Kids aren’t the only ones who like to have special treats.  Giving your pet treats enhances your bond with them and rewards good behavior.  Many brands of animal treats trick consumers and pose as healthy options to incorporate into your pet’s diet.  Next time you venture out to buy treats for your pet, make sure you follow these general guidelines to ensure optimum health:

1.  Try to find treats with the least amount of calories.  Just like humans, special treats should be a limited source of our diet.  By giving your pet treats that are low in calories, you will prevent weight gain and thus related health problems.

2. Chose treats that fit your dogs physiology.  In other words, if you have a toy breed, don’t purchase very dense and large treats. Buy appropriate size treats to fit your pet’s unique needs.  By doing so you can prevent potential injuries and digestion problems.

3. If you buy treats such as rawhide, you should monitor your dog’s usage.Rawhide treats are very tough and in some cases have caused choking incidents. In addition they have been known to cause digestive problems. Be careful when you purchase such treats, and limit your pet’s consumption of them.

4. Rely on soft treats, rather than tough.  Treats for dogs such as pig ears, bones and other animal products prove much damage to teeth from chewing.

5. Read the nutritional values on the treats! Just as if you were shopping for healthy snacks for yourself, avoid giving your pets treats with excessive fillers, additives, fat, sweeteners, etc.

6.  Try not to feed your pet too many treats.  They should generally only be given once to twice a day and to reward good behavior.

Don’t be tricked by certain treat brands! Be smart when choosing treats for your pets.

Take a moment and look at our adoptable animals who need loving homes and foster homes!

A little Halloween inspiration for you and your pooch!

Send us pics of your dog in his or her Halloween costume! We’d love to post it to our website. Send them to cj@animaladvocatesalliance.org

Looking for a dog of your own to dress up this Halloween? Take a moment and look at our adoptable dogs who need loving homes and foster homes!

I am delighted to share with you a wise and heartwarming debut novel about a beloved dog from platinum-selling musician/composer Alan Lazar.  ROAM (Atria Hardcover, November 2011) is an insightful story about families, love lost and found, and the three-legged dog named Nelson that brings them all together.

What would you do if you lost your dog, or any pet for that matter?

Would you lie awake nights wondering how he was faring in the world outside of your home—if he was hungry, tired, scared, or hurt?  In ROAM, a beagle/poodle mutt named Nelson finds a happy home with a newlywed couple, Katey and Don.  Nelson develops a deep love and dependence on Katey, and in turn exhibits protectiveness over her safety and well-being.  When Katey and Don’s marriage starts to go south, Nelson senses something wrong, and soon follows his nose outside of their yard and into the world, becoming hopelessly lost.  After wandering the country for eight years he is miraculously reunited with his beloved owner, having survived the wild and even missing a leg.

ROAM is so much more than the story of a dog.  It is an eye-opening look at the human condition.  Nelson witnesses humans in all different stages of their lives, and with an objective point of view, offers insight as to how our emotions and general states of being are detectible by an animal’s keen senses.  It is also a story of survival, and in telling the story of Nelson’s will to live in the wild, Lazar artfully shows us just how animals communicate with each other.

In addition to a beautiful story in ROAM, author and composer Alan Lazar has also written seven original piano pieces to accompany the novel.  They can be accessed through Microsoft tags throughout the book, as well as through his website at www.alanlazar.com.

I hope you enjoy ROAM as much as I did.

Here is the author Alan Lazar with his sweet little pooches.

Here’s what others have to say about ROAM:

“I loved the curious, adventurous spirit of Nelson.  The story of Roam shows some of the things I love most about dogs—their unconditional love, loyalty, instinct, connection to Mother Nature, and of course, their powerful noses!  We can all learn and take something away from his journey.” —Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer

“Alan Lazar knows dogs, and to know a dog is to love a dog. ROAM compassionately explores and celebrates the heart and mind of man’s best friend and the special bond we share.”
   —Patrick McDonnell, New York Times bestelling author of The Gift of Nothing and the creator of the “Mutts” cartoon strip

“With the mesmerizing simplicity of a classic silent film, ROAM tells the heart-breaking (and yes, heart-warming) story of Nelson, an adventurous and brave little dog as memorable as John Grogan’s Marley, Kate deCamillo’s Edward Tulane and even Chaplin’s Little Tramp. Without a word of dialogue, Lazar tells an epic tale almost entirely from Nelson’s point of view, but his canine hero’s stirring quest is no different than Quixote’s—a death-defying, wonder-inducing search for love.”
   —David Frankel, Director of Marley and Me and The Devil Wears Prada

ROAM comes out in November, 2011. You can pre-order and purchase the book on Amazon.com in hard copy, audio MP3 and there is even a Kindle edition. Great holiday gift for the dog/book lover in your life!

Now I ask you to take a moment and look at our adoptable dogs who need loving homes and foster homes! Your future awaits!

We live in Southern California, but many of us travel with our pets over the holiday season to areas where it might be much colder than our pets are used to. Without proper care, your pet can suffer serious harm from unforgiving winter climates.  Here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind to ensure that your pet stays safe and healthy:

1. Although your pet may prefer their time outdoors, it is best to keep them inside.  Devise a schedule to where they spend the majority of their time inside, but let them enjoy some fresh air on days with nice weather. For farm animals, make sure that they spend their nights in a sheltered, preferably heated area.

2. Buy them appropriate sweaters and winter wear.  All pets from dogs to horses can use some type of winter covering. Go to your local pet store and a sales associate will help you find the most suitable winter sweater/jackets to keep them warm!

3.  For indoor animals such as dogs and cats, make sure that their bed or sleep area is several inches elevated off the ground.  The farther away their bed is from the ground, the warmer they will be!

4.  Just like humans, animals use more energy in colder climates. Make sure that you feed your pet a bit more during winter months.  A veterinarian would be happy to give you a meal plan for your pet.

Keep your pets safe in the winter be sure to check out our adoption page for the latest available pets!

I have lots of dogs coming and going. Foster dogs and two of my own. That combined with a general addiction to shopping, and I own or have tried out just about every product at the pet store and online. I’m going to tell you about some of my favorites.

I saw this dog harness in the back of Modern Dog. (Yes, I subscribe to magazines about dogs.) So I ordered one. They just looked cool.

Looks do not deceive. They are awesome! Yes, they’re a little pricier than the ol’ $14.99 PetCo edition, but they rule…They start around $35 and go up from there depending on the size of your dog.

1. They look really cute and come in a variety of very attractive colors. People are drawn to it and often ask me where I got it.

2. Once you fasten the belt, it slips over their head, off and on. You never have to do it again. My dog knows the routine and picks her feet up one at a time like a little kid putting on pants. It slips off and on in seconds, even if she’s bounding around a little as she will tend to do when the leash comes out.

3. They last forever, or at least a very long time. Mine is many years old and still looks great.

You can google them and buy them online, but I like to try harnesses on so here’s a list of retailers in Southern California.

You can buy them just about anywhere else in the country by checking out this list of retailers across the country.

And visit their home page Buddy-Belts.com.

Here’s my Molly in her Buddy Belt. I really think that the Buddy Belt is the best harness for small dogs.

And like always I ask you to take a moment and look at our adoptable dogs who need loving foster homes! Your future awaits!

Animal Advocates Alliance is selling these beautiful, one-of-a-kind necklaces to help raise money to continue helping the homeless dogs and cats of Los Angeles. It’s a recession and nobody feels  more than charity groups like Animal Advocates Alliance. Donations are down and we TRULY need your help. Even if you don’t want to buy a necklace please consider visiting our DONATION PAGE and giving whatever you can. The animals really need you.

Okay, here’s a little more information about the necklace. They make a perfect birthday or holiday gift for any animal lover or rescue worker.

The necklaces are available in 14KT YELLOW GOLD FILLED or STERLING SILVER with either TURQUOISE, DEEP RED or GUNMETAL seed beads, and can be ordered in 16″, 17″ or 18″ in length. Bracelets can be ordered in either material with the same choice of beads (also $100). Fifty percent of the proceeds from the sale of every necklace or bracelet go to Animal Advocates Alliance to care for the dogs we pull from local Los Angeles City/County shelters until they find forever homes.

Link to buy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/82230211/adopt-necklace-with-dog-paw-by-deity

Also please take a moment and look at our adoptable dogs who need loving permanent and some even need foster homes!

Many of us have come across a stray dog at some point in our life. Often, we immediately want to help, but are either unsure how to help or uncomfortable with approaching the animal.  With the large number of stray dogs today, it is likely to have these encounters often.  Thus, it is essential to have an appropriate plan of action in order to help these innocent animals.

First, you have to analyze the animal.  If it looks extremely nervous, expressing questionable behavior, or is aggressive, it is best to not approach the animal for your own safety.  Search for rescues and animal controls that will safely transport the animal to an appropriate shelter.  If this is not the case and the animal appears friendly, you may consider picking the animal up to take to a shelter (search for no-kill shelters) or temporarily take it home.  Even if the dog displays docile characteristics, you must still use caution.

Next step is to check for any tags, collars or chips that the dog may have on.  It is always best to assume that the animal is lost before declaring it a stray.  Once you have checked for tags, you are required to report the lost animal to appropriate personnel.  After this step you have one of two options; take the dog to a shelter to possibly be reunited with owners or temporarily house the dog until other arrangements are made.

It is important to remember that most shelters will only hold stray animals for a few days before euthanizing them.   To ensure that the dog gets a chance at life, either temporarily take it home or find a no-kill shelter in your area.  Once this step is determined, you can further help the animal by creating lost dog flyers, and inform local shelters and veterinary clinics of the animal.  If you notice that no one is coming forth to claim the animal, make appropriate adoption arrangements and be very selective to whom wishes to adopt the animal.

Every effort counts to save the life of a dog in need.

Be sure to check out our adoption page to see the list of animals that we are housing to be adopted, as well as animals that need foster care!

Click HERE to check out our list of adoptable dogs!

What do dogs and deer have in common? In a wild habitat they would be predator and prey, but Pippin and Kate have redefined the laws of nature! Isobel Springett, a nature photographer, found Pippin the deer as an injured fawn. When Springett brought Pippin home to rehabilitate her, her great dane Kate formed an instant bond with the fawn. To this day the two are inseparable.

Check out our list of adoptable dogs!
You can also see more of Kate and Pippin’s unorthodox friendship in action by visiting Isobel Springett’s youtube account!

The internet loves cats and so do we!

Please take a moment a check out our adoptable cats and kittens! They’d love to be made famous on the internet!