The News at Home
It's May and our backyard is in bloom with tulips, hyacinths and greenery. Unfortunately, some of this greenery is what I call "the wild" because what used to be pretty ground cover in the flowerbeds now grows two feet high. We're working at taming the enthusiasm of the yard but in the meantime, the dogs are having a grand old time and Zoey's turned into a gardener. She found some dandelions and dug them right up from the root. What's more interesting is that Cassie has decided to eat these roots. Not the flower nor the leaves - only the root.

Cassie has a small liver and according to blood test results, it's functioning normally. Dandelion root is said to have properties that help liver function. Cassie chose to eat dandelion roots a few years ago and hasn't been interested in them since. I added a dandelion supplement to her diet at that time and her behavior stopped cold. Coincidence? Maybe, but I think I'll try it again this year.

What's New at monicasegal.com
New Booklet: Feeding Older Dogs

A new booklet, Feeding Older Dogs, is now available at www.monicasegal.com. This addition to our Writings section addresses common questions and concerns that owners of canine senior citizens worry about. Offering explanations of the known process of aging, debunking myths, suggestions for managing health concerns such as arthritis, kidney problems and more, this reading material is suited to dog owners feeding a home-prepared diet.

In response to growing demand for booklets, I'm pleased to announce that we are now offering bundled packages at great savings. Our 3-pack, 6 pack and book with 2 booklets are a great way to select the information that applies to your dog and helps to build your library of personal interest.

All material in the Writings section, helps to support our selected charities, Hemopet and Animal Trackers, through a portion of sales.

Myth of the Month: Regular Salmon Oils and Wild Salmon Oils Are Equal
I would never include regular salmon oil in the diets of my family and this certainly includes our dogs! Wild Salmon Oil is a superior product. Here's the scoop:

The Environmental Working Group released reports in July of 2003 that involved the most extensive tests known. The study was focused on cancer causing PCB levels. Seven out of every ten farmed salmon were so contaminated with PCBs that warnings of cancer risk concerns were made public by newspapers and newscasters on television and radio.

Farmed salmon are fed with foods such as ground fishmeal and oils that are high in PCB concentrations. "FDA could not have predicted the rise of the farmed salmon industry when it set its PCB safety standard decades ago," said EWG Vice President for Research Jane Houlihan. "The industry's growth has been rapid and unexpected, but it is having a real public health consequence." The Environmental Working Group is recommending that people consume wild salmon rather than farmed salmon.

The fat in wild salmon is richer in healthy Omega 3 fatty acids than farmed salmon fat. Wild salmon contains as much mercury as the farmed variety and is considered to be "brain-safe". "We are certainly not telling people not to eat fish. ... We're telling them to eat less farmed salmon," said David Carpenter of the University at Albany, N.Y., who led the new research.

Obviously, the oil that is derived from either farmed or wild salmon can be vastly different. Providing our dogs with Omega 3 fatty acids can be done much more safely be ensuring that high quality, Wild Salmon Oil is being fed.

To read more about this subject, visit:

www.ewg.org/reports/faremdPCBs/part2.php

www.ewg.org/reports/farmedPCBs/part4.php

www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A733-2004Jan8?language=printer

www.sptimes.com/2004/01/09/Worldandnation/Wild_salmon_safer_tha.shtml

Safety Tip of The Month
Dogs manage to get in to all kinds of things. From nosing around in the garden to learning how to open cupboard doors, they challenge us to become more knowledgeable about harmful substances or risk their health and maybe even their lives.

Since the gardening season is upon us and so many people fill their yards and homes with plants, here's a list to consider. This is far from complete and a knowledgeable employee of a gardening center can guide you. Ask them for a list of plants that are toxic to both cats and dogs because roaming cats wander into yards too.

Common Plants Toxic to Dogs
Azaleas
Bleeding Hearts
Buttercups
Daffodil bulbs
Dieffenbachia
English Ivy
Foxglove
Iris
Lantana
Lilly Of The Valley
Lobelia
Rhubarb
Wisteria
Yew
Oleander
Mistletoe and Holly

Until Later…

Monica

"Ever consider what they must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earths
-- Anne Tyler