Lucky Dog Blog

No dog tails here...

Did you try filling out the dog psychology survey? Pretty interesting..or intense depending on your take. Unfortunately, the survey is just that, a lot of questions without a lot of answers unless you are into dog psychology.

But everyone isn't neccessarily a dog psychologist so questions like " Does your dog push his ears back?" or " Does your dog make you feel bossed around?" don't really give you a lot of insight into your dog personality unless there's an explanation. No we are not board certified dog doctors of the mind however we have a lot of experience and even more resources so lets see...

When dogs hold their ears back, kind of flipped back so the inside of the ear is facing you, usually along with a wagging tail and a bit of a crouched position, it's a sign of submission and respect. When my brother's Mastiff does it, he calls it scoops..like "Oh look, Hudson is giving you "scoops"". And it's pretty cute when this bouncing ball of 150lb Mastiff does settle down and give you this position. It is such a nice, clear communication that the dog digs you.

"Does your dog make you feel bossed around?" Well that came closer to the end of the survey. A good friend of mine talked to me after she filled out the survey and asked, what the heck is that about?! Kal's dog Crash is a super amazing dog so it's no surprise he doesn't make you feel bossed around. But when your dog vies for dominance, doesn't listen and does whatever, regardless of what you tell them, you get the message pretty fast that they think they are the one dictating what goes in the house.

Kal was also a little freaked out because Crash (boxer above) doesn't have a tail. How can you properly answer these questions (of which a good 30% were) "does your dog hold their tail like this?" questions?! Good point. And in NO WAY is Crash showing you his inner ninga by bearing his teeth..he does however look like he'd like to grab that flashy camera and see if it squeals..

I've finished Ruben's so I need to refill on b/coffee for the next half hour to do Calvin's survey...and do some more digging on dog psychology.

Have a great day!
Bonnie

Thanks for your replys...

About a safe weed killer. Charlene, thank you for the comment on Corn Gluten Meal. To read more about this, visit here. Corn Gluten Meal is a preemergent weed killer which means that you can put on your lawn early in the year, before there are weed roots and it will help control weeds. It doesn't effect plants with roots like your grass, it actually acts as more like a fertilizer at that point. COOL! I am totally giving this a try next year...I just have to remember to do it. There was a post by another corn gluten meal user who said her dogs would eat more grass shortly after it was applied...at least you know it's not covered in chemicals if they do.

Kim, I'm so sorry to hear about Cosmo (Cosmo is the pug with a soother in his mouth on our photo contest banner) (yah, I know, it hasn't been around for a while...it's summer!).

And well, heck, it you don't kill the weeds, maybe there's nuthin wrong with a lawn full of yellow flowers.

Have a great day!
Bonnie
Photo: Armin Weigel/EPA

Find your soul mate...?

Dr.  Lucinda Woodward, a professor of psychological sciences and personality researcher at Ball State Uni is dedicated to completing a personality application for your dog, eHarmony style.

So far she's determined that people who deem themselves at "cat people" often consider themselves to have the same personality traits as cats and ditto for "dog people". In a release from the university, Dr Woodward says

"Many people perceive themselves as being either 'cat people' or 'dog people.' These people often think they relate to their pets because they share similar personalities,yet, not all dogs and cats have traditionally perceived personalities. There are friendly cats that want to be around their guardians all the time and dogs that don't crave constant attention."

FU-NNY! I didn't know much about my two dogs before I owned them, except for the generalities of the breed: high energy, high energy, Velcro dog, high energy. I don't know if I'm a velcro dog but I sure wish I had their energy! However, even though Ruben and Calvin are from the same breed, heck, the same parents, they have very different personalities. I am interested to see where this research goes considering it's based on the breed.

The purpose of the research is to eventually provide shelters with ability to match dogs + dog owners using a scientific approach to matching highly compatible singles AKA eHarmony for people + people.

If you've got 30 minutes, get yourself a coffee/tea/coffee and bailey's/gin tonic, whatever floats your boat and fill our a personality survey for your dog. Get in there, be a part of match making history. Okay, it's really not that dramatic but maybe lots of surveys will translate to accurate results and maybe accurate results will translate to solid future dog + dog owner match making and just maybe that will result in less abandoned dogs.

Check it out at www.rate-your-dogs-personality.com

Photo: Dyno from St. John's Ambulance Therapy Dog program. Read Dyno's story here

Safe weed killer?

It's that time of year when your grass gets beaten down, not only by the dogs but by the competing (and often winning) botanicals...weeds.

We aren't too overrun with weeds but a friend asked if there was a product I recommended. I did a bit of research to see if weed management had got with the times and created a dog and kid friendly weed-killer that can be used next to stuff you'd like to keep...like grass. Not so much as it turns out...

Typical man made weed-killers are contain cholorphenols and other semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) that are toxic to human/animal health and environment. Apparently they are as bad as they sound..they are considered carcinogens which potentially cause cancers. According to a environmental engineer specializing in contaminant fate and transport that weighed in on a different post concerning this very subject, weed killer SVOCs seldom decade or break down in less than 10,000 years and exposure us usually through ingestion and inhalation. Yuck! Considering all of our kids( fur or no fur) are pretty close to the ground, some even enjoying a munch on grass (see why your dogs eats grass here), this is good to know! Unfortunately we don't live in one of the new progressive neighborhoods that has banned cosmetic herbicide use, which means are getting enough exposure whenever we head out for a walk. 

If you are spot treating weeds like those that pop up through concrete stone, never fear, you have options. According to the organic gardener and Dr. Quinn the Saskatoon Fruit Man, you can use lots of different stuff like steam, salt, weak organic acids and alcohol. Check out the Organic Gardener to see how to use these different solutions.

But if you're looking for a natural guaranteed harmless weed-killer that won't kill your neighboring plants, it seems your best bet is your hands in sturdy gardening gloves...or at least that's my research tells me. Honesty, I could use a good excuse to go hang out in my yard anyway.

Bonnie

GoodStuff

Good Morning Lucky Doggers!

Thank you for your encouragement for Calvin. He's a funny funny dog. I can't remember if I mentioned it but since he got the splint on two weeks ago, he stopped using that leg at all. Totally stopped. The reason he got the split 4 weeks after he broke his leg is because they surgically implanted a metal plate and seven screws to hold the bones together. Guess if you have something that high-test on the inside, theoretically you don't need a cast on the outside. But then if you're TIGGER, or the bouncy bouncy dog equivalent, perhaps you do! He was putting some weight on it over the first four weeks and he looked amazing but apparently it was too much. Anyhow, splint went on and putting weight on it stopped. It kind of freed him. Instead of trying to force his lame leg to work, he forgot about the leg entirely and ran full tilt with this big tourquoise battering ram it out front like he was a jousting superstar. NOW, the splint is off but he's holding onto the jousting superstar roll. He looks fu-nny running with no splint but his leg extended WAY OUT in front of him. He puts it down to eat but that's it. Is this psychological? ploy for attention? pain? (he's pretty cool about you feeling all over his leg and bending it). I'm not sure how to get him to put it down and try to walk like normal. hmmm. funny dog.

I thought I'd share these pictures we received of Daisy Strange. Daisy has the good fortune of living in Winnipeg so her peeps bake her frozen cookie dough..
Daisy politely requesting her people GET BAKING!

Daisy getting what she wants...

Daisy says "Thank you!" or maybe its "More Please!"

Yes, I guess it's "More Please!" What dog do you know says "oh no no I couldn't possibly eat another, have you seen the size of my tum tum?!"

Daisy, you look faaaaabulous , snack on!

Have a great day!
Bonnie

Poor Calvin

I haven't gotten around to posting about this yet only because we misplaced our camera for a while but all is found and here he is...our poor Calvin with his broken leg.

He actually broke it February 24th, about 12 hours before we were leaving to go to Mexico for the week on a multi family vacation, OF COURSE. The accident was pretty bad. I wasn't there but this is how I heard it happened.

Quinn was out with the neighbourhood parents playing with the kids and the dogs were out side on the front lawn. This is a bad habit we got into here because the dogs would dig themselves out of the backyard in seconds. They'll tear up any stretch of lawn under the fence to get out and since the neighbors on both sides have open yards, that's a lot of opportunity to dig a hole and run out. It's not that they want to run away, they usually just come and sit on the front step until we try to find them in the backyard and figure it out. They just hate to be penned up without you. Eventually we gave up trying to keep them there and had them out front with us when we were out front with the neighbors. Not only because they seemed to enjoy it but because we're staying with family while we wait to move into our new place and it's really REALLY hard to watch your dogs tear up other peoples yard...their prized yard.

For two COMPLETE NUTS for dogs, they've been very responsive and aware of the boundaries when out front. However, nothing could stop them from running after a squirrel they'd spotted across the road. But it was when Quinn called them back to our yard that one of them was hit. It was a hard hit, the Jeep came around the corner doing at least 50 (which is the limit but seems awfully fast when there's family and kids out in front on their yards), and didn't even see the so didn't slow down. Thank goodness only one was hit and THANK GOODNESS, he only suffered a broken leg. Quinn was so so devastated and in shock. I was happy it was just a broken leg because being from the veterinary industry, I knew could have been so much worse. It was all I could do to convince Quinn that he should still go on the family vacation with us and that Calvin would be fine with Quinn's brother. I think Calvin faired better here with his new broken leg  that week than Quinn in Mexico..he just couldn't get the sounds out of his head.

Calvin is recovering quite nicely. The staff at Alouette Animal Hospital and specifically Dr. Orser did a fantastic job fixing him all up. We've smartened up too. Leashes for everyone and when they go out back, I go too. For now, Calvin runs as if he's always run on three legs and religiously pees on the fourth..so we call him peestick.

Raisin and Grapes Toxic

In light of Michelle's concerns about Koda eating raisins found in some biscuits (not Lucky Dog Biscuits), here is what we know about raisin and grape toxicity in dogs:

Raisin and grape toxicity in dogs is a fairly recent finding. I remember hearing about this new addition to the ASPCA Poison Control list way back when we were researching ingredients for Lucky Dog Biscuits and at that time, there were even still big pet food manufacturers selling dog biscuits with grapes..it was that new.

The toxic amount of grapes or raisins is one ounce to 2.2 lbs of body weight. I'm going to assume Koda is a 60lb dog so that means he'd have to eat over 1.5 lbs of raisins or grapes to reach the toxic level. So, a few cookies a day with the odd raisin peaking out won't do Koda any harm but if Koda got into a canister of raisins or a bag of grapes, there might be trouble. In fact, we would recommend that if your dog ate a volume close to this to head to the veterinarians to start some IV fluids to flush the kidneys. Raisin and grapes in larger volumes cause kidney failure which has the best prognosis when caught really early before the clinical signs set in like vomiting.

But if your dog enjoys the odd raisin or grape, you're fine. Even two or three. In fact, I buy the Earthbound big Thompson organic grapes that come in a tin usually in the produce section and have been known to share a few of them with Ruben and Calvin. However, if you'd like to avoid raisins in your dog's biscuits, stick with Lucky Dog!

Have a great day!
Bonnie

Refreshed.

Hi There!

Happy Monday! We're back from here..and you know who... is off to daycare which translates to some much needed quality Lucky Dog time.

The photo album has been updated with our most recent submissions for the weekly Lucky Dog Photo contest. Check it out! Yes, I know, not so weekly lately however, stay tuned! Tomorrow we're back on track...

*To submit your favorite dog picture to the weekly Lucky Dog photo contest, please send your photos with a BIO to service@luckydogbiscuits.com and put "photo contest"in the subject. Winners are announced weekly. Check out the nominees so far in the "Lucky Nominees" photo album. GOOD LUCK!

Calico

On December 22nd we put our crazy, super trooper, whatkindofcrazymeowisthat cat to sleep. I haven't been able to write about this for a while but today we picked up the ashes, so it's a bit more real now. She was my first pet, my personal groomer, my nice alarm clock (like gently padding my eyes with her paws when she wanted me to wake up kind of alarm clock), my not so nice alarm clock (SCREAMING at the edge of the bed for food), my boyfriend decider ( she liked everyone so if she didn't like you, you were out). She was also my bread thief and my condensation-on-the-mirror-cleaner (seriously, I'd take a shower and by the time I got out, she'd have stood on her hind legs and cleaned off a big patch with her front paws..weird.) She was my foot warmer for 14 years... wow, 14 YEARS. That's a long time when you say it out loud. I completely took her presence for granted at times and now I really, really miss her. I miss her clocking the dogs across the nose when ever they stood in front of her or looked at her sideways and I miss her patience with Cash. She was so sooooo patient. She put up with the tail pulls and pats that usually ended in a bit of a hair grab. One time Cash sat on her in her bed. I just caught what was happening as she lifted her skinny leg out from under him like she was going to swat him but instead gave him this super slow super gentle tap on the forehead while she was crushed under his weight.

When we drove across Canada she was my biggest worry and turned out to be the least of my concerns because she handled it so well. When we arrived at Lucky Dog HQ in BC, she quickly took over the block, giving cats s*** in every direction. We'd often hear the scuffle outside and would have to go rescue some poor young cat that was pinned against a tree by 14 yr old CLAWLESS Calico. Eventually, when she thought she had the blocked locked down, she took to taking naps in the middle of the street. DEAD MIDDLE. Cars would slow and squeak by her and she wouldn't budge.

Sadly, she began to loose weight really really fast and with it her appetite and her spirit. She was diagnosed with a hyperthyroid which should have been easy to control with medications but we couldn't, for the life of us, get her to eat anymore. And so her time had come and we made the decision. How do you give up your best friend of 14 years? You decide what's best for them, not you and you just to it.

I still think I see here coming around the corner, but of course I don't it's just shadows. Boy do we miss her.

Bye bye Calico cat.

Marshmallow world

..at least it was on the weekend. It has all completely melted now but for a while there, it was one of the most beautiful snowy days I'd ever seen. I think the dogs thought so too..until Ruben fell off the bank into the river with no way to get out.

The path winds along a river bank and usually the dogs run and play but rarely leave my eyesight. Today, they were so excited to get out. They were running and plowing through the snow like kids. Maybe they run that hard in that kind of whether as a survival tactic for keeping their barely-haired bodies warm, but I prefer to think it's because they're having such a great time!

Anyhow, they were dashing in and out of the woods which is normal but soon just one was running back, which wasn't so normal, these guys are pretty hard to separate. I quickly started to scan the floor of the woods and there it was, a little red head peeking over the bank and two little paws dug into the side of the bank. He was just hanging there because where he fell off, the edge jutted out so there was no where for him to put his hind legs to get himself out of there. After reading Kal's blog, I kept saying to myself,"you can't fall in, you can't fall in" especially with a baby up on the trail all alone. I slid down as far as I could and extended my hand which reached just behind his head. I was going to grab his scruff and pull him up but Ruben had a better idea. He pressed the back of his head against my hand and leveraged himself up on to the bank. And away he went. SMART KID!

I was really grateful for Kal's story about how the owner of a dog that fell into the river, also fell in trying to save him. I think if I didn't have the clarity of that story and the possible consequences, I wouldn't have been so cautious trying to get Ruben out, I would have been caught in the moment and surely would have fell in. YIKES.

The snow is gone and we're all a little sad so we'll be doing our very best snow dances until the 25th!

Have a great day,
Bonnie