WELL

I'm back in Oregon. Washington wasn't going to work, too many difficulties and whatnot.

As much as I don't like GP, it's a hellova lot better than Vancouver.

The Kibble Trails: Contestant #3 Fromm Surf & Turf

I wasn't planning on doing another kibble trial for a while, but Conker is still being a buttface about eating his "normal" food, so here goes.


The third bag of kibble I will be trying is Fromm's Surf & Turf. This is a fish, duck, and potato based food. I hope the potato won't cause any issues, but I don't think it will.

The Rundown.

Fromm has a good selection of kibbles in their Four-Star, Gold, and Classics lines. The Four-Star and Gold lines have several flavors available, but only a few of them fit the bill for what I was looking for. Some of them I can't ever seem to find no matter where I go, but the one I originally had on my list was available.

Craptastic cell phone picture

Ingredients:
Fresh pacific wild salmon, duck meal, fresh russet potatoes, pea flour, fresh sweet potatoes, fresh duck, chicken fat, dried tomato pomace, salmon meal, whole dried egg, pea protein, fresh chicken, flaxseed, fresh Wisconsin cheese, salmon oil, chicken broth, fresh carrots, fresh broccoli, fresh cauliflower, fresh apples, fresh green beans, chicken cartilage, potassium chloride, fresh cranberries, fresh blueberries, salt, chicory root extract, fresh alfalfa sprouts, Yucca schidigera extract, sodium selenite, folic acid, taurine, fresh parsley, vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, choline bitartrate, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate, riboflavin supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, copper sulfate, cobalt carbonate, calcium iodate, sorbic acid (preservative), ferrous proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, magnesium proteinate, manganese proteinate, cobalt proteinate, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium longum fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Enterococcous faecium fermentation product

Guaranteed Analysis: Protein 30% Min Fat 19% Min Fiber 3.5% Max Moisture 10% Max Total Microorganisms 100,000,000 CFU/lb Min kcal/kg 4,306.00 kcal/lb 1,957.27

The 4 pound bag cost me $16.25, but that's due to sale tax. (Bought in Washington)

This is lower protien and higher carb than Conker is used to, so I will probably be adding in a bit of fresh meat (if hell eat it) to bring the protien level up a bit.

The trip went fine. Conker is adapting to Grandma's place, but is taking his time a bit. He gets along fine with the neighbor's old Labbish dog, Jake, but Jake's food is kept outside so unfortunately I can't leave Conker unattended out there. He'll eat it, or defend it from Jake, which is not good. Jake's owner can't put in inside either, since Jake will only eat outside (he just stands there inside as if he doesn't know what to do with the food) and tends to do it over a period of time. I can tell it's not good food either, since Jake's coat is somewhat smelly and leavs a nasty residue on my hands after I pet him. Oh well.
(There is no fence between the two proerties)

I do not have a camera so there won't be pictures (for a while) and my computer's internet is not set-up yet so updates will be on hold for a short bit until I get that settled.

From Soggy Southern Oregon to Soggy Southern Washington

Remember how I mentioned that I might possibly be moving up north? Well, it's not possibly anymore.
Conker and I are packed up and headed to Washington! (tomorrow)

We will be living just north of the Columbia River in a small city (three times the size of GP) that is often referred to as "The Couve" but I HIGHLY doubt I'll call it that. That name is... Not to my liking. GP is a pretty stupid name but that one is stupider and I will probably come up with a different alias than "The Couve" for the new place of residence.

Speaking of which... It looks like this.

But will be parked at an actual house, where I will be spending most of my time. The trailer is just for sleeping and minimal living in. It's where all my junk will be so it won't intrude upon my Grandma's house, and so I can have a little "getaway" place if need be. Also, I don't know what Grandma's attitude towards Conker in her house will be, so the trailer will be his little haven if he gets kicked out.

I have lived with this particular Grandma before and know my way around this "new" living place quite well. So nothing about it will really be new, except Conker and the trailer.

Speaking of Conker... He is being picky about food again (turkey and gizzards), and will be getting a good bath and nail trimming so he appears somewhat decent for Grandma. I hope he doesn't start off by barking at her, but that's probably what he'll do.


Anywho, that's it for now! Next update will probably be in a few days.

The Middle of May at Cathedral Hills

Well, we had a bit of an adventure today! Nothing too exciting, but it was rather odd. See, Conker decides how long the hikes are, and also determines the route most of the time. He likes to go for about 3-5 miles round trip, rarely more.
Except today. Conker chose a route that was closer to 7 miles!

Conker started the hike off with a spazzout moment.

Then decided that 85 degrees was a bit hot for spazzing and cooled off with a quick drink of muddy water.

Seeing as it's spring, it was extra green here in Southern Oregon.

Lots of green.

 The trails we took were mostly forested with oak. It depends on the terrain and how much sun or water the hills get for what trees will be most populous in any particular area.

The oak sections of trail tend to be shadier, and cooler, so that might be why Conker chose them. They are more damp though, and more muggy.

Obligatory pick-nick bench picture.

We ended the hike with a nice stroll through some Ponderosa Pines. I like the pines more than the oak. Not as muggy, more open, and it reminds me of the camping ground we used to go to when I was younger back in Arizona.

Conker being a punk to Juneau

Juneau is the Cutest Dog Ever, remember? She is the only dog that I actually like the "in your face giant nose" type pictures. All the others... Meh.

Aywho, unfortunately for Juneau, Conker is a jerk and loves to pick on her. She puts up with it, I don't know why. Sasha doesn't and that is why he does not harass her like he does Juneau.
So here is some Conker being a punk to Juneau. In the snow.

Asshat.

The Kibble Trials: Wellness CORE Ocean: Results

I was a bit disappointed with this food. It took Conker a short while to transition over and I had to use probiotics and chicory root to ensure it was digested (and excreted) well.

The 4 pound bag and 5 cans lasted about 17 days. Conker needed to eat more food to maintain a good weight so that shortened this food's trial period a bit, but the cans helped round it out.

Overall, Conker did okay on this food. He did not develop eye boogies like he sometimes does on other foods than his normal type, which was a plus.
He did, however, turn somewhat stinky. This was not a faint dog-smell, you could smell him from a short distance away. That is a huge negative due to him normally having no smell whatsoever.

 The poop was somewhat largish (2 poops a day compared to one) and unpredictable. The only way to keep it stable was to add probiotics and ground roasted chicory root. Sometimes it smelled quite nasty.
Conker got some nastyass tooth gunk which I was able to control with scrapings and hard chews.

Kibble topped with stew-type

The kibbles were medium-large sized, shaped like a funky triangle thing and not as dense as some other high-quality kibbles I have seen. They smelled heavily of fish, but not in a good way. I did not really like the way this food smelled. It was not bad or off, just not pleasant.
The CORE can wasn't too bad, but still smelled kinda gross. The stew-type can was by-far my favorite in the Wellness line.

95% fish-paste topped kibble

I did not like the 95% canned types at all. They were pasty and nasty-smelling. The fish one was the worst. It was just, icky. Conker of course loved it, but like the kibble, did not digest it well.


Overall I was not pleased with Wellness CORE kibble or the cans I tried. I really did like the packaging on the bag and CORE can, but that is really not a good way to pick a brand of food.
I didn't like the way Conker began to smell, how quickly his teeth got into a nasty state, nor how I had to continuously use probiotics and chicory root to keep his digestive system working right.
I will not he using Wellness again.

My computer is broken... AGAIN

Yep! The computer I was using to replace my old broken one broke. Dunno how or why, but it just up and decided not to work. I am... thrilled.
Since the office computer messed my shoulder up bad last time, I won't be using it much. So, yet again, updates will be minimal due to me not having a computer. I will try to reinstall Windows on my old broken one (I found some installation CD's) but I don't know if it'll work.

Steak for Breakfast

Almost every time I tell someone that I sometimes eat steak for breakfast they look at me as if I am insane. I guess to them, steak is only for dinner.  Not for lunch, and certainly not for breakfast. But "steak" in the form of a burger is fine for lunch, but again not breakfast. Unless in a breakfast burrito.
I get the same look when I mention regularly cooking eggs and bacon in the middle of the night. Or maybe a nice pot of oatmeal. Or toss up a salad. What's up with that? Who decided that you are supposed to only eat certain foods at certain times and made it into some unwritten law?

But really, why should it matter? If I ate cereal (I don't like milk or soggy so I don't) then I'd probably have that for lunch, or a mid-afternoon snack. I also drink tea all day, almost every day. Any time of the day is good for tea, and like the food I don't regulate certain teas to certain times. "Breakfast" tea is fine in the middle of the night just like a "sleepytime" tea is fine in the morning.

I feel better throughout the day when I eat steak for breakfast instead of a more traditional meal. I also tend to eat more than I would at dinner. Which makes sense, to me at least. Eat a bigger breakfast, have more energy during the day, don't need to eat a big dinner later.
Works the same way for Conker. He has more energy during the day if fed in the morning than in the afternoon or evening.  I have actually noticed, since I stay up all night, that Conker is a lot more active at night, and making a racket when people are trying to sleep, when he eats later instead of earlier. (It's got nothing to do with me being up at night. I tested both feeding times to be sure of that.)

Funny how that works.


BTW, pan-fried steak, with a side of Vivaldi, makes for a very nice breakfast setting. Try it sometime.

Photochop!

Though this picture is quite blurry and to me, completely worthless straight out of the camera, it was made slightly better with the help of Photochop (intentionally spelled that way). The dirt was originally quite pale, nothing compared to it's natural dark, earthy look. The greens were, well, not green, and Conker was a dull tan instead of somewhat bright red.

I really could try harder to make good pictures great, but better works just fine for me. I can use photoshop quite well, I just don't like to, so I stick with the basics and just tweak the images a bit to get it slightly closer to what it would look like in real life.
Without it, pictures taken with this cruddy camera would be really terrible even with good lighting.

And yes, the greens really are that green here in Southern Oregon.

Money Spent in April

Here is month number 4's monthly total tracking thing. You can see last month's writeup here.

I spent a bit more than "usual" on food due to the kibble thing I am doing.


April 2012

• Food:$53.90
• Treats/Chews: $22.00

Total: $76.90

Significantly less than March, but food shot way up.

Food.
I bought two bags of kibble and several cans for the food trials I am doing. I bought one 4.5 pound bag of Nature's Variety Instinct Salmon and various cans from the Instinct line and one from the Prairie line. I also got a bag of Wellness CORE Ocean and cans from the CORE, Chunks and Gravy, and 95% Toppers and Mixers lines.
Oh, and one package of turkey neck, liver, gizzard, and heart. For $1.

Treats/Chews.
I got several chews from the Farmer's Market on two weekends. Various things like tendons, bully sticks, and trachea slices. I won't be buying more tendons though, since Conker cannot digest those very well. I also got a couple bully sticks at the petshop, as well as a 1 pound bag of Go! Salmon kibbles to use as treats.


That's it for April! I didn't buy anything other than edibles, even though I lost Conker's martingale collar and leash (I know they're in this house somewhere) so instead I made a collar out of an old belt and a leash out of a rope and carabiner. Why buy more stuff when I can make it?