Random Stuff
Herding Class
Monday, November 9th, 2009 | Indigo, Random Stuff | No Comments
Indy and I had a wonderful time this past weekend. The weather was absolutely gorgeous (sunny and 70 in November?), which means we spent a lot of time outside. In particular, we had our first ever herding class at Dancing Hearts Holistic Learning Center about an hour south of my area.
Dancing Hearts offers more than just herding, but everything they offer is focused on positive training and feedback, not correction. Our friend David booked an Introductory class for he and Vasey plus Indy and I. The instructor, Kathy, was very easy going and calm, and Indy seemed to take to her right away. (Always a plus in my book.) Actually, we were there a little early to let the sisters play and get rid of the extra energy, but of course they didn’t. We met Kathy’s husband while she was finishing off another class, and he was pretty darn good with the dogs. He just ignored Indy, which made her extremely interested. Go figure…
Our class started by discussing our objectives in the pen. Kathy explained how we would go in with the leashed dog and maneuver around to control where the sheep would go. We also touched on staying calm and focused and how it would affect the dog’s emotions as well. Not a new concept for me having gone through handling classes for the show ring, but it served as a great reminder to get my excitement in check to help Indy calm down. If the dog goes in the pen lunging and barking, they are not going to be able to learn very much.
David and Vasey went in for the first try.
Since we both came with leashes, Kathy suggested we loop the leash just behind the front legs on the chest for a makeshift halter. It allows the handler to apply a little squeeze to the dog, which may help them focus and calm down a bit.
Sheep on the move as Vasey starts to herd.
Moving along.
Vasey really seemed to enjoy herself.
Then Indy and I went in for a turn. As you can see, Indy was also very excited and was pulling. It took me about 5 minutes to get her calm-ish. My forearms are tired.
Indy was happy to move the sheep around while Kathy instructed.
More sheep herding. 
While you’re in the intro stages, you want to keep yourself between the dog and the sheep. It’s less stressful for everyone. But I am not used to walking with Indy on my right side.
Each of the teams had two turns in the pen. I think both girl dogs did pretty well. I wasn’t sure if they would at first since they were both very excited to see the sheep. But they both calmed down after a few minutes and got to work.
I definitely think we will be doing it again. And I would very much recommend Dancing Hearts to someone in this area.
Ethoxyquin
Friday, November 6th, 2009 | Random Stuff | 19 Comments
Ethoxyquin has become quite the topic of discussion with crazy dog people like me of late. It’s been determined that it is contained in quite a few premium food brands, several of which are used by Swissy people. And those Swissies have been doing very well on the food while it has contained ethoxyquin all along.
As some people here may know, both Indy and Gryffin are raw fed while Beowulf is on kibble. We are lucky enough that the kibble we feed (Fromm) is not on the list of foods containing ethoxyquin. But the question still remains…should you switch your dog’s food if it is on the list? Would I if it were me? I can honestly say that if we were feeding Beowulf one of the foods containing it, and he was doing well the entire time, it would be a very tough choice for me.
So, to help you understand why ethoxyquin is such a big deal, Dana Montero, aka the Dog Food Guru, has written today’s guest post.
Ethoxyquin
I have recently been getting a large number of questions regarding a preservative that is sometimes found in commercial dog foods called ethoxyquin or “E”. I would like to take a moment to try to explain to the readers of this blog what ethoxyquin is, the controversy and facts surrounding it, why we don’t want it in our dogs’ food, and what alternatives there are. I will also relay my findings after having personally contacted several dog food manufacturers and verified the use (or not, as the case may be) of ethoxyquin as a preservative in their products.
What is ethoxyquin, exactly?
Ethoxyquin was developed 35 years ago as a rubber stabilizer, has been used as a chemical preservative and is regulated by the FDA as a pesticide. Yes folks, I said pesticide. Scary huh? The FDA recognizes that this chemical has toxic side effects and as such has restricted its use in human foods, allowing for only trace amounts (.5 to 5ppm), yet they continue to allow its use in pet foods. The allowed amount for pet foods is extremely high (150ppm). Ethoxyquin has been linked to liver and kidney problems, cancer, reproductive issues, behavior problems, hemolytic anemia, stillborn pups, birth defects such as cleft palates, and various skin and coat conditions. The developer of ethoxyquin, Monsanto, even made sure that warning labels on containers of this chemical warn workers to wear eye and respiratory protection, and to only handle it with gloves. The container itself features a prominent skull and crossbones sign with the word POISON on it and it is listed as a hazardous chemical by OSHA. Ethoxyquin has also been linked to seizures. A mere 10 drops of this substance is enough to cause convulsions, coma and death.
If ethoxyquin is so bad, why is it used in pet foods?
Ethoxyquin remains stable at very high temperatures and protects fats and oils from becoming rancid. Foods preserved with ethoxyquin have a rather long shelf life and are less expensive to produce than foods using a natural antioxidant as preservatives. Some pet food manufacturers claim that the US Coast Guard REQUIRES them to use ethoxyquin as a preservative in their fish meals. This is not accurate – US Coast Guard regulations require that fish meals be preserved with antioxidants, and specifically name ethoxyquin – UNLESS the manufacturer has a special permit to use other antioxidants.
OK – so ethoxyquin is potentially harmful and we don’t want it in our pets’ food. What other alternatives are there?
Vitamin C, citric acid, Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) and Naturox are all safe, natural alternatives. Naturox is the brand name for a combination of mixed tocopherols (usually Vitamin E), citric acid, vegetable oil and rosemary extract. The downside to natural preservatives such as those named above is price – they are more expensive to use, and shelf life is shorter. This means producing more batches of dog food more often.
Does my dog food brand contain ethoxyquin?
Pet food manufacturers are not legally required to list ethoxyquin on their labeling unless they add it themselves during processing. This means if their suppliers use it on their crude ingredients before delivery to the processing plant, they are not required to list it on the bag. Note that foods containing FISH, SALMON, OCEAN FISH, MENHADEN, HERRING, WHITEFISH, etc are ethoxyquin free, unless otherwise specified on the packaging, as these ingredients are made from fresh fish. The ingredients that you should be concerned about are fish MEALS (ocean fish meal, herring meal, salmon meal, etc).
I have personally contacted several manufacturers by telephone, fax or email and received responses. If your brand is not listed below, this means that either I have been unable to reach a representative, have not received a response as yet, or have not yet contacted that particular manufacturer. Should you have questions about your brand of food and it is not listed below, feel free to contact me via my website and I will work on getting answers for you.
Foods confirmed to be ethoxyquin-free:
Innova
Evo
California Naturals
Blue Buffalo
By Nature
Flint River Ranch
Fromm
Merrick
Petcurean
Timberwolf
Wellness
Orijen
Acana
Nature’s Variety
Life’s Abundance
Halo (Spot’s Stew)
Horizon
Pinnacle
Canine Caviar
Eagle Pack
Evangers
Castor & Pollux
Evolve
Nature’s Logic
Grandma Mae’s
Ziwi Peak
Nature’s Logic
Foods confirmed to use ethoxyquin (should be avoided):
Diamond
Canidae
Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul
Solid Gold
Artemis
Taste of the Wild
Iams
Eukanuba
Natural Balance
Hills
Premium Edge
Fosters & Smith
Nutro
Kirkland
When there are foods out there that are free from toxins, why feed food that could potentially harm your dog – when you have a choice?
If you have questions for Dana, they can be posted here and I will make sure she gets them. You may also contact Dana through her website and she will answer you directly.
This was a rather confusing issue for me up until now. I hope Dana’s information has provided you with the insight you need to make your decision.
Happy Friday!
Physical Therapy for Dogs
Monday, November 2nd, 2009 | Random Stuff | No Comments
I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this before, but I work for a company that sells (and manufactures) physical therapy equipment, among other things. Normally, our products are used by hospitals, rehab facilities, physical therapists and their clients, and occupational therapists. But Friday, one of my sales reps forwarded me a few pictures of one of family members using one of the products we sell, and I felt compelled to get the story from her. The story is told by her human, so the “I” in this is not me.
Mollie is a 9 year old female wire hair fox terrier who loves to fish. I catch fish off the dock, she jumps in the water after them as I release them. She often gets them. Someone caught a fish and tossed it from a high spot on the pontoon-rather than landing in the water, it hit the dock. Mollie followed the fish-about an 8 foot jump and had a good wipe out on the dock (from the pontoon).
Within 24 hours she could not walk or bear weight on her hind end (the discs had swelled and caused nerve compression). Our wonderful vet/chiro did some adjustments and got her walking again and she is now in the healing stages. She has 3 bulging discs in her mid back and some soft tissue (cartilage and muscle) injuries in her low back/tail area. She is getting much relief from this Chattanooga Vectra Genisys electrical stimulation device-two treatments a day. I do daily massages, she swims in a lap pool for dogs (K9 Hydrotherapy) for her non-weight bearing strengthening on Sunday afternoons and she gets monthly acupuncture.
She is doing so much better-we thought we were going to have to put her down. She still cannot do stairs as this stressed her mid back. She wants to though and she wants to run and jump. We have to be diligent in controlling those activities for about 6 months until she fully heals. We are having ramps built for the couches instead of the dog stairs we have all over the house.
She is also on PhyCox-a natural anti-inflammatory and joint lubricant supplement for dogs (has tumeric, glucosamine, flax seed, etc). This is a great product for any aging doggie.
So that’s Mollie’s story. But you must see the pictures that prompted the inquiry, because they are rather cute.
Mollie looks quite relaxed while getting her electra-stim therapy.
Relaxing enough to fall asleep, which I could do right now just from looking at her.
Thanks for sharing, Cathy! Happy Monday!
RIP, Bree
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | Random Stuff | No Comments
This year has not been good to the Beagles in my family. My mother-in-law lost her older Beagle, Sam, earlier this year. Then we lost Alex. And sadly, Sam’s old housemate/sister, Bree, was put to rest over the weekend. She was 12 years old.
Run free, Bree. Go find your friends Sam and Alex at the Bridge…they will take care of you!
Corn Maze, anyone?
Thursday, September 24th, 2009 | Dogs, Random Stuff | 1 Comment
A Swissy person, who like me, is always looking for new places to walk their Swissy (aka Vasey), told me about this place south of Chicago. It’s called Konow’s Corn Maze, and is in Homer Glen.
This place looks really stinking cool. It’s basically a 10 foot high maze made from corn stalks. And they will let well-mannered dogs walk it with their humans. On leash, I will assume. The maze is on 10 acres of land, and has up to 3.5 miles of twists and turns through the maze.
They also have more kid-centered things to do, like hayrides, a tryke track, and a jumping pillow. (Between you and me, I’m going to try to get on that pillow. Without a dog, of course.)
They have an admission fee, but it’s not too expensive. And they have a $1 off coupon on their website, so it really boils down to about $7 per person over the age of 8.
So, we’re trying it in a week or so. It’s not around for ever. I think next weekend. If there are any Chicago-area people out there who want to join, send me a note and I’ll give you date and time details.
I’m off for a long weekend in California tomorrow, so I will not be posting for a couple of days. Have a great weekend, everyone!
2 Dogs 2000 Miles
Friday, September 11th, 2009 | Random Stuff | No Comments
Back in 2004, a Pyr named Malcolm was diagnosed with bone cancer. Since then, his human, Luke, has taken a unique approach to fund raising for canine cancer research. He sold his truck, but his belongings in storage, and hit the road with his two Pyrs, Hudson and Murphy. They are currently making the trek from Austin to Boston. You can get the details of the who, how and why on his website.
We’ve been aware of this for some time. I have my Puppy Up shirt, and now that I was able to get the spaghetti sauce stain out of it, I wear it weekly. People look at me weird, and every once in a while, they ask about it. If 10 percent of the people ask, it’s a good day. So why am I bringing it up now, you ask?
Simple. Remember earlier this year I mentioned the passing of Abigail the Pyr? Well, she also died from bone cancer. Not only were her humans lucky enough to meet Luke and his Pyrs on their journey, but they are currently involved in the big calendar fund raiser.
If you have a spare $5 (or more, if you’re lucky!), please consider donating to the cause. You can vote for Abby G (or others, if you wish), on the submission page.
Thank you!
We have a winner!
Thursday, September 10th, 2009 | Random Stuff | 1 Comment
Congratulations to Ryan and his Swissy Toby, who were the winners of the Ruff Wear Approach dog pack in the drawing last night!
Ryan, I know Toby may be a little small for the pack now, but I will still require pictures.
More to come!
Pet Friendly Housing?
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 | Random Stuff | 2 Comments
We all know, the economy stinks right now. People are having to sell their homes, frequently at a major loss, and are either moving to much smaller homes or having to rent apartments or live in hotels. If you have a pet, they are frequently the ones who end up as the major loser in that situation, as many rental facilities, either short or long term, will not allow them. Especially the ones that are inexpensive.
I’ve seen a fair amount of Swissies being rehomed because of this, and of course every other breed is being affected too. And cats. And sadly, I’ve heard comments from people that I find kind of depressing. Stuff along the lines of “what, they couldn’t try to find dog friendly housing?” I know I kind of felt this way the first time or two. But as I saw more and more rehomes, I knew it wasn’t just the people being lazy every time.
So I started looking around. It’s been a long time since I had to find a rental home that allowed pets, and things have changed a lot since then. Twelve years ago, I looked through the local paper for ads, spent time playing phone tag with the rental agent, and finally was able to pin something down. Now, obviously, you’d use the interwebs.
One of the first places I found was a site called PeopleWithPets.com. It lists some major areas off the main page, like Chicago. When I clicked into that area, I found that it had information for the suburbs, too, but it only had 43 listings–all for complexes. The links available for a local humane society, dog parks, and other area dog-related businesses, weren’t too current, and some depended on the geographic identifier of your internet connection. Not too helpful if you’re relocating from Minneapolis to Chicago.
Next, I found Petswelcome.com. They usually provide information on vacation rentals and hotels, but they’ve teamed up with another group to help people find pet friendly housing nationally. I did a search for my area and found 30+ listings within a 10 mile radius. Again, my only issue is all the apartments are complexes–no individual homes.
From here, I moved onto some local paper’s online adds. The Downers Grove Sun classifieds area allows me to search through many area papers, and once you enter the initial criteria, it allows you to put in keywords and get more specific in your housing request. Granted, using the word “pets” gave me findings for pets allowed, pets not allowed, and pets considered, but it gave me results that included a single family house.
With just a quick glance, I was able to find pet friendly housing available in my area. Maybe it’s too pricey for some people. Or maybe there’s another issue, I don’t know.
So, to those of you out there who are in this difficult situation, I ask you to take a good look before you give up your faithful companion. I understand it’s not easy, but they’ve always been there for you, so they deserve the chance to stay with you. If you need help, ask. Many area humane societies will be able to point you in the direction of pet friendly housing. Heck, send me an email. I’ll try to help, too.
Adopt me!
Friday, August 28th, 2009 | Random Stuff | No Comments
I’d like to bring your attention to a lovely girl that is currently in need of a forever home at the West Suburban Humane Society in Downers Grove.
Hi, my name is Zola. Don’t let my age fool you. I may be 7 years old but I am a happy, active girl that is looking for her forever home. I arrived at WSHS from Logan County Animal Control where I was picked up as a stray. It’s hard to believe that my family wasn’t looking for me. I am a great dog. I am housebroken and walk well on a leash. I am good with kids, cats and other dogs. I know basic obedience commands and can do lots of tricks. Speak is my favorite! I am going to make an excellent dog for some lucky family. Could that family be yours?
Sorry…
Monday, August 24th, 2009 | Random Stuff | No Comments
Things are just crazy on my end right now…not dog related at all. I will probably not be posting at all this week. But check back soon! We’re going to be giving something away for our 1 year anniversary!
Search
Categories
- Alex (13)
- Beowulf (56)
- Canine Cancer (2)
- Dogs (50)
- Gryffindor (81)
- Indigo (151)
- Litter Mates and Swissy Friends (17)
- Ozzy (17)
- Random Stuff (77)
- Swiss Lick Swissies Canine Cancer Fund (1)
- Uncategorized (5)