Diet. Did you know that some dogs have certain food allergies? Or that they can have certain sensitivities that can cause them to itch. When your dog starts to itch this creates dander, if you start to notice constant scratching, licking of the paws, chewing or flaky skin you should take them in to your vet right away to see if diet is the cause. It is amazing how quickly your dog’s coat can change from simply changing their food.
Brushing. Rule of thumb for brushing your dog is to try and do it every day! This helps loosen and reduce dander. To avoid spreading the dander throughout your house you should try and brush your dog outside! If you prefer or your dog will let you, you can purchase a pet vacuum to suck up the loose hair.
Bathing. Giving your dog a bath weekly is fine! If you are bathing this often you should be using a high quality shampoo (oatmeal works the best) so that your dog’s skin does not dry out. Bathing them also helps eliminate dander and helps loosen their hair. When your dog is shedding you can bathe them more often during this time (just make sure you are using a VERY good moisturizer) to help get rid of the hair and dander.
Keep it short. If you don’t have a lot of time to groom your pet regularly or you have allergies, try trimming your long haired dogs. This will help prevent the hair from attaching to other hair (we don’t want it just hanging around). Short haired dogs you can try damping a cloth and wiping them down occasionally to help keep that dander in its place and not tracking everywhere in your home.
Supplements. You can by certain supplements for your pet that can help minimize dander and soften your dog’s coat. Lack of enough fatty acids can cause your dog to have dry skin. Try adding Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids such as fish or coconut oil to your dog’s diet, this can help make your dog’s skin healthier so it don’t flake as much.
We all love our furry friend’s but some of us have allergies that we need to maintain, while also maintaining our pet’s health. I hope that these tricks of the trade can help both you and your little friend out!
** OPEN HOUSE SUN OCT 02 12-2PM ** Why wait to build when you can have it all right here! The location absolutely can not be beat, located on a quiet cul de sac with awesome neighbours! This spacious 2100 square foot family home is backing onto large green space with gate leading to the park. You will love the views while sitting on your deck of both the lake and the park, it doesn't get better than this! The main floor has a large open entrance that leads to the formal dining room with hardwood floors. The hardwood floors continue into the bright great room with built in entertainment centre with gas fireplace with large windows overlooking the back yard. The open kitchen has a separate eating area, island, corner pantry and stainless steel appliances that stay. Garden door leads to the deck where you can BBQ while watching the kids play in the park. The main floor also features a 2pce powder room and mud room/laundry room off of the garage with laundry sink.
The upstairs has 3 good sized bedrooms plus a loft which could be converted into a bedroom if need be, but makes a great place for kids toys as a loft. The master bedroom has double doors, walk in closet and 4 piece ensuite with corner tub & shower.
Bonus is that the basement is already done with a 4th bathroom, 4th bedroom and large rec room and games room with a ton of extra storage. The double attached garage is insulated and boarded and has a double concrete drive and walkway.
Central air, central vac, window coverings, garage door opener and all appliances stay with the home.
Know what you want the finished product to look like. It’s always best to have some kind of idea what you want it to look like after you are done refinishing it! A good tip (especially if you bought this piece of furniture second hand) is to make sure that you match it to the rest of your home’s décor. Whether it is wood and you are re staining it or painting it, make sure you go through the proper steps, you don’t want to just throw some stain or paint on without sanding it first, this will help so it doesn’t chip or crack easily!
Make sure your piece of furniture is clean. A lot of older pieces of furniture are unfortunately neglected, so the dirt and grime starts to build up rapidly. If you don’t give it some good elbow grease before starting your restoration project, then most of the time your paint/stain will just end of peeling off. Plus it’s always nice to clean something to your own cleanliness standards anyways! This way it’s a win for the furniture and you!
Make all necessary repairs. You make luck out in finding an old piece of furniture in pretty good condition therefore you will not need to worry about doing this! If you aren’t that lucky however you will want to replace any loose nuts/bolts, table/chair legs, knobs or anything else that needs to be fixed. This step can be done before or after you have done any kind of cosmetic adjustment. My advice is to replace/add anything AFTER you are done painting/staining. I recommend this because then you don’t have to tape anything off and you don’t have to be as careful, so it can make your project go a lot quicker!
Pick up a How-To-Guide book. For a lot of us who have never done any kind of furniture restoration before, it’s probably a good idea to pick one of these guides up, so that if you need a quick question answered you can have it on hand. You can find these books at your local library, book store or maybe even your supermarket. YouTube is also a great place to look for step-by-step guide for any project that you may have on the go or would like to start. There all are types of videos on there for almost anything, and you can follow along easily and at your own pace!
Here are just a FEW suggestions on the types of tools you will most likely need/use. Sand paper, and I would get both the rough type (80 to 120 grit) and the finer type (300 to 600 grit). Get a couple different putty knives, plastic and metal, hammer, screwdriver, rubber mallet for wood, wood putty, wood glue, measuring tape, gloves, face mask, and a few different sized of paint brushes!
Hope this helps and you create something beautiful!
First decide what your interests are. First you must know whether this vacation is a family one or a “just the two of us” kind of trip. If you are planning to bring the children along, you might want to go somewhere that has a beach, theme parks or maybe even some camping. If you are into things like history or architecture places like Paris, Italy or Rome would be an excellent choice. If you are into adrenaline or adventure try looking for places that offer activities like zip-lining, skydiving, river rafting or mountain climbing!
Make sure you have a budget before traveling. The best thing to do always before planning a vacation is looking at your finances, things like airfare, hotels, transportation, food and activities. A lot of the time the more costly part of the trip is just getting there because they are remote locations. Once you arrive they are relatively cheap usually due to their economy. Things do tend to add up quickly so in my experience set out a budget but try and put a little extra aside just to be on the safe side!
Make sure that it is the RIGHT time to travel. Check things like, monsoon season, blizzards, rain or even heat if you’re not use to severely hot weather. Sometimes even going on an off season can be beneficial, you deal with fewer crowds and the pricing can sometimes be less expensive. A few things to remember when picking the right time to travel is to research first the weather, local festivities, and customs of your travel destination.
Foreign languages. Decide first how comfortable you are with speaking or listening to foreign languages. When traveling it sometimes can be challenging going to a place that doesn’t speak or know or spoken language. If you get lost and need directions, or need to find a specific attraction or shop. This can become stressful at times and vacationing should be anything but that. If you aren’t so comfortable with this, then do some research on places where you can go that this won’t be an issue/stress.
Safety/Medical. Center for Disease Control (CDC) web site. Search your travel destination to see what medications and vaccinations are recommended, if any. Some vaccinations require doses spaced out over the period of several months, so make sure when you choose your destination you look this up beforehand so this doesn’t create a problem with scheduling.
Everyone loves to travel and take time off! So here are just a few helpful tips to get you leaving on that jet plane a little faster and easier! Happy Vacationing Everyone!
Try Not To Change Your Mind. Everyone will change their minds at some point during a home remodeling project but, every time you change your mind about something it will result in either a change in cost, time or order. Also remember that whoever you have working on the job needs to be informed of any changes so this doesn’t result in contractors working on an old project plan! It’s ok to make a change everyone does during the process, but just be cautious of all the disruptions it can potentially cause!
Try Not To Delay Decisions. The best thing to do before starting your project is to make all your decisions before the job is scheduled to begin. Once you pick out/order things like paint, trim or faucets and make all the necessary appointments for painters, plumbers/contractors and then after decide to go with something else you then have to reschedule everyone for a different date/time which can be tricky if workers are busy or booked up. This can cause a potential long delay in your project! So it’s best to have everything ordered and picked out before the home remodeling is set to begin, no one likes to be set back or wait to start something.
Take Kids & Pets Out Of The Home. Of course any contractor will try and accommodate your family, but in a sense they shouldn’t have to. If you want your project done swiftly, safely and accurately then you should try and make arrangements for the house to be empty while the project is in effect. Also let’s face it, it is never safe to have children or pets around when there is any type of construction going on, especially if it’s a big project with multiple contractors in and out.
Try Not To Be A Distraction. This may sound a little abrasive but every time a contractor is having a conversation with you it takes away from the time they could be working on your home (which is what you are paying them for!) Think of it this way, if the conversation has no merit to your project then it’s best to have it after to job it completed.
Always Over Budget. It is best to always have a little more then you have budgeted for when starting on a remodeling project! Almost all of the time things never cost less or equal to what you have had set out in terms of cost. This is why we go back to “Always make your decisions beforehand” because it can save not only time but money as well. If you have things picked out and already ordered then you know there will be no surprises during the remodel.
Remodeling can be a very stressful time in one’s life, so I hope these few little tips can save you some troubles so you can sit back and just look forward to how great your home will look after it’s completed!