BowWow, we have a lot of news! It'll be ruff trying to fit it all in here. So, I'll keep it to the highlights that took place this hindquarter. So, let's chew on the coolest news for now.

Well, as with any holiday letter, I'll start off by talking about who in the family was sick this year. Unfortunately, it was me! A few months ago, I was horsing around with a pal and knocked over a chair. The chair fell on me. I could not put any weight on my ankle, so the ABC vet checked me out and concluded that I most likely had OCD (not what you think) of the hock and did not necessarily break my ankle. OCD is very common in young rotti studs, like myself. Well, my owners consulted an orthopaedic specialist and doggoneit, I needed immediate surgery. The doc took out a large piece of bone that had become detached. And you know, I had the strangest desire to gnaw on it! Anyway, I immediately stopped limping, fought off that 70s collar they tried to put on me, and chewed off my bandages in record time! I am happy to report that life is back to the cat's meow. No new pups or obedience class graduations to bark about, so that is about it for my holiday letter this year. Be sure to see if you can see my battle scars on our marketing literature and new product labels or on the pictures of me on our website.

Well, the cat's out of the bag. We listened to our customer feedback and your squawking for long enough and decided to expand the flavor choices for our hydration formula product line. Using our over 30 years of experience in manufacturing and testing animal drug products, we are in the latter stages of developing a highly palatable Cool Dog liver flavor as well as a Cool Catquencher salmon flavor hydration formula. We expect both of these products to be on the shelves by this coming February. Want to lead the herd and reserve your bottles now? Then, order your product online using the coupon code specified at the bottom of this newsletter. Not only will you get your product before anybody else at the stores, but you will also get 2 bottles for the price of 1! Be sure to keep up to date with the status of these new hydration formulas and our completely new lines of healthy and tasty pet nutritional supplements and dry feed flavor enhancers currently in development, by contacting us directly or visiting the latest news section of our frequently updated website. Remember, you can always avoid shipping costs by buying directly from 1 of the top notch retail establishments carrying our products. Check out our retail locations for a location nearest to you.

ABC kicked off the winter months by attending the Florida Equestrian Celebration event in Jacksonville, FL. ABC's products were showcased at this event which has quickly become 1 of the mane equestrian events in the southeast. In addition, we were able to show off our new in-store product display. Several distributors and retail store owners in attendance said that our new product display was the cat's meow and looked forward to taking on our product line!

Be sure to check out additional company news on a regular basis by visiting our website, www.yourcool pet.com.

This hindquarter, we have a truly amazing Cool Pet to tell you about.

I have have been itchin' to tell you all about Sam-I-Am, our featured Cool Pet in this edition of Mike's HindQuarterly Newsletter! I recently interviewed Sam-I-Am Haines, a golden retriever from Tampa, FL. Sam-I-Am has been trotting around the country solo for over 2 years after a hurricane blew down the fence at his Florida home. "I was in the yard sleeping and having this strange recurring dream where I am crying and running free as a bird when this big bang woke me up. Then, I noticed that the fence in my yard was suddenly gone. I was like totally free to go and do what I want when I wanted. So, I decided to chase that dream to figure out what it really meant." Sam-I-Am ran free for over 2 years until he decided to stop running....over 1200 miles away in Illinois! Sam checked himself into the McHenry County Animal Shelter. Initially, the typical language barrier with the humans was extremely frustrating and nearly caused Sam-I-Am to get another hot-spot over the situation. However, with the help of the McHenry County veterinarians and Sam-I-Am's implanted chip, his owners were contacted and Sam-I-Am was reunited with his family after his 2 year journey.

So, I knew that this was the purrrrrfect opportunity to ask Sam-I-Am some burning questions that all of us pets have regarding his tour beyond the fence. First, did he find out the meaning of that recurring dream we all have? "I met a wise old border collie under an overpass in South Carolina. He told me that it is all about the squirrels. "The chatter and stare down they give you from the tree branch after you try to chase them down in the yard is an old hypnosis trick. Once you catch that first squirrel, it is no longer effective and you will sleep dream free from there on after." Bow Wow! That's great information to gnaw on. My second question related to why he stayed away for so long. "Simple, I got lost. I would have come back home much sooner, but I miscalculated my "marking solution reservoir". I lifted my leg way too many times while traversing through the Carolinas and got lost somewhere in Virginia. Next thing I knew, I was following signs to the Windy City. My lesson to all of the pets out there is that when traveling with or without your owners, be sure to pack a supply of Cool Pet Hydration Formulas, so that you stay thoroughly hydrated in case you need to leave a longer "trail of bread crumbs" than usual!"

Click here to submit a story about a Cool Pet you know or have heard about in the news!

Herpes Spreading Horses

Equine Herpesvirus - type 1 (EHV-1) is a serious equine disease that is spread through the air from the respiratory tract of infected horses as well as through contact with contaminated equipment, clothing, and even human hands. EHV-1 has recently been making the headlines in the equine community due to significant outbreaks in the last month. ABC has consulted its equine specialists for some advice to share with our equine friends and their owners relating to good feeding practices used to prevent and deal with EHV-1.

During this outbreak, ABC recommends that the following practices (at a minimum) related to feeding be employed by equine owners and handlers to prevent possible spread of this virus:

• Limit Personnel Allowed to Handle the Feeds of Your Horses
• Personnel Handling the Feed/Feeding the Horses Use Disinfecting Foot Baths and Hand Washes When Entering or Exiting the Stable
• Disinfectant Hand Washes Used Before and After Feeding Individual Horses and Individual Feeders
• Do Not Share Feeders/Buckets/Scoops Between Horses
• Label Individual Feeders/Buckets/Scoops with the Horse's Name
• Disinfect Feeders/Buckets/Scoops Before and After Uses
• Do Not Let Hoses Touch The Ground or Touch the Buckets/Feeders/Scoops
• Do Not Share Multidose Medications Between Horses
• Keep Horses Thoroughly Hydrated at All Times

In order to keep your horses thoroughly hydrated, make sure that the water source is clean and pure and that the horse continues to drink the water. How can you do that? 1 way is to offer the horse ABC's highly palatable liquid hydration formula, Cool Horse (www.yourcool horse.com). Cool Horse use human pharmaceutical quality water (i.e. USP grade) water, so its quality is unparalleled. In addition, horse's crave the peppermint taste, so they keep on coming back for more.

As with any serious medical condition, a board certified veterinarian should be consulted when addressing the needs of any sick pet.