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Boonie Tails

By Grace Keilbach

Actions speak louder than words

According to Google, there are two main components of love: emotion and action. On the emotional side, love is a profound feeling of strong affection, deep attachment, and personal devotion towards another person, place, or activity. For action, commitment and conscious choices to support another person's well-being and growth are crucial to maintaining that type of love. Loving someone emotionally whether they have two legs or four is the easy part. However, when we have to follow up our emotions with action, it can be easy to go wrong.

So many people love their pets, but what does it mean to actually put that into action? One of the biggest issues we see in the pet community is owners showing their “love” by overfeeding. The mutual joy and excitement both animals and humans share when handing off a treat is hard to resist but can easily be taken too far. When your actions are actively harming your pet’s wellbeing, causing them to be in pain, and significantly shortening their life span, that’s not love. There are so many ways you can spoil your pet while prioritizing their health, some of which will even directly benefit your health too! Here are a few on our list:

1. Walks:

Dogs LOVE to sniff! Spoil them by letting them walk at their own pace and explore with their nose (within reason and still prioritizing safety of course). P.S. your cats would love some outside time too!

2. Training:

Dogs need and enjoy mental enrichment! Training is a great way to get you both moving that will equally benefit dog and owner in the long run. We are so excited to share some more training tips, videos, and maybe even books with you soon…

3. Healthcare:

   This is your friendly reminder that even in the winter, your dogs still need to be on heart-worm, tick, and flea prevention. Spoil them by prioritizing their preventative healthcare. Pro tip: municipal shelters often offer veterinarian visits, vaccines, and medications at a much more affordable rate!

4. Toys:

No matter what kind of pet you have, its important to remember that you bought their toys for them, so let them play!

5. Oral Health

Save money on future dental surgeries and keep your dogs out of the O.R. by brushing their teeth. If you’re worried about losing a finger, start slow with just the front teeth and work your way back as time goes on. We also recommend trying out different dog tooth brush styles to see what works best for you. Keeping money in your wallet and preventing gum disease therefore prolonging your dog’s life, what could be better?

6. Treats in moderation:

We’re not monsters! It is still important to treat yourself and your pet to a sweet treat, the key word here is in moderation. Whenever we get pup cups for my three Boonies, we only get two and never let them finish the whole cup as no one needs to be consuming that amount of whipped cream.

7. Play:

There are so many games you can play with your dog just using what you already have at home! For example, get a box and fill with with other clean items of trash such as paper towel rolls, bubble wrap, and packaging paper. Then, sprinkle your dogs kibble into the food maze and congratulations! You have just created your very own interactive '‘dinner and a show’ for your dog or cat!

8. Quality Time:

Spend time with your pets! Whether that’s including them in game night, taking them on that walk after work you really don’t feel like going on, or giving them some extra morning cuddles, your pets love spending time with you.

9. Weight management:

Fat pets not only die early but suffer from health issues that cause them pain and significantly impact their quality of life. Love your pets by prioritizing their health.

Healthy alternatives

Don’t let this article fool you, our Boonies regularly get lots of delicious treats and meal toppers! Here are some things Aria and I use to help keep our dogs happy and healthy. The following items are all Boonie used and approved:

• In addition to brushing our Boonies teeth, we also give them Dr. Harvey's Dental Chews! Click the link to shop our favorites and use code BoonieBabies10 for 10% off your order! Although dental chews do not replace teeth brushing, they are a delicious tool you can use to help.

• Native Pet Supplements! Native Care is an awesome spot to get everything specific to what your pet needs! They offer a wide variety of supplements you can add to your dogs dinner for some added flavor and health benefits. Nellie, Lottie, and Tequila enjoy ‘The Daily’ powder and fish oil. Use code BOONIEBABIES for 30% off your order for their labor day sale, valid until 9/11.

• Of course, we need to include a genuine ‘sweet treat‘ on this list too! For delicious, adorable, homemade dog treats, check out The Barkery Guam! They are currently sold out online but make sure to click the link so that you can follow them on Instagram to check out the other items they offer and be the first to know when more treats are added! Did we mention that the owners have Boonies of their own and that a portion of the proceeds from every sale goes towards Boonie dog rescue efforts?

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