Pimples usually occur on younger dogs, however, bigger dogs such as Mastiffs tend to get them regularly throughout their adulthood. Pimples can appear at any part of the body but most commonly found around the the face area—chin, upper lips, and nose.

As to why dog have pimples, there are many reasons to it:

• Usually it is caused by a bacterial infection, which get trapped under the skin inside a blocked oil gland.
• It may occur when normal scatting irritates hair follicles and causes inflammation of the glands.
• Dogs with excess oil secretion have a genetic tendency to develop pimples.
• Just like humans, it can also be caused by allergies or hormones that are out of balance.

When dog pimples burst, the result is a lot worse than you can image. The contents can eat into the skin and cause a secondary infection. Hence, it is best to take a proactive approach when there are only one or three pimples found. If you notice several pimples bursting at once and causing your dog great pain and itch, do not delay, get to the vet as soon as possible.

What Are To Be Avoided:

To Squeeze or Not To: In most cases, it’s best to avoid squeezing. I know it can be very tempting to squeeze out the pus, avoid it if you don’t know how “ripe” the pus is. Furthermore, squeezing pimples can be a very painful experience for your dog. If the pus isn’t ripe and you intend to squeeze it (that if your dog doesn’t mind the pain for 2 seconds), you may cause infected material to spread beneath the skin and causing it a deeper infection.

Acne Cream: Although there are many drug store products formulated for human do help aid common canines aliments, however, in the case of acne or pimple creams this does not apply. These products use harsh chemical or medications hence it’s not advisable to use it on our dogs to control or eliminate pimples. It would probably worsen the situation.

Plastic: This is a very rare case, few dogs do get allergy reaction to plastic and will break out in pimples when their faces touch the bowls. You might want to change their food and water bowl to ceramic or metal. Honestly, I won’t put high hope on going this route but it’s worth a shot to root out all possibilities.

7 Natural Remedies To Zip Out Pimples on Dogs

Heat Pad: Similar to our facial regime—a facial stream before extracting blackheads—we apply heat to the affected area but without squeezing the pimple. Heat will help to open blocked pore and increase circulation making it easier to flush out the pus. Apply warmth cotton pad on the affected area for few minutes or until it turns cool. Do this twice daily preferably before bed and nap time.

Anti-bacterial Shampoos: Or hypoallergenic pet shampoos, by using these shampoos will help open blocked pores and allow pimples to heal more quickly. I won’t recommend using it on a daily basis if your dog has pimples all over the body; doing so will strip off his natural coat oil resulting more skin problems then you begin with. Unless it stated clearly on the label that daily use is okay otherwise avoid it. Having said, shampoo their face daily especially breeds with pendulous lips (e.g. Great Dane) or have flat face (e.g. Pekingese). These breeds often get food stuck in between their facial folds and these leftovers are prefect breeding ground for bacteria.

Aloe Vera: Aloe vera gel, be it from plant or formulated ones found in the drugstore, is not an ingredient that will eliminate pimple—far from it. However, aloe vera gel does help ease the discomfort caused by the painful pimple. After you wash the infected area with or without anti-bacterial shampoo, apply the area in gentle circular movement with your clean fingers.

Spayed/Neutered: If your dog tends to get pimple on a regular even if you clean your dog thoroughly after every meal, generally this is due to hormones imbalance. The best way out is to have your dog spayed or neutered. That said, it isn’t foolproof that your dog will never develop any pimple thereafter. Rather it’s a case to case basis, however, it will dramatically reduce the amount and frequency; and will any luck, zero pimple for good.

Echinacea: Echinacea is a perennial herb, commonly use in many herbal medicines to aid aliments such as reduce inflammation and infections in dogs and humans. It is given orally either in table or liquid form. You can find them in health food stores or at any holistic or some traditional veterinary clinics. Check with your vet for the proper dosage for your breed. Alternatively, you can try homoeopathy approach using Newton Homeopathics Skin Care to relief of itching and pain associated with eczema, pimples, hives, mange, and other skin eruptions.

Calendula: Like Echinacea, Calendula is a also a perennial herb commonly use as herbal remedy to quell skin infections and speed healing. Calendula is a concentrated tinture. The way to use it is to soak a cotton pad in the tincture mixture (tinture to water ratio is 1:1) and squeeze out the excess. Then apply it to the sore area and hold it for about 3 minutes twice daily. If this sounds too much work for you, try Animals’ Apawthecary FidoDerm Herbal Spray—an all-natural herbal remedy. Not only it rids the pimple away it also soothes the skin as it has aloe ingredients in it.

DermaIonX: DermaIonX is a proprietary of homeopathic complex. It isn’t a pimple or acne solution supplement per se, however, it does help to relief many types of skin irritation and also promote healthy and strong skin. From personal experience, this liquid supplement has solved my Kiki’s, a sprayed Silky Terrier, occasional pimple outbreak and skin rashes. Ever since I put her on DermaIonX, she has been pimple- and rashes-free for the past six months.

Whichever remedy you decided to employ, keep in mind that clean environment plays a great part to keep the outbreak at bay.

From your description, I’m quite positive that your dog hasn’t broken his tail. To begin with, a broken tail can be flaccid and lifeless if there is nerve injury to the tail. It may also be swelling at the site of the fracture.

Furthermore, a broken tail is painful on touch and movement and your dog can be reluctant or unable to wag his tail at all. If you try to lift his supposedly broken tail to examine, your dog may yelp or even bite you. In some instances, defecation can be difficult in some dogs if they cannot lift their tail to poop—some owners often misunderstood this as constipation.

I would suggest a trip to your local veterinary clinic. An x-ray together with a physical examination by the veterinarian and history of trauma to the tail will help confirm the diagnosis and rule out other medical causes. Spinal and nerve problems environment influences or other medical conditions that affect the mood of the dog can also result in your dog wagging his tail less vigorously.

Also do watch out for any other signs of illness like lethargy, decrease in appetite, and/or depression. Make sure you leave nothing of this information out when consulting your veterinarian.

GollyGear

Was it me or do you feel that winter comes a little early this year? It’s only beginning of December and I’m already feeling the icy wind. Can you image how fido (especially for those smooth-, short-, and single-coated dogs) would feel without any clothing to keep him warm during these cold seasons.

Keeping your dog at home all day long until Spring comes or crank up your heating system isn’t a feasible solution or environmental friendly to say the very least.

Here are two chic sweaters for your little pooch—Dublin Knit (top) and Houndstooth. There are 4 different sizes from teacup to medium. Both sweaters are made of acrylic hence they are sold at a very reasonable price range from $10 (xxs) to $21 (medium). To sweeter the deal, GollyGear is having a 10% off on any order. Code: joyjoy. Expiry date Jan 5, 2010.

Don’t let the chill keep your dog from having fun this winter. Go out and go out in style!

MegaCalendars and Calendars

Before you kiss goodbye 2009, you would want to welcome 2010 with these adorable dog calendars. There are many types of calendars to choose from; such as desk, wall, and address book calendars. Of course not forgetting the evergreen individual dog breed calendars or the bestselling assorted dogs calendars.

Who should you it from?

Both MegaCalendar.com and Calendars.com don’t differ much when it comes to prices or maybe half a dollarish cheaper in Calendars.com for some less popular dog calendars.

Navigation wise, again Calendars.com seems to be a bit easier when you want an overview on all the dog calendars. Having said, if you do know exactly which dog breed you want to be your 2010 calendar then both are equally easy to navigate using their search tool.

As for selections, MegaCalendars.com has more but most, if not all, are on individual breeds. Whereas Calendars.com has both assorted and individual dog breeds calendars.

Currently only Calendars.com has these promos:

• Free shipping on any order. Code: AF1109FS01
• One Day Only. 15% off on any order + free shipping. Code: EM120915 ( valid on Dec 8 )
• DogBreedStore: 20% off + free shipping on orders of $25 and more. EM1109DBS20 ( expires Dec 9 )

At the end of the day, it voices down to which kind of calendar would best suit your needs. But one can’t deny that 365 Dogs Page-A-Day Desk Calendar is a must-have whether or not you have other favorites. There are 313 pages of glorious color photographs including short health care tips, quotes, breed facts, trivia, and lore. It’s sold at $12.99 (before discount) at calendars.com.

Care4Hire: Petsitter and other care services

For those who are traveling home (me, for example) to celebrate these festival gatherings and unable to bring our precious with us, one of the best options is to get a petsitter.

Currently, Care4Hire is offering a free 14 day trial not just for pet parents looking for pet-sitters but also for families seeking for babysitting, elderly care, housekeeping, and tutoring services. Upon signing up, you get immediate access to caregivers’ profile with detailed characteristics, experience, availability including pictures. You also can post a profile to caregivers listing your detailing needs, hours, and expectations.

After the free 14 day trial, and should you decided to stay on, Care4Hire online matching database service fee is either $79/year or $9.99/month in addition to $34.99 one-time payment for the first month.

Wysong: Holiday Stockings

The best way to a dog’s heart is through his stomach. Not just any dog food/treats but Wysong’s. And not just for your dog but all your friends’ and families’.

One of the best Christmas gifts for dogs and cats this year is Wysong Holiday Stockings. Each stocking contains:

• 1 Bag of Dog Treats ($0.99)
• 1 Small Bag of Dream Treats ($2.89)
• 2 Single Dream Treats (0.69 ea.)
• 2 Pouches of UnCanny (2.09 ea.)
• 1 Au Jus Turkey 5.5 oz can ($1.79)

and along with lots of free Wysong health information and product literature! Read my review if you’re new to Wysong’s line of dog foods. All these items (valued at $11.23) in each stocking are priced at $9.99 + $5.00 S/H. What will make this deal even sweeter is to use my special coupon code SMALLDOG18 and get 18% off the sale price. It may not be much for one stocking but with 5 stockings (WS limits to 5 stocking per order due to high demand) it comes close to $9 off of the total sales price.

DogTagArt: Dog Tags

If dog food as gift isn’t your cup of tea and you want to make a strong and lasting statement, may I suggest DogTagArt’s dog tags. These aren’t your regular plain dog tags that wears off easily or get chewed into pieces. DogTagArt’s dog tag is a combination of unique Art design (designed by a list of artists…and it could be you) and made of indestructible material—tags are guaranteed never to wear out (check out their train test video here).

They have slightly over two hundred designs to choose from. Prices range from $9 to $14.95. You do get $2.00 off when you use this coupon code: HOLIDAY2OFF!. It’s valid until this Dec 25th. Any other promo offers by DogTagArt, please check out my pet coupon page.

Ever since, I always make sure my dogs’ needs and gifts are in the top priority. I start shopping for their gifts and treats as early as 1st week of November to avoid disappointment. This year is no otherwise.

Let’s start things off with offers from now to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and gradually leading up to Christmas.

OnlyNaturalPet: 3 Days Sale

Just received ONP last minute information so I thought I casually mention their 3 Days Only Sale (now to Nov 22nd) – 15% on all ONP products if you can catch the deal. They have quite a big range of house brand products that you can find it here (best sellers) and here (sale items). Two worthy mentioned products are ONP Pure Salmon Oil and ONP Super Daily Canine Multi-Vitamin.

All the discounted prices are listed as it is, no coupon code needed.

PetNutritionProducts: Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deal

Not exactly something most of us pet parents would get for our companions this Christmas, but it never hurts to get some essentials stock up. And since PNP offers a special Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal—10% site wide in addition to their many existing discounted items, all the more reasons to shop at PNP. Some worthy essentials are:

• Brewers Yeast supplement ($7.39, 1000 chewables). Read my earlier articles on the importance of supplementing our dogs here.
• Natural Balance Dog Food Roll trial size beef or lamb ($24.69, 36 x 2.75 oz). Most commonly used as training treats, but it need not be for this holiday season especially training lessons will be minimized or postponed.
• Oatmeal Shampoo ($3.69, 16oz or $8.34, 48oz). Need I say more why you should shampoo your dog preferably before in-laws come over for Thanksgiving?

While you at it , don’t forget to throw Dental Breath Mints ($3.70, 40 tables) into the cart before check out. You don’t want your guests be turned off by your dog’s breath when he greets them at the door!

All prices mentioned above are before the 10% discount. This offers is valid from Nov 27th to Nov 30th. No coupon code needed.

PetCareRX: Now to Cyber Monday

One of the most affordable pet pharmacy (prescription and non-prescription) store online. Some of their worthy mention are Advantage Flea Killer and Frontline Plus which can be found here. They have different offers on different days but the best offers would be Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

• Nov 23rd – 26th: 15% off orders over $50
• Nov 27th (Black Friday): 25% off ALL orders!
• Nov 28th – 29th: $10 off orders of $35 or more
• Nov 30th (Cyber Monday): 25% off ALL orders!

In addition to the above offers, you’ll receive free shipping on orders over $35.

Being the holiday season, I will be posting more special dog supply deals in 3 or more segments, so keep your eyes peeled. Also, don’t forget to check out my pet coupon and exclusive coupon pages for more updates.

Unlike most canine massage books which usually filled with long text and/or illustrations, this book is rather thin—109 pages long but not in any way lack of quality or pertinent content. Personally, I think manual book such as canine massage should be concise with easy-to-follow steps and explanations, and that’s what the authors did. It is a no fluff book and can be put to immediate use after an hour read.

Although the book clearly states it is a guide book, it’s more than that—a quarter of it is workbook, consists about two to six questions each related to the topic that just covered. Some of the questions are not targeted to the massage experience with your dog per se, rather it questions your massage experience on yourself. For example on the chapter on strokes: vibration,

Practice on your thigh by starting with a compression stroke. Hold briefly and then begin to let your hand tremble. Imagine that you are tricking the muscle into relaxation! How did it feel?

For most of us, inexperience dog owners/therapists, may not know how much pressure should be employed when working on our dogs; so by doing on ourselves we have the first-hand experience of our own “medicine” and also to gauge the comfortability of different pressure and stroke.

One of my favorite sections of the book is chapter eight: Common Dog Group: Their history, stress areas and massage emphasis (seen on the right). It a brief overview of what are the common injuries (stress areas) of 77 dog breeds and the antidotes (massage emphasis) to decrease the chances of injury should the dog perform more intense and strenuous activities than his normal routines.

I understand perfectly why this section may not be of a greater value to owners with only one dog—or a few dogs of the same breed—where the dog’s daily routine is confined to four-walls activities with bare minimum physical exertion. The least you could get out of this 7-pages is a better understanding of your dog breed’s stress areas (that if you haven’t know it yet) and the massage emphasis for him to enjoy the many benefits of massage therapy even if he is a couch potato.

As to why I like this section isn’t because I have two different breeds under my care rather I see it as an added benefit for my clients. Of course, not all the dogs that come for their regular grooming session are performance dogs but I’m certain 60% of them are doing some sort of moderate exercises daily. So it wouldn’t hurt to give all of them (almost…as some of dogs aren’t accustomed to being touched in a structured and rhythmic movement) a 3-minutes massage therapy as a thank-you service.

Regardless, this book is a must-have for any dog owner (be it canine performance enthusiast or laid back pet parent) who is into holistic therapeutic treatment of a stressed or “sick” dog.

I would like to leave you with this beautiful phrase extracted from Linda’s bio.

The truth is, my dogs don’t know the meaning of petting because all touch has become massage. My dogs continue to teach me about temperament, strokes, timing, ambience and scents as well as when or where to stretch them.

I couldn’t agree more, the true teacher is our dogs. This book is the fundamental guide to canine massage. With regular practices and attentive awareness to our dogs’ responses, only then we can fully appreciate the art of canine massage.

On the same note, Linda has an audio book (Giving Back: A Guided Canine Massage) that is pretty much similar to the book. When I received the complimentary copies of the book and CD, both were sold in Amazon. The CD was sold in a downloaded MP3 format at $0.99 (which I think it was a steal), lasts about 27 minutes.

I don’t know what is the deal now, Amazon carries only the book.

Updates: For more information about the book and CD or even courses on canine massage conducted by Linda Jackson, please visit her websites: http://www.centreforacupuncture.com and http://www.caninemassagebook.com

I’m not a big fan of dressing up dogs but for Halloween and other important festivals, I make it an exception.

I know some of you may think I’m way too early to be promoting Halloween costumes; you might want to rethink for all I know Halloween starts early this year. And if you have small dogs under 6lbs, you’d better start your Halloween costume shopping now. Don’t be a fool like me; last year I waited until the week before Halloween to get costume for my dogs and they all ended up wearing the same kind of costume—the puppy wings, (friends and relatives already had a hard time differentiating my seven Maltese and to see all of them wearing the same costume made it even harder for them to give extra treats to their favorites) because this was the only small-sized costume left unsold. I can’t never understand why pet costume manufacturers don’t make enough variety of costume for small dogs (neck size 9″ or smaller).

Costume Discounters and Halloween Mart

There are two online pet costume stores which I patronize; they are Costume Discounters and HalloweenMart. Almost all the prices for pet costumes (except for two) at CostumeDiscounters are slightly lower as compare to HalloweenMart.

When comes to maneuvering around the sites, HalloweenMart categorizes the costumes better—general dogs, holiday dogs, spooky dogs, storybook dogs, superhero dogs. If you haven’t decided on the theme or type of costume you are going to get for your dog, then CostumeDiscounters would be a easier as you get to view all their pet costumes on one web page (FYI, when comes to viewing individual costume, avoid using Safari browser as the size selection texts go out of the page alignment, best view them in Firefox and Window browsers).

In terms of varieties, HalloweenMart has 57 pet costumes while CostumeDiscounters has 54 as of this writing. There are only 8 pet costumes that are repeated on both stores—Daisy Bee, School Puppy, Zelda Prisoner, Rockstar, Zelda Queen, Pom Pom Pup, Rider Jockey Harness, Witch Hat with Hair. Therefore there are
103 varieties of pet costume for you to choose from.

Of the 103 varieties, you will notice both stores carry quite a few similar pet costumes and yet not identical. One example is the Doggie Devil from CostumeDiscounters (top 3 popular pet costume) and Red Devil from HalloweenMart (which I got for my Silky, Kiki). Basically, they are from different designers.

If you intend to get Daisy Bee (one of most popular pet costumes) and Rockstar, you might want to get it from HalloweenMart. Daisy Bee is priced at $14.99 at HalloweenMart whereas CostumeDiscounters is selling at $15.99. For the Rockstar costume, there’s a $3 difference. You could, however, get Daisy Bee for $11.99 from CostumeDiscounters if you would to purchase from them. It’s stated on their website…(The lowest costume prices…guaranteed! If you find the identical costume elsewhere on the internet, we will match the costume price plus take off an additional 20%, details here.).

As I was saying about the costume variety for smaller dogs, they are quite limited; so it would be wise to start shopping now in order to avoid disappointment. I’m only going to list those costumes for small dogs with neck size between 5″ to 10″ that are available as of this writing. Happy Shopping!

My Picks for 2009 Halloween Dog Costumes are:

• Lil Ballerina, $17.97
• Giraffe, $17.97
• Rider Jockey, $18.97 (currently out of stock at both stores)
• Rider Mailman, $18.97
• Hound of Hell, $11.97
• Dogula, $16.99
• Ghost Boppers, $7.97 (currently out of stock)

Update: Just found another cheap (especially for those x-small sizes, good news to small dogs) Halloween dog costume online store—OhMyDogSupplies. FYI, there’s additional 10% off or $10 off discount, please check out my coupon page for details.

Though they have only 32ish dog costumes, but there are a few unique ones and other old-time favorites (e.g. Dinosaur and Hot Doggy). Prices ranging from $14.95 to $25ish. Most of the costumes are pretty “wrapped up,” I think they are more suitable for dogs living in cooler climates during this Halloween season.

Since piglet as pet is so in now, but you don’t intend to adopt one, I highly recommend the pig costume as a way to disguise it. This costume costs only $16.46 for all sizes.

My other favorite costumes for this store are:

• the Skunk, $16.45
• the Spider, $16.45
• the Pumpkin, $17.95
• the Chimp, $17.95
• the Shark Attack, $14.95 out of stock

For those of you who have trouble getting your dog to wear the costume for more than 2 minutes but don’t want to miss out the fun, here’s an alternative. Get the Halloween Doggies 4 Pack ($29.65), and have it attached to the leash or collar. So if any of your neighbor refuses to give treats to your dog because he’s not wearing a costume, show them anyone of these Halloween Doggies and say that this is passive participation under special circumstance!

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Got Rid of PC and Got an iMac

I had always wanted to switch to a Mac for almost two years but I kept holding on to PC OS because of some software I use. Having said, I had enough of reformatting my PC every six to nine months which took up quite considerably amount of my time, hence I got a iMac.

I thought my problems (computer hiccups) would be solved once I made that switch (I’ve high expectations for Mac) but no, it didn’t, at least for the first 6 six days I have my iMac. Too many Mac voodoos especially after I installed the Snow Leopard. I practically had to call Mac support everyday (some days twice) to solve some mysterious OS hangs and hardware malfunction. There was no work done at all last week, and I got to the point of pulling my hair out. Finally, I told the Apple reseller to replace me a new iMac, which they agreed; thankfully. However, I have to wait about a week or two for my replacement because mine comes with a numeric keyboard instead of the standard (short) one.

This pretty much explains one of the reasons why the quietness around here for the past 13 days. Hopefully by later this week I would have my new iMac and get my Adobe Creative Suite 4 installed, I should be up and running early next week. Meanwhile, I’ll work on what I have currently and hope to get one or two short posts written and answer as many emails as I can.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

I could further explain my points but you’ll get the most benefit by reading these articles (including critiques on industry propaganda) here. As you weave through their 100 over articles you will notice one core principle, that’s Wysong makes no claim of any kind (despite many mass marketed pet food companies firmly making such a claim) indicating theirs is a 100% complete diet. To further illustrate, here’s an excerpt from one of Wysong’s lits on feeding ideas for our pets in obtaining optimal health.

• Begin today giving your pet fresh foods in variety. Introduce small amounts of meat chunks, organ meats, raw bones, cheese, yogurt, grated veggies and fruits…the possibilities are endless and very exciting for your pet. (Every nutrient in the universe does not have to be in every meal.) Healthy table scrapes are fine too provided they are not scraps from junk food. (More complete details are found in Dr. Wysong’s popular book, The Truth About Pet Foods.)
• As an alternative and for variety you can purchase frozen foods and dried non-thermally processed foods. Wysong Archetype is a good choice.
• Canned and dried processed foods can be rotated into the diet. Choose products based on the credibility and motives of the company since every manner of misleading claim can be made.
• Supplement heat-processed foods with appropriately designed products that add life back to the food. Fresh and raw foods can be also benefit from the appropriately designed supplements. Wysong Biotics (AddLife, C-Biotic, Biotic pH+, Biotic pH-) are a good choice.
• Give your pet fun exercise, pure water, fresh air and sun every day plus big doses of that most important of all life ingredients…love.

I do not know of any other pet food company would not to promote their line of products given such opportunity. Clearly, you can see Wysong is in the business for healthy reasons—very well excogitate philosophy, not just mere profit gains considering how lucrative the pet industry is.

Wysong Dog Introductory Pack

When Wysong stated that they would send samples of their products and information to their affiliates, I gladly grab the opportunity. Never did I expect to receive such a generous sample pack—Dog Introductory Pack. Keep in mind, I’m not under any obligation to write positive review, or any review for that matter, if their products don’t warren one. I chose to write because I personally try them on my dogs, even tasted a few meals myself, and saw the many health benefits my dogs gain from eating the foods and supplements.

A brief introductory for those who are new to Wysong pet products: Wysong dog foods are not meant to be fed as a singular source of nutrition, they are meant to be rotated, not just in favor but in different types—dry food for example, rotating Maintenance with Senior, Synorgon, Anergen or even rotating Growth with Senior, Vegan and so on—as well as canned food and Archetype range. But since this review is on the introductory pack I would only review what it contains. Without further ado, here’s my review:

• Retail Price: $17.99
• Shipping cost: $9.99
• Coupon Code: SMALLDOG18
• Price after 18% off: $14.75

Wysong Dog Introductory Pack Contains:

4 lb. bag of Maintenance ($7.59): It’s a base kibble for adult dogs. Main ingredient is chicken. Unlike other brand kibbles, Wysong’s kibbles are rather small, approximately 0.6cm in diameter. I tasted many brands of kibbles before (seriously!) and rarely do I find one (maybe a couple competitive brands) that is as yummy as Wsyong’s. The smell is pleasantly piquant on its own, and when I slightly streamed the kibbles, it made it even more inviting. My dogs are moderate finicky eaters, they usually don’t ask for second servings but for Wysong’s, they do; unfortunately their requests are turn down! What I like most about feeding Wysong’s kibbles to my dogs is their “end result”—my dogs’ feces—they’re nicely formed, are neither too hard nor too soft, and most importantly, they don’t have funky smell. When my dogs eat well, poop well, I’m a very happy mom!
1 Small Bag of Dream Treats TNT ($2.89): These treats are 99% meat base. Although it’s meant to be given as treats, I personally find it a little bit too indulgence; reason being that it’s a rather big treat (1¾” in diameter and ½” thick) to be given to small dogs. I could spread over a few days, still it’s a bit cumbersome to break into small pieces; not to mention it’s a hard “biscuit.” Whatever I could break into bite-sizes, I gave as treats, the crumbs I use as supplement toppings.
2 Single Dream Treats TNT ($1.38/0.69ea.): If you would to rate base on appearance like many other dog treats in the market, Dream Treats will probably rank the lowest. But if you to base on the nutritional values, it’s rather unbeatable. Just looking at the ingredients used, it’s as good as any supplement for pets. Dream Treats comes in 3 sizes (single, small, and large) and three different favors (chicken, beef, and pheasant); the pheasant is the yummiest.
2 Pouches of UnCanny TNT ($4.18/2.09ea.): Part of the reasons I don’t go full-fledged on BARF because of its lack of accessibility, storage space required, and cost. But with UnCanny, it’s different. UnCanny is basically a canned food without the can and without the heat processing. Similar to any instant meal, but contains all the critical food components (prebiotics, probiotics, enzymes, omega-3, vitamins, and minerals) needed for your dog, just tear open and add water (may be warm but not above 118°F).  Although it states that one packet is a meal for one small dog, I find it a little too much for my Maltese and Silky. So the remaining I use as toppings for the following meal. Not surprising, both my dogs and I love the Seafood and the Beef & Egg. This is probably my one of my favorites, it’s very economical and will be ordering in cartons…for my dogs, of course!
1 Au Jus Turkey 5.5 oz can ($1.79): 95% meat, 5% organ diet. It comes in 6 flavors: beef, chicken, rabbit, duck, venison, and turkey. As you can see from the image, it doesn’t contain too much water which it is good. Many other brands of canned dog food are loaded with so much water or curvy that leaves little room for real meat. Can you imagine how shortchanged we are when we pay for the liquid instead of meat?

Although the total value added is $0.16 less than the actually amount you’d paid for (assuming you didn’t use my coupon code), however, you are more than compensated by their free samples and an copy of CD which is worth about $15.59 not including health and product literature. Except for the CD (The Master Key to Health) which is the actual retail price, the prices for the samples are derived from my calculation base on their retail price on ounce/milliliter basis—it’s just my guesstimate.

Free Samples and One CD:

1 Sample of Archetype TNT (3/4oz – $1.53): Archetype, unheated at any stage of production, is extreme concentrated (99+%) with meat protein (beef, chicken, livers, ground bone, etc.) and fresh, unadulterated “living” nutrients (organic quinoa sprouts, apples, wheat grass, dried kelp, collagen, proteoglycans, vitamins, chelated minerals, etc.). It’s hard to categorize Archetype because it can be used in many ways, as a singular meal, added mixture over regular meal, supplement, or treat. What I do is use the larger chunks as treats and the crumbles ones over the kibbles. What’s even more interesting is that Archetype can be fed in dry or soaked format, making it more versatile in preparing the meal. Because of its extreme palatability and super rich content, it’s idea for convalescing dogs who need a little weight gain or to restore appetite. For healthy dogs, I think it’s best to feed at least twice weekly which my dogs are currently on two-singular-meal per week.
1 Sample of DentaTreat (5ml – $0.48): A natural dentifrice which can be used to sprinkle over food, or be fed directly, or applied to the teeth. Since I have only 5ml of DentaTreat, I can’t test the effectiveness of it; however, I have to say it’s very tasty.
1 Sample of AddLife (10ml – $0.63): It’s a power supplement (contains whole, raw meat, and antioxidant properties of blueberries); its main function is to restore living food elements to any heat-processed dog food.
1 CD of The Master Key to Health (value of $12.95): An entertaining and thought-provoking relook at how health should be approached. Dr. Wysong wipes away all the modern assumptions on nutrition and health and with a clean slate logically rebuilds proper thinking. Duration: 52:25 minutes.

Free Health Information and Product Literature: Many of which can be found on their website.

• Rationale For Probiotics Supplementation: A 9-page article, pdf format at Wysong’s website
• Rationale For Enzyme Supplementation: A 8-page article, pdf format at Wysong’s website
• The Wysong Optimal Health Program – Wysong Prevent/Therapy Guide: A 2-page chart and diagram
• 22 Pet Food Fallacies: A 2-page article
• Does Your Pet Need a % of Something?: A 2-page article
• “I’m Confused”: A 2-page article
• How To Apologize To Your Pet: A small 25-page booklet, guide to using whole food for pets, recipes, and FAQs which can’t be found on their website
• Nutrition For Companion Animals: A 31-page product catalog
• Wysong Resource Book: A 31-page of human/animal product catalog
• Does American Owe An Apology To Its Pets?: A 6-page literature brochure

To say I’m a convert is an understatement. When I saw the improved health (especially my almost 16 years old Maltese, Zody), I couldn’t wait for my next order which I think it will be a huge one.

The only regret I have was not knowing about Wysong while I was exhibiting my show dogs. Sure, my dogs won a few championship titles during their prime years; but if they were on Wysong then I believe they could go much farther into their “senior” years.

You don’t have to believe what I’ve said or what you’ve read at Wysong’s website; what you could do is simply invest $14.75 and get your dog to verify the “claims”—by carefully watching and monitoring your dog’s health (coat, eyes, behavior, stool etc.). You already had invested a lot of money in dog food, supplements, and treats, so what’s another $14.75 for your dog to begin gaining great health.

If you are a fanatic on raw dog and cat food and want to save enough more bucks, I highly recommend Wsyong Raw Introductory Pack. Retail price is $47.99 (actual value $52.26{food} + $27.90: {Lits}) but with my 18% off coupon code you pay only $39.35.

Secrets To  Preparing Kibble-Meals for Finicky Dogs

I prepare the meals slightly differently. My secret is in the coat; specifically, the meat that coats the kibbles. It’s not that difficult as you think just a little more effort, that’s all. As you will notice in my recipes below, most call for some sort of liquid—be it soup, sauce, or paste.

Another secret I use is that I steam the meat-coated kibbles lightly. This allows the paste, soup, or sauce to work its way into the kibbles. To lightly steam the dish is to pre-steam the pot/wok/streamer, turn off the stove/streamer, and then put in the dish for a minute or 90 seconds. For some kibbles that are as hard as pebbles, you might want to leave it a longer in the streamer. To know if you’ve got the right texture for the streamed kibbles is to test it using your index finger and thumb. You should be able to make a slight indentation; and if you could easily squash them, it’s too soft. Most dogs hate mushy kibbles! Give it a final stir; add in supplement, if any, before you serve.

• Added Tip For Smart Super Finicky Dogs: In most cases, the two secrets are more than enough to trick you dog into eating his kibbles, however, there may come a time when you need to upgrade your scheming skill. If it’s called for, prepare as per suggested, garnish few shredded meat over the meat-coated kibbles, leave some shredded meat behind just in case your dog didn’t finish all the kibbles. If he does finish, good on him then reward him the remaining shredded meat for his good behavior.

How Should the Meat Be Shredded?

Most kibbles for small dogs are usually no bigger than a dime. In order to get the kibbles evenly coated, I shred it finely using a spoon to chop them up or manually shred them into thinly pieces.

As for the toppings, be more generous with the size. Microscopic pieces will be less appealing to your dog.

Please be warned, there is no turning back when these tips are implemented. Once your dog tasted real meat, getting to eat his plain kibbles is practically impossible. The only option is to turn to BARF diet or home cooked meals.

Ways Of Cooking for For Finicky Eaters

Dogs love food with piquant flavor, the more piquant it is, the better it works up your dog’s appetite. Some food maybe fetid to us but to dogs it’s a heavenly scent. So work up a strong piquant meal whenever you can.

Avoid Stew: I’m don’t fancy cooking stew for my dogs. Stew is meant to have curvy, and I don’t like kibbles soaking in it making them very soggy; unless you have a senior dog with no teeth otherwise avoid stew. It’s also a messy meal especially when you have dog with fairly long mustache. Like soup, the most nutritious values lies in the sauce, and it’s waste to throw away the excess curvy.

Chicken: You can have it boiled or stir-fried or grilled. Boiled will be the most easiest and convenient method.

• Boiled Chicken: The amount of water should be just enough to boil the chicken and vegetable (i.e. carrot, pumpkin, potato) with. If there is excess soup left, don’t throw it away as it can be used for the next cooking. If your dog likes it as it is, don’t change; if not, add a tiny pinch of sea salt to the soup (salt stimulate appetite).
• Stir-fried Chicken: It can be a little challenging to work out a decent sauce or paste for the stir-fried chicken if you have no broth to cook it with. I usually cook stir-fry chicken if I’m certain I have leftover chicken soup or sauce.
• Steamed Chicken: It’s not the most appealing dish to dogs, especially very finicky dogs. I rarely cook steamed chicken unless I incorporate it with Chinese herbs to bring the aroma or I need some tonic boost.
• Roasted Chicken: Dog loves roasted chicken because it’s juicy and tender, but it’s very unhealthy to eat it on a daily basis. Of course, you can treat your dogs on certain occasions. Just make sure you don’t coat the chicken with much oil or butter just as you would do for grilled chicken.

Fish: Both my dogs and I love fish. We could have it in every meal and never get sick of eating. Since there are so many types of fish available and many ways of preparing them, it’s rarely a problem to cook up delicious fish dish for your dog. Most dogs love fish because of its smell, all the more it’s easier to cook. Most of times I use sea bass, dory, pomfret (silver and black), sardine, eel, mackerel, red snapper, tuna, anchovy, and some other local fish. If my schedule is tight (which usually the case) or I’m too tired, I serve my dogs steamed sea bass or silver pomfret. The oil that used to steam the fish with makes the best “sauce” to coat the kibbles. But do so sparingly, you don’t want your dog consuming too much fats.

For sardine and tuna, I usually buy them in can (in water or oil) as backups. Anchovies are best eaten when they are deep-fried, however, they don’t coat the kibbles well. Or you can add anchovies (fried or raw) into the vegetable soup.

Beef: Dogs love beef, however, I don’t cook beef much mainly due to environmental factors. I would suggest use beef as your backup meat or special occasion.

Pork: This is one ingredient that you will never find in any dog food and yet many owners would occasionally give bits and pieces of pork to their dogs; me too. The one important thing is that you must thoroughly cook the meat (however way it is cooked) before giving it to your dog otherwise you can place them at greater risk for trichinosis. Please, no barbecue sauce over the pork chop! Pork without any spice or herbs is already very tasty for your dog; but if you want to enhance the flavor use a good premium cooking oil.

Liver: Most commonly used is pig liver because it’s one of the “tastiest” liver dogs love. The best way to cook pig liver is to stir-fry them as it emits the most pungent aroma. Slice it thinly, add some finely chopped garlic prior cooking the liver, and some water between stirs; and you have the best dog food in the world. What you want is to work a slight paste not gravy or sauce as this will retain the strong aroma you dog love. Make sure they are well-cooked but still remain tender.

Broccoli and Cauliflower: They are best eaten when stir-fry. My dogs love broccoli because of its crunchy feel and I believe your dog will love them too.

Carrot and Sweet Potato: Dogs have sweet tooth and most love carrots especially if they’re cooked as part of the soup or stew.

Pumpkin: Since pumpkin are easily cooked, don’t cut them too small when use in soup. Try stir-fry them with chicken, it makes a very delicious meal. Also add them in just a few minutes before everything else in the soup is done.

Potato: However you cook the potato avoid mash potato, very messy job after eating; mostly likely you have to do a thoroughly teeth brushing for your dog.

Special Note: If your dog has hypothyroidism, it’s best to avoid feeding him broccoli, cauliflower, and sweet potato. It’s been known that consuming goitrogenic foods can cause the enlargement of the thyroid gland in human. No study has been done on dogs yet, but never hurts to be too conscientious.

I have many more recipes to entice your dog into eating his kibbles but these tips are more than enough to last a very long while, if not a lifetime. If you need more inspirations, check out my dog food recipes and dog treat recipes categories.

In my honest opinion, I believe every owner is capable of coming up creative ways to prepare his/her dog’s meals given more practice. And who knows, you may come up with your own concoction that is so powerful and in return I have to ask you to share your secret ammunition.

Finally, I would like to leave you this note which my mom once shared, “What makes a great chief great isn’t so much on his culinary skills but also his attention to details and love.” Although we may not be eating every dish we cook for our dogs, it doesn’t mean we should cook substandard meals for them. Cook it just like you would cook to impress your in-laws or dates. When we cook it with love and details, we replace worries (i.e. my dog might not eat this) with absolute certainty that our dogs will enjoy and finish their meal.

Series Posts on Finicky Dogs:

• How To Deal With Dogs Who Are Finicky Eaters?
• How To Coax Your Finicky Dog To Eat His Kibbles? – 1
• How To Coax Your Finicky Dog To Eat His Kibbles? – 2
• How To Coax Your Finicky Dog To Eat His Kibbles? – 3