3 treat feeders to exercise a dog's body, mind

With Lulu still recovering from her cranial cruciate ligament surgery, strengthening her hind leg is important.

We've always used treat feeders to keep them busy, but they've taken on a new importance: physical exercise.

So here are our three favorites.

DISCLAIMER: I've received these feeders for free to review, but Life With Beagle received no payment for this post. All thoughts are our own.

How teaching my dog to swim helped her recover from surgery

Raise a virtual paw if your dog won't swim.

If you have a beagle, the answer is most likely yes.

I'm not sure why beagles seem to distrust water, but in my completely unscientific, anecdotal research, I've found most beagle owners can't even get their beagle to stand in a kiddie pool, let alone go for a swim.

But after Lulu's cruciate ligament tear and surgery, I decided I had to do something to help her recover faster. So despite my misgivings (I flat out told them I didn't think it would work!), I took Lulu for a swim.

Why doesn't my dog like her food? My conversation with a Natural Balance nutrition expert #WeBelieveinNB

What do you do when you know you've bought good quality dog food and your dog just won't eat it?

A couple months ago we started talking about why we like Natural Balance® Limited Ingredient Diet.

But Lulu even after a week of mixing her food, she wouldn't eat the Natural Balance alone.

Not sure what I was doing wrong, I decided to ask an expert. Natural Balance is happy to oblige.

This post is sponsored by Natural Balance® and the BlogPaws® Professional Pet Blogger Network™. I am being compensated for helping to share our thoughts about why we believe in Natural Balance as a quality food for our (dog(s) or cat(s), Life With Beagle only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Natural Balance Pet Foods is not responsible for the content of this article.

Call your congressman: USDA makes it harder to track puppy mills, animal experiments

Feb. 6 UPDATE: The Humane Society of the U.S. says it is taking steps to sue the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture for removing the APHIS database from the government website. Please read the full report here. 

Feb. 7 UPDATE: The USDA now says "adjustments may be made in the decision to remove animal welfare inspection reports from the APHIS website, the Associated Press is reporting.

Read the full story from AP here.

Learn more about why this issue is so important below.
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I have never been political on this site, and I try very hard not to. 

But if there is one issue we can agree on, it's treating animals well and that was made harder up in Washington.

So now I'm asking that you take a moment to tell your Congressman and Senators that you don't agree with this move to remove USDA inspections and other enforcement information on animal facilities across the country.

My dog tore her cranial cruciate ligament: 5 things to remember

Lulu sat on the Vet's table, gingerly kicking out her right hind leg. She looked at me with the same big, sad eyes she employed to get treats.

After a week or two of not knowing what was wrong, of being frustrated and worried, I was finally overcome. I put my head on hers and cried.

Lulu waits at the vet for her diagnosis.

Lulu had some obvious discomfort a week or two prior. I took her to a vet (not her primary, he was out of the office on a training day). They felt her spine, moved her legs, she showed no sign of pain. They diagnosed her with an upset tummy and prescribed an antibiotic, a probiotic and canned prescription food.

A week later, we were at her regular vet. She would walk, yelp and hold up her leg.

The vets moved her legs. They performed an X-ray. It was a tear of the cranial cruciate ligament.

A cranial cruciate ligament tear. Picture courtesy of Embrace Insurance.

I felt like I had failed my dog somehow. I kept going through in my mind what had led Lulu to tear a ligament. Had Jasmine been rough with her? Did I push her too hard? Why did I keep letting her jump on and off the bed or the couch or out of the car? Why didn't I make sure she had Glucosamine supplements daily?

And why hadn't I waited one more day and seen her primary vet initially?

I have had many people try to reassure me that I am not a bad dog mom. I remain unconvinced. But I hope this post will help put your mind at ease... and give you something to think about.

4 ways Natural Balance dog food helps you buy with confidence #WeBelieveinNB

Last week, we talked about why Lulu and Jasmine are on a Limited Ingredient Diet. We use food like Natural Balance® because the company uses simple ingredients, a single source of animal protein and no grains.

But one thing we love about Natural Balance is how well they make sure their food is OK for my dogs. It's called the Buy With Confidence™ guarantee, and there are 4 steps to it.

This post is sponsored by Natural Balance® and the BlogPaws® Professional Pet Blogger Network™. I am being compensated for helping to share our thoughts about why we believe in Natural Balance as a quality food for our (dog(s) or cat(s), Life With Beagle only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Natural Balance Pet Foods is not responsible for the content of this article.

Need a Limited Ingredient Diet? Buy Natural Balance with confidence #WEBelieveinNB

We are a Limited Ingredient house. Lulu and Jasmine have long been on simple formula diets with single animal proteins and no grains. And we like Natural Balance's® Limited Ingredient Diet.

This post is sponsored by Natural Balance® and the BlogPaws® Professional Pet Blogger Network™. I am being compensated for helping to share our thoughts about why we believe in Natural Balance as a quality food for our (dog(s) or cat(s), Life With Beagle only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Natural Balance Pet Foods is not responsible for the content of this article.