Tag Archives: summer

Is Climate Change Causing Disease Spread?, Miranda Lambert’s MuttNation Helps Adoption, and The Most Dog-Friendly Work Places. Those Topics And More In This Weeks News

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Climate Change Causing Spreading Diseases

USA Today had an interesting article about how the changing climate is causing animal diseases to show up in parts of the country where they either haven’t’ been seen before, or weren’t very prevalent. The article quotes veterinarians as saying the warmer weather is allowing diseases like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme disease, and heartworm.

Not only are the diseases spreading out from their traditional territory, but there are also new strains being introduced – and can survive – in areas they have not before. The Heartland Virus and the Bourbon Virus are two new entrants that have caused hospitalization and in some cases death. This story is a reminder of the importance of preventing and dealing with the changes associated with our changing world.

MuttNation Sees 61 Adoptions After Event

It’s rare that country music would show up in a dog-focused blog, but Miranda Lamber’s project MuttNation held its fourth annual drive this month and helped 61 dogs move from shelter to permanent homes. In collaboration with the Nashville Humane Association, they held a one-mile “Mutt March” through Nashville to raise awareness.

Miranda is quoted in the article as saying “To the initiated, it probably sounded like dogs barking, but to me, knowing the pure joy that comes from owning a rescue dog -or eight- it was music to my ears. We were marching on behalf of MuttNation to raise awareness for shelter pet adoption and in support of animal rescues across the country – and because its fun and it’s our passion.

Most Dog-Friendly Workplaces

Inc.com posted a list of the most dog-friendly companies. Not surprising was the list of pet-focused companies, and super-large employers like Amazon and Salesforce. What was interesting was we have moved from a mentality of ‘its okay to bring your dog’ to ‘here is what we are doing for you if you bring your dog’.

On-site treats, toys, pet relief areas, dedicated rooms and furniture are all a great way to make the experience of bringing a dog in more enjoyable (for non-dog people as well), but also a great retention tool to keep talented and motivated people working for your company. In this tight labor market, going the extra mile to make life easier for dog owners is a way to ensure employees stay connected to their company.

Another interesting twist on this topic is how Work From Home has now become more prevalent, allowing dog owners the opportunity to stay in the environment most comfortable to them and their dogs. Seeing the rise of co-working pace also decreases commute time for those eligible employees letting them spend more time with their pets before and after work.

Ironically, Inc also posted this story in 2016 “The Problem With Dog-Friendly Offices“.

If you are looking for the complete list of the Top 12 Most Dog-Friendly Companies, here it is:

  • Amazon
  • Procure Technologies
  • Trupanion
  • Petsmart
  • Airbnb
  • Nestle Purina Petcare
  • Petco Animal Supplies
  • Zogics
  • Ceros
  • Uber
  • Salesforce
  • Chewy.com

Travel Time: Keeping Your Pooch Safe on the Road

So, we’re coming into the summer season where school is letting out across the United States, and more families are traveling for vacation to exciting places and to see far off family.

This week, there were a few list articles that popped up on the radar:

Top 10 Cities for Dog-Friendly Urban Hiking

Teach Your Dog To Ride In the Car: Prevent Anxiety and Motion Sickness

The Best Dog-Friendly Bars In Each State (and D.C. too)

It’s great to see that dogs are welcomed out in public more and more, and with the rise of pets replacing children in young couples who put off raising children (until they can afford them – but that’s another story) dogs are becoming not just ‘home companions’ but now ‘travel companions’.

SleepyPod makes all kinds of canine vehicle and air travel restraints. Check out their products here on Amazon to keep your pal safe on your travel.

Keeping Your Dogs Cool In The Car

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With school letting out across the United States, we are ready to mark the official start of Summer, which means the temperature will soon – or has been – start to rise. While the heat is a welcomed addition to the lives of many people, we also need to be more aware of the comfort and safety of our canine friends.

If we get overheated, we don’t need to rely on someone else to move us to a cooler area. We don’t have to communicate our discomfort to anyone and depend on their action for relief. Unfortunately, that is the case for dogs. They rely on us to ensure that the environment is comfortable.

One of the places where dogs don’t have an ability to control their own temperature is in vehicles. Summer is a great time to hit the open road and take a trip with your furry friend, but please be sure to not put them in a situation where they can be harmed due to overheating in vehicles, and tragically there are deaths every year.

As I was picking up groceries this weekend, I saw a sign posted at my local Wegmans grocery store that said the following. The sign had this text, which I have copied from a circular and pasted here.

A Pennsylvania shopper wrote us recently with an impassioned plea to pet owners not to leave dogs in hot cars. She cited some information about temperature escalation in a hot car, and I wanted to share this with you. I had not realized how quickly auto temperatures can rise on a hot day (though hot days have been few this season). And since 62% of American households have a pet – and 40% of these are dogs – it seems worth mentioning.

The customer cited information on a website www.MyDogIsCool.com, from United Animal Nations (UAN). Example: On an 85-degree day, for example, the temperature inside a car … with the windows slightly opened… will reach 102 degrees in 10 minutes. In 30 minutes, it will go up to 120 degrees. On warmer days, of course, it will go even higher. Studies show that leaving the window open a crack does nothing to reduce the heat inside the vehicle.

A dog’s normal body temperature is 101.5 – 102.2 degrees. A dog can withstand a body temperature of 107 – 108 degrees F. for only a very short time before suffering irreparable brain damage, or even death. The closed car interferes with the dog’s normal cooling process.. that is, evaporation through panting. If you dog is overcome by heat exhaustion, UAN recommends giving immediate first aid by immersing him/her in cold water until body temperature is lowered.

At Wegmans, we pride ourselves on quick checkout, but even so, consider these facts next time you have your dog in the car, and run into the store for “just a minute”. The website mentioned above is a source of additional information.

May Ellen Burris – Senior Vice President of Consumer Affairs, Wegmans – Circular text

I checked out the website and found that there are great resources there to help raise awareness including printable sheets to share on people’s cars, hang in your business, or promote on social media.