THOSE WONDERFUL COMPANIONS

CANINE MUSINGS

CANINE MUSINGS

FOOD:

In the wake of the recent recall of wet type pet food, I'd like to pass
on my experience. There have been other pet food recalls and I think
owners should keep that in mind and be aware of what they are feeding
their animals. It becomes a routine tucked into your day and little
thought it given to that food.

I have always fed dry food to my dogs with a few exceptions when one is
ill and requires a special diet. I must admit I took it pretty much for
granted at first. My first involvement with food problems came some 45
years ago when I had a dog on a special canned food because of health
problems. The food was terribly inconsistent in the can to the point
where I took it into my vet and questioned the quality control and other
problems. Back in those early days I don't think the manufacturers
really cared about quality control. My vet's complaints to the company
seemed to fall on deaf ears. It frustrated me considering how much I had
to pay for it. It was eventually worked out but to this day I refuse to
buy any food product from that company. Mainly because they still seem
to have an attitude that I don't like. If I have a sick dog and am
willing to pay extra for a product that will not make things worse, then
I expect it to be reliable, consistent, and of high quality.

My second experience was with the same company not many years later. At
that time this company was the only one around that had a food product
for an elimination diet. It was supposed to be neutral and used as a
control product. I no more started my dog on the food per her vet's
instructions and she became worse and quite ill. Her problems ballooned
to a point that scared me and I pulled her off of the food and we used a
different approach for her evaluation.

More recently I had two of my dogs on a high quality dry dog food that I
had a great deal of confidence in. I made up my mind years ago that I
wanted a closer relationship with the manufacturer so that I knew what
their standards and objectives were. I also wanted to be able to contact
them personally if I felt there was a problem. Unfortunately I had a
rocky start with this company because of the way I started out but
thanks to a wonderful man that evidentially understood my frustrations
and concerns he had a great deal of patience with me and through the
years he's been there when I had questions and problems.

One day when I opened a new bag of food, an odor poured out and into my
nostrils and caught my attention immediately. I did continue on a fed
the dogs from this bag but the food just didn't smell right or like all
of the past bags. I had learned to smell each bag when I opened it just
to make sure it smelled like "dog food" before I used any of it. I
watched my dogs and they were not happy about eating their meals as they
were in the past. When I put their bowls down they would sniff and then
look up at me.

Fortunately I didn't wait. I called the company the next morning and
talked to the poor soul that became my interface for many years. At the
time I did not realize how high up in the company chain this man was but
he never turned me over to anyone else through all of these years. I
told him what had happened the night before and of my concern. He
immediately asked me to send a sample of the food out to him and
instructed me to locate another small bag with a different code. To make
a long story short, the food turned out to have mold in it. That year
was the start of a large mold problem for dog food manufacturers. The
source of their food supply came from an area that had a huge mold
problem. It affected many companies.

I started looking for the alternate codes and discovered that many local
pet stores where dropping the brand I used. It became necessary to
change brands and I was not a happy camper. I researched, through the
Internet, brand upon brand of dog food. I finally found one quite close
to what I'd been feeding. I contacted the company and had a long
conversation with their marketing director. I explained what had
happened and wanted to know where their suppliers came from. Once I was
assured that their food was not dealing with the mold problem, I had to
find a source where I could purchase it. It was a fairly young company
and while they had a large sales base, none were in my area. I ended up
going to a neighboring state and working out ordering and shipping
details. It was worth it to assure the safety of food for my dogs. They
continued to flourish on the new food.

I don't remember how long after that I reconnected with my trustworthy
company and learned that they had worked to put together a plan to
assure that mold would never become a problem again. That and other
significant products that went into their food would have to go through
inspections and testing before they were accepted. They also built a
brand new facility for their manufacturing so they would not have to
contract out to other processing sources. The gentleman that had been so
gracious to me through the years sent me a detailed message of their new
procedures. My confidence was restored – I knew it would be – and I
returned to them as my source for dog food and treats.

What I'm trying to say is this. You have to be aware. Maybe not on a
daily basis but on a consistent basis. You need to know what your food
looks like, what it smells like, and how your pet reacts to it. Above
all, you need to be ready to challenge anything that doesn't seem right.
Yes, it takes time. But not that much time just to observe and be aware.
You certainly do the same thing for the food you feed your family.
Sometimes there are no outward signs but you can cut your losses and
pretty much stay on top if you just stay aware. Dogs have great
perceptions – more than man and you need to rely on that to help you.
Pet food is a huge market and competition is high. Sometimes excellent
companies end up with serious,unexpected problems. You may end up
traveling a different route but be prepared to do so. You are
responsible for bringing that wonderful companion into your home and
life and they rely on you for their good health and daily needs. Care
about them as you care about your other family members. They deserve it.
They don't ask for as much as they give.

DAKOTA UPDATE

There is nothing funnier than watching a senior Golden, with a teddy bear hanging out of his mouth, lope across the deck and around the yard casually chasing a bunch of squirrels. What a sight. He stands in front of the windows in the family room and watches them eating bird seed that was uncovered by snow melting. Every muscle in his body is tight and ready to spring. Talk about intense! And then you let him out of the door and watch this lovable dog, with not a mean bone in his body, gently give the boot to those gray, furry marauders.

Dakota's weekend was celebrated by the return of his chipmunks. He instantly remembered their names when I spoke and was up like a flash from his sleep. His affection for the little creatures is entirely different than is sentry duty of the squirrel invasion.

The biggest creature problem at the moment are the rabbits. They spent the winter under our deck. We were unable to keep them out. As far as I can determine Dakota now thinks they are a part of our family. That will have to change when the snow and frost in the ground are gone.

BUSTER: THE DOG

CHRISTMAS WITH BUSTER

Buster and his family get ready for "The Big Day"
Time to open the presents

Let the fun begin.... anytime now would be OK.


I'm just along for the toys


This one is pretty cool.....


I'm hiding this for future play and I'm not sharing...


I get the bows too - they're part of the deal..

No, you can't use them again next year


A guy has to rest between the presents and the turkey!

Not a bad Christmas...not bad at all
Sigh..............

GOLDEN'S VERSION - IRISH BLESSING

GOLDEN'S VERSION OF AN OLD IRISH BLESSING

May the road rise to meet you. (After a VERY, VERY long walk with lots of birds, rabbits, squirrels and even leaves to chase along the way. And please let there be sticks to carry. Lots of sticks.)

May the wind be always at your back. (Especially if you have become wet
from your swim on that
very, very long walk, however, wind on my front is also very nice.)

May the sun shine warm upon your face. (You know we all enjoy this !!
Makes us look even more
golden and settles us in for a nice nap after our very, very, very long
walk.)

And rains fall soft upon your fields. (Wet fields makes digging all the
more fun on that very long
walk !!)

And until we meet again, (You know I'll go CRAZY when I see ya sometime
in the next ten minutes
~~ even though I've been with you all the way on that very, very, long
walk.)

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand. (Sounds good to me.)

A DAKOTAism

A DAKOTAism

It has been fun watching Dakota over the past year and a half become
more comfortable living with us and gradually expand his world in some
fun, interesting ways. This is one of them and since I haven't found a
good name for these wonderfully funny escapades, the above will do.

I have always kept water upstairs in the bedroom for my dogs. There are
a number of reasons for this habit that I won't go into at this time.
Most of my dogs have started out as puppies so they learn this extra
benefit as they grow up.

When Dakota came to live with me, I continued the habit of having water
for him in the bedroom. In order for him to get used to the fact that it
was there, I would offer it to him at night when I went to bed. I set
about establishing our little routine by letting him out for the night
and then taking a couple of treats upstairs with him. I would give him
his treats, he would then jump up on the bed and I would bring the bowl
of water over to him to see if he wanted a drink. It would then take the
bowl back to the little stool I kept it on. Every afternoon before I
went down to fix dinner, I would put fresh water into the bowl. Many
times he would sneak a little drink before we went down to get his
dinner, so I was assured he knew what this was all about.

Most evenings he would reject the offer for a drink before I climbed
into bed. At best I would say he took up my offer about one out of four
or five nights. But I kept up the routine as he has arthritis and
getting up and down would be tough for him. My husband said of Dakota as
he has of all of the other canines, they were the luckiest pampered pets
in the country.

Recently Dakota started taking a drink from his bowl in the kitchen
before we went upstairs. I continued to offer him one, which he kept
refusing. At one point I thought there was no point in doing this ritual
anymore since it wasn't easy for me to keep bending over, picking up the
bowl, and having to put it back down. So I started to back off giving
him the water bowl when he'd get a drink downstairs before we came up.
The evenings he didn't drink, I'd go back and offer him the bowl.

One evening my arthritis was especially bad and I passed up getting his
water bowl and got myself into bed to watch some TV while my husband was
still downstairs. He finally came up, crawled into bed, turned out the
lights and all was quiet. Suddenly, Dakota was up, jumped down off of
the bed, went over and got himself a drink of water and then didn't know
what to do. He finally jumped back up onto the bed. I sat up and reached
over to give him a pat on his hip as I started to laugh quietly.

In the morning my husband asked me if I knew what his unusual move was
all about. I said that I'd thought about it through the night and
decided that Dakota was making a statement and reminding me that I had
forgotten my duty of bringing the water bowl to him. He wasn't about to
let me get away with ignoring him He wanted to make sure that he was
aware of how this routine operated. It isn't as funny as I try to
explain it here, but if you sit back and think about it and run the
routine through your mind like a movie short, it was quite precious and
special.

I love to just watch dogs on a daily basis. As I've stated before, I
have always talked to them throughout the day...chatting away like they
understood or even cared. Through the years I've caught them looking at
me and actually listening but I figured it was only because I was a
human making voice noises. One thing I do know, they had huge
vocabularies. I'm not convinced that Dakota had a life like that, but I
did know from the beginning that he was a very smart dog. He was not an
animal that was found in a corner day after day and being ignored. He is
sharp and very much seems like a thinking dog. Many things he does start
with look on his face that he's debating something in his mind. Then
comes a decision and he's off to complete the process.

Needless to say, I'm back as Dakota's personal valet providing him with
his bowl of water before he goes to sleep. He deserves all of the
attention he can get.

NEW TRICKS, OLD DOG

NEW TRICKS, OLD DOG

As the saying goes - "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" has many
connotations but I am here to tell you that: An Old Dog Can Teach His
Mom and Dad New Tricks. I haven't taken a lot of time teaching Dakota
new tricks as he had other issues that too precedence. He learned one or
two just so he would be proud of himself and have fun at the same time
while adapting to a new Forever Home.

It seems that Dakota has pretty much settled into his new home with his
senior parents and he has gained quite a bit of confidence. He decided
it was time to show us how smart he really is. The fun part is that he
has taken on this project very casually and carefully so as not to
arouse suspicion.

As part of his training in separation anxiety and storm fear, I rewarded
him with tasty tidbits of his treat bones. I break them up into
bite-sized pieces in order to keep his weight down. Each piece went to
something that he responded well to. As with most dogs, he caught on
quickly and would head for his treat jar after he knew he was a good boy
and had been lavished with praise.

This has pretty much gone on for months without alteration. At first I
didn't notice subtle little changes happening. I was very busy one
morning getting coffee made and doing some extra morning chores before I
sat down with the paper, coffee, and TV. I was preoccupied with getting
Imus on when I noticed a Golden nose in my face. Quietly he stood in
front of me. I asked him if something was wrong when I saw his stare was
focused on his other treat jar next to my side of the couch. Not
thinking, I quickly reached in and gave him a piece while apologizing to
him that I was sorry I forgot to give him one when he came in from his
morning duties. Now mind you, my age is creeping up on me and I do have
memory lapses of insignificant proportion. I had actually given him one
when he came in but forgot. Dakota may be a senior too but he is not as
dumb as his counterpart – me.

The winter days went on. Habits and routines are hard to break when you
become a senior citizen. It wasn't until recently that I began to
realize that this clever Golden was hitting me up for a treat when he
came in and had added another to his allotment when I sat down with the
morning coffee, paper, and TV.

With no snow on the ground we were hit with a deep freeze spell like we
hadn't seen in years. My husband and I went into our team work mode.
Dakota was having trouble making it back to the house in the early
morning hours and late night before bed. With no snow on the ground I
thought he would not be troubled by freezing feet. Such was not the
case. Enter standby husband. He was only needed twice during the several
plus long weeks. Yes, Dakota got a treat for going out in any weather
and doing his duty. However, he didn't get one at night because when he
came in, I took him upstairs to bed and gave him his bedtime treats
along with our bedtime routine. Well, that was until my husband
unwittingly and generously gave him a treat one very cold night when I
was busy closing the door and pulling the curtain to keep the cold out.
He didn't know that Dakota didn't get a treat for his evening event. My
husband is older than I am and his memory is more flawed than mine.
Perhaps it's just a matter of spoiling his gentle giant but he made the
same error several times during that arctic freeze. Dakota wasn't about
to let another opportunity slip by. He tried valiantly to capitalize on
my husband's mistake. Alas, he had to deal with me and it didn't work
that time.

How he got started on his treat in my office is still in question. My
instinct tells me that the ghosts of a Springer and a Golden were
hanging around and helped out on this one. I had no treats in my office
after Melodie and Chaucie said goodbye within one year. However, my
routine was in progress of getting my computer on, the radio on, the
heater [it was winter and my office is over our garage] set when I felt
the presence of one canine sitting by my chair just slightly behind me.
That stare, quiet as it was, just went through me like a hot knife
through butter. I turned and looked at him. "What's wrong, what do you
want?" I asked him. He just looked at me with those sad, brown eyes and
didn't move a muscle. But he spoke volumes. "Don't tell me you want a
treat?" I tilted my chair back so as to see his face and noticed a
slight grin in the corners of his mouth. Being the softie that I now am
in my old age, I got up, went downstairs, and put a few small pieces
into a sandwich bag. Mind you, I never considered this to be a permanent
thing at the time. This past week I brought a half bag of his new treats
up to my office. The sandwich bag has been replaced.

I could go on but you get the point. This clever dog is expanding his
ability to get rewards little by little, quietly, and methodically, day
by day. I admire his intuitiveness and enjoy watching him plan out his
next move. I'm not sure whether he realizes I've caught on, but we enjoy
playing this game with each other. He is so subtle and he goes about it
in such an interesting way. It's a joy to watch his thinking process and
the best part is whether I let him win or not. I may have gone soft in
my old age, but I have my principles and he can't or shouldn't win every
time. It would ruin the sport. You can be assured if he doesn't win, he
gets a great big hug, a smile and my encouragement to try again sometime.