Lucky Dog Blog

Technical difficulties

Wow - that was a long time between posts.  Technically it is spring and I'm having difficulties getting around to writing the things I want to write about.  Some of the more technical articles I generally save for weekend writing but with the warmer weather I have been busy with this...

Added to the business of being outside in the warm weather is the frenzy of activity with stores stocking up on product, dog events like this in Winnipeg and catching up on two months worth of Lucky Dog craziness.

ENOUGH EXCUSES!

Here's what is on tap. I'll write my "to-write" list for everyone to see.

• Oats and Gluten - I have some great articles from my friends at Can-Oat Milling about the age old question of whether oats contain gluten.
• Old dog health - we have a great tip and website from a reader who read about Curly that I want to share with everyone
• Lucky Dog winners
• Events around town including a Fly Ball tournament that we are hoping to get some pictures from
• Events around Lucky Dog BC HQ
• Anything that you suggest - we need some inspiration!!!

That's it.  I'm off to mail a prize, walk the dog, drop off biscuits and maybe have a coffee and watch my incredibly stunning irises bloom (while I'm thinking about what to write next of course). 

Get out and enjoy the day.

happy 'celebrate life' day

This is completely unrelated to dog nutrition but I had to share my story about one of life's little lessons.  Grab a coffee - it's a bit of a long one.

Fourteen years ago on Friday, May 13th, two friends and I, plus two other SCUBA divers were lost at sea after a dive (picture the movie Open Water).  Only sheer luck in the form of a Boston yacht, plucked our soggy bottoms out of the Fijian ocean that day. 

The short version of the story is that we headed out for a drift dive - the last dive of our eight month travel adventure to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji after finishing university.  It was a bit of a windy day, but we trusted our dive master implicitly as we donned full kit and headed out to sea.  The dive was spectacular - sharks, millions of fish and a high speed current that made you feel like an aquatic superwoman.  When we surfaced, our boat was fairly far away, which can happen with a drift dive.  The procedure is to inflate your dive signal tube and wait for the boat driver to notice you, then pick you up.  Problem occurred when our boat didn't notice us due to the fact that he FELL ASLEEP.  So we drifted away.  The current that made our dive so exciting also served as a swift trip into open ocean leaving mainland Fiji as a shadowy hill. 

The first hour was mildly entertaining as we sang and took pictures. (I'm the chubby one on the right. The ice cream in Australia is REALLY GOOD)

At 22 you are still think you are indestructible so a little drifting was just an annoying delay between you and your next fruity beverage.  At hour three, we started to shiver (23C is cold when your body temp is supposed to be 37C) and panic.  We hadn't seen a boat and we could barely see land.  To add to the excitement, because frankly it was getting a little dull, the dive master called us into a "shark huddle" due to some fish turbulence in the distance. Since we had no option to swim around the fish scrum, we joined arms, lifted up our dangling legs and floated through the frenzy.   

At hour four, we started to swim for mainland.  Now many of you are likely thinking, why didn't you do that three and a half hours earlier?  Without going into the long technical explanation of the bends, exertion and what to do when you are lost, I'll just say that the dive master said no when we first suggested it. Plus he added that we would be crushed on the reef if we actually made it close to mainland Fiji where the waves were breaking over the reef. That was compelling enough reason for me at the time.  Remember the Tom Hanks scene in Castaway when he fell off his raft over the reef? But after four hours of waiting we were getting nowhere. Actually, that's not true, we were getting a great deal further from land so we swam for it because there was nothing left to do.

By this time the winds had picked up to create swells that were about 15 feet high from trough to top.

That created a bit more of a challenge to our already tired, thirsty and discouraged bodies so I flipped onto my back to swim since I am a stronger swimmer backwards plus it kept my face out of the water.  And that's when I spotted our miracle.  Through the troughs I saw a boat. We started screaming and waving while riding the 15 ft roller coaster.  It took us half an hour to get their attention and turned toward us. A happy ending to a very long day. It was even happier when the cute guy walked around the side to smile into our sun burnt faces.  We began to fix out matted hair in anticipation of meeting our handsome hero until we saw his equally cute girlfriend walk up behind him.  Sigh - at least they had a boat. (that's the boat from our vantage point)

It turns out they heard the distress call about some lost divers, happened to be in the area where we surfaced, and were familiar with the currents in the area. From that, they tracked us down.  The ONLY boat that tracked us down was a boat from Boston on holidays.  The other 10 local boats, 2 planes and a helicopter were looking in an entirely different place.  What are the odds?

So the lesson?  Other than not to dive on a Friday the 13th on a windy day?  While we were drifting, we promised that if we were rescued that we would live a good life - be good people, contribute to the world, tell the people we love how much we appreciate them.  After the shock wore off and we got home, we kept some of our promises and some just got caught in busy-ness and awkwardness of life.   

Each May 13th I am reminded of my promises and to celebrate life - to love and appreciate everything I have.  It shouldn't take a Reader's Digest event to remind any of us to take a moment, breathe, appreciate every day and live our best life ever.

Happy "Celebrate Life" Anniversary Lisa and Col! There is no one I would rather be lost at sea with.

Thank-you to our unnamed heroes that took the time and had the skills to find us.  I don't know if we ever thanked you, but you made a world of difference to us and our families. If anyone recognizes these guys (told you they were cute), please give them a hug for me and tell them that we have never forgotten about them. If they have dogs, tell them I have a boat load of dog biscuits waiting for them.

Enjoy your day. Hug your family, your friends, your dog.  Smile at a stranger.  Pursue your dreams and have your best day ever. And then repeat.

If you ever have a "lost at sea" incident, four hours is a long time to review your list of "should have's". 

Thanks for another LUCKY year.

~ mavis

whole foods rule

Hello pet peeps!  It's been a while.  I've been getting my Canadian bearings after my little journey to China and catching up on some reading.  Check this out!

The American Institute for Cancer Research released a comprehensive report on cancer prevention back in February.  This report is focused on humans, but as we all know (and they even mention it), animals models are also used, so we know this research is applicable to our furry friends as well.

One big finding from the report revealed that WHOLE FOODS, and not supplements, play a role in preventing cancer.  Whole foods like the tomatoes, sweet potatoes, berries and oats that we use in Lucky Dog Biscuits, instead of vitamin mixes and colourings that may be used in OTHER dog biscuits.

The press release found here states that the data from trials using supplements was "too inconsistent to justify using supplements to protect against cancer."  The press release goes on to say that "The data on prevention are considerably more consistent, however, when it comes to foods that contain many of the same vitamins, minerals and other substances that are often sold in supplement form." 

Whole foods rule. (my words, not theirs)

Here's a summary of some of the vitamins and minerals, along with some applicable Lucky Dog ingredients, that are protective against various forms of cancer:

Foods containing folate (such as peanuts, oats, eggs) are probably protective against pancreatic cancer

Foods containing carotenoids (sweet potato, tomato) are probably protective against cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and lung.

Foods containing beta-carotene (sweet potato,tomato) are probably protective against esophageal cancer.

Foods containing lycopene (tomato) are probably protective against prostate cancer.

Foods containing vitamin C (tomato, saskatoon berries, apple sauce) are probably protective against esophageal cancer.

Foods containing selenium (oats, eggs) are probably protective against prostate cancer.

As you can see, tomatoes come out on top of the heap as a nutritional powerhouse.  Good thing we added lots of the concentrated good stuff in the form of Tomato Paste to our Two Cheese Pizza and BBQ Chicken and Sweet Potato biscuits (note: the tomato paste is in our secret homemade Lucky Dog BBQ Sauce).  And the biscuits taste so good, your dog won't even know how healthy they are because we all know that sometimes what is healthy isn't always tasty.  No need to have a doggy nose turned up at our healthy snacks so we made sure they taste and smell delicious.

The researchers are not sure why whole foods provide better cancer prevention but suspect that the interaction of the different food components in the complete food has a role.  Or maybe they just haven't discovered the magic ingredient.  Whatever the reason is, feeding whole foods, and especially plant based foods, are important for humans and animals in the life long battle to prevent cancer.  Supplements may be required in certain medical cases so don't ignore your doctor's or vet's advice.  And don't rule out taking your daily vitamins (because we don't always eat what we are supposed to) to protect against other issues lsuch as brittle bones or heart health, or in the case of home made dog food, don't skip the supplements.  But of you want that added cancer shield, it should come from nutrient rich, whole foods.

We knew we were doing the right thing and now we have the research to back it. Check out our nutrition page on our website for more information on good WHOLE FOOD nutrition. 

back home

...and ready to get back to work. What a trip!  And what a long time to be away from Cooper.  Thankfully he is not one of those vengeful dogs that pees on the rug for a week to teach you a lesson.  Nope - sweet little Cooper is happy to hang out with me by my desk as I wade through 200 emails.

In response to the comment on my last post, yes China has some beautiful scenery.  More spectacular than I ever imagined.  And yes our cultures are VERY different.  In many aspects, China does some fantastic things.  They are not a wasteful culture like North America because they can't afford to throw things away - whether it is food, clothing, bicycles, etc.  They would rebuild anything to keep it working; we would throw something away if a better model came out.  They treat all animals as a food source (mainly in the southern part of China), but when it is used, all parts are used. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, goes to waste.  Makes for some scary menu items.  The pollution is terrible, but they still don't produce as much CO2 per capita as North Americans.  If they ever reach our levels, we are all in trouble.  But they are working on it and Beijing has made some incredible improvements for the Olympics.  They will likely revert to pre-Olympic smog levels after the Olympics are over, but it proves they can do anything they put their mind to.  And people will have about four smog free months as an incentive for better air quality in the future.

As for a Lucky Dog market?  I saw more pampered pets than I thought I would - like this cutie in her little Chinese jacket.

I believe as income levels rise, people will adopt or buy more dogs.  They already have koi and birds as their favorite pets, but dogs are on the rise.  Cats, on the other hand, are still considered rat catchers that run wild.  There are a lot of stray cats that are surprisingly healthy.  Not sure what that says about the rodent population.

All in all - it was a great opportunity to live and work in another part of the world. And I appreciate North America a little bit more than before.  I'm happy to be home.

Here are some final scenes from China before I close this chapter of my travel log.

Yangtze River - Three Gorges cruise (yes that's smog)

The Yangtze on a better day.

The largest hydro dam in the world that will hopefully help their smog levels.  Most hydro is generated from coal plants - hence the pollution.

And the wall on our last day.  A perfect way to end the trip.

Now - back to work!