Keeping our dogs safe and enjoying our #NudgesMoments this Fourth of July

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.

The big holiday weekend is just around the corner and you know what that means…. Fireworks …. If you have fur babies like I do, you know that they are always afraid of the loud noise that fireworks brings. The hustle and bustle drives my dogs crazy and gives them anxiety and they get all nervous and hide for days.

I decided to put together a few tips to ease the fun holiday for your fur babies and hopefully that will help all enjoy a wonderful Holiday without any incidents. After all, being safe and having fun is the best part of a holiday.

1.   Take your pet for a walk or play date before the fireworks start. This allows your dog to exercise, release energy and, of course, go “potty”.

2.   Close your windows. Dogs, in particular, can try and get out of the house by pushing out the screen.  Dogs have been known to bolt through screen doors so keep your inside door closed.

3.   Keep pets indoors during fireworks. They may even feel safer if they are placed in a smaller interior room with a radio/tv playing.

4.    If your dog is outside for the party all day, and you get caught up in the festivities, you may easily forget that your dog might be too hot. Always keep plenty of fresh, cool water available and be sure there are shady spots for your dog. When in doubt, let her go back in the house. Most important of all: educate yourself about heat stroke in dogs.

5.   Keep dogs away from people food! Picnic food and party dishes can be tempting for your dog, especially if the food is laid out buffet-style. The problem is that many everyday people foods are unhealthy or even poisonous to your dog. Onions, grapes, and alcohol can actually be deadly! Fatty foods can cause your dog to become very ill, possibly even leading to pancreatitis. If your dog is a “food-monger,” it is probably best that she is kept away from the party when people are eating. For a special treat, be sure to check out the Nudges Premium Cuts; they are 100% dog safe, made in the USA and have no artificial flavors or fillers and are full of nutrients and vitamins. Much better choice for your little fur baby.

I really want you to keep a close eye on your pets this Holiday weekend; I know all too well how things can turn quickly. As many of you may remember my baby Charlie, was poisoned by dog treats a little over 18 month ago. I thought I did everything right, always checked the snacks I gave him and made sure that the snacks I bought are from good companies. Little did I know that a lot of companies here in the US branch out to China, and that’s how our treats got poison and my 20 pound Lhasa Apso was near death after eating just one piece of the treat. My Beagle, Snoopy, who weighs about 55 pounds managed to deal with it without any issue, but my little one had to have blood transfusions, blood checks, and he was on 4 different medications daily and just recently, meaning only  4 short weeks ago was released from the Dr. as in remission.

Charlie is Happy and Healthy again!!!!

It was a long battle, luckily we caught the symptoms in time, he within an hour of eating the poisoned dog treat got very lethargic, tired and I watched him for 24 hrs and by that time he was unable to walk on his own to use the restroom and was peeing blood. We rushed him to the Vet who ran a number of tests and his quick response with a blood transfusion saved his life. It could have turned deadly for my little one; many others as I found out later did not make it. I’m thankful every single day that I have Charlie still with us. The long battle to recovery took his toll on Charlie, he has aged tremendous in the last 18 month, but he is slowly recovering and upbeat as well as determined that he isn’t ready to say goodbye to us and neither are we.

I haven’t given Charlie any treats since; I’ve been too worried to get him that sick again. I’ve always look for Made in the USA but those treats are hard to come by and if I do find some they are so high priced that it’s really a “Treat”. So, I was super excited to find a treat the other day while I was at Walmart that fit the bill. It was 100% made in the U.S.A. with no by products, all natural and no artificial flavors or fillers. I spend a good 15 minutes reading the label and even checking the product out online before I decided to take a few bags. I was impressed with the price, under $4 for a small package and it also came in larger packages for a value price.

My dogs loved the flavor and both now get a treat every day; Charlie gets excited again over seeing dog treats and I’m excited that I found a treat made in the USA that is 100% healthy and will not cause any harm to my babies. I recommend you check out the Nudges next time you are looking for a healthy snack for your dogs, you will not be disappointed and they will love every bit.

So to sum it up again… I’m a worried mama when it comes to my fur babies and only want the best…. I’m excited that the Nudges are Made in USA, tears easily for all size dogs, high quality, safe, no fillers, no artificial flavors, and they smell good…. really can’t say it enough, after what we went through this is like music to my ears.

Twitter Party Alert … Mark your Calendar

On July 3rd 1-2 EST we will be chatting about pet safety during the summer, especially the 4th of July, and how you “nudge” your pup back 🙂 Twitter parties are always a ton of fun and lots of cool prizes to be won, too so go and RSVP now!

Facebook Promotion ….
Nudges is also running a Facebook promotion

Nudges asks you to capture and share your dog’s “nudge” moments on the Nudges Facebook page as part of the “Share the Love” promotion for a chance to win prizes. The promotion will live on a custom tab on the Nudges Facebook brand page and go live 7/1/2013. You don’t want to miss this fun….

For more information, be sure to visit Nudges on the Web or follow on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with all the fun this summer on how to keep your dogs safe and enter to win cool prizes. Oh, there is also a coupon so you can check out the  Nudges for your self, print it before you head out and as always, I created a short Google Plus Story about my shopping trip to Walmart to show you what products we found.

Now we gave you some tips on how to keep your fur babies safe this 4th of July, now check out this digital magazine to get great ideas for summer. Do you have any tips to share, too? We would love to hear them.