I never imagined this tag would become so popular, but I can’t take all the credit. I’ve heard it said that there aren’t ever any new ideas–so my secret is out. I adopted the saying from a passerby at a horse show last winter, who adopted the saying from a stuffy woman at another horse show that she attended. She loved my tags, but just had the “Oh Shit, I’m Lost” tag printed on a cheap metal pet store tag, so she couldn’t part with it to buy a new one. I began writing the saying on the back for customers, but then decided the saying was so classic, it deserved the front of a tag of its own in every color and shape that we have. Everyone that stops by and reads it, chuckles quietly, laughs loudly and/or calls over a friend or stranger to tell them about it. They either have a dog that runs away or they joke about getting it for themselves or their husband or wife!

I’ve always tried to hide away from the big holiday craziness. All the crazy shopping and eating and rushing around that everyone does. Avoiding it was easy, growing up in Pikesville, the little jewish suburb of Baltimore. There were barely any Christmas lights and of course no Christmas music being played nonstop for weeks on end. My aunt used to drive us to different neighborhoods to see the xmas lights. I was in some sort of shock when I entered the world of college, where jews weren’t the majority and Hanukah was barely noticed. I remember starting college at Towson State University and there were only a handful of my tribe, that’s what we call it, MOT, Member of the Tribe and my new non-jewish friends told me they had never met so many jewish people. Shocking! On the Jewish New Year, in the fall, back in Pikesville, the schools were bare, not a soul travelled the halls, even the non-jews, to the point where they started officially closing the schools on those days.
So, I digress, back to the holiday craziness which I’ve come to love. Here I sit, 1 block from one of the most eventful happenings in Baltimore, Hampden’s Miracle on 34th Street. I’m sure you’ve heard of it, if not, google it. I just did for the first time and there are at least 44 full pages of websites that either have an article about it or mention it in some way, shape or form. That’s about 440 websites and I decided to stop there in my search. Wow, I had no idea I was living next to such a gem! Not quite the distance to see the lights as in my childhood. One of my favorite memories of last season was setting up my pet tag table outside of Falkenhahn’s Hardware, and as cold as it was for many hours, I was warmed by singing Christmas Carols with the Mennonite church that set up next to me with their free hot chocolate and beautiful voices. I always love singing in a group, but never knew singing Christmas carols would be so sweet.

So, for the 6 weeks from thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve, especially on the weekends, I have to find a new way to drive to my house, meandering through the alleys to avoid all the traffic that lines up for at least a mile to see the beautiful display of lights, trains and the xmas tree created in hubcaps. This little city block with about 30 houses fills with people and cars and becomes a beautiful spectacle of togetherness and joy.

Robyn Jacobs wasn’t scared when two wandering, off-leash dogs—a pit bull and a mastiff mix—approached her at Rocky Gorge Reservoir in Laurel, MD, where she was walking her own dog.

She’s an animal lover, and the bully breeds don’t faze her, but the dogs were skittish when she tried to read the tags on their collars and one grazed her hand with a warning bite.

“It took a half an hour to get this dog’s name tag—it was all metal and I couldn’t read it,” said Jacobs, whose hand-crafted pet tags bear the animal’s name and phone number in large, black letters, which are much easier to read than engraved metal tags. “I kept thinking, if it were one of my tags, I would have been able to see it from a distance.”

It’s just another reason why Jacobs started a business, called Pet Tag Creations, in 2008.

From her home in Hampden, Jacobs rolls brightly colored polymer clay into flat sheets with a pasta machine, cuts out the shapes with bone- and heart-shaped cookie cutters and layers the colors together. She adds multi-colored clay decorations on top in the form of paws, hearts and yin-yangs. She also presses pet-friendly words, like “Woof,” “Meow,” and “Dog is Love,” into the clay with embossing powder.

Once the assembled tag is baked in a convection oven, it’s hard, solid, nearly unbreakable and waterproof.

Trained in calligraphy, Jacobs hand-writes the animal’s name and number on the back and seals the information permanently with varnish.

She’s perfected the process since she first displayed her handmade pet tags at DogFest, the annual fundraiser for the Baltimore Humane Society, in 2008. She now attends pet expos and craft shows everyweekend, as well as selling her tags on her website, individually and wholesale. Her tags are also available at Breathe Books in Hampden and The Barking Cat in Gaithersburg.

Jacobs also donates up to 20 percent of her profits to various animal rescues.

“I wanted to develop a business where I could use profits to support animal rescue efforts,” said Jacobs, whose program Tags to the Rescue raises money for rescue organizations.

Professionally, though, Jacobs got her start working with teens, not animals, and she’s incorporated internships into her pet tag business.

Jacobs was the outreach coordinator for a Baltimore nonprofit organization called Citizenship Law-Related Education Program, from 2003 to 2004. Later, Jacobs was also the internship coordinator with the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development.

In these jobs, she helped hundreds of teens learn work skills to help them navigate the tricky world of the city and their future careers.

“I had worked with a lot of kids and I wanted to bring that component into my own business,” said Jacobs, who currently trains two interns. “I know that working with kids at an age where they can go one direction or another, and giving them a positive role model, can let them use that same energy to divert it into something that’s more positive. We can put them on a positive path.”

Jacobs has used eight interns over the past several years to help her with crafting, marketing and communications. She trains them in social media, email newsletters, advertising and sales.

Currently, her interns are older than the teenagers she started with, but Jacobs believes that she still has plenty to teach a young adult.

Eric Powell, a 27-year-old Ellicott City resident who interns with Jacobs, said, “I figured it would be a good use of my time to help Robyn market the business and pad my resume in the process.”

He believes he is learning some valuable skills.

“Overall, I’ve learned some of what’s involved in running a small business and become more well-versed in the online strategies that can be used to spread the awareness of a small business and its mission,” Powell said. “I think that any skills I can obtain through this internship will not only help me in my effort to find a full-time job, but will also help me be more successful once I do find a job.”

Is your dog being over-vaccinated? Many vet practices, especially smaller ones, continue to recommend annual vaccinations in part because they’re dependent on the money it brings in. However, receiving vaccinations this often is not in the best interests of your dog – the American Veterinary Medical Association recommends that adult dogs be vaccinated only once every three years.

Many dogs have an adverse reaction to vaccinations (one study showed that this happens to 1 in 10 dogs). Side effects include allergic reactions, skin problems and autoimmune diseases. For many milder and less common diseases such as Lyme Disease, it’s not worth risking such side effects based on the slight chance of your dog contracting the disease. Kennel cough is often given as well and vets don’t even ask if your dog will be staying in a kennel. Although Kennel cough is highly contagious, it is like a human cold or bronchitis and usually clears up on its own. Get just a few baby shots, then only rabies as needed to be legal. The insert in vaccine packages says “Give only to healthy animals”, so if your animal is ill in any way, or undergoing treatment, they should not be vaccinated. Vaccinated animals have been known to develop chronic illnesses.

When it comes to life-threatening diseases like rabies, parvovirus, and distemper—vaccination is essential, but not on an annual basis. Tests have shown that the rabies vaccine is effective for about three years, and the vaccines for the other two diseases last around seven years. Some studies show that vaccine antibodies are high 10 and 16 years later for parvo, distemper and panleukemia. The better choice to keep your animals healthy is to get them a titer test.

A titer test, which is a simple blood test to measure the level of antibodies to disease in blood, is a good way to test your dog’s immunity to life-threatening diseases without administering unnecessary vaccines. A positive result for a disease, also known as a strong titer, means that your dog is protected from the disease and doesn’t need vaccinating. Some vets recommend an annual titer test but this can be expensive, so once every three years is sufficient.

If you take your dog to a vet that recommends annual vaccinations, then you should either talk to your vet about vaccinating less frequently or find a new vet altogether. With that being said, it’s still essential that you take your dog to the vet for an annual checkup. By vaccinating your dog only when necessary and continuing with regular checkups, you’re giving your dog the best chance to live a healthy and happy life.

Everyone is aware of the need for human blood donations, and I’m sure many of you have donated your own blood to the Red Cross. However, few people consider the fact that blood transfusions are also used in veterinary medicine. As complex medical procedures involving transfusions have become more commonplace for pets, a few national animal blood banks have sprung up to provide their supplies to veterinary hospitals. Logan and my personal blood bank is Blue Ridge Veterinary Blood Bank (formerly EVBB), staffed by Dr. Ann Schneider, her vet tech assistant Dave and 3 additional teams of Canine blood collection folks……and the administrative and management staff.

Blue Ridge Veterinary Blood Bank relies exclusively on volunteer canine donors. Eligibility requirements for dogs are as follows:

• Up-to-date on vaccines and current on Heartworm prevention
• No history of serious health issues and cannot currently be taking medication
• Friendly, obedient, and calm
• Weigh at least 35 lbs and be between 9 months and 7 years; dogs can donate until they are 9 years old, but must begin the program by about 7 years
• Willing to commit to donate 9 times in that year—every 5-7 weeks.

The first session is a meet and greet to get to know the dog’s temperament. At that session a small amount of blood is drawn to do a diagnostic (about $400 worth of tests for free!) and a blood typing.

After that at the next session, the blood donation process is actually very simple – no fasting or other preparation is required, and it only takes about 10-20 minutes. As with humans, dogs that have given blood should avoid strenuous activity for 24 hours, which is how long it takes for blood volume to return to normal.

Not only will you feel good about your dog’s blood helping canines in need, but there can also be rewards in it for both you and your dog. Your dog will receive a brief exam at each visit, blood typing and diagnostic, heartworm & tests for tick diseases and a substantial discount on blood if your dog ever needs a transfusion. Perks for your dog include food, toys and loads of affection.

At Blue Ridge Veterinary Blood Bank, Dr. Ann Schneider and Dave clearly love what they do. Logan is taking a few sessions to get used to the process, as some dogs do, and Dr. Ann and Dave want to make sure he is comfortable before having him actually donate. The peanut butter we use to distract him seems to be working and last time we came to our site at VCA Lewis Animal Hospital in Columbia, Md, Logan started getting excited in the parking lot. I told him we were going to see Dr. Ann and he was beside himself with his vocalizations. That has to be a good sign.

There are about 30 blood donation sites throughout Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia with more sites being added. At American Red Cross, it’s reported that blood donors feel a great sense of satisfaction after donating blood. It’s because it feels good to give. Don’t you want your dog to have that satisfaction? Have your dog call 1-800-949-EVBB or visit the site www.evbb.com. Tell him there are treats involved and he won’t be able to resist!

In the last blog post I touched on the misconceptions people have about Pit Bulls. Since this is such a controversial issue, I felt it warranted additional coverage. As I was doing some research, I googled the term ‘Pit Bulls’ and one of the first results I got was a link to an article about a Pit Bull attack. With these types of news stories so prevalent in the media it’s no wonder people are afraid of Pit Bulls.

However, what most people don’t realize is that pit bulls are very athletic, intelligent, and loyal dogs. A well-trained Pit Bull is just as safe to have around children as any other breed of dog. Generally when a dog bites someone it’s not out of malice, but instead because the dog is improperly trained or feels threatened. The most important thing to remember is that parents should supervise their children around all dogs, not just Pit Bulls, in order to ensure that children respect the dog and its space.

Also part of the problem is that there are a number of myths regarding Pit Bulls. The most notable of these myths concern Pit Bulls’ biting abilities. Many people incorrectly believe that Pit Bulls have locking jaws, and that their bites are more forceful than that of any other breed. However, it’s been scientifically proven that Pit Bulls’ jaws work exactly the same as all other breeds of dogs. Furthermore, a comparative test has shown that bite pressure for Pit Bulls is less than that of German Shepherds and Rottweilers.

Another myth is that Pit Bulls attack more people than any other breed of dog. The statistics on Pit Bull attacks are misleading, partly because of the sheer number of Pit Bulls compared to other breeds. However, the main issue is that many of the dogs in these statistics have been misidentified as Pit Bulls. Technically the term ‘Pit Bull’ only encompasses three breeds of dogs, but in the context of an attack many people mistakenly identify a variety of large dog breeds as Pit Bulls, including Mastiffs, Bull Terriers, American Bulldogs, and even Labradors.

If you’re willing to put in the time with any dog and like the look and loyalty of a Pit Bull, you should ignore all the bad press and consider adopting one. The best way to change the perception of Pit Bulls is to add to the many great examples of Pit Bulls bringing their love and loyalty into a family. Here are some such examples:

Logan and Bacci chillin on the couch

Ebul and Bailey hangin out

Chloe makes a great nanny dog!

We are pleased to announce that two animal rescue organizations have decided to use Pet Tag Creations’ pet ID tags in order to help raise funds for their rescue efforts. As I’m sure you know, fundraising is an essential activity for rescue organizations in their efforts to help as many animals as possible, and the fact that we can play a role in these efforts is extremely gratifying.

Bully Paws Pit Bull Patriots is located in Fredericksburg, VA, and works with local shelters to place homeless bully breed dogs into foster homes until a loving adoptive family is found. Unfortunately many people have been misinformed into thinking that pit bulls are vicious dogs that should not be kept as pets, so finding a home for these animals is not an easy task. A century ago pit bulls were nicknamed “The Nanny Dog” because of how reliable they were around children, so if trained properly they make great family pets.

Bully Paws seeks to correct people’s misconceptions about pit bulls, but they need your help in doing so. Bully Paws relies exclusively on volunteers to support its mission, so they are always looking for more people willing to devote their time to this wonderful cause. Bully Paws also has almost 100 dogs in their care, so foster and adoptive parents are always welcome. Or if you are unable to contribute in either of these ways, you can donate to Bully Paws here: http://www.bullypaws.org/info/donate.

For more information about Bully Paws Pit Bull Patriots, or to find out how you can help out, please visit their website: http://www.bullypaws.org/. Here are some of Bully Paws’ bullies in need:

Uno

Blade

Misfits Animal Sanctuary is a new sanctuary located in Carroll County Maryland. Misfits provides a retreat for all types of domestic and exotic animals, including larger animals like goats and horses.  Misfits also finds homes for animals in need, and provides training programs to help people connect with and care for animals. Misfits is looking for volunteers to help out in a variety of areas and in addition to monetary donations, they are also seeking donations in the form of food, toys and construction materials.

In order to find out more about Misfits Animal Sanctuary, or if you are interested in helping out, please visit their website: http://www.misfitanimals.com/. Here are some of the animals that Misfits provides a home for:

Daisy

Buddy

While I am grateful that I can type 50 words a minute when communicating with people on a daily basis and writing my blog or website, I can say that this gift I have for creating my product that makes so many people smile and helps save dogs and cats, wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t have first learned the skill of handwriting. Listen in on the podcast on drshow.org–here’s the page: http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-07-28/handwriting-digital-age

Acupuncture and organic food? Why can’t dogs get the same treatments?

By Simone Ellin Photography Kirsten Beckerman

Recently, my husband and I made the difficult decision to place Libby, our beloved goldendoodle (part golden retriever, part standard poodle), on Phenobarbital, a drug used to control epilepsy. After witnessing the 4-year-old pup’s frightening seizures on three separate occasions, we did not want her to suffer another one.

It is not long after Libby began taking the medication that I speak with Robyn Jacobs, founder and resident artist for Pet Tags Creations, a company that creates personalized dog identification tags from which a portion of the proceeds goes to pet rescues and adoptions.

“You should try taking her for acupuncture,” Jacobs tells me. “Call my friend, Fred.”

Fred Wolfson runs Acupuncture For All, a new clinic in Mount Washington. I had driven by the clinic several times and assumed it offered treatment (for humans) on a sliding-scale fee structure. As it turned out, Wolfson does offer sliding scale (or pay-what-you-can with guidelines of $20-$40 per treatment) acupuncture for people, but he also provides the treatment for dogs, cats and, on occasion, ferrets!

When I speak with Wolfson, he explains that acupuncture can help animals with a variety of ailments — emotional and physical — including stress, anxiety, shyness, hip dysplasia, spinal and muscle conditions, injury recovery, allergies and digestive disorders. He tells me that acupuncture might help in the treatment of Libby’s epilepsy, but he also cautions that, as with other pet health problems, acupuncture should be used as an adjunct, not a replacement, for traditional medicine.

In fact, he explains, sometimes acupuncture can help an animal adjust to prescribed medicines.

Acupuncture,” says Wolfson, a 1983 Randallstown High School graduate who received his acupuncture training at the Tai Sophia School in Laurel, Md., “has no negative side effects. All of its effects are positive. Most pets don’t even feel the needles. Usually, they experience a great calming effect and often they fall asleep.”

Since animal patients can’t speak, the success of treatment is assessed by behavioral and physical changes seen by the owner and acupuncturist.

Downstairs from Wolfson’s clinic, another pet enthusiast offers dog-centered services. Roger Stanley, who owns Scrub-a-Dub Dog, believes in a holistic approach to pet care, and his business offers do-it-yourself dog baths. He also sells all-natural bath products for dogs, organic foods, and a variety of dog leashes and accessories, some made with natural fibers.

“We believe in approaching dog health from all directions,” says Stanley, who got the idea to open Scrub-a-Dub Dog because of its close proximity to Robert E. Lee park at Lake Roland, a popular destination for dogs and their “people.”

Stanley, who has two standard poodles of his own, feeds them organic, locally made food, without wheat, corn or fillers. Many dogs, he adds, do well on a fish rather than meat-based diet.

“We see a lot of dogs with skin allergies and intestinal problems, and with a change in diet and shampoo, we see dramatic results,” he says.

Robyn Jacobs Keeping it holistic

Robyn Jacobs discovered the joy of dogs in 1995, when she found her first dog, Bailey, a border collie-hound mix, while “doggie dating” on petfinder.com .

After Bailey passed away, Jacobs started dog-sitting, and over the years she has cared for dozens of dogs. She adopted Logan, a border collie-akita mix through an organization called Paws to the Rescue.

As a massage therapist, Jacobs already values healthy eating and holistic living, and she adheres to those principles when it comes to pet care. Currently, she feeds Logan a dry food that is organic and adds vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots and zucchini. Meat, eggs, cottage cheese or yogurt are also part of his diet.

She is contemplating giving Logan raw meat instead of the mix of dry food, veggies, dairy products and meat. “The pet food business has only been around for about a century,” she points out. “Before that, dogs ate human food and, when living in the wild, they subsisted on raw meat.”

“Logan had a ton of allergies, so I changed his food to a salmon source, which is much less allergenic. His allergies all cleared up,” she says.

Although organic dog food is a huge expense — the brand she buys is a lower-priced organic type, and it costs $46 for each 30-pound bag — Jacobs does not see that as a deterrent.

“How much do you spend on food?” she asks. “You should spend it on your dog too.”

Jacobs is equally concerned about the emotional and mental health of her dog. “I take Logan to work every day,” she says. “Dogs need to have exercise and activities in their lives.”

These things are all part of a well-rounded dog,” she stresses. “I love to educate people about dog care. If you love them you should take good care of them.”