To feed or not to feed, that is the question...

I get a lot of questions about diet.  What are the best foods?  Where do I get them?  When should I feed?  How much should I feed?  How do I know what is good for my pet?  What do I feed my pet?  Why did I decide on those foods in particular?

I have served a variety of different foods.  From Eukanuba (not good), to Nutro (eh), to Solid Gold (getting better), to raw (the best but not practical for my lifestyle at the time), to Orijen (top shelf), to Acana (same shelf) and Honest Kitchen (dehydrated raw!  Great and practical!  YAY!).  My last two dogs Jimmy and Tabitha both did wonderfully on the Orijen.  Tommy started out okay, but ended up not fairing so well in the end (eating an absurd 6 cups of food per day without gaining enough weight or muscle mass).  I went back to learning about dog food and I now feed 1/2 poultry based Honest Kitchen (grain free - Force or Embark) mixed with 1/2 poultry based Acana (grain free).

I have gathered quite a bit of information about the canine diet (and along the way I have learned a lot about the feline diet as well).  It's a subject I never tire of, and I feel it's also a subject you can never learn too much about.  The most important thing for me personally is to stay open minded (I'm human and carnivore's eating habits are kind of gross), and use my head when there is a question that I am having trouble finding the answer to. As much as I'm sure I could write pages and pages of my opinion and how I came to them, I have come up with a far simpler plan.   

  

I have a personal philosophy about food for myself, and extend that to how I feed my dog, because well, I love him and want him to be as healthy as possible.  First rule of thumb when regarding dog food is, if I can purchase it at a large chain store I know it's probably not a good food.  I don't want a cheaper/convenient food because more often than not they are rife with fillers and subpar ingredients.  Health, for me personally, isn't necessarily about price or convenience.

I truly believe a majority of the health issues we see today are a direct result of a lousy diet.  As a groomer I could smell when a dog was on a bad diet because just like us, it exits the body in many different forms.  I have seen dogs with reoccurring ear infections, appetite issues, weight issues, major skin issues, hair loss, weeping/dull eyes, lackluster coat, joint issues, muscle growth, even aggression issues, make a complete recovery just because the owner switched to a better food (and gave it enough of a chance that the toxins from the bad diet could leech out of the system).  As with us, diet promotes a healthy mind and healthy body.

My stipulations for dog food are as follows:  I want it to be as fresh as possible, GMO free, grain free, additive free, and filler free.  Okay, so, ingredients.  Can I read the word and understand it?  I'm not big on putting a mystery in my mouth and relying on it for sustenance.  If I don't know the word, and look it up, do I fully understand the breakdown?  If the answer is no, I don't often put it in my mouth.  I do the same for Tom.

So in the end, what is the best food?  That is up to you, as the owner, and it all depends on how the individual dog responds to the food.  Orijen is considered one of the best possible dry diets on the market today.  Tom does not do well on it, so I don't feed it.  It's as simple as that.  But as long as I stick to my basic rules about health and diet, I know I will make the right choice.  For myself and my pet.

4th of July (7/4)

Hello,

A friendly reminder that Thursday (7/4) is the 4th of July and Happy Dog recognizes it as a holiday.  If you have the day off and do not need Happy Dog's services, please let me know.  As always, if I do not hear from you, any regularly scheduled care will happen as usual and the holiday charge of $20 per scheduled service (on July 4th only) will apply.

Thank you and enjoy the holiday!

Angel, Luna and I need your help.

I have recently had one of the most wonderful people I have ever known pass away.  She was like a sister to me.  She owned two cats, Angel and Luna, whom she loved more than anything else on this planet.  I promised her I would make sure they would be taken care of were anything to happen to her and I aim to keep my word.

After retrieving them from the apartment where they were abandoned, I have had both girls at my home for a couple days.  As much as they are very worried and confused, they have started to explore and show themselves a little more instead of hiding all day.  They are nice cats and even after all they had gone through prior to coming here, were not aggressive or mean in any way. 

After much deliberation, I have come to the extremely painful conclusion that I cannot keep them here.  With all of the dogs coming through my home, it simply isn’t a solution that I can honestly say is best for Angel and Luna.  They are residing in my office (behind a closed baby gate and door), which leads onto a screened porch, so they are at least safe and well cared for, but I believe they need more room and somewhere they don’t have to worry about the constant coming and going of dogs (some of which want to do them harm).  I visit with them frequently throughout the day but I can see the dogs have them on edge.

Once they are a little more settled, I will be taking them for vaccinations and to be spayed.  I just want to give them a little time to adjust first. 

I will also try to get better pictures as they come out from hiding.  They both look very similar and I believe they are sisters from the same litter.  Angel is a little smaller than Luna but other than that, their markings are very alike.  They are both your typical shorthaired tiger cat.

I am putting this out to all of you pet lovers because this is a strange situation.  I am not willing to simply hand them over to someone and wish them well.  I am searching for an owner who is willing to not only keep Angel and Luna for their whole life, but I am also looking for someone who is willing to stay in touch with me for that entire period.  My promise to my friend is very important to me, and I personally believe that not knowing how the girls are, or where they are, breaches that trust she had in me.  

The only care requests I have are that the new home have some cat experience and will have Angel and Luna remain indoor cats.  My friend did not let them roam outside (unless on a harness and leash) and I know that would be very important to her.  

If there is anyone who would like to help, please contact me in any way you choose.  I will happily keep them with me until I find the correct arrangement.  I'm not going to be overly picky, but I am going to be pretty serious about how I go about this, as where these two cats end up is incredibly important to me.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this.

Memorial Day (5/27)

Hello,

A friendly reminder that Monday (5/27) is Memorial Day and Happy Dog recognizes it as a holiday.  If you have the day off and do not need Happy Dog's services, please let me know.  As always, if I do not hear from you, any regularly scheduled care will happen as usual and the holiday charge per scheduled service (on Memorial Day only) will apply.

Thank you and enjoy the holiday!

Walls might keep others out, but gates let in the puppy magic...

I trust you are all enjoying spring weather which has finally arrived!  The playgroup dogs and I certainly have been and if there is no reason to go inside, we simply stay out.  SO nice.

As of last year I have been wanting to replace the main gate to the yard.  The old one was a tad too short for my liking, and was starting to look pretty shabby.

As my driveway is exactly 8' wide, I have been waiting for "the perfect height" fence panel, because life just isn't worth it unless I am constantly on mission impossible.  And heaven forbid I simply go to a fence supply store and tell them what I want.  Then while browsing Craigslist the other day, I spotted the perfect panel.  4 1/2' x 8'.  Right?  How perfect is that?

So, with a whole bunch of help from friends, the new gate was transported, constructed and hung.  I am beside myself with how much I love it.  It's super sturdy, tongue and groove and short enough that I can easily see over.  There is a sweet double latch system going on to soothe that neurotic woman inside me  who constantly reminds me of everything that could possibly go wrong (even though nothing she tries to convince me of has ever even come close to happening).

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, The Gate.

4/15 is Marathon Monday

Just a friendly reminder that Monday, April 15th is Marathon Monday.  If you have the day off and do not need Happy Dog's services, please let me know.  As always, if I do not hear from you, any regularly scheduled care will happen as usual.

Thanks!

must... reach... bush... and the front clip harness

I'd like to start this off with commending anyone who regularly walks their dog.  It provides so much that is essential to a dog's (and our) well being, not to mention how much something as simple as a walk can help build the dog/owner relationship in general.  However, one of the things that can take away from a walk is leash pulling.

A quick lesson on leash pulling:

If your dog pulls you towards something (vegetation, an entrance/exit, another dog, food, etc.), and you allow it to reach the something with the leash anything other than slack, the pull is positively reinforced.  You have basically given your dog a big juicy treat for keeping the leash tight while dragging you towards something.  The positive reinforcement (treat) is reaching the desired location.  That's it.  If we never allowed our dogs to reach the desired location from the very beginning, and reinforced a slack leash, our dogs would never pull.  It's really that simple.

Yes, you might say, that is all fine and good, but that is not how we started, my dog pulls and I want it to ease up.  Is there something that an help me with this since it is already an unwanted behavior?  The great news is that there are tools out there which help with the pulling issue!

I have recommended the following product to a bunch of people and gotten back a lot of success stories, so I thought why not tell everyone?  After all, the people have a right to know.

THE FRONT CLIP HARNESS

I personally think the front clip harness is quite possibly one of the coolest anti-pull tools on the market.    In fact, I give anything clip 5 big shiny gold stars.  Now I have always just used a roman (or standard) style harness with the metal ring on the chest and clipped it to that ring, but I really like the design and ease of the front clip harness and I own one of those as well.  Obviously, it's totally up to you how you want to handle it (if you even want to handle it).

Ember modeling the (front clip) Easy Walk Harness:

Tommy modeling a roman (or standard) style harness, used as a front clip:

The idea behind the front clip harness is that you now control the dog's center of gravity, sort of like how you can control something the size of a horse with a measly head halter.  They have to follow the front of their body, they don't have a choice.  Gravity and kinetic energy mandates it so.  So when your dog begins to pull, you can easily redirect their center of gravity, consistently show them the correct thing to do and reinforce the good behavior, and presto, one day the pulling ends completely.  Well, provided you are consistent and uphold your end of the bargain.  Or other people have luck with simply putting the harness on and walking without pulling.  The harness does all the work.  It's up to you if you want to back it up with training or not.  The thing to remember is you can change your dog's behavior any time you'd like, it just takes consistency.  Put the front clip harness on and do not reinforce pulling while it is on.

Regular collars and back clip harnesses cannot help you do this.  It was explained to me like this:  Put your hand in the area of someone's chest (neck not recommended) and lightly push.  What do they do?  They lean into it so they can maintain their control/balance.  This is the exact same concept of the collar and/or harness that is clipped on the back D ring.  Not only does it offer very little by way of control, the "push" of the collar or harness simply makes your dog "push" (or pull) back even harder.  It is natural instinct to do so.  Also, I'm really keen on redirecting rather than dragging away.  Just saying.

Keep in mind that I'm a big harness fan in general.  It keeps your dog's body language very clear where collars can sometimes cause them to go into a position they do not mean to portray.  When a collar is pulled back on from above, the head goes up, the chest comes out, the body is stiff to maintain balance and the poor dog is now challenging any dog who approaches it to a potential fight.  How lousy is that?  I personally believe a lot of leash aggression gets started due to simple leash mismanagement.

#1 thing to remember is a dog does not pull itself, which means you are 50% of the problem.  Some people would even go so far as to say you are 100% the problem as the dog doesn't know any better until you communicate (and positively reinforce) it to be otherwise.  Do you love that or what?  First time I read that I was all, "Pfff!  Yeah, okay trainer person!  SO the expert!  Because there was...  uh...  that time...  and sometimes he...  he...  should just magically know better because that would mean less work for me...  *sigh*".  And then I stopped blaming my dog.  Because I now feel silly for doing it.  Nothing changes my perception faster than feeling a fool.  ;)  Now, instead of walking the dog, I am walking with the dog.

Remember everyone, we got them into this situation.  It's not like they came knocking on the door one day asking if we needed a dependent who we could be frustrated with every time we go out for a much needed walk.  ;)  

I hope this helped!  Happy walking!