Happy New Year!

Man yesterday was a bit of a surprise. 42 degrees, a nice warm breeze, melting snow, long-hidden turds reappearing (and subsequently disappearing as the sleddgos found them...) and overall an uncomplicated and easy day.
The mushers are not happy about everything melting like it did. We've still got a lot of snow, but now since it's cooled down to the high 20's and low 30's, everything is freezing up and it's very slick outside. Gotta find the ice grippers or there might be some nasty falls here at the racing kennel.

Today is a rare relaxation day. J is at work, N has been doing computer stuff and talking to a couple other mushers (meeting one out on the trails to do something) and will be going to the dump sometime today, and I get to spend my time on the computer, reading, messing with Conker, and doing a few light chores here and there.
Tonight though, I'll have to be paying attention to the dogs nonstop since fireworks (and guns, probably, and who knows what else) will be going off like crazy around here. Two of the dogs will be brought in since they'd most likely kill themselves due to the noise, but the rest of them are generally fine with it. Still need to keep a sharp ear out though, just in case.


Anywho, Happy New Year from Conker and I up here in Alaska! May your new years parties go well and everyone who's driving places get home safely.

All that snow on the trees either blew off or melted. It's not that pretty looking anymore.

Merry Christmas!

It's been damn cold again for a while now, finally warmed up to 20 degrees just in time for Christmas! I hope it stays "warm" and/or snows, since I much prefer shoveling snow than dealing with -20 to -35 degree temperatures all day.

Been really busy!

Like usual, the blog has been neglected due to sled dog stuff. Mainly the multiple feet of snow that we got over the past week and a half or so. Shoveling, plowing, shoveling and plowing, some more shoveling and more plowing... You get the idea. (And there is still more to do.)

Anyways...

Conker just loves the snow. He thinks it is amazing, even when he jumps off the pathway or plowed section and vanishes into the fluffy white stuff.

I haven't done a whole lot with Conker lately and it's annoying me a bit, but he does not seem to be too affected by the lack of constant attention that he was previously showered with.
He's grown an incredibly soft and thick coat and doesn't get cold as long as it's above -10 now. Colder than that and he needs his sweater.

It's been relatively warm, 20's and such, but it's going to cool down again tonight. I just hope it doesn't do what it did last time and not get above zero for several weeks straight. That was really a pain in the ass.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been super busy for a long time. With how cold it has been and with the number of dogs who weren't drinking, there was a lot to do. Loading all the dogs onto (and off of) the dog truck several times a day is a TON of work and takes up a lot of time, as does watering and feeding dogs that don't drink.

Anyways, I hope to get a better update on Conker stuff soon, maybe tonight if we get all the shoveling done before midnight. (We finally are getting some snow!)

Some Sled Dogs

Here are a few of the 60+ dogs here at the racing kennel. To start, puppies!

The Hellions. From left to right: Aleta (Mama dog), Puddle, Drought (only boy), Splash (top), Rain (bottom), Levy, and Drizzle. These are the "weather" puppies, the names based around rainy weather since this summer when they were born it rained almost non-stop.

Kubota. This guy is quiet and very polite. Doesn't exactly come when called, but he is an amazing sled dog. During a race sometime ago, his balls fell out of the ball bag thing that the males wear on really cold races and nobody  noticed until it was over, so his balls froze. An attempt was made to save them, but it was too late, so he was altered. He is not of breeding quality anyways but that really sucks for him.

 

Lark. Also quiet, kinda a one-man type dog but very sweet. A bit funny looking since her chest is very large and her legs long, but her head is pretty small. She's got real sensitive feet so care has to be taken when running her.

Makita (left) and Ryobi (right) share a house. They have two, but they think this is warmer.
Makita is quite sensitive and will flop over on her back if you show even the slightest bit of anger. She does not like the ATV (which we are using for training right now) so when she runs we strap a kennel on the back of the lead ATV just in case she won't run and has to be dropped.
Ryobi is a pretty cool dog and almost always comes out of her house to say hello to me unless it's really cold out.

Throttle. This guy just loves to eat his poop, and for a while that caused him to constantly have diarrhea and he was losing quite a bit of weight. He still eats poop, but he's doing better now and has gained a lot of weight back. Throttle is a total goofball and very wiggly.

A lot of the dogs look like Throttle, houndy in appearance with short coats. There are some husky-types but they are not the "norm" at this kennel. Most are a mixture of the two with quite a bit of variance in type.

Notes from a Sled Dog Handler

I have a new blog! It's going to be where the majority of the sled dog stuff is posted, but a lot of it will still be posted here on The Adventures of Conker. I have decided to make a new blog for the sled dog stuff since it really does not have anything to do with Conker, and I'd prefer not to have to sort through things too much in order to look back for a note on something.

Anyways, here it is!  (Needs a bit of work, but it's good for now.)
Notes from a Sled Dog Handler

Money spent in October/November

I didn't buy hardly anything this month(s) due to me suddenly out of the blue moving to Alaska, since I haven't had the chance to shop for any pet stuff (I've been to two local feedstores like, three times total), nor do I have the time, and I just haven't needed anything really.

So, here's the total for October and November combined into one post.


October 2012

• Food:  $40
• Supplements: $26
• Travel: $100
• Vet/Medical: $60

Total: $226

I originally was not going to include the travel/vet expenses, but since I didn't actually spend any money in November, I included it for the heck of it.

Food.
I bought another 13 pound bag of EVO Red Meat (review coming soon!) since I am quite pleased with the food, and because Conker was transistioned to it and it is available locally so I did not have to switch him to something else. Because we all know how fun that can possibly be with him.

Supplements.
I bought another bottle of K9 Glucosamine shortly before I knew about the Alaska gig.

Travel.
It cost me $100 to fly Conker in the cargo hold.

Vet/Medical.
In order for Conker to fly, I heeded a health certificate. I had to get a regular exam in order to get the certificate, both of which cost money, and since Jennifer was concerned about Conker possibly bringing up fleas, I also got him some Frontline while i was there.



November 2012

Total: $0

A new record low!

Well hello there! It's been a while. I have finally returned to the depths of the internet. A more detailed update will be posted later when I've caught up on some things and have some free time to write about what I've been up to in Alaska for the past 40+ some odd days.

Currently it's about -15 degrees outside, just thought I'd let you know.

Last hike at Cathedral Hills

Today Conker and I went on our last hike at Cathedral Hills. We took along my two youngest siblings.

 Conker and my youngest brother rode in the back, and made dumb boy faces.

 My siblings and Conker explored a lot of old logs and trees.

My sister kept climbing into trees and I took pictures of her (attempting to get a good one for her Senior picture) so Conker did his own thing most of the time.

Occasionally he'd come visit us when we made enough noise.

The hike was a lot of fun. My sister wants to start hiking regularly now, and since I allowed him to climb the trees my brother had more fun than he thought he would.

Next update will be from Alaska!

Travel day looms near

I gave almost all of my meat away today. It's kinda sad, I have no more meat for my dogs (sparing some treats I'd made and a couple meals for the Girls) and thus feeding the dogs has suddenly become really boring. But those people I gave the meat to looked like they really could have used some free meat, so it's all good. (Everything they got was human-grade stuff.)

Conker still hates the crate, I don't think he'll ever actually like it.

I am just about packed for Alaska and only have a few things left to do. The freezer is defrosting, the trailer is almost cleaned out (needs a good vacuuming), I cleaned my stuff out of Leo (my Jeep), and I am just about packed. Only a few odd things left to do here and there.

Oh, I found something out recently.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might know about something Conker creates I call Deathfarts. Well, I have found a culprit! Raw lamb. I have been adding lamb to his food for the past few days and the Deathfarts have been about overwhelming. When I remove the lamb, the Deathfarts go away. So, no more raw lamb for Conker.

Anyways, I am excited to go to Alaska, but not looking forwards to traveling. I really hate airports, they ruin the fun of flying (if there aren't a million people in the plane) and stress the crap out of me. The fact that I'm going to have a dog, my dog, with me on this trip is even worse. I already stress enough about him, so this should be oh so interesting.


I'm probably not going to have internet access (actually I will, but I most likely won't be blogging) for a short while after I get to Alaska, so the blog won't update for a little bit after Thursday.

It's Monday!

Nothing special really.

Today I gave the Girls some raw turkey yumms, since I am attempting to clear out my freezer before I leave.

Necks, gizzards, hearts, livers, and some pork meat. I took this hasty picture then promptly smashed the everloving shit out of those necks.

Then I took Conker to the vet to get a health certificate so he can fly.

He was NOT happy to be there. He was weighed (25.3 pounds! The heaviest he's ever been.) and examined. I also picked up some Frontline since the racing kennel is concerned about me bringing fleas up on Conker, so I got the preventive just to be sure. The vet also advised me to give him a really good and soapy bath before I put on the Frontline. But I really doubt there are any fleas, I've been flea-combing him every day since I landed this gig and haven't found any yet.
He's already been wormed with Panacur and got a heartworm pill today so he's good on those too.

Then, we walked home (since we walked there) and I fed Conker some Honest Kitchen (not sure what it was, I think Keen and Verve) with some random assortment of ground meats, which he loved.

I've been feeding him in this plastic kennel so he'll get used to being in one, but of course he hates it and if I close the door he starts to bitch about it. And instead of standing normally like any other dog, he curls himself up in the doorway so he's in the least amount of the kennel as possible.
He's such a dork.

Chicken, it's eeevil

Conker has decided that most chicken is EVIL. I don't know why, but for many months now he just will not eat bone-in chicken happily, or at all in most cases. So I have decided to only feed him chicken that is both bone-free and skin-free, since chicken skin is eeevil too. Flat yellow things are eeevil as well. Strange dog.
Oh, he also isn't very fond of the crate. Which he needs to get used to, because the both of us are going to Alaska.

Yep, Conker and I are going to Alaska. Soon. On Thursday.

WHY, you might be wondering, are Conker and I going to Alaska, of all places, right before winter? Well, I got a job as a dog handler for a sprint racing kennel. That's right! A sprint racing kennel! How random is that?

Best search term so far

So what IS Losech? I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Broth puck treats

I made some strange treats for the dogs the other week. I made some beef bone broth with a couple ribs in the slow cooker (overnight), then added a bit of ground beef to the rib meat and pulverized it all in the cuisinart. I poured the meaty broth mixture into cupcake pans then stuck them into the freezer. I made enough for two dozen 1 inch thick pucks. The dogs think they are great!

Look at how leggy my Shiba is.

Conker, like usual, takes the longest, and Sasha the shortest, to eat their pucks. The pucks are good since they offer some resistance so they do aid in cleaning the teeth, but they are soft enough that the dogs can easily break them up. (No broken teeth!) They don't have a ton of calories either so I can feed them often without the dogs getting fat.


In other news...

I am taking care of the neighbor's dogs again. Indie is still as handsome as ever.

Those joints

As you may or may not know, Conker has Luxating Patella. I've known about it since he was about 8 months old or so, and I have tried a couple joint things and was generally pleased with them.
Well, the joint slippage has been just an occasional thing for a while, but when I started testing out various kibbles I stopped giving Conker "therapeutic" doses of fish oil (sometimes completely cutting it out) and instead just giving a "maintenance" dose, and I cut any joint things I was giving him at the time as well. With the exception of when he was being stupid about food, Conker has remained a pretty active dog.
So, what's the purpose of this writing?
I have noticed an increase in Conker's knee slippage, especially the right knee. It's bugging me with how frequently they slip, and how they don't go back in right away on their own. I have also noticed him biting at his knees, usually after one of them has slipped. I'm not exactly glad to see this, and I asked around about it, so I am going to restart the joint supplements and increase his fish oil. I will also be doing a few back leg strengthening exercise things to build the muscles up a bit more.

A trend I have noticed is that when Conker is on lower protein foods, he loses muscle mass and gains fat. So, I will either cut out all lower protein (below 30%) foods from the trials or mix meats and eggs into them to boost the protein. I am less concerned about how Conker does on the food (without mixins) and more concerned about his joint health, so I will be "sacrificing" some results because of that.
Which is a bit funny, since I'd feed the food with mixins if he were on it long-term anyways so... Yeah.

Like usual, nothing of interest is going on

So I have a video of Conker derping around in the yard for you to enjoy.

We do this 2 or 3 or 5 or 20 times a day, depending on what else we might have done/will be doing that day.

Money spent in September

August's total is over here.

I once again misplaced my list of stuff I bought (it's on the computer, you'd think I can't lose something on the computer but yes, it's possible) but I've got a pretty good idea of what I spent this month.


September 2012

• Food: $84.60
• Vet/Medical: $10
• Treats/Chews: $2.50
• Etc.: $50

Total: $147.10


So... Here goes the breakdown.

Food.
I bought several things, most of which were completely unexpected. I got a bag of EVO Red Meat for cheaper than normal, a can of EVO Beef, some trials (Taste of the Wild Southwest Canyon and some Canidae canned fish thing), and some samples of various things like The Honest Kitchen stuff, Zuke's, and Fromm.
I also got some ground beef, beef ribs (Which Sasha broke another tooth on, so no more beef ribs for the dogs), some turkey misc, and a lamb neck.

Vet/Medical.
Conker hasn't been "properly" wormed since I got him, if you don't count heartworm meds, and I wanted to do that just to be sure he wasn't carrying anything that Heartguard doesn't kill.

Treats/Chews.
Conker got a small bully stick for passing the CGC and some treats from the Farmer's Market.

Etc.
I bought a freezer, and a timer thing for it.

Taste of the Wild

The Girls have been eating Taste of the Wild for over a year now. The company that owns/manufactures the brand isn't really the best out there (that recent recall dealt a big blow to Diamond and associates) but for a relatively high-quality food for a good price, I can't really not feed them Taste of the Wild just because I may not like the owner/manufacturer or some such business. The family Matriarch doesn't want to spend more than $40 for a 30 pound bag, and since she's the one dishing out the cash, she makes the rules. So Taste of the Wild it is, except when I can find another high-quality brand on sale.

Anywho, I figured now was a good enough time to write up a review of this food.

High Prairie

Ingredients:
Bison, lamb meal, chicken meal, egg product, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, roasted bison, roasted venison, natural flavor, tomato pomace, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product,dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein: 32% Minimum, Fat: 18% Minimum
Calcium: 2.1%, as-fed; Phosphorus: 1.4%, as-fed
Calories: 3,719 kcal/kg (370 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

I like the protein level and ingredients in this formula. I like how there are several named meat sources before any plant ones. I don't really care about the "exotic" meats, and fortunately that is not reflected in the price of these foods as it is with some other brands.

I started the Girls on Taste of the Wild in early May of last year. Right off the bat I began to notice differences when I switched the Girls off Pedicrap. Within two weeks their goats began to de-grease, they didn't stink or shed as much, and their breath got a little better. Poops shrank considerably and became almost odorless. Even their teeth looked slightly better.

Pacific Stream

Ingredients:
Salmon, ocean fish meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, canola oil, salmon meal, smoked salmon, potato fiber, natural flavor, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein: 25% Minimum, Fat: 15% Minimum
Calcium: 1.9%, as-fed; Phosphorus: 1.1%, as-fed
Calories: 3,600 kcal/kg (360 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

The protein of this formula is a bit less than I'd like. However, I like the ingredients. I prefer sweet potatoes over regular potatoes, and the sweets come before the regular, and they are followed by (canola oil) fish meals which are a concentrated source of protein. Note the probiotics. This is generally seen as a good thing to be included in pet foods, but I tend to think they are somewhat useless and do not really consider them to be a plus. I add in my own probiotics if I feel they are needed anyways.

I was not as satisfied with this formula as I was the High Prairie. The Girls are a bit less active, The muscle tone isn't as good, but their coats are very sleek and shiny. Poops are bigger and softer and a bit smellier than the higher protein formulas. The Girls really liked this formula, probably because of the strong fish smell.

Seirra Mountain

Ingredients:
Lamb, lamb meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas, canola oil, pea protein, roasted lamb, tomato pomace, natural flavor, salt, choline chloride, mixed tocopherols (a natural preservative and source of vitamin E), dried chicory root, taurine, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein: 25% Minimum, Fat: 15% Minimum
Calcium: 1.6%, as-fed; Phosphorus: 1.0%, as-fed
Calories: 3,611 kcal/kg (338 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

This formula is basically all lamb and potatoes with a few extra items. Not bad, but I generally like to see a bit more meat in a food. The protein level is again a bit low, as are the kcals per cup (lowest of the line.

The Girls has slightly lesser coat quality and their energy was lower (due to the lower kcals per cup) but this food has the best poop quality, oddly enough. You'd think a formula with less plant (fiber) sources over one with more would have smaller shits, but I guess that's not always the case.

Wetlands

Ingredients:
Duck, duck meal, chicken meal, egg product, sweet potatoes, peas, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), potatoes, roasted quail, roasted duck, smoked turkey, natural flavor, tomato pomace, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product,dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein: 32% Minimum, Fat: 18% Minimum
Calcium: 2.1%, as-fed; Phosphorus: 1.4%, as-fed
Calories: 3,750 kcal/kg (375 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

Since Conker has never tried Taste of the Wild, I was not opposed to feeding these foods due to the chicken content in three of the formulas. (I'll test that soon, I think he's been lying to me about the cooked chicken thing.)  I like the ingredients in this formula a lot. Plenty of protein sources before a plant, which is again sweet potatoes. There are some funny things like roasted quail and smoked turkey, and natural flavor generally turns me off, but I gave the food a shot anyways.

The results are very similar to the High Prairie. I like this formula a lot, I think the Girls actually do best on this one. Coat remained shiny and mostly odor-free, poop is pretty good, They seemed to like this one a lot too.

In general, I am very satisfied with the Taste of the Wild line. I have not tried any of their canned foods, I do not feed canned often and that's usually only when Conker is being an asshat. Again, I am not a big fan of Diamond, but with me, the bottom line is: Do the dogs do good on the food, do they like it, and can I afford it? And the answer to all three of those questions are yes. Diamond may not be the greatest company in the world, but I am quite satisfied with Taste of the Wild. I think too many people get hung up on Diamond's less-than-stellar track record and ignore the fact that this is a pretty great dog food, especially for the quality and price.
Anywho, the Girls do really good on this food. Taste of the Wild helped Sasha drop 20 pounds, and Juneau got an A+ from the Vet in the "I thought you were two years old, not six!" department. (Basically, she's in really great health.) It's affordable, easily available, and the dogs love it.


Coming soon!

Southwest Canyon

Taste of the Wild is coming out with a new formula this upcoming month, this time potato-free. The ingredients really don't look as good as the others, there are two plants sources after the first meat, and one meat meal after those then a mish-mash of other ingredients, so I do not think it's going to be as good as the other formulas. However, I am going to try it anyways and see how it compares to the others.
I was able to get a trial (5lb) bag from Petflow for $2 which will arrive in a few days. Conker will be the first one to try it, and it will be his first trial of a Taste of the Wild food. I dunno when exactly I will be trying it, I do have quite a list of foods to trial, but I may bump it up after I finish this bag of EVO and the bag of Fromm I started to try but quit for various reasons. (Going to give it one more shot before I give it an F.)
Since the Girls have two 30lb bags of Nutrisource to test out, it'll be at least two months before they get to try the new formula, if there's even a place that carries it here in GP. We tend to be on the slow-side as far as getting new products in goes, so I don't know if I'll be seeing it in October or next year or never.

Hardware Store

I took Conker to the Home Depot today. This was his first time ever going into a hardware store. I thought he was going to utterly hate it, he's not fond of buildings in general, let alone buildings that are usually noisy, but I gave it a shot anyways.
I first walked by the door and read the signs posted on it, one of which said "No Pets!" yet another said "Dogs must be on leash." So I was confuzed if dogs were or weren't allowed inside. I asked the greeter and he said that dogs were allowed, as long as they were leashed and didn't cause any issues. So I went back to the Jeep and retrieved Conker.

He was not exactly thrilled to be there, but he did a lot better than I expected. His tail only dropped when a supertall employee walked past and said hello to him, but he was generally curious, cautious, but curious, about the store. That's good, usually he shows no interest in anything but the door.

So Conker and I walked around Home Depot for a bit, picked up an electrical timer device, bought it (no treats at the register, they were out) then went back home.

The device is for the freezer. The thing runs constantly, it doesn't turn off even when it reaches the desired temperature, so I did a few experiments with unplugging it for certain periods of time and monitoring the internal temperature. I am going to try setting it to run for 30 minutes every hour and a half and see how well that maintains the temperature. If it needs more time running, or less, I'll adjust from there. But from what I gathered from my initial experiments, I think this will work fine. (And save money too.)


In other news...
All the dogs are digesting their food fine now with no signs of whatever the problems were. They are being transitioned back to their kibbles and will be fully transitioned tomorrow. I will hold off on add-ins for a few days, then test a couple items one at a time to see what could have been the trigger. Right now I am thinking it was the eggs, so I will test those first.

I bought something

Freezer... Big freezer.

Blarghiest

Sorry for the lack of anything even remotely interesting as of late.
Two of the dogs (guess who's one of them?) have had some digestive issues that I have not been able to find the cause of, Blogger finally updated my interface and I hate it, and nothing has really been going on that is worth writing about so... Yeah.
Once I get this problem with Conker and Sasha all sorted out, I'll probably be a bit more active on the blog. It just annoys the crap out of me and I don't feel like writing anything when two out of three dogs are leaving nasty messes in the backyard for a week. (Actually, Conker's only just started so that is slightly incorrect.)

Anywho, the weather suddenly got cooler, which is kinda nice.


EDIT: Okay well, Juneau had a slight issue as well, so add her to the list. Juneau's and Conker's problems look exactly alike, so that means that their problem(s) are one of these since they each got some of them yesterday:
A: EVO Red Meat, B: Raw egg, C: Beef roast chunk, D: Something else
I hope it's not D for simplicity's sake.

Reading List

Since I finally finished and returned the library books I borrowed a while ago, I can break into the small stock of books I have purchased in the past few weeks. I have recently discovered a used book store that I previously had never noticed that sells books for a really dang good deal. So I hop in there and pick myself up a few. I also bought one at another bookstore (new and used) a while ago, as well as some that I got for $1 at a yard sale. Oh, and a pair from a regular thrift store.
So, on my shelf of books to read are:

Hunting Dogs, by F.Philip Rice and John I.Dahl, first and second editions ($5 for both)
Hiking with Dogs, by Linda B. Mullally ($1)
Wolves, A Wildlife Handbook, by Kim Long ($2)
Never Cry Wolf, by Farley Mowat ($2)
Your Dog, The Owner's Manual, by Dr. Marty Becker ($10? Can't remember exactly)
The Dog Whisperer, by Paul Owens with Norma Eckoate ($3)
A Good Dog, by Jon Katz (1 of 3 for $1)
Cesar's Way, by Cesar Millan with Melissa Jo Peltier (2 of 3 for $1)
Dog Tricks, by Captain Arthur J Haggetry and Carol Lea Benjamin (3 of 3 for $1)

Note that one book titled The Dog Whisperer. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Cesar Millan butthead. The Dog Whisperer is a positive reinforcement training book, and I am looking forwards to reading it.
The only reason why a Cesar book is on my list is because it was basically free and I have never actually read any crap written by the egotistical bastard. I'm kinda curious to see what he says in it, but not at the same time.

Somehow, this thing passed the CGC

'Ey

Conker the Shiba Inu is now a Canine Good Citizen! It's just a certificate, not anything special (and I think that titles mean just about nothing anyways) but for Conker, this is a pretty big thing.

I never really talked (on the blog) about just how bad Conker was when I got him. Think Shiba Inu puppy, that is four months old, with absolutely NO bite inhibition, terribly food aggressive towards anything that moves, not house-trained, has no manners, and is afraid of everyone but me... Basically, he was part-feral (I truly mean that), and he was a big project right from the get-go.

The worst bit was the stranger fear. It is still an ongoing process, but Conker has made some pretty big improvements in the last few months.  Conker had gotten to the point that he was good enough around strange people, where as long as they didn't bother him, that he was fine with them being close to him. As in standing right beside him. That was HUGE for Conker, and I took that as a sign that he might be ready for CGC.
He was not overly fond of the training classes we took, but by the end he would accept two of the trainers with no issue, and one of the others with only a small amount of shying away. (One of the trainers and several handlers he still would not allow to pet or groom.) Conker was even okay with being left alone for 3 minutes with some nice elderly ladies, one of whom just adored Shibas.

Anyways, I'm glad that Conker was able to pass this thing. I still have a few things I need to work on him with but I really did not think that he would be able to pass the CGC this soon. It's been just shy of two years that I've had him, and in that time he's gone from being a wild, snapping, biting, fearful, maniac to what the AKC conciders to be a good citizen.

I don't think he'd have passed if they saw how he can be at home though... He's still got a bit of that feral side in him.

CGC class week 4

Today was the last day of CGC classes. Conker did good again, still was a bit nervous with the friendly stranger thing, but the trainer thinks he will pass. We'll see how he does this Saturday.

Not much else going on today. We didn't hike because of the class, and my sister and her fiancee are in town.

13.5 miles!

Wow, we had a LONG hike today! It was a very good one too. Unfortunately, I left the camera at home, so there are no pictures of today's hike.
We ran into Logan and his owner again, and this time we hiked together for a while. Conker and Logan got along great and even ran around playing some. Then Conker disappeared off to the parking lot and started to bark at people... Logan's owner has a lot of free time now so he and I are going to hike together often since the dogs get along so great.
I also ran into another Vibram Five Finger wearer. I was like "Hmm, I see toe shoe prints..." then caught up to who made them shortly after. We hiked together for a bit too and talked about some stuff, until I had to take the trail back to where my Jeep was parked. We hope to run into each other again for another chat.
(I was wearing my Vibrams today since I sliced my foot on something yesterday.)

So, while I may not have much of a social life (none if you take away the internet) there are some people who's company I do enjoy. I just don't actively seek out other people to be around. Kinda like Conker.

Dur hur

The best part about today was that, even after this nice long hike, the first thing Conker wanted to do when we got home was... Play. It's practically impossible to wear this Energizer Rocketship Shiba out.

We went to the dog park today, something we haven't done in a long time. Nobody was there, but that was fine. Conker sniffed and ran and rolled in the sand, then we visited the creek.

Conker really likes the creek. Sometimes he visits it five times in one dog park session (about an hour, sometimes more). It seems to supercharge him and he'll run around like a rocket after going for a swim.
Some of the trees at the dog park are beginning to show signs of fall, and the temperatures reflect that. It was a very nice mild day with a slight breeze.

On our hike, Conker was less than ethsusiastic and spent most of his time either lagging way behind or way off in front speeding along and trying to take trails that led back to the parking lot.

This picture shows how darned leggy Conker is. Conker is very leggy for a Shiba.

The hike was only around 3.5 miles or so, not too long. We ran into a pack of off-leash (but polite) dogs that Conker wanted absolutely nothing to do with and ran away from, and bayed at from a distance, right at the beginning of the hike. That could have been why he wanted to leave.

Some dope stole my sister's rabbit

Scooter spends most of the summer out in a pen in the front yard. He has plenty of clover and grass to eat, a shade house, and water at all times. Some jackass took it upon themselves to "rescue" or just plain steal my sister's rabbit. He is very well cared for, has a heated hutch that he sleeps in during the winter, is given fresh veggies and some fruits on an almost daily basis, is visited by many neighbors (and some polite dogs) during the day, and pet several times a day by my younger siblings and I. We care very deeply about Scooter and would really like to have him back. My sister is very upset over this.

Pre-weekend hikes

Yesterday and today Conker and I did 4.75 and 7 miles on our evening hikes. We hadn't gone on any hikes this week, for no reason, so I wanted to get some in before the weekend hit.

Obligatory pick-nick table Shiba.

Going up Hogback. It's one of the steeper "average" trails at Cathedral Hills. I don't particularly like this section very much, but Conker likes to take it. He doesn't care for the hill (unless we are going down it) but likes the parts after it.

The top of Hogback. I like the top of the Hogback trails since they are on top of ridges (hogbacks?) and you can see the rest of the forest from them. There is usually wind up on them.

The wind was sweeping along this section, and Conker was pausing frequently to sniff it. There must have been some interesting scents, since he stopped for very long periods of time.

 

I just like this picture.

Conker investigates a scent.

There have been a number of fires in the area lately so everything had a layer of haze over it. The smoke was only barely detectable (by me).

Conker started today's hike by taking a dirt bath. I guess he was not satisfied with his clear sable coat and wanted a shaded sable (sesame) coat. There is still dirt in his fur. I might need to give him a rinse soon.

He is getting more and more comfortable ranging out from me. He stops to check my whereabouts quite often so I let him go out pretty far if the trail is not too curvy. (This is not far at all, it's only about 30 feet or so. He goes out a LOT farther than that at times.)

We stopped on this bench for a water and scenery break.

The sun made the trees appear as if there was a large fire behind them.

The sunsets were pretty good on both days, thanks to the smoke haze that stuck around.

The Kibble Trails: New Contestant #7 EVO Red Meat (Small Bites)

I stopped the previous food due to some nasty digestive issues that began to occur when I started to feed it, and also since I bought some new kibble that was going to expire soon so I bumped back the other one and started to feed this one instead. The digestive problems have vanishes so far, so I figured I'd introduce the food properly now.

I spied a few bags of EVO on sale at the Grange for a good price. (13.2bs for $25, 28.6lbs for $50) They had Red Meat (small and large bites), Herring & Salmon, and Weight Management. (Holy shit check out the protein levels in the WM food!) They might have had Senior as well, but I can't remember.
I only bought one 13.2lb since the food was set to expire soon and I didn't want to stock up on stuff that would go bad before I could use it.

Anywho, I ended up with a bag of the Red Meat Small Bites.

Ingredients: 
Beef, Lamb Meal, Potatoes, Eggs, Sunflower Oil, Buffalo, Lamb, Venison, Herring Oil, Natural Flavors, Apples, Carrots, Tomatoes, Alfalfa Sprouts, Cottage Cheese, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins: (Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin E Supplement, Betaine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Beta Carotene, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Folic Acid), Minerals: (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper, Dried Chicory Root, Direct-Fed Microbials: (Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product)

Guaranteed Analisys:
Crude Protein (Min)     42.0 %
Crude Fat (Min)     22.0 %
Crude Fiber (Max)     2.5 %
Moisture (Max)     10.0 %
Carbohydrates NFE (Max)     15.0 %
Linoleic Acid (an Omega-6 Fatty Acid) (Min)     1.2 %
Vitamin E (Min)     300.0 IU/kg
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) (Min)     500.0 mg/kg
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Min)     0.4 %
DHA + EPA (Min)     0.1 %
Total Microorganisms (Min)     90,000,000.0 CFU/lb
4370.0 kcal/kg
27.0 kcal/cup


This is the highest protein dry food Conker has eaten since I attempted to feed him Orijen Puppy way back in St. Louis. (If you don't know already, that did not go very well at all.) Conker normally gets a protein level that's identical to the one in this food with the homemade stuff, but this is dry and that is packed with moisture.
This bag should last for the rest of the month. I might add in some canned or an egg every now and then, but not every day like I do with most other kibbles.

EVO's website has a feeding calculator that can be used to determine how much food a dog should get. I generally do not follow the guidelines on bags or websites since they are usually wrong when it comes to my dogs, but it can give a starting place if one is not sure how much to feed of a new food. (They almost always overestimate by a lot how much to feed.) Conker has been getting one cup a day, but that could change.

Anyways, so far he's been able to digest it fine with no problems. I had to switch him off the Fromm cold turkey because of the digestive problems but he handled the switch without problems. (Sometimes he does not.)

CGC class week 3

Conker did really good today. We did the usual heeling, then we worked on greeting a friendly stranger and supervised separation. Conker was, like normal, shy of the friendly stranger, but he did GREAT with the supervised separation. That kinda shocked me. No whining or looking for me, just chilling with the lady in a lawn chair. So, that's really good.
He did some very nice heeling, good recall, stays, downs, sits, etc... He wasn't so fond of the noise distractions, but he was good with the crowd. He also did good with the thing where two people with dogs walk towards each other and say hello, but the dogs don't. (Can't remember what that's called.)

Anywho, one more week of class to go, then after that is the CGC test! Hopefully Conker will be ready for it by then.

Nights are getting chilly

It was a dastardly 46 degrees last night. Both outside and in the trailer. I closed all the windows and door (I usually have that open with the screen door closed at night) but that did not help warm the trailer much. While the trailer can have heat, it runs on propane, and I'd rather not do that (expensive). So I don't have any heat (yet) and had to figure something out to keep myself warm.
Already on the bed is a sheet, micro-fleece blanket, poly-fleece blanket, and pseudo-sleeping bag. I added an additional layer last night to combat the chilly air. Not the heavy-duty sleeping bag I reserve for the dead of winter. Not the wool blanket I jacked from the yard sale last year. No, I broke out...

The queen sized dual control heating blanket. And cranked it up to level 7 (out of 10).

It was cold enough that even Conker didn't want to stay on top of the covers and ended up squashed up against my face under the heating blanket. But alas, I was so annoyed with how cold it had suddenly gotten that I didn't actually fall asleep until about 7:30 AM.

The predicted temperature for tonight is from 54 to 48 degrees, depending on the site you use. This time if it gets cold enough, I will be prepared. I'll have that thing running before I even get into bed.  See, being the desert creature that I am, it's gotta be warm, even hot sometimes, in order for me to sleep good. If I am the least bit chilled, I won't sleep at all. Which is basically what happened last night.

Once he joined my face under the covers, Conker slept quite soundly. As usual.

Today the Girls got some raw yumms.

Chicken backs, ground beef, lamb liver, beef thymus, and eggs. Conker didn't get any. I gave him 3/4 cup of EVO Red Meat, we'll see how that goes either tonight or tomorrow.

Switching things up

So, I found a bag of EVO Red Meat for cheap, and since it's got the closest expiration date, I will be trying it out. I'm going to put the Fromm Salmon on hold for now, since when I began to feed it to Conker, he started having odd poop problems that I haven't seen in a long long time. If they continue, then I will investigate further. But for now, I'm hoping that a food change will stop the nasty from occurring.

I have been watching the neighbor's dogs and today decided to take the Husky (who I am basically convinced has some Malamute in him) hiking with Conker and I. Conker is a total ass to Indie through the fence, but Indie just blows him off, which seems to anger Conker even more.
After an initial snarkfest from Conker while I was picking Indie up (this is MY JEEP and you WILL NOT get in it!) the two got along perfectly fine.

Indie's got basically no manners. Despite that, he's a very sweet dog, I like hanging out with him. He was pretty good on the trails too, after we settled out the pulling issue. He doesn't respond to his name at all, but after a few sessions of "Indie, wanna treat?" He started to pay attention to me when I spoke to him.

Conker of course always wanted a treat and paid pretty good attention to me. This is a common "game" we play on the trail so Conker knew to do as I say to get a treat.

Indie discovered the numerous lizards on the trail, and that they are fun to stomp. He'd suddenly veer off to one side, rise up on his hind legs, then STOMP down on the lizards with his front feet. I think he only got a couple, but he sure tried hard to smash them.

Due to the lack of a bell (I left it on Sasha' collar by accident) and since I was not sure how well his foot was, I kept Conker close or at a heel for most of the hike. He was not exactly pleased with that, but he got to sniff and mark all the bushes he wanted so I don't think he's got too much to complain about.
Indie on the other hand, well he stayed on-leash. First off, he's got zero recall. And second, he's not mine. I'm not stupid enough to let a dog with no recall that doesn't belong to me off the leash in an unfenced lizard and squirrel infested forest.

Speaking of squirrels, we saw three, one of which Indie wanted to chase so bad we had to stop and wait for him to chill out before we continued.

We did about 6.5 miles today, which I think could have been a bit much for Indie. I had Indie wear Juneau's harness and leash but not the pack since he's still pretty young and I figured he'd get enough exercise with just a hike. I was right, he's sacked out good right now.