Robin Alexis Guest on Martha Norwalk's Animal World 9AM to Noon Sunday, April 22, 2012 Earth Day!

http://www.seattle.gov/animalshelter/spay.htm

http://www.homewardpet.org/

Dear Martha,

My name is Melanie and I am a long-time listener to your radio program. Thanks so very much for all that you have taught us through the years about animal health and behavior. In my case, you’re kind of preaching to the choir, but your wealth of knowledge and resources aid me in making informed choices regarding my family’s pets (cats and until recently, a dog).

Our beloved Golden Retriever, Griffey, passed away in March. Tomorrow would have been his 15th birthday and I know he lived a long, healthy life mostly due to the info you share over the radio. Griffey was a happy dog right to the end and loved by everyone who knew him.

I confess that Griffey ate only dry dog food his entire life (canned food as an occasional treat). His breeder sent me home with Purina Puppy Chow, but I immediately weaned him over to the ‘natural’ brand that you recommended, then soon switched to the Precise brand when you endorsed it after the first brand was bought out by a big corporation. He also ate Solid Gold Wolf King (bison) at breakfast the last half of his life, but he always ate Precise Plus for dinner.

Most importantly, Griffey took The Missing Link Supplement almost every day of his life with us. Occasionally, in his later years, I would switch MLS out with Nupro Joint Support (he loved the liver taste of Nupro), but he mainly took MLS Plus. Incidentally, the last time that he was on Nupro, his arthritic symptoms flared up, so I quickly switched him back again to MLS Plus and he got better. His “treats" included Joint Treats Minis by Joint Max (Griffey was talented at catching them when we tossed them to him) and lettuce. He especially loved the crunchy part of romaine lettuce and we often joked that he would go for the lettuce if he was offered either meat or lettuce as a choice at hand.

Occasionally, I run into Griffey’s breeder (he lives nearby), and I learned last fall that out of the 7 puppies in Griffey’s litter, only he and one sister were still living (and she was in very arthritic shape; her owner carried her up & down stairs). All of Griffey’s extended blood-family (that I know of through the breeder) have died of cancer. Griffey’s wonderful great-grandmother, Ginger (she was the reason that we wanted a Golden), died of cancer at the advanced age of 16 when he was a puppy. The rest of Griffey’s extended family died of cancer at younger ages. Because of the debate about immune suppressing effects of annual vaccinations, I chose not to have annual vaccinations given to Griffey after the age of 3. I used to be religious about annual pet vaccinations until one of our cats died of a sarcoma that originated at the customary injection site. You gave me the courage to stick to my guns and refuse repeated vaccinations for Griffey. Even his breeder thought I was off-base about vaccines, but lately I sense that he may be changing his mind.

Griffey (aka Griff-dog) went on two daily walks with me, rain or shine. The last morning of his life was like any other...we walked around the neighborhood and then he ate all of his breakfast and treats. It was my husband, Jay’s, day off, so he was home when, out of the blue, Griffey had a massive, lengthy seizure right in front of us. Jay & I gave Griffey energetic healing, but it was clear that it was time to let Griff-dog go; he was ready. The vet let us stay with him for the final injection and we said our good-byes. The hardest part was telling our (grown) children that Griffey was gone...

Five days after Griffey passed on, I had a dream that gave me comfort. That night I was expecting a home delivery of produce & groceries from Full Circle Farm, so that was on my mind. I must have heard the delivery truck in my sleep because in my dream I got up and opened the front door to retrieve my box of produce. Along with my box, however, sat a giant (it was huge!) bag of dog treats / biscuits. Alongside, sat a toddler-size baseball glove. When I awoke, the baseball mitt part of the dream puzzled me until later that day when it dawned on me that it was Griffey’s “signature”. He was named for Ken Griffery, Jr. the Seattle Mariners player, and the baseball glove was ‘Griff-dog-size’ , not ‘toddler-size’! The bag of treats were telling me that it was OK, we did the right thing letting him go. My older son wondered why Griffey didn’t leave me chocolates instead of dog biscuits, and I answered that I would not have associated a giant bag of candy with Griff-dog at all.

Martha, mahalo nui loa, thank-you very much for your radio show. You gave us the means to keep our beloved dog happy, healthy and active his entire life. A big thank-you and appreciation for the wonderful interviews that you do with inspiring and informative people, especially Helen & Bill Thayer!

Aloha,

Melanie

New Spirit Journal

Martha Norwalk writes a series of articles! Really good information!

www.newspiritjournal.com

http://www.facebook.com/NWSAM

http://www.missinglinkproducts.com/

http://www.jonesandcompanypets.com/

Donation to Carleen

If you have a desire to send a donation to Carleen please contact Martha Norwalk 360-217-7258 for where and how to send your donation.

Martha Norwalk does not recommend that you let your dog play with tennis balls. The material covering them is like sand. The sand quality will wear down their teeth. Their canines will get flat.

She recommends the Buddy Glow Balls

http://www.bing.com/shopping/search?q=+buddy+glow+balls&qpvt=+buddy+glow...

in the chuck it:

http://www.healthypets.com/chbala.html

But Martha Norwalk says don't use the Buddy Glow Balls in the winter! They are white and you will lose them in the snow!

Product alert!!! Martha Norwalk says that the Tretorn x tennis balls are potentially dangerous for your dog;even worse than the other tennis balls for your dogs:

http://collinscompany.com/TennisBalls.htm

Question or comment that relates to what we are talking about

425-373-5527

1-888-298-5569

email animalworldlive@hotmail.com

Martha is running a Missing Link give away today! Listen live so that you know when to call in!

Robin Alexis

We are live!! Join us for some fun!

Bob and I are running 1 on 1 specials. There is a special rate for Soul Spa members, non Soul Spa members and if you buy a package of 3 you get a more deepened discount!

Follow this blog live during Animal World Live!

Robin Alexis