Bigger is Better?

The American Kennel Club has released their list of the nation's most popular breeds. While the Labrador retriever retained its #1 spot for the 22nd year in a row, the list shows some interesting finds. Larger breeds are on the rise, while the once-popular smaller breed slid down the ranks. The German shepherd was again runner-up, but the golden retriever rose to third, dropping the smaller-sized beagles to fourth. The bigger bulldog surpassed the tiny Yorkie to round out the top five.

Regionally, Labradors even managed to swoop the top spot in NYC, where the Yorkie dropped from first to fifth. However, German shepherds took Chicago's most popular spot where they're increasingly popular among families in addition to police, guard and military personnel.

The Labrador's two-decade reign seems almost unbeatable, and yet, the poodle also held the top spot for 22 years from the 1980s through the 1990s. Perhaps the bonsai hair grooming became too much to maintain for pet owners.

To find the most popular breed in your city, check the AKC's stats by clicking HERE.

FETCH! Pet Care featured in the Times Free Press

In the article, Will Feldman, owner of Fetch! Pet Care in Chattanooga discussed his background, his pets and his new Fetch! Pet Care opening in Chattanooga. He explains why he wanted to bring the Fetch! brand to the Chattanooga area, and talks about his future expansion, development and overall marketing plans.

Click HERE for the full feature, or begin reading below.

Small Biz: Fetch! offers insured, in-home services for pets

By: Shelly Bradbury 

Name: Fetch! Pet Care of Chattanooga.

Owner: Will Feldman.

Website: chattanooga.fetchpetcare.com.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Opening: Feb. 1.

Staff: Between three and six insured, background-checked pet-sitters.

Services: "We offer dog walking; in-home care for dogs, cats, fish, reptiles; yard cleanup. If they're out of town we could change the lights, take the mail in -- basically if the client needs it, we'll provide it," Feldman said.

The Name Game

Everybody remembers begging their parents for a puppy. You probably created lists or PowerPoints about how you would take care of it, and how you would schedule play time after homework, and how you would never forget to feed your new love.

But I remember one thing that was the most exciting:

Getting to name the puppy.

I created lists, just like you would a newborn baby, and practiced calling them out loud across the yard to see which had the best ring. I wanted to beam with pride every time I called my pup's name because I had chosen it myself.

It's been years since I named my dog (Serge, short for Sergeant), and I began to wonder

What are the most popular dog names? Books upon books are dedicated to baby names, but how are we picking names for our dogs? Of course, I didn't have to look much deeper than the Huffington Post. All I have to say is

How dare we subject our dogs to Twilight.

MOST POPULAR PUPPY NAMES OF 2012

New Years Pet Resolutions

As 2012 has come to a close we begin to look back at what we have and haven’t accomplished over the past year. It’s a common tradition to make a New Year’s Resolution for yourself. You may think that you need to live a healthier lifestyle by exercising more and eating better, or maybe you’re a procrastinator and want to become more action-oriented.

We don’t often make New Year’s resolutions for anyone other than ourselves, but isn’t it time for New Year’s resolutions for our pets? For example, if we have a weight problem that we would like to solve we can say we’re going to cut out sweets and fatty foods. Our pets can’t do that, but we as pet owners can help them on their path to a useful New Year’s resolution.

Just like humans, pets need to exercise often to stay fit. So if you’ve found that your pet is becoming a bit less active than they used to be, help them get back on track by exercising them more or by hiring a professional pet sitter or dog walker to maintain their daily routine . If you’ve found that your pet is eating more than they used to, change their food to a healthier choice of kibble or wet-food, or make sure you’re not over-feeding them with things such as treats and table scraps.

There are other resolutions that can also help your pet enjoy the New Year. Grooming is another one of the activities, like ample exercise, that we often allow our pets to go too long without. It is an easy thing to forget because it is not ourselves that we are grooming, but pets need to be cleaned too. These ideas are just a jumping off point. If you have any more ideas submit them in the comments section.

How to Help your Cat Lose Weight

Historically, before the advent of commercial pet foods, cats were sleek, agile, athletic and active felines. In contrast, most of today’s cats are disturbingly overweight, and many are dangerously obese. Risk factors include diabetes, cancer, hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver), arthritis, low energy, and rectal contamination from the inability of the cat to clean itself.

When you place your palm against your cat’s rib cage, you should be able to feel ribs readily. If you cannot feel ribs even when you rub your fingers back and forth along the rib cage, your cat is likely over the weight limit.

There could be many reasons for your cat’s weight gain, but there are also many solutions to get your feline back in shape.

The first thing that you should do before trying to get your pet to exercise is to take them to the vet. If they are overly skinny or overweight they may have health issues, ranging from a simple cold to a thyroid condition. Your vet can fully assess your cat, as well as recommend the level of exercise they need based on their current weight, age, breed and general disposition.

After your cat is assessed it’s time for the exercise to begin. A good way to get your pet actively moving is to play with them regularly. Find your cat a good toy that they enjoy, and make them chase it. You can use a simple piece of string, a small ball, or even a laser pointer. It’s fun for the whole family, and a lot of good laughs to watch your cat move like a playful kitten again! Like humans, cats require daily exercise, so a good 15-20 minute exercise routine once or twice a day should produce great results. If you don’t have the time, consider hiring a professional in-home pet sitter to provide daily exercise instead.

Cats are very similar to humans and dogs in the way that they need to get fit over time. An unhealthy cat is not immediately going to be ready to have a hard workout, but instead needs to be eased into their exercise routine. Start with a small amount of exercise, and then over time ease them into a longer, more active routine.

Another important aspect of keeping your cat’s weight down is feeding them healthy food. Many cats gain weight from being overfed, or by eating foods that are high in carbohydrates. Look for high protein foods that are low in carbohydrates and contain natural or organic ingredients. Ideal cat foods are grain-free with no fillers, with no rendered meats, no animal or plant meals, and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.

Also, be sure not to exceed the recommended daily amount of food your vet prescribes for your pet. Even those little snacks add up, so consider giving them a little love and affection instead. If your cats are normally permitted to go outdoors, you may need to keep them inside more often to reduce their time grazing at the neighbor’s or hunting for birds and rodents.

If you have more than one cat you may need to feed them separately, especially if one of your cats often tries to eat the other cat’s food. Try keeping the cats in separate feeding rooms, which should help greatly in solving your pet’s weight problem.

You may think that your kitty’s weight is not that big of a problem but, if you notice that your cat is getting a bit heavier, it is good to try and get them to lean sooner than later so that your cat can be healthy and live a long fruitful life.

How to Help Your Pet Deal With Separation Anxiety

As summer comes to a close, things may start to change for your pet. The kids go back to school, your hours at work get longer, and the weather no longer supports long days spent outdoors. Your pet’s routine changes as a result, which in turn often causes separation anxiety for them.

Separation anxiety is an affliction that many pet owners may not even know their pet has. Separation anxiety affects more pets than you might think. If your pet exhibits any or all of the following symptoms, they may be suffering from separation anxiety: Howling or barking, excessive biting or chewing, increased excitability on your return home, scratching or digging to try to reunite themselves with their owners, and/or unexpected urination or defecation of housetrained dogs.

Before we share some quick tips to help your pet deal with separation anxiety, let’s first try to understand what causes it. No one knows exactly what causes separation anxiety because it varies so much case to case, but there are definitely some well-known patterns to keep an eye out for. Most of the causes are self-explanatory, and very similar to that of human children.

If your dog is used to having a companion around all the time, when you leave they may become distressed. Or if a dog from a shelter experiences a traumatic event linked to their separation, that may carry into their daily life after you adopt them. The most common form of separation anxiety for pets occurs when you switch up their routine. Although, you may think that your pet will not notice this, pets are hyper-aware to things of this nature.

Now we get down to really trying to solve the problem. Leaving your pet alone for a period of time is something that most every pet owner has to do from time to time. Although, it can be heart wrenching, it’s an unfortunate reality of being a pet owner in a busy world.

There are many ways to help solve your pet’s separation anxiety. One solution is to give them something that smells like you, or not making a big deal about your leaving or arriving. Filling up a toy, such as a Kong, with peanut butter or frozen treats will keep them busy for hours. If the problem persists, you might seek veterinary help. There are many medications for dogs with separation anxiety issues, but we would recommend avoiding these if other alternatives exist.

The best solution is to get someone to take care of your pet, and give them the love, attention and daily exercise they need when you’re not able to do that yourself. Fetch! Pet care provides pet sitting and dogwalking services to provide you with peace of mind, and your pet with the care and love they deserve when you’re away. We can provide at-home care of your pet when you’re at work, on vacation, traveling for business or otherwise, and can be their best friend when you’re away. Our well-trained staff will help to make sure that your pet will never even feel stressed when you are at work or out of town. Your pet will be just as happy as when you left.

Helping Your Pet Lose Weight

Helping your pet to lose weight can sometimes be a challenging task, especially if you or your pet has bad eating or exercising habits. Over half of the pets in America are classified as overweight, and solving this dilemma can seem out of our reach sometimes.

But not addressing the issue is dangerous to pets, and more time consuming and costly to pet owners in the long run. Overweight pets have an increased incidence of fatigue, arthritis, torn ligaments, spinal disc problems, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and reduced liver function, just to name a few.

A great indicator of whether your pet is overweight is to feel their ribcage, although this does vary somewhat for each dog and cat breed. If you can feel your pets ribs that’s a good sign, but if the ribs are very pronounced that could mean that your pet is underweight. If you can’t feel your pet’s ribs that means they are most likely overweight.

No matter what the problem, it’s much better to see a professional then to try diagnosing the problem yourself. Your local vet can help you come up with a new plan for helping your pet lose weight, and can also tell you, depending on the age and breed of your pet, a good target weight. It’s also a good idea to always consult your vet before you change your pet’s exercise routine.

There are a few good tips to get you started on helping your pet to slim up. One easy way to prevent your pet from gaining, or to help your pet lose weight is to switch to a healthy weight management food. Make sure that the food that you are buying has lots of healthy, natural ingredients in it, typically marketed as premium or organic pet food. Avoid foods with fillers, additives and preservatives. Healthy pet foods may be more expensive, but they provide your pet with the energy and nutrition that they need and deserve.

Another easy way to help your pet lose a few pounds is to cut back on treats, or eliminate them altogether. Although it is nice to reward your dog or cat with a treat from time to time, many treats can be detrimental to your pet’s health. You could also switch over to a healthier premium or organic pet treat, or a different non-food reward system altogether.

The most important thing for your pet when you’re trying to help them lose weight is daily exercise. If you have a dog, try to walk them at least three times a day, or hire a professional dogwalker to take over if you simply don’t have the time. Regular leashed walks at a fast pace, or off-leash play at the local dog park, will help your dog to burn off those extra calories and excess energy. The key thing is to set a routine to get daily dog exercise for your pooch.

If you have a cat, try to get them out of the house regularly if they are an indoor/outdoor cat. If they are indoor only cats, a cat toy, a simple piece of string, or a laser pointer should get them up and moving. Two to three times a day of active play for 5-10 minutes should give cats the exercise they need. If you don’t have time to do this, hiring a professional pet sitter may be a great option. A simpler way to deal with your pet’s weight problem is to think about it like it was your own. A pet gets healthy just like a human does. If you help your pet eat healthier foods, and ensure a good exercise routine your pet will be fit and in tip top shape in no time.