Participants can enjoy a fun-filled day of activities to include: costume contest, pet photography, flyball & agility demonstrations, canine freestyle dancing, search & rescue demonstration and more!

The "Howlin' Hounds" Walk will begin at noon and is open to anyone who wishes to participate. A silent auction and raffle wil provide a chance for everyone to win some great items donated by area businesses.

Sponsors have the opportunity to display and sell at their booths - a great opportunity to reach a large number of people who love animals.

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or for booth space information, please click here.

Helpful Tips

If you hose your horse off or bathe them, it is actually better to squeegee the water off afterwards because the leaving the water on can help hold in the heat. (Even llamas are prone to heat stress and hosing their entire bodies actually can heat them up - it is best to hose just their belly, chest, and legs.) For animals that are outside and have a more difficult time dealing with the heat, consider a fan. You can also put some ice cubes in their water, give them a homemade frozen pop (you can even make ice cubes with treats for smaller animals or put treats in plastic bottles or milk jugs for larger animals and then cut the plastic off) to lick/chew on, or a frozen water bottle to lay against (keeping in mind that in the heat, they don't stay frozen that long). Clipping is always an option, just keep in mind that the coat protects their body to a certain extent. Remember that animals with light-colored hair or pigmentation, especially short or thin coats, are more prone to sunburns. It's important to use a formula made for animals as human products may be toxic to your animals. Make sure you apply it to the exposed and thin areas and pay attention to the tips of ears and noses. Entirely Pets has lotions and sprays for dogs, cats, and horses. If licking isn’t a concern, then you can use sunscreen for babies.

Before You Give Annual Vaccinations
Many owners take their animals to the vet during the summer time for their annual check up and vaccinations. While annual check ups are a good idea, you need to seriously think about whether or not your animal needs shots. Sadly, vaccines can cause many health problems for your animals, including allergies, auto-immune disorders, liver damage, renal (kidney) failure, paralysis, laminitis/founder (in horses), leukemia, and yes, even cancer AND the diseases the vaccinations are supposed to protect them from. Keep in mind that giving shots is about 50% of most veterinarian practices but more dog and cat vets are realizing the possible harm shots can do and are adjusting what they recommend. Equine vets are more likely to recommend the normal series of shots so it's important for horse owners to do some research.

Many holistic vets are recommending that animals receive vaccines when they are puppies, kittens, or foals, boosters at a year, and then check titers annually thereafter. Studies done at the University of Wisconsin's Veterinary Teaching Hospital show that vaccines for distemper, parvovirus, and hepatitis protect for at least seven years. If a titer shows any antibodies, immunity is present. If it does not, immunity may still be present and is not showing up. If the animal was vaccinated before or had natural exposure, most likely immunity is present and you do not need to revaccinate. Another thing to keep in mind is whether to give your animal a modified live virus (MLV) vaccine or a killed virus vaccine. MLV vaccines do carry more of a risk of becoming virulent than killed virus vaccines but killed virus vaccines don’t always offer the same protection as the live vaccines and usually contain more dangerous adjuvants (adjuvants stimulate the immune system and sometimes cause inflammation at the injection site, which can lead to incomplete atoms interfering with the DNA and even causing a cancer that is frequently deadly at the site). It is also thought that live virus vaccines may last for life but it’s recommended that you do not expose other animals to those that have gotten a live virus vaccine for 10-21 days after receiving the shots because MLV vaccines shed through the feces and skin. With a rabies vaccine, killed is preferred because you do not want to introduce rabies with a live virus. (The live-vectored vaccine is up and coming and provides immunity from disease without introducing the disease into your animal and also doesn’t need adjuvants. It’s currently available for canine distemper and west nile virus and hopefully we’ll see protection offered against other diseases in the near future).

While it is important to protect your animal from rabies and you need to vaccinate according to the law (and some areas even have additional vaccine requirements), there is now a 3 year rabies vaccine. You can also have rabies titers checked by your vet to see if your dog, cat, or horse needs to be revaccinated. If the titer test shows antibodies, it proves to authorities that your animal doesn't need another vaccination because the last shot is still effective. Distemper and parvovirus shots are important for puppies because the diseases can be fatal. For kittens, panleukopenia (also called feline parvovirus, distemper, cat fever, or cat typhoid) and rhinotracdheitis/calcivirus) are important. Protection against tetanus for horses is important but your horse can have antibodies for a number of years. Some horse owners believe vaccinating against encephalitis is important but others don’t give this vaccine to their horses at all. You need to consider the benefits and risks.

Before you decide what shots to give your animals and when, you should answer some questions.

This is a lot to think about. Educate yourself and do not be afraid to ask your vet questions. Weigh the risks versus the benefits. More and more owners are not giving annual vaccinations, especially to animals over three years. If you want to learn more, you can read Stop the Shots! Are Vaccinations Killing Our Pets? by John Clifton.

Upcoming Workshops
I offer classes and workshops at my farm and at other residences, farms, and businesses. If you are interested in any of the workshops or hosting one, please click here. If you host a workshop, you can attend F*R*E*E if you have 3-6 paying people (depends on travel time).

F*R*E*E Introduction to Holistic Animal Care
Learn how animal communication, reiki, animal massage, Bach flower essences, aromatherapy, homeopathy, and kinesiology can help your pet. This is your opportunity to learn more about holistic animal therapies. This is a F*R*E*E class but you must register to attend.
Dates:

Referral Credit
Refer one person for an animal communication, reiki, or massage session or workshop and receive $25 off of a session or workshop or a $25 gift certificate to pass on to a friend (makes a great gift!). Be sure to tell your referrals to mention your name. (Not applicable to those hosting workshops.)

F*R*E*E Monthy Drawing
If you would like to enter the drawing for a distance reiki or animal communication session, please enter here.

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