Our warmest Holiday greetings to the Doberman Gang,

This time of year most folks begin to reflect with gratitude on the things in their lives. We have been blessed and definitely are grateful for the wonderful people who have crossed our paths and enriched our lives. We learn from all of you and you help us grow and develop for which we are grateful. Naturally we are grateful for the four legged family members we have that bless our lives in so many ways, and we hope your four legged companions do the same for you.

Being the holiday season, I woke up last night and though I ought to send out some holiday health tips, and realized how I should have sent it prior to Halloween. Halloween is a season with lots of candy and lots of dangers to dogs. But as we come up on Thanksgiving and CHRISTmas we have other things we need to be aware of as well. Chocolate that carries over from Halloween and certainly is around us through Valentines, is potentially lethal to dogs. It is a compound called theobromine that is the toxin, and there isn’t much you can do about it except try to get the dog to vomit. Once it is in their system it is too late to do much of anything but pray. Dark chocolate and bakers chocolate are generally the worst, and it doesn’t take much to make the dog very sick. A full chocolate bar could kill a puppy or young adult. So naturally keep the chocolate away from the dogs. Other candies are very tempting to dogs and they sometimes get snatched wrapper and all. Usually the wrappers aren’t life threatening but can cause blockages and impaction. Sometimes surgery is required and you don’t want to incur the expense or the discomfort for your dogs. Thanksgiving tables are eyed with drooling mouths by our dogs, and I know I always feel inclined to share. If you share table scraps with your pets, make sure it isn’t food you have added additional salt to. The high sodium causes lots of problems for them. When it comes to Turkey, the meat is fine and very beneficial to our dogs, but poultry bones can be life threatening. In the wild dogs eat birds all the time with little or no effect, but when we cook poultry it makes the bones very brittle and they break into sharp pieces that cut and poke all the way through the GI tract. Share the meat, throw the bones away outside in sealed garbage cans all the time so there is no risk. Also poinsettias decorate many homes for the holidays. They are beautiful, I enjoy them as well, but they are toxic to dogs. Many house plants are. Here is a link describing some of them: http://www.uexplore.com/health/poisonplants.htm If you have these plants in your home make sure they are somewhere they can not be consumed by dogs. Lastly (well for now until I remember the many things I forgot) holidays mean lots of cleaning. It was just discovered that Swiffer floor cleaners have a toxin in them that does kill dogs. I know they are convenient, but when it comes to floor care, old fashioned brooms and dustpans, mops with mild soap and water are best. If it safe to use bleach on your floors that is better than soap. If anyone has any more tips, please forward them on to the group, if you have more questions, please ask!