrong – it’s all just so negative!

You are never thanked for a job well done, never given any positive feedback, recognition or encouragement.

This leaves you feeling demotivated, confused, insecure and unhappy. You have no idea what this person really expects of you or wants from you.

Surely you must be doing something right, some of the time? If only you had more feedback about what that was – you could do more of that and you would both be in a happier place.

We often treat our dogs this way, only focusing or providing feedback on the “wrong” behaviour and neglecting to provide feedback and encouragement for the “right” behaviour.

Rewarding, reinforcing and encouraging a dog for whatever they are doing right is an effective, scientifically proven way to communicate, teach, create trust, build confidence, security and build a strong bond in a positive, force-free way.

Just like us, when a dog does something that results in something good happening, they’re far more likely to keep repeating that behaviour.

Reinforcement or rewards don’t always have to be food or treats – it all depends on what that particular dog finds more rewarding – lots of praise, a favourite toy, playing a game or anything else a dog really enjoys can be rewarding.

Keep telling your dog when they get it right and very soon, they will be doing less of the wrong thing and more of the right thing.

Stop focusing on the unwanted behaviour and communicate to your dog that they are getting it right by rewarding the behaviour you are looking for.

01/04/2023

How sneaky 😂 (credits: off the leash)

01/04/2023

Flea season is coming. Try this all-natural repellent to keep fleas (as well as ticks, mosquitoes and other pests) at bay! 👍🐕

For more tips to protect your pet from pests, visit our new website: http://bit.ly/3TBP2kC

01/04/2023

🐶 Excess copper in processed dog food is causing liver damage in dogs. Is your dog one of them?

Copper levels in dogs' livers has more than doubled in just 13 years. A 2021 Cornell University study found 58% of liver biopsies had inflammatory liver disease and more than 400 mcg/gram copper concentration.

So more than half the dogs they looked at had copper toxicity ... and the problem is rising! And too much copper can cause inflammatory liver disease.

⚠️ Here are some of the signs:
🔸 Loss of appetite
🔸 Weight loss
🔸 Vomiting or diarrhea
🔸 Increased thirstIncreased urination
🔸 Confusion or an unstable walk
🔸 Weakness
🔸 Seizures
🔸 And once you see signs of liver disease, it's already progressed and you need to take action.

BUT YOU'RE NOT TO BLAME. Slowly, dog food manufacturers have been adding more copper ... and they probably don't even realize it.

Here's why you'll find too much copper in dog food:
🔸 Synthetic pre-mixes are used to return nutrients to processed dog food
🔸 Too much liver is added to foods
🔸 AAFCO required manufacturers to use copper sulfate with higher bioavailability ... even when there were no reports or concerns of copper deficiencies
🔸 More copper rich foods like liver, fish, seafood, chickpeas and sweet potatoes are 🔸 being added to recipes
🔸 Grain-free foods use high amounts of sweet potatoes and chick peas that are needed as starches in their processing

And it's easy for these levels to rise in dogs as they need very little copper ... and copper deficiency is relatively unheard of ... so there's no need to add it to dog food.

⚠️ Pet food manufacturers are not required to reveal the amount of copper in the Guaranteed Analysis. So if you want to know how much copper is in your dog's food, you need to ask them. The amount of copper should be somewhat close to the minimum levels of 7.3 mg/kg for adults or 12.4 mg/kg for puppies.

If your dog food maker can’t tell you how much copper is in the food, buy from a company that will!

Click here to read more about copper toxicity in dogs.
https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/copper-in-dog-food/

01/04/2023

Tick season is here !

Prevention is key, talk to your vet about tick prevention!

http://ow.ly/hMQY50InqAw

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/lyme-pamphlet.html

27/03/2023

ARE YOU WORTH COMING BACK TO?

There are many reasons why dogs don’t come back when you want them to. A dog’s genetics play a big role in this when an environment is far more stimulating and exciting and listening and coming back to you disappear into the background as genetic instinct takes over.

An exciting scent or seeing something to chase can all override a response to you.

Genetics aside, a common reason why dogs don’t come back when called is because it’s not a positive experience for them.

I often cringe when I watch owners trying to get their dogs to come to them when they call.
They call and call and get increasingly angry and frustrated as their dog keeps ignoring them.

When their dog eventually does come back, or has been chased and "captured” by their owner, they get screamed at, yanked about, smacked or punished in some way for taking so long and not listening. Why would a dog want to return to someone who does this to them!

Make coming back to you worth it by always making it a rewarding experience.

Have a little patience if it takes longer than you would like, let your dog finish what they’re doing before calling them, practice in different locations and environments and never reprimand or punish them for coming back.

There is never a guarantee of a perfect recall each and every time, but making it rewarding will greatly improve the rate of success.

21/03/2023

21/03/2023

Good information from ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center !!! ☣️

21/03/2023

Scrolling through your feed with a green thumb? We might not be able to stop your dog from digging in the yard, but we can help keep your garden pet-friendly with these gardening tips 🧑‍🌾🐶

19/03/2023

19/03/2023

Tick bites can often be difficult to detect. Signs of a tick borne disease may not be apparent until 7-21 days after a tick bite, so it is important to check your pets for ticks everyday, especially after they have spent time outdoors. If you find a tick please submit a photograph to the Alberta Submit-a-Tick program via the eTick program: https://www.alberta.ca/lyme-disease-tick-surveillance.aspx

19/03/2023

Friendly PSA! Laser toys, while they seem fun, can actually stress your dog out. If you want a fun alternative, try “fishing pole” style chase toys-your pet can jump and “catch” the toy but you still get to bounce it around and make them work for it!

19/03/2023

Baby bottle brushes from dollar stores or a tooth brush are great to use to clean the inside.

We ❤️ our Kongs

19/03/2023

TRIGGER STACKING – WHEN BEHAVIOUR HAPPENS “OUT OF THE BLUE”
We’ve all had those days when nothing seems to go right and one frustrating thing after another happens, leaving us feeling wound up, stressed and ready to explode at the next unsuspecting person who dares to ask us something. This “unsuspecting” person may think we have a serious behaviour problem or need anger management coaching, when the truth is that we’ve just had a really bad day and don’t usually behave like this at all.

Dogs are no different and a behaviour that seems completely out of character or happens “out of the blue” is often caused by “trigger stacking”.

A trigger may be anything that increases a dog’s stress levels and has a negative impact on their emotional, mental or physical state. These may be small things that we may not even notice or seem insignificant to us, but they are all adding to an increasing “stack” of things that may end in a “trigger”.

When stress levels reach a certain point, the next stressful event, however small, may cause a reaction that is completely unexpected.

Instead of just focusing on a particular behaviour and seeing it as a problem that needs to be prevented, take a step backwards, look at the bigger picture, look at events, circumstances or environmental factors that may have played a role in causing that particular behaviour.

Being aware of potential stressors and allowing your dog time to decompress, relax and unwind can often make all the difference between “normal behaviour” and a behaviour that seems completely out of character.

11/03/2023

⚠️ If your dog isn't feeling well and has loose stools, rice is the LAST thing you want to give him. It's true he needs fiber to absorb excess fluids and nutrients to replace the ones he’s lost ... but rice has neither!

Here's why you should avoid rice for your dog ...

🍚 Arsenic Is Common In Rice
Health effects from arsenic include cancer, vascular disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, neurotoxicity and reduced brain function. Arsenic is in pesticides and herbicides, wood preservatives, phosphate fertilizers, industrial waste … so it drains into the groundwater that feeds wells and irrigation systems. And rice appears to absorb more arsenic from water than other crops.

🍚 Rice Can Lead To Diabetes
A diet high in carbohydrates like rice increases the insulin demand in your dog, and that stresses the pancreas and can lead to diabetes … and today 1 in 300 dogs will get diabetes.

🍚 Rice Is Nutrient Poor
Rice is devoid of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. It’s a carbohydrate and dogs don’t need carbs. They survived for thousands of years on other animals, fats and plant materials like berries and grasses.

🍚 More Rice Means Less Meat
When there’s rice in dog food, that means there’s less meat in the formulation and dogs need MEAT to make essential amino acids like taurine. And rice often outweighs other ingredients and can lead to weight gain and diabetes.

🍚 Rice Isn’t Natural Food For Dogs
Like wheat, corn and barley, rice isn’t found in an edible state so it needs to be processed. Wild dogs don't forage in rice or wheat fields ... they're looking for the henhouse.

So really, rice isn’t nice … for your dog.

Click here to read more about reasons to avoid rice.
https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/can-dogs-eat-rice/

11/03/2023

Professional Bylaw Officers from Calgary Humane Society paid us a visit today and we are pleased to report that they had no concerns about the health or care of our puppies!

Neither of the bylaw officers had been in our store before, so it was a pleasure to show them our healthy, happy puppies, and to take them behind the scenes into our professional kennel operations.

We provided copies of our adoption questionnaire, our health and development warranty, and our aftercare protocol to ensure that the puppy is fitting in to its new home. They had the opportunity to examine our immaculate record keeping of puppy care, including all vaccinations and preventative health measures and our daily care charts that monitor all of our puppies health and development.

The bylaw officers asked great questions and were very thorough in their inspection of our store, our puppy care, & our homing protocols. So a Toast to the hard working folks at the Calgary Humane Society for ensuring the health and safety of the animals in our community!!!

www.thetopdogstore.com