As the proud parent of a pooch, you know how important your beloved dog is to you and your family. Much more than a mere pet, your fur baby is a cherished and valued member of your household and you would do anything to keep them healthy and happy.

One of the best things you can do for the physical and emotional health of your pup is make sure they are getting enough regular exercise. As a major bonus, putting on your walking shoes and joining Fido for brisk walks around the neighborhood is also great for your fitness levels.

Now, thanks to some pretty nifty technology, there are more ways than ever to help your precious pet get the exercise they need and deserve. In many cases, these devices will inspire you to get moving too. Check out these canine-friendly exercise gadgets:

FitBark

If you have a fitness tracker, you already know the value of keeping tabs on your daily steps and workouts. Thanks to the FitBark, your dog can have their own fitness tracker device that will help you to keep them as healthy as possible. By seeing how much exercise your pooch is getting in a given day, the FitBark will help keep your pup as healthy as possible, and hopefully also lower your vet bills. In order to keep tabs on your dog and help you both reach daily fitness goals and monitor progress, you can get the FitBark app that will work on your smartphone; for example, the iPhone 6s can easily support the app.

Pet Cube

One of the hardest things about being a pet parent is that you often have to leave your dog behind to go to work. Unfortunately, some dogs keep themselves busy while you are gone with destructive habits like getting into the trash or chewing on the edge of the rug. To check in with your pup during the day and encourage them to exercise, invest in a Pet Cube. This handy device, which costs $199, lets you interact with your dog through its accompanying app; you can even play games with them by using a laser pointer. If you see your dog getting into something they shouldn’t, you can gently scold them from your work desk and then reassure them that you’ll be home soon.

Doggy Treadmill

On days when it’s too hot, cold or rainy to go out for a walk with your four-legged friend, you might still get your workout in on your home treadmill. Now, thanks to an innovative new doggy treadmill called DogTread, your pooch can also get his much-needed exercise. The DogTread is a fully functioning treadmill that comes in three sizes: small, medium and large. This way, whether you have a pint-sized Pomeranian or big Bernese Mountain Dog or something in between, everyone can enjoy an indoor walk. Set up your dog’s treadmill right by yours—you might be surprised at how quickly your pup learns to use it.

Automatic Ball Launcher

In a perfect world, you will exercise with your dog as often as possible. But some days, you might be too tired, battling a bad head cold or recovering from a sprained ankle. Or, if you have a dog who is obsessed with tennis balls, you may need a break from tossing a soggy ball for 20 minutes. In all of these cases, an automatic ball launcher is exactly the gadget you and your pooch need. The PetSafe Automatic Launcher from Amazon costs around $150 and can launch a ball between 8 and 30 feet—its nine distance and six angle settings allow you to safely set it up inside your home.

Image by Brensmithrex via Flickr

If you or your loved one is suffering from drug or alcohol addiction, seeking the help of professionals in rehab centres is the best option to combat it. People attending rehabs are more common than you may think so there’s nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, in America alone, millions of people come in and out of rehab centre doors in hopes of combating their addiction. It’s important to realize however, a large proportion do have relapses.

There’s no hiding the fact that rehab is extremely difficult and doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, relapses are almost expected. It’s also clear to see however that some rehab facilities do much better than others in their success rates. If you want a successful outcome, you’ll surely want to go to such rehabs. But, what is it that makes these centres so good and how can you spot them? This is what we will discuss in this article.

It’s good to note, even if you or your loved one went abroad on a long holiday or have emigrated, there are still plenty of great centres. For example, if you’re in S.E Asia, there’s a trusted alcohol rehab in Thailand like Addiction Rehab Center.

Here are some indicators of what to look for in a successful rehab centre so you or your loved one can get the best treatment possible.

1. The centre will not rely on other addictive drugs.

Often in treatment, programs will use pharmaceutical variations such as Valium/Xanax to help fight the cravings. Doing so will also help certain symptoms the recovering addict experiences. However, the downside of using this method is that the person may become addicted to the medications.

More successful programs seem to focus on increasing someone’s health first through more natural processes. These may include a healthier diet with more vitamins and minerals plus a healthy exercise regime.

2. The centre will have good support structures in place.

Support during the cleansing phase is paramount to the overall success of the rehabilitation. Every single day is a mental battle that can become very tiring for the person in recover. Severe cravings will attack sometimes even daily. This is when counselling sessions, group meetings or talking to a therapist will really come in handy. To have these sessions on hand when intense cravings strike is important to making sure someone comes through the other side.

3. More holistic approaches 

The recovery process involves more than just getting someone off the substance. It includes emotional, psychological and physical changes too. As discussed above, therapy sessions can really help on an emotional level. When it comes to psychical, having a decent nutrition program can really help alleviate cravings.

The nutritional component will help rebuild the health and any intestinal/liver problems. It looks at things from the level of nutrient deficiencies that drugs and alcohol deprive the body of. Deficiencies can create a number of issues from insomnia to depression so nutrition can make a big difference.

The Addiction Rehab Center features an effective 12 step alcohol rehab program that can help combat alcoholic addictions from a fundamental level. It may be hard to tell if a rehab centre is good though especially when you are searching online, it’s best to give them a visit so you can also see their facilities yourself.

It’s clear to see that truly successful rehab centres look at the bigger picture. Bringing in elements that attack the problem from all angles is what you or your loved one need to really make progress.

Do you have other things on mind? Let us know in the comments!

The changing world has somehow caused family relationships to suffer, what’s with the technology and work taking the bulk of our time away from meaningful interactions and even just being together in a single room. Don’t worry, there are many families out there with the same issue. Here’s how to be able to forge a stronger family relationship at home.

Communication. Perhaps the most important tip here, something most modern families lack. Communication plays a crucial role in strengthening a family’s bond. Every lunch or dinner is a chance to talk over what transpired ruing the day.

Set a family movie night every weekend or go on a trip together locally (or internationally) from time to time. If everyone in the family feel included in family matters, and that you care what’s happening to them, they’re more likely to open about their problem and become closer to you and other family members.

Balance your work and home life. It’s hard to balance work and home life, but even little changes can make quite a difference to your relationship with our family. Creating a balance between work and home, focusing to work in a way that fits around your family commitments and not wasting all your time outside will make you feel more in control over your life. If possible, plan a monthly vacation with your family and have fun together. Your family will be happy to see more of you, and you’ll have a life away from home as well.

Look after yourself. Sometimes, parents spend most of our time looking after everyone else in the family and tend to forget ourselves. If you fail to look after yourself, you can end up feeling resentful and miserable, and you won’t be able to provide your children the support they sought. You have feelings and needs that are strictly your own, so treat yourself once in a while. It doesn’t have to be extravagant – but putting aside an alone time to do what you want to do, even if it’s only a couple of minutes a day – is vital.

Discipline. Instead of thinking of discipline as a punishment, it should be used to teach children how to meet their wants or needs without having to offend or hurt anyone. While you may be upset, it can help to remain calm and teach your kid/s how to handle the situation differently, and how he/she can do better next time.

Prepare for the future. Having a family means taking care not only for the present, but also for the future. So how do you ensure your children’s future when you’re gone? How can you have the peace of mind for the future of your spouse, children and close relatives? The answer is through a will.

Creating a will now will ensure that everyone left behind won’t have any issue with the assets you’ll leave behind. If anyone is left out of a will, challenge a will nsw will be able to provide resolution for them in case of dispute.

There you have it, I’m sure doing any of the tips above will benefit your family relationship and hopefully, forge a stronger tie. Know any other tips for families out there? Share it with us below!

Let’s face it: you couldn’t survive without your morning coffee, right?

Well, there may be one more reason to love it. Your eyes. New research shows that coffee may have multiple protective effects for your eyes. It’s been associated with a multitude of health benefits. Medical News Today reports that drinking coffee might reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. But, what’s more exciting for those of us who wear glasses is that drinking a cup or more per day may help protect against deteriorating eyesight.

 It can even protect against blindness.

Researchers from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY showed that coffee has multiple protective effects for the eyes. Raw coffee beans contain between 7 and 9 percent of a substance called CGA or chlorogenic acid.

This is a potent antioxidant, and has been associated with numerous health benefits, like weight loss and blood pressure reduction.

And, while past studies have shown that CGA is a powerful neuroprotectant, there’s been a lot of interest in identifying protective compounds in coffee that will block hypoxia or oxygen deprivation.

A Cup Of Coffee A Day Keeps The Doctors Away

Researchers found that coffee extract and the substance known as CGA protects mice against retinal degeneration. The retina is a thin layer of cells at the back of the eye. It’s made up of light-sensitive cells, sort of like a sensor on a camera. It also contains nerve cells. These cells are responsible for receiving an organizing all of the visual information our eyes take in.

However, they’re also susceptible to oxygen deprivation. And, since the retina is one of the most metabolically active tissues in the body, it needs lots and lots of oxygen. And, when it doesn’t get the oxygen it needs, problems like macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma are all more likely.

The researchers found that both the CGA and coffee extract reduced RGC death by preventing the down-regulation of Thy-1, which is a cell surface protein.

This study is one of the first that shows that CGA is responsible for the reduction of RCG apoptosis (cell death) that’s induced by hypoxia. This is how the researchers came to the conclusion that drinking coffee may be beneficial. If it works in mice, it may also work in human beings.

Of course, for visual acuity problems, like nearsightedness, you need surgery, corrective lenses, or a combination of both. You can read this to get a better idea of the procedures available in the UK and how they work, as well as what they cost.

Various procedures, like LASIK, correct vision problems by reshaping the cornea of the eye so that light bending at the cornea is refocused at the back of the retina. For most people, this will solve the visual acuity problem.

However, keeping the eye healthy overall is still important, which is why this research is so amazing. For the first time, there is evidence that something widely available and consumed by so many people, may be helping people. So, if you’re a coffee drinker, you may have been improving the health of your eye without even knowing it.

Melissa Berry works as a medical receptionist. A people person, she also enjoys writing; her articles usually focusing on an aspect of her work in one way or another.