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Green Acres Kennel Shop Newsletter
Published: 03JAN12
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Green Acres distributes two different editions of its newsletter; a version posted on our webpage and on our FaceBook pages (this one) and, a version which is emailed. The email edition includes valuable coupons for Green Acres services and products not offered in this edition. To subscribe, visit this page at our website (
http://www.greenacreskennel.com/information/newsletters.html)
Thank You for Your Patronage in 2011 & Happy New Year!
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Click here to email us
Or call us at 945-6841
REMEMBER TO BOOK EARLY FOR FEBRUARY VACATION!
(February 18th through 26th)
Green Acres Announces Participation in
APDT Train Your Dog Month
 Green Acres Kennel Shop and The Woof Meow Show are proud to be supporters of the Association of Pet Dog Trainer's* (APDT) 3rd annual National Train Your Dog Month. The APDT has designated January as National Train Your Dog Month to bring awareness to the importance of socialization and training for all dogs! January was selected as the perfect month because so many animals are adopted and brought home during the winter holidays.
Each year hundreds of thousands of dogs are surrendered to shelters and rescue organizations for behavioral reasons; sadly many of these dogs are often euthanized. What is even more regrettable is that many of these problems may never have occurred had the dogs been properly trained and socialized, and had the pet parents been properly educated in a basic understanding of canine behavior, needs and communication.
Like the APDT, Green Acres believes that a better understanding of our pets’ behavior can lead to happier, healthier and more harmonious households for humans and companion animals. Green Acres offers a wide variety of dog training classes starting in January. We have classes for puppies as young as 8 weeks of age (Puppy Headstart), young adolescents 16 weeks of age and older (Basic Manners) as well as several level two and level three classes for dogs and their humans that are ready for more advanced work. You can find more information on Green Acres training program at: http://www.greenacreskennel.com/training
Green Acres' The Woof Meow Show, aired on WVOM, 103.9 FM and WVQM 101.3 FM every Saturday morning at 7:30AM and every Sunday evening at 8:30PM, will feature training shows throughout the month of January. On December 31st Kate and Don will interview the APDT's Executive Director, Mychelle Blake, and will discuss all of the resources the APDT makes available to pet parents at their website (http://www.trainyourdogmonth.com) and FaceBook page (www.facebook.com/NationalTrainYourDogMonth). For the remaining three weeks Kate and Don will discuss typical training issues people face with a new dog; January 7th -Housetraining, January 14th -Play Biting & Chewing, and January 21st -Attention, Leave It and Take It. Handouts on these topics will be available at the Green Acres website (www.greenacreskennel.com) in the Information-Articles and Blog-What's New sections. A complete schedule for The Woof Meow Show can be found at: http://www.greenacreskennel.com/woof-meow-show/the-woof-meow-show.
FREE SEMINARS
In recognition of Train Your Dog Month, Green Acres will also be offering three free seminars: January 7th -Using Bach Flower Remedies to Reduce Pet Anxiety, January 14th - Promoting Communication with Dogs Through Body Language, and January 26th -Pet Nutrition. Since seating for the seminars is limited, we encourage preregistration by calling Green Acres at 945-6841. We hope you can join us in a class or seminar or catch us on the radio!
*Based in Greenville, SC, the APDT is a professional educational organization of trainers who are committed to becoming better trainers through using positive, dog friendly methods based on sound scientific principles. With over 6,000 members worldwide, the APDT strives to provide professional dog trainers with a respected and concerted voice. The APDT promotes caring relationships between dogs and people and works to increase public awareness of dog-friendly training techniques. For more information, visit the APDT Web site at www.apdt.com.
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Are You Ready If Your Pet Becomes Sick or Injured?
SEMINAR: Pet First Aid & CPR – January 14th
 What would you do if your dog sustains a serious injury while out hiking? Do you know what to do if your cat stops breathing? Knowing how to perform basic pet first aid and CPR could help you save your pet’s life.
On Saturday, January 14th, at 1PM, Green Acres Kennel Shop will be hosting a Pet First Aid & CPR seminar taught by Certified Pet Tech Instructor, Tracy Haskell. This 4-hour PetSaver Program will teach participants Pet First Aid, Pet CPR, and basic care and handling that can be used in the event of emergencies. At the completion of the program participants will have the resources they need to keep their pet safe, healthy, and happy. Whether your pets just hang around at home with you or live an active and adventurous life, the knowledge you gain in this class may possibly save your pet’s life.
The seminar will run from 1PM until 5PM and includes hands on instruction and a useful reference guide. The fee for the class is $50, with $10 from each enrollment being donated to the Eastern Area Agency on Aging Furry Friends’ Food Bank. A maximum of 10 spots are available, so don’t delay! Call Green Acres at 945-6841 to register.
Green Acres 2012 Photo Contest Calendar
Great Photos! – Valuable Coupons! – Support A Great Cause!
It's not too late to purchase a great calendar while at the same time obtaining valuable coupons and helping a very worthy cause. When you purchase a Green Acres Photo Contest calendar, we will donate $10 to the Eastern Area Agency on Aging Furry Friends Food Bank. The calendar contains the work of our photo and drawing contest winners and coupons for Green Acres and other area businesses. Calendars  sell for $20 and contain the following coupons:
- $3 OFF any medium or large bag of NutriSource, Pure Vita or Natural Organics Pet Food
- $3 OFF a 30lbs bag of Eagle Holistic Select Dry Dog Food
- $25 OFF service from Tim’s Plumbing
- $1 OFF Packing Services at the UPS store
- Up to $0.06/gallon off a fill-up at The Shell on Hammond St.
- 20% OFF a Pet or Person Photo Session with Debra Bell of Bell Imaging and Design
Featured Treat
Solid Gold Treats
 Solid Gold has two new treat products: L.A. Treats which are 100% dehydrated lamb lung and Petzyme Green Beef Tripe which are 100% dehydrated green beef tripe. Both are healthy, tasty, come in re-sealable bags and would make an excellent higher value training treat, on par with freeze dried liver for some dogs.
Featured Product
Seek-A-Treat
Toys that give our dogs a reason to think make their lives more pleasurable and stimulating and often make our lives easier. We have three new toys from Seek-A-Treat: Flip 'N Flap, Discovery Wheel, and Shuffle Bone. Each different game challenges your dog with a puzzle that once solved rewards them with a tasty morsel. Help your dog survive cabin fever and pick up a Seek-A-Treat toy today. If our 15 year old Golden Retriever enjoys this toy, I bet your dog will too!
Featured Product
Sensible Harness
In recognition of Train Your Dog Month, we are featuring one of our favorite training tools - the Sensible Harness. Teaching a dog to walk nicely on a leash takes time, yet we still need to walk the dog before they've mastered this behavior and want to be able to do so without getting our arm jerked out of our shoulder. This front-connect harness uses the simple mechanics of physics to help you keep your dog from pulling. We have had hundreds of clients purchase these harnesses over the years and they love them.
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Debunking Pet Food Myths
MYTH: If the Bag Says “Natural” It’s Natural and Is Therefore “Good”
 Over the past several years food companies, pet and human alike, have been emphasizing the importance of feeding natural foods. Unfortunately the word “Natural” has no legal definition for pet food so it can be misleading. Pet food companies not only use the word “Natural” on their bags but they also use photographs and illustrations on the bag and in their advertising to create an illusion that the bag is filled with natural, fresh, whole food like beef and vegetables. For example a "natural" pet food found in most supermarkets is illustrated to the left.
If we look at the ingredients panel for this food (see below) to determine what is actually in this bag of food we can see that beef is the seventh item on the list and dried peas and carrots are number twenty and twenty-one; after sugar, water (this is a dry food), salt and various other ingredients. Obviously it is highly unlikely this bag of food contains very many peas or carrots. Also notice that the main source of meat is chicken by-product meal (the second ingredient) yet the main labeling on the bag touts this as a beef based dog food. The artificial colors highlighted in green are clearly not “natural” ingredients.
You can learn more at our website at: http://www.greenacreskennel.com/pet-food-information
Staff News
Customer Service Staff Completes Natura and Weruva Training
The pet food world is changing at a rapid pace these days and Green Acres knows that if we want to provide you with the best food and nutritional advice for your furry friends, then we need to keep up to date on the latest advances. This past month Brenda, Don, Kate, Paula, and Tracy completed two separate training programs provided by our Natura representative (California Natural, Evo and Innova) and our Weruva representative (Weruva and b.f.f.). Both companies offer some excellent options for your pets and our staff is ready to answer your questions. California Natural is now promoting the concept of dietary rotation, something we first started talking about back in 2005 (http://www.greenacreskennel.com/pet-food-information/alternating-your-dogs-food-makes-sense)
Don Attends APDT Conference in San Diego
 Don Hanson, co-owner and Director of Behavior Counseling and Training at the Green Acres Kennel Shop in Bangor, has completed 30 hours of continuing education, while attending the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) annual educational conference in San Diego, CA.
Don Reelected APDT Chair
Don has also been reelected Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT). He previously served two terms on the APDT Board from 2002 through 2007, and was Board Vice Chair in 2005 and 2006, and Board Chair in 2007. Reelected to the Board in 2011, Don served as Vice Chair the first half of 2011 and was elected Chair for the last half of 2011. He has now been elected to serve as Chair for 2012.
January Staff Anniversaries
Green Acres is very fortunate to have many staff members who have been with us for several years. We thank them for their service!
Erin B. – Certified Professional Dog Trainer – 2 years
Staff Champions
Every month the Green Acres staff chooses two Staff Champions; someone who has done an exceptional job and someone who has publicly recognized another employee for doing an exceptional job. Hearty congratulations and thank you to our latest champions!
 
November – Amber T. and Tracy H.
Tune in to The Woof Meow Show
The Woof Meow Show airs twice a week –
7:30AM on Saturdays and 8:30PM on Sundays
on WVOM 103.9FM and WVQM 101.3FM.
- 7JAN12-8JAN12 - Training Tips: Housetraining
- 14JAN12-15JAN12 - Training Tips: Play Biting & Chewing
- 21JAN12-22JAN12 - Training Tips: Attention, Take It, and Leave It
- 28JAN12-29JAN12 - ENCORE: Cold Weather Pet Tips (original Air Date 19NOV11-20NOV11)
- 4FEB12-5FEB12 - The Importance of Spaying and Neutering Your Pet w/Dr. Mark Hanks
- 11FEB12-12FEB12 - Spay Day at the Bangor Humane Society w/Suzan Bell
- 18FEB12-19FEB12 - Pet Dental Health w/Dr. Mark Hanks
Keep up with the Woof Meow Show at our FaceBook page - https://www.facebook.com/WoofMeowShow
Links We Like
Bach Flower Remedies
Are you interested in the Bach Flower Remedies? If so, the following link will take you to a PDF file of the 1941 edition of Dr. Bach's books The Twelve Healers and Other Remedies. It is a great introduction into Dr. Bach's healing system in his own words. - http://bit.ly/ozN5U6
Just For Fun
What if cats had opposable thumbs? - http://www.milkmatters.co.uk/cats/
Find Us On the Internet
Published by
Green Acres Kennel Shop
1653 Union Street
Bangor, ME 04401-2204
207-945-6841
www.greenacreskennel.com
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