Saturday, December 31, 2011

Staying in Hotels and Traveling with Pets

Kevin Elder, president of Planit Meetings, a hotel travel and meeting company, and life-long dog and cat owner, suggests the following, regarding planning hotel trips for dogs.

If you’re facing a long flight, like from Nashville to Seattle, consider Pet Airways, a pets only airline. Go to www.petairways.com for rates, and schedules. Planit Meetings loves Pet Airways, because they transport rescue dogs, to their forever homes, at a 50% or more discount, flying standby. (If you see a photo and a story about a dog, on the Proverbs website, or this blog, but adoption seems impossible, because of the distance, Pet Airways can help you.)

Romeo

Some hotels charge a $50 - $150, non-refundable pet fee, or have pound restrictions. Other hotels do not permit you to leave your dog in your hotel room alone, even if the dog is secure, in a crate. Find out about all the restrictions before you arrive, to avoid unpleasant surprises, like hidden fees. Search for a smoke-free, pet-friendly hotel. Hotels that have smoking floors always put pets in smoking rooms.

After you’ve made your hotel reservation, call the hotel’s front desk, to request a quiet room, on a low floor, and also ask them to send via U.S. Mail, a printed copy of their pet policy. (Also, ask for a corner room, usually the best rooms, away from the elevator.)

Consider staying at a Kimpton Hotel. All Kimptons have always been dog-welcoming, with no pet fees, no pound limitations, or other restrictions. Further, the Kimpton Hotels, world-wide, offer great pet amenities, and even in-room dog massages and grooming, and complimentary dog-walking, at some Kimptons. Planit Meetings’ favorite pet-friendly budget hotel is the Red Roof Inn (but not all Red Roof Inns are pet-friendly, so call ahead). Their no-frills, no carpeting and upholstery rooms allow better cleaning...as in no carpeting for the inevitable dog-accident.

If you’re planning sightseeing, with your dog staying in his/her room, for long periods of time, consider doggie day care, for your pup, for some of the days, of your trip. Also consider putting off your dog’s grooming, for your vacation. Many groomers offer pick-up and drop-off; while you’re sight-seeing, your pup will be getting a necessary chore, out of the way, and will not be stuck in the hotel room all day, while you’re out exploring.

Learn where the city’s dog parks, pet-friendly cafes, good walking trails, are, before you travel. Hotel concierges are a great source of information. If the concierge at the hotel, where you will be staying, doesn’t know, call another hotel in the same zip code, and ask that hotel’s concierge.

Locate in advance the city’s vet E.R.

It goes without saying, even though restaurants and other establishments frequently have dog bowls by their door, bring your own collapsible water bowl. With most CVS stores carrying dog food, and other supplies, traveling with all your dog’s supplies is not the necessity that it once was, but do not forget an extra leash, and make sure the dog tags are secure on your dog’s collar.

Finally, as much as you love your dog, and how much you miss your dog, when you’re away, consider keeping your dog at home, with a very good pet-sitter, in your home. Recently, a Planit Meetings’ colleague, her family and their pet went to a lovely pet-friendly inn, for a long weekend. The dog did not get along with the inn-keepers’ dog, and further, picked up a skin-irritant, hiking in the woods and fields near the inn, necessitating a couple of vet visits after.

For questions about traveling with pets, or for the best hotel rates at pet-friendly hotels, email Kevin, at Kelder@planitmeetings.com, and mention Proverbs 12:10.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Welcome to Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue

Welcome to this Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue blog, being written and maintained by Proverbs 12:10 friends across the U.S.. This blog is dedicated to helping save animal lives, finding good homes for the animals that are rescued, and helping animal lovers everywhere better take care of their pets. This is the blog to visit, if you're looking to adopt a dog or cat, and possibly find or even share some good pet-care information.

Lavonne Redferrin, her husband and children have made their life mission the care and rescue of animals, via Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue that they founded (Lavonne's husband is a UPS driver, Lavonne teaches part time). Their friend Tori Raefsky and a core group of dedicated volunteers do all they can to foster the animals, run bake sales, write grant proposals and do any fundraising activities they can think of, to keep Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue going. Mark Brannan, DVM, he selfless vet they use to neuter dogs, fix the myriad of health problems of abandoned, often injured animals, accepts that one day they will be paid.

Zuzu

The volunteers at Proverbs rescue stray dogs and cats, left by their owners, to wander... Often, they rescue dogs, and cats, that are about to be put down at the municipal animal shelter...They frequently pick up injured dogs, hit by cars, left to die, or starve, at the side of the road...Each week, their program is approached to take in an injured or sick animal that other animal rescues won't accept due to the cost of medical treatment. Recently, a volunteer saw a skinny beagle limping along a rural road. When she stopped the dog came right to her. It had been hit by a car and had an injured right front leg. She took it to a vet Proverbs often uses and learned that the wound was old, the leg had nerve damage and infection and would require amputation. His x-rays showed that he had been shot with buckshot as well. Proverbs named the little guy Romeo.

This is just the start of the Proverbs 12:10 story.

Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue's needs are many, constant, endless. This is how you can help. Share this blog with the animal lovers you know, across the U.S. Proverbs needs foster families to care for, and love the animals, until they can find the right forever homes. The dogs need food, toys, bedding, financial contributions to pay down the vet bills. If you live in the Nashville area, and have dog food that your pet won't eat, email us, and we'll pick it up. If you know of anyone looking to adopt a good dog, please send them here. We will be posting, weekly, photos and information about dogs who are ready to adopt. Further, you can describe what you're looking for, as in great with small children, non-shedding, small enough to fit under an airline seat for travel, sedentary life style. We will, or rather Lavonne and Tori, will find the right dog or cat for you.

If you have specific questions about vet care, like good remedies for hot spots, or even the best dog shampoo, email us, and we'll address these questions for you.

Finally, you can help Proverbs by patronizing Proverbs sponsors, and the people like Dr. Brannon, who help us.

All the best, Sue for Proverbs 12:10 mypotomacriver@gmail.com

Thursday, December 29, 2011

www.proverbs1210.org

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Welcome to Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue!

Welcome to Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue
Bellevue, Tennessee

Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue's purpose is provide shelter and loving care, which includes food, veterinary care and any other necessity, for animals that were abused, abandoned, owner surrendered, or otherwise destined to be euthanized, due to over-crowded shelter conditions. Through the use of foster homes, Proverbs cares for these animals until good, responsible, loving homes can be found for all adoptable animals.

www.proverbs1210rescue.org
info@proverbsrescue.org

Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue
PO Box 210830
Nashville, TN 37221

For a wounded soldier home from Afghanistan, It was a special reunion a long time in the making.

A puppy he adopted on the front lines is now with him again in Bethesda, Maryland. Donny Eslinger, 20, encountered the dog while on tour of duty in Afghanistan. He traded three cigarettes to become the dog's owner the dog, he named Smoke Pup Barbarian.

In September 2011, amortar attack critically wounded Eslinger. He was in treated for injuries at the Kandahar Airfield Hospital; when Eslinger was later flown to Walter Reed for more treatment, Smoke was left behind.

A group called Puppy Rescue Mission heard about Smoke Pup when Eslinger's squad leader sent a letter telling Eslinger's story. The group printed part of that letter on their website:

"Smoke was the only bit of moral that made these kids forget were they were and cope with the tragedy we just experienced. It is amazing how therapeutic a little creature can be. Donny took care of that dog up until he was injured. Many of us in his Platoon would love nothing more than to see Smoke reunited with Donny. It would be the only decent thing we would see come from this place. "

Through the efforts of Puppy Rescue Mission, the dog was reunited with Donny in January 2012.

Why Do Dogs Eat Grass?

Excerpt from an article by: Virginia Wells

Although dogs are primarily carnivoires, they will eat almost anything; they can survive on a well-balanced vegetarian diet. Like all living creatures, dogs need a combination of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water in a balanced diet.

We're not sure why your pup likes grass; there have been many theories offered. Primarily, dogs are descended from wild canids, which ate the entire "kill" when they hunted for food. Since they consumed many herbivores (plant-eating animals), they wound up eating a lot of plants and even berries found in the stomach and intestines of their prey. Interestingly, carnivores tend to go for the stomach and its contents first, so it's likely that dogs may eat grass because they like it and it was once part of their normal diet.

Do dogs eat grass to make themselves vomit? Or do they vomit because they eat the grass? Most veterinarians believe that dogs eat grass simply because they like it, and vomiting naturally follows. When dogs eat grass, the grass acts as an irritant and causes vomiting. However, they may not be smart enough to use grass as a medicine when they have an upset stomach. That said, one of us has seem a dog with burrs stuck in his throat pounce on a Ficus plant and voraciously start scoffing great scads of leaves until he threw up, presumably in an attempt to dislodge the foreign material.

Some veterinarians believe that dogs eat grass because their prepared diets are lacking in greens and so they eat grass.

No matter what the reason, your dog's "grass" habit is normal behavior and you need not be concerned about it. A note of caution, however: Take care that your pet does not eat grass that has been treated with fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides.

Planit Meetings, a hotel travel company based in Washington, DC and Durham, NC, will give a portion of all reservation's commission to Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue, if you mention Proverbs, when you make your hotel reservation.

Planit Meetings is a 20 plus year old meeting and hotel travel company, that offers discounted hotel rates in cities across the U.S. For Planit Meetings travelers to Washington, DC, we offer complimentary pet-sitting, and dog-walking. Please email for questions, hotel rates, mentioning Proverbs, when you do.

Susan at Planit Meetings susan@planitmeetings.com