Pet Auto Safety

My love for dogs started with Cassie.  Cassie was a Shetland Sheepdog who chose me to be her companion when I was 10 years old.  Although my mom always had at least one dog around (six at one time, I think), none of those dogs was truly mine until Cassie.  Cassie was given to my mom, but she chose me.  She slept with me, followed me around, and was by my side as often as she could be.

Cassie did not have a dog seatbelt but it was only because such a thing did not exist back then.  But she is my true inspiration for every dog thing I do.  Because of Cassie, I worked at an animal shelter and occasionally fostered dogs.  And because of her, I now volunteer at an animal shelter, am a certified dog trainer, share my love for dogs on my dog blogs, and promote pet auto safety and other products for dogs.

Cassie passed away when I was 23 years old but she is still in my heart.  I got Smokey when Cassie was 10 years old.  And after Cassie passed on, I got Becky Ann and Achilles.  It was when I had these three dogs that I discovered the dog seatbelt.  I bought a dog seatbelt for each so that it would be safer for them to ride in the car (and easier for me to drive without distractions).

That was a long time ago.  Now I have Sephi and Maya.  They each have a dog seatbelt and thanks to increasing awareness and safety concerns, their dog seatbelt is better made than the ones my other dogs used to have.

While Cassie was my inspiration for all things dog, my other dogs have played a part.  In a way, you can say that Cassie, Smokey, Becky Ann, Achilles, Sephi, and Maya were all inspiring.  If it wasn’t for them, I would not have started Pet Auto Safety.com.  In a way, they are the true founders.

Sephi (Persephone)

This dog must really love to ride in the car.  I’m sure if I thought it was a good idea, I’d teach it to Sephi and Maya.  But I am afraid I’d find them in the car a lot when I didn’t want them there.  Sometimes you just got to be careful with what you teach your dog. 

Enjoy the video from the funniest dog website, ICanHasCheezburger.com.

Shelley with http://www.bednbiscuit.com/ has her dog wear a dog car seat belt.  Her dog, Kendra, is from a high kill shelter in Kentucky.  She wears the dog car seat belt in order to be safe.  Kendra does ride in the front seat because Shelley’s car does not have a back seat.  If your dog must ride in the front seat, make sure the passenger side airbags are disabled.

Thanks Shelley for sharing this great photo of Kendra.  She is beautiful!

Welcome to the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop!
Visit some great dog blogs for great pet tips and funny stories.

I am extremely grateful for my pets.  There have been many times in my life where things just weren’t going right.  But my pets always made those times better.  When I was a girl, I was picked on quite a bit on school.  I became somewhat of a recluse.  The only thing which could bring me outside my room and make me smile was my dog, Cassie.  When I was older, Smokey was there to help me adjust to the stressful change from college to work.  And when I was older still, Sephi helped me through a painful divorce.

Did you know that pets can actually help people live longer happier lives?  I can attest that they have definitely made my life happier.  And several studies have statistically shown that people with pets tend to live longer or recover faster from injury or health issues.  They make us smile, give us a reason to get up and move about, and let us do or say anything without judgement.

So keep your pets in mind this Thanksgiving holiday.  Put your pets in your prayers and give them a tasty doggie treat (no people food!).  Perhaps even consider giving a donation to your local animal shelter.  There is no other relationship like the relationship with people and their pets so be thankful for this miraculous wonder.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This cute photo with a funny caption is from ihasahotdog.com.  This website has lots of adorable photos of dogs with hilarious captions added.  Check it out, have a good laugh, and make sure your dog is wearing his seat belt like the dog in this photo is.

As a certified dog trainer, I read a lot of dog training books.  One particular book I bought specifically in order to get help with my dogs.  That book is called, “Feisty Fido, Help for the Leash-Reactive Dog”.  My dogs, Sephi and Maya, walk pretty well on a leash until they see another dog.  I struggle to keep a hold of them as they pull.  Sephi is pulling because she doesn’t like other dogs and she wants to go after them.  Maya is pulling because she loves other dogs and she wants to go play with them.  This book has been very useful in helping me understand why my dogs are behaving this way and what I can do to correct their behavior.  Check out my review of the book at the American Dog Blog.  Then visit our new Dog Lover’s Book Store in order to purchase it from Amazon.com.

 Because I love dogs, I also read a lot of stories about dogs.  I recently read a fantastic fictional story by W. Bruce Cameron titled, “A Dog’s Purpose”.  This story is told from a dog’s perspective.  The dog describes his different lives as a stray, as a family pet, as a working dog, and as a backyard dog.  Although there were parts in this book that made me cry with sadness, there were also parts that made me cry with joy.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  You can read the review of this book at the American Dog Blog as well.  And this book is also available at the Dog Lover’s Book Store.

The Dog Lover’s Book Store is an Amazon.com affiliated store so you can trust its integrity, security, and service.  We will be adding more books to the Dog Lover’s Book Store as we read and buy them.  (Our book reviews will go on the American Dog Blog.)  

Maya, my yellow Labrador Retriever, just turned 3 years old today.  She is not just my dog, she is the model of one of the dog car seat belt brands.  She is also seen at the top of this blog page.  And she was used to design the Pet Auto Safety.com logo.  Maya is famous!

 In celebration of her 3rd birthday, we are sharing a 10% off discount code which can be used at any time on Pet Auto Safety.com.  The discount code is dogbirthday.  Enter it in all lower-case and as one word to get 10% off of anything at Pet Auto Safety.com.