Protecting Your Dog Against Ticks

by Lindsay Herrick-Somerset 

As the weather warms up, that means more time outside with your dog. But, with the warm season, also means the return of something else: ticks.

 

Ticks are found specifically in longer grassy areas and in bushes. Even though many people think of them as insects, they are actually arachnids which are similar to spiders and mites. Ticks are parasites that feed off of the blood the host they attach themselves to. Those hosts can be can a human or an animal.

 

The biggest problem with ticks is that they are carriers of disease, specifically Lyme disease. Lyme disease can be very serious if not treated, with symptoms including a fever, loss of appetite, pain, lethargy, swollen lymph nodes, swollen joints and shifting lameness from one leg to another. If not treated, it can cause serious damage to your dog's heart, nervous system and kidneys.

 

If you suspect that your pet has Lyme disease, take them to their vet as soon as possible. Your vet will want to do a blood panel to be sure and then start your dog on antibiotics right away as Lyme disease is a bacterial illness.

 

This is why it's extremely important to do a tick check any time your dog has been outside, specifically if they have been in long grassy areas (such as the river valley) or in bushes. The most common places where ticks like to grab on to and most pet owners miss are your dog’s ears, between their toes and arm pits.

 

What do you do if you find a tick on your dog? The safest way to remove a tick is by using a tick remover tool . Do not touch the tick with your bare hands as bacteria could be transmitted to you. Wear gloves or use a paper towel if you don't have gloves. Grab the tick as close to the skin surface as possible so this reduces the chances of the head detaching. Twist and pull the tick out with steady and even pressure. It may take a minute or two, so be patient. Once the tick has been removed, find a container and take it your vet so they can send it off to a lab to be inspected. Write down the time and place where the bite occurred.

 

Once the tick has been safely removed, it's very important to disinfect the bite area and your hands as soon as possible.

 

So, what can you do to prevent your dog from getting ticks? Talk to your vet about what they recommend as there are many different options out there. There are monthly topical treatments that can be applied to your dog that are effective at keeping both ticks and fleas at bay. If your dog attends daycare, most daycare require proof that your dog is having it applied. But be cautious about using any random tick treatment you find at a store as they are not all created equal and/or can be hazardous to your dog.

 

Also, make sure you check yourself over if you have been out with your pet in high risk areas for ticks. You don't want to take your chances.

National Black Dog Day!

NationalBlackDogDay
Today is National Black Dog Day!

Did you know that black dogs are often overlooked in rescues just because of their color?

The National Black Dog Day website explains,

“All too often, black dogs are overlooked because of many stigmas such as; the color black is evil (the same stigma that cats have), black dogs do not show up as well in photographs as muti-colored or light colored dogs and black dogs look scary and intimidating because you cannot see their facial expressions as easily, etc. They are easily overlooked when people are searching for a new dog and the first to be euthanized in overcrowded conditions.”

At Zoe’s, we’ve seen this phenomenon too. Often our black animals seem to stay longer in our care and for no real reason we can explain.

So in honor of National Black Dog Day, here are our current black dogs in our care:
Sully

Sully

JackBlack1

Jack Black

Mickey-00

Mickey

Vincent

Vinnie

chase1

Chase

And a sneak peek at one of our new puppies who is still recovering from Parvo:

Serena Williams

Serena Williams

Stay tuned to our adoptable dogs page for Serena’s profile to go up when she is ready.

If you’re looking to add a new family member, consider a black dog. If you’re still not convinced that black dogs are amazing, check out #blackdogday on Social Media.

Dogtoberfest Starts Tomorrow!

If you’ve spent any time around the world of Zoe’s you would know that we have some amazing friends. People continue to amaze us in the ways they provide support, and they’ve done it once again.

Building on the success of their wine fundraiser, some friends of Zoe’s have decided to run Dogtoberfest!

So here’s how Dogtoberfest works:

To enter, you need $10 and a 4-pack or 6-pack of beer.

You text or email the numbers on the poster below.

Those lovely ladies will direct you in where the closest drop off point to you is located.

You drop off the $10 and pack of beer and cross your paws!

On October 31, they will draw to win up to 50 packs of beer!

dogtoberfest

 

 

A Beer Lottery for Vet Bills

All the money received will be donated to Zoe’s to keep helping animals in need.

Beer, supporting charity, cute kitties and doggies – does it get any better?

Please Vote for Zoe's in the Aviva Community Fund

Voting is now OPEN in the Aviva Community Fund!

How this works: Click on the banner above and it will bring you to our idea where you can either register or sign in using your facebook account to vote. Once that is done it’s just a quick click on the button to vote.

Remember: You can vote daily to help us win!

The first round is from Sept 29 – Oct 13. Then there are two other rounds to get a chance to get into the semi finals. We would love your help to get in, in the first round!

How Will Voting Help Zoes and Ultimately, Animals?

Aviva community fund is helping to fund ideas by individuals like us who want to make a difference. By voting every day we have a great chance of winning $50,000 to help our spay and neuter program grow larger. By spaying and neutering we help prevent the needless suffering of puppies and kittens who are born unwanted.

spaynneuter

For all the information regarding our idea, you can read our Overview.

Please help us make a difference in the lives of unwanted animals. It will only take a minute of your day, but by doing so you can help animals have a brighter future.

Welcome to the New and Improved Website!

dog welcome home
Notice a change around these parts?

In an effort to streamline our practices, make the most of volunteer time and skills, and to fix our awful mobile website we’ve built a new and improved website!

The new website is more modern looking and includes lots of storytelling images. We think it fits better with the personality of Zoe’s and our brand. We’ve also improved the menus and navigation. We sat down and looked at the website from the user’s perspective to see what should be where. We also took a look at the websites of some of our friends in the rescue community to see what we thought they were doing better than us.

But it’s not just good looks. We’ve reinvented the entire back end of the site.

(for those of you who hate technical jargon, please scroll to the end of this list. For nerds like me, ENJOY!)

We’ve added:
  • improved Search Engine Optimization;

This means our website will be found more easily in searches!

Not only do we actually have a mobile site now, but it’s developed from the ground up to work for mobile users.

  • cross-browser compatibility;

Whether it’s Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome, you will have a great user experience.

  • integrated social media;

Sharing buttons on blog posts and now on adoptable animals; please share our animals! We’ve also added a spot for our Instagram feed and our blog posts on every page.

  • clearer, more graphically pleasing storytelling pictures;

We’ve been very strategic about the images we have chosen for the website. We wanted pictures that were beautiful, told a story about Zoe’s and were formatted well. We also added photos on all our pages.

  • advanced caching;

This helps the website load faster. Statistics show you have 3 seconds to convince people to stay on your website, so speed in loading is important.

  • completely overhauled content;

We went through every page of the old site and rewrote the content. We’ve made the language friendly, approachable, and more clear. We’ve also added and eliminated content as necessary.

  • Google Analytics;

We now have better data to see if our online efforts are working. We can set goals and make sure we achieve them.

  • graphical navigation;

Some of our pages have navigation that is through pictures. This improves the user experience and helps keep our guests on the website. It just feels more friendly and interesting.

  • a better form plugin;

Our old forms were powered by a plugin that was out of date; our new forms are powered by one of the most well respected form applications for WordPress.

  • a web store for donations;

This is still a work in progress, but we have added a store where people can buy items on our wish list for our animals. For example, you can buy a pack of bully sticks. The web store will take your donation of the amount that the bully sticks would cost and one of our volunteers can use that money to buy the item for our fosters! It’s an easy and fun way to donate!

  • and loads more!
But most importantly…

The biggest change is in the simplified process to enter adoptable animals. Before, we had to enter each animal through a painstaking process. It took a lot of time and you also had to have coding knowledge. There was also two different systems that had been used to enter animals in an effort to improve the process but neither were working well. Errors were made just because the process was so complicated. Now if you can fill out our volunteer form, you can enter one of our new adoptable animals on the website. This means we can have a wider base of volunteers working on the website and volunteer turnover is not as detrimental.

Take a Look at this Beautiful Screenshot of the new Back End!

backend

You can see how easy it is. All the fields are labeled. You basically just fill in the blanks or check off the boxes – and viola! A beautifully formatted animal profile emerges. Take a look at some of our profiles!

I’m very excited to see how all these changes improve the experience users have when visiting our website. The ultimate goal is to help more animals and I think these improvements will further that goal!

Join the Web Team!

If you’re interested, we are always looking for help on the web team. If you think you can handle entering new animals, would like to contribute to the blog, want to take high quality photos for banners, or are interested in taking charge of the web store, we would love your help! Fill out a volunteer application and indicate your interest in being part of the web team. We can offer lots of training, coffee dates, dog walks together, and laughter – as well as putting in some good work for Zoe’s! And you’ll get lots out too; positions like these look great on a resume!

Enjoy the new website!

Quinn is Ready for Fall

Quinn is a handsome boy. Seriously handsome.

You really can’t grasp the enormity of how handsome he is until you see him in person.

But some of the beautiful photos his foster mom takes will give you a glimpse.
quinn

More photos of Quinn can also be found on our Facebook page.

Quinn isn’t just good looks though. He’s got skills! He can sit, lay down, and shake a paw.

To read more about this handsome and smart fellow, check out his bio page.

 

Sporty Spice is a Queen on her Throne

Sporty Spice is Queen of her throne!

SportyQueen

 

Well, sort of, more like something fluffy to sleep on.

Sporty Spice is one of our newest intakes. She is part of the Spice Girls litter and came into Zoe’s with her mama and two sisters, all of whom were living in a broke down shed.

It’s so nice to see a kitten enjoying the comforts of her foster home!

If you’d like to add Sport Spice to your home, apply to adopt her today!

See Cameron Diaz Dance!

…the Zoe’s dog that is.

Are you looking for a dancing partner? Cameron Diaz may be your girl!

Camerondance

 

Check out Zoe’s Facebook page to see a video of Cameron Diaz dancing with her foster dad.

Cameron is sweet as pie, about 1 year old and medium energy. She seems to be fine with cats and other dogs. She is a bit shy but warms up fast to her people. Everyone who meets her falls instantly in love.

Apply today to dance with her furever!

Featured Volunteer: Mae Croft

maecroft_featuredvolunteerMae is always willing to do what she can to help. She has done a fabulous job managing our donation tins!

She also organizes our annual compost fundraiser. This includes coordinating with the compost company, organizing volunteers, and spending the day getting compost to those who donate. It’s a big job and a big fundraiser for us so we are eternally grateful!

Thank you Mae, for everything you do!

A New Way to Adopt: Zoe’s Co-Pilot Program

copilot

We’d like to introduce our newest adoption option to help some of our senior animals find their forever homes: the Co-pilot Program. Co-piloting means that Zoe’s covers some of the costs, but the animal belongs to the adopter, and has a permanent, loving home for the rest of its days.

Gus has been waiting at the Rabbit Hill Pet Valu for over 3 months. It's a nice place, but hey, it'd be nice for the old guy to settle down.

Gus has been waiting at the Rabbit Hill Pet Valu for over 3 months. It’s a comfy enough place, but hey, it’d be nice for the old guy to settle down.

Specifically, Zoe’s will waive the adoption fee, and provide up to one FREE vet check per month at one of our sponsor vets, which will allow adopters to monitor their pet’s health.

Gus' sister Pumpkin has also been waiting patiently at the Rabbit Hill Pet Valu.

Gus’ sweet sister Pumpkin has also been waiting patiently at the Rabbit Hill Pet Valu.

With a co-piloting adoption, a senior animal gets a loving home, an adopter gets help with their pet’s care, and we at Zoe’s get to do a victory dance. It’s a win-win-win.

Interested in co-piloting with us? Check out Pumpkin and Gus, our first two seniors available for co-pilot adoption. These two sweet old timers have a lot of love left to give, and are waiting for their second chance at a retirement home.

Hank