Sunday, September 15, 2013

Black Dog Names

Your black dog will be a great companion to you, so he deserves a fitting name.
See all 10 photos Your black dog will be a great companion to you, so he deserves a fitting name.Source: liza31337, CC BY 2.0, via flickr This sleek, muscular black dog would make a great Jaguar.
See all 10 photos This sleek, muscular black dog would make a great Jaguar.Source: pedrosimoes7, CC BY 2.0, via flickr

Congratulations on getting a new dog! Whether you a providing a home for a brand-new puppy, a shelter dog, or an old-timer, you'll need to decide what to call him or her. (Of course an older dog may already have a name, but you may be able to change it with patient, gentle training.)

If you've chosen a black dog to become part of your family, you'll want a special name that reflects his appearance and personality. Read on for lots of options to help you decide.

A pretty female dog like this deserves a pretty name. How about Onyx, Jet, or Ebony?
See all 10 photos A pretty female dog like this deserves a pretty name. How about Onyx, Jet, or Ebony?Source: hoyasmeg, CC BY 2.0, via flickr

Female Black Dog Names

Although many names for black dogs are gender-neutral, here are a few lovely names that work better for the fairer sex:

  • Ebony
  • Jet
  • Licorice
  • Magic
  • Onyx
  • Pearl

Your adorable little puppy will one day be a big dog, so don't give her a name that's too cutesy. Velvet or Shadow will remind you of her soft fur or mischievous nature long after she's grown without being too precious.
See all 10 photos Your adorable little puppy will one day be a big dog, so don't give her a name that's too cutesy. Velvet or Shadow will remind you of her soft fur or mischievous nature long after she's grown without being too precious.Source: pslim, CC BY 2.0, via flickr

Physical Characteristics

Clearly, the most obvious physical characteristic of a black dog is the color of its coat. (You're probably not going to want to give it a name that would better fit a Golden Retriever, like Sunny!) That makes names like these good options to try:

  • Blackie
  • Carbon
  • Charcoal
  • Midnight
  • Night
  • Shadow

But there are other features that you can focus on in combination with the color of your dog's coat.

  • For a soft, short-haired dog try Velvet.
  • A dog with black eyes could be (black-eyed) Susan.
  • A small dog (a Chihuahua, for example) could be Black Bean.
  • A dog with a sprinkling of gray or white hairs would be a perfect Pepper.
  • If your small dog loves to sneak-attack you, maybe he's a Ninja.
  • A black dog who loves the water could be called Storm or Raincloud.

A black dog this large and furry could only be named Bear.
See all 10 photos A black dog this large and furry could only be named Bear.Source: BlackburnPhoto, CC BY 2.0, via flickr

Dogs That Resemble Other Black Animals

Some black dogs resemble other animals in size or temperament. Here are some other black animals you might want to name your dog after.

  • Angus (a type of black cattle good for a large, placid dog)
  • Bear (this dog must be huge and shaggy, such as a Newfoundland or an Irish Wolfhound)
  • Jaguar (good for a sleek, muscular dog)
  • Panther (similar to Jaguar, but better if the dog has a hint of a spotty pattern)
  • Penguin (good for a chubbier dog with a white bib)
  • Raven (a great choice for a small, noisy dog)

Does your dog have wild long black hair? Name him after Edward Scissorhands or Robert Smith of The Cure.
See all 10 photos Does your dog have wild long black hair? Name him after Edward Scissorhands or Robert Smith of The Cure.Source: Hunterrrr, CC BY 2.0, via flickr

Names for Black Dogs Derived From Popular Culture

Dogs play a huge role in popular culture, but so do dark characters both good and bad. Try these on for size:

  • Sirius Black (in the Harry Potter series, Sirius can turn himself into a giant black dog: a scary omen that turns out to be a blessing for Harry)
  • Fang or Fluffy (Hagrid's dogs in the Harry Potter series; they're both huge, but Fluffy has the added distinction of having three heads)
  • Nana (after the Darling's babysitter-dog in Peter Pan; in the book she was actually a Newfoundland, not a St. Bernard)
  • Darth Vader (does your dog have a chronically stuffy nose?)
  • Poe (short for Edgar Allan Poe)
  • Zorro (This mysterious defender of the oppressed always wears a black mask and cape.)
  • Toto (Who could forget Dorothy's Cairn Terrier in The Wizard of Oz?)

A serious dog deserves a serious name like Cole or Maurice.
See all 10 photos A serious dog deserves a serious name like Cole or Maurice.Source: State Farm, CC BY 2.0, via flickr

Human Names That Work for Black Dogs

There are a lot of names that mean "dark" or "dark-skinned," so if you prefer to call your dog by a human name, here are a few options:

  • Blake
  • Ciaran or Kieran
  • Cole
  • Duff
  • Laila (a female name meaning "Night")
  • Maurice or Morris

Click thumbnail to view full-sizeEither one of these puppies would make a great Inkblot because of their irregular black and white patterns.
This funny-face dog would make a good Butler in his tuxedo, as long as you can train him to answer the door!
This dog's half-mask practically requires you to name him Phantom of the Opera.
Either one of these puppies would make a great Inkblot because of their irregular black and white patterns.
See all 10 photosEither one of these puppies would make a great Inkblot because of their irregular black and white patterns.Source: audreyjm529, CC BY 2.0, via flickrThis funny-face dog would make a good Butler in his tuxedo, as long as you can train him to answer the door!
See all 10 photosThis funny-face dog would make a good Butler in his tuxedo, as long as you can train him to answer the door!Source: annethelibrarian, CC BY 2.0, via flickrThis dog's half-mask practically requires you to name him Phantom of the Opera.
See all 10 photosThis dog's half-mask practically requires you to name him Phantom of the Opera.Source: audreyjm529, CC BY 2.0, via flickr

Names for Black and White Dogs

If your dog is only partially black, consider one of these names that are appropriate for black-and-white dogs such as a Border Collie or a Wire Haired Fox Terrier:

  • Butler (perfect if your dog has tuxedo-shaped white markings)
  • Chess (for an allover black and white pattern)
  • Domino
  • Inkblot
  • Oreo (great for a dog that's black all over except for a creamy white center)
  • Spot (Turn this classic on its head by using it for your mostly black dog with a white spot or two instead of the expected Dalmatian coat.)

Bling Rhinestone Pet Dog Cat Collar PU Leather Crystal Diamond Collar Black S
Bling Rhinestone Pet Dog Cat Collar PU Leather Crystal Diamond Collar Black S Current Bid: $2.25

Looking for a nice way to welcome your new dog into your family? Try this treat recipe!


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Saturday, September 14, 2013

Choosing Dog Food by Reading the Dog Food Label

When choosing a dog food for your new dog or puppy, it is just about as important as choosing a good formula for your new baby. Because it is so important to watch what your dog eats, you want to make sure that you know how to choose the best dog food for your dog, and in doing so it is pretty important that you learn how to read dog food labels.

You already read food labels when choosing your own food, by making sure to avoid foods with certain preservatives or grab foods with certain ingredients. Well, you want to practice this with your dog's food as well because your dog needs certain amounts of proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, fats, and other nutrients.

The first thing that you want to remember is that when you finally find a dog food that meets all the criteria and that your dog likes, stick with it, and you won't have to spend hours on the dog food isle at the grocery store or pet store again. You'll know just what you're looking for, so it will be a quick in and out process.

Until you know what you want, don't get frustrated if it takes you a good minute to pick a quality dog food.


Reading Dog Food Labels

First, you want to make sure that you know what ingredients that you want to avoid.

  1. AVOID all dog foods that contain ingredients such as potato product, by-products, (some bone meal and animal fat can be ok as long as it is not within the top ingredients).
  2. Avoid dog foods that contain an excess amount of ingredients that you just can't pronounce.
  3. Avoid dog foods that contain excessive fillers, such as rice flour, rice brain, corn, etc., as the first ingredient or one of the top ingredients.

Next, you want to make sure that you know what ingredients to look for in a quality dog food.

  1. Look for dog foods that contain whole meats, such as chicken, beef, and lamb.
  2. Look for dog foods that contain whole grains such as oats, rice, barley, and wheat; just make sure that they are not the first ingredient.
  3. Look for dog foods that contain the following preservatives- Tocopherols (Vitamin E), rosemary, sage, clove extract, ascorbyl palmitate, ascorbic acid, and forms of Vitamin C.

You may also want to check to see if there are any whole vegetables listed in the ingredients label, such as peas, carrots, and potatoes. It is not necessary to have vegetables in the dog food, but fresh produce can be good to add to your dog's diet. Just make sure that you avoid grapes, onions, etc. (See a more extensive list of foods to avoid below.)

Corn is ok to have in your dog's food, but you want to make sure that it is NOT the first ingredient and that corn gluten ingredients are not include. But, the main problem with corn in your dog's diet is that it is hard to digest, so you want to make sure that if there is corn on the label, it is far down the list.

Be careful to make sure that you know the difference between the following, when determining the proteins.

  • "With chicken flavor"- The food is flavored, but there may not be any chicken in it.
  • "With chicken"- There is less than 3% of the meat in the food.
  • "Chicken dinner"- The food is at least 25% of meat.
  • "Chicken for dogs"- The food is at least 70% meat combined with the water or at least 95% meat total.

Corn gluten meal
Corn gluten meal

Fillers in Dog Food

When choosing a quality dog food for your dog, you want to make sure that it has as few fillers as possible and that it has as many proteins as possible. The first ingredient on the label, should be a protein of some sort, and you want to make sure that within the first three to five ingredients there aren't any fillers.

Fillers cause your dog to eat more because they are not getting the dietary essentials that they need, which in turn causes you to have to buy more dog food than you should. Fillers can actually upset your dog's stomach and digestive tract, so you want to make sure that you choose a dog food that will be the healthiest for your dog to consume.

Just be careful because some dog food manufactures will try to be sneaky in breaking up the same filler into several different names so that it's not necessarily listed at the top, but when combined they will out-weigh the percent of protein in the dog food. For example, you may see corn gluten, corn bran, and ground corn, or you may see ground wheat, wheat flour, and wheat middling.

Upon careful observation of the ingredient label on the back of the dog food bag, you can easily find a dog food that will provide your dog with all the nutrients that he needs to be a health, happy dog.

Just remember that the higher percentage of the ingredient that is used to manufacture the dog food, the higher up the list it will be. This is why you want to make sure that within the first three to five ingredients there aren't any fillers.

Common Ingredients in Dog Food

  • Meat: Clean flesh of slaughtered animals, to include the striated skeletal muscle, tongue, diaphragm, heart, esophagus, overlying fat, and the skin, sinew, nerves, and blood vessels normally found within that flesh.
  • Meat Meal: Clean parts of slaughtered animals, to include the lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, stomach, and intestines without their contents.
  • Poultry Meal: Clean parts of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, undeveloped eggs, internal organs, and feathers that cannot be avoided during the process.
  • Fish Meal: Clean ground tissue of un-decomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, with or without the oil extracted.
  • Bone/Meat By-products: Blood, hair, hooves, horns, hide trimmings, manure, and any stomach and rumen contents.
  • Beef Tallow: Fat from beef.
  • Ground Corn: Entire corn kernel ground or chopped.
  • Corn Gluten Meal: By-product after the manufacture of corn syrup or starch.
  • Brewers Rice: Small fragments of rice kernels separated from milled rice.
  • Brown Rice: Unpolished rice left over after the kernels have been removed.
  • Soybean Meal: By-product from producing soybean oil.
  • BHA: (butylated hydroxyanisole) a fat preservative.
  • Ethoxyquin: Chemical preservative used to prevent the dog food from spoiling.
  • Tocopherols: Natural preservatives.

Avoid Dog Food With High Content of the Following Ingredients

1.Wheat

2.Corn

3.Soy

4.By-Product Meal

5.Digest

6.Ethoxyquin

7.Egg Product

8.Brewers Rice

9.Preservatives

10.Cellulose

Compare EVO and Purina Beneful Top 10 Ingredients


Purina Beneful

Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed tocopherols, salmon, brewers rice, soybean meal, sugar, sorbitol

EVO Innova

Beef, beef meal, lamb meal, potatoes, egg, sunflower oil, buffalo lamb, venison, beef cartilage, natural flavors;

  • Moldy food
  • Mushrooms
  • Onions
  • Persimmons
  • Pits from peaches and plums
  • Raw eggs
  • Raw fish
  • Salt
  • Sugary foods
  • Yeast dough

Foods to Avoid

  • Baby foods
  • Caffiene
  • Chocolate
  • Coffee
  • Citrus oil
  • Dairy products
  • Garlic
  • Grapes or Raisins
  • Macadamia nuts
  • Milk

Choosing Dog Food

  • Common Dog Food Allergies
  • What is the best dog food for my puppy?
  • List of Premium Dog Foods
  • Feeding Innova EVO Dog Food Is The Best
  • BARF: Bones And Raw Food Diet
  • Components of a Raw Food Diet (BARF Diet)

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