My Future Travels

Monday, June 29, 2015

Safe Pet Care on the 3rd and 4th of July

Those of you with creative children please make some posters to put up at local fireworks venues.

BRING PETS INSIDE WHEN FIREWORKS ARE EXPECTED.
Please read and share with any neighbors who have their animals housed outside even part of the time.
The time around 4th of July is when the most dogs and cats come into any shelter. I’ve seen it, I’ve lived it. Often there is a painful, violent and sometimes deadly outcome.

And we are all too busy and multi-tasking.
Bring any animal inside please. Ideally the house, an inside room like an interior bathroom, play some music/play a video, crate them if necessary. I have a few crates available now and if you contact our site I will try to loan you one of mine or secure one for you.
If they are used to being outside please try to dog or cat proof the room. If it’s a bathroom remove the towels, tp, check for any glass bottles of toiletries, etc. Laundry or bedroom, remove anything loose, breakables, create a nest and block any windows. Remove any cleaners, detergents from the animal’s space. If you put them in the garage be sure plant food and fertilizer are not easy access…again, block windows, they WILL climb to a window to escape.

Some calming ideas:

1. Shirts: you don’t have to spend money for the Thunder shirt or the Kong shirt if you don’t want to or you have multiple animals. Simply doing some sort of figure 8 Ace bandage type wraps around the dog, under tummy, around shoulders gives a swaddling effect. This can also be accomplished by putting on a cotton t-shirt with or without sleeves, not the stretchy kind somewhat tightly on the dog. It will loosen up. The dog’s body is in a sort of tube swaddling garment. This is an idea from Tellington TTouch and what the certified instructor who volunteers at our local shelters teaches. Check the website for videos, examples of shelter dogs and others.

2. Benadryl: For Dogs/Not CATS! I am not a vet but Benadryl is usually safe for most dogs. Consult your vet for proper dosage. Dogs in general can use anything human for first aid….cats cannot. They have to have special feline drugs because their livers are different.

Always: Be sure you animal is microchipped or has current ID on the collar. If you are visiting from out of town or plan to take your dog with you do a temporary ID with your cell phone/local phone number if the permanent one is different always. Secure well to the collar.
BBQ/Picnic safety: bones, onions, garlic, grapes, currants, raisins, avocado, citrus oil, gum, dark chocolate(esp), macadamia nuts, alcohol, tasty used bamboo skewers or aluminum foil used for grilling can harm dogs.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Wine -vs- Diet

This weekend we had a small dinner party and I was able to still stick to my diet. I admit watching others drink wine wasn't the easiest thing for me to see while drinking water. I kept reminding myself about how great I will look and feel if I just stick to it. And reminding myself... And reminding myself again...

Friday, June 5, 2015

The Meltdown Challenge

My coach asked me if I wanted to join this online Meltdown Challenge. Any of you that know me know I am super motivated by competition. Even competition against myself which is all this really is. You weigh in before the 14th of the month by sending a picture of your scale readout in (don't worry it's kept private) and then you try to either maintain your weight or lose 4% by the end of the month. You get points for this, but you also get points for logging your daily exercise and food. The best part is you get points for reading very short snippets or watching videos about health. It only takes a couple minutes a day and it is a constant reminder on why you need to get and stay healthy. If anyone want to join me it's not to late to join this month. Just go to Join Me and you will be on my team so we can encourage each other. it's ~$20 to join but if you stick with it and get your points everyday you should get most if not all of your money back.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Medifast Diet

I started the Medifast diet 2 weeks ago. So far I'm down 10 lbs and other than my sweet tooth that I constantly battle I feel like I'm doing a good job. It helps that my loving husband is doing it along with me and that I have a supportive coach. My goal is to get down to my high school weight and I have another 60 lbs to go to hit that. I readied myself for the challenge by getting rid of all junk food and food that we can't eat right now in the house and making a place on our shelves for the Medifast food. We gave all our rice, pasta, etc away to some very happy neighbors.
Here is my before picture.