What are heartworms and how does my dog get it?

Heartworms are dangerous and potential lethal parasites. Your dog contracts them from mosquito bites and of course with all the heat and the humidity in some areas we can certainly have quite a problem with mosquitos. For the time a dog is infected with the larva form carried by the mosquito it takes 6 weeks for the larva to reach the mature form. At which point it starts to migrate towards the chambers of the heart and the arteries within the lungs. They can be potentially undetectable for years until actual symptoms occur.

Hide-A-Bee Pet Toy is an extremely popular toy for dogs. It’s a unique dog toy, as it is simply a plush beehive along with four bees. That may sound a bit strange, but dog’s love it! It may be that it encourages a dog’s natural traits. Dogs like to dig. Dogs like to hunt. Well, the point of this game is for your dog to find and remove all the bees in the beehive.

It has a plush beehive that is about 5″ by 4″ by 4″ and is bright yellow. The bees are plush as well, as in “stuffed animal” type of material, and each one has a loud squeeker inside. The Hide-A-Bee Pet Toy comes with 4 bees and one beehive. It’s really like a puzzle. Once your dog learns the game, he’ll enjoy digging at the beehive, and removing each bee. The bees are about 2″ thick by 3″ long.  As mentioned above, each bee has a squeeker inside. Even without the beehive, the bees are fun to play fetch with. This is a brain teaser for dogs made by Kyjen, and is selling for under ten dollars. On additional advantage to the Hide-A-Bee Pet Toy is that it’s machine washable, so it’s easy to keep clean.

The Twist and Treat Dog Toy is made by Premier products. I’ve been happy with their other products for dogs, so decided to give this one a shot. My dog enjoys similar types of toys, and priced at under $5, it seemed like a great deal.

The Twist and Treat Dog Toy has two parts, the top and bottom. To add kibble, treats, peanut butter, or whatever you want to fill it with, you’ll unscrew the top half. Then, you fill the treat into the bottom half, and screw the top half back on. There is a central core that hold both parts together. You can adjust it to allow for different sizes of treats to be dispensed, and allow for varying degrees of difficulty. This dog treat dispensing puzzle comes in your choice of small, medium, or large. Obviously, the objective of this toy is for your dog to try to remove the treat. With the Twist and Treat Dog Toy it seemed easier and faster for my dog to be able to remove the food, in comparison to similar toys we have tried. That could be considered a positive or negative.

After a friend purchased the Smarter Toys IQ Treat Ball for her dog, I decided to try it out for my own dog. This is a ball that dispenses dog treats. Many dog pawrents recommend this type of toy because it’s great for boredom and keeps Fido physically active.

You can buy the Smarter Toys IQ Treat Ball in 3″ or 5″ sizes. As mentioned above, this type of toy stimulates your dog’s mind, encourages exercise, and just as importantly, is fun to play with. Your dog will roll the ball around with his nose and paws, trying to get it to dispense a treat. Actually, with the smaller size, you could even try it out with your cat. It’s simple to use, as you just twist it open, add food, then twist it closed again. Fill it with treats, and watch the games begin! The Smarter Toys IQ Treat Ball has adjustable levels of difficulty that will be suitable for your dog’s experience level.

If your dog is into stuffed animals, you may want to check out the Loofa Dog Plush Dog Toy. I have a Pomeranian that really gets a kick out of stuffed animals made for children. The main problem I have with this, is that children’s toys aren’t necessarily dog safe. My dog would chew off it’s eyes and nose in record time. Not safe. So, I decided to try out the Loofa Dog Plush Dog Toy. It’s the same one you’ve probably seen in the PETsMART commercial. As expected, it was a big hit. CoCo enjoyed carrying it around and sleeping with it.