The Wonky Bonkers contest was so much fun, and we had so many great answers.  Unfortunately, not every Dogster could be a winner.  Many pups were left toyless.

So, when the fine folks at Fat Cat offered up some political toys for a giveaway I couldn’t refuse.

The folks at Bamboo have come up with Political Animals,  toys that look like the candidates.  For your chewing pleasure.

North Hills, Calif. - So…the race is on for the White House. But Fat Cat’s got some home-grown candidates of its own that will be seen campaigning all over the country! And who knows… some of ‘em may even end up in the White House! (Well, most likely on the floor, but who’s counting?).

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Political Animals^TM from Fat Cat, Inc. Ok, this is who you think it is. The dogs have voted and the folks at Fat Cat have listened! With firm stances on planting more trees to wee on, building more dog parks and increased tax breaks on kibble, we’ve given our dogs the chance to chomp the vote in our next election!

The contest is not political, it’s all about the toys.  I’m not looking to find out who you’re voting for. I don’t need to know why you like, or dislike, a candidate.

All I want to know is if you won, would you choose to chew a toy that looks like the candidate you would or wouldn’t vote for?  Leave your answer, in the comment section, and I will choose 4 winners at random on Friday, October 10. Gook luck!

For all those Dogsters who are attached to their cell phones, you’re going to love this new service from Purina.

Purina.mobi and go2 Pets allow people and their pets to have fun wherever they go by helping them locate pet-friendly businesses, keeping them up-to-date on the latest pet news or providing training tips on demand.

If pet lovers are looking for fun and entertainment at their finger tips, all they need to do is visit purina.mobi for free(3) ringtones, wallpapers, games and videos.

When searching for dog- and cat-related information, such as the nearest dog park or pet-friendly restaurant, pet owners can turn to go2Pets.com as a fast and helpful resource.

This is a really cool service, plus it’s free, except for cell phone text charges.  Now when you and your best friend are on the go and looking for information it’s at your fingertips.

As an added bonus, the fine folks at Purina, have given us some great goodies to give away.  We have two prize packs consisting of; coffee mug, fleece blanket, canvas beach 6 pack cooler/carrier, and water jug. All you need to do is leave a comment, in the comment section, and two winners will be chosen at random on Tuesday, October 7th.

I received a message about a potential danger concerning the “Real Ham Bone” made by Dynamic Pet Products.

I have not been able to find any recall of this product, or any information for that matter.  Regardless, this is definitely something you’ll want to be aware of.

I would like to warn all dog lovers out there to be very careful about the dog treats that you give your dogs. Last week I bought a “Real Ham Bone” made by Dynamic Pet Products of Missouri from Walmart.

Here is what it looks like: . The label says it is made with “100% Food Grade Ingredients” and it isn’t made from China. I thought that meant that this would make a good treat for my dogs. Boy was I wrong.

Trace, my dog, enjoyed chewing on this bone. It did not splinter or anything, in fact there is quite a large piece of it still left. Then in the evening she started vomiting.

She spent the next day at a veterinarian’ s office where she was diagnosed with a blockage of the colon. That night she endured a 4 hour surgery at Brandon Veterinary Specialists where the vet picked out small round pellets of the bone, up to the size of about a b-b.

The next morning she was moved to Florida Veterinary Specialist critical care unit. Again in the evening she had another 2 hour surgery, because the blockage had caused poison in her body. She passed away at 4:30 the next afternoon.

Everyone who hears this horrible story immediately says “Well that sounds like a lawsuit to me”. That is what I thought also. Since then, I have learned that is not that easy to sue on behalf of a dog.

The lawyers say a dog is a possession just like a couch. So, so far, all I have been able to do is write a certified letter to Dynamic Pet Products of Missouri.

In it I requested my vet bills to be paid and their product to be relabeled or preferably removed from the shelf. I don’t know if I will get a response. If anyone else has any ideas about how I may address this issue, please let me know at djurgens12@aol. com.

In the memory of Trace, please pass this email on to all of the dog lovers that you know. This type of bone is sold in all of the stores under several different manufacturers names. I would assume they all may do the same thing. Even if they don’t splinter, they can cause a blockage.

I would like to pass on my condolences to Trace’s owner, and thank them for sharing this tragic story to help prevent it from happening again.

Those of you who have large dogs, especially ones that like to sleep in bed with you, know what a pain it is to bathe them on a regular basis.

With Bo, Copper and Logan it’s a two hour process to clean the combined 220 lbs of canine grunge. That includes the washing, the cleaning up and the changing of wet clothes. Predictably, this is not something I look forward to. If only there was a better way to make them sparkle-other than paying to get them cleaned by a professional, that is.

Enter the HydroSurge RapidBath Animal Bathing System. It touts that you’re able to give your dog a professional-quality bath at home in three minutes or less. It purports to make the bathing process faster and more comfortable than ever. Well, I’ve read marketing material before, and quite frankly, been parted from a dollar or two because of it. So color me suspicious.

Fortunately, I got to test drive the RapidBath system courtesy of the fine folks at HydroSurge.

I have to admit that if I saw this product at the local pet store, I would have walked right by it. I would think the claims are too good to be true, and at a retail price close to $70 (varies), I’d continue down the aisle to find the super size bottle of anti-flatulence tablets for Copper.

So how does it work. The system attaches to an outside nozzle/hose or to your shower head (via a diverter). The RapidBath unit uses shampoo cartridges to allow for the Exclusive InjectAir Technology to combine shampoo with the constant supply of fresh water and air to penetrate down to the skin. Dirt, loose hair, dead skin and dander are washed away. You don’t need to lather them up by hand, it’s all done by the wand.

Sounds good, right?

The amazing thing is…it works! It really does.

I washed the kids in under fifteen minutes, and that includes drying each of them off with towels. When they were fully dry, it was as if I had just spent two hours bathing them in a tub. I couldn’t tell the difference.

The only downside is that the shampoo is specially formulated and must be purchased from HydroSurge. Your favorite smelling shampoo can’t be used. The cartridges go for roughly $10 for a three pack. Each pack is said to b good for roughly two washes, depending on how dirty your dog is.

I can’t recommend this product highly enough for those of you tired of the mess and cleanup associated with washing your dog. I give it four out four paws.

And now for the good part…we are giving away one HydroSurge RapidBath Animal Bathing System. To enter leave a comment, in the comment section, sharing your dirtiest (as in dirt and filth) dog story. The winner will be chosen, on October 3rd, based on the best answer.  Time to get those paws typing, good luck.

Our Wonky Bonker contest has come to an end, we have our winners.  As an added surprise, the very kind folks at Bamboo , maker’s of the Wonky Bonker, offered up a few extra prizes to giveaway.

So, we have two winners chosen at random, plus one for most creative, and the other for best answer.

Our random winners:

Athens, Austin, Braedey, Kenzie & Tucker

Wow! This toy looks totally pawsome. We had one that looked like a cat once. The toy finally crossed the rainbow bridge after several years of playing with it. We LOVE to toss about our toys and wrestle together and play keep away from the other pooches in our family. We would love to make this an addition to our box of toys!

(Christine-puppies mommy)

K-leb

I love toys
that make noise,
they bring me joys
and keep me poised!

Prize for most creative goes to Kenyon’s mom.

Cini Mini Bon Bon’s Ode to Lizards

Lizards for breakfast,
Lizards for lunch,
Lizards for playing,
and lizards to munch.

They make me crazy.
They don’t make me lazy.
If I were a flower
I’d be a daisy.

If you give me a Wonky Bonker
I could rest my honker
Cause I could have big fun
Without sniffin’ a lizard to conquer!

Lastly, our winner for best answer goes to Precious Penelope Peanut.

Mom was on the computer and I was watching from under her arm and I saw a wonderful fun looking toy. Mom doesn’t know I can read but I can! When mom went to let our 2 collies outside, I quickly leaped up into momma’s chair to check this crazy looking toy out! Well, it says I have to write a note about why I want to win one so here goes:

I live with two huge dogs! They look a lot like me but none of my kind are that big. Don’t know if they are mutants, giants or what! Mom says I’m a sheltie and they are collies. What ever they are, they are toy hogs! My gosh! Here I was living happily with mom & dad and had all my toys to myself. Mom says I’m very smart cuz I know each one of their names and will pick out the one she asks for out of a pile of them. DUH! Of course I know their names!

Anyway, this little dog named Murphy moves in and he didn’t have a clue. I thought about showing him stuff so he wouldn’t be so dumb but all he wanted to do is steal my toys and try to chew them up! Then, it was a miracle or something because this little imp of a dog suddenly starts growing almost before my eyes! His nose got long, his legs grew very long and his body got huge. I kept wondering if he was like Clifford, the big red dog but eventually he stopped growing. But everytime I had a toy he came up and body slammed me and took it away!

Then last year another mutantly large dog that looks just like Murphy came, her name is Pepper and she is Murphy’s mother. Well, what this means to me is that I can never play with any of my toys! If I won this toy, I’d keep it in a special place where only I knew where it was so it could be all mine!

Thank you, Peanut

Thanks to all the Dogsters who entered, we had some great answers.  Make sure to read Dogsters’ blog daily because we have more fun contests coming up. Here’s a tease…delicious gourmet dog treats and an amazing 3 minute dog wash.

In July I posted an article, Leashing In Those Huge Vet Bills, which offered some money saving tips. One of the tips was about pet insurance,  it was the one that got the most reaction from our readers. Some thought it was worthwhile, while others felt it was too expensive, didn’t give enough reimbursement, and didn’t cover enough items (like hereditary conditions).

Recently Lisa and I started thinking about getting pet insurance. We never really thought about until adopting Logan, our Berner.   The reason being,  we know that Bernese Mountain dogs are very prone to hip dysplasia and cancer.  I started doing some digging around to see what I could come up with.

I came across a great independent site where you can review, side by side, many different companies and compare what they offer.

There is a relatively new plan, PetPlan, that originated in the UK and has recently become available in the US. According to one of their PR agent’s, PetPlan is different because it includes coverage of hereditary conditions.

Perhaps it is time to take a new look at the value of pet health insurance. For the 62% of Americans with pets, there are new products on the market with high standards and value that can sharply reduce the impact of continually rising veterinarian charges that can force strapped pet owners to euthanize their beloved pets or go into debt to pay the bills.

Most pet owners think they don’t think they need it - until illness or accidents happen to their cat or dog. Consumer advisors have said that the cost of the policy- generally about $300 a year - is not worth it, mainly because traditionally, most plans reject too many claims, reimburse only a small portion of the ones they accept, and don’t cover the hereditary conditions of pure bred pets that rack up the highest medical bills.

Americans spend $42 billion a year on their pets yet only 1% of pet owners have pet insurance. Overseas, in the UK and Australia, where there are quality insurance plans, about 20% of pet owners have policies.

Petplan has been a popular pet insurance in the UK, Canada and Australia for over 30 years. Now that it is available in the United States, it has raised the bar for coverage and customer service so high that some other plans are taking note and upping their service and coverage.

I took a look at PetPlan on the Pet Insurance Review site to see what other people have written about this company.  On the site both PetPlan US and PetPlan Canada were reviewed.  Surprisingly, with very different result.

Those who have used PetPlan Canada were not not happy and overall it got a 4.47 out of 10 rating.  However, those who have used PetPlan US gave it a 9.7 out of 10.  An exceptionally high satisfactory rating.

I contacted the company to find out the reason for this discrepancy. The good news is that they are entirely separate companies, not related in any way.

As a matter of fact, as of September 1st Petplan UK terminated the relationship with Petplan Canada and there is effectively no Petplan Canada as of this time.

The company has been renamed and now operates as Petsecure. The reason they receive such terrible reviews is that their policies are completely different from those offered both in the UK and in the US.

Most notable they experience rate, which means that a pet owner is punished every time they submit a claim and see their premiums raised significantly.

While we haven’t decided on anything yet, we’ll definitely keep PetPlan in mind when making a decision in the near future.

A member just made a remark concerning the political posts, stating that “We are for the love of dog”.

I can’t think of a more perfect sentiment about how we feel at Dogster.  So let’s get back to the dogs, shall we?

Snoopy, has finally found a home, and not atop his doghouse. He’s an adorable 6 year old terrier mix who gets around thanks to a special wheelchair.

Due to an accident when he was just a puppy he was brought to a veterinary clinic and never left.  That is, until his new owner Marjan Sipsma adopted him two years ago.  She thought he would be a great playmate for her other four dogs.

Sipsma felt Snoopy deserved to enjoy a quality dog’s life: to be able to walk, run and play. Her research led her to finding a squad cart “wheelchair” for him.

“It’s not available here. I ordered from Malaysia, online from the United States after taking Snoopy’s measurements.

“I also ordered shoes for him as he has a tendency to walk on his knuckles and it would scrape and hurt his forelegs,” she said.

You’ve got to love this lady.  A wheelchair and some snazzy shoes, does it get any better than that?

A reminder that tomorrow is the last day to enter our fun Wonky Bonker contest.

Designed with “Dog Psychology” in mind, Wonky Bonkers are the perfect toss -n- tug toy! Totally tough, yet fantastically floppy, they’re what dogs are barkin’ for. And that Wonky Bonker bounce is gonna drive your dog, well, bonkers with doggy delight!

Go to the original article for all the details and to leave your comment to enter.

See what all the dogs in the know are barking about….it’s Wonky Bonkers. A fun new toy, by Bamboo, to keep your best friend amused for hours.

Designed with “Dog Psychology” in mind, Wonky Bonkers are the perfect toss –n- tug toy! Totally tough, yet fantastically floppy, they’re what dogs are barkin’ for. And that Wonky Bonker bounce is gonna drive your dog, well, bonkers with doggy delight!

What drives your pal bonkers with delight?  Share your story and be entered to win your very own Wonky Bonker.  All you need to do is leave a comment, in the comment section, and on September 19th I’ll randomly choose two lucky winners.

In April 2008 Joy was made aware, by Lucky’s mom, about an incident that occurred after using Sergeant’s Gold flea medication.   Joy posted an article, Sergeant’s Gold Flea Medication Almost Kills Dogsters Lucky and Nala, to make everyone aware of the potential danger.

Since that article was posted there have many comments from other Dogster members who have used this product and experienced issues, from minor to life-threatening.  Last week a comment came in from Julie, an Online Community Relations Liaison, working on behalf of Sergeant’s with some updated information as to what the company is doing in response to these complaints.

Sergeant’s is very sorry to hear about what all of your dogs have experienced. We really want to hear from each one of you who believes their pet has had an adverse reaction to any of our flea and tick control products. If you haven’t yet contacted our 24-hour consumer hotline at 800-224-7387, we strongly encourage you to do so for a couple of very important reasons:

• We want to make sure that each one of your dogs is now in good health. Naturally reading these posts are more than bothersome to us.

• Sergeant’s needs to gather information from you and your vet in order to start an investigation. Sergeant’s has a procedure in place where a complaint of a possible adverse reaction is given to a committee of independent veterinarians to review and investigate what may have caused the reaction or problem.

It’s important to remember that all flea and tick control product are pesticides and in order for these products to be as safe and effective as possible, they must be used as directed. It’s also important to understand that, just like human health care products, nothing can be 100% allergy-free, so some dogs will have a reaction. Most reactions are temporary, such as skin irritation, but some can be very serious.

Sergeant’s wants to help pet owners make safe choices, which is why we expanded our “Look at the Label” educational campaign and website www.lookatthelabel.com to educate consumers on proper application and use of flea and tick control products. Each case in this forum - and other forums - is different, which is why we think you will find the information on www.lookatthelabel.com helpful in answering many of the questions you may have at this point in time.

Sergeant’s President, Bob Scharf, wants pet owners to know this tool is available and encourages everyone to visit the website or call Sergeant’s hotline to answer any questions or concerns you may have - whether it is pre, post or after application. You can view a special message here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbONNAshrWo.

We really are very sorry to read the experiences here and want nothing but your pets to be healthy and happy! Visit www.lookatthelabel.com for useful tips. Please let us know if you have any questions at all, as we would be more than happy to assist you further.

When I read the comment I thanked Julie for sending it over. I also let her know that Dogster members, being the dog lovers they are, obviously get very upset when they  use a product that they feel makes their dog sick.

It is especially upsetting when people don’t think that a company cares what happens. I asked if there is any kind of reimbursement program if it can be proven the product is directly responsible for making the dog sick.  Or is it simply use at your own risk? According to Julie, there are measures being taken to deal with those situations.

Sergeant’s has a procedure in place for when a complaint of a possible adverse reaction is reported. In some cases, the complaint and information are given to independent veterinarians for further insight on what may have caused the reaction or problem.

Sergeant’s takes pride in being an extremely ethical company and stands behind all of the products offered to fellow pet lovers. Responsibility is taken for issues related to the product as long as the product was used as indicated by the label.

If the product was used as intended and instructed and then found to be the cause of the negative reaction, the customer will of course be reimbursed for any damage associated to the product.

This again is determined through a case investigation and why it is so important to hear from anyone and everyone that has had a negative experience with this product.

For anyone that has any issues with the Sergeant’s products I urge you to take Julie’s advice and go to the Look At The Label page so you can contact the appropriate party.  It is imperative that the company is able to track these incidents and that the injured party receive compensation, if so determined,  for any out of pocket expenses due to the use of this product.