Friday, January 16, 2009

News Letter - Pet foot care tips

Winter Foot Care Tips for Pets
By Janet Tobiassen Crosby, DVM,

http://vetmedicine.about.com

Winter boots are essential wear for humans to provide
traction and protection on snow and ice. Our pets need
special care and attention for their feet during harsh
weather, too. Learn how to minimize injury and
discomfort for your pet's paws and be aware of other
winter dangers.
Snow and Ice Balls
If your pet is going on a walk or hike with you where
there is lots of snow, ice balls can form between the paw
pads. This is the number one complaint of my dogs of
my life who have had lots of hair between the paw pads
that serves to collect the snow and form a nice hard ice
ball. Difficult to walk on! This can be helped by
trimming the hair a bit and even applying a small
amount of petroleum jelly or olive oil to the area prior to
the walk. Be sure to use an edible ointment/oil, as dogs
often lick their feet and ingest what was applied.
Another effective option are boots for pets. This may not
work for all pet personalities, but for dogs that will
tolerate a boot, this offers the ultimate protection
Salt and Deicers for Roads and Sidewalks
Salt and other ice melting granules or chemicals can
irritate your pet's paws. Pets often lick their paws when
wet or irritated, leading to possible toxicity by ingestion
of the ice melting substance. My pets also love eating
and licking the snow that falls off of boots, and if you
use (or have walked on) a deicer compound, your pet
will ingest that as well. Sand, gravel and non-clumping
cat litters are the safest option (in terms of not being
toxic) for traction on ice and snow. Use caution when
using any salt or chemical deicers and if at all possible,
buy "pet safe" brands. Be sure to rinse and dry your pet's
feet after being outside in snow and icy conditions.
Cut Paw Pads
Injuries happen from stepping on items obscured by
snow, sharp edges on ice, and sometimes from snow
toys and implements used to remove snow. First aid
treatment is to gently cleanse the wound with warm
water and a mild soap, and apply pressure to stop
bleeding. Paw pads are very thick and slow to heal; deep
cuts to the paw pads usually require sutures for proper
healing.

News Letter Recipe

OVEN GOOD STEW

(As served at the Fall Test – from Lori Van Beek)
1 lb. boneless lean stew meat
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1 can (10.75 oz.) lowfat cream of mushroom soup
1 can water
2 cups carrots, diced
2 cups potatoes, diced
Crockpot: I usually cook this in a crock pot on low
for 8 hours. No need to pre-cook the meat – just
throw everything in together. Venison works well.
Oven: Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Brown meat in pan sprayed with non-stick cooking
spray, stirring often.
Mix together dry soup, mushroom soup and water.
Place vegetables and meat in baking dish sprayed
with non-stick cooking spray.
Pour soup mixture over all. Mix well.
Bake 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
Serves 6.

Minutes January 2009

RRV Chapter of NAVHDA
Monthly Meeting Minutes
Gander Mountain - Fargo
November 3, 2008

Board Attendance: Matt Olson, Steve Buck, Mark Van
Beek, Lori Van Beek, Keith Kemmer, Dan Pforr, Jeff
Jalbert.
Board Absence: Tory Zimmerman.
Member Attendance: Leigh Holzer

Call to Order: Meeting was called to order by Vice-
President Steve Buck. It was noted that Tory
Zimmerman would like to continue to be on the board.
However, he will not be able to attend the board
meetings and cannot fulfill his position as President.
Tory would like to continue being involved in the tests.
Steve will step in and chair the meetings for the rest of
2008 as Vice-President. Jeff Jalbert asked if we can
have a written agenda for the board meetings.

Treasurer’s Report: Mark Van Beek presented the
financial report as of November 3, 2008. The net
income for 2008 events/activities is $384.43. The
balance in the checkbook is $3,110.95. He also
distributed the activity reports for 2008, which need to
be turned into National NAVHDA by year-end. It was
noted that the Spring Test had a loss of $269.33 and Fall
Test had a loss of $552.94.

Approval of Minutes: Lori stated that she emailed the
Annual meeting minutes out in advance to the board.
She brought a paper copy for review as well. There
were no corrections to the minutes.

MOTION:Approval of the minutes was moved and seconded,
which motion passed by unanimous vote.

Business:
Election Ballots: Lori Van Beek reported that she
mailed out 61 ballots to current members. The deadline
for returning them is November 17, 2008. They will be
opened at the December board meeting, at which time
offices will be selected by the new Board. The Officer
listing needs to be turned into National NAVHDA by the
Secretary.

Testing Fees: Members discussed whether or not to
raise the testing fees due to the loss this past year. The
question was raised rather adding a third test day would
help. It was noted that the third day creates additional
expense for judge food and lodging, birds, etc. In
addition, most judges do not want to work more than
two days. The Spring Test had an unanticipated cost
with the judge’s flat tire. The Fall Test had high costs
for judges’ meals, and the cost for birds has increased
and they are harder to find. The cost for wintering birds
is up. For the Spring test, the club got birds in May and
kept them for a month, also some of the judges would
only stay in a hotel rather than a member’s home.
Members discussed raising the fee for non-members of
the local chapter, since local fundraising subsidizes the
fees and should only apply to local members. There
were several board members against this type of fee
structure. It was noted that RRV Chapter dropped this
type of pricing about five years ago. RRV charged $90
for NA and $110 for UT/UPT in 2008. Iowa charged
$115 for NA. It appears that the local fees are lower
than most chapters. Jeff indicated that the local judges
are less costly and RRV has been approved to use local
judges for the next 2-3 years.

MOTION: Steve Buck moved, seconded by Dan Pforr,
to have Tory set the dates for the 2009 tests as June 12-
14 for NA in Leonard, ND, and August 22-23 for UT/UP
in Erie, ND, which motion passed by unanimous vote.
Buck, Matt and Leigh volunteered to work on the extra
day of the NA test on Friday.

MOTION: Matt Olson moved, seconded by Keith
Kemmer, to set the test fees at $100 for NA and $125 for
UT/UPT, which motion passed by unanimous vote.
Clay County Youth Shoot: A discussion followed on
the difficulty getting birds for both the Fun Shoot and
Clay County Youth Shoot and the problems with storing
birds between events. Leigh offered to help with birds.

ACTION TAKEN: Mark Van Beek was asked to
contact Jeff Andvik from Pheasant’s Forever to see if
they would be willing to find and transport birds for the
Clay County Youth Shoot in 2009.

Sportsman’s Show at the Dome: If the club is
interested in having a booth again, we will need to
contact the person in charge. Leigh reported that the
Rod and Gun Club closed, and he has several thousand
raffle tickets and a lock box that RRV can use at the
Sportsman’s Show. He suggested that we give away a
shirt and sell tickets for $1.00 each. The winning ticket
could be placed on a board at the booth each day.

Club Trailer: Leigh noted that he has the club trailer
and is adding shelves and a bird cleaning station. He has
talked to his neighbor about storing the trailer on their
property, which is easily available on a corner across the
street. In turn, he will do their snow removal.
Discussion followed on the invitational trailer for birds
with vented aluminum crate and tray to pull forward
with water and feeders. This type of trailer reduced
stress on the birds. We could have a pen set up for the
birds at the test site, such as a 6x12x8 pen with two
sections and nylon net door. The pen could be set up
Wednesday for the three-day test.

Fall Hunt Package: Steve and Dan indicated that the
fall hunt package that the club donated for the annual
fundraiser went really well. The hunters stayed all week.
Jeff thanked Bob, Dan and Buck for their time and
effort. The general counsel for NAVHDA won the
package.

Calendar of Events: The draft 2009 calendar of events
was distributed by Lori Van Beek. Mark Van Beek
volunteered to chair the Spring Fun Shoot. Mark and
Buck volunteered to work the Clay County Youth Shoot.
Steve Buck would like to be the Test Secretary. Dan
Pforr volunteered to chair the Spring Test and Leigh
Holzer volunteered to chair the Fall Test.

Future Business:
 Banquet Fundraiser
 Annual Meeting in Portland, OR, January 23-24-
25 (Members attending could share the $500
Contribution for travel expenses.)
 Membership buy/sell raffle tickets (2 books
each) similar to fundraiser for Youth Hockey

Adjournment MOTION: Steve Buck moved, seconded
by Matt Olson, to adjourn the meeting, which motion
passed by unanimous vote.
Respectfully submitted by,
Lori Van Beek, Secretary