Paw5's Wooly Snuffle Mat can be used for occasional treats to occupy a bored dog or as a slow feeder for dogs that want to scarf down their meals much too quickly. Kirby and Kenzie absolutely love theirs and are delighted to be giving one away to one of our lucky readers. So enter today for your chance!
Finding a place to board our dogs can be daunting to say the least. Finding a place that accepts and understands how we are raising our dogs is even more daunting but it can be done. Any time we will be travelling in that direction Miss Julie will be the one we call. If we need a sitter in another direction? Rover will be where I turn to for someone. We may even utilize her day care when we want to do a little shopping in Jackson. I highly recommend Rover sitters and applaud those who who keep pets in their homes. I have a feeling they may give boarding businesses a run for their money in the near future.
I originally shared Coconut Cream Cookies for Dogs with 4Knines. This almost pure coconut treat has turned out to be one of Kirby’s favorites so I’ve been tinkering with it to change up the flavors or coloring them for a festive look. I’ll add more as I discover them but for now we’ve been using carob powder (brown), turmeric powder (yellow), and red beet powder (pink). The amount of powder to add is the amount to get the color you want.
I knew Kirby was lonely after a foster left but I didn't realize how badly he needed a permanent playmate. We adopted Kenzie just 4 months ago and she has made such a difference. These two just clicked from the start. They play, they snuggle, they follow, they watch, they basically do everything together. We are very blessed!
February calls for pink and fresh red beets are the answer! These nutritional sweet gems are perfect for a crispy snack or as a food colorant for baked treats. When I have beet chips I can grind up just the amount I need when I need it. It's kinda like having my cake and eating it too! So let's go from fresh beetroots to dehydrated beet chips to red beet powder.
Beet or beetroot, as they are commonly called, is a root vegetable that was domesticated in the Middle East in the 8th century B.C. This root crop originated in the Mediterranean region from the sea beet, which can still be found growing wild to this day. It was then mainly used for medicinal purposes until the 1800’s when French chefs realized its potential as a side dish.
I am a big fan of coconut and incorporate it in many of Kirby’s meals and treats using coconut flour, coconut milk, coconut oil, and/or unsweetened shredded coconut meat. The fat content in coconut can actually be good so even though it contains saturated fat, this particular fat is made up of medium chain triglycerides that do raise cholesterol but only HDL cholesterol In fact, the fat in pure coconut has been shown to help raise metabolism. Read below for the many benefits.
Pumpkins are actually a fruit in the squash family and are low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. It’s a good source of vitamin e, thiamin, niacin, vitamin b6, folate, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin a, vitamin c, riboflavin, potassium, copper and manganese. Like many fruits, pumpkins contain high amounts of fiber which is important to digestive health.
I can’t explain how much Kirby means to me, how much my heart implodes at just the thought of him. He is my muse, my confidante, my partner in crime, my light at the end of a dark tunnel. His is the first face I see in the morning and the last face I kiss before falling asleep. I deal with bouts of depression with him at my side, moments of pure joy with him at my side, and everything in between with him at my side.
If you have also started taking golden paste then you know how bitter the turmeric tastes. I’ve read where some people just swallow it whole quickly followed by a drink of something. I personally know I won’t stay with it if I hate it and I know I can’t force the dogs to eat something they don’t like short of hiding it in something they find tasty. Truth is when I was making the original recipe, every time I tried to sneak some into Kirby's food, he would bark and bark until I replaced it with fresh food - He did not like it and was not going to eat it! After much research I’ve found a way to make it much more palatable. Both dogs now scarf it done without so much as a whimper.
We have been incorporating turmeric into our meals and drinks so I've been experimenting with developing new tasty recipes to make it more of a lifestyle change due to the many health benefits it provides, both as a preventative and a treatment. Kirby loves his Gummy Paws which provide gelatin for his joints. Combining gelatin and turmeric just makes sense. They do taste spicy but still rather bland to me so I'll have to tweak the recipe with another flavor but so far they are a huge hit with both him and Kenzie, our newest addition to the family. They each get a few throughout the day.
I would go to the grocery store where I would purchase fresh ingredients for my smoothies. Because most produce is sold in quantities I was buying enough for 1 to 2 weeks. The trick was to make and drink them before any of the produce went bad. Inevitably this is where I would fail basically throwing away dollars I had spent. Another problem was the fact I usually didn’t have time in the morning to make one to carry to work.
My Solution is to
This is the Number One Golden Paste (GP) recipe created by Dr. Doug English, a veterinarian in Australia that has been tried and tested by thousands of dog pawrents across the globe. I have posted it for reference only since I am gradually moving Kirby and Kenzie to it and I receive requests for it quite often.
This is not your ordinary crate. It’s beautiful enough to serve as an end table in the living room creating a safe but fashionable den. The Rhino Wicker™ material won’t absorb fluids or odors and cleans up easily with soap and water while the protective, non slip feet raise it up off the floor. The spring loaded door latch easily latches shut, swings wide open, or swings inside latching to the inside wall so it’s out of the way. The double tough pan protects flooring and catches spills and easily removes for cleaning. It's very easy to assemble - I had it put together in less than 10 minutes!
I decided several months ago to start looking for a dog to adopt. I set up email alerts with Petfinder, Adopt A Pet, and Dachshund Rescue. At first I was looking for a Dorkie, then I was looking for a Yorkie or Yorkie Mix. It really didn't matter if it was a male or female but I was pretty certain about the breed characteristics I wanted. The ones that appealed to me as a good fit were either too far away or much more than I could afford. There were also quite a few I saw on Craigslist that, once I corresponded with them, felt they were puppy mill dogs and not dogs needing to be rehomed. It was a daunting experience but I prayed and eagerly opened each email. I really wanted to adopt from a rescue but I admit I began to think purchasing from a Yorkie breeder would be my only option.
Golden Milk is an ancient drink and a delicious way to get the benefits of Turmeric daily without that bitter bite. I've found it's creamier with a fuller mouth taste when I use canned coconut milk. I also think the canned coconut milk has more of the coconut taste than the coconut milk in the carton which has a much thinner consistency. Honestly I can't taste the bitterness at all and apparently Kirby can't either since he scarfs it right down.
Honey is a natural sweetener that contains vitamins A, B-complex, C, D, E, and K, plus calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, silicon, sulfur, potassium, manganese, copper, and iodine. Some dog owners have found additional health benefits to feeding raw local honey to their dogs including improved mobility in arthritic dogs, higher energy levels, stress reduction and improved digestion.
What a turnaround! Jilly Bean has become a carefree, happy, loving dog again. I think my favorite memory will always be the first time she discovered what a dog toy was. She flipped it in the air a gazillion times. It was her favorite toy - a small stuffed giraffe - that she carried everywhere. She would let Kirby play with it but not for very long. She didn't care for the squeaky ones but very much enjoyed pulling just about every toy from the playroom to the living room each night. Watching her deal with the ones bigger than her was hilarious.
There are dog owners that prefer to keep their dogs out all the time and this is a good thing for them, if they feel confident in their dog and the training that they have done. Some just use it for the first year of the dog’s life and then allow them to come and go from the cage as needed. This is entirely up to the dog owner.
Biofilm is that slimy stuff you can feel on the inside of a water bowl. It’s a collection of organic and inorganic bacteria bound together in a thick substance that acts as a glue to hold the bacteria together and adhere it to the surface. It provides a safe haven for organisms like Listeria, E. coli and legionella which can reproduce to levels where contamination of products passing through that water becomes inevitable. They can lead to a wide variety of microbial infections such as urinary tract infections, bladder infections, and middle ear infections.
There are thousands of homeless animals in shelters across this great country waiting for someone, anyone, to rescue them. On FaceBook I see countless posts showcasing dogs living in shelters who are literally running out of time. Many people post and cross post hoping someone will pull an animal on death row from a shelter. Death row? Isn't that where murderers who have committed such heinous crimes wait to be executed?
Kirby, who is now 7 years old, has been eating avocado since he was a little puppy. One of my favorite lunches is small curd cottage cheese with slices of avocado. Kirby always gets a dollop of cottage cheese and a slice of avocado. It's never made him ill, not even an upset stomach.
Avocados are cholesterol free, sodium free, and low saturated fat with only 5.0 grams of fat per serving. In fact, most of the fat found in an avocado is monosaturated fat, a “good fat” that may help lower cholesterol. They are an excellent source of fiber, potassium (containing 60% more than bananas), vitamin K, Vitamin B9, vitamin B6, vitamin B5 vitamin C, and vitamin E, and research suggests this fruit can lower cholesterol levels, reduce the risk of diabetes, promote lower body weight, and prevent cancer.
We were recently invited to review a Molly Mutt bed and provide a giveaway for our readers. Of course I had heard of the Molly Mutt bed so I was eager to check them out. Their website is very user friendly set up to shop by size and style. With more than 25 gorgeous patterns it was hard narrowing our choice down to just one pattern...
I firmly believe a good dog is a trained dog. Kirby has been trained since a puppy using positive reinforcement. He's learned accepted behavior as well as many tricks. Using positive reinforcement has lasting results because often times he thinks we are playing a game and he understands the rewards he can receive.
Cleaning up the mess Max has made is fun and all (not), but if you want to spend less time on it and more quality time actually bonding with him, then you should minimize the amount of work as much as possible. This is easier said than done, but once you’ve gotten the hang of it, your house will forever be much simpler to clean.