Finding the right dog that fits in with your family and your lifestyle is both crucial for the well-being of the dog you choose and for the well-being of yourself and your family.  Mismatched, or impulse bought puppies grow and grow fast and many of these poor dogs end up on death row, over populating thousands of shelters all over the world and through abolutely no fault of their own.  Below is some advise on choosing the right dog breed for you and help ensure that your dogs(s) and you and your family can enjoy a wonderful, companionable life together.

"A dog is for life" is a common phrase used by many animal welfare organizations, but dogs and many other pets are all too often bought on a whim, without much picked according to what they look like e.g  Pugs and

Ensuring that both your pet dog and your children are living safely together is something every parent should enforce. Many families with children have dogs and  many families with children have also ended up giving their much loved dog away. Countless dogs are re-homed (the kindest option), given up to a shelter, or sadly,  but all too commonly, euthanized.

Unfortunately not all dog and cat food is created equal, if most of us actually new what went into commercial pet food we would be horrified! Dogs and cats seems to be getting sicker more often, with higher incidences of cancers, heart disease, obesity and other illnesses, including allergies. Could it be that it is what we are feeding them that is one of the main contributing factors?

The pet food industry is big BIG business, with multi-billions of dollars involved and unfortunately it is not always our beloved pets health that is the manufacturers no.1 priority.  Our pets are basically eating the massive amount of waste product from the meat and poultry industries and very little 'real' meat (animal flesh), which is the one ingredient they actually need.  Animal by-products used for pet food are made up of all manner of 'rendered' animal parts, including the following; feathers, feet, fur, bones, heads, organs, unborn fetuses and even diseased animals that were considered unfit for human consumption.  Add to these animal by-products, anti-biotics and growth hormones, which are commonly used in the rearing of non-organic cattle and poultry and then top it off with the wide array of synthetic chemical additives, preservatives and emulsifiers used to make the food into its processed state and of course the necessary flavour enhancers so that your dogs and cats will actually willingly eat the food, therefore it is no wonder our pets are getting sick. 

Alternative therapies for humans have become extremely popular due to their holistic approach to healing and overall better health and well-being. These days our pets are happily also able to benefit from various types of alternative therapies, eg. Massage, Reiki, Craniosacral Therapy and Bowen Therapy.

LivingSafe.com.au invited Holistic Animal Therapist, Melissa Scriberras from Pawsitive Therapies to write an article for us, to enlighten our readers about the positive health benefits that dogs, cats and all animals can achieve from alternative treatments.