Fats and oils

It's the "dry" itchy season here in GP and Conker is not the only dog having problems with the weather changes.  While it may rain every frickin day for days in a row, it's dry as all getout when it's not.

Conker's salmon oil had run out a couple weeks ago and he almost instantly began to get real itchy.  I did find a couple fleas he picked up from another dog but I quickly remedied that (with several methods, washed everything, vacuumed... I don't like fleas) and haven't seen any fleas since.  I don't blame those two stray fleas for his itchiness since after I eliminated them any any others that could have been present, he was still itching like mad.
I didn't make the connection until I noticed that I hadn't been giving him any salmon oil for a couple days.  I quickly ran out and bought a bottle of salmon oil capsules as well as some vitamin E and began to give it to him.
Again the change was almost instant.  A few days later the itching was not as constant or aggressive.  (He was really itching HARD at times)  And while it hasn't completly stopped, it's lessened to the point where it's no longer a big concern.

With this discovery I have begun to think a bit about how fats and oils can affect a dog.  Dogs need fat in their diets.  Fat to a dog doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna put on weight.  Fat is their energy source, and the more fat they eat, the higher their energy is.  (Just look at what some sled-dogs eat.  There's a LOT of fat in their diets.)
Conker gets a lot of fat in his diet.  He eats the skin off his chicken and turkey and gets thick chunks of fat with his pork.  He gets, on average, about 2 ounces of fat a day if pork is included.  I have noticed that on heavy-fat days he is a bit unruly and needs an extra mile tacked onto his daily walk.
But he is still quite itchy. Even with the salmon oil and pork fat, he still itches a lot.  He still gets dandruff, and since he's not shedding bad right now, I can't attribute it to that.  (Or fleas, they are eliminated.)

Animals aren't the only source of fat dogs can use.  I've noticed that Conker really likes the smell and taste of the coconut oil I picked up to use when I cook certain things.  I wonder if I add a bit of that into his diet, will it help with the itching?  Or should I just up his pork/poultry fat ratio?  Conker has, like normal, issues with some vegetable oils (another experiment awaiting a write-up) but this coconut oil stuff is not one of them.  I guess it's something to think about.  Doesn't hurt to give it a try.
Except my wallet.  That shit's expensive.

Lazy

That can't possibly be comfortable.

What is that?

Look at that mountain. Look at the white stuff on it.

OMG SNOW!

Not in town though.

Accidentally went hiking

Yep, I didn't mean to but we ended up going hiking today.  We were running errands (that's why there is no harness or bandanna) and I decided that since we were already halfway to the trails, why not hop over there for an hour or two and enjoy the day.

On the way home we stopped at Rays, and Mom happened to be there too.  But today there was something of interest at the grocery.  Turkey gizzards!  I was totally psyched cause Conker loves gizzards so I snatched up two packages and ended up with something like 3 pounds of gizzards and some necks, hearts and livers to boot.

Monday, November Seventh, Two Thousand Eleven

There was like, nobody at the dog park today.  A Whippet named Sheeba (haha) was there but they left about five minutes later.  For the short time she was there, she was RUNNIN!  Conker really liked her, which is good, since I like Whippets as well.   I really like Whippets actually...

We did some posing for fall-themed pictures.  Note that, like usual, Conker is slightly out of focus.

Engage 2010 Series Limited Edition Levitating Shiba!

Today is... as usual... boring.

My "goal" for today is to attempt to get Conker to quit harassing the neighbor's dogs.  You know that dog who is always barking at your dogs, who won't shut up when told, who always seems to be out when your dogs are out?  Yeah, that's Conker right now.  And he's really begun to piss me off.

In other news...

Conker finished off the rest of the Zeal we were sent.  I re-hydrated it with mackerel juice and added in about 1/4 of the can to round it out a bit.  Conker loved this, and wanted more, but sadly there isn't.  And for the first time ever he wasn't trying to rip the girls' faces off while I was preparing it.  He sat in the doorway to my room almost the entire time and only ventured out when I dropped the can of mackerel on the floor.

The current forecast is for partly to mostly sunny tomorrow, with Tuesday being partly cloudy but warmer, Wednesday being the warmest and Thursday something like Tuesday.  If that forecast changes tomorrow and predicts more rain, I will hike tomorrow.  If not?  I'll hike on Tuesday and Thursday (the usual days).


Also, who else thinks daylight savings time is totally stupid?

Neighbor's Dogs... Again

Well, they got rid of Dakota a little while ago.  A "new" dog has stepped into her place.  For the longest time I've been calling him "Tomato" since I had no idea what his name was, and he really liked tomatoes.
They are now trying to get rid of them both.  In their ad they claim to have moved to a new place that only allowes 25 lb or under dogs... sure. 

We recently moved and cannot have any dogs over 25 pounds so we need to rehome our two dogs.
The first is a three year old Irish Wolfhound mix named Monty, he is approx. 60 pounds and looks like a giant wire haired terrier.
He is very cute and affectionate and loves water and car rides. He can be a little hyper when he's excited but its usually when he meets new poeple or
goes new places. He is licensed; nuetered, rabbies shot.

Second is a smaller shepard mix, approx. 45 pounds named Bella, she is very sweet and timid and loves to fetch. She is mostly an outside dog and would
do best with a big fenced yard to run in. She is spayed and had her rabbies shot.

We want them to go to the best possible homes, so we"ll probably be selective on who we let take them.

Well, I hope they get good homes, since they are nice dogs.  Monty is the one Conker fence fights with, but other than that, he's a pretty cool dog.

RMB Day 2 days in advance

Fall has reared it's ugly head with nasty nasty cold weather.  It rained near-constantly yesterday, is still wet today, and hasn't gotten over 50 degrees in several days.  The house is freezing, but at least Conker is enjoying the change.  At the dog park a couple days ago he was going nuts and all the regulars were wondering if I gave him some speed or something.  No, it's just cold is all.  Conker turns on Psycho Mode when it's 50 or below out.

Anyways, the dogs all got raw stuff today, dunno if they'll get some on Sunday or not.  I got sick of the acumilating turkey backs in my freezer box so I thawed some out for the Girls last night and added in a couple extras.

Turkey backs, turkey liver, chicken gizzard, heart and egg, a bit of canned clams and oysters for the Girls and a bone-in chicken breast with gizzard, heart, beef liver and canned oysters and clams for Conker. 

One of these days I need to quit talking about it and get a video of Conker's freak-out moment when I am preparing the food and carrying the bowls outside. It's kinda funny since he barks and whines and attack the Girls, who let him, and barks and whines some more and struts around all insane-like. 


Am I the only who HATES the automatic label thing in blogger?  I fucking hate it, fucking hate.  I want to type "food" but it puts "dog food" in there for me, which is what I DON'T want, so I correct it, and it puts fucking dog food in there again!  Fucking piece of shit.

Fall

It's definately fall when the shadows at 12:40 look like they belong to a 4:00 sun.

Hey!  If you are into Spitz/primitive type and Laika dogs, check out the new Laika Forum Brad (runs Nihon Ken and Shiba Forums) set up last night!  It's not got a lot going on right now but if we get the word out to other Laika enthusiasts, it'll get some activity in no time.

Anyways, Mom's ex-but-not boyfriend is here.  Somewhat complicated, but Conker does NOT like him.  First off, he's a man, and Conker has issues with men.  Second, he's a BIG man, even worse.  Conker bayed at him last night, then this morning, then flipped his shit after our hike when he went through the dog door and ex-but-not was right there.  It's actually rather funny, since the Girls love him, but Conker is all HELL NO!  and makes it known.

Zuke's Mini Naturals: Wild Rabbit

My favorite treat company Zuke's recently came out with a new flavor of Mini Naturals!  So naturally I had to go pick up a bag.  The new flavor is wild rabbit.  Conker has never had rabbit treats before so I was interested in how he would like these.

Ingredients: 
Wild New Zealand Rabbit, Ground Rice, Ground Barley, Malted Barley, Gelatin, Vegetable Glycerin, Tapioca, Brewers Yeast, Natural Flavors, Fish Oil, Lecithin, Salt, Phosphoric Acid (a natural acidifier), Sorbic Acid (a natural preservative), Mixed Tocopherols, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C).

Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein     not less than 12%
Fat     not less than 7%
Fiber     not more than 3%
Moisture     not more than 30%
Calories     Approximately 2 per piece

Like all of Zuke's soft treats the ingredients look good.  There are grains so those of you who do the completely grain-free thing might want to skip these.

The treats are very small, about 1 x 3/4 centimeters.  They are perfect for training or for smaller dogs.  I like to grab a small handful and toss them into my mix of hiking treats since they don't crumble or make a mess in my pocket. 

They cost a bit more than the other varieties of Mini Naturals (salmon, chicken and peanut butter) and I think that's due to them being new and/or how they use rabbit instead of a more common protein or flavor.  This bag cost $6.99 (I got $2 off) which runs $1-2 more than the other flavors.  Do I think they are worth it?  Well, Conker seems to really like them so I see no harm in adding them as part of his treat rotation.

Other than the slightly stepped up price, I highly recommend these treats.  If you want to give them a shot and want to knock a dollar off the price, Zuke's has a coupon on their home page that they'll send to you to use in your local store.