Be A Picky Eater

It seems like every day there is another recall of pet food or treats but did you know that it is okay to sell pet food with stuff in it that is not all that good for you.  My friend Eric, The Amazing Dog Training Man, showed me what to look for and what to look out for when choosing food.

Here are the ingredients on two different bags of dry dog food.  Which one would you choose?

Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, sugar, propylene glycol, meat and bone meal, tricalcium phosphate, phosphoric acid, salt, water, animal digest, sorbic acid (a preservative), potassium chloride, dried carrots, dried peas, calcium propionate (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine.

Or:

Whitefish, Herring Meal, Salmon Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Peas, Potatoes, Canola oil (preserved with Mixed Tocapherols) Pea fiber, Tomato Pomace, Natural Fish Flavor, Ground Flaxseed, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Kale, Broccoli, Spinach, Parsley, Apples, Blueberries,

Vitamins (E supplement, Beta Carotene, Nicacin, d-Calcium. Pantothenate, A supplement, Riboflavin, D3 supplement Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrae, Ascorbic Acid, Biotin, Folic Acid)

Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfte, Iron Proteinate, Ferrou Sulfate, copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Maganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate)

Choline Cloride, Mixed Tocopherols added to preserve freshness, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Chondroitin Sulfate, Taurine, Chicory Root Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation product, Rosemary extract.

I know, the second one has lots of weird sounding stuff in it, but the weird stuff is mostly vitamins, minerals and probiotics which are good for you.  The second one also has many more good for you foods like different fish and lots of veggies.  Corn, rice, soy, sugar and animal by-products will fill you up but they aren’t all that nutritious.  Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Blue 2 are actually pretty bad for you.

I think the best food to eat is raw but making raw food takes time and you need to make sure you are getting the right mix of good for you stuff.  Me, I’d love a whole chicken (raw) or a nice chunk of beef (raw) with a side of mashed sweet potato and carrots.  And for desert, I would love a big Frosty Paws!

Now I’ve done, it.  I am starving.  Think Dixie and I will see if Mom will give us a cookie.

Bone Appetite,

Your friend,

Zeva

P.S.  Blatant Self-promotion. My Own Cookie Tin Gift Basket.

Summer Safety Tips for Dogs

I was talking with my friends Bumo and Miu who live in India.  They are having the hottest summer in ten years.  The temperatures are reaching 118F and 120F.  That's super hot! They are lucky that they live in a house that has air conditioning.

It doesn't usually get that hot here in New England but it still gets hot enough to be dangerous for us dogs.  Everybody knows that dogs should not be left in a car at all in the summer because even if it is only 70F outside, it can get over 100F in the car very, very fast.  Leaving a window open doesn't help.

Dogs need to be able to get fresh water to drink all the time but it is even more important in the summer when we can get dehydrated.  Humans should bring along enough water to share with their dog when they go for a walk.  They have these really cute bowls that fold up or humans can just make a bowl with their hands to give their dog a drink.

We dogs like lots of exercise but it's best to exercise in the early morning or evenings when it is not too hot.  Running is fun but we get tired easily so walking is better.  Please remember that we don't wear shoes and that roads, sidewalks and sand are hot and can burn our paws.

We love to play in grass.  I especially love to roll and stretch in the cool grass so be sure not to go on grass that has been chemically treated until it is safe.

Summer time is buggy time.  Fleas, ticks and mosquitos are everywhere.  They are not only annoying, they are dangerous because they can spread serious sickness.  In New England we are especially careful of ticks that carry Lyme Disease and in the South, where my sister Dixie comes from, mosquitoes are filled with heartworm buggies.  There are shots and medicine and stuff to put on our coats to keep us from getting buggies.  Make sure you are protected.

Swimming is a good summer sport, so I'm told.  I don't particularly like swimming, which is shameful since I am part Lab.  Anyway, if your human takes you swimming, let them know if you don't like it and make sure you are a good swimmer before you go too deep.  You should never go swimming without having your human there because a big current could come along and make you drown.

The beach is a fun place but ocean water is very bad for dogs.  Dog should not drink ocean water cuz the salt and stuff can make them sick.  Also if you swim in the ocean water, get washed off when you come out cuz the salt and stuff can make your coat and skin bad.  Also watch out for that hot sand.

You may not know that dogs can get sunburned just like humans so don't stay in the sun for a long time.  There are sun screens available to help protect sensitive areas like our ears and noses.

Summer is a very fun time for dogs and their humans to play outdoors.  My sister, Dixie, and I love to wrestle outdoors in the summer time.   Let me know what your favorite thing is to do in the summer.

Have fun but remember to stay safe.

Your friend,

Zeva

P.S.  Shameless self promotion.  No matter what time of year it is, it's important to be well groomed.  That's why I created our Spot's SPA Gift Basket so every dog can be pampered pooch.

Two Dog House Redux

This might just work.  A while back I wrote that I was getting a sister.  I was kind of excited since I would have someone to play with all the time but then I would also have to share things like my toys and my Mom and Dad and I wasn’t so sure about that.

Well, Dixie, that’s her name, came to live with us a couple of days ago.  Mom and Dixie’s foster Mom were only a little concerned about introducing us at my house.  It’s way better to introduce strange dogs in an neutral place like a park but since Dixie was used to living with other dogs and I am very socialized, we met at my house.
 
Of course, Mom picked up my food bowl and toys but we barely noticed.  It didn’t take more than a couple of minutes of checking each other out that we started playing.  And playing, and playing.  I have had other dogs come to my house so I was a little surprised when her foster Mom and Dad left and she stayed.  I guess that’s what it means to have a sister, not just a friend. 

Mom kept my schedule pretty much the same.  I got to eat at the same time and we went to sleep at the same time.  Going to sleep the first night almost didn’t work.  Dixie couldn’t settle down so Mom finally brought her crate in the bedroom and Dixie went right to sleep.
 
The next night, she jumped on the bed with me and went right to sleep.  I am going to have to talk with her cuz she is a bed hog and she snores.  She wants to sleep on Mom’s feet and that is where I like to sleep.  I’ll just cuddle with Dad until she gets more used to us then I’ll get my space back.

I still get to eat at the same times but Dixie doesn’t know how to eat nice.  She gets way too excited, jumping up and down, and she eats way too fast.  Then, when she is done with her food, she tries to eat mine.  Mom says the people who owned her probably didn’t feed her nice so she is helping her to have better manners. Dixie gets fed in her crate so even when she finishes first, she can’t come and try to get my food and I can take my time and enjoy my food.

Mom makes sure we each have alone time with each human.  Yesterday Dad took me to dog-park while Mom took Dixie to see our Vet.  I also get to spend time by myself on the deck.  It’s my thinking time.

Enough work for now.  Time to get back to playing and then a little nap. 
Let me know what your experience has been with having a new dog come live with you.

Your friend,

Zeva

P.S.  Shameless self promotion… Our To The RescueDog Gift Basket

 

Help Me If you Can...Where Do You Bury Your Bones?

I need your help.  Where do you bury your bones?

Only a few more days and Dixie is coming to live with us.  If you follow my blog, you may remember, Dixie is a Ditch Dog (i.e. dog abandoned by the side of the road).  Mom’s friend found her and got her heartworm treatment and everything but she can’t keep her cuz there are already two rescues living in a very small house with two humans.  When Dad saw a picture of Dixie he said she could come and live with us. Okay, so she is “cute” but cute isn’t everything.  I’m cute ….

I guess it will be fun to have someone to talk to and play with all the time but I’m not sure I want to have another dog living in MY house with MY humans.  Mom says she will have her own dish and her own crate but I still will have to share my toys and we will all sleep in the big bed.  I’m wondering what else I will have to share with her.

When Mom bought dog food this week, she bought a GIANT bag and she bought two boxes of treats instead of one.  Still, what if Dixie eats all of my food and all of my treats.  What will I do?

I am a smart dog, and always want to be prepared so today, when Dad gave me treats for helping him work outside, I hid them all.  I hid one under the rain spout and the others all around the yard.  If Dixie eats all of my food and treats, I will at least have something to eat so I don’t starve.

We dogs have been burying bones for hundreds if not thousands of years because you never know when you will need food.  Treats are okay, but bones are the best. Our ancestors used to eat their fill and then bury what was left so they could eat it later when they didn’t have fresh food to eat.  Even back then they knew that bones were the best.  Bones have marrow in them and we know that marrow has good protein and fat and tastes awesome!  Mom and Dad are very good to me.  I get three meals a day and treats but still, I need to be prepared “just in case”.

I buried the treats outside but most of the time, I bury my treats inside the house.  My favorite places are in the corners of the couches.  I need to start burying all of my treats “just in case”.  I could use a few more hiding places.  Where are your favorite places to bury your treats?  I won’t tell anyone your secret hiding place if you don’t tell Dixie where I hide my stash.

Appreciate your help,

Your friend

Zeva

P.S. Blatant self-promotion.... Our Spoiled Rotten Dog Gift Basket... in case you know a spoiled rotten dog :)

My Friend Charles

I love dog park for a whole bunch of reasons. There are no cars in the park so I don’t have to be on leash which means I can run fast and far and Mom doesn’t worry. There are big hills to climb, woods with lots of trees to sniff and grassy fields to play in. There is a place where the little river comes up near the path and we dogs can jump in and swim or get a drink of cold water. I could be at dog park all by myself and have a fun time but the very best thing about dog park is that there are always lots of other dogs who go there too.

There are all kinds of dogs.  There are big dogs and small dogs, old dogs and puppies. Some dogs like to play tag, others like to carry sticks or chase tennis balls. When I go to dog park, I see some of the same dogs and we are now old friends. Even better than seeing old friends, every time I go, meet new friends. And you know you can never have enough friends.

One of my friends is named Charles. That’s Charles in the picture above. Charles goes to dog park almost every day with his mom and his sister Em. Charles and Em are both rescue dogs and have lived with their mom for a long time. He’s eleven years old and his back legs don’t work good any more but that doesn’t stop Charles. He gets around just fine with his special cart. He goes so fast some times that his mom has to make him slow down. He can go up and down the hills, run in the fields and even go in the water.

All the dogs like Charles cuz he is very friendly and happy.  Some times when we walk with Charles and his family, we meet people who ask about his cart.   Charles has a sickness that makes his back legs not move but his front legs work just fine.  His mom straps him into the cart so it keeps his whole back end up and his front legs make the wheels carry him around.  I am happy he has his cart because otherwise, I would not get to see him and play with him when I go to dog park.

Today is a beautiful day and Mom said we are going to dog park.  I hope I see Charles there and we can walk the paths and go to the river to get a cold drink.

Charles' Friend,

Zeva

P.S.  Shameless self promotion -  I think special dogs like Charles deserve special treats like our Dogs In Toy Land Gift Basket.  What do you think?

Superman and Batman Have Nothing On These Real Heroes!

Oh Boy! What a week!  I live with my Mom and Dad in Western Massachusetts, not in Boston, but lots of our human friends and family members are athletes and run in the Boston Marathon so when we heard about the bombs we were very scared.

Mom stayed at her computer, following Face Book and Twitter and Dad watched the TV news.  So much happened so fast.  Boston Police, Massachusetts State Police and so many other law enforcement agencies ran to Boston.  Not much was said on the news, but some of those who responded and who where there doing their jobs were Explosive Detector Dogs, otherwise known as Bomb Sniffing Dogs.

These dogs are my heroes. My human grandmother lives near a State Police Barracks where they have a K-9 agility course built by the members of a local Boy Scout Troop as the project for one of the Scouts to earn his Eagle Scout ranking.

Sometimes when Mom visits, I can watch the dogs run the course.  I would love to try but I know you need special training to do agility and even more to be a real Bomb Sniffing Dog.

Bomb Sniffing Dogs start their training like all of us dogs in Obedience Training.  They have to learn all the normal stuff like sit and stay.  The only difference is that they can be trained in different languages.  Where I learned to “sit”, “stay” and “come, a Bomb Sniffing Dog might learn to Sitzen Sie, bleiben Sie, kommen Sie or sente-se, permaneça, venha.

How cool is that?!  Bomb Sniffing Dogs speak several languages.

After regular Obedience Training, they get special training so they can focus under distraction.  These dogs have to work in big crowds, where there are lots of noises and smells and they even have to work when there is gun fire.  I have trouble focusing when I see a bird or a squirrel.

Bomb Searching Dogs learn how to sniff out all kinds of scents like dynamite, plastic explosives, TNT, detonation cords, ammonium nitrate and a whole bunch more nasty stuff that can be used to make bombs.

They learn how to search buildings as well as cars and packages.  The different types of searches required different types of training.

I think the Bomb Sniffing Dogs that patrolled the race route before the race and those who went back in after the explosions, when there was a real danger of more bombs, were very brave, as were their human partners.  I read that four dogs from Rhode Island came to help the Massachusetts dogs.

This was a very bad thing that happened and it was wonderful that so many humans, including non law enforcement humans, helped in so many ways.  I am especially proud that some of those who helped were canine.  Dogs Rule!

Zeva

P.S.  Shameless self promotion.  If anyone deserves one of our To The Rescue Gift Basket, it's a dog who is on the job.

Two Dog House

I said in my last blog that I was getting a sister but I had to wait until she got her heartworms treated and she wasn’t sick anymore.  Well, she got all of her shots and she is now resting so she can come and live with us soon. 

Here is a picture of her.  She is kind of cute, but I am still cuter.

Bringing a new dog into our house is a big deal.  We never met Dixie, that’s what Mom named her, but we are pretty sure she will fit right in.  First of all, I am a very friendly dog.  I haven’t met a dog I didn’t like (except for that one dog at dog park and he started it), anyway, I get along with all the dogs at day care and when other dogs come to my house or I go to their houses, we get along fine. I don’t mind sharing my toys either.  Dixie is living with two other dogs now and she is happy and friendly.  She knew right away that she wasn’t the Big Sister in that house so I’m sure she’ll know that I’m the Big Sister here and we’ll get along fine.

 I’m looking forward to having someone to play with all the time.  I’ve mentioned before that humans are okay to play with but they get tired fast and they don’t run very good.  Mom thought Dixie would be a good second dog because she is close to my age and size and has an easy going temperament.  She also has a high energy level like me.  Mom likes that because we can tire each other out.  Everyone knows a tired dog is a good dog.   

Mom is getting our house ready for her.  We’re both going to have our own food and water dishes and our own crates so we can have a place to go that is all our own or when Mom and Dad both have to leave us alone.  If we are in our own crates we can’t get into any trouble.

Getting a second dog is a big step and we are doing everything we can to make sure it is not stressful for Dixie or me (or Mom and Dad).  I can’t wait to show her all my tricks like what is the best way to beg for cookies and how to play inside the door/outside the door.  It is going to be so fun.

If you live in a two dog house (or more) let me know.  Tell me what you did to make it a nice place for everyone to live.

Your friend (and almost a Big Sister),

Zeva

P.S. Shameless self promotion - I think I'll get her one of our My Own Dog Cookie Tin Gift Baskets so I don't have to share my cookies with her...