Dog days of winter: Prepare your pup for colder months

Provide plenty of fresh water

Your dog is just as likely to get dehydrated in the winter as in the summer, and snow is not a satisfactory substitute for water.

Keep your dog warm, dry and away from drafts

Adequate shelter is a necessity. Tiles and uncarpeted areas may become extremely cold. Place blankets and pads on floors in these areas.

Be mindful of these hazards

• Cold: Don’t leave your dog outside for long periods of time. Wind chill makes days colder than actual temperature readings, and dogs are susceptible to frostbite on their ears, tails and feet.
• Ice and snow: Be careful when walking or playing with your dog outside. Your pup could slip or jump in a frozen lake, river or pond. Snow can muffle scents, and your dog can easily get lost.
• Carbon monoxide: Don’t leave your dog alone in a car. It gets too cold, and carbon monoxide from an engine left running is dangerous.
• Antifreeze: Although it smells and tastes good to your dog, antifreeze is highly poisonous and can be lethal.

Provide plenty of food

Feed your dog additional calories if he spends a lot of time outdoors. It takes more energy in the winter to keep body temperature regulated, so more calories are necessary.

Dogs kept indoors get less exercise during winter months and may gain weight, so keep an eye on their diet.

Keep your dog’s paws dry

Rinse your dog’s feet and dry them after a walk. This helps avoid tiny cuts and cracked pads.

A little petroleum jelly may soften the pads and prevent further cracking.

Groom your dog regularly

Your dog needs a well-groomed coat to keep properly insulated. Towel or blow-dry your dog if he gets wet from rain or snow.

Intro

#31. Pharaoh Hound

#30. Ibizan Hound

#29. Greyhound

#28. Redbone Coonhound

#27. German Pinscher

#26. Manchester Terrier

#25. Affenpinscher

#24. Saluki

#23. Toy Fox Terrier

#22. Rat Terrier

#21. Japanese Chin

#20. Brussels Griffon

#19. Basenji

#18. Staffordshire Bull Terrier

#17. Chinese Crested

#16. Italian Greyhound

#15. Miniature Pinscher (Min Pin)

#14. Dogue de Bordeaux

#13. Dalmatian

#12. Whippet

#11. Papillon

#10. Weimaraner

#9. Vizsla

#8. Chihuahua

#7. Havanese

#6. Boston Terrier

#5. Shih Tzu

#4. Great Dane

#3. Boxer

#2. Yorkshire Terrier

#1. Bulldog

Puppy store in Marana mall closes amid claims it sold sick dog that later died

A Tucson area pet store accused of selling puppies bred under abusive conditions has closed four months after it opened amid claims it sold a sick animal with one lung that died within a month of purchase.

The tiny Yorkshire terrier pup, purchased Oct. 4 from Puppy World at Tucson Premium Outlets in Marana, cost $2,700 to purchase, plus another $1,500 in veterinary bills for what was supposed to be a healthy, vet-checked specimen with a 12-month guarantee against genetic defects, the buyer’s paperwork shows.

But the man behind the guarantee was nowhere to be found when Alyssa Madril went back to the store last weekend to confront the management about fate of the 12-week-old male Yorkie her family named Yappy, who died Nov.3.

The glass storefront of Puppy World was covered over with brown paper, with no information left behind to let customers know what happened.

Madril, 39, of Phoenix, said her family is heartbroken, and she’s preparing a complaint to the Arizona attorney general’s consumer fraud division.

“My heart hurts for my puppy, to not have him for even a month, to have stayed up late at night caring for him and watching him suffer,” she said in an email interview of the pooch.

“Then not seeing him at the end … then to hear he passed away and getting his ashes. My heart broke. It’s been a tough time for me and my family.”

The business license for Puppy World is registered to a 23-year old California man, Rickie Gallardo, who promotes get-rich-quick videos online and advertises them by posing with photos of luxury cars and stacks of $100 bills.

Gallardo previously ran a Puppy World store in his home state but relocated to Arizona soon after he was named a defendant in a federal lawsuit that accuses him of procuring his puppies from puppy mills.

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Gallardo denied wrongdoing in an interview in August with the Arizona Daily Star.

Animal welfare groups say puppy mills churn out product at high speed by sacrificing the health of mother dogs, who are kept in cramped cages and bred every heat cycle to produce as many offspring as possible in the shortest time possible.

Gallardo did not respond to requests for comment for this story including a voicemail, a text message and two emails over a three-day period this week.

Madril said she has family members in Tucson and visits often, sometime stopping at the outlet mall on the way home. Though her household already has several rescue dogs, she stopped by Puppy World and “fell in love,” with the 3-month-old Yorkie, she said.

Mardril’s sales contract offered a 12-month guarantee against genetic defects that lead to the death of a puppy.

Under the terms, she was to receive a $2,700 credit, her purchase price, toward the purchase of another puppy.

Meanwhile, a Tucson-based animal welfare group that protested against Puppy World on the sidewalks around the Marana outlet mall is claiming credit for forcing the pet store to close four months after it opened in early August.

“At the very site where Rickie Gallardo briefly exploited mill-bred animals for profit, Tucson’s animal activist community now celebrates his removal,” said a news release from SPEAK, an acronym for Supporting and Promoting Ethics for the Animal Kingdom.

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