By Alex Eaton, owner of Healing Bay Pet Nutrition.

Adopting a Dog or Cat. Congratulations! You have made the wonderful decision to adopt a furry family member. It’s an exciting feeling, but figuring out the next steps can be a little daunting — especially for those new to pet parenting. Whether you’re adopting a new fluffy puppy or a senior kitty, here are some important tips and tricks you need to know to build a strong relationship with your new pet — and ensure they have proper care from the moment they arrive home.

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How do Fleas Hurt My Dog?

Before I list all the ways that these devilish insects can cause problems, let’s talk about what fleas actually are. They are parasites! Yes, by definition, a flea is a parasite because they live on (external parasite) or in (internal parasite) other creatures. And, it just so happens that fleas really favor our furry pets. Fleas are the most common external parasites found on dogs and fleas like our pet’s tasty, warm blood. (more…)

Welcome to the freshly relaunched monthly newsletter from Petworks, where we’ve decided it’s spring (whether Mother Nature knows it yet or not). Spring! Time to take the dog for longer walks, sit outside with the chickens, and keep the cat from eating the blooms you’ve arranged in a vase on the table. And when you start in on a cleanout of the closets, don’t forget about your furry friends–they need a little spring spiffing too.

Let’s talk dogs. Every winter, most dogs grow a thicker coat to combat the cold. With spring, of course, comes the Big Shed (and furballs tumbleweeding through the house). You can help your dog with this process by brushing and bathing her, but even better (and involving fewer puddles on your bathroom floor) would be to take your dog to a groomer and let them decide on the best tool for your dog’s coat and/or undercoat and/or dreadlocks: a brush, or a slicker brush, or a rake, or a comb, or a trim. Other important areas to attend to are the ears, eyes, and toenails. (Dog owners know the real secret to inner peace isn’t a pedicure for your own paws but one for the defiant dog!) Check the Petworks listings for a mobile groomer near you.

As you can see, Petworks is the place to hook up with all manner of experts in their fields–from groomers to trainers to clinical pet nutritionists. Every day we serve as a bridge between pet parents and pros. It’s one of the most important functions we provide, so we take seriously every pet pro, every pet parent, and every communication between them. In future newsletters, we’ll be going “Behind the Scenes at Petworks” with stories from our pro and parent peeps.

If you want to hear some stories direct from your pet, you can always check in with an animal communicator. “How does that work?” you might ask. Well, we can tell you! Through our exclusive interview with Julie, we learned that answer and a lot more about this fascinating field. Based in New York, she offers in-person or distance energy sessions for animals (and their people). “Animals have so much wisdom to share with their humans!” Julie says.

As you might expect, Petworks founder Michael Caldwell and his wife, Danielle, and kids (Graham, 13, and twins Noah and Chris, 9) are all devoted to animals. Pictured here are the human Caldwells with their canine family member, Poppy, on her “gotcha” day three years back (all the way from the great big state of Texas courtesy of Rescue Road Trips). Poppy has a feline brother, Snowy, and a feline sister, Clementine, whose purr competes with the TV when she’s busy sleeping on your chest. Rounding out the family are Noah and Chris’s lively but lamentably nocturnal hamsters, Fluffy and Cookie, and Bubbles the betta fish, who keeps watch over the Caldwell kitchen counter. Any future additions to the menagerie? Maaaaaybe a bunny (Mom and Dad?). As Graham points out, “They’re like a pretty good size–not too big and not too small–and they’re fluffy.”

Thanks so much for reading! Feel free to stop by and put in a request for a pet-pro quote (https://www.petworks.com/request_quote), and stay tuned for our May “Focus On” pet detectives (and not the Ace Ventura kind)!

Yours in pet prosperity,
Team Petworks