Oh, what a joy to be home in fall on the farm. It may have rained much of the weekend, but that’s okay, we needed the moisture. In spite of the rain I got to spend much of Sunday out in the country with Willie, Lassie and weekend visitor Brody (the Cavalier) out in the hills collecting wild apples. Five huge buckets full. Yum yum. Yum for us… I made applesauce much of Sunday afternoon (thanks to friend Harriet who leant me her Foley Food Mill; now that’s a handy item) while the dogs slept. Yum for the sheep: the ewe flock got to crunch away on juicy apples that I tossed into their feeders. The lamb flock is separate (I don’t castrate the ram lambs, so the boys are now old enough to breed their mommas. Not a great idea!) and has access to lots of wild apples on their own, so everyone at lots of apples yesterday.
Sheep ADORE apples, they crunch into them as if eating candy. I love feeding them this food that comes free and wild every year in southern Wisconsin. What a time of bounty. I’d include a photo I took of red ripe apples, but I don’t have it here at work. I’ll bring it in tomorrow.
But back to dogs… isn’t it wonderful when your dogs have had plenty of exercise and sleep soundly in the house while you putter at something in the kitchen? I remember a few years ago Jim and I were spoiled by our hosts when we went to Montana for me to do a seminar. (Our hosts were Nancy Tanner and the Galloping Dog Agility & Flyball Club in Bozeman. What wonderful folks… visit them at www.gallopingdog.com) The day before the seminar, we were taken on a 12 mile horseback ride into the mountains. What a joy. I used to ride a lot, so it was like going home for me. (Jim had never ridden, what an introduction! He was amazing, I have to say. And so was his wonderfully reliable horse.) I bring this trip up because two dogs accompanied us on the ride, running helter skelter, back and forth for the entire ride. They easily must have run over twenty miles. I swear, they were barely tired at the end of the trip. Oh, if only our dogs could have exercise like that every day! Okay, maybe that wouldn’t be good for a pug, but think of all those retrievers and herding dogs bred to work who don’t have that much to do. What a wonderful feeling it is for those of us who own them to see our dogs sleeping soundly after a good, long session of healthy exercise. Ummmm. Part of why Karen London and I wrote Play Together, Stay Together is to help people find ways to exercise their dogs for their sake, as well as for their dogs. I have included a photo of Mr. Will enjoying one of his toys. It always lifts my heart to watch dogs playing.
Meanwhile, Willie slept for a couple of hours, and then ran his tail off searching the high pasture for the lamb flock in the evening so that we could bring them down for their grain. He came home happy to gobble up his dinner and rest again, while we sat down to a dinner from fresh, local and ogranic sources. Yumm. I do love fall!
Applesauce, anyone?
Dena Norton says
Trish, I would *LOVE* some of your applesauce. There is nothing better than fresh, homemade applesauce from local trees.
Sabine, VA says
Your homemade applesauce sounds delicious ! I’ve been to Wisconsin only once, judging at a horse show and I wish I could have stayed a while longer and enjoy the beautiful scenery there.
I am a retired horse person and I remember taking my dogs out on trail rides for hours every day in VA hunt country. My last trail dog was a German bred wirehair dachshund and she was overjoyed every time I told her that we were going trail riding. Being a. a dachshund with a mile long hunting pedigree and b. as independent, as can be – another one of the breed traits – I would sometimes “lose” her in the woods and just hear her tracking noises in the distance. She got to live the life most dogs would envy her for. The “apres trail” was a session on top of the manure pile, followed by a grunting roll in the straw. Life was good for this little dog and I wish people would recognize the dachshund as the hunting dog he is and not some sofa ornament with a taffata skirt on.
“Uschi vom Wasserland” (a.k.a. Purzi-Pooh) lived to be almost 16 years old and she was one of the dogs who touched my soul. She was one of the smartest, most fearless (is that smart, if you only weigh about 7 kilos ? ), sweetest dogs I’ve ever known. In her “free” time, when she was all clean of barn dirt, she would visit handicapped children and seniors. She also was one of many therapy dogs who comforted people after the Pentagon disaster of 9/11. A truly magnificent dog !
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Oh – I forgot to mention: She did NOT play with any dogs, nor was she interested. Very social and friendly, but a diva ! Didn’t like toys either and the only purpose of a toy was to be “killed”. Sorry – now I was getting completely off topic, but I do miss her so and when you mentioned trail riding with dogs, I got carried away…………
Michelle says
I couldn’t find a better place to ask this question though I’m sure I’m just being a dunce. Anyway, if you’ve already answered this, please feel free to point me in that direction. What are your thoughts on feeding dogs a raw diet? thanks, Michelle
Trisha says
Raw diets? Oh my, could we talk about the Palestinians and the Israels please ? That would be less controversial. But for what it’s worth, I’ll tell you what I do. I don’t feed a ‘raw diet’ to my dogs. There are several reasons for that, but there are two primary ones. 1) I honestly don’t have the time. I know a lot of people who started and then quit cuz they just couldn’t keep it up. I have enough to feel guilty about, so I didn’t start. (You can buy commercial raw diets, but they are very expensive.) 2) I do not trust myself to take all the steps I know are necessary to make raw diets safe.
Here’s what I do do: I feel a small amount of high quality kibble and a larger amount of high quality canned food. I supplement liberally with cooked vegetables and cooked meat. Who gets what depends on their health. Both Willie and Lassie get ‘cooling foods’ like duck and ‘neutral’ foods like beef. Willie gets liver, but it is high in phosphorus and Lassie’s kidneys are not as healthy as I’d like (I refuse to use the veterinary term that Lassie is in “kidney failure.” Failure? She’s been in that state for over a year…) and so is not good for her. Every week I cook greens, like spinach and kale, along with carrots, broccoli, or sweet potatoes for Lassie, white potatoes for Will. I am advised not to give them lamb or chicken (can you imagine how frustrating that is… I, uh, raise lamb after all and always have lots in my freezer) so I concentrate on beef, duck and fish as protein sources.
What I think is important is that dogs get REAL WHOLE FOOD, not food that has been processed. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Trisha says
Sabine: I loved imagining your dachshund glorying in the woods on trail rides. I used to ride a lot when I was growing up in Arizona, and there was often a dog trotting along. There’s something so special about being smack dab in the middle (literally) of 3 species, all moving through time and space together. Here’s to Purzi-Pooh, and all the special times you gave you (and continues to give the rest of us!)
Anne says
One of the funniest sights I have ever experienced while watching sheep was when they were trying to eat apples. In the fall I take them out of their pasture to graze under the apple trees. It’s not fenced but under the watchful eyes of me and a dog they can’t get too far. The sheep would pick up an apple but not having a hand to position it right they would stand there tossing their heads trying to get it positioned for a bite with the back teeth. Sometimes it would fall out and they would chase it and grab it again. They looked for all the world like they were playing with red rubber balls.
Sabrina says
I’m not sure if you’re still reading these but I discovered your blog recently after reading your wonderful books! I’m a new dog owner (having dog-averse parents, I finally have two of my own) and have been trying to get as much quality behavioural advice as possible (in addition to my local dog trainers) so your blog is a great read! BUT, I have to take issue with your pug statement! I started taking my two year-old pug hiking with me as a puppy, and since I got her in autumn (in Canada), snow-shoeing too. ALthough we don’t do twenty miles, she can quite easily manage 4-6h hikes (with elevation!) as well as two hour snow-shoe expeditions during which she spends most of the time jumping through the snow. She can certainly outdo my 4 year-old lab rescue (who didn’t grow up with much/any exercise). Ofcourse, I am lucky that she is perfectly healthy with a relatively big pug nose, but I think its important for owners to know that they can train their dogs to tolerate lots of exercise if they start early and go slow. That said, I love your blog and your books have helped me greatly to learn to train and live with my dogs.