Darth Banana

I wonder how many other kids had this costume tonight.

Not many would be my guess.

Happy Halloween!

 First, a fucking awesome tree.

It looks like it's on fire when the sun it setting.


May those of you who trick-or-treat get much candy tonight!  Conker certainly did when we went down to Mini Pet Mart today.  He got not one, not two, not even three lamb treats but an entire handful!  The ladies there really like him and love to give "her" treats. 

We ended up buying a small bully stick which Conker carried back for me despite my ample pockets.  He is not quite thrilled about wearing a cute Halloween sweatershirt and I think he may have wanted to keep up his manly image by carrying his bully stick himself.

Doing lots of yard work

For some reason, I have almost zero motivation to do pretty much anything when other people are here.  Especially if Mom is around, but that happens with even my youngest brother.  Don't feel like doing anything.

Well, nobody is here, so guess what I did?  First I went outside and saw that the hose had been on for 24 hours... Nobody told me it was on, so I didn't go out and turn it off, so the pool was filled to capacity.  It would have simply overflown IF it could do that, but it can't.  The molding stuff around the edge isn't water tight so when the water got to that level it seeped into the ground.  So much water seeped into the surrounding dirt that the lower level of the yard was flooded!  I called and told Mom (she's in Portland) who was shocked that the hill between the upper and lower levels hadn't collapsed, and hopefully it won't later on.

Anyways...
I ripped up everything in the garden, re-built the wall Juneau had destroyed, filled all the dirt on three huge pieces of paper back into the small wall at the base of the hill and hacked up the remainder of some blackberry bushes.  now all I have to do is rake up some cedar pods I missed, mow the law and clean the kitchen.  Whoot.


Here is a bit of Conker to keep things interesting.

Oh yeah, and I heated the house with fire last night (in the fireplace) and me and the three dogs sacked out in front of it for most of the night.  Juneau reeeeeally loves to cuddle.  I woke up with her practically on top of me.

One year anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of me aquiring Conker from a shelter in St. Louis.  Who'd have thought I'd be back living with Mom one year later...

Smug, mischievous, obnoxious critter.  Here's to many more with my crazy little dog.

Juneau remodels the garden.

Juneau thought that the garden's current state was in need of some repair, so she took it upon herself to remedy it.  She enlisted the help of Conker and occasionally Sasha, and together they fixed the garden into what they believe is a better state than before.

Juneau added a drainage ditch to the front wall as well as some steps and a slope to make it easier to get into the tomato plants.  She removed some of the tomato vines for better access to the new "den" created by the cleared out tomato plants.

Juneau is still not satisfied with her work and slips out every now and then to add an additional touch here and there to the remodel.


So, you might be wondering WHY Juneau decided to tear up the tomato plants and collapse two and a half feet of the garden wall.  Well, it's simple really.  There was a rat.  That happened to be stupid enough to make it's nest under the garden wall.  I've known about the rat for some time but had never seen it and thought the nest was abandoned, until today when Juneau chased it in and out then back into the tomato plants and it's now demolished nest. 
Mom wasn't too pleased with Juneau's work at first but when she learned that the reason behind this was a rat, she encouraged Juneau to finish the job.

She hasn't caught it.  Yet.

Finally went hiking!

Erk man, two weeks without a hike is bad.  Not gonna do that again, even if my feet are killing me.

Today we only did about 4 miles or so.  A little under 1 mile of it was at a slow jog, about 1/4 at a faster jog or run.  It was a nice hike that started out with a jacket and ended with a long sleeved shirt.  It was only 61 degrees today.  That's pretty cold in my book, but the chill weather does something to Conker that seems to turn his never-ending energy mode on. Somewhere along the trail we decided to play a chase game and derped around for a good 10 minutes or so.

Conker did much running at full speed towards then past me.

None of the pictures of this are good.

But some are kinda funny.

Conker was really excited when he figured out that we were going hiking instead of to some lame store.  We pulled into the parking lot and he couldn't wait to get out, and as soon as he was turned loose on the trails he began to sniff everything he could.  He ran allover the place shoving his nose into the leaves and getting burrs stuck to his fur, harness and bandanna. He wanted to run the entire time and would often stop to sniff something then run superfast to catch up to me, then stop and sniff again as I passed him.  He seemed to have a lot of fun today.

Slightly different

I added a bit of orange here and there.  Dunno if I'm gonna keep it yet.

Wheat is a no go.

I don't think I've done anything specifically on wheat, so here goes.

Lately I've been experimenting again.  Conker is the unfortunate guinea pig, and the subject was wheat.  I gave him some treats I was given that contained wheat, many different types of spaghetti and a couple other things that contain wheat (breads mostly).
I gave him very small amounts as if I were transitioning him to a new food.  I gave him probiotics and chikory root with the wheat products.  Nothing stopped what happened every time he was given wheat.

I am not mean enough to post a picture.

So, wheat is definitely a no go for Conker.  Even if he was given a tiny sliver of the wheat thing along with his normal food, problems occurred.  He definitely has some sort of intolerance for wheat and it's a very, very strong one.  He wants things real bad, and since wheat causes such huge problems for him, he can't have diddly squat.  I normally share things like oatmeal, rice dishes, quinoa and certain soups with him so he is somewhat used to getting some of my food.
Lately we have been having a lot of pasta.  I hate pasta, unless it's somewhat undercooked and thick or shaped like a shell or tube.  Poor Conker has been wanting said pasta very badly and almost stole some right off my fork.  He loves pasta and has to be tortured by the sight of me eating it, and the Girls getting any leftovers.  Unfortunately he doesn't understand that while he may love pasta, I don't love what happens when he eats it.

Conker Escapes

I thought I posted this already but I guess I didn't.

I have since remedied the problem with a thick piece of military webbing.

Conker no longer escapes.

Freshpet: Vital Slice and Serve

I recieved two 2lb rolls of Freshpet's Vital Slice and Serve in my sample box.  I got one Turkey roll and one Bison & Beef roll.

Vital rolls on the bottom.

Here's the technical stuffs.

Turkey Ingredients:
Turkey,Turkey Liver, Spinach, Blueberries, Cranberries, Pomegranate, Carrageenan, Natural Flavors, Broccoli, Inulin, Flaxseed Oil, Green Tea Extract.
Beef & Bison Ingredients:
Bison, Beef, Beef Liver, Spinach, Blueberries, Cranberries, Pomegranate, Carrageenan, Calcium Carbonate, Natural Flavors, Broccoli, Inulin, Flaxseed Oil, Green Tea Extract.

Vitamins:
Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid. 
Minerals:
Calcium Sulfate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite.

Turkey Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min)  6.0%
Crude Fat (min)  4.0%
Crude Fiber (max)  1.5%
Moisture (max)  78.0%

Beef & Bison Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min)  8.5%
Crude Fat (min)  7.5%
Crude Fiber (max)  1.0%
Moisture (max)  76.0%

On the roll and website it states that a 21-40 pound dog should get 1/2 to 1 pound daily.  I gave Conker just over 1/4 of a pound for the first couple days since he also got a piece of turkey neck.  For the last bits of the roll he got 1/2 pound. 

Vital turkey roll.

Each roll lasted roughly 5 days.  I started with the turkey and added it to the Complete Meals for a one-day transition period.  It went smoothly with no problems, probably since the products are quite similar.
The worst part of the transition was a little incident that occurred when I was giving Conker a taste test of the Turkey recipe.   I gave him a piece by hand, the bowl was on the floor, and let him try it.  He liked it, so I gave him another piece.  After I saw how quickly he ate it I figured I should move him to my room so he wouldn't savage the Girls like he sometimes does with food he really likes.
Well, he didn't like my hand grabbing his bowl and instead of savaging the Girls' faces, he savaged my left index finger. He sliced it open in three places.
So if that doesn't give you an idea of how much Conker liked this food (enough to guard against me), then I don't really know what else to say about that.

Note:
This was entirely my fault.  I should have told him to leave the bowl and move it away with my foot first instead of just reaching for it with my hand.  Conker is very good about not guarding food from me but with newer stuff, especially stuff he really really likes, sometimes he slips up a bit.


Like the Complete Meals, Conker got a bit of a funk in his fur.  It wasn't very noticeable unless you pet him a lot or shoved your nose into his fur but the trade-off was again a lack of super rancid farts. He didn't lick his front paws as much as he did on the Complete Meals but he still did a bit more than normal.  It might have just been a lingering effect from the chicken in the Complete Meals or he could have also had some sort of problem with something in the rolls.  I don't know what caused it but since he doesn't eat Vital full-time I won't worry about it.

Like I said before, if it weren't for the lack of stores carrying the Vital line, it would probably be a regular or occasional part of Conker's diet.
I might use something in the Select line for times when Conker has to be watched by someone who wasn't comfortable feeding raw food.  The one store that carries it does have the beef kind, which is probably what I'd use with Conker.  It costs about $4.99 for 1 1/2 pounds and 14.99 for 6 pounds. 


So that's it for my Freshpet review!  I really liked this food so if you can get it in your area and don't mind spending a bit more for your dog's (or cat's) food or just want to give them something different on the weekend, I highly recommend you try Freshpet.

In case you missed them, here's Part 1 and Part 2 of the Freshpet review.