So many of you have asked what I feed my dogs that I feel compelled to answer. I sympathize, truly, nutrition is such a complicated and sometimes contentious issue. I'll honor your requests if you'll honor mine: Read the following carefully before getting to the menu! 1. I am not an expert on canine nutrition, not by a long shot. I know lots of people, professional and committed dog lovers, who know much more about the topic than I do. 2. I don't believe that my dogs get the perfect diet. I do the best I can, and I know that my dogs do better than most, but there's no question that the way I feed them isn't perfect. 3.What I feed my dogs changes, depending on the dog, the week, how busy I am and what article I read the night before. 4. I think diet is important, but so are genetics. Read More
Dogs Love Bones; New Lambs
Ahhh spring. Finally the weather is mild enough to let the dogs lie outside and chew on bones. I just love watching my dogs chew on real, fresh bones. Of course, I would never give my dogs cooked bones (I know most of you know already that cooked bones are brittle and tend to splinter. Don't ever give them to your dog.), but I love giving them the kind of fresh, raw bones that are safe--the large joint bones or large long bones from beef are my preference. The first time I watched dogs chew on real bones I was astounded. Okay, that sounds pretty strong, but I had not anticipated how much exercise and skill it takes to chew on a bone. All of the parts of a dog's mouth, including the jaw muscles and different types of teeth are engaged in tearing, pulling, grinding and chewing. It was an Read More
Speaking for Spot Now Available
As you probably know, we don't offer a lot of books by other authors on our website, but we've just put up Dr. Nancy Kay's book, Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life. There's just so much good about this book, and it is such an important resource for those of us who consider our dogs to be family. I love Nancy's thoughtful and compassionate voice, and couldn't agree more with her encouragement to all of us to be active advocates for our pets' veterinary care. I will admit that there are times I've longed for the "good old days" when medical decisions were simpler--it seems most of my dogs develop complicated, confusing ailments that elicit completely different recommendations from vets, and create tremendous angst when it comes time to Read More
Authentic Happiness; New Lambs
I re-read Seligman's Authentic Happiness this weekend. Ever read it? Seligman is one of the American Psychologists who decided to focus on mental health rather than mental illness, and yeah for him I say. I'm writing about it here because it got me thinking about our happiness and our dogs. In the book, Seligman asks us to determine our "signature strengths," and suggests that the road to happiness is to do what you are good at and what you love. (He has a questionnaire in the book to help you decide your strengths. Mine include Curiousity and Love of Learning. I'm not saying what my weaknesses are!) So here's my question related to dogs: Is that true of our dogs as well? Is their happiness, at least in part, related to having an opportunity to do what they love and what they are good Read More
The Importance of an Emergency Stop; Fetching a Tree
A few nights ago I took the dogs out for their last potty around 10 pm, and things didn't go quite as planned. Instead of walking sleepily out of the house to his favorite place to pee, Will took one step into the fresh air and hurtled like a bullet into the dark behind the house. In a second, no more, I heard a cacophony of snarls, screams and growls. I knew instantly what it was: the local raccoon was raiding the bird feeder behind the house. I was sure this was the problem, since the big garbage can full of grain for the sheep had been raided for a few nights in a row until Jim got creative with bungi cords. The only critter big and strong enough to pry off a metal garbage can lid is a raccoon, and every year one trades wits with us over who gets to eat the grain, so I was sure that's Read More
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