4 Reasons to Helicopter Parent Your Pet

It has been said that helicopter parenting might not be the most ideal parenting style. Kids need some room to make mistakes and learn from them. That being said, there are a lot of great reasons why you should helicopter parent your pet. Reasons Why You Should Helicopter Parent Your Pets Pets Don’t “Grow Out of It” Babies and toddlers go through a stage where they put everything they can grab into their mouths. They will grow out of this stage eventually. Pets, however, will always have a tendency to try and eat things that may or may not be … Continue reading

Keep Pets Safe from Outdoor Seasonal Dangers

Oh, the weather outside is frightful! People who have one or more pets that primarily live outdoors need to take extra precautions to keep them safe as the weather gets cold and miserable. VPI has created a helpful list of 10 seasonal dangers to outdoor pets. When you go out into the snowy, Winter, weather, you probably bundle up. Most of us wear warm coats, gloves, hats, and scarves if we are expecting to be outside for more than a minute or two. Your pets can’t do that. This could lead to a very serious, and tragic, situation. You might … Continue reading

Keep Your Pets Safe on Halloween

Halloween is fun for humans, especially children. Keep in mind, though, that Halloween can be stressful, or dangerous, for your pet. Banfield Pet Hospital has a guide to Halloween safety that pet owner should read over. It can help you avoid tragedy and a pet insurance claim. It is understandable that pet owners will want to share the fun of the holiday with their pets. After all, pets are part of the family! Pet owners need to keep in mind that there are many things associated with Halloween that can lead to a dangerous situation for your dog or cat. … Continue reading

Fourth of July Pet Safety

On Friday one of the DJ’s for my local radio station mentioned upcoming Fourth of July celebrations, and she warned dog owners about fireworks. She said that she sees more fliers go up for missing dogs on July 5 than just about any other day of the year, all because of the fireworks noise. It’s something that never occurred to me, but it makes a lot of sense. Depending on where you live and how loud noise from fireworks might be in your yard, Independence Day, while fun for us humans, could prove frightening for our pets. If you keep … Continue reading

We Need More Food Holidays

I’m not a very good cook, I only cook enough to keep us alive, but if I have something to celebrate, then I love to cook! I love cooking for a crowd on Thanksgiving or Christmas. I actually look forward to it, plan it out and dance around the kitchen, excited for everyone to come to dinner. The rest of the year, not so much, cooking is boring! In an effort to make every day a holiday and motivate myself to cook I decided to take advantage of some of the lesser known holidays. So dust off your apron and … Continue reading

Keeping Pets Safe on Halloween

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I think it’s due to many happy childhood memories I have of this season and of this holiday in particular. But it just might be my pets’ least favorite, as a new report calls Halloween the most dangerous holiday for pets. The Baltimore Sun has the scoop from the Pet Poison Hotline. Just hearing the name of the company releasing the report makes it obvious why Halloween is considered so dangerous: chocolate. That’s right; the hotline says that calls made to it go up 12% this time of year. The first step I should take … Continue reading

Home Safety: Entertaining Holiday Guests

Safety. It may not be the first thing we think about when entertaining holiday guests. We’re busy getting things ready for the holidays, and preparing the guest room and other spaces to ensure that our guests are happy and comfortable throughout their stay. Whether guests are visiting for the day, or coming for an extended visit, there are a few important things to keep in mind. Dangers Lurking in Luggage Our guests may not have small children or pets in their homes and may not realize that their luggage could be an invitation for kids or pets to explore something … Continue reading

Chatting with Marlene Richardson, Former Pet Care Professional – Part Two

Southern Duchess Pet Care Service Logo, created by Megan Belanger and provided by Marlene Richardson, former owner of Southern Duchess In Part One I introduced you to my neighbor Marly Richardson, a former pet care professional. She shared how she got into the biz, but in this part she talks about the biz from a different perspective: things those who are interested in getting into it should take into consideration. Courtney Mroch: What kind of advice would you recommend to anyone thinking of starting their own pet care business? Marly Richardson: Pet sitting is so much more than playing with … Continue reading

Taking a Holiday Break?

NO. We seldom take holiday breaks. All of my friend’s kids and my kid’s friends are home for the holidays. Therefore, there is no schoolwork, no homework, no work, period. This is not true for us. Since we take breaks whenever we need to, we do not follow the public school calendar. We homeschool every chance we get. Today, my son is working on writing exercises for the book he is reading, and my daughter is working on math. Then we will go to the chiropractor for my back, (while my 12-year-old son plans to stay home, as he does … Continue reading

Holiday Travel: 10 Ways To Stay Healthy On Vacation

Continuing with our series: “Holiday Travel” today we move on to another important issue related to holiday travel-—health. Winter’s crummy weather doesn’t only serve as the impetus for travel delays and cancellations, it wrecks havoc on people’s immune systems. To avoid being laid up in a hotel bed while the rest of your family is hitting the slopes or the beach consider following these tips: 1. Wash your hands frequently, especially before eating. 2. Examine dishes and utensils (make sure they are clean and dry) before using them. 3. If you are traveling abroad (places other than the United States … Continue reading