Money spent in March

I am keeping track of how much I spend on Conker each month and doing a writeup of the expenses when that month of over. Last month's expenses are here.
Here is my Conker expenses for the month of March.


March has been, by far, the most expensive month this year. Not because of splurging, no, not that, but because this month contained the much dreaded vet visit.
Anyways, onto the tally.

March 2012

• Food: $11.40
• Treats/Chews: $22
• Vet/Medical: $183.40
• Accessories: $11.50

Total: $228.30

Again, I prettymuch doubled (and then some) what I spent last month.


Food.
I bought four canned things: Salmon, Mackerel, Sardine, Oyster.  I am cutting clams out of Conker's diet due to price, and will probably do the same with fish once my current stock runs out. The clams are being replaces with gizzard, the fish with a Vitamin D supplement.
I also got some liver for $1.90 a pound and gizzards for $1.50 a pound.

Treats/Chews.
After Conker's vet visit we went to a treat store and bought a Zuke's chew. The farmer's market has started up again, so I bought a bag of assorted chews for the dogs as well, and some pig ear strips at the petshop.

Vet/Medical.
It was time for Conker to have a vet visit for a general checkup ($44) and to get a 3 year rabies vaccine ($9.20). Unfortunately, the vet LIED TO MY FACE about the other vaccine he got. I THOUGHT it was a distemper/parvo only vax but really it was a 4-way combo. That really pissed me off, and I would have outright refused it if I knew what it really was and saved myself $17.10.
I also got Conker chipped, which cost $51 including lifetime registration (AVID), had him tested for heartworms ($28.70), and got some Heartguard Plus for the summer ($36.40).

Accessories.
I went to Ross (I never go there so it was novel) and found some dog stuff. They had a metal diner-holder thing, for bowls, for only $8 so I bought it. It came with two bowls and some junk. I also bought a heavy-duty stainless bowl for $3.50 that I think is totally badass.

Hopefully April won't cost as much.


I bought two bags of kibble and some cans at the end of March, but since they are to be used in April, will be counted towards April's monthly expenses.

The Kibble Trials: The Contestants

I have found the brands that I am going to include in the trials. I have a small group to chose from, due to there being no "boutique" style dog shops in GP (maybe I should like, open one, or something) that carry higher end, "natural", holistic, or whatever you want to call it, brands of kibble. The stuff without the cruddy ingredients.

Anywho, I chose several brands, eight to be exact, that will be tested sometime or another. There are several others that I may try if Conker shows that he can handle kibble. If not, they won't be included.
The criteria for the kibbles I chose are:
Must be locally available. This one is a biggie, since I hate ordering stuff online.
Cost no more than $20 for a 4-7 pound bag, and less than $1.25 per cup.
Have more protein than carbs. Slightly more carbs is permissible. (Calorie Weighted Basis)
Contain quality ingredients that have absolutely NO: Wheat, corn, soy, unnamed meats or by-products.
Chicken and potatoes are permissible, but preferably not included.

The kibbles that fit that criteria that I can get locally are:

EVO: Herring & Salmon and Red Meat
6.6 pounds for $19, $.81 per cup, $2.87 per pound, about 18 days of food
Protein:37 Fat:41 Carb:17

Nature's Variety Instinct: Salmon
4.4 pounds for $19, $1.14 per cup, $4.31 per pound, about 11 days of food
Protein:31 Fat:47 Carb:23
(I have a $3 off coupon, and it's currently on sale)

Wellness CORE: Ocean
4 pounds for $16, $.92 per cup, $4.00 per pound, about 10 days of food
Protein:32 Fat:37 Carb:31
(also on sale)

Canidae pure: LAND and SEA
5 pounds for $16, $.81 per cup, $3.20 per pound, about 15 days of food
Protein:30 Fat:37 Carb:33

Solid Gold: Barking at the Moon
4 pounds for $17, $.91 per cup, $4.25 per pound, about 13 days of food
Protein:46 Fat:22 Carb:24

Fromm Four Star: Surf & Turf
4 pounds for $13, $.61 per cup, $3.25 per pound, about 12 days of food
Protein:27 Fat:42 Carb:31

Blue Buffalo Wilderness: Salmon
4.5 pounds for $19, $1.12 per cup, $4.20 per pound, about 10 days of food
Protein:33 Fat:35 Carb:32

Before Grain: Salmon and Buffalo
6.6 pounds for $18, $.64 per cup, $2.72 per pound, about 16 days of food
Protein:31 Fat:35 Carb:34

I am a bit reluctant to include the Before Grain kibble since the second ingredient in both the Salmon and Buffalo formulas is chicken meal, which renders it a good portion of the food. But I liked the protein to carb ratio compared to some others I researched so I stuck it in there as a strong possibility.


I will be noting any changes that happen to Conker during the trials, with special attention given to: Digestibility (includes poop facts), plaque and overall tooth health, smell (Conker has none), and amount needed to maintain a healthy weight.

Each kibble will be fed as long as it lasts and Conker digests it well. If he can't seem to digest it good, it will be dropped and fed to the Girls. Kibbles that I am unsure of their digestibility or effects at the end of it's trail may be given an extension. Once the trial for that kibble is over, I will switch Conker back to his regular diet so he can "reset" any changes that may have occurred on the kibble until he is in default condition so I can accurately judge each kibble and it's effect on him. Kibbles that I like may be given a longer run at the end of the trials for further analysis.


Due to Conker being a douche and outright refusing to eat his food for several days now, The Kibble Trials begin today.
(He is otherwise normal, healthy, active, and has quite a large apatite. Just not for his food.)

The Kibble Trails: Research

A mentioned sometime earlier, Conker has been found to be able to digest some kibble. I don't know if it's long-term digestibility or what, but I have decided to experiment with it a bit and see how it compares to what he normally gets. I will  be taking note of any good or bad physical, energy, or other changes that may occur during the trails.

I have been researching various kibbles for the past few days and have drawn up a list of brands that I am, might, and won't be testing out on him. Most of them are higher-end and a good many grain-free (but that is not a reason for picking them).
Since I have never really thought of feeding Conker a kibble for like, more than a year, I have not done much research into kibbles. All my research has been on individual food items, fats, protein, carbs, energy, and other things like nutrient requirements and signs of deficiency/excess. This whole "dog food" thing is actually very new to me.

I am shooting for kibbles that are priced within $10-20 for a 4-7 pound bag that  quality ingredients with no wheat, corn, soy, and preferably, as little chicken and potato as possible, has a good amount of protien, moderate fat (since no kibbles are high-fat) and as low carbs as possible. If they have a canned variety that is not to horribly priced and had a good ratio of fat/protein with again, as few carbs as possible, I will include it in the trails.

I plan on starting the trails in just under a week when my pre-made raw food batch is finished. Or sooner, if Conker keeps up this picky streak he's currently going through.


This is, hopefully, going to be fun.

These pictures are TERRIBLE

For reals, they sucks. I am getting fed-up with shitty picture quality straight out of the camera and the lack of photoshop to force them to be better.
Anywho, here ya go. Shitastical "quality" pictures of Conker being... Stupid looking.

Start the rolling.

WHEEEEE!

Dig in the puddle dig dig dig holy shit DIG!

Reminds me of a falling cow. Mooooo...

Start some more rolling.

Looks like some sort of yoga pose. "Dog being dumbass" is what I'd call it.

Heeey... Wassup?

Taken today at the exceptionally wet dog park.

Spazzout!

Conker the Shiba Inu, in all his slightly toned-down glory.

For more information, visit this PubMeb abstract.

Conker and Kibble

Conker hasn't been allowed to eat a single piece of kibble for quite some time now. Due to how badly he had reacted to Science Diet, Orijen, and the few Pedigree and Taste of the Wild bits he was able to steal, I strictly guarded him from snatching another bite lest it disagree with him and he... decorate... the yard... with... nasty... stuff. Or worse, the house.
I have, a couple times, tried to give him some Taste of the Wild (very slow transition, sudden transition, moderate transition... all with the same conclusion) but the results have never been pretty, so I was basically scared off attempting to feed Conker kibble.


Some time ago I found a couple small sample bags of Solid Gold's kibble. I found three types: Wolf King, Hund-N-Flocken, and Barking at the Moon.  I grabbed them, intending to give them to the Girls for taste tests but instead did something I haven't done for a long while.


I gave them to Conker.


I was very wary at first, not wanting to upset his digestive system like all the past times he's grabbed kibble from the Girls before I could stop him. I really, really, really, really, didn't want to give the kibbles to him, but then again, I was really, really, really, really, curious if he could actually eat a kibble and digest it well.

I started with the Wolf King type. Though it is for "large breed" dogs, I didn't much care. It did contain potatoes but also contained grains. The main protien was bison.
I didn't instantly switch Conker to it. He ate some Honest Kitchen for a day to two, then got the Wolf King mixed with the HK, then one day of Wolf King on it's own.
He digested it fine. That was a shock.

So the next day he got Hund-N-Flocken, since it had no potatoes. It's main protien is lamb.
He digested this better than the Wolf King. Another shock.

After that... I gave him some of the Barking at the Moon. I was reluctant to include this one in the kibble test since it did not contain grains and used potatoes and had a very high protien content compared to the other two. But I gave it anyways.
This one... Yes and no. I am unsure of exactly what went on here. Not much of a shock at all.

The day after that, Conker got raw foods. He didn't have a problem switching back.


So, in the short-term, Conker can eat Solid Gold kibbles. This is both good and bad.
I do not plan on ever permanently switching him off raw and home-cooked foods, ever, unless I cannot financially afford to feed him that way anymore. That is a "bad" part of him being able to digest a kibble, because there is no longer an incentive to feed raw and home-cooked foods due to digestive issues.
The "good" part is, he can digest a kibble! That means, if I ever have to go someplace and not take him, the relatives don't have to deal with thawing raw stuff and cooking oats for Conker every day.
Another thing that is interesting, and a "bad" for the kibble is, though he only ate it for about five days, in those five days, he began to smell, got eye boogers, had less stable energy, and more spaztastic energy.
Not fond of those side-effects, I am. Further convinced my diet is better than commercial, I am.


The unknown thing here is, though, can he actually, consistently, and predictably, digest that kibble? When he was on Science Diet and later Orijen, he went through periods of fine digestion and horrid digestion. Some days he had regular poop, others... nasty nasty nasty.
He was not eating the Solid Gold kibbles long enough for me to figure out if this is the case or not.
It needs further experimenting to draw up a conclusion on the actual digestibility and effects of the kibble, maybe sometime next month. I will probably try one type, take note of any changes, then put Conker back on the "default" diet (what he currently eats) to reset any changes, then test another type.

I am very curious about this though, and are somewhat looking forwards to it. I love to compare things, and this will be a real test of a commercial diet vs my diet.
(Excluding THK, Ziwipeak, and Freshpet, since they are not "normal" commercial foods.)

Happenings in the Past Week

I read a lot of books. A lot of books. Something like, 5-8 books? 7 books. I started reading books before I took a blogging break though, so I can't count all them them during the past week.
Lets see... I read: Dog Sense, Born to Run,  Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats, The Hunger Games, The Social Lives of Dogs, Pack of Two, and Through the Eyes of a Dog.
I currently have on hold at the library: How the Dog Became the Dog. It needs to hurry up and get returned so I can read it.


Because of the shoulder/neck/arm issue, I spent very little time on the computer for the first few days, less than 20 minutes a day. I gradually began to increase the time until I found that I can go an hour to two till my shoulder begins to tell me to get off. If I refrain from putting my left arm up on the desk (required for typing, unfortunately) then I can go a bit longer. But even if I leave my arm off the desk for the entire time, it's sitting at the comp (no matter where I put my arm) that makes it hurt so I can't spend as much time on it as I would my own currently-dead computer.

Yay. I am so excited. </sarcasam>

I bought a thingy, doggy diner? Dish holder, at Ross, for $8. It came with two bowls, a ball (dead) a rope toy (almost dead), and some rawhides. And a lot of paper stuff, crinkled shredded stuff. Like the stuff that's in Easter baskets, but made out of paper.
The diner-holder is not metal colored anymore though, I "painted" it black with rattle-can PlastiDip so it wouldn't clink when Conker eats. The noise bugged him enough that he wouldn't eat if a bowl was in it so I had to fix it somehow.
I also bought a heavy-duty stainless bowl that I am now obsessed with for about $3.50.

The dogs all got some raw food. The Girls got: Pork, chicken bones, ground beef, canned mollusks, gizzard, heart, liver. Conker got: chicken leg, pork, other stuff...

Conker made a funny face.

Got a picture of Conker looking bizarre (and kinda fat) while checking out a Kong.

The dogs got some more raw food. This time chicken boobs with the usual nonsense.

I have begun to train Juneau to tolerate the sound of a cap gun, with hopes that she will be able to eventually progress to gunfire (fireworks make her shake, so maybe not) so I can use her as a Coot retriever this upcoming waterfowl season.  I am doing it by getting her into the retrieving mode by having her play with a toy, then giving her lots of praise and having her focus on the toy, then firing the cap gun, more praise, and chucking the toy before she has a chance to flip out. So far it's working. Conker doesn't seem to care either way.

If she ends up getting stuck at the sound of actual gunfire, I will attempt to train Conker to do water retrieves, but I have high doubts that will actually work. He will retrieve, in shallow water, sometimes, if he wants to, and maybe-sorta-not-really brings things back. He is fine with loud noises, much moreso than Juneau, and I think he would adapt to gunfire a hellova lot easier than she would, but he won't leap into freezing water deeper than he is tall without a second thought like Juneau will.

He would be a better squirrel dog. He loves to tree things, and barks up a storm when he does.


The furnace has finally been fixed. No more staying up late tending the fire. I miss the fire, it has much better warmth than the furnace, and I am very well adapted to this nocturnal schedule of sleeping from 10AM to 6PM and being awake during the evening, night, and early morning. Anytime I try to break it, I fail dramatically and revert back to "normal" within a day.

Oh, and these things don't seem to know what "Leave me alone." means anymore. Seriously. Everywhere I go, they are there. Following, no, STALKING me, and staring at me like their lives depend on getting one more, no, two more, scratches before I send them off to do something that does not intrude upon my book reading.

Taking a Short Break

My left shoulder, side and back of my neck, and left arm are killing me. Using the computer for more than 10 minutes is intensely painful right now, so I will not be positing any new updates for about a week.
I'm not exactly sure what caused it, probably a combination of leaning on my left arm while on the 'puter, using the other one (the desk is a lot higher than mine), and who knows what else.
Oddly enough, the pain is getting worse despite me not using the computer very much, so I'm basically going to cut usage down to pretty-much nothing for a few days to see if that will help.

Be back soon.

I used a mixer today

I don't normally do that, but I decided to try it. On Conker's oats. Since, for some reason, I ended up with twice as much as I was attempting to make and didn't want to mix it all up with a spoon.

The end result was about three and a half cups of nicely blended oats, sardine, egg, ground roasted chicory root, and something else but I already forgot what it was. So now I've got two extra days of oats for Conker, which I am very satisfied with. I haven't been able to get them to the texture and consistency I wanted for a while, no matter what I did with them during cooking and mixing until I used the electric mixer thing.

I think I will me making large batches from now on. The little tupperware in the picture holds 1 1/8 cups of stuff, which is about how much of the finished oat mash Conker gets each day. It works out nicely if I can get the measurements right on the first try. Which, no matter how well I follow a "recipe" it always seems to turn out different than the last time.

So um, how about that weather?

It's been odd this winter. Very odd indeed. It's been "mild" with moderate temperatures (most of the time) and very little rain. To top that off, it's snowed FOUR times. Four! That's four more times than normal.
This time the snow was about 1.5 - 2 inches deep, which is a lot for in town. It stick around for a good part of the day too.

Conker had a ton of fun messing around in it. Like he always does. I need to live somewhere with regular snow so he can burn off energy without me doing much.

Little brother came out with me and Conker to have a snowball fight. It was much fun, and Conker was a good distraction.

KILL IT!

This snow happened yesterday.

Even the Girls got to run around in it a bit. Not for long though, they tend to not stay in the front yard and will run off to do their own crap. Conker doesn't do that.

We are still depending on wood to keep the house warm. Which doesn't quite work, since all the heat stays in the front room. So I basically live there instead of my room and spend less than two hours a day on the comp compared to my normal time of "roughly the entire day".


So today, I took Conker to the dog park since I was sick of being in the house.

There was nobody there, so Conker sniffed some mud.

Got a couple treats.

And surveyed his kingdom. With a smug look on his face. Like always.