Ta Da!

Reagan was switched from raw food to kibble about 1 and half months ago and she looks fantastic! I am so pleased with her progress. Her hair is growing back, her coat feels soft again, and she is back to an ideal weight.

As you know, in April, I noticed admitted Reagan was losing hair. She also did not have stools consistent with other greyhounds fed raw food. I have fed a raw food diet to my greyhounds for the last decade and could not have been happier until my problems with Reagan.

At this point, I think that it is safe to conclude that raw food was all wrong for Reagan. As you know, I sought cooked diet advice from a holistic vet who recommended that I feed a high quality commercial food rather than try to cook. I know that many raw diet fans were appalled that a holistic vet would do such a thing, but I was truly relieved. I really do not want to cook a homemade diet. I think my time is better spent enjoying my hounds than slaving in a kitchen.

You may have noticed that I did not post many picture of Reagan over the last couple of months. The truth is that I was embarrassed. It is hard for me to admit that a dog I acquired as a picture of health would decline my care, but I aim to educate, so I am going to share some of the awful pictures.

Taken June 21, 2009.

The rest taken June 10, 2009

I mostly want to share this information because I think it presents a clear problem with raw food written by someone who loves to feed raw food. Most of the negative material written about raw food is inflated and simply incorrect in my opinion. Its written by someone who has never fed raw food. I feel my education has come full circle. I have seen kibble miracles and I have seen raw food miracles. One diet does not fit all and I would be quicker to try kibble if I encounter this situation again.

However, I do want to emphasize that this is not an anti-raw food post. I have seen several dogs make significant improvements when switched to raw food. One of my first raw diet greyhounds, Teresa (see below), was very prone to problems with bacteria. Horrible oral health (much worse than a typical NGA greyhound), skin infections, urinary tract infections, and anal gland infections. These problems literally disappeared on raw food.

I have also seen dogs suffering from kibble caused digestive disasters cured with raw food. I would strongly suggest trying a few days of raw food before switching your dog to one of the irritable bowel foods. You may see a huge improvement in just 12 hours.

And if you already feed raw food, keep an open mind. I was lucky that my vet did not think skin scraping and biopsies would be telling. That an intestinal scope and biopsy would be a waste of time. Those tests would have been expensive and awful to put Reagan through. Just know that one day, you may encounter a dog that just cannot make use of the nutrients in raw food and requires the food to be cooked first.

Lastly, if you happen upon this post due to searching about raw food problems, click here to see all of my posts about Reagan's problem.

A Year Without

Travis has been gone for a whole year now. Time flies regardless. So much has changed and yet things are normal again. I finally know how to use my movie software because I spent many hours creating this video clip in memory of Travis to the song "Never Say Never" by The Fray. I love the way it turned out! I hope you do to!

"Never Say Never" Lyrics

There's some things we don't talk about
Rather do without
And just hold the smile
Falling in and out of love
Ashamed and proud of
Together all the while

You can never say never
Why we don't know when
Time and time again
Younger now than we were before

Dont let me go
Dont let me go
Dont let me go
[X2]

Picture you're the queen of everything
As far as the eye can see
Under your command
I will be your guardian
When all is crumbling
Steady your hand

You can never say never
Why we don't know when
Time, time and time again
Younger now then we were before

Dont let me go
Dont let me go
Dont let me go
[X2]

Were pulling apart and coming together again and again
Were growing apart but we pull it together, pull it together, together again

Dont let me go
Dont let me go
Dont let me go
[X4]

Henry

Henry reminds me of a boy I once knew. I love those greyhounds that love to swim. Is he completely adorable or what?

Henry is a year old AKC greyhound. His mom, Julie, says "he is affable, completely goofy, and always looking to make friends". Sounds like a wonderful boy to me. She plans to do agility and possibly obedience and/or lure coursing with Henry. He already has 2 points towards his conformation Championship. Lots of luck to you two and keep swimming. Maybe there is some dock jumping in your future too.

Snake Wrangler

Stephen was recently working hard on our front yard and found 2 snakes in the mulch to contend with. It was touch and go, but he was able to wrangle them both. The one below was quite feisty and struck at Stephen several times.


Luckily, his fear of spiders did not carry over to snakes because eventually man won against beast.
Despite the danger, Stephen completed his project and did a fantastic job pulling the weeds and adding mulch to these flower beds.

*No snakes were harmed in this blog post! We let them go in the woods behind our backyard.*

"Toots"

Riley's nickname is "Toots". Here is why. Make sure your sound is turned up.

This happens all of the time!

Presious Passion

My husband, Stephen, and I follow horse racing and often have several favorite horses we like to follow. I wanted to tell you about the horse, Presious Passion. The 6 year old, chestnut gelding is woman owned and trained (I suspect named by a woman as well :-). His typical running style is to lead the pack at a blistering pace. His jockey is instructed not to fight Presious Passion, but to let him do his thing.

Generally, horses with this suicidal running style tire by the end of the race and are passed by other horses before crossing the wire. "[horses] that run with the same reckless abandon and gusto on the front end are no-hope pacesetters who usually barely make it to the finish line". Presious Passion is described as "he runs as if he's being chased by demons. He can open 10, 15, or 20 lengths on you and rip off dazzling fractions, and even if you catch up to him, good luck getting by him. Remember Michael Meyers from "Halloween?" Every time you think he's dead, there is he coming at you again."

Here is a clip of Presious Passion shattering the course record for 1 3/8 miles at Monmouth Park in the $750,000 United Nations Stakes (Grade 1). Presious Passion is #7, but you can't miss him. He is the one in front. Hilarious!

Riley's Turn

Riley's latest in heeling.

S.L.O.P.

The latest S.L.O.P. contains lots of turnip greens (on sale this week), strawberries (also on sale), a handful of blueberries that tasted bad, so I saved for the dogs, garlic, celery, carrots, red cabbage, and avocados. I'm not sure if I have ever used red cabbage before and its been awhile since we have used avocados.

*Avocados contain a toxin called persin that is poisonous to dogs. I'm really not concerned about 2 small avocados divided amongst 5 dogs over a period of 6 weeks. I probably would not put an avocado in a Chihuahua's veggie mix for the week. Please use common sense.

Limo, You're Not Alone

Limo, my sister's GermEagleChowPyRusky (confirmed in a DNA test), has a fear of pumpkins and watermelons that is well documented on her blog and Youtube. Here is a clip of Limo's pumpkin surprise.

Limo, I am not sure if Riley shares your dislike of pumpkins, but you are not alone in your fear of watermelons. I was quite surprised when Riley balked at passing the watermelon in the kitchen. I normally think of her as brave and curious, so shying away from a watermelon was very unexpected and humorous.

FYI, I rarely clicker train 2 dogs together. It simply can't be done successfully except in very few cases. Riley was getting a click and treat for moving forward. Reagan was lying down during the clicks so she was being rewarded for her downs. No harm done.

Part-Time Work

Reagan is finally back to part-time work. She is not allowed to go full tilt or do tight turns yet. I have to build her back up gradually. The rule of thumb I use is if you are inactive for 6 weeks, you need 6 weeks to build back up. Reagan is so bouncy and is always in a hurry. She is giving me a heart attack at times.

Here is a recent clip of heeling. Reagan is a little rusty, but she is happy and bouncy. Heeling probably gets a bit boring to watch, but if you compete in obedience you know how very important it is. Heeling is a requirement at all levels, so we practice it a lot.

Reagan weighed in at 52 lbs yesterday (up from the mid 40's)! I think she is really starting to look great and the difference is becoming apparent.

I think these photos even show that her hair is filling back in.

Its In The Bag

Reagan has reminded me why I love feeding raw food...........the poop! 1 cup of kibble in and 2 cups out. The volume is unbelievable, but it is normal and firm. So much more foul also (Stephen and my sister, Denise, are probably tired of hearing about Reagan's poopies by now although good friend, Helen, is always nice to ask :-).

I switched Reagan's kibble to Acana Grasslands about a week ago. The Blue Buffalo Lamb and Rice seemed to cause problems as soon as I was trying to feed her more than 2 cups of food per day (which she needs). I searched the Internet for another option. I found this website very helpful in comparing different brands of food - Dog Food Analysis. Use the search button to see how your brand stacks up.

The problem I faced is that many foods sneak in chicken fat and we are trying to avoid anything "bird" at this time (except eggs). Chicken fat alone crossed many high quality brands off my list.

I also was trying to avoid foods that contain too many kinds of meat. For example, Evo Red Meat would be an excellent choice for Reagan, but it contains beef, lamb, venison, AND buffalo. Throwing all of my red meat options into one food did not sit well with me. If there are any protein allergy problems in the future, I would like to still have venison and buffalo as an option.

I was planning on buying something else, but found the Acana Grasslands while browsing the shelves of the boutique pet food store. It is lamb based, clearly states "no poultry", no by-products, and is grain-free (something else I was happy about).

Reagan is doing very well on the Acana Grasslands. I am able to feed her 3 - 4 cups with no problems. We are closing in one month and she has not had any major digestive blow outs (not even on the Blue Buffalo). Now that she is eating a suitable amount of food, I hope to see her gain a few pounds over the next couple of weeks. Her skin is no longer flaky. Reagan's coat seems brighter and softer. Time will tell if the thin areas are filling in, but I am believing that they are. This picture was taken last weekend.

I wish I had a picture of Reagan dated today. I think she has gained the weight I wanted in just the last few days and her color is so much brighter! I think we are on the right track.

Psycho

I don't think you could take a picture this horrible if you tried. I promise to post something more educational soon. I have pictures and videos ready to go, just need to edit and do some writing.

Trade

Since Katie hates the van, I cannot take her with me when I take Riley and Reagan out to train (because we take the van). Stephen can't take Katie on hikes with his hounds because his Volvo will only accommodate 3 greyhounds. And neither of us wants to leave Katie home alone. So we solve the problem by trading dogs.

Of course, I think Stephen gets the best end of the bargain. Katie has to be one of the best trained greyhounds on the planet with an agility championship and a utility level obedience title......... and I get Allie. Allie is alright, but she is no Katie. I am sure Stephen would like you to know that she is a Field Champion lure courser and has a Canine Good Citizen.

Allie bounces between two extremes..... a live wire and near death. Allie is so lazy. Difficult to rouse, she can be slow to potty in the mornings and before bed. Allie would happily trade a long walk for a piece of kibble. She LOVES her crate..... because she eats in there and if she is in her crate she may get to eat again. Allie does not mind being left home alone. We could easily leash up the other 5 hounds and walk out the front door and she probably would not even get up. But wave a crumb under Allie's nose and she comes alive with dancing feet. "Do you want to see me sit? Down? Sit? Down?"

So we did a little free shaping with a box. Free shaping is when you do not provide the dog with any clues as to what you want him or her to do. You simply click and treat when the dog does something in the right direction. I provided Allie with a big box that I wanted her to step her front feet into. I clicked and treated for her interactions with the box. Eventually, I only clicked and treated for a touch with her foot. It took several sessions, but she finally understood that I wanted her front feet in that box.

I think Allie has enjoyed the extra attention and food. And as you can see, both are fans of the large round bed in our living room.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July! You have to love a greyhound that will pose for pictures holding something in her mouth. Thank you, Katie. I hope you are all having a wonderful celebration. I am sure mine is much better than it was last year.

Hiking Together

The family that hikes together.... Takes separate cars. Thanks to Katie and her van terrors. Katie gets her own ride.

Don't worry. She is panting because it is 90 degrees. She is happy as can be in the car.