Thanksgiving- the Fun, Yummy, and Dangers

Turkey Carcass - Dangerous!

Turkey broth (strain out the fatty skin)- Yum!

Thanksgiving always makes our house smell SO GOOD.  I love a house full of friends and family, good food, laughter and games. Mike and I host Thanksgiving and it is my favorite holiday. 

The dogs love Thanksgiving too.   They love the added attention from the guests and the promise of good food. Guests and good food. Both of those positive can also be dangerous and keeping an eye on pets, or having a plan will ensure a safe and happy day that everyone can be Thankful for when it is over.

More often than not guest are not as "door aware" as I am- or as I think they should be when visiting a house full of pets.  It always amazes me how many guests will leave a door open- or, just as bad, open it WIDE when they come in.  Pets see these open doors as invitations to come in, or go out.

It's not just dogs that are at risk of "door darting"- many people have cats too that might be indoor only cats.  Whenever we have guests, door management is "a thing".   Who wants to be searching for the escaped pet instead of celebrating?  No one.

Yummy Food!!  Thanksgiving promises a delicious meal that everyone wants to partake in.  If you eat in a room that is separate from the kitchen and the kitchen is not visible while you eat- put the pets in crates, outside, or someplace where you do not have to worry about who is attempting to get the food besides the guests. Dogs and cats should NEVER get the cooked bones from the Turkey.  Managing the trash is IMPORTANT.  If you put the turkey carcass in the trash, make sure it is in a Secure trash can.  If you have cats, or dogs that can reach the counter, don't leave it sitting out where they can reach it. 

Of course I love to share the good food with the dogs, and a safe way to do it is to make Turkey stock and poor it over their food.  I usually boil the entire carcass with seasonings, carrots and celery just to make homemade stock for soups and cooking the rest of the year anyway.   The night of Thanksgiving I boil up some of the skin and other parts to give to the dogs.  I strain out the skin and will add some of the meat- usually the leg meat since no one here seems to favor that.  I want them to have flavor, but not too much fat. 

Holidays are fun- but keeping the pets safe takes some thought.   Happy Thanksgiving!

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New Year's resolutions for your pets

Did you make a new year’s resolution this year?    I have a few “self-improvement” projects I am going to work on this year, and today, the 3^nd day of the new year, I have gotten started.  According to a 2002 study, statistics are not on my side; only 46% of people are still on track 6 months later.  It is hard to change bad habits.  Speaking of bad habits, do your new year’s resolutions include your pets?  

  More dogs and cats are abandoned because of their bad habits. 

Housebreaking, barking, chewing and destructive behavior are the primary reasons people abandon their pets.  If your pet could use a “self-improvement project”, then make it a new year’s resolution to help them make the changes.   Enroll in a class, increase their exercise, discover what triggers the undesirable behaviors and you will discover more about your pet.   Training and discovery is fun with your furry friend. We can all use a bit of “fine-tuning” and now is the time of year to start.

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Happy New Year 2013

Happy and Blessed New Year to all !  Our "first night" started with friends and puppies.  I have to giggle every time I think about the requests we make of our family and friends.  It sure is a good thing we have the BEST of both!   It seems to me that for the last couple of years we have had "holiday" puppies and I have been making some pretty big requests.  I have delivered puppies at my sister's house on Christmas Eve (a few years ago), brought puppies to my mother-in-law's house while we help sell Christmas trees, waited for puppies on Thanksgiving, and last night I called my friends and asked if I could bring our puppies to the New Year's Party.    The funniest part was that they expected the puppies to just be running loose in their house- and they STILL said YES!  How funny is that!  Even I would not have said yes, to that request.  Well, I bring puppies to enough different places to know how to pack for them.  I pack a tarp to put down 1st, then newspaper, then surround it with a portable x-pen, and the puppies are safe, and have a place to potty.  They travel in a crate. 

The hosts of this party have 3 dogs of their own, plus parrots.  When we arrived the birds were making a ton of noise. I thought, oh this is great!  My puppies never would have heard parrots.   When I first got them out of the crate, they all huddled together on the crate pad- but they acclimated quickly.  The next time they all huddled together was at mid-night when everyone was using their "noise makers".  Again, it was a short-term stress from which they recovered.

I was so happy that they got to travel, go to a new place, meet a ton of people, hear new things, and start the year off with a bunch of dog loving people.

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Christmas Cookies

I can't believe that the Christmas TV specials have already aired. Well, it certainly caused me to think about Christmas preparations. I like to visit neighbors and friends and bring cookies- but not for the people- I bring cookies for the dogs! Although I LOVE to eat cookies myself, most of us eat too much at the holidays, so making cookies for the dogs was a perfect way for me to keep the holiday spirit (and tradition of baking), without the added calories.

I have have collected a few different size bone shaped cookie cutters. I love to make dog cookies.

I brush a little egg on top to give them a nice glaze. Dogs just love the cookies.

Thanks Bernadette- here is the recipe:
This was published in the 1986 (yes- that is the right date) AKC Gazette. I have been making these cookies for over 20 years!
Oatmeal-Wheat Germ Biscuits:
3 cups whole wheat or rye flour
3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup regular wheat germ
6 tablespoons melted bacon drippings or margarine
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup water
a) mix the dry ingredients together. Add remaining ingredients and blend until well mixed. Dough will be stiff.
b) chill for 1/2 hour. Take rounded teaspoons of dough and roll into balls
c) flatten and place on lightly greased cookie sheet
d) bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour.

We use bacon drippings. I keep a ceramic crock in my fridge just for the drippings to make these cookies. I take out 6 table spoons and put them in a ceramic bowl and heat that in the microwave to melt the drippings. If you do this- be VERY careful as the bowl gets VERY hot and hot grease can burn if it splashes on your skin, so use a hot mitt to get the hot bowl out of the microwave.

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Tip for the Holidays: A safe Thanksgiving meal

Thanksgiving is almost here and as always one of the many things I am thankful for is a life full of dogs. On this National holiday when family and friends come together to share a big meal, I like to give the dogs a special meal too. Their special meal will NOT include the fatty leftovers from the turkey, gravy or a lot of butter! I will be sure to tell my relatives that although they may want to be kind to the dogs and share- today is off limits! When I worked for a Vet I remember dogs coming in after the holidays suffering from acute pancreatitis.

The pancreas aids in the digestion of fats (as well as starches and proteins), but when overly taxed, it can become inflamed and release excessive enzymes causing inflammation and what amounts to the digestion of the organ itself. Signs of pancreatitis include vomiting, diarrhea, and not eating-but if your dog exhibits these signs, a Vet will need to determine if it is pancreatitis. This condition can be very serious and may require hospitalization. The best way to avoid this dangerous side effect of “holiday cheer” is to give your dogs the less fatty items.

I hope I don’t have to mention that the cooked bones of the turkey are a HUGE NO NO!! As I have mentioned in a past post, cooked bones are very dangerous. Poultry bones are some of the most dangerous as they are brittle and splinter easily. They are very likely to perforate the intestines.

As I know that this day will be busy and food will be in the kitchen unattended and the trash can may be full to the brink of plastic wrap, aluminum foil, turkey bones and other hazardous items, the kitchen will be off limits to the dogs. Normally they are in the kitchen while we cook, but not on holidays.

My dogs’ menu will include the turkey neck (RAW), a small amount of cook white meat turkey (no skin) a few slices of sweet potato (cooked as a whole potato then sliced- no butter, no brown sugar added) and a brussel sprout or two. If you feed kibble and want to add some fat free chicken broth for flavor, I am sure they would say thank you.
Happy Thanksgiving.

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A Puppy for Christmas?

Responsible breeders cringe when people call and say they would like a puppy for Christmas. Pets are a huge responsibility and so much goes into choosing the right puppy, the right breed, and establishing who is responsible for what activities (feeding, walking, poop scooping! etc) and attempting to "surprise" someone with a puppy precludes these conversations.

Even if these conversations have already taken place and it is established who is responsible for what- Christmas time is very busy with family, company, cooking, decorating- and potty training the puppy or making sure the puppy is not chewing on the Christmas lights is not usually the highest priority. For these reasons, bringing a new puppy home AFTER Christmas is the best option.

Here are my recommendations for how to give pets as Christmas presents.

• Accessories make GREAT gifts. They need to be purchased anyway, so you can accomplish two things at once. Crate, collar, leash, bowls, toys, beds, brushes, nail trimmers, treats, baby gate (not in picture) all provide endless unwrapping opportunities for everyone in the family and make it clear that the new pet will be everyone's responsibility.


• The Anticipation that unwrapping the accessories creates is even more exciting than "unwrapping" a pet anyway.
• shopping for pet supplies is fun.
  
• It is very clear what the "Real" gift will be-
  
• A picture of a dog (or cat) with a note saying, "this gift card is good for one..... (puppy, dog, cat, whatever) can be the "final clue".
  
• If the conversation of "what breed, what color, what sex" has not taken place, the picture will foster this conversation and good choices will result. Everyone will win.

When the hustle and bustle of the Holiday is over- then the puppy can come home and be the center of attention.

"A Dog is For Life"

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4th of July safety tips

We all know what is going to happen this Friday (and maybe Thursday and Saturday too). People are going to celebrate a birthday with lots of explosions and loud noises. Just the sort of thing that terrorizes many pets. Many shelties are noise sensitive as it is, and even those who are not, may find this sort of celebration too much to handle. This holiday is not like any others and should be treated with care.

What NOT to do!
1. Don't bring your dog to a public fireworks display.
While dogs love to do things with their owners, this is one they would generally say "no thank you" to if you were able to ask them. The crowds of people, the noise, the confusion that we find a "celebration" they often find very stressful.

2. Don't leave them outside- even if you have a fenced yard. MANY dogs become so stressed out that they jump a fence, dig under a fence, or just have hours of anxiety while you are gone.

What you SHOULD do!
1. Leave them at Home in a secure Crate. Even if you don't leave a dog in a crate normally while you are away, this is the time to do so. They will be safe, and you will come home and not experience the horror of a missing dog or a wrecked house.

2. Turn on some sort of noise to help even out the explosions that will occur outside. Leaving a fan, air conditioner, a white noise machine, a TV show or music will help.

3. Just for this weekend, put a collar with id tags on the dog. If anything should happen, at least if someone finds the dog they will be able to return them.

4. Follow these tips even if you don't think your dog will be stressed out. Just because he is not afraid of thunder, does not mean he will handle the 4th of July with ease. If you are not home, you might not know how he reacts. Putting on a collar with tags and putting him in a crate could save a lot of heart ache later.

Happy (and SAFE) 4th of July everyone!

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