The Gourmet Dog Bakery Blog

Yes, and we found that out this past weekend.  Our bassets love fresh green beans.  They love to eat grass in the yard about 2 times per week and it seems that the green beans are similar to what they are looking for in the fresh yard grass.  I was just a little excited when we discovered this while snapping fresh green beans on the patio.  Lola, our 4 year old basset, was couregous at first but soon figured out that she liked them.

Green beans are considered a low-glycemic vegetable.  Other low-glycemic vegetables are broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, lima beans, garbanzo beans, celery, peas, cabbage and tofu.

 NEVER feed your dog garlic, onions, onion powder, onion flakes, mushrooms, avocados, raisins or grapes. This is not a complete list but these are the most commonly known foods that can make your dog very ill or even cause death.

The Gourmet Dog Bakery offers a monthly photo contest for fuzzy children and their parents.  So, grab your camera and send in those photographs of your doggies and their outside antics.  It can be a nice poised photo or maybe a funny trick but don’t let this opportunity pass.  Then encourage your family and friends to stop by and vote for your child.

 Each photo entry will receive a free package of TGDB treats.  The highest voted doggie will receive a Bow Wow Sampler.

 We encourage all to stop by and enter a photograph.

OTTAWA, March 13, 2008 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Rollover Premium Pet Food Ltd. are warning consumers not to purchase or use the Roll Over Pork Tenders Premium Dog Treat described below. This product may be contaminated with the bacteria responsible for salmonellosis in humans.

The affected Roll Over Pork Tenders Premium Dog Treat was sold in 50 g packages bearing

UPC 0 60766 88138 1. All lots up to and including 07 MAR 10 are affected by this alert.

Roll Over Pork Tenders Premium Dog Treat was distributed nationally.

There has been one illness reported associated with this product.

People may risk bacterial infection by handling the treats directly or by contact with pets who have used the treats. Anyone who may have handled the treats should wash their hands with warm water and soap. Consumers should dispose of these treats in the trash.

Common symptoms of Salmonella infection are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea, although more serious consequences are possible, especially in young children, the elderly, and in people with weakened immune systems.

Rollover Premium Pet Food Ltd., High River, Alberta, is voluntarily recalling the affected product from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

For more information, consumers can contact:

Rollover Premium Pet Food Ltd.
403-652-4300 or 1-800-616-9267
info@rolloverpetfood.com

 This is one of the most useful websites I have ever found.  I had always wondered what would we do if our fuzzy children’s heart stopped and now I know.  I had always forgotten to ask the vet when we were there for a checkup.

If you click on the Home Page, it will instruct you with CPR for adults, children, babies, etc.   CPR for cats and dogs is similar to CPR for humans. These directions assume the animal is unconscious and the risk of being bitten by the animal is not present.      http://depts.washington.edu/learncpr/cat_dog.html

Everyone seems to know that never feed a dog onions but when it comes to GARLIC, there is no straight forward answer.  Some experts say no garlic when other experts say a little is ok.  I decided 3 years ago, that no garlic is the only safe way. It is believed that garlic has flea repelling properties but in present day, we have many other options in our society to keep our furry children flea-free.  At The Gourmet Dog Bakery, we believe that if you feed your dog treats with garlic and then their food has a little garlic - too much garlic is in their overall diet each week.

Garlic poisoning can occur with a single ingestion of large quantities (the quantity is different for each dog) or with repeated meals containing small amounts of garlic.  Dogs affected by garlic toxicity, will develop haemolytic anaemia.  That is when the dog’s red blood cells burst while traveling through their body.

When we had the pet food recall last year with the China imports, I started cooking our bassets their food and I have always created their treats from scratch.  No onions or onion powder, macademia nuts, chocolate, grapes or raisins but you don’t read much about other foods that are harmful to dogs.  Such as: avocados, coffee, alcoholic beverages, salt, potato peelings or even green looking potatoes, rhubarb leaves, celery leaves or celery root, hops, tomato leaves or the stems, broccoli in large quantities, pear or apple core pips, plum/peach/apricot kernels, Xylitol (gum, candies or other type of foods that are sweetened with Xylitol), tea leaves and of course, raw yeast dough.

We at TheGourmetDogBakery.com, will NEVER add the following to our homemade dog treats:

We only use the highest human grade and organic ingredients for TheGourmetDogBakery.com products. Check out our Woof Club or our Birthday Club where each and every client will receive a special treat on their Birthday for free.

Easter is just around the corner and a fun way to benefit our local animal rescues/shelters, would be an Easter bonnet parade.  Invite your neighbors to dress their fuzzy children in Easter hats and accessories for a $10 donation to your local rescue/shelter.  Invite several to judge the fuzzy attire and give a small toy to the winner. 

Treats can be given to all entries.  We have found that small bite-sized treats are the perfect size for such an occasion. Visit www.TheGourmetDogBakery.com for all your organic and healthy dog treat needs.