​If your dog suffers from anxiety, fear, allergies, stress, behaviour problems then the Thunder Shirt is something you may want to try. I've seen these around for a while but was sceptical they would work. My dog is very stressed during thunder storms, visits to the vet, groomers, anything out of his comfort zone. So I gave it a try. It doesn't solve the problem completely but it definitely helps and it eliminated his need to scratch and bite from his allergies. The Thunder Leash also does what it promises and pulling is reduced by up to 80%. These products are now available in Australia for anyone wanting a "Drug Free" alternative to any behavioural issue. If you are a dog trainer or a pet parent, I recommend giving them a go. Combined with positive reinforcement, the results could amaze you. You can find more information on the Thunder Shirt and Thunder Leash below.

http://www.thundershirt.com/

Does your dog go to an Obedience club? A groomer? Doggy day care? Boarding kennels or have a house sitter?  Would they be able to take care of your dog in an emergency? An accident can happen anywhere, anytime,  when you least expect it. You should ask to see a Pet First Aid and CPR Certificate that has an expiry date no less than 2 years. If they don't have one, look elsewhere. All Pet owners should take a Pet First Aid and CPR course that offers a Qualified Certification with the latest techniques, (Pet Tech™ offers this), to ensure your pets' complete safety. Pet Tech™ also covers first aid and CPR for your cat too! here to edit.

Every dog owner can tell you that dogs aren’t with us for nearly long enough. But 30 years is an incredibly long life for a pooch. Maggie, an Australian Kelpie, lived her days on a dairy farm. And for most of her 30 years of life, she stayed in good health. But she suddenly deteriorated over two days and passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Unfortunately, Maggie can’t officially have the title of world’s oldest dog, as her owner, Brian McLaren, lost her paperwork long ago. Without that paperwork, there is no independent source of verification for her age. So she won’t make it into the Guiness Book of World Records. But hopefully a good, long life is an even better reward.

The current world record holder for world’s oldest dog is Bluey, an Australian Cattle Dog who, coincidentally, lived in Victoria, Australia, just like Maggie. Bluey lived from 1910 to 1939 and died at the age of 29 years and five months. He also lived on a farm. Maybe there’s something about farm life that keeps a dog happy and healthy.

But now according to Wikipedia, Bluey our Aussie Cattle Dog, is no longer the World's Oldest Dog.
With the average life span of a dog ranging from 7 years - 16 years depending on breed, would we want our dogs to live this long? I wonder how different the dog industry would be. If they were happy and healthy, for me the answer is yes.

Max (9 August 1983 – 18 May 2013) was a beagle, dachshund and terrier mix who lived 29 years and 282 days.

In August 2009, the Telegraph reported that Max had veterinary records proving his age and that at 29 he was the world's oldest living dog. He was 3 years older than Pusuke a Shiba Inu who, at 26 years of age, had previously been considered the oldest living dog.

On May 15, 2013, the Guinness World Records organisation approved a claim made by Janelle DeRouen for Max to be recognized as the World's Oldest Dog. However, just three days later, on May 18, Max died of a Tonic–clonic seizure. If Max had lived to the following August, he would have been the first dog known to reach 30 years of age.

Bluey (7 June 1910 – 14 November 1939) was an Australian cattle dog owned by Les and Esma Hall of Rochester, Victoria, Australia, which, according to an anecdotal report, lived 29 years, 6 months and 12 days, but the record is unverified. Bluey held the world record for the oldest dog, according to Guinness World Records, who cite the anecdotal reports as being "reliable", until February 2013, when Max took over.

Bluey's record age, along with that, also unverified, of an Australian Cattle Dog - Labrador mixed breed dog named "Chilla" reported to have lived to the age of 32 years and 12 days.

​(Picture Credit: Facebook – 7 News Perth)

Imagine going for a walk every day in bare feet, not washing those feet and then licking and chewing them. Well your dogs do. The toxins that can develop on your dogs' paws are now also having fun inside your dog.  Although our dogs are designed to handle some bad stuff, there are many toxins that should be avoided. These include lawn fertilizers, garden herbicides and pesticides, anti freeze, household cleaners, formaldehyde, pool/spa chemicals, even flea and tick medication.
Or if your dog is anything like mine, cut grass can cause a massive flair up in his paws.
While there are many reasons your dog may be licking or chewing at his paws and a vet should be consulted in extreme cases, by keeping your dogs paws clean and healthy you may be able to eliminate a lot of licking by following a few simple steps. Even if your dog doesn't have allergies,  every dog deserves healthy paws!
So what can we do?
​

The Foot Soak
As recommended by Dr Karen Becker DVM

If  your dog is a big guy you can use a bucket and soak one foot at a time, with a little dog, you can use your kitchen, laundry or bathroom sink.

So it doesn't matter where you do it or whether you rinse all four paws at once or one paw at a time. What's important is to soak those paws at the end of any day when your pet has been in contact with allergens, lawn chemicals, or anything in the environment with the potential to irritate her feet.

Keep in mind the only places dogs sweat from are their noses and the pads of their feet. So those damp little pads can collect a really heavy load of irritants.

A soak at the end of the day will reduce the chemical burden on your dog, as well as the potential for irritation.

You need enough water to cover the pads of your dog's feet.
Povidone iodine (Betadine) is an organic iodine solution. It's safe, non-toxic, antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-yeast.
You want to dilute the povidone iodine with water to the color of iced tea, using just your eyes – no scientific formula is involved! If it comes up too light, just add a bit more of the iodine. If it's a bit dark, add more water. Just swish around while your dog stands in it. I recommend you let your dog stand in the solution for two to five minutes.
You don't have to do anything to the feet or toes -- the solution will do the work for you. So you can just stand and sing to your dog while he soaks, or talk to him and tell him know how handsome and well behaved he is. Massaging your dog is also a nice relaxing time.
If your dog is nervous about being in water, you can offer treats. So having some snacks handy is a good idea.
If your dog is truly fearful of water, rather than plunk her in the tub or sink, you can do a little mini-soak. Put a little povidone iodine in a small tub, add water and create a little mini foot soak. You can just plop each little foot in the mini-soak one at a time, making sure each entire pad surface is covered with the mixture and it shouldn't be nearly as scary for your dog as being put in the bathtub.
Remember, the key is to get the feet submerged in the solution, which will wash away any type of yeast that might be growing, as well as mild bacterial infections, allergens, and other contaminants.

Pat Dry and Go! After you've soaked each foot for two to five minutes, there's no need to rinse the solution off your dog's feet. This is another great feature of povidone iodine.
Just lift your dog out of the bath or remove that last foot and pat the paws dry. Done!
If you're short on space or time, you can re-use a container of foot soak for two or three days. Some people leave a pail of the mixture on their deck and make a fresh batch every few days.
Others keep a garden hose handy and fill up a bucket, a small plastic tub or even a coffee can and mix in the iodine solution, dumping after each use.
I wouldn't go more than two or three days using the same foot soak solution.
And keep in mind you don't have to use a lot of water or povidone iodine – just enough to fully cover your dog's foot pads with a solution the color of iced tea. This saves both water and iodine, and if your dog has a water phobia, it will also reduce her anxiety to use only the amount of water necessary to get the job done.

And don't worry if you have a white fluffy like me, the Betadine will not cause a lasting yellow stain on your dogs paws.

You can then follow up with Mushers Secret Wax to help sooth and protect.
​

T​ry Musher’s Secret Wax as a Treatment to help protect & keep your dogs' paws healthy.  

You'll want to protect your dogs paws from abrasive surfaces such as sand, salt and ice, pavement or anything that can damage their sensitive pads.
This is perfect for dog walking, bike rides with your dog, running on roads – basically any activity where your dogs paws come in contact with abrasive surfaces.
100% wax-based cream derived from a blend of several food-grade waxes. Safe and non-toxic to your dog and contains vitamin E to help moisturize, heal wounds and keep paws healthy. Creates a semi-permeable shield that lets perspiration escape while absorbing into the paws to protect them.
Simply apply a light coating to your dogs foot pads and rub in. Absorbs in minutes – when it’s absorbed into your hand, it’s absorbed into your dogs pads. In severe weather rub between pads. Apply as needed to keep your dog healthy and happy.

With these two simple steps your dogs constant licking and chewing should improve, but always seek veterinarian advice should symptoms persist.
​

 ​Our tests showed that an unrestrained pet sitting on the back seat of a car can hit the dashboard with enough force to cause serious injury, even at a collision speed below 20km/h," said NRMA Insurance Head of Research Robert McDonald.
"Most people using the commonly available harnesses are doing so in a genuine attempt to keep their pets safe.
"(But) most harnesses, while effective at restraining pets, are not safety devices and do little to prevent injury in a common low speed crash."
NRMA Insurance used weighted dog 'dummies' to test harnesses in 35km/h and 20km/h impacts.

Even a low speed crash can have terrible results
But 23 of the 25 popular harnesses tested failed because of the weak plastic buckles, similar to those to clip backpacks.

Dog car harness test results - most readily available harnesses below.

Purnia 'Roadie'.                                           Pass (No Longer Available)
Ezy Dog Drive                                              Pass
Sleepypod 'Clickit'.                                      Pass
Animates 'Car Safety Harness                   Fail
Black Dog 'Car Harness'.                            Fail
Masterpet '2 in 1 Car Harness'                  Fail
Rudducks 'Car Harness'                              Fail

Many popular harnesses were tested. The two harnesses that didn't fail were the Purina Roadie harness (which costs about $40) and the Sleepypod Clickit harness (which costs about $140) and also has ISOFIX attachment points, the same type used to restrain child seats in Europe and still pending final approval in Australia.

"An effective harness is critical when travelling with a pet as it keeps the animal safe and restrained and avoids the driver being distracted while driving with the animal moving around inside the vehicle," said Mr McDonald.

​Number one rule is if your dog is not getting out of the car with you - leave the dog home!

A dog can die in a car in as little as 6 minutes:

After just 10 minutes:

Outside                                               In Car
21 degrees                                         32 degrees
29 degrees                                         39 degrees
32 degrees                                         43 degrees

So what can you and can't you do if you find a dog locked in a hot car and you fear its life is in danger.

Symptoms of heatstroke include:

*Uncontrollable  Panting
*Foaming at the Mouth
*Tongue and Gums turning Bright Red
*Rapid Heart Rate
*Vomiting
*Lethargic or uncoordinated movements

Is it Legal to Smash a window to save a animal?

As of 2019 a statement from Police Victoria is:

"It is and isn't legal to break a window to save an animal"
"You may be fined and also liable for any damage caused!"

The advice is:

*Please do not take matters into your own hands and call OOO immediately.
*The Police or Fire Brigade will be dispatched if a dog or child is trapped in a motor vehicle.
*Take of photo of the animal inside the vehicle and the number plate.

Every summer, local news channels are flooded with tragic stories of children or animals being locked inside of hot cars—and, in many cases, these innocent victims don’t survive.
Upon realizing an animal is stuck in a dangerously hot car, the car-owner (or even bystanders) will no doubt think of breaking the auto glass or windshield to bring the animal to safety. However, there is most definitely a right and wrong way to do this.

​About Auto Glass and Windshield Design:

Auto glass is required to be exceptionally strong, and a car’s front windshield is the strongest of all. Your windshield is capable of resisting the force of even a direct front end collision, plus holding up against flying objects like rocks or road debris. Strict automotive industry safety standards require that car windows be reliably strong and protective. Vehicle windshields are made of super-strength laminated glass, and a car’s back and side windows are made of slightly less shatterproof tempered glass.
To break auto glass, even on the “weaker” side or back windows, you need the proper tools. With the right tool and strategy, physics is on your side and you can successfully break the glass to save someone from a hot car death.

How to Break a Car Window to Save A Life:

Strategy - The laws of physics dictate that you’ll require intensely targeted force to break a car window. Blunt force won’t shatter the car window. Specifically, you need a sharp, pointed object—such as a spark plug. A plug is a natural choice in this situation since they are readily available under the hood of a car (except for diesel models).

To break the car’s side window or back windshield:

1. Remove a spark plug from under the hood of the car in question–or from a nearby vehicle, perhaps your own. Another bystander may offer to help you pull the plug–if you tell them a spark plug is needed.
2. With spark plug in hand, smash it into the ground (cement parking lot) or into the side of a masonry building. If you have a hammer or metal bar to smash into the spark plug, this can help. Smashing the spark plug should chip off some of its porcelain outer covering. Your broken spark plug should now have sharp pieces of white porcelain laying around it. Pick up one or two pieces. (You may get a cut on your hand in the process, so–if time and anxiety level allow–be careful picking up the shattered porcelain piece(s).
3. Tell the trapped person, if they are conscious (or communicate to the animal if you can) to lean out of the way. (For an animal, you might do a mock throw of the porcelain first–so s/he will naturally react by backing away from the car window.)
4. Now, take your small piece of sharp porcelain and throw it at the centre of the side car window as hard as you can. Even though you are not generating much force with your throw, the sharp porcelain point focuses the force. It should cause a tiny fracture in the tempered auto glass, which will instantly spread out. The window will look like a spider web of cracks, and there may be an actual hole in the centre. (By safely shattering, we mean that tempered automotive glass is designed to shatter without producing sharp shards of glass. Tempered car window glass produces crumbled bits that are not sharp and should stick together–so you can pull out the shattered window from the centre weak point or hole. This prevents injury you and the car’s passenger.)
5. Help the trapped animal out of the car and into shade.​ Or at least open the car doors to get fresh, cooler air to the animal.Offer water, but don’t force it. 
6. Treatment for Heatstroke:
   Be prepared to restrain and muzzle
   Cool the dog down by pouring water over it or wrap in a wet towell - do not use ice 
   You may use Ice packs (if available) and place over dogs body (not head or neck)
   Be prepared to treat for shock
   Be prepared if the dog falls unconscious to perform CPR and or Rescue Breathing
   
   
7. Wait with the animal for authorities to arrive.

Other Emergency Options to Break a Car Window or Rear Windshield:

1. If you don’t have access to a spark plug, you can use any type of sharp porcelain shard, such as a broken:

• Ceramic ashtray
• Coffee mug
• Smoking pipe
• Porcelain “china” keychain charm
• Decorative item hanging from the rear view mirror
• Dish from a nearby restaurant
• Item from a bystander, or a nearby convenience store or other retailer

​Ideally, hit the car window at its weakest point (near the centre), but other spots may work just as well.
What to Do When You See A Hot Car Emergency:

REMEMBER TO FOLLOW THESE STEPS:

• Don’t fail to call authorities! You must do this–whether or not you are able to (or feel a need to) take action on your own to free the trapped individual from the parked car.
• Take a photo with your phone if possible, before your rescue attempt. The photo should show the trapped individual, and also get a shot of the license plate for authorities. If the car owner emerges, you may still want to give this info to responding authorities. (If you shatter the window, take an “after” photo as well.)
• Don’t confront the car owner if s/he shows up, whether or not you have shattered the car window, especially if you are alone. You could find yourself under attack, similar to a road rage incident. Let authorities handle apprehension or admonishment.
• Let the car owner/driver drive off if they try–especially if you are on your own–and just give your photos and info to the authorities. Perhaps collect witness phone numbers as well, because bystanders with valuable information may walk off quickly.

Default Action for Saving Someone Trapped in a Hot Car — Call 000 When you notice a child, elderly person or pet locked in a hot car, even if the windows are partially down–this is typically an emergency situation. People and animals can die of hyperthermia (overheating, sustained high body temperature) in a locked parked car, in a very short time.

You are perfectly justified in calling 000 to save a life, and acting on your own is risky.

We don’t wish to advocate that people should immediately break windshields or car windows (especially if it’s not their vehicle)…it is always best to call the authorities. HOWEVER, if it is a complete emergency, we want our local community to be advised of the proper way to go about breaking a rear windshield or car side window.

Resources: anthonyvolkglass.com/blog/how-to-break-auto-glass-emergency
​Number one rule is if your dog is not getting out of the car with you - leave the dog home!