Caring for Your Pets in the Winter

Winter can be a magical time of year, but for your furry friends, it can be a whole different wonderland. At PetCot, we want to help you take care of your pet through every season and every stage of life. Whether you have an indoor pet, or your dog or cat stays outdoors most of the time, here are a few ways to protect your pets in the winter.

Protect Them From the Cold

If your pets stay inside or outside, you'll want to make sure that they have the protection they need throughout the cold months. You can get them a sweater if they remain outside full time, or even booties to keep their feet warm when walking across freezing concrete or asphalt.

Feed Them the Correct Amount

If your pet lives outside, they will burn more calories keeping warm, and will need more food. Indoor pets will need less food in the winter because they will most likely spend a lot of this season sleeping indoors with the heat. You'll also want to make sure they have enough water, and if their water is outside, be aware, and make sure it doesn't freeze.

Make Sure They Get Plenty of Exercise

Indoor dogs will needs lots of exercise in the winter because they won't be outside as much. Evening walks, running outside, and fetch are great ways to keep them active and help shed any extra pounds they might be gathering through their "hibernation."

Beware of Wintertime Chemical Spills

Winter can bring many harmful chemicals that are used to treat snow, ice, and frost. Antifreeze could leak from the radiators of vehicles, and this could be deadly if ingested. Event the smallest sip can be fatal. The salt on the sidewalks can cause sores or irritations on your pet's paws, so always be sure to wash their feet when you bring them back inside. You can also rinse their bed off, to make sure that none of the salt gets tracked onto your pet's favorite bed!

Go for a Ride

If your pet loves to go for car rides, that probably won't change much in the winter. They'll probably still love to poke their heads out the windows. One thing to beware of, though, is that the engine of your car can seem very attractive to cats, especially in the winter. They often climb up in the engine cavity to stay warm, but as you can imagine, this can have dreadful results. Be sure to tap on your hood before starting your car, and if you have cats who live outside, do a head count first.

Taking Care of Your Pets in Every Season

At the PetCot Company, we like to think that we care for your furry friends as much as you do. We have created the best pet beds, that not only keep your pets comfortable but are easy for you to maintain and clean. We hope your four-legged family members have a cozy, and safe winter, and enjoy many naps on their PetCot!

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Tips for Keeping Your Pets Safe This Halloween

Halloween is such a fun time of year, and of course we always want to include our pets in the family's festivities. Wanting to involve them is fine, but there are some pet safety tips you should heed this Halloween to ensure that your pet is safe, secure, and happy. Take a look at some of the tips the PetCot Company is sharing this week:

Use Caution When Dressing Your Pets in Costume
Pets in costume, it's super adorable, right?! Well, yes... but if your pet isn't used to or keen on playing dress up, this could cause your pet to feel nervous or stressed. If you do decide that Fido or Kitty needs a costume, costumes should not restrict movement, hearing, eyesight, or the ability to breathe. You should supervise your pets while in costume so that if something goes wrong, it can be addressed right away.

Keep Candies and Other Treats Away from Pets
Several Halloween treats are toxic to pets, so it's best to err on the side of caution and avoid allowing your pets any treats from the candy bowl. All forms of chocolate—especially baking or dark chocolate—can be dangerous, even lethal, for dogs and cats. Halloween candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can also be poisonous to dogs.

Avoid Leaving Pets Outdoors on Halloween
Vicious pranksters have been known to tease, injure, steal, and even kill pets on Halloween night. Black cats are especially at risk for pranks or other cruelty-related incidents. Besides the dangers of pranksters doing harm to your pet, the constant noise and people walking by your yard can cause your pet to feel stressed and overwhelmed.

Prevent Your Pets from Escaping into the Night
On halloween, if you live in city limits, you're likely to have several trick-or-treaters knocking on your door. Strangers on your doorstep dressed in unusual costumes can be scary for our furry friends, which can result in escape attempts or unexpected aggression. Putting your dog or cat in a secure crate or room away from the front door will reduce stress and prevent them from becoming aggressive towards visitors or darting outside into the night.

Make Sure Your Pet has Identification
If your dog or cat does escape and become lost, having the proper identification will increase the chances that he or she will be returned. Make sure that your pet's collar tags are up-to-date and secured to their collar. This will help anyone who comes across your beloved pet quickly be able to contact you. Another very important and permanent form of identity is to have your pet microchipped. Collars can get lost or removed, so the only sure way to effectively ensure your pet's safe return home is to microchip and make sure you routinely update your information.

By following these simple tips this Halloween, you'll keep your pets safe, healthy, and happy! And don't forget to get your fur babies a treat they CAN have and will LOVE! Make sure you've got a comfy place for them to rest their heads after such an eventful evening. Get a premium dog bed from PetCot. Our PetCot beds are one of the most comfortable and durable on the market. Visit our website to order yours today!

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8 Ways to Keep Your Dog Cool This Summer

Summertime sparks the desire to get the family outdoors more often. And of course, you don't want to leave Sparky behind - after all, your pets are family too, right? While we always want to include our fur babies in family fun, it's important to remember that all that fur may not mix well with the warmer temperatures of summer. So, this week the PetCot Company has decided to share with you 8 tips to keep your furry buddy cool while enjoying summer fun with the family:

1. Don’t leave your pet in an unattended vehicle. 

On a 75-degree day, the temperature inside a parked car can climb up to 115 degrees within an hour. Even with the windows down, a dog can easily overheat if left in these conditions. If you need to run errands and don't feel comfortable leaving your dog home alone take it to a doggy day care. It’ll save you the trouble of worrying about your dog while you’re out.

2. Avoid walking on hot surfaces like asphalt. 

Your pup’s paws can be as sensitive as the soles of your feet. If the asphalt is too hot for you to walk on, chances are it’s too hot for your pup too. On a walk, try to alternate between asphalt, sidewalk, and grass so that your dog’s delicate paws don’t get overheated. If your dog is particularly sensitive, cover his paws with pet booties so he can stroll comfortably.

3. Supply lots of fresh, clean water. 

Some dogs get a bit finicky with their water if there’s an odd scent in the bowl or if it’s been warming up in the sun for a while. Keeping a fresh, clean supply of H2O in your dog’s dish will ensure that your pup drinks more often and stays hydrated.

4. Don’t overexercise pets. 

Dogs don’t always know their own limits. If you can tell your dog is breathing more rapidly or having some trouble chasing after a ball, slow things down and allow him to cool off. Outdoor activities are great but, instead of playing in the blazing afternoon sun, try tossing a ball around as the sun is setting.

5. Leave your dog at home on hot days.

Going to the beach and sitting out all day in the sun is something we humans enjoy, but it can leave pooches severely dehydrated. Even if you feel like the heat is bearable, remember, when dogs are exposed to moderately high temperatures over an extended period of time, their bodies might be unable to cool down.

6. Watch for signs of dehydration.

Dogs can't sweat. They cool off by panting, so an overheated dog will drool excessively. It will become lethargic, its eyes will be bloodshot, and it may appear a little pale. If you lift its skin, it will take longer than usual for the skin to fall back into place.

7. Take your dog swimming.

The best activity you can do in summertime or hot weather is swimming. Instead of walking the dog, take the dog on a swim! If you hold on and allow your dog to take you around the pool, it becomes a powerful bonding experience for the two of you, similar to the walk.

8. Get your dog a raised bed.

PetCot raised dog beds provide optimal comfort and support for dogs (and other pets) of all sizes. Our unique elevated dog bed allows your pet to rest easy while maintaining a comfortable body temperature all around. Durable and breathable, it provides dogs with a healthy, cool environment.

Now that you have some tips to go by to keep your best friend cool this summer, get out there and have some fun! Just remember to keep an eye on your pooch and keep them cool and hydrated. Don't forget to swing by our website to order your pup a premium raised dog bed to rest comfortably on after a fun day enjoying the summer activities you are bound to have a blast doing!

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Tips For Preventing Flea & Tick Infestation

With the nicer weather brings great opportunity to get outdoors with your pets. This also brings a high chance of dealing with the frustrations of flea and ticks. Not only is it frustrating for you and uncomfortable for your pet, but these pesky little parasites can also causes illnesses and diseases. While it's practically impossible to avoid them altogether, the PetCot Company has a list of things that you can do to prevent and treat for fleas and ticks - take a look!

Bathe Regularly

Bathing your pet with a shampoo or flea/tick dip that contains medicated ingredients will typically kill ticks and fleas on contact. While this can labor intensive, it is an inexpensive method of protection and prevention. Since this doesn't necessarily do well to prevent ticks and fleas, you'll need to repeat the process frequently as the effective ingredients won't last as long as a topical or oral treatment.

Use a Topical Treatment

One of the benefits of going with topical treatments is that they come in many forms, such as powders, sprays, spot-on treatments, and collars. Using an over the counter spot-on medication that you purchase from your veterinarian, pet store, or online can be a very effective method for controlling both ticks and fleas. These medications are effective at keeping parasites at bay for up to a month. Collars that repel ticks and fleas are an additional preventive you can use, though they are mainly only useful for protecting the neck and head. Tick and flea powders work to kill and repel. These can also be used where your pet sleeps and around the home. Sprays kill ticks and fleas quickly and provides residual protection. Sprays can be used in between shampoos and dips, and when you are planning to spend time out in wooded areas.

Look into Oral Solutions

Oral medications can work to kill both ticks and immature fleas and will disrupt the lifecycle of fleas. They are easy to give and you won’t have to be concerned about small children and cats coming into contact with dogs immediately after application, as you might with topical treatments. These oral solutions are available in daily or monthly doses. Monthly treatments typically require a veterinarian prescription, while the daily oral solution may be purchased over the counter.

Treat Your Home & Lawn

Keeping your lawn, bushes, and trees trimmed back will help reduce the population of fleas and ticks in your backyard. If there are fewer areas for these parasites to live and breed, there will be fewer of them to be concerned with. If you still have a problem, consider using one of the various household and yard sprays or granular treatments that are available from your veterinarian, pet store, or local garden center. Just be careful when using these products, as they can be harmful to animals, fish, and humans. If you have a severe problem or you are concerned about the proper handling of these chemicals, you might want to consider hiring an exterminator to apply yard and area sprays to control the ticks and fleas.

Prevent Bedding Infestations

Fleas love to nest in the same place your pet does to keep feeding on him or her. When your pet has fleas, the larvae and eggs fall off your pet and land wherever your pet spends their time at. This means that most likely your pet's bedding is the perfect place for larvae to thrive. To control flea infestation in your pet's bedding you should wash and dry it thoroughly in the hottest temperatures possible without damaging it, and keep the area well swept. OR rather than battling with constantly cleaning and treating cushioned bedding, invest in an easy to clean, hygienic premium raised dog bed! These premium raised pet beds protect dogs from the breeding ground of ticks and fleas.

As you can see, there are many different ways to treat and prevent fleas and ticks. Don't forget, consistency is key. Even one missed treatment with a flea and tick control can set the stage for infestation that takes months to resolve, or put your pet at greater risk of exposure to illness or disease. So be sure you treat your pet now and continue taking preventative measures throughout the rest of the year. And don't forget to get a PetCot premium raised pet bed to ensure your pet's comfort and health! 

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Tips to Keep Your Canine Fit and Healthy!

Did you know that roughly 53 percent of pet dogs in the U.S. are overweight? Excess weight can lead to a number of health problems in your dog, and even cut their lifespan short. Sad, but true. Physical fitness and maintaining a healthy body weight is just as important for dogs as it is for humans. Since April is Canine Fitness Month, the PetCot Company is sharing some ways to help keep your dog fit and healthy!

Provide a Healthy Balanced Diet

Every dog, just like every human, is different and requires special care and attention to their diet. To determine what type of diet your dog should be on, have a discussion with your veterinarian. They can tell you how much food you should be feeding your dog during mealtimes and recommend what types of foods to feed for your dog's optimal health. Do not free feed! While this may seem like the easiest way to feed your pooch, it can cause weight gain, and makes it harder to keep track of your dog's consumption. Instead, feed your dog 2-3 times per day at the same time each day in measured amounts.

Exercise Your Pooch Regularly

It's easy for an inside dog to get comfortable with laying around all day and become chubby, just as it is for humans. Your dog should be getting at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, but one to two hours a day is a good average. Not every dog requires vigorous exercise, so take into consideration your dog's age, breed, and overall health when coming up with an exercise routine for your pup. Even if it's just taking your dog for a walk every day, make sure to get out and get your dog the exercise they need to stay healthy.

Ensure Your Pup is Getting Enough Rest

Just like we do, dogs require a good night's sleep for a healthy lifestyle. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation in dogs can lead to the buildup of stress hormones that can cause aggression and other misbehavior. During deep sleep, a hormone called melatonin is released, which helps to protect cells and improve the immune system. So if your dog isn't getting enough sleep, it can be detrimental to his or her overall well-being. To give your dog the best chance for a great night's sleep, get them a premier raised dog bed to ensure that they sleep comfortably and wake up rested.

While the month of April is almost over, and Canine Fitness Month is coming to a close, the PetCot Company wants to stress the importance of using these tips everyday to enhance your pet's quality of life. As stated previously, a healthy amount of sleep is a crucial part of your dog's health. So make sure your pet is comfortable while sleeping by getting them a premium raised dog bed. Petcot raised dog beds come in three sizes so they work for dogs of all breeds and sizes. We even offer a raised pet bed for dogs with incontinence. Replacement parts, fleece covers, and orthopedic inserts are available as well. Visit our website today to order your PetCot raised dog bed today - and enjoy the many years to come with your healthy happy pooch!

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Training Your Pet with Positive Reinforcement

There are a few things every pet needs to learn, and some pets have more training required than others. No matter what standards you have for your furry friend, it’s important to make sure that you are training them appropriately. Just as you are more apt to cooperate when you are given positive reinforcement, the same goes for your pet as well. Positive reinforcement can help to encourage good behavior and maybe even limit bad behavior. Here are a few popular training tips for your pet utilizing positive reinforcement.

Verbal Affirmation

Affirming your pet verbally is a key technique in training. While you want to enforce the affirmation with treats, there’s nothing that can completely replace your pride in their behavior. Try to stick with the same verbal praise like “yes!” or “good dog!” Keep in mind that your tone of voice can also make an impact on your commands and your affirmation.

Reward

Rewards are a great way to build positive reinforcement in your pet. Keep in mind, though, that you should only offer rewards for behaviors you want to encourage. Food treats are an easy way to encourage good behavior. Contrary to the typical pet treats, though, they only need to be pea sized. Food treats need to be very small so that long training sessions don’t interrupt their regular feeding routine. If your dog isn’t motivated by food, you can keep a favorite toy on-hand for a short playtime.

How to Treat Bad Behavior

In the training process, it’s important to not punish bad behavior - this is not positive reinforcement. You can ignore bad behavior, or redirect it to an alternate good behavior that you can then reward. In time, your pet will learn to perform the alternate behavior first and the ignored behavior will go extinct. It’s important to not expect too much too soon out of your pet. They will learn, but it could take plenty of practice or “shaping.” Shaping is when you reward small actions that will begin to lead to the desired actions.

Long Term Training

As your pet begins to learn the desired behavior, you can switch to intermittent reinforcement. One way to incorporate intermittent reinforcement is to slowly decrease the number of times your pet is rewarded with a food treat. The first week you may reward them every single time they are successful, whereas the next week, you only reward them ever other time or so. Finally, the third wee, you only reward them a few times to keep up the good behavior. Always use verbal praise when your dog does what is right, even if you don’t use physical treats. You can also use a variable schedule so they won’t get used to a pattern. Eventually, you can phase out food greats and use lots of era-life rewards like petting and play.

Training with the PetCot Bed

You may not have thought of your raised pet bed as a tool for training, but it can be! Many dog trainers, veterinarians, and kennels use the PetCot to aid and reward their trainees. Some use it for the “place” command, to give pet’s a place to go and stay until you release them. Others use it as a great place for the pup to relax. No matter what your method for using the PetCot bed, it’s a premium pet bed that we are sure you will love. Visit our website to learn more about our colors and sizes that are available.

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The Care and Keeping of Your PetCot

Have you ever purchased a pillow bed for your pet, only to realize a few weeks down the road that you can hardly bare to touch it? You’re not alone if you feel like your dogs bed gets absolutely filthy, but now the question is, how are you going to clean it? Imagine being able to just spray it with a mild cleaner and wipe it off! That’s exactly what you can do with a PetCot raised pet bed - it’s simply that easy.

The PetCot Company wanted to make a bed that was not only pet friendly but owner friendly as well. This is why our beds are extremely comfortable, but sleek in design and VERY easy to clean. Here are a few ways you can care for your PetCot bed appropriately, and how we continue to help you long after you’ve bought your bed.

Caring & Cleaning

No more washer or dryers to clean dog beds! Woven, vinyl-coated polyester fabric is breathable, will not puddle water and dries quickly and odor-free. It's durable and breathable, and provides dogs with a healthy, cool environment. 

If you only need to achieve a quick clean, you can turn the bed on it's side to dump any hair or dirt off. The woven vinyl also gives you the ability to easily sweep it off. If you're looking for a deeper clean, you can hose it off and use a mild cleaner or disinfectant to remove germs and bacteria.

The best part is, the PetCot won't need cleaned as much as an ordinary pet bed anyway! The sleek design means that you aren't providing a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. You can go longer in between cleanings, and when you do have to clean its VERY easy.

Replacement Parts

While our beds are extremely sturdy and made to last, there are occasionally a few times where a pet owner may find that something on their pet bed has broken. Thankfully, we sell all of the replacement parts on our website so you can have your bed back up and running in no time - or should we say "laying down and sleeping"? ;)

The Best Elevated Dog Bed

At the PetCot Company, we take pride in the products that we provide for your family - specifically your furry family. Our pet beds are comfortable, sturdy, easy to clean, and the favorite pet bed in many homes. If you are ready to take the next step to having the best pet bed, visit our website to learn more. Also, don't forget that for Small Business Saturday (November 26th) you can get 10% off of the purchase of your pet bed. Don't delay, this offer is ONLY good on November 26th!

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