Spring is here!

The solstice officially arrives today, March 20th, which means it is spring time! The coming of spring means warm weather, sunny skies and more chances to be outdoors! So, what makes the spring, spring? The spring marks what is called the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere, in the southern hemisphere it is the autumnal equinox (the fall). The Sun crosses the celestial equator – the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator – from south to north. This happens on March 19, 20 or 21 every year. Why is it called the equinox? The term equinox is derived from Medieval Latin “equinoxium” meaning equality of day and night. On the equinox the earth is tilted at the exact same angle in which the sun’s rays are received and therefore the sun is directly overhead and the day and night are split evenly, or at least extremely close to it.

 

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So, what does this mean for our furry and feathered friends? Springtime has long been associated with rabbits and their fertility which is why a rabbit is associated with Easter. So, for rabbits spring is the best breeding time. Rabbits also molt year round, but during the fall and spring is when they shed the most. Another thing to keep in mind during this transitional season is the volatility of the weather. As a general rule temperatures begin to heat up, but that also comes with thunderstorms and rain. The days tend to be warmer but the nights generally remain cool, so be aware of your rabbit’s environment and keep the flow of hay into your rabbit hutches steady. Hay is an essential part of a rabbit’s diet, digestion and overall health and well being. Playing with your rabbit is also important and the colder temperatures may have prevented some of it. Let your rabbit out of it’s hutch for a while to roam around the yard or the living room. Be sure to interact and play, but if you are going to let them play indoors, be sure to rabbit proof your home!

 

 

And of course Advantek is here for your rabbit care needs, so if you are in the market for a new hutch, cage, or feeder, click here to see what we have to offer.

Stay tuned here we will have more helpful tips for you and your pets. Coming up next: Your Chickens in the Spring!Gloria

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St. Patrick’s Day!

St. Patrick’s Day is here and if you are anything like us you are going to want to enjoy that festive spirit with your pets. So, while you are getting prepared to celebrate with your human or furry friends, here is a little bit of background on the holiday.

The first thing that probably comes to mind in regards to the holiday is wearing green. Wearing green might seem like kind of an obvious nod to those who live or descend from the Emerald Isle, but it has more to do with “the wearing of the green” which is in direct reference to the shamrock. The reason for the shamrock’s importance is St. Patrick, the namesake of the holiday and according to legend, the bringer of Christianity to the island, used the shamrock to explain the holy trinity to the Irish pagans. Over the years the wearing of the green evolved from specifically shamrocks to as much green as possible. The evolution of green’s ubiquity isn’t exactly known, it could be in part thanks to the legend that a leprechaun (but more likely an overly zealous friend or co-worker) will pinch you if you don’t participate. To help your pet get into the spirit and avoid being pinched by a Leprechaun (or you), run down to your local pet store and pick up a little shamrock top hat or green bandana. Be sure to snap a photo as proof because your pet may become warm under too much clothing or elastic bands and may not want to play along as long as you hoped.

Now that your outfit is sorted let’s get to the second most obvious thing that comes to mind when St. Patrick’s day is brought up; green beer, or drinking a lot in general. Green beer is a simple extension of the previously mentioned green ubiquity in the modern day celebration. In line with the modern day celebration of St. Patrick’s day, in an effort to celebrate the Irish people, drinking has become very prominent. In reality, as of 2014, Ireland is not in the top ten in either the most alcohol consumed per capita or by volume, so while throwing back a couple of pints of Guinness to honor and celebrate the Irish, let’s try and make sure we steer clear of stereotype territory. In fact you couldn’t get a drink in Ireland on St. Patrick’s day until the 1970’s. In 1903 when it first became an official holiday in Ireland it was included in what is known as Holy Week and was therefore observed as a solemn and holy obligation where pubs were officially closed rather than a celebration of their culture via pints of their favorite ale. But because things change this is no longer the case and most of Ireland celebrates the day in a similar fashion as Americans do, though the drinking is generally preceded by large feast. So, if you and your pet decide to throw one back in honor of the Emerald Isle please make sure your pet’s drink is non-alcoholic, but it can be green, as most food dyes fit for humans are also fine for animal consumption.

Please have a safe and happy holiday. Remember, most of us probably have work tomorrow. Just in case, you might want to save a local taxi service’s number in your phone, or be sure to have Uber or Lyft, already set up.

For some further reading and some of the sources I used check out the links below:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0312_040312_stpatrick.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-e-royal-dvm/post_9177_b_6861754.html
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/msb_gsr_2014_3.pdf

Sláinte!

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Global Pet Expo 2015 Recap

The 2015 Global Pet Expo has come and gone.  As usual, we got the chance to meet some some amazing people and companies. A couple notable guests to the show that we were able to meet were Paula Deen at the booth of her new pet food partner Hugs Pet Products and Jackson Galaxy at the Petmate booth.

We especially want to thank All Points Marketing for representing us so professionally, and facilitating so many great meetings.

As for the highlights of the show in regards to Advantek; we debuted a few new items including an introduction to the Nantucket Line of GoneGreen dog houses, and chicken and rabbit hutches. This is all the info about the new line we can divulge for the moment, but keep checking back here for further updates. Advantek also unveiled a two new marketing initiatives; we officially debuted our brand new item catalog giving retailers, dealers, distributors and wholesalers an easy way to become familiar with the ADVANTEK brand. We also showed our first batch of GoneGreen retail signage displaying all of the products in an effort to help smaller retail stores display more items without using extra floor space. If you are a retailer interested in this program feel free to contact us using the button at the top of the page or write to [email protected], to be considered for our test program.

 

We have already begun to plan for the National Hardware Show, May 5 – 7, 2015 in Las Vegas.

Stay Tuned for upcoming events! And remember to follow us:

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