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Happy Halloween!  Are you scared?! Ike and Kelly say all treats and no tricks for everyone! Happy Halloween!

Here's a behind the scenes peek at my recent book signings for Faithfully Yours, the amazing bond between us and the animals we love . One book signing was even pet friendly! Zeke came to say hi Grandma! We had a fun photo op we had at one of the signings. We tried to set up dogs to look like the book cover. Diamond Iz Milo Zeke  How do you think we did?! * KATE VOLZ is the winner of a signed copy of the book on the Faithfully Yours blog tour book giveaway. Join the Blog Paws Wordless Wednesday blog hop!

What could be better this fall than curling up with a warm blanket, your favorite book, and a dog by your side? And I've got the perfect book. I'm excited that I got an advanced look at my blog pal Jackie Bouchard's new novel, House Trained . The thing I love about Jackie's books (yup, I've read them all!) is that they're not just about dogs, they're about people with dogs. People with situations and struggles and stress and messy lives. And having a dog makes all the difference. Isn't that the truth?! The other thing I love about Jackie's books is her humor, and her honest, direct approach. (Yup, that first line of House Trained is about as open and direct as they get!) The book is about a woman named Alex who is in for a few surprises in her neat and orderly life. It's also about Marie, a floppy-banged labradoodle, who teaches Alex a few lessons about acceptance. House Trained is a funny, honest look at family--the good, the bad, the messy, and...

What ingredients should I feed my dog? What is the best dog food? Should I use grain-free? Important questions. There are no easy answers.  And it's so personal. And what's best for one isn't always best for the other. It's something I've read about and researched, and will continue to do so. I can't pretend to tell you what is the best food for your dog. But I can tell you about our experience and some research I've done. Quite some time ago, we used to feed our dogs what we thought was pretty good quality dog food. But after doing some research, I realized that we were way off. That was way back, before I started getting fit and healthy, and dieting with my dog . Not only was my dog Kelly overweight, but she was also at risk of many serious health conditions. I remember that all her lab results were borderline...and I determined that it was up to me to change her diet and get her healthy and get those lab tests going in a positive directions. So I learned ...

   What do you think Kelly has on her mind this autumn?! Join Blogpaws Wordless Wednesday blog hop! 

A few weeks ago, Ike and Zeke were playing and Zeke somehow managed to get Ike's collar off. This has happened several times before. They play rough, but it's all in good fun. What wouldn't be in good fun is if Zeke got severely tangled in Ike's collar and as the two struggled, the collar tightened around Ike's neck. There are an estimated 26,000 collar strangulation accidents a year. This week is Collar Safety Awareness Week. Toni Mark, KPA-CTP, MA, Training and Behavior Education Specialist for PetSafe (R) brand, explains that collar stangulations not only occur during play, but also the collar may get caught on furniture, crates, fences, bushes, trees and heating and cooling vents. "By launching Collar Safety Awareness Week, we hope to help reduce the incidence of these tragedies." To help, we're giving away one PetSafe (R) KeepSafe (R) Breakaway Collar. The way this collar works is the buckle releases when pressure is applied or it gets caught on s...

I've been writing about the human-animal bond, and found that so many people form connections with animals, and not just cats and dogs. There are even two stories in my new book, Faithfully Yours , about a woman who helped her asthmatic chicken, and had compassion for a chicken who wanted to hatch some eggs! So that is why I wanted to share this information with you. The ASPCA is hoping to raise awareness about the plight of factory farmed chickens and how you can help. Introducing: Change your Chicken Challenge ! Here's what you need to know: There is a ton of information on the web about organic products, grass fed beef vs grain fed, having too many hormones and antibiotics in meat and dairy, and buying chickens that have been raised “cage free.” But what does all that mean and why is it important?   It should always be important to know and understand what you are feeding your body, especially when you have kids. But how do you know what is really “good?” There are some pre...