Canadians spend millions of dollars on food, toys and entertainment for their pets each year, surprisingly we have a blind spot when it comes to pet safety in the car. To ensure the safety of both you and your pets in the car it is essential to make sure your animals are restrained properly. This means using a chest harness in conjunction with the car seat belt.

There are several reasons why we must use proper restraint systems for our animals.

Seatbelts save lives: We know this is true for humans. The force of a collision, even at speeds as low as 30km an hour can fatally injure any unsecured pet that hits the dashboard or windshield.

Driver distraction: It is dangerous to have your pet unrestrained in the car. They can cause a distraction by jumping onto your lap or even interfering with the pedals.

Unsecured pets become projectiles in an accident: At speeds of approximately 60km/hour an unrestrained pet can become a projectile flying through your car with the force of 20 times its weight. Obviously this is not good for your pet, but it is also extremely unsafe for all the human occupants of the car.

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I’ve put together a list of a few great pet freebies and deals, for you readers of the Ottawa Dog Blog! I’ll include some hints and tips on how to get discounts on your pet products as well. If you want to be smart shopper in these recessionary times, it doesn’t just apply to your own groceries, you can save also quite a bit of cash on your pet items!

Firstly, before you sign up to the various deals and pet freebies, I’d recommend that you create a disposable email account for this purpose. E.g. you can make a free gmail account. If the email address ends up getting a load of spam, it won’t matter.

Pet Freebies

Amibouff Freebies
Amibouff Canada offer free samples of pet food! At the bottom of the page, click the free sample offer, and select your area. Once that is selected, go back to the home page, click the free sample link again, and you can request the free samples (Only in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island). It also enters you into a contest to win free pet food for a year!

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I am a fan of unconventional dog names – I constantly say “hey that would make a cool dog name” and them promptly forget what it was. I’ve decided to start this dog names post and I’ll update it as I think of more names that I like.

Ottawa Dog Blog Favourite Names

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If you are a pet owner who lives alone, take part in a brief on-line survey being conducted by Carleton University.

The on-line survey is confidential and anonymous.
Thanks!

(Ottawa Dog of the Week for April 28/08)

Our Beloved Tasha aka thieving hound

“We picked Tasha up from a farm breeder in Lanark County 15 years ago. After losing my mom and dad within 18 months of each other, Tasha helped me get back into the joys of life again.

I grew up with border collies and I think mom and dad sent her specially to us… she is as stubborn, independent and prone to shannigans as her owners – Jacqui and Mike. My wonderful adopted mom, Halina, has visited Tasha almost on a daily basis to play with her, exercise her and for lots of TLC. Halina is Tasha’s favourite person in the world – she has her wrapped around her little paw… she has pulled many stunts on Halina – including stealing her lunch on many occasions and banging on the treat cupboard with her paw (neither thing she’d dare do with us!) to demand rewards.

Mike and Tasha spend endless hours in the Gatineau walking and enjoying nature. We gave up walking Tasha in the neighbourhood – she has to be driven to her walks – if anything spooks Tasha she simply lies down and refuses to move… Mike has often had to pick her up and carry her and had people ask ‘What’s wrong with your poor dog’ – well actually nothing. During thunder storms Mike wears a fur hat during the night In her younger days her job was Frisbee catching – and boy was she good! Maya, Mike’s cousin’s little girl, knew Tasha from before she could walk and became and expert Frisbee thrower – Tasha loves her cuddles.

Tasha is now 15 and is suffering from age related physical changes – but her grey cells are right up there – she still can be a ‘stunty dog’ (one of her many nicknames). We love her to pieces. She is Mike’s shadow on the weekends waiting for her walks (she follows him everywhere and loves to lick off his shaving cream) and we both have whole conversations with her on a daily basis, cuddle and whisper silly nothings to her. We LOVE our Tasha and she loves us (and, of course, Halina and Maya).” – Tasha’s mom, Jacqui.

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(Ottawa Dog of the Week for April 14/08)

Well I’ve skipped around to a few homes and now I’m in my forever home. First I was abused by mean people that would leave me outside, hit me and never pay attention to me. Then somehow I ended up in Ottawa all the way from Texas into a home that thought having a dog would be fun until they figured out how much work I was. I was afarid, cowered and stay by myself in a cage all day and most of the night even while I slept!! I was very lonely until, those owners decied to put me up on USEDOTTAWA and than my mom cam and pick me up. From then on I was a happy camper…finally! I play with my sister Heidi and we sleep together all day and wait for our mom to come home – I love it. Although I still cower and still scared of people, I promised my mom I would try hard to trust again. I like to chase balls and play-fight with Heidi outside, I love outside. My mom lets me run free and sniff anything I want. It is a far cry from being in a cage all the time. I like to eat food off the floor because I never actually ate out of a bowl before – I didn’t know what a toy was and I didn’t even know how to walk on a leash!! My mom is working slowly with the bowl issue (she thinks that the people just threw food at me or not at all because I was a stick when I first got here) it’s just crazy how much my life has changed!! I am so happy now especially at bedtime. I have my own special pillow right beside my mom in bed and I love to get my tummy tickled before I fall asleep every night. I follow my mom around like a shadow just inc ase I loose sight of her. I like to meet new people only when my mom is near, I still get nervous when new people come int o our house, I think its mostly because I think they will take me away…I am very afraid of that so I run into the room where they cant get me and sit on my chair. I am a very good girl though and my mom loves me with all her heart.

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