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Tips for Preventing Fleas and Ticks This Spring

The colder months are coming to an end, which means only one thing: spring is just around the bend, and you and your pooch are about to spend a lot more time outside. If your dog spends time romping outdoors when it's spring, you'll want to be extra careful when it comes to looking out for ticks and fleas. To make sure your dog stays safe and healthy this spring, try keeping the following tips in mind.

Clean Up Your Yard and Outdoor Space

Fleas and ticks like to live in piles of wet leaves or debris. They can also come into your space on animals that visit bird baths and bird feeders. To keep ticks and fleas away, make sure you keep your yard free of debris and standing water -- and clean up any other decaying material that might attract rodents. By cleaning up your space, you can make it a less attractive place for pests to come live.

Get Regular Preventative Care at the Vet

The vet can give your dog regular preventative care for fleas and ticks, whether you go there for the specific purpose of warding off fleas and ticks, or whether you ask at an appointment for another purpose (like getting Vetmedin 5mg for heart disease). This medication can help stave off the pests and make sure your dog doesn't receive any nasty bites no matter where he spends his time. Make sure you check with your vet to see how often your dog needs treatment and make sure you stick to the schedule. Also, ask your vet if there are any powders, shampoos, sprays or other products you should be using regularly at home. He can give you some advice about simple over-the-counter or at-home products that will help keep any parasitic insects or infestations at bay.

Take Your Shoes Off at Home

Even if your dog hasn't been around other dogs, there's a chance you could pick up ticks and fleas on your shoes if you walk by grassy areas, piles of leaves, flower beds, open meadows and even landscaped yards. Make sure you take your shoes off before you enter your living space. That will help minimize the risk that bugs get into your carpet, furniture, clothes and more ultimately posing a risk to your pet.

Spring is a great time for your dog to run outdoors, get some exercise, and enjoy the newly warm, fresh air. However, spending more time outside in spring can lead to an increased risk of ticks and fleas. If you want to keep your dog safe, healthy and happy, make sure you take preventative steps to keep all pests away. That way, you, your furry friend and your whole family can stay in great shape all season long.

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Anna Umansky

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Our New Rescues! 

All of these dogs have different stories - some were abandoned, others were born on the streets, some faced an immediate threat of being exterminated and others are found cold and hungry left to their own devices.  All of these dogs have unique personalities and stories but they all have one thing in common now: they are all safe, warm, fed and loved at the Sochi Dogs Shelter. We’ll be sharing everyone’s stories in the coming weeks as they get ready to find forever homes. 

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Anna Umansky

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How to Sell Your House with Pets

Advice from our friends at HomeLight.

Animals are adorable in almost any situation that doesn’t involve selling an expensive piece of property. Yes, there is a moment when a person might see your furry best friend and instantly feel turned off. Selling your home is a tricky business, and the added bonus of owning an animal, or animals, can elevate the difficulty of the entire process. Luckily, it’s not impossible to sell your home quickly and at a worthwhile price if you're a long time pet owner. But it does mean that you’ll have to do some extra planning. Here’s a few tips that we’ve come up with to help you sell your house with pets:

Make a plan far in advance

Not everyone has the luxury of being able to plan their move long before they actually do so. However, if you own pets, when it comes to selling your home, you should start planning as soon as possible. Pinpoint a date you plan to be out of the house by and schedule cleanings and pet transportation around those times. If you can, talk to friends and relatives about letting your pets stay at their homes during the moving process.

Relocate your pets until you’re ready to move in

Moving is an incredibly stressful experience, especially for animals who can’t quite understand all of the chaos around them. Keeping them at a friend’s or a relative’s while you pack up and show the house will prevent them from experiencing a potential load of emotional distress. Additionally, keeping your pets away from the house while potential buyers view it is a plus in and of itself. Not only does it make the house seem more presentable (yes, we also can’t believe we just said that), but it also erases the threat of a buyer experiencing any allergic reactions or worse, a bite from your animal who mistakes him or her for an intruder. If you can remove your pet from the situation, at least temporarily, everyone involved will benefit.  

Clean, clean, and clean some more

Those stains from when your puppy had an accident aren’t going to go away on their own. We highly recommend bringing in the professionals, especially if you have a few furry friends living among you. Pet stains caused by accidents often need a special treatment to fully remove the stain and sanitize the area. Further, pets shed both fur and dander, which a lot of people are allergic to. Call a cleaning company that specializes in pet treatment so that you can be sure that no pet-related messes will impede the selling process.

Have a conversation with your real estate agent

It’s easy to oversee the fact that our furry best friends can be a factor that deters people from wanting to buy the house, but that’s just the fact of the matter. We suggest speaking to a top Realtor about how to move forward with selling your house with pets. They have the experience and objective eye to make worthwhile suggestions.

We hope that this post was a helpful resource to all who own pets and who want to sell their home. Don’t have a pet and would love to adopt a furry best friend from a shelter that seeks to both rescue stray and abandoned dogs as well as educate the public on change? Learn more about Sochi Dogs and adopt today!

 

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Anna Umansky

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Chia, Veronica, and Rina

Chia, Veronica, and Rina are three moms we recently rescued who have three very similar stories. We found them dumped out on the street trying to survive with their puppies. Of course, this was not their choice, its the result of irresponsible owners and sometimes just a lack of knowledge about the importance of spaying. Scroll down to see their photos and read more about Chia, Veronica, and Rina. 

While these girls are safe with puppies, there are so many more that need our help. So this year we are launching our biggest spay/neuter campaign to help to reduce population and suffering of street dogs. 

Please help us take care of these girls and their 18 puppies. If you are able, we would be so grateful if you could make a donation to help us to care for Chia, Veronica, and Rina and their puppies. 

Quite and loving Veronica and her 9 puppies.
Veronica wins the most dedicated mom award. The only time she leaves her puppies is to get up to go to the bathroom. She is also very loving and it's easy to tell how much she appreciates us giving her a safe, warm place for her and her puppies.

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Beautiful little Chia and her 4 puppies.
Chia, who has been with us the longest, is super friendly and loves to walk around wagging her tail. She gets along with cats, dogs, but her favorite is Platon.

Energetic Rina and her 5 puppies.
Rina is the youngest of the three, she is a gorgeous black lab, the photos do not do her justice. Her favorite thing to do is hang out in the yard and play with the other dogs though she does take great care of all her puppies. 

These 3 wonderful moms and their puppies are currently with our foster family Sochi. In a month or so after being vaccinated they will move to our shelter.