Five Dogs

Mom's friend's dog's Lucky and Star came over for a visit after appearing at the Blondie's event for the local shelter.  (Blondie's is the upscale bar my Mom's friend co-owns) I took Conker over there for an hour or so and he was real good and let some people pet him.  He was only snarky with a couple dogs but generally got along with everybody despite all the noise, music, dogs, people and food at the event.

 When Conker and I got back (actually, before we even left) Lucky decided to take a dip in the pool.  normally this isn't allowed but there was no telling Lucky not to get into the pool.  Then much to my amazement, Conker went and did the same thing!

Conker has never gotten into the pool on his own, and after that first step in he was just as bad as Lucky about going in even when told not to.  Star took a couple cool-down dips as well and even Sasha was convinced to go in.

Conker went in several more times after that.  I'm glad he likes the water, but he'd better not make this a habit since he's really not supposed to go in there.


So, Mom thinks five dogs are a lot of dogs.  Five wet dogs running through the house, shaking water everywhere, leaving paw prints on the tile and carpet.  Five dogs who all bark at once, five dogs who all run through the door at the same time, five dogs who all want to be pet before the other.

Conker, Juneau, Star, Sasha and Lucky.

I don't think five dogs is too many. 

Twitter?

Yeah, I have no idea how to use it.  I'm going to "try it out" but I dunno if it'll fly, I'm not really into that sort of thing.  Stuck a widget on the sidebar...

Twitterness

Sasha passed the CGC!

Yay Sasha woo...

She did very well during the entire thing and only "messed up" during the dog meet n' greet thing.  She tried to sniff the other dog but I caught her quick enough that it didn't count against her. 
I'm going to be sending her paperwork into the AKC to get a certificate thingy to stick on the wall or something.


In other news...

There were some neat dogs at the event today.  Afghan Hounds, at least five were there.  I also saw a Rhodesian Ridgeback, a Hungarian Kuvasz, Irish Setters, Dobermans, Shelties, some loud and obnoxious Puli, many many Corgi's (one had long hair!) several GSD's, many mutts, some Chi's, Pugs, a ton of Poodle-oodle-whatevers... It was pretty neat.  Nothing outstanding was there but it was fun to see the different types of dogs in one place.

Leaves?

All three dogs were just out int he back eating leaves.  Not grass, leaves. Crunchy dead brown leaves.  I don't even know what that's supposed to mean, eating leaves.  Never really heard of it before. Grass yes, there are several theories on that but leaves?  Whatever.

Oddly Nice Day

So, it rained last night.  Dunno when but everything was wet when I woke up.  Odd, since rain wasn't in the forecast.  It's also like, 70 degrees right now.  It should be about 78. 

The dogs all got some yummy stuff today.

The Girls got some hunks of turkey back, chicken liver and egg.  Conker got a chicken leg, hearts, egg, beef liver, sardines, etc...

Juneau took her time eating her share.  She would grab a chunk and if it were too big she'd carry it to the grass and eat it over there then come back for more.

Sasha horked hers down and made a mess.

When the Girls were done I put them inside and brought the dumbass out.  He did a lot of this.

He ate everything except that damn chicken leg.  He would just lick it, so I held it for him, which I hate doing.  Lick lick lick, nibble, lick, nibble some more... I get agitated when he does this so I sat out there waiting for him to eat the damn thing for about 10 minutes before I dropped it on the ground and called Juneau out.  Conker was not happy, but didn't attempt to take the leg before Juneau got there, which he does with things he wants, so he mustn't have wanted it if he let her take it.

Conker later got a turkey tail which he did eat, out of the bowl, without me holding it for him like a freaking baby.


Sasha has her last CGC class in the park later today.  The event where the CGC testing is on Saturday, and hopefully she's ready to take it.  I hope she passes, that would be a neat addition to reaching the weight goal I set for her back in... whenever I started her diet.

This is what a brushing session with Conker looks like

The Honest Kitchen: Zeal Taste Test

I was given a sample of Zeal from MC over at The House of Two Bows to try out.  The day the package arrived I left it on my bed and visited the farmer's market and came home to see that Conker had wanted whatever was inside.  He chewed through one of the corners but thankfully had given up before he got to the tasty insides.  She was nice enough to give me enough Zeal to give all three dogs a taste test, and since Conker failed at pillaging the package all three got to do so.

Ingredients:
Dehydrated white fish (line-caught Haddock, wild Whiting), sweet potatoes, eggs, organic coconut, alfalfa, apples, green beans, parsley, cabbage, bananas, wild Salmon, cranberries, garlic, rosemary, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium iodide, potassium chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein, 35% min
Fat, 8.4% min
Fiber, 5.8% min
Moisture, 8.4% max

Zeal is actually much yellower than this.

Like the Keen, Zeal has a very herbish smell.   It smells quite nice, and I guess Conker recognized it when he tried to rip apart the package.  There are small chunks of fish, sweet potato, green beans and, something, visible in the mix.
And like he did with the Keen, Conker was strutting around and savaging the Girls' faces while it was re-hydrating on the counter.  When asked to sit, he craned his neck around backwards and watched me as I carried his bowl over to his "doggy diner" that is made out of a shoebox.

All the dogs loved Zeal.  Sasha finished first, then Conker and last was Juneau who cleaned everyone's bowls for them.  With how much of a hit this Honest Kitchen stuff is with the dogs, I really might have to pick up a box if I ever spot one, or order one online.  Only problems is, Zeal is the most expensive formula, but Conker liked Keen enough (cheapest) that I'll probably go with that one first.

RMB Day and Sasha's Teeth and Progress

Today was a RMB day!  The dogs were all given a taste test of something I'll write about tomorrow, then after my shower they were taken into the backyard and given some bones to chew on.  

Sasha got a beef rib.  And it looks like autumn in this picture.  It's actually still very green here.

See the green?  Juneau got a beef rib as as well, and figured out after about 20 minutes that the sun was hot so she relocated to the shade.

Conker got some sort of pork bone, shoulder I think, and stayed next to the pool.  He was halfway in the sun and half in the shade.  He ate the entire thing.


Now the Sasha stuff.
I skimped last Friday on Sasha's teeth update.  Completely forgot, so you get it today.

It's now been some 42 days or 6 weeks since I began adding PlaqueOff to the dog's food. 
 
Here is the before shot of Sasha's teeth.

Click to see the large buildup of tartar/plaque on the carnassial teeth and molars.

 And here is after 6 weeks of using PlaqueOff.

No buildup on carnassials or molars.

 A couple closeups.

Carnassial and molars. 

Canine and incisors.

The redness around the gumline on some of Sasha's teeth is from chewing on her beef rib.  I try not to take pictures just after giving the dogs chews but I didn't want to wait today and took them anyways.
Juneau's teeth are, again, unable to be shown but still look better than Sasha's.

I still can't get the buildup off the canines, but everything else looks awesome.  Keep in mind that without the bones I have been giving the dogs, the buildup would have taken a LOT longer to come off with just the PlaqueOff supplement.  The bones acts as aggressive toothbrushes, and I will continue to give bones every two weeks or less.  I don't know if I will buy another container of PlaqueOff when mine runs out if the teeth stay clean, but if the buildup begins to come back I will.


Now Sasha's weight.

Sasha has been on a strict diet since May when I switched them to Taste of the Wild.  She dropped down from 70 to 50 pounds!  She now weighs only slightly more than Juneau who is also taller but much, much leaner.  Sasha is a shorter stocky dog.  Anywho, she gets about 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of kibble a day and has been maintaining her weight of 50 pounds for a couple weeks, so I guess that is a good amount for her. 

Here is a before shot of Sasha.

And after.

Again it's a terrible picture, I tried, but my camera is shit.  Anyways, you can see the tuck Sasha has now when in the before picture she has barely any.  She really does look a ton better now that she's down to a healthy weight.  She is also a lot more active even when I am not encouraging her to play.  That is nice.

Now that their teeth are great and Sasha's weight is down, I wonder what the Vet will say next time they are taken in.  Mom told me she got an earful about the Girl's teeth and Sasha's fatness on their most recent visit last year in November.  I hope the Vet will be satisfied with them now that I've had a change to correct the problems.

Spoils of the Saturday "Grower's" Market

My farmer's market is stupid. They call themselves the grower's market, since there is a store called Farmer's Market and I guess they don't want to associate with it.

I walked down there today to have a look around.  It was mostly veggies (everybody claimed to be organic), pastry and crafty crap.  I was looking for meat, and the only meat I found was just that.  Meat.  The beef was horrendously expensive, another guy was selling halves and quarters of beef and pork, the "organic" chicken was so expensive, and the only organ meats anyone had (chicken livers and heart, which I have plenty of) were so high I'd pass even if I ate it myself!  There was some rabbit but it was over $5 a pound.

So I meandered over to the only stall I've ever bought anything from and was greeted by a very outgoing, talkative and young salesman in a big straw hat.
I came home with this.

Spoils for Conker

I got three pig ears, three beef trachea and three tendon chews.  Conker has had the trachea before but he's never gone for a pig ear, and it's been a long time since he's had a tendon thing, other than a bully stick.
And when offered the pile of delicious and greasy chews, he didn't know what to do.  I thought he would dive in and lick everything but he just stood there, sniffed, then looked at me with a hugely confused expression on his face.  I wish I'd gotten a picture, because it was hilarious.

I separated the chews and offered him one of each.  He was still quite confused and after about five minutes, went for a trachea.  I could tell it was a hard decision since he kept sniffing the other two and licked at the tendon for a bit, but I guess the old favorite won out in the end.


Edit
These chews are made by a local company here in Oregon, but I'm unsure of their exact location. They do have a website but it's under construction right now.  I also don't know too much about them, but they claim the treats are natural and all that.  Either way, Conker really likes them and hopefully they will get their site up soon so I can read more about them and do an actual review.

Cats are EVIL

I was attacked by a cat.  My neighbor's cat, who was wanting to be pet so I pet her.  Then she attacked!  I think it's because Indie suddenly ran over to where we were and Nala decided it was my fault and savaged my hands.
Cat scratches and bites really hurt.  I haven't been attacked by a cat for years, and I'm convinced I don't want a cat for a long time now.  Even if I did get a cat it wouldn't be for pet reasons, it'd be because there were too many pests around my property.
Anyways, she didn't actually hurt me that bad.  It was just really surprising, and it felt exactly like the time I got a jumping cactus stuck to my leg, except it was my hands this time.

On the right hand: There are at least seven punctures above my thumb, a gash on the inside of my hand, a deep puncture on my wrist and a couple smaller punctures and scratches down my arm.
On the left hand: There is a deep puncture in the middle of the heel of my hand, three punctures on the outside of my hand, two scratches on my wrist and a puncture on my arm.
There was a lot of blood all over my hands and I was surprised at how small the wounds were after I'd washed it off. They are healing fine but the puncture on my right wrist still hurts. Everything else I don't notice unless I smack it against something.

What did I learn from this?  That Nala is evil when she decides to attack.  She wasn't like Angelina (my sister's former cat) who would just swat or bite lightly first and if you persisted to annoy her, she'd attack. But Angie always warned first, there was no warning from Nala.
She went all-out and grabbed hold of my hand and savaged it with her teeth and claws.  I tried to get her off my right hand so she went for the left, then took off after I yelled several bad things at her.  It all happened in about 1/2 of a second.
Oh, and to watch out for Indy while petting Nala.  That is after all, what set her off.