The Doghouse Grooming Salon

10/28/2025

Veterinarians warn dog owners: even small amounts of chocolate can be deadly for pets this Halloween. Here’s why and which types are most toxic. Click the link in the comment for more

08/20/2025

Warning for Pet Owners – Death Cap Mushrooms Have Been Identified

Amanita phalloides, also known as the “Death Cap,” has appeared in yards and fields across central Indiana. These mushrooms typically emerge between July and November and can be deadly to dogs of all sizes—even with prompt treatment.

They look very similar to harmless mushrooms and can only be identified accurately by an expert. Ingesting them can cause severe liver and kidney damage within 24–48 hours and may be fatal.

If your dog eats a mushroom, contact a veterinarian immediately. Don’t wait—early intervention is critical.

The Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) at Purdue University offers toxicology testing for suspected cases involving mushrooms, nitrates, cyanide, and blue-green algae.

🔗 Link in comments for sample submission instructions to ADDL.

Purdue Extension Indiana State Board of Animal Health IVMA: Indiana Veterinary Medical Association Purdue University Purdue Agriculture Purdue Extension - Tippecanoe County Ag & Natural Resources

07/06/2025

Georgia's Toxic Algae Blooms: A Danger to Dogs This Summer 👇👇

07/06/2025

06/29/2025

Warning: Fireworks and pets don't mix!
HOW TO KEEP YOUR DOG (OR CAT) SAFE DURING THE HOLIDAY

The 4th of July is a day to celebrate our country’s independence. It means family picnics, parties, parades, and, of course, fireworks. To animal shelters across the country, however, it also means a higher number of pets coming through their doors, overloading already crowded facilities. The first week in July—and the first week in January (due to New Year’s Eve fireworks)—are the two busiest times of the year for the volunteers at Lost Dogs Georgia.

With that in mind, it’s a good time to remind everyone that fireworks and pets simply don’t mix. The bright lights and loud noises can be terrifying for our pets. For them, deafening noises occurring randomly without warning must feel like being in a war zone. Not knowing when or where the next explosion will occur, or understanding what the noise is, is extremely stressful for pets—as well as their owners. In addition, a dog’s hearing is roughly four times better than ours; they hear frequencies we can’t. Sounds that are acceptable to us may be painful to a dog’s sensitive ears.

Panicked dogs have been known to jump through glass windows, push through screens, bolt away from their owners while walking, jump out of moving car windows, and escape from previously secure yards during fireworks. Even if your dog has never been bothered by fireworks in the past, he may respond differently as he gets older.

While the Fourth of July is a day to celebrate our country’s independence, it means something additional for shelters and lost pet sites. For shelters, it means a higher number of pets coming through their doors, overloading already crowded facilities. For lost pet sites, it means a drastic increase in the number of lost pets listed and a rush to help owners recover their missing pets.

Below is our list of tips to help keep your pet safe from the dangers of fireworks. Many of these tips will also help with pets that are reactive to thunderstorms.

Be prepared. Neighbors may set off fireworks several days before and after the 4th!

Check your fence. Is it secure? Can your dog get under, over, or through it? Does your gate latch securely? We don’t recommend ever leaving your dog outside unattended, even if the yard is fenced.

Use a leash when outside and wrap it around your hand several times. Keep a firm grip. No flexi-leads. If he bolts, the leash won’t be pulled out of your hand. For reactive dogs, it’s best to use two leashes—one attached to a harness, the other to a collar.

Your pet should always be wearing a properly fitted collar with a readable ID tag that includes your current phone number.

Have your pet microchipped. Make sure the chip is registered and the company has your current phone number. Provide the number of a family member or friend as a backup.

Do not bring your dog to fireworks displays! Leave him at home where he’ll be safe. He’ll be much happier there.

Keep your pet in an inside room, such as a bathroom (preferably without windows). Play soft music or have the TV on to help drown out noise. Through a Dog’s Ear offers CDs with music proven to relax and calm pets. Give him toys to keep him occupied.

If necessary, talk to your veterinarian about medication to calm him.

When traveling in the car, secure him with a pet seat belt. Open the windows just enough so he can stick his nose out, but not enough for him to jump out.

Have current photos of your pet from all angles. They should clearly show any unusual features, coloring, or markings. Do this now—before you need them.

If your pet does go missing, or you find a lost pet, immediately list them with us at: www.PetFBI.org
Our volunteers will be notified, and you’ll be able to download flyers to print or share online. This is a completely free service.

For our comprehensive lost dog search guide, visit us at:
www.lostdogsgeorgia.org

We hope you don’t need us, but if you do, we’re here to help.
Lost Dogs Georgia

06/25/2025

It’s almost time for 🎆 FIREWORKS 🎇
🇺🇸 The 4th of July is QUICKLY approaching! 🇺🇸

More pets go missing on the 4th of July than any other day of the year.

Our shelter is dangerously overcrowded and more surrenders pour in the doors daily.
Help us save lives by keeping your pet safe and contained this 4th! 💥

HCACC offers
‼️ F⃞ R⃞ E⃞ E⃞ ‼️
microchips with registration to ALL pets in our service area! 🐶 🐱

Appointments preferred to get you and your pets in and out as quickly as possible!
Book here~~> https://calendly.com/hcacc

Please note: While we would love to be able to extend this service to everyone, our department and its progarms are taxpayer funded and restricted to residents of Habersham County and the Alto and Baldwin City Limits.

06/23/2025

The Fourth of July can be an exciting and festive time for people of all ages, but for pets it’s often the most stressful day of the year. Loud fireworks, unfamiliar smells, and unusual activity can be overwhelming for animals who don’t understand what’s happening around them.

Read the full story here: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/how-to-keep-your-pets-safe-and-calm-during-fourth-of-july-fireworks/

06/10/2025

This year marks 67 years since Laika was launched into space. And, as every autumn, I feel it is my duty to remember this story. Not out of nostalgia or scientific curiosity — but out of a deep sense of guilt and reverence. Because Laika was not just an experiment. She was life. She was presence. She was innocence given over to the unknown. Her real name was Kudrjavka, which in Russian means “curly.” But she became known as Laika, “the barker,” or “Little Barker.” She was a mongrel, half Husky, half Terrier, captured on the cold streets of Moscow. She was only three years old and was chosen because she was calm, docile, and had survived the rigors of life on the streets — as if that made her more suitable to die alone in space. On November 3, 1957, at 2 a.m., Laika was launched aboard Sputnik 2. The satellite was equipped with food, water, a cooling system, and padded walls. But there was no plan to return. From the beginning, that trip was a death sentence disguised as scientific advancement.

It is said that she survived for seven hours, but other sources say up to four days. Alone. In silence. Without understanding why she was taken. Just floating inside a metal capsule, while the Earth spun below her — ever further away.

She circled the planet 2,570 times. Then, on April 14, 1958, the capsule reentered the atmosphere and disintegrated. Carried away by the heat. By gravity. By oblivion.

Laika did not ask to be our heroine.

She did not choose to represent science, the space race or human progress.

She was just a stray dog, with eyes that sought affection — and a body that was used as a tool.

And that, brother, is why I return to this story every year. Because it forces us to remember that not all progress is innocent, and that many of our achievements were written with the pain of those who could not say “no”.

Laika, we have not forgotten you. And as long as there is someone who tells your story truthfully, your memory will live on not as an experiment, but as a testimony of what we must never repeat again.