Melissa has worked tirelessly on training several hundred dogs over the past couple of years, reading volumes of recommended training reading, watching countless videos, and having attended the past two APDT conferences. She has dedicated herself to not only improving our household of eight dogs but has placed high emphasis on the concept of Family Dog and Socialization.

Plans are underway to develop a new and fun training methodology that will benefit the family dog training as well as socialization of the pet to other pets and people. The greater Winston-Salem has benefited from a high adoption and the need and desire for training to be the family dog or companion.

To find out more about the Certification Council For Professional Dog Trainers visit ccpdt.org.

Melissa, front row, first from left, attending the 2011 APDT conference in San Diego, California.

This year, there are over 1,200 members in attendance from all over the world. Melissa is also serving as an Events Staff member for the APDT team.

Look for news and features and lessons learned on SitDownStay.net upon her return.

Working tirelessly to enrich the lives of others utilizing therapy dogs, Melissa has gone through the TDI evaluation process and classes several times with our own dogs (three achieving TDI status).

There is growing demand from organizations wanting therapy dogs and there is an equally great demand for TDI certification, which requires a TDI evaluator to test and pass the team of dog and handler.

Stay tuned for more information of TDI classes and TDI evaluation for your own pooch.

According to the MSNBC.com article,

ConsumerLab also tested several pet supplements, one of which, Pet-Tabs Complete Daily Vitamin Mineral Supplement for Dogs contained lead at unhealthy levels.

With the scant information provided by MSNBC.com on the pet supplements tested, I decided to join ConsumerLab.com to get a first hand look at what the report actually had to say.

According to the study, 60 products were tested. Of those 60 products, 3 pet products were tested in addition to the human vitamins and supplements.

The three pet products were:

• 21st Century Pet Chew
• PetGuard Multi-Vitamin and Multi-Mineral for Dogs
• Pet-Tabs Complete Daily Vitamin-Mineral Supplement for Dogs

The scoring system was simple enough: Approved (passed) or Not Approved (failed). Items tested that were Not Approved typically had the reason for failure posted. Because of copyright laws, I will not go into how items were tested. The goal of the test was to ascertain if the products listed contained the specified amount of vitamins, nutrients, and supplements as touted on their labels. As mentioned in the MSNBC.com report, some ingredients in excess of the stated amount can be detrimental as well.

I will go into much detail as possible without breaking any codes or laws but will first discuss the other products.

Of the pet products tested, only one, 21st Century Pet Chew, was granted the Approved moniker.

PetGuard Multi-Vitamin and Multi-Mineral for Dogs Not Approved due to, according to ConsumerLab.com, Found only 68.2% of claimed vitamin A .

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Pet-Tabs Complete Daily Vitamin-Mineral Supplement for Dogs received a Not Approved as they Found 167.0% of claimed minimum amount of vitamin A. Additionally, and most disconcerting, was the detection of Found 7.45 mcg lead per tablet (3.73 to 7.45 mcg of lead per daily serving)^.

Too much of something is just a bad as too little.

Dogs with Vitamin A toxicity are often lethargic. There is a consequent loss of appetite, lameness affecting the front legs, constipation, stiffness, and altered sensitivity on the region near the neck and forelimb.

Of greater concern is the levels of Lead found in the Pet-Tabs.

However, a pet product, Pet-Tabs Complete Daily Vitamin-Mineral Supplement for Dogs contained 7.45 mcg of lead per tablet; by comparison the FDA notes that children should not be exposed to more than 6 mcg of lead per day.

Disturbing were these levels were detected in a per tablet basis. However, must disturbing was a notation in the same report from ConsumerLab.com:

ConsumerLab.com has reported elevated levels of lead in this product in the past an amount that has been increasing with each review. In 2009, we found Pet-Tabs Complete Daily for Dogs to contain 6.45 mcg of lead per tablet and, in 2007, we found 1.41 mcg. California typically requires warning labels on supplements for human use that contain over 0.5 mcg of lead per day.

I guess I am more upset with myself for purchasing this product despite some comments I had read a while back. When looking at product reviews, one person had noted that they were no longer going to purchase the product because it was no longer manufactured in the U.S.A.. Instead, the product is now made in India.

Without explicitly pointing the finger at India, all of this does create some doubts and some suspicions about the manufacturing processes. As noted, the levels of lead have increased since first detected in 2007.

Next session’s classes will

8 a.m.- Beginner 1 - for puppies at least 5 months of age & adult dogs of any age

9 a.m.- Beginner 1

10 a.m.- Beginner 2 - for dogs successfully completing Saturday Fall Session Beginner 1 class.

Winter 2010-2011 Class Schedule will be available shortly.