From Start to Finish, Techs Make Your Vet Appointments Smooth and Easy

Remember the last time you took your dog to the vet? You were probably greeted by a vet tech at the front door who helped you lead your dog onto the scale and checked you in for your appointment. You may not have realized it, but that same vet tech played a huge part in ensuring your dog’s appointment was easy and successful. 

Just like nurses do at a typical doctor appointment, vet techs take on a lot of responsibilities both in front of the patients and behind the scenes. According to VetStreet.com, “It’s easier to list what they can’t do: make diagnoses, perform surgery, or prescribe medication.”

With so many necessary tasks to take care of, you may be surprised to learn that the vet tech position didn’t exist before the 1960s. Previously, veterinary offices, animal hospitals, and zoos relied on average office workers to handle administrative and regular care tasks. As technology developed and the knowledge base of animal healthcare grew, veterinary professionals realized the need for skilled assistance. 

Since the 1960s, vet techs have made pet parents’ lives better in so many ways. Be sure to thank your vet tech for all of these things at your next appointment:

Vet techs set the tone for the whole appointment

As we mentioned above, vet techs are the first face you see when you enter your veterinarian’s office, and they’re often the last faces you see when you check out and leave. Having a vet tech who can greet your dog and make them feel comfortable from the start can set the tone for the whole appointment. 

Lots of dogs display anxiety at the vet’s office. You can’t blame them: often, we only visit the vet’s office once or twice a year, if that. Your dog isn’t used to those surroundings or the new sounds and smells that come along with them. Having a vet tech who is used to handing anxious dogs can help keep them calm enough to get through their tests and procedures and get back to the treats. 

Vet techs can help you with at-home care

Vet techs take care of the technical tasks so that the lead veterinarian can handle diagnoses, procedures, and prescriptions. They’re also your link for questions and tips about at-home care and administration of medications.

Senior dog parents especially know that it can be overwhelming to leave the vet’s office with a handful of new pills and prescriptions. Your vet tech can give you their own tried and true tips for administering medications, even for dogs who try to avoid them. As you develop a working relationship with your vet tech over time, they’ll get to know your dog’s unique needs and quirks so they can help you take better care of them at home. 

Vet techs love your animals when you’re not there

Nobody likes leaving their dogs at the vet’s office overnight. For someone like me who works from home with my boy Jackson always at my side, being at home without him there for just a day can seem like an agonizing eternity. Knowing that he is with vet techs who will love and care for him makes things a little easier. 

The third week in October is National Vet Tech Appreciation Week, but we think they should be celebrated year-round! If there’s a special place in your heart for your vet techs, leave them a positive review on Google or social media and share the love.

Every Saturday morning, the Pawsitively Pure crew heads over to the Lake Mary Farmers Market to set up our booth. These days, there’s nothing quite as refreshing as enjoying a few peaceful moments outside, and Central Park in Lake Mary offers the perfect place to safely enjoy a Saturday morning with your dog.

COVID-19 took away many people’s in-person shopping options and eliminated shopping for fun as an activity. So when farmers markets reopened in the summer of 2020 under special safety guidelines, we rejoiced! With vendors maintaining their distance and enforced masks and hand sanitizer stations, the Lake Mary Farmers Market is safe and fun for responsible shoppers and their friendly dogs. 

The Lake Mary Farmers Market is one of our favorites. Here’s why: 

There’s a Wonderful Variety of Vendors

Since we started attending this market years ago, we’ve connected with a wonderful group of vendors offering an array of goods. Find your traditional farmers market offerings, like fresh fruits and vegetables, amongst other local makers, artists, and producers. Many stalls have handmade meals and treats; others feature art and home decor. It’s like a mall you can bring your dog to in the beautiful open air!

Precautions are in Place to Keep Attendees Safe

The organizers of the Lake Mary Farmers Market have taken the necessary precautions to keep vendors and attendees safe during the coronavirus outbreak. First of all, vendors maintain at least 6’ of space between their stalls to prevent crowds from forming. Secondly, all in attendance are required to wear masks. Additionally, many vendors and organizers offer hand sanitizer and extra cleaning supplies to prevent the spread of germs. 

The atmosphere is pleasant and attendees are all respectful of the rules. We have felt safe during every appearance, and have done our parts to promote the safety of those around us!

Special Events Make Saturdays Fun

The Lake Mary Farmers Market frequently hosts special events, so you can get a healthy dose of holiday fun while staying safe! This month, we’re offering some Pawsitively Pure goodies as prizes for the Halloween Pet Costume Contest, an annual favorite of ours. Organizers have lots of fun and treats in store for the upcoming holidays to make your season just a little brighter! 

The Lake Mary Farmers Market takes place at 100 N. Country Club Road in Lake Mary, FL, every Saturday (with exceptions) from 9 AM to 1:30 PM. To learn more about the other vendors and the market in general, follow Lake Mary Farmers Market on Facebook.

Finding Balance for Your Furry Friends and Your Fronds

2020 has left a lot of people looking for companionship. Many have adopted dogs, with several animal shelters reporting their kennels empty because of massively increased adoption rates. Others have decided to liven up their spaces with houseplants, which have been making their way into millennial homes at rapid rates. If you’re anything like us, you credit both your pets and your plants with helping you survive this difficult year!

If you’ve got a green thumb and you’re eager to add a dog to your growing family, we say go for it. Likewise, if you’ve got a full fur family and you want to add some fronds to the mix, you should! All it takes is a little planning and forethought to make sure both your pets and your plants stay healthy and coexist peacefully. 

Put your dogs’ health first

Your dogs’ health should always take priority in your houseplant considerations. Why? We’ll put it this way: Most plants can survive a few torn leaves or broken stems and keep on growing without issue. However, treating plant-related illnesses and injuries on your dog brings a great deal of stress, discomfort, and even pain for all involved parties. 

Know your dogs’ behavior before you introduce houseplants to their environment. If you’re just bringing a dog home for the first time, we recommend keeping your plants far out of reach until you know how your dog interacts with them. Most dogs show minimal interest in houseplants, but certainty never hurts. 

Understand which houseplants are toxic

If you find that most houseplants you research are listed as toxic to dogs and cats, don’t fret: there’s a much smaller list of plants that can cause serious health issues. In your houseplants’ defense (literally), toxicity is a defense mechanism against herbivores and omnivores who find themselves in the mood for a salad. Most often, these plants will cause upset stomach, lethargy, vomiting, or diarrhea in dogs. 

If your dog is uninterested in your houseplants and respects the boundaries you set, you should have no problem safely growing common tropical plants in your home. However, if the risk seems too great, there are a number of nontoxic plants you can choose, like: 

Ferns are beautiful nontoxic houseplants, perfect for homes with dogs.

• Ferns

• Calatheas

• Spider Plants

• Hoyas

• Peperomias

It’s still important to discourage them from eating your plants, since any foreign material can upset their stomachs.

You should avoid certain plants entirely, especially sago palms, foxgloves, and dieffenbachias. These and a number of other plants cause more severe reactions when ingested and can occasionally be fatal, according to the Pet Poison Helpline. 

Know what to do if your dog digs up trouble

If your dog is a little too curious one afternoon and munches on a houseplant, it may be a good idea to give your vet a call; certain plants cause problems that don’t appear for a few days. Keep an eye out for any of the above symptoms we mentioned, namely gastrointestinal problems. 

We mount and hang our plants or perch them on shelves so that they’re well out of reach of our dogs, and everyone has been happy and healthy. If you’re a dog owner with plants, we want to know your tips: what plants do you have around your home? How do you keep your dogs safe? Send your pictures and stories to us on Facebook.

As you probably know if you’re reading this blog, we’re big fans of bone broth for dogs. We currently have one senior dog at home and have cared for other senior dogs before him, and bone broth is a godsend for an old dog that doesn’t feel like eating. It also provides benefits for dogs at every other life stage, from improving gut health to keeping their joints supple and their coats clear and smooth. When it’s incorporated into your dog’s regular diet, it can increase their vitality, their alertness, and put a little extra pep in their step.

Not everyone shares our enthusiasm for bone broth, however. While browsing online, we’ve seen a handful of misconceptions about bone broth going around, including these ones:

Misconception 1: Cooking bones destroys all nutrition

It’s a fact that some vitamins and minerals are vulnerable to heat and leaving food in its raw state is better for their absorption. However, bone broth is chock full of nutrients that can be delivered to your dog’s system in a short amount of time when compared with the effort they would need to make to chew up an entire raw bone. Bone broth is a nutritional powerhouse, full of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals that help keep your pup happy and healthy.

Misconception 2: Any old meat or vegetable stock will do

You should only feed your dog with safely-prepared bone broth that has no additives and nothing extra for flavor. Store-bought chicken and beef stock are often boosted with sodium, an excess of which can lead to weight gain and stomach issues in your dog. Stock is also usually made with vegetables like onions and garlic that can be toxic to your dog. Pawsitively Pure’s bone broth is specially formulated for dogs, with nothing but wholesome nutrition in each pouch.

Misconception 3: It will be impossible to get my picky dog to try bone broth

The amazing and convenient thing about bone broth is that you can add it to your dog’s regular meal as an extra tasty treat. Bone broth mixes well with dry food and wet food alike, and can even encourage your dog to chow down on their dinner if they don’t seem to want to eat. Give it a try -- warm up a little bone broth in a bowl and serve it to your dog at their next mealtime. We bet it won’t take much encouragement for them to try at least a few slurps.

Bone broth is such a versatile nutritional supplement that it makes sense to add it to just about every dog’s diet. Whether you give it to them on its own, use it as a topping for their dinner, or even freeze it as a cold treat in a Kong toy, bone broth is a delicious and nutritious way to keep your dog healthy. To learn more about Pawsitively Pure’s bone broth for dogs, head over to our store page or contact us here. 

We use kennel training as a key component of our dogs’ overall training regimens here at Pawsitively Pure HQ. Kennel training helps give our dogs a sense of independence, which is important in helping avoid attachment and separation anxiety behaviors. It also helps establish a routine and provides them with a space to feel safe when they’re stressed, like when company arrives or fireworks are going off outside. 

It’s important to keep in mind that your dog’s kennel should never be used as a punishment! Establishing a crate routine is an effective way to build trust between you and your dogs and should be treated as their own private little happy place. Here are a few ideas to help you make your dog’s kennel as comfortable as possible. 

Get a properly sized kennel

The first and most important step should be obtaining a kennel that’s a suitable size for your dog. You don’t want your dog to be crammed in; after all, you probably wouldn’t get excited at the prospect of spending hours in a cramped cage, either! Make sure the kennel is large enough for your dog to turn around in. It should also give you enough space to set up whatever accoutrements you want to give your dog the ultimate comfort.

Set up the kennel in a comfortable space

You should never leave your dog in a kennel in a space that’s not temperature controlled. That includes garages and outdoor areas. Set up your dog’s kennel inside, preferably in a space they’re already comfortable in. As the seasons change and the ambient temperature of your home shifts, you may need to set up nearby fans or small space heaters as appropriate. Also, keep an eye out for errant sunbeams that may produce uncomfortable heat spots!

Include items that make them comfortable

Many people start their crate training journey by lining their kennel with an article of clothing with their smell on it. Familiar scents are a source of comfort and anxiety relief for dogs, so dogs often become more at ease in their kennels with this trick. Besides that, you should include a soft bed or a blanket, as well as your dog’s favorite soft toys. Bones, chewies, and puzzle toys help wile away anxiety as they become used to their new space. 

We love the way kennel training makes just about every other aspect of training easier. Some people have a difficult time adjusting to the idea of putting their dogs in “cages,” but if you make their kennel extra lush and comforting, it will be easier for both you and your dog to adjust. It’s important to give your dog healthy treats as rewards for good behavior during kennel training. To get some of Pawsitively Pure’s gourmet dog treats, visit our shop page!