junothehusky:

I ended up buying the Zignature Turkey formula. I figured a little less protein was okay along with a little beet pulp, just as long as it didn’t have any potato in it. I’ll just add in some frozen chicken legs along with an egg twice a week to up the protein and fat, while still keeping it low glycemic. I only bought a 13.5lb bag for $28.99 because I know by the time I nearly finish it, I’ll be wanting to switch her food again.

I’ve never heard of the Zignature brand. None of the stores in this area sell it, do you have to order online? I feed Nature’s Variety Instinct. It’s a grain-free diet. I sometimes incorporate their raw diet as well (because I’m too lazy to put a raw diet together from scratch). The only thing I don’t care for in the ingredients is the tomato pomace (a controversial ingredient) and the canola oil (also a controversial ingredient). It has tapioca as well, but I don’t really have a problem with tapioca. I know it’s a starch, but they only use it to hold the ingredients together.

They seem pretty healthy on it. I’m not worried about there being too much protein or carbs. They aren’t fat. I’m pretty strict about their food intake in order for them to maintain a healthy weight. It’s not recommended to put a puppy on a grain-free diet because of the high protein and such, but I think it’s a matter of monitoring food intake. They don’t need as much food when you feed a grain-free or high protein diet.

EVO is a good example. It’s extremely high in protein. I definitely wouldn’t feed it to a young puppy, but it is supposed to be a dry alternative to raw and people have fed raw diets from puppyhood and beyond with no problems. The reason Natura has warnings on the bags not to feed to puppies is because the average dog owner isn’t going to monitor the puppy’s food intake (the bag has feeding guides based roughly on adult requirements). The puppy is going to eat a ton of kibble, get fat, and they also say that puppy’s on EVO grow much faster (which isn’t recommended for large breeds, since large breed puppies should grow slowly).

Do you know anything about high protein diets causing damage to the liver or kidneys? I vaguely remember having a discussion on it when I worked for a pet supply company, but I can’t quite remember the specifics. 

Bringing Treats to the Dog Park

It’s not a good idea. Plain and simple.

Sometimes people bring treats to the dog park to reward their dog for good behavior, especially if they are in the process of training their dog. Sometimes these people will also give treats to other dogs at the park, without asking the owner if it’s okay. Just a word to those of you out there reading this blog, please rethink your decision to bring treats into the park. Handing out treats may cause a fight to break out if one or more dogs becomes protective of the food. It’s also important to ask a dog’s owner before giving someone else’s dog any kind of food because that dog could have allergies or may even be on a strict diet.

Fortunately, I haven’t seen any fights break out at my dog park over treats, and there are a handful of individuals who bring treats regularly. However, there was an instance where I helped my friend throw a birthday party for her dog and one of the dogs who attended as a guest became very aggressive and attacked my extremely passive Australian Shepherd because she thought she would have to compete for the hot dogs and hamburgers that the people were eating… Mind you, my dogs never get people food so my Aussie was completely surprised by the other dog’s behavior. The other dog clearly was being fed table scraps before (probably on a regular basis), and was expecting to get some of her owner’s food.

Just be cautious when food is involved.

Upset Tummy

My house smells like the result of a dog’s upset stomach. Motley has had numerous potty breaks today, but has managed to poop four times inside the house. And we’re not talking solids. It was runny and smelly (but at least it was in small amounts). Fortunately all but one of the accidents was in the dining room, on the laminate flooring, so it was easy to clean up (inhaling, on the other hand, was not so easy). The worst things that can happen to the carpet when you have dogs is diarrhea or vomit (am I right?). There’s always that sudden dread that comes over me when that awful smell begins filling the air. I jump up and frantically run around looking for the accident.

I’m trying to figure out what may have caused Motley’s upset stomach. It seems she’s always having stomach issues, so I’m wondering if she may just have a sensitive stomach. On the other hand, I have been mixing a bit of wet food with her dry food now that she’s out of prescription wet food. The transition from prescription wet food to dry food, and then to dry food mixed with a completely new wet food wasn’t exactly gradual.

I’m pretty sure that’s why her stomach is upset and she has diarrhea. The only other explanations could be…

1. The recent rearranging of the house.
2. The raw bone she was chewing on.

Sometimes dogs can get stressed out when there are changes in the environment. Not only did I move every piece of furniture out of the living room (with exception of the television and entertainment center), I also rearranged everything and had a guest over for most of the day. The dogs aren’t exactly used to having guests over for long periods of time.

Anyway, I’m sure she’ll be alright. She’s had plenty of water, and went back out for a potty break before bed. I might need to give her some canned pumpkin tomorrow to help with her upset stomach. Ultimately, I think I should have transitioned her back onto her normal diet. I was just not sure if she was ready to go back on a dry food yet…

Motley is Doing Much Better

I’m so happy. Yesterday morning I dropped Motley off at the vet to be put on IV fluids. A few hours later, the vet calls and says they didn’t put her on IV fluids because she’s doing really good today. He says he thinks she should be fine if we keep her on the medicine until the bottles are empty. When I picked up Motley, they had six cans of prescription Science Diet wet food for gastrointestinal health. I was instructed to feed in very small amounts several times a day (basically 1/2 a cup a day, 3-4 times a day). I feel bad that she’s only getting half a cup of food a day, but they said to gradually increase the amount if she seems to be doing alright. If she throws up, I need to decrease the amount and probably give them a call.

The vet didn’t exactly say what the problem was. He says there could still be a problem. His facility doesn’t have the equipment to look for ulcers (blood work or x-rays wouldn’t be able to verify if an ulcer was present). Since Motley had a complete turn-around in behavior and activity after taking that medicine, I think she will be alright. Yesterday she was bouncy and playful like she normally is. 

On the way home, I stopped by the bank to get some cash out of my checking account. I was going to take the money back to a friend who had come by and dropped off an envelope to help with Motley’s vet bills (we had spent a lot just trying to find out what was wrong and I was afraid we wouldn’t have enough for the actual treatment once we found out the problem). We ended up not having to pay an arm and a leg. The food was only $20 and they didn’t charge me for dropping her off for a few hours. Motley and I ended up sitting in their backyard for several hours just talking. Motley was happy to be outside and we all sat under the shade of a big tree. There was a nice breeze, and it was just a good day overall.

She insisted that we keep the money, so I’m probably going to put it towards having Motley groomed in a week or two (poor thing threw up on herself a few times, and she really needs her “sanitary cut” since she hasn’t had one since last Fall), and Helo is also getting neutered soon as well whenever ARF calls to reschedule his appointment at the spay and neuter clinic in Gloucester. We were supposed to go on the 1st but then the emergency came up with Motley and we weren’t able to make it.

Nate’s mom also offered to help us financially with Motley’s vet bills, but since we didn’t need to use all of the money, we’re going to put the rest into getting Nate’s truck fixed. He just needs new batteries, and that’s probably going to cost around $300. Things will get better soon, though. It’s just a matter of time. I’ll be getting a new part time job sometime this year and maybe hold off on photography until we get a new house. I love the property we’re on right now because it’s so spacious, but I feel like this house is not my own. I’m hoping that by next year we’ll be able to afford a new home.

Table scraps lead to bad behavior and bad health.

So don’t feed your scraps to the dog! One day you might regret it.

Chocolate Poisoning

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We suspect she licked off the remains of chocolate ice-cream from Tim Hortons. Since last night she’s been shaking, vomiting and has diarrhea.

We’re taking her to the vet at 3:00.

I hope your dog will be okay. Every dog reacts differently to different things. I hope your dog’s reaction isn’t serious. I’ve known dogs over the years to get their mouths on chocolate on more than one occasion with no adverse effects, but I’ve also heard horror stories of dogs becoming very sick and even dying from ingesting even a small amount of chocolate.

As a kid, my family’s Rat Terrier would get on the coffee table whenever we’d leave the house, and she would carefully take Hershey kisses. She would unwrap them under the dining room table, eat the chocolate, and then roll the foil up into a ball. She ate chocolate all the time until we found out about her stash of wrappers and had to put a cover on the candy bowl. She was very well behaved, so we never suspected that she was getting up on the table! She was always a healthy dog, and was put to sleep due to very old age several years later.

You would think that in small quantities, it would be okay, since you can give a little bit of chocolate to small animals like rats, to help with stress and anxiety. However, I’ve always read that no amount of chocolate is okay for a dog to consume. What makes it dangerous for dogs is the chemical compound “theobromine” found in cocoa. Dogs metabolize it slower than humans. Some dogs can handle it better than others, but chocolate poisoning generally consists of vomiting and diarrhea. Toxic amounts can induce hyperactivity, tremors, high blood pressure, increased heart rate, seizures, respiratory failure, and cardiac arrest.

Big Mistake

So sometimes I misplace the food scoop for my dog’s dry food and use a red SOLO cup as backup. Today I learned what a big mistake that was when I decided to mix some chocolate milk together. I poured the milk into a red SOLO cup, and while I was stirring the chocolate syrup I noticed that two dogs were sitting patiently behind me on the kitchen floor. Normally they don’t hang around while I’m preparing food or drinks in the kitchen. Then I realized why they were watching me — they thought I had their food in the cup! So as I walked into the living room with my chocolate milk, Sam and Motley followed close behind. And as I sat down on the couch to continue watching Planet Earth, they both sat in front of me. Waiting. Expecting me to feed them. Finally I had to tell them to go away! Now they’re sitting across the room eyeballing me, and every time I look at them, they put their ears back and start wagging their tails innocently. You silly dogs! Chocolate milk is for people! Future note to self — don’t use red SOLO cups to measure the dog’s dry food!

People Food and Begging

I don’t feed my dogs table scraps, but I do give them human food from time to time and I’m not against it. Most of my friends and family would beg to differ. I’m always telling them not to give my dogs their scraps. I guess they don’t understand that I don’t want to influence the annoying behavior of begging. 

I believe that it’s okay to give dogs human food with a few things in mind. The food should not come direction from the person’s plate. There should be no association whatsoever to the food that the humans are eating, because then your dog will learn that they can have whatever you’re eating. That’s when they start hanging around, eyeballing you as you eat, and sniffing around at your feet or around the table. And in more extreme cases, they start jumping up on you or the table while you’re eating, or on the counter when you’re preparing the food. I find this behavior so annoying!

I have one dog who begs. My Australian Cattle Dog would eat all day long if food was always available to her. I feed her once in the morning and once in the evening, but she always acts as if she’s starving to death. She started begging after I neglected to pick up a bag of fast food from the living room table. It was just the scarce leftovers of Taco Bell. She knocked the bag onto the floor and went to town on a taco that had been eaten. Ever since then, she has had the bad habit of begging.

Whenever anyone is eating, she watches them from across the room, ears perked up. Sometimes she’ll try to sneak over and sniff the floor, hoping to find crumbs on the floor. I always yell at her to go, or leave it. Even when she eyeballs me, I tell her, “no!”

I feel like this is a behavior that will never go away once the dog has figured it out, even with consistent corrections and making sure that she doesn’t succeed in getting a hold of any people food — including crumbs.

If you’re going to feed your dog human food, I feel that it’s best to do so when the food isn’t associated with your own food. I give my dogs raw bones as treats, such as chicken backs and turkey necks, and even use fresh carrots, apples, cheese, and hot dogs as training treats from time to time. Half of their diet consists of raw meat and organs from animals such as lamb and rabbit, so you can see that my dogs do in fact eat human food.

My other dogs do not beg. They don’t even eyeball me when I’m eating, nor do they sniff around for crumbs. It’s almost like they are totally oblivious to the fact that I’m eating. I wish my cattle dog would behave the same — before she got a hold of our food for the first time, she could lay next to me and not even raise her head to watch me eat. Now all she does is stare at me and lick her chops. It drives me insane!

If you slip up just once and feed your dog something from your own plate, they will start begging all the time. Whenever you have people over, you should make sure they know not to drop crumbs or feed your dogs human food. I had friends over once for a dog party, and having food was a bad idea. This habit doesn’t have to be learned in your own home, though. It can happen anywhere, anytime. On several occasions I’ve taken my dogs out to see friends, and they’ve dropped crumbs on the ground and tried calling my dogs over to eat the crumb so they wouldn’t have to clean it up. I’m always aware of what my dogs are doing, and what’s going on in my surroundings so I was quick to tell my dogs to “leave it” and explain that they aren’t allowed to eat crumbs.

Some people think I’m mean to do this, but I have my reasons for everything I do with my dogs. I don’t have any human children of my own, but I think having dogs is a lot similar. Every parent raises their children differently — there is no single right way to do it. The same goes for dog owners. We all do things a little differently. Some people let their dogs lick their plates clean, but in my home this is not allowed.