Confessions of a Cookie Monster

I confess.  I love cookies.  I love carrots, potato chips, Triscuits, -…. who am I kidding, I love food. Dog food, human food, I’d even eat bird food if I could just reach the feeder.  You can’t open the refrigerator or pantry door in our house without my help.  Mom had to put a baby lock on the cabinet where we keep the kibble because I figured out how to open it.

My excuse… I’m part lab and labs love to eat.  I never really got to eat much human food cuz Mom said I needed to eat nutritious and well balanced food.  She only buys “the good stuff” for me and DixieLee.  She reads the labels to make sure the ingredients haven’t change and we are getting food, not fillers.

So you can see why I was shocked when I had my physical this summer and the vet man said I was FAT!  Well, he said it nicer than that but he made it clear that I needed to drop a few pounds.  I wrote about that horrific experience in my August blog.  We told him we only eat good food and only what the package says.  He told us that dog food sellers are in the business of selling dog food so the more we eat the more we have to buy.  Light bulb!  He said we should cut my portions in half.

OMG!!! I thought I was going to die.   I was hungry all the time as it was I was surly going to starve to death now.  Fast forward six month…. I have managed to lose 13 pounds!  I look marvelous if I do say so myself.   What’s even better than that is that I feel marvelous.  I didn’t realize it but when I was heavier, I didn’t like to play so much.  Running wasn’t fun.  DixieLee would run up and down the stairs or around our pen all day long.  I would rather have stayed on the deck and watched.  Now she’s in big trouble cuz I can run just as fast as her and I win lots of our fighting games.

How did I do it?  It wasn’t easy.  I found out that cutting my portions in half wasn’t so bad.  I still got treats but we got more slices of carrots and sweet potatoes and fewer cookies.  We also started eating coconut oil and boy, is that delicious!  We had to be careful because coconut oil is fat but it’s one of those super foods packed with all kinds of good for you stuff.

As much as I hate to admit it, losing weight was a really good thing to do.  Like Mom says, it’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle choice.  We choose to eat healthy and I hope you do too.

Your healthy friend,

Zeva

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Put The Lime In The Coconut

 

I don’t know about the lime but I LOVE the coconut.  Actually it’s coconut oil that I love.  It tastes yummy and it is really good for you.

We started eating coconut oil this fall when I got a case of the itchies.  Some of my friends suggested Mom give me coconut oil and sure enough, the itchies went away.   Not only that, my fur got fluffier and shinier and even though DixieLee didn’t have the itchies, she has to get all the treats I get so she was getting coconut oil too and her coat got really shiny.

Coconuts are very nutritious (that means they got lots of good stuff in them).  You do have to be a little careful because coconut oil is fat and since I am watching my weight, I just get a teaspoon a day. If you want to start taking coconut oil, you need to start adding a little at a time so your tummy gets used to it.

Coconut oil does more than just make itchies go away and make coats shiny.  It can help digestion, stop infections and helps keep you healthy.  Did I mention that it tastes yummy?  It’s so yummy that if you mix coconut oil in their food picky eaters (if there is such a dog) stop being picky.

There are lots of different coconut oil brands out there so you need to make sure you are getting one of the good ones.   The best kinds are all these things: organic, virgin, unrefined and cold pressed.  The most important words to look for are unrefined and cold pressed.

Oh yeah, coconut oil is also really good for humans.  It keeps them from getting itchies on their skin, makes their hair shiny and keeps them healthy too.

If you already take coconut oil, you know how good it is so let’s spread the word so all dogs can get a yummy nutritious food, be itchies free, have shiny coats and be healthy

Thanks,

Zeva

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Too Many Toys?!?!?

It’s almost here!  The Holiday Season that is.  Lots of folks don’t like “the holidays” because they feel rushed and stressed out.  Not me, I love them.

 Sure, we work more time at the Studio making our gift baskets, but that’s fun. It’s fun because we are making gifts that make people and pets happy.  I ‘specially like my job when I’m testing new toys or filling the pet gift baskets with them.  I make sure there are lots of toys in them cuz from experience I know you can NEVER have enough toys.  And treats, you can never have too many of those either.

 Different pets like different toys.  Personally, I like toys that I can chase or play tug of war with.  Right now my favorites are the blue ball that makes a flashing light when it bounces and my tug toy made out of a fire hose.  I drop the ball at the top of the stairs watch the blinky light go all the way down.  If I get tired of going after it, I let Mom get it for me and put it back in the toy box.  The fire hose tug toy is really like two toys cuz it’s also a good carry around one.

 Since DixieLee came to live with us, we had to change the kinds of toys that we get.  She didn’t get the nickname Dixie The Destroyer for nothing.  She should work for a pet toy company.  If a toy lasts for more than five minutes with her, they can say it is indestructible.

 When she moved in she ate all my soft cuddly and squeaky toys, but that’s okay since they weren’t my favorites anyway. Now our toy box is filled with toys like Kongs and antlers.  We love antlers.

 I have to admit, I’m still learning what toys should go in our cat gift baskets.  Since we don’t have a cat that lives with us, I have to rely on the cat friends we’ve met on line.  Obviously I like social media. I have this blog, I sometimes write for the company blog, I manage the Laurel Mountain Basket Co Pet Division Facebook page and I have accounts with sites like 3MillionDogs.com and PetPav.com.  There are some really smart cats on PetPav.com so I get good advice from them.

 Cats love treats too so we make sure we put lots of treats in our cat gift baskets.  Cats seem to like shiny things and feathers.  They also like balls that they can hit with their paws and chase.  We have lots of different kinds of balls.  I like to put the little ones with a bell inside them in most of our cat gift baskets cuz those seem to be a favorite with our cat friends.  The best cat toy, I think anyway, is the one that looks like a mouse. It is soooo cute.

 Well, time to check the inventory to make sure we have enough toys for the upcoming Holiday Season. 

 Your Santa Paws Helper,

 Zeva

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Dogs Have Allergies Too

I have to go to the Vet again cuz I have the itchies.  I have scratched my face so hard I have little cuts all over and I have licked my legs so much I how have hot spots.  I don’t like having the itchies.

 Mom tries putting tea tree oil spray on my hot spots but I don’t like it much.  I know when she picks up that green spray bottle I’m going to get squirted so I run and hide.

 When Mom called the Vet people the lady at the telephone said I probably had an allergic to fleas and that I should use Advantix.  We don’t like putting chemical on us and our Pet Protector says it keeps fleas and ticks off of dogs.

 Flea allergics is the kind dogs get the most but dogs can have other allergics just like people.  We can have allergics to pollen, grass, cleaning products, mold, dust mites and other stuff.

 Until I get my appointment, I can take a Benadryl.  We don’t like taking Benadryl cuz that’s a chemical that goes on the inside but if it stops the itchies and I only have to take it a little, it could be okay.

 Mom also started giving us fish oil cuz it’s got some Omega-3 stuff which is good for lots of things and it’s more natural.   I wish we could have real tuna fish but that’s not happening.

 Mom noticed that I was licking and scratching way more and what is normal and then one day she saw I had bloods on my face from scratching.

 We can’t always tell our humans when we don’t feel good so here are some ways your humans can tell if you might have allergics.

1. Lots of scratching.

2. Lots of licking.

3. Red patches and irritated skin.

4. Licking or chewing feet.

5. Rubbing face in the carpet or on furniture.

6. Rubbing or scratching ears.

7. Coughing or sneezing.

8. Breathing hard.

9. Lack of energy.

 Having the itchies is not fun.  I’m not looking forward to going to the vet because she is going to make me step on the scale and if I haven’t lost some pounds I’ll be in trouble but I sure would like to get rid of these itchies.  I hope she can make them go away.

 Do you get itchies and if you do, how do you make them stop.

 Your scratching friend,

Zeva

 

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Rain Rain Go Away

Just because I’m part Lab and my ancestors were probably St John’s Water Dogs doesn’t mean that I like to get wet.   I really hate the feeling of water squishing between my webbed toes and bouncing off of my head.  I know that my pretty coat is water repellant so cold water doesn’t get next to my skin but it still gets wet and drippy and I have to shake, shake, shake until it all gets off.

I thought I was the only one who didn’t like to get wet but I found out that lots of dogs would rather not go outside when it is raining.  Some dogs, like my sister DixieLee, will even hold their pee for a long, long time rather than go out in the rain.  I won’t go that far but I don’t waste any time when I do go out.

Most people think that dogs don’t like to go out in the rain because they don’t like to get wet.  Well, that’s only part of it.  Some dogs, like me, don’t want to go out in the rain because rain is noisy.  It’s all splashy and drummy.  Remember, our hearing is better than yours so that pitter patter you hear sounds more like bam bam to us.

Sometimes the rain brings thunder and lightning with it.  Thunder and lightning make rain much worse but that’s a subject for a different blog.

There is another thing that hurts our ears when it rains.  It’s called barry metric pressure.  I’m not sure how it works because it’s about science but when rain comes, especially if it’s a big rain, the barry metric pressure falls down and makes our ears feel funny.

There is one good thing about going out in the rain and that’s coming back inside.  When we come back inside Mom and Dad are waiting for us with big fluffy towels and extra treats.  They wrap us in the towels and scrub us until we are nice and dry.  It’s very relaxing and a cookie makes things like getting wet feet and drippy coats almost worthwhile.

Do you like to go outside in the rain, and if not, what do your humans do?

Your fluffy dry friend,

Zeva

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Walkin' The Dog

The mail person brought a package for me and DixieLee the other day.  It was a surprise.  Mom bought us new harnesses.  I have to admit I am not the best leash walker.  I like to go fast and Mom is so slow.  It’s not her fault that humans only have two legs so they can only go half as fast as us dogs who have four legs. 

 Not being a great leash walker hasn’t been a big problem since we do most of our walking at Dog Park or at Dog Mountain where I don’t have to be on leash.  It would be nice to be able to walk other places so we have tried a bunch of different collars and harnesses but I didn’t like any of them.   I had a nice harness that I sort of liked but I still pulled cuz I wanted to go faster.  I know, we are supposed to do training but it just frustrates Mom and me so we gave up

 I liked that harness, it was a pretty purple color and it worked okay until DixieLee ate it. With two dogs to walk, we really needed to find something that made us be good leash walkers. Instead of buying a new harness right away, we tried using a gentle leader but I didn’t like it on my face.  DixieLee is okay with her gentle leader but it makes her face itchy and she tries to rub it off after it’s been on for a while.

 We looked at all kinds of leashes and harnesses but we didn’t like any of them much.  Then Mom heard about a new kind of harness that connects the leash to the front on my chest instead from behind on my shoulders.   It’s called Walk Your Dog With Love.  It works sort of like the gentle leader, turning me around if I start going too fast or going in a different direction than Mom wants me to go in.

 My new harness is black which looks absolutely stunning on me and goes nicely with my pink collar.   DixieLee’s is blue which looks very nice with her brown coat.  Mom’s pretty good with knowing fashion stuff.  This harness is very easy to put on too.   With my other harness, I had to pick up my foot and then Mom had to clip it this way and that.  The Walk Your Dog With Love harness is super easy to put on.  It slips over my head and Mom takes the strap under my tummy and clips it on the other side.

 Having an easy to get on harness is very helpful when you have a dog like DixieLee who gets so excited that she rolls around and squiggles every which way when you try to get her ready to go out. Mom likes that these harnesses are made in the USA.  They even have some stuff called Scotchlite on it which makes it easy to see us in the dark. 

 We tried them out today and I think they are going to work good.  We all went for a big walk in town and I hardly pulled at all.  I walked slower and Mom was able to keep up.  DixieLee walked better than me but that’s cuz she got to practice yesterday.  The only one who failed walking was Dad.  He was a real slow poke.  He needs lots more practice if he is going to walk with us again.

 Going for walks is one of the best funs we have so I’m happy we found a harness that makes walking even more fun.  Were you always a good leash walker and if not, how did you get better?

 Your good walking friend,

 Zeva

 P.S.  Blatant Self-promotion.   Our To The Rescue Gift Basket has everything a new dog needs, even a pretty leash.

The Ten Pound Challenge

I had my annual check up at the vet last week and I am soooo upset.  That mean man said I was FAT.  What's worse is he said in front of the techs and anyone in the waiting room could hear.  I was so embarrassed and upset it's taken me this long just to talk about it.  I may need to go into therapy.

I am part lab and we all know labs aren't skinny chic like greyhounds.  Labs are more robust and have a layer of fat around us so we don't get cold in the water.  So my layer of fat is a little thicker than some other lab's layer of fat.  So I'm  a few pounds overweight.  Well, actually ten.

Instead of siding with me, Mom is siding with the vet.  She says it's all Dad's fault.  Since he got retired he is home with us all the time and he was much easier to train than Mom.  DixieLee and I figured out that if we want a treat and our usual tricks like looking cute or showing him where the cookie jar is don't work, DixieLee goes into Crazy Dog mode.  She runs around and jumps on the furniture.  I chase her until Dad says "enough" and gives us a cookie to quiet us down.

Works every time. Well, it worked every time until Mom read Dad something called the Riot Act.  Now we only get half cookies and only right after meals and before bed.  Now when we do Crazy Dog Dad makes us go outside instead of giving us a treat.

The mean vet gave Mom this teeny, tiny cup to measure my food with too.  He said that I don't need to eat as much as the people who make the dog food say I should eat.  After all, they want me to eat lots so we have to buy more.  Mom always bought us good quality food, not loaded with fillers, but even if it's full of good stuff, too much isn't good for you.

I guess the only good thing is that Mom thinks DixieLee is getting a little chunky so she only gets the teeny, tiny cups of food and half treats too.  The other thing is we are supposed to get more exercise.  I like that part.  Exercise means playing and going for walks.

When DixieLee came to live with us, Mom thought she would be a good playmate and we would get lots of exercise together.  That didn't work out so well.  She and I both like to nap and she'd rather chew on a toy than play chase.  My friends Sadie likes to play chase so Mom said Dad needs to take me to play with her more.

Dad likes that cuz Sadie's Dad is his good friend and they do guy stuff all the time.  Last time they got to paly with these big machines that dug a giant hole  in the ground.  DixieLee would have been impressed cuz she likes to dig holes.  When I go to Sadie's house we just run around her yard.  I like her yard because it is miles big and there is no fence.

I would really like to make that ten pounds disappear because I don't want Mom to be upset.  She said dogs who are overweight get died sooner than dogs who aren't and she wants me to be her Zeva for a long, long time.  I'm good with that!

Any of you have any suggestions.  Did you ever have to lose weight and if so, how did you do it?

Your starving friend,

Zeva

P.S. Blatant self-promotion: Every dog is a good dog, that's why we created our Good Dog Spot gift basket.