Family (and Friends) Trip to Red Rock

The whole family and a few friends took a trip out to Red Rock for a hike the other day.  I have some great pictures, and we had a great time, but first I wanted to say a few things about hiking in places where there are a lot of other off leash dogs.

Now this particular trail was not actually in Red Rock national recreation area.  It was on BLM land, where there is no leash law, although this particular hike is a lot busier than any other BLM land area that I ever frequent.  I always keep Kerri on a leash because of hawks but I let Copley make his own way and the same is true for the other dogs we were with.  Most people on the trail had off leash dogs, but if we saw people coming we would call our dogs to us and leash them till we all passed each other.  Here is where it gets tricky for Copley.  He is a friendly dog but has gotten less and less tolerant of other dogs getting in his face as he gets older.  Nothing bad, but he just avoids situations where high energy dogs are in his face now, but if he is forced he may growl.  If everything is loose and off leash he smells a butt first and all is fine, but in these situations without fail the other owner is holding their dog back on the end of a tight leash with their dog flailing their front feet at Copley, so I just avoid greeting people's dogs with Copley and we move on.  Not because he is going to start a dog fight but because he doesn't like it.  Not all dogs love all situations and not all dogs need to be forced into situations they don't like.

So here is my predicament.  Copley would be 100% fine off leash where he could circle around back and sniff the other dog, or at least where he could take on the situation or not.  It is the smush together of dogs on the end of tight leashes in a small space that makes him uncomfortable and he will occasionally growl, but typically I just pick him up.  That works for me most of the time as long as the other dogs we are meeting are not totally out of their owners control.  I COULD just keep on going and call Copley to me without leashing him and we would have much more positive experiences.  The problem with that is I think it is kinda rude.  I thought that etiquette in an off leash area was that you leash everybody when passing, and although many people don't do that I feel like I need to be the good example and do it myself.  Maybe I should throw etiquitte to the wind and just do what I want- or perhaps only hike on remote BLM land where I will never run into another human or canine.  

While that is pondered take a look at some more picture from our fun hike!

 Kerrigan climbs "Mt. Osprey"

 On the Trail

There are burrows in this picture if you look really close.  Try clicking on it- it's like where's waldo wilderness style.

Have a great week everybody!

A Confused Stranger

 Watching the bass at Bass Pro Shop

I am an avid Bass Pro shops shopper.  I buy camping food and cast iron skillets, clothes and boots, fishing poles and firearms.  I am about 6 blocks from one and I go there almost every week.  While I prefer REI for a few camping things and anything for backpacking I do spend A LOT of money at Bass Pro.  So much money that I am a premium member and they have special events with food and specials for only like 15 of us.  It is so like me while my friends have personal shoppers at department stores I am the one getting special invites in the mail from the fishing and camping store.

Well I was at one of these events the other day with Kerrigan (our local Bass Pro is dog friendly- not sure if that is a national thing or not) and she was getting a lot of attention.  We were sporting our DreamChii bag, in a camo fish print and making a lot of friends like Kerri does.  There were a lot of  the regular "look how well behaved that chihuahua is" and a few kids petting her and the one stranger making kissy noises at me who I almost punched before I realized he was directing it at Kerri.  We did meet two people that left an impression and I thought I would share.  One was kinda hilarious and good the other is a scumbag.

Riding the escalator in her fish print camo bag

I will start with the hilarious guy.  I will call him "The Defensive Raw Feeder."  He came up and asked to pet her, where she was from and all that.  It turns out he had a rescue at home too- a fox terrier mix.  He showed me pictures on his phone while we sat waiting for a raffle.  He at one point said "yeah, all I feed my dog is raw meat, he is so healthy we never have issues and it is so great."  I was like- "Me too!."  That is where he got really confused, as if his brain could not process the fact that other raw feeders exist in real life.  Here is how that went;

       "No, I mean I just feed them raw meat, bones, organs, and a little bit of veggies I put in a blender."

       I respond, "Me too, they eat a lot of beef I get from a rancher in southhern Arizona, and actually I use a lot of game hens cause she is so small."

        Clearly still confused he continues, "Look, what you can do is go to the supermarket and they sell frozen chicken backs, then buy those tubs of liver and try an ethnic market for other organs.  She can eat chicken bones, don't worry."

       I have to admit I was becoming frustrated.  "I know.  I have been feeding raw for over 4 years, since before this one was born.  I try to get as much locally and pasture raised meat for them as I can but it does get tough with the bone.  Have you ever fed rabbit?"

       Still in shock the stranger keeps going, "Rabbit, no?  I mean I feed them RAW meat and organ, that's it.  I give them veggies every so often, but remember no onion.  They love apples and carrots."

       Finally I just about had it.  "I feed EXACTLY what you are describing.  I have for years, in fact I have a blog where I talk about it a lot.  This dog right here has never eaten kibble in her life.  You don't run into many raw feeders in person do you?"

From there the raffle happened (I actually won a $300 rangefinder I have little use for) and that was pretty much it but I think he finally understood me.  Really I think he has so many conversations with clueless people about raw that his brain could not comprehend a conversation with someone who actually already fed it.  He did seem nice though, and clearly loves all dogs so he gets an A-OK in my book.

Now moving to the other notable encounter.  Kerri was walking on her leash and a few kids were petting her. As that group of kids walked away a boy, probably 10 or 11 walked towards her, his Dad saw the kid too (I assume Dad, it was an older adult man with him).    As the kid was going to move towards us the Dad said in the most exasperated and disappointed voice "Don't pet that gay little dog."  Something about the way he said it, like he was embarrassed that his kid would even look at a chihuahua.  Honestly it was the homophobia if it that bothered me more than insulting Kerri.  People think that chihuahuas are mean, or that they bite and are scared of letting their kids near them and that I can work with and educate about, it does not offend me.  This was different.  This idiot was suggesting that his kid was somehow less of a man for just going near my little dog and that pissed me off.  I looked the Dad in the eyes and said "jackass" loud enough for him and the kid to hear me then I walked away.  Honestly I feel bad for the kid.  Even if he is naturally the most masculine boys boy out there and the constant reminders to stay that way don't scar him I bet it is not fun to be raised by a bigoted idiot. 

That's it for story time, but I want to remind you all to follow me on Instagram @doginthedesert, Facebook, and Kerrigan's twitter account @doginthedesert  I am doing a great job with this blog thing according to my little google dashboard but the other social media not so much.  Let's change that people!  Go follow me- I promise it is both cute and informational and you won't regret it.  In the next month or so I am going to be hosting a contest on my social media and you would not want to miss out would you?

Why My Dogs Shouldn't Exist

I first posted this in 2013 in response to people on a message board who either wanted to breed their chihuahua simply because they are "cute" and it would be fun to have puppies or wanted to get a dog from a pet shop, puppy mill or otherwise shady and irresponsible breeder even though they know better.  When I wrote it I was angry, ranting, and more than a little bit upset- but my ramblings seem to have touched a few people so I have edited it and re-posted it again.  I share it today because this Thursday is Remember Me Thursday.  A campaign to remember the thousands of animals who have lost their lives in shelters and to shine a light upon the many waiting right now for homes of their own.

I am sitting here with three dogs that me and my husband love more than anything. They are family and I am so incredibly grateful to have them in my life. Copley was my first dog and he taught me to take a break and look at what is important in life. He gave me friendship, a hobby, and a reason to get out of the house every day. He has brightened my world in a way that ho human can and I LOVE him. And Kerri- she is beautiful, just gorgeous, so happy and goofy! She not only brings sunshine and light into my life but into the lives of so many other people as a therapy dog. Then Nova, my beautiful little diamond in the rough. She has been through so much in her short life yet she still has so much enthusiasm and desire to love!  They are just amazing wonderful creatures.

But dogs don't have to suffer for us to have them in our lives. In a perfect world I would be sitting here with three different dogs. Dogs who didn't go through hell to get where they are today. Dogs bred by responsible, caring breeders who know what they are doing. Copley has structural faults so bad that he is sure to get arthritis later in life. In fact he already sees a chiropractor! And his teeth- they are so messed up. He is like you took random parts from two totally incompatible breeds and just glued them together.

But people will always say that their pet store/puppy mill dog is healthy, has good knees etc. So lets say the puppies will not have totally messed up joints and teeth. Where will they go for the rest of their life. Can their homes afford to fix them? Will you be able to keep track of every one of the puppies and know how everything works out for them. If not I have news for you. Odds are one of those puppies is going to get thrown out a window in a supermarket parking lot, left at a bus station or dumped in the desert. In fact the LUCKY abandoned dogs are the ones that end up at the pound. The unlucky ones get out and fend for themselves, half starving out in the elements. The unlucky ones get used as bait dogs in a dog fighting ring. The unlucky ones get locked in a kennel for the rest of their lives being bred.

Some dogs win the rescue dog lotto. In my county sadly it is only about 50% of abandoned dogs who ever get a new home. Those 50% get picked up by people like me, and other wonderful rescuers who are cleaning up the dirty messes left by irresponsible breeders. We take the traumatized, beaten, abandoned dogs of the world and we spend the rest of their lives trying to convince them everything is going to be ok. That they can finally relax a little bit and enjoy life.

And what about me? One day I want to have a dog that has never been abandoned. A dog that has been raised properly and right by caring people who love it and are smart enough to keep it safe. I want vet bills to come from unexpected accidents and illnesses that no one could have predicted- not from lack of health testing and vet care. I want a dog with really short nails- you know that have nice short quicks because they have been trimmed regularly from puppyhood. I want a dog that I didn't have to drag terrified from a shelter the day I met it.

So if you want to breed your dog because it is cute, it is friendly and it would be fun to have puppies- wake up!!!!!!!! I know you may not think right now any of your puppies will end up abandoned- but they will. No one breeds their pets with the intention of them ending up unwanted- but it happens.

The absolute terror that guides every decision Nova makes is the responsibility of exactly one person- the one who bred her, or her mother, or whatever generation in her line first ended up on the street. But the saddest thing is that I bet that person is still doing it. Because they are living- like most other people- in ignorant bliss. They have no idea that the cute puppies they sell end up suffering these horrible fates. The best tool we have on our side is education. I can volunteer and save as many dogs as possible and it still won't stop the problem if we can't get to it's source and educate people.

So to responsible breeders- keep up the good work! The more puppy parents that are educated by good breeders and the more dogs sold to responsible owners and with spay/neuter contracts the better!

EVERYONE ELSE- wake up and smell the roses. My dogs may be the bees knees but I still wish you never bred them. The tired old argument "well my dog wouldn't exist without a puppy mill/BYB so therefore I can't say they are all bad" does not work on me. You don't need suffering to have a good dog- in fact they are much better off without it.

Please take the time today to think of all the unwanted pets out there and make sure you are not one of the people unknowingly making the problem worse.  If you are then what better way to honor the lives lost than to start doing something about it!  Spay or neuter your pet before they have another litter, educate yourself about homeless animals and think twice before you "rescue" that puppy in the window at the pet shop.

Taking Risks in the Outdoors

Recently I saw a picture on facebook of a dog in a Ruffwear climbing harness doing some serious mountain climbing.  Ropes and all.  My first thought seeing this picture was how cool!  In fact it still is.  Based on the reactions of the comment section of that picture it was in fact not the reaction of others.  People called it animal abuse, cruel and dangerous.  After some googling I learned the dog's name is Whisper and you can check out more info and some really cool pictures on her owner Dean S. Potter's instagram here.

I get a little defensive about this because I am someone who regularly is criticized for the activities I choose to do with my dog.  Maybe it is because I have a small dog, but we are often stopped on trails and told how cruel it is to take a chihuahua out into the wilderness.  People thought that backpacking is too much for her too.

In fact some people in the toy dog community think it is too dangerous to ever let a dog on the ground outside because they could be taken by a bird of prey or attacked by a bigger dog.  I have met multiple people IN PERSON whose little dogs never leave their house.  They potty inside, they live inside and that is it.  Do I judge the shit out of those people?  Yes.  Do I think many of their dogs are simply miserable and neurotic for being stuck inside all the time?  For sure.  In the end though I am perfectly ok with these people owning dogs.  Caring, loving and doing the best you can is what matters when it comes to owning a dog.  Those little ones that never see the outdoors are probably happier than many dogs that are chained up, ignored or otherwise actually abused.

Then there are the people on the other end of the spectrum.  The people like the owner of that mountain climber.  Their dogs go everywhere with them, get to sniff and hike and see the outdoors.  They have the sun on their back and their people at their side.  The main argument people seemed to have against this climbing dog was that she didn't get to choose to take the risk.  It is ok for people to do risky activity but not dogs, because they have no choice in the matter.  Well a few thing there-

• We made dogs.  Dogs exist because we bred them.  Huskies want to pull because we bred them to want it, chihuahuas want to cuddle because we bred them to serve as hot water bottles for us.  Collies want to herd because we needed them to move our food animals and pointers want to point because we wanted help spotting game birds.  They don't just wake up one morning thinking "geeze I really want to dedicate my life to the human race."  They.  Just.  Do.  We took their choice out of the equation when we domesticated them.  
• Dog's do not exist autonomously to people.  Except for the very rare occasion of a feral dog or a street dog they are totally reliant on people in every way.  They don't make any decisions about their healthcare, food, or even about their friends.  Even when dogs are given choice (and I do think that is imporntant) we are deciding that this is something we are going to let them choose about!  If my dogs had a choice in the matter one would eat all day then die of bloat and the other one would collect every person she ever met and glob them into one pack that never separated and all slept together in a cave with her eating nothing but pork.  If you believe that domestic animals should not exist (I'm looking at you PETA) then ok.  Valid argument, I can handle that even though I don't agree with you.  If you are however a person that ever takes your dog for a car ride then how can you say anything about choice?  Does your dog know how many roadway deaths there were in your state this year?  Do they weigh the pros and cons of a harness vs a crate vs just being free in the car then decide the method that they think is the safest?  I don't think so.

That pretty much sums up what I feel about that subject.  Then I saw another picture of the same dog, Whisper, BASE jumping.  You can see a picture of her and read about her owners rationale on that here- http://deanspotter.com/2014/05/23/when-dogs-fly-philosophy-history-and-safety/

Seeing that made me have a lot of complicated feelings.  BASE jumping is not an activity that I have a lot of respect for.  I personally have never met a BASE jumper that I felt was an emotionally stable person (they may be out there but not that I've met).  It is a dangerous sport- so dangerous that people tend to say it is not "if" you die but "when."  There are very few activities that I would put the foot down and stop my husband from doing but that is for sure one of them.  To me it is right up there with  those preachers that handle venomous snakes.  I don't care what BASE jumpers say- people who are BASE jumping are doing it knowing that no matter how careful they are they might die.  You can read this study where they find the fatality rate of BASE jumping is approximately one in sixty participants.  That is part of the rush, if they didn't have at least a tiny death wish they would be skydiving or climbing or white water rafting or any other of hundreds of outdoor adrenaline junkie sports that are not as death wish-ey.  Those may be my feelings but I am for sure not going to stop anyone from doing it as long as they are an adult and their insurance pays for the search and rescue.

I can just hear people reading this thinking I am some sort of couch sitting outdoor hating person who "just doesn't understand."  I guess I can't really prove to the internet that is not true except to say that I just made a holster for my bear spray and I travel in circles where the pros/cons of BASE jumping is something that actually gets discussed.

But we still have the idea of that DOG jumping.  It bothers me a lot.  I would not do it.  Why can't he just leave her with a friend at the bottom of the mountain?  Hire a dog walker?  His rationale of either with me or locked in a car he gives in his article is nonsensical to me.  You could arrange for an activity for her while you base jump for sure.  HOWEVER- after thinking on it- I say good for her owner Dean.  That dog loves them and loves the outdoors and as he said in his article she would rather be out base jumping with them than stuck at home.  In the event that she goes splat on the wall of a canyon with her owner it would be unfortunate.  Thing is that dog has a better life than so many others out there and she would go down with her best friend doing something that she obviously loves to do (even if it is just because her owner loves it).  Above all else I believe in personal choice, leaving risk assessment up to individuals and enjoying life- not living in a padded room.  I can not very well in one breath defend taking a chihuahua camping in rattlesnake territory because "what kind of life would she have locked inside away from all danger" then tell another person that they can't base jump.

I just had to get out my opinions on this one.  Please share yours- I really want to know what people think about this!

Zukes Bought Out By Nestle

I am sad to say that one of my favorite brands of treats- Zukes- Has been bought by Nestle Purina Pet Care.  Unfortunately as we have seen with many past brands this is sure to mean a compromise in ingredients and safety no matter what they say to the contrary.  I will no longer be buying them because neither the people or the dogs in this house consume any Nestle products, but I am very sad.  The power bones were great for active dogs like Kerri who were skinny buy wanted to keep going for many hours on the trail.  The minis were perfect training treats.  You can read the statement from zukes on their website-

www.zukes.com

They have some empty promises in the "Hot News" area of their homepage and a full press release if you click on the link.

This is the bullet point that most concerns me the most-

  • Every recipe will remain the same, or be improved, but will never be compromised.

They are not even saying things will be the same.  We all have seen what happens when giant pet food manufacturers "improves" things.  We also are starting to see the deception tactics that are all too common in the business.  Highlight the part of the sentience saying you will never change and follow it by the rest of the sentence saying you will be improving things.  Zukes do not need improved and it is sad that they are already preparing consumers for their formulas to change.  I guess to our house it doesn't really matter anyway, we will not be buying them ever again no matter what they put in them (that is after I go buy every store out of power bones).

My hope is owners who were buying these more expensive, high quality treats will abandon the brand ASAP, it will go out of business and never again will a company think that partnering with Nestle is a good thing.

Rally For Change

Hello Las Vegas folks (and other folks too)!  As many of you know Kerrigan was adopted from a county shelter called The Animal Foundation (formerly LIED Animal Shelter).  Sadly only 61% of the animals that go into The Animal Foundation make it out alive.  Also sadly the administration at the shelter is very resistant to change and perhaps worse than that is spreading a lot of misinformation to the public.  The Executive Director, Christine Robinson claims that the shelter has not killed a dog for space in over a year.  If that is true why was healthy, happy Lala (seen in the picture above) killed?  Why are so many dogs killed for minor medical issues, why are so many dogs euthanized for behavior when volunteers witness those very same dogs as happy and healthy.  The numbers just don't add up.  Then there are the stories like this-

Post by Go Vegas Dog.

So what can you do about it?  There are a few things.  First watch and share this video.

1)

2)

Social networking.  Share the video and the poster with all your friends.  Also follow Go Vegas Dog and Animal Help Alliance on facebook for more information.  If you are looking to adopt soon check out Go Vegas dog on Facebook for information about sponsored adoption fees the day of the rally.  We may disagree with how they are run, but it is not the animals fault, so if you are ready to adopt consider adopting from The Animal Foundation the day of the rally (or any other day for that matter)!

3)

If you have a little extra to spare please also consider donating.  Permits, insurance and printing flyers is not cheap and the organizers can use anything you can give!  Here is the link for that.

4)

Most importantly attend the rally and RSVP here!

P.S- Arbor (Go Vegas Dog) is a really cool pup!  You should follow her on facebook.

Tis The Season To- Judge Other People Without Knowing All the Facts

It is that time of year.  The weather is getting colder.  You are all frantically starting to deep clean your houses in anticipation of the family visits at Thanksgiving.  The leaves are falling off the trees, the crisp air is making your morning coffee taste that much better, and your chihuahua is sitting in the corner shaking.  Take a minute to go look- I bet if you have a dog under 10 lbs in the house right now it is shaking in the corner.  Are they upset at your insane cleaning spree?  Do the leaves on the ground rub on their tummy uncomfortably?  Did they eat part of your Halloween pumpkin?  No,  no and no.  I was asking these same questions a few years ago.  The answer is simple, your chihuahua is freezing its ass off.  Tiny dogs with thin hair have been selectively bred by people for hundreds of years to be as tiny and as useless in the cold as possible.  Luckily, dear humans, over the last several hundred years we have also refined another thing.  The mass production of textiles.  And heating pads.  And polar fleece pet beds.  Now go put a sweater on that freezing dog, cause you know what?  A room temperature of 68 is cold if you only weigh 5lbs.

This jersey says "Wide Retriever"

I am always the first person to shout from the top of the roof that SMALL DOGS ARE DOGS TOO and to TREAT A CHIHUAHUA AS YOU WOULD A ROTTWEILER as far as rules go.  There are some areas though where tiny dogs are different.  As I mentioned before we humans feel a need to breed dogs to the extremes (no judgement there- really- I mean I own two super tiny dogs- I don't judge on that one) and some of those extremes have made it so our dogs can't regulate their own body functions.  In the case of tiny dogs that would be blood sugar (in some cases) and temperature.  The human race is responsible for the dogs being tiny so we are also responsible for putting a sweater on them if they are cold.

There comes my next point.  If you see a person walking their dog with a sweater on it.  DON'T JUDGE that person.  They are not (necessarily) treating their dog like a child, or playing dress up with it as if it is a doll, or anthropomorphizing it.  The dog is probably cold and the responsible owner is just keeping it warm.  Even if the dog does not seem to like the clothes- stop judging!  Just like anything some dogs take faster to stuff than others.  While one dog may love a sweater from the first day it wears it, it may take another dog a little while to be trained to ignore the clothes.

I am tired of people saying "I would never put clothes on my dog" or calling it "cruel" to put a sweater on a dog.  If you think it is cruel then you also must think it is cruel to simply own a small breed with short hair in a place where it gets cold.  Maybe that is what you think.  If so say that.

For a long time I was ashamed of putting clothes on my chihuahuas.  I thought it reinforced a stereotype and frankly the clothes are often really ugly.  If you are a person like me who tends to scoff at socially imposed gender norms then don't shop for chihuahua clothes.  It is a sea of pink tutus and camo pants, as I have blogged about before.  So for a long time I bought the cheapest, most generic clothes I could find and moved on.  Recently though I have realized that there is nothing wrong with spending money on clothes I like.  Kerri and Nova don't care what their clothes look like, but just like with collars and crate pads and other dog stuff it is ok to spend your money on what the human thinks looks good.  After all I am the one looking at it and parading it around town on our walks.

So moral of the story-

• Your dog might be cold
• If it is put a sweater on
• Don't judge others for putting clothes on their dog
• Even if they are designer clothes and cost a lot of money don't judge
• Don't judge other people
• Chihuahuas are dogs too
• Don't Judge other people

P.S- Kerri outgrew most of her clothes from last winter, and Nova is her size too, so I am in need of clothes if anyone has any suggestions.  I like quirky stuff FYI.

Iams Shakeables Review- Or Anti-Review

I have noticed that a lot of bloggers have been reviewing IAMS Shakeables these past few days.  Well I don't ever accept ANYTHING from the major pet food companies, so I am not reviewing them for Iams.  In fact I wasn't going to review them at all.  But then I was reading all over blogville about how "amazing" "tasty" and "fun" they are and I decided I needed to throw my hat in the ring on this one.  I went to the store and purchased a can of the treats (they were less than $3 so it didn't break the bank) and now I am going to review them.  My basic review is this-

They are fattening, cheap, contain very little meat and I would never in a million years buy them for my dogs.  Iams is contributing to pet obesity with the size of these treats and with poor labeling practices, but at least they are not full of sugar like other treats on the market.  You could buy worse, but why buy crap at all?

 

Before I get into manufacturing practices that I find suspect lets take a go at the ingredients.  The first one is Wheat Flour followed by Glycerin.  That's right- the two ingredients that make up the primary composition of the treat is wheat flower and glycerin.  I don't have anything particularly against wheat, but it is a grain, and a lot of dogs are sensitive to grains.  Also I can't imagine that any dogs particularly love the taste of these two, cheap as shit ingredients.  Next on the ingredients list is lamb.  To that I say bravo!  Lamb is a named protein source, and a lot of dogs like it.  But it is also the reason I bought the lamb flavor.  You see a lot of people whose dogs have allergy problems buy lamb as a way to avoid chicken and other common allergens.  But you see the thing here is that the next ingredient on the list is... wait for it... POULTRY fat.  Not chicken, duck or turkey fat, but poultry fat.  That means it can be any kind of poultry fat at all.  So if your dog is allergic to chicken, these treats would be a bad idea, even though the word chicken does not appear anywhere on the label.  On top of that poultry fat is a by-product of the rendering process so who knows what really is in it.  I see people right now saying- "but I trust Iams to make sure their product is safe and they wouldn't put iffy poultry fat in treats."

Well a little research on my part finds that Iams Shakeables were actually already recalled once this year.  By recalled I mean that Iams silently pulled them from store shelves without even notifying consumers.  Here is their iffy "press release" that can only be found if you know the product was recalled and google as such- http://www.iams.com/en_us/data_root/_pdf/Shakeables.pdf

Here is a blog post about the whole situation.  I agree with their assessment that P&G was hoping no one would notice they were withdrawing the product.  Thanks for putting dogs first P&G!  http://www.seattledogspot.com/blog/dog-blog/post/iams-recalls-shakeables-turkey-and-lamb-dog-treats

Still trust Iams?

Maybe you do.  Lets forgive them for a minute the "poultry fat."  It is just there after all to make the treat taste good, because glycerin and wheat flour with a little drop of lamb actually tastes like cardboard, so you need the fat for flavor.  Lets move on to a few little tidbits form the Iams website FAQ-

" Are all ingredients in Iams Shakeables from USA?

The majority of our ingredients come from the United States; there are some ingredients that are sourced from other countries."

What countries you may ask?  This FAQ might give you a clue.

"Why do you purchase ingredients from China for Iams Shakeables?

The realities of global trade means that some countries or regions specialize in certain ingredients, which can limit the buying options. We do not source meat- or vegetable-based proteins from China"

Good luck finding it in the FAQ though- they are about as easy to navigate as a corn maize.  I did learn some more information from them though.  Such as the fact that one shakeable treat is about 10 calories.  That is one thing I must thank Iams about- I was planning on trying to calculate that somehow and they saved me a lot of math. 

There too comes the other problem with Iams Shakeables.  10 calories is a lot for a dog treat.  I do use a lot of training treats, and I my dogs are not obese, but these are just HUGE.  I see so many of the dogs reviewing them online struggling with obesity.  There is simply no reason to give your dog a 10 (useless, empty) calorie treat like this.  Pictured below you will see the Iams Shakeable with equal calorie amounts of other treats I had laying around.  You will notice that one shakeable is actually more calories than a snack pack of fruitables (flower shaped treats).  The high values zukes treats I use are more calorie dense than the Shakeables, but you will see that they are small, encouraging people to actually feed less of them (those are the z's on the right).  The zukes treats easily tear in half, giving me 8 treats for every one of the Iams ones.  I tried tearing the Iams treats into 8 pieces and it didn't go great.  All I got was a crumbly mess and a broken nail.  Plus the Zukes are full of good stuff like chicken as the first ingredient and fish oil.  Dogs don't eat a lot of calories in a day, do you really want to waste 10 of them on wheat flour and glycerin?  Overall I just can't get behind these Iams treats, they don't even say on the can how many calories are in a treat!  The Kcals are there but it takes a math major to translate that into something real.  If Iams really was putting dogs health as their first responsibility they would list the calorie content per treat on the can.  It's not like they didn't know it, cause it is listed in the back of a difficult to navigate FAQ section on their website.

Also notice there was no taste test here?  Of course the dogs loved them (I broke one up for all three dogs) but the dogs love a lot of stuff, it does not mean it is good for them.  The rest of the can is going where it belongs- in the trash.

____________________________________________________

P.S- From the Iams FAQ "Are Iams Shakeables Made in the USA?" says "Yes, the Shakeables are manufactures and packaged in the USA. All of our products distributed in the United States are manufactured in the United States."

I was wondering around the store curious where Iams products are made and the first thing I picked up was this tub-

"Made in Thailand" is printed on the label.  Still trust Iams?

 

Squeaky Wheels Get the Grease

^Squeaky Wheels^

The chihuahuas get a lot of air time around here.  It is because I tend to write about the exciting, challenging, interesting things that happen in my life.  Now I LOVE Copley, but he is far from challenging or exciting.  For the large part he listens to things I tell him.  He never has pooped or peed in the house, he knows a few tricks and they are all cute, he can go for a hike, or sleep all day.  He walks well on a leash, no longer gulps his food, eats anything put in front of him, and now that we are past the lyme disease he has no health problems.  At 5 years old (or so) he is neither young or old, he has ok but not great hips and while he does like agility, it really knocks him out and we can't seem to get in the swing of enough classes for him to keep up but not too many to wipe him out.  

So Copley sleeps on the couch and snuggles with me at night while I write about the exploits of two exceptional chihuahuas.  Not only are they exceptional, but for opposite reasons, so it really keeps things interesting.  In one day I might be working on Nova not attacking guests who come to the door then taking Kerri to visit a library where she patiently allows ten children to pet her at one time.  I think you get the picture.

Copley is relegated to a few tasks he is particularly suited for on the blog-

 Trying out products that are too big for the chihuahuas

 Bragging about being named after a nostalgic part of his owners lives

 Testing treats that are too big for the chihuahuas

Sometimes (often) I ask myself why I am not writing about my favorite dog.  That's right, I said favorite, they are dogs not children, I can pick a favorite and they will never know.  Copley was our first dog and for all the reasons I stated above he is perfect*.  Literally the closest thing to the ideal family pet one could ask for, so he is my favorite.  The thing is Copley doesn't mind.  I think he liked it when we got Kerri because he wasn't the center of attention anymore.  Then I think he liked it when we got Nova because there were two chihuahuas to entertain each other and the humans so he REALLY could avoid being the center of anyone's attention.

A common remark I get from acquaintances is that Kerri is the BEST dog.  I agree with that.  But I also know what people really mean to say is that Kerri is so much better than the false idea in their mind of what most chihuahuas are.  When you expect a dog to never leave the house, bite your ankle then shiver in the corner it is amazing when you see that dog confidently climbing a mountain.  I get it.  It is just funny to me when the better behaved, better trained, more evenly tempered dog gets no credit for anything.  Except from people who have dog sat.  Funny... they all fall in love with Copley.

 You see Copley only wants a few thing in life

1. To sleep most of the time close, but not directly touching, other members of the family
2. To occasionally cuddle
3.  To spend time outside with everyone else looking at, but never actually going near (that would be scarey) wild animals such as ducks and squirrels
4. To get a meal every day, preferably of raw red meat
5. For me and Ben to return home every time we leave the house
6. To meet new people and spend time with guests that come over

That's it. Plus he is my buddy, always has been.  From the day I brought him home I have been in love and I think he loves me back.  We are buddies and that's that.

So what's the point of this post?  Copley is perfect* and I felt he was due for some attention.  Just don't tell him, he really does not want me bothering him.

*The word "perfect" is subjective in this case.

Raw food, cooked food, local food, people food!

I decided I have a lot to say about feeding raw food, buying that food locally and the fact that I am not a vegetarian (something that a lot of my friends in animal rescue surely judge me for).  Before I start I just wanted to say if you don't home cook, but you feed a pre-made diet don't feel bad.  Good kibble is a good decision for a lot of people!  Nothing at all wrong with that.  Also don't feel bad if you had a frozen meal made by ConAgra for dinner- I had a box of fruit loops the other day and I really don't feel bad about it.  Likewise don't judge me for having eaten bacon for breakfast this morning, pigs are really cute, and smart but...  I'm just going to stop before I put my foot in my mouth with that one.  If any of these topics make you really angry (or you just don't want to read a giant block of text that is nothing more than my opinion) feel free to pretend this post is just a cute picture of a chihuahua.  Eating a commercial dog treat.  With veggies in it.  Oops.  Even the raw feeders will be against me after this post.

Wow this post needed a lot of disclaimers.  You still feeling good about this?  Blood pressure holding steady.  Great. Lets be on with it.

The reason I moved to a home made raw diet in the first place was actually to help the world at large, not just Copley.  I believe that buying our food from local, small family farmers is the best thing a person can do to make a difference in the world.  I don't mean that you must buy organic (does that word even really mean much?) and spend your whole pay check at a health food store.  In fact I mean the opposite of that.  I mean you should go down to the local farmers market and talk to people who are lovingly growing healthy veggies and then barter with them for a good price on food.  I promise after a few trips the farmers market will be saving you money on your grocery bill (that is if you can find a good market).

I feel the same way about meat.  Factory farms are not good for you, they are not good for the world and they most certainly are not good for the food animals in them.  I would rather be a vegetarian than support feedlot cattle.  Over the last few years I have managed to slowly transition us off commercially raised feed animals.  At this point the humans in the house are eating 100% pastured meat and the dogs are at about 90%.  And when I say pastured I don't mean I buy the grass fed ground beef at Whole Foods.  I buy beef from a local rancher that has heirloom cows.  They are grazed on BLM land in Arizona and finished in pastures in Southern Utah.  Their cows are all born, raised, and slaughtered on the ranch, unlike commercial cattle that often changes hands many times over the course of its short life.  All of the eggs that enter my house come from "pet" chickens and ducks living in people's backyards.  Not one of these animals has its beak cut off so it can live its life crammed into a small cage.  I supplement my beef with occasional Goat- also local, and I can show you the pasture where the herd of goat spends their life.  Then my favorite local meat is the pork we just found.  That's right- after years of not eating pork I found a local farmer who keeps three pigs at a time and makes BACON.  Sweet, sweet bacon.

Many animal rights activists would tell me killing is killing and I am still doing it.  To them I say- well you are right about that.  I have no problem with vegetarians, my Mom is one, and I am worried that in the not too distant future Ben will be one too.  What I believe is the answer is not to stop eating meat, but to strive to move all of our food from large scale farming to small farms down the street.  I also believe if we are eating meat it is our responsibility to make sure the animals we eat are treated ethically.  The point is I am doing what I can, and what I think is best.    I don't want to sound like a saint here- cause I'm not.  I just want to encourage everyone to make a little change that helps the world.  Imagine what a difference would happen in the world if everyone just replaced one meal a week with food bought at the farmers market?  Or if you took one step to buy local, ethical, meat?

Alright- that went there- now back to the dogs!  I know people judge me for feeding raw, and think I am some sort of crazy dog lady.  I will have you know I am a crazy environmentalist, tree huger thank-you-very-much.  With that said the benefits of a home prepared diet are many after seeing the change in my dogs I will NEVER be going back to commercially prepared foods.  Even commercially prepared raw foods- because that would totally defeat the purpose of my home preparing food.  An argument people have against raw is that they can't afford all pastured, or organic meat.  Well who cares?  First of all supermarket meat on sale is still a whole food that is just fine for raw feeding or home cooking.  Also what do you think they are eating now?  Every kibble on the planet (even organic, "all natural" kibble) is made from commercial cattle.  So even if you feed 99% feedlot meat and 1% pastured, local meat you are making a difference, and doing better than commercial foods.

As of right now the dogs are almost totally on local, pastured meat.  I do keep backup canned food for emergencies, and buy a few raw mixes for our pet sitters to feed when we are out of town.  I also get green tripe from commercial cattle, and currently I struggle to find edible bone locally.  For the most part my dogs diet consists of beef from the cows we eat, eggs found locally, local veggies, rabbit that is raised on a small farm and local goat.  A few times a week they do get commercial chicken, and while I hate that the rabbit is really the only other edible bones for the chihuahuas and it is not affordable enough to feed all the time.

I don't want to sound like if you are feeding kibble you are destroying the world.  I fly a few times a year and that pretty much destroys my carbon footprint and I certainly am not going to stop that!  What I am saying is that it does not matter what people say to me- I am sticking to a home-made diet.  For my dogs and for the world.  I just had to get that out there.  

Thanks for listening everyone, and no matter what you feed your dog and your family make an informed decision.

Three is the Perfect Number (For Us)

Right after we got Nova a friend of mine told me three was the magic number of dogs.  At that time I thought three might be a little bit too much for me.  (Actually lets get honest here- this friend has 9 dogs and I thought she was a bit crazy and was freaking out about 3 thinking it would be so many dogs that my life would be ruined).  It turns out she was right.

Last Monday me and Kerri went to agility class and Nova and Copley hung out with each other.  Then on Thursday we went for a drive and took Copley.  We were gone for almost the whole day but I had peace of mind knowing that Nova and Kerri were hanging out, able to play with each other and have fun while we were all gone.

So despite my worries it has turned out that having three dogs is a lot more like having one, and I like that.  I get more one on one time with each of the three than I ever had with Copley and Kerri by themselves.  I can take off with just one dog guilt free, or put two of them away to train one without hearing whining and scratching from a lonely dog.  Also with two chis and Copley I still have less than thirty pounds of dog in the house- so I am sure that helps too.  I am not sure that if I had three mastiffs I would be singing the same tune here.

Nova may not have been a planned adoption, but she has been a welcome one in many ways, and I am starting to really think three is the perfect number.

Why my dogs shouldn't exist

I first posted this on another place online in response to lots and lots of people who either want to breed their chihuahua simply because they are "cute" and it would be  fun to have puppies or want to get a dog from a pet shop, puppy mill or otherwise shady and irresponsible breeder even though they know better.  When I wrote it I was angry, ranting, and more than a little bit upset- but my angry ramblings seem to have touched a few people so upon request I am posting it here too. 

I am sitting here with three dogs that me and my husband love more than anything. They are family and I am so incredibly grateful to have them in my life. Copley was with me during a very intense time career wise and he taught me to take a break and look at what is important in life. He gave me friendship, a hobby, and a reason to get out of the house every day. He has brightened my world in a way that ho human can and I LOVE him. And Kerri- she is beautiful, just gorgeous. And so happy and goofy! She not only brings sunshine and light into my life but into the lives of so many other people as a therapy dog. Then Nova, my beautiful little diamond in the rough. They are just amazing wonderful creatures.

But dogs don't have to suffer for us to have them in our lives. In a perfect world I would be sitting here with three different dogs. Dogs who didn't go through HELL to get where they are today. Dogs bred by responsible, caring breeders who know what they are doing. Copley has structural faults so bad that he is sure to get arthritis later in life. In fact he already sees a chiropractor! And his teeth- they are so messed up. He is like you took random parts from two totally incompatible breeds and just glued them together.

But people will always say that their pet store/puppy mill dog is healthy, good knees etc. So lets say the puppies will not have totally messed up joints and teeth. Where will they go for the rest of their life. Can their homes afford to fix them? Will you be able to keep track of every one of the puppies and know how everything works out for them. If not I have news for you. Odds are one of those puppies is going to get thrown out a window in a supermarket parking lot, left at a bus station, dumped in the desert. In fact the LUCKY abandoned dogs are the ones that end up at the pound. The unlucky ones get out and fend for themselves, half starving out in the elements. The unlucky ones get used as bait dogs in a dog fighting ring. The unlucky ones get locked in a kennel for the rest of their lives being bred.

Some dogs win the rescue dog lotto. In my state sadly it is only about 8% of abandoned dogs who ever get a new home. Those 8% get picked up by people like me, and other wonderful rescuers who are cleaning up the dirty messes left by irresponsible breeders. We take the traumatized, beaten, abandoned dogs of the world and we spend the rest of their lives trying to convince them everything is going to be ok. That they can finally relax a little bit and enjoy life.

And what about me? One day I want to have a dog that has never been abandoned. A dog that has been raised properly and right by caring people who love it and are smart enough to keep it safe. I want vet bills to come from unexpected accidents and illnesses that no one could have predicted- not from lack of health testing and vet care. I want a dog with really short nails- you know that have nice short quicks because they have been trimmed regularly from puppyhood. I want a dog that I didn't have to drag terrified from a shelter the day I met it.

So if you want to breed your dog because it is cute, it is friendly and it would be fun to have puppies- wake up!!!!!!!! I know you may not think right now any of your puppies will end up abandoned- but they will. No one breeds their pets with the intention of them ending up unwanted- but it happens.

The absolute terror that guides every decision Nova makes is the responsibility of exactly one person- the one who bred her, or her mother, or whatever generation in her line first ended up on the street. But the saddest thing is that I bet that person is still doing it. Because they are living- like most other people- in ignorant bliss. They have no idea that the cute puppies they sell end up suffering these horrible fates. ALL we have on our side is education. I can volunteer and save as many dogs as possible and it still won't stop the problem if we can't get to it's source and educate people.

So to responsible breeders- keep up the good work! The more puppy parents that are educated by good breeders and the more dogs sold to responsible owners and with spay/neuter contracts the better!

EVERYONE ELSE- wake up and smell the roses. My dogs may be the bees knees but I still wish you never bred them. The tired old argument "well my dog wouldn't exist without a puppy mill/BYB so therefore I can't say they are all bad" does not work on me. You don't need suffering to have a good dog- in fact they are much better off without it.

Sorry for the rant- I just think more stories like this need to be out there, like I said education is our only hope.

We Love Our Vet!

I don't sit on my hip like this anymore :)

A while back I wrote about why we dumped our old vet and promised you a post about how much we love our new one.  Well it has taken me a while but here is why we love our new vet.

• She is a really cool lady and I really like her personally.
• She is a big fan of a raw diet.
• She splits her time between a primarily holistic practice and a primarily conventional medicine practice.  This means she brings a lot to the table.  Sometimes I find holistic vets a little too out there- and sometimes I find conventional medicine too closed minded and vets in particular seem easily bought out by pet food companies and pharmaceutical reps.  This new vet thinks for herself and has a lot of tools at her disposal.
• She is not anti-vaccine, she just is for reasonable vaccine schedules based on scientific fact, not based on ripping you off every 6 months.  This is good because I am equally annoyed by (scared of?) the people who claim all vaccines are evil so you should never vaccinate ever and the people who want me to uselessly pump a grate dane sized helping of parvo/distemper vaccine into my 6lb chihuahua every year.
• Her office DOES NOT SELL DOG FOOD!!!!!!!  Or at least if they do have prescription diets they are hidden away and you would never know they had them if you were a regular client there.  Cutting corn filled kibble out of my life even further feels so, so good.
• She does house-calls but also has a physical building we can go to if we need (and for blood draws and such).
• She gets results.  Under her care Copley has gone from a lump on the couch that "there is nothing wrong with" to an energetic, happy dog.  He even got back to agility just the other day.  I am so glad we found her.  As I said in my last vet post Copley was in a scarey place.  I truly believe if we had followed our vets advise and gone on pain meds, prescription joint care kibble and limited activity Copley would have declined fast.  By the time we found the TBDs I am sure it would have been far too late for his organs to recover.  I really believe we have bough Copley another 10 years of life.
• Did I mention her office does not sell dog food?

I could go on and on but really it is just more of the same points.  This vet fits us so well and I can't believe how lucky I am to have found her.  It took a lot for me to take the plunge and break up with our vet.  They were good people- and good vets- just not for us.  I wish I had "shopped around" sooner.  My take away message is this- There is no harm in trying new vets out till you find one you love- so don't be afraid to look!  We found our perfect vet and so can you.  For the record I feel the same way about human doctors.

It's been a year since this picture was taken?!?!?!?

P.S.- You may be curious how we found this vet.  Well we were at a totally non animal related social gathering and noticed a car in the parking lot with a magnet on it about a local veterinary house-call practice.  It turned out one of the people we met there was said vet and we tried her out.  Fate I think.

I dumped My Vet

It wasn't them it was me.  Seriously our vet was really good- for most people.  They care about animals and they try to do the best and have reasonable prices.  The problem is that they just were not doing it for me.  A few factors really played into it.

1. Raw Food.  I feed raw and I believe 100% that a home-made diet (not necessarily raw) is good for dogs.  There is no way in my mind that processed dry nuggets are better for your dog than whole foods sourced from trustworthy places.  At the very least I would expect them to recommend a HIGH QUALITY kibble- not Science Diet or the equally corn filled Purina.  I understand that there are a lot of complicated issues when it comes to why vets are against home-made food, but basically it comes down to dog food companies having a vice grip on vet schools and continuing their propaganda campaigns long into vets carriers.  I really felt it was time I found a vet who could see why raw feeding was better- and I did.  It was getting to the point where I could not remain civil in a conversation about how processed nuggets were better and I was probably killing my dog by not feeding them.  I also believe our blood-work was being only glanced over because the vets believed it was a byproduct of what we feed.  Unfortunately it was actually a DISEASE slowly killing my dog, not my food.
2. Vaccinations.  I am not anti-vaccine.  I do however have a problem with giving my dogs vaccines every year for parvo and distemper when those vaccines have shown to last for 7+ years.  Especially when my dog is fighting a disease that is attacking his immune system.  Don't even get me started on bordatella and the guilt trip I got from the receptionist every six months for not giving that!
3. Chiropractic and alternative medicine.  I am not against western medicine.  I also don't see why it is a problem to look at all modalities available to us to achieve good health.  The way I see it prevention is always the best medicine and often eastern or holistic approaches are about maintaining good health overall, not just treating problems once they happen.  What is wrong with those approaches?  NOTHING.  That is why we have changed to a holistic-centered vet who also understands you need an ER or some antibiotics every once and a while!  Lets use everything we have available to us and keep an open mind.  My old vet was not willing to do that.  They wanted me to put my 3 year old dog an an NSAID for the rest of his life and feed him glucosamine filled kibble (they never could come up with a good answer about how my giving them joint supplements would be any less effective than a kibble company doing it).  I can only imagine what Copley would have looked like after 2 years of NSAIDS, kibble and Lyme disease.  I don't think he would see his 6th birthday in that scenario. (I don't mean to say NSAIDS- or long term use of them- is always bad.  It makes a lot of dogs comfortable and with proper monitoring it is often the best choice.  For us it was putting a band-aid on a degenerative disease.)
4. Tick Borne Disease Literacy.  I needed a vet who had treated and seen TBDs before.  They are tricky and the symptoms are subtle and seem like other things.  Every time I went in it cost me $200 and they told me it was nothing.  The new vet looked at our whole picture and came up with a solution.
5. Fear Mongering.  I started getting stuff in the mail about putting my dog on flea/tick/heart worm meds and how I was doing them a horrible disservice and  killing my dogs by not having them on monthly frontline and de-wormers (for the record I DO test for heart worm and think people in areas with it should use preventatives).  This bothered me for two main reasons.  First it was propaganda made by a pharmaceutical company but was disguised as a meaningful letter from my vet.  Secondly WE DON'T HAVE FLEAS or TICKS or MOSQUITOES HERE!!!!!  They are literally just ripping people off at best, and tricking them at worst.

For now I guess that's it.  My did this turn into a rant.  I guess it is like all bad breakups- I am a little bitter.  Seriously though- my old vet isn't that bad.  If you don't mind standing up to them about the food thing and your dog doesn't have a TBD they are one of the best vets in the city.

Enjoy this picture of what really matters- a happy, healthy Copley enjoying a romp in a field of swamp cabbage.

Lyme Disease Update

I was thinking of titling this post "Lyme disease update and we fired our vet" but I decided they needed to be two different posts because i have a LOT to say about our breakup with our old vet.  Expect that post soon.

For now I will update you on the lyme disease.  You may wonder why it has taken this long for an update, but really we had no idea what was going on for a while.  Bottom line- Copley is on the mend.  He had Lyme and possibly an unknown co-infection with some other sort of tick borne disease.  Co infections are common with TBDs and since we didn't know what to test for in the beginning we may never know exactly what Copley was/is dealing with. 

As you may have read in my last Lyme post we ran a test that came back with a mild (or perhaps moderate) positive for Lyme antibodies.  Depending on what vet you talk to this positive was either low or moderate and either was caused by or could not possibly have been caused by the lyme vaccine.  As you can see confusion about TBDs seems to run rampant through the veterinary community and that may be particularly true when you live in a place without ticks.  We ran a second test that came back also low and/or inconclusive.  We also ran a CBC that clearly showed Copley was fighting some sort of chronic or low level infection.  With this information, or at least some of it, we decided to treat with antibiotics.  At this point I must say our vet was not entirely convinced Copley had a tick borne disease (oh how I will elaborate on that in the vet post), but I managed to convince them to give me the antibiotics.  The antibiotics really gave me a bit of hope for our sad little guy.  For the first two weeks he really improved a lot.  It was like there was a new Copley in there!  After a while the antibiotics started to get him down (as a high does for 28 days would) and he seemed worn out.  Between the doxycycline working, his migrating joint pain, the Lyme titer and his bloodwork showing the immune response to a infection we are now moving forward with an official diagnosis from the new vet of Lyme.  I am happy to say that now a month or so past them we seem to have a happy dog on our hands!

Now the question is where do we go from here?  Well for starters I am enjoying the happy new Copley we have going on.  Don't get me wrong- he is still possibly the most lazy dog on the face of the earth, but when he wants to he is a lot happier to be up and playing.  If it wasn't summer I am sure he would enjoy getting out and hiking again too!  The second thing we are doing is getting him on the mend with a holistic vet.  The vet we chose is open to using all methods to best treat a dog so from now forward we will be using the best both western medicine and herbal/holistic medicine has to offer.  He is on a variety of supplements and herbal supports to help his immune system mend from the assault that was this tick borne disease.  In October he will have another full round of blood tests so we can see where he is at.  Hopefully his titer for the Lyme will have decreased and his blood-work will be a little more normal.  If he starts looking worse again we will test sooner but hopefully everything is on the mend here.

The mystery of where he got the Lyme is still unsolved- but for now we will just be happy we figured out what he had!