Saturday, June 28, 2014

Vitamins for Dogs

I was walking Luna to the Pet Food Express that is right next to my apartment, when I saw a sign that was explaining the advantages of giving dogs Fish Oil. I never thought of vitamins for a dog, I mean, it makes sense, they need nutrients just like people do. So what else is out there that I'm missing out on? Clearly a lot...

Here's a list of vitamins and how it can help your pet!

Fish Oil
What it does: Improves skin and coat, reduces inflammation from arthritis and allergies, regulates immune system, Improves brain function for puppies and older dogs, fights off kidney disease, heart disease and cancer, and promotes weight loss.

Dosage: 100-150mg EPA and DHA per 10 lbs. (50lb dog can be given 500-750mg)

Vitamin C
What it does: Strengthens the growth of bones and tissues, prevents cancer, resolves problems from hip dysplasia and arthritis, can also help prevent spinal myelopathy, ruptured discs, allergies, viral infections (including distemper), and skin problems. Vitamin C is also a huge pain reliever and can protect dog from the side effects from Vet medicine.

Dosage: 18 milligrams of vitamin C per pound of body weight per day (50lb dog can be given 750-1000mg a day)

B Complex:
What it does: Provides health to the nervous system
These vitamins work together as a team, and so are supposed to be taken together to have the best results. 
The following are included in B Complex unit:

Vitamin B-1 (Thiamine)
What it does: Natural flea repellant, B-1 is much more needed in cats because their diets are usually much more deficient in B-1.

Dosage: 0.5-1mg per pound (50lb dog can be given 25-50mg per day)

Vitamin B-2 (Riboflavin)
What it does: Prevents birth defects and dandruff. If your pet has a Riboflavin deficiency it often causes cataracts 

Dosage: 0.1mg per lb (50lb dog can be given 5-10mg per day)

Vitamin B-3 (Niacin)
What it does: Controls seizures and behavior problems, reduces cholesterol levels, improves blood circulation

Dosage: 5mg per lb (50lb dog can be given around 250mg per day)

Vitamin B-5 (Pantothenic Acid)
What it does: Fights allergies, inflammations, asthma, and infections. Also helps animals combat stress, reduce depression, and ease anxiety. Vitamin C and B-5 together are highly important for skin diseases and allergies.

Dosage: 0.1mg per lb (50 lb dog can be given around 5-10mg per day)

Vitamin B-6 (Pyridoxine)
What it does: Helps metabolize protein.

Dosage: 1-2mg per lb (50lb dog can be given around 50-100mg per day)

Vitamin B-12 (Cobalamin)
What it does: Prevents nerve damage, aids fertility, and promotes normal growth and development. Giving pregnant females B-12 results in stronger, larger, and healthier young, with better disease resistance.

Dosage: 15mg per lb (50lb dog can be given around 750mg per day)

Biotin:
What it does: Cure for dogs that eat their feces. Essential for thyroid and adrenal health, strong nervous systems and nerve tissue, healthy reproduction, normal sweat glands and bone marrow, and healthy skin.

Dosage: 0.001mg per lb (50 lb dog can be given around 0.05g--you can buy pet biotin in small dosages here)

Vitamin D
What it does: prevents osteoporosis and hypocalcemia, and is essential for normal teeth, bones, and growth; and in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus.

Dosage: 227 IU per pound of dry dog food that it consumes on a daily basis. 

Vitamin E
What it does: Healing diseases of the circulatory system (and preventing them), including heart tachycardia and arteriosclerosis. Promotes fertility, slows aging, prevents cataracts, boosts the immune system, protects the body against pollutants and cancer, and heals the skin. Boosts muscle power and endurance. Improves the function of all internal organs. One of the wonder vitamins!

Dosage: 400 IU per day for small dogs and 800 IU per day for larger dogs.

Calcium & Phosphorus
What it does: Creates bone, tooth, and muscle growth; blood clotting; normal heart rate; and transmission of nerve impulses. Eliminates lead and other heavy metal poisoning. Vitamin D is required to activate calcium.

Dosage: (Usually enough in your dogs food)

Iron
What it does: Creates hemoglobin (red blood cells), enzyme function, immunity, and energy

Dosage: (Ask your vet)

Magnesium
What it does: Detoxes the body of lead and other heavy metals, and is important for the nervous system, enzyme function, heart rate, bones, and muscles. Great pain reliever for dogs with arthritis. 

Dosage: (Ask your vet)

Potassium & Sodium
What it does: Helps prevent strokes. It is rare that, other than in cases of heat exhaustion, sodium needs to be supplemented in pets.

Dosage: (Ask your vet)

Selenium
What it does: Produces anti-oxidants. Slows aging and regulates the pancreas (blood sugar). Works well with Vitamin E. Can be very toxic, if given too much!

Dosage:  0.11 mg per kg of food 

I give Luna the following 3 supplements: Fish Oil, Vitamin E and Selenium (only 3 times a week, at a very low dose). Please remember to ALWAYS consult your Vet before giving your pet supplements. Although this is what I found in a couple Google searches, it doesn't mean that it is best for your dog!


Source


Friday, June 27, 2014

Photo Friday! Truth About Beds


I know I don't have to explain this picture very much, since I'm sure if you have a dog (who is allowed on furniture) you know EXACTLY what this is like. Somehow my 60lb puppy takes up more room on my bed than I do, but I don't want to move and push her off the bed! I guess I will just deal with my side of the bed.

Iraq Veteran Saves Beagle, Adopts Dog


You may have heard about the Army Iraq veteran, Aaron Schneider, who witnessed a beagle getting hit by a car in Missouri. He brought the dog over to the side of the road to keep him from getting into any more harm. Schneider stayed with the beagle for 3 hours to keep him company and keep him warm, just like a soldier staying behind with his fellow fallen soldier. Finally, animal control picked up the dog and it was reported that the beagle suffered from internal bleeding, broken ribs and a torn windpipe. If it wasn't for Aaron, this beagle would not have made it. 


After the beagle underwent surgeries and blood transfusions, Schneider decided that he couldn't leave his new friend. He decided to take him home and ADOPT HIM! The beagle, now named Buster, went home to a loving father and friend. 

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Yellow Dog Project


This photo was first published on October 9, 2012. That's almost 2 years ago, and I am just seeing people share and repost this great idea. I'm not going to lie, this is the first I've seen it, and I think it's brilliant. It is such an important thing to bring awareness to. Dogs do not always act how we think they will and to protect them and others, social awareness is very important. People are way too confident about dogs. Just because you see a dog that seems to be behaving with his or her owner DOES NOT mean that he or she will act the same toward you. There have been so many times where I am walking Luna and people just walk up to her and pet her or get right in her face. I appreciate that you like dogs, but please ask! Luckily Luna has only barked at people that she does not get a good vibe from. And honestly, she has the right to. If someone came up to you, getting in your face and doing things that you had never seen or heard before, you'd probably act defensive too! 

One of Drew's friends a while back was pregnant and waiting for her husband outside of a Starbucks with her German Shepherd, Apollo. A woman walked by and saw Apollo, and decided to pet him. Bad Idea. Apollo, who was clearly protective of his pregnant guardian, attacked the woman's arm and latched on. Pregnant mom is startled and is trying to get Apollo off of the woman, but she's pretty pregnant and can't really pull a 80+ lb dog off an ignorant woman. Finally, the husband who was inside Starbucks comes out, after the commotion, and gets Apollo off. The police came to the scene and took Apollo away for investigation. A couple of days pass, and the traumatized couple calls to see how their dog is doing. Turns out that Apollo was put down. Without them knowing. Horrified. I would have been completely horrified. Apparently, they wanted to do testing on Apollo's brain to see if there was something wrong with it, but in order to get a sample they had to put him down. This poor dog, who protected his owner, was put down because of an IGNORANT woman who did not think before she acted. This is why asking an owner to pet their dog before acting is the right thing to do! 

This yellow bow idea is a great way to introduce and educate people. And when people start realizing that dogs are not always as predictable as people think, maybe more animals and humans will be saved. Please reshare this to spread the word!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Luna's ONE!

My baby girl turns 1 today! I can't believe it! We are celebrating her birthday on Saturday and having a birthday "paw-ty" for her—yep you heard me, a birthday PAW-TY! If you didn't think I was a crazy dog lady before, now you probably do. If it makes it any better, it's nothing too crazy, I basically just invited people I knew who had dogs to go to the dog park with us... and I will make them homemade dog treats as a "Paw-ty Favor." That's not too crazy dog lady is it?



Weighed her the other day and she is officially 60lbs, and she's officially off puppy chow! Man, she is growing up... I just can't wait till she outgrows that chewing stage, so I can actually buy her toys.



Here are some photos of her in the last year.











Monday, June 23, 2014

My Birthday Weekend

This last weekend was my birthday weekend—woohoo— and my mom came from Southern California to visit me. This was the first time my mom had met Luna, and I was a little worried how Luna was going to first react to her grandma (usually Luna likes to bark at anyone she doesn't know who enters our apartment—a good guard dog if you ask me). My mom arrives and knocks on our door, Luna starts barking like crazy. I shush her, and let my mom in (which is when Luna usually gets even more crazy), but instead Luna shuts up and just starts smelling her, similar to how she greets Drew and I when we get home. Very peculiar, but I assume that somehow Luna knew who she was, either by smell or some kind of dog telepathy. Luna falls in love with my mom (and I'm pretty sure vice versa, even though my mom kept calling her a "he"). 




On Friday, Drew, Mom and I brought Luna to the Dog Lake (Lake Borris), where she swam for days. Luna will jump in any body of water that she possibly can, so a huge lake full of ducks is easily her favorite past time. Unfortunately, in this California drought, the lake water was SO low that we didn't stay too long, which worked out well because we had a BBQ to go to at Drew's family's house for my birthday. When we got to his parents' house Luna got to play with Teddy (Drew's parents' 4lb Teddy Bear Pomeranian). Luna is 15 times the size of Teddy, so we tend to get a little nervous when the two play. Let's just say that when they met for the first time we were scared Luna would think Teddy was her squeaky squirrel toy. But now they play great together, and by "play together" I mean "tease each other."


When we got home Friday night Luna passed out; she was overly exhausted from swimming at the lake and playing with Teddy. The next day, Luna was still tired from the day before so Mom and I decided to go shopping. 




Sunday Mom, Luna and I walked to the dog park (Robertson Park, my favorite one in Livermore). Luna played with a McNab Border Collie mix that was super fast and playful. The two would tackle each other and "play bite" which freaked my mom out. She isn't a huge dog person and so she doesn't really know how they play and what is considered play and what is considered fighting. I totally understand this, I too get a little nervous especially when the owner isn't nearby and I can't ask them if their dog likes to play rough or not. The McNab mix seemed to have been enjoying himself, so I let it be, while Mom is OOOO-AHHH-EEEEK-ing next to me freaking out that Luna is going to Mike Tyson the other dog's ear. 





Overall, a successful time, so we left and lazed around at home the rest of the day, while Luna cuddled with Mom, and then Drew when he came home from work. I had a great weekend with my mom, and was so happy that she was able to come visit. It was the greatest birthday present of all.



Dog Bearding

Apparently there's a new fascination with cat bearding and dog bearding. Sounds like a super weird request you would ask your groomer, but really all you need is a camera, a willing pet, and maybe some treats for encouragement. This new sensation is when you take a selfie with your pet using their nose and mouth to look like your nose. Here are some example that I found on Pinterest and other websites... the results are quite hilarious!


After seeing some of these hilarious results, I just had to try it! Doesn't look like it would be too difficult, right? WRONG!! Luna was not about taking weird selfies with me, but then again she doesn't ever like her picture taken. (This is where the encouraging dog treats came in handy). So without further ado, here are my attempts to "dog bearding" for your entertainment!


This is how a lot of the photos turned out.... not really what I wanted, but it is a cute self of Luna :) Now for the closest attempts of dog bearding that Luna and I could handle.




After many photos I think that my best option was just cropping the photos to make them look better. Here is a before and after cropping that may or may not have helped. 


Overall, this experience was hysterical and tiring, especially when Luna just wanted to sleep. This next photo is a perfect visual representation of how we both felt after "dog bearding." Although the inspirational photos looked promising, I think this was overall a FAIL! I guess Luna and I need to practice our selfies some more.


Thanks for reading! Send me your best dog bearding (or cat bearding) photos. And if you have tips for me, I'm all ears!

-Britt and Luna





Saturday, June 21, 2014

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Dog Treats



Dog treats can get very expensive, and it always seem like your pets go through them 50 times faster than they probably should. I figured that there's got to be a Pinterest recipe out there for "DIY Dog Treats," and by doing a quick search, I found TONS! I did settle on the one that I already had most of the ingredients. This recipe I found on Dogbook. Unfortunately I didn't have that cute bone shaped cookie cutter so I tried to make a DIY cookie cutter...Let's just say the bones ended up looking more like penises. Good for a bachelor party, but not for my dog. I ended up finding a LEGIT cookie cutter at this hipster pet store in Downtown Pleasanton called Murphy's Paw. But that's enough babbling, here is the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup (unsweetened*) shredded coconut
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon applesauce

*The original recipe from Dogbook said "unsweetened" but my Safeway didn't have any, so Luna got the regular sweetened coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
3. Mix wet ingredients together in separate bowl, then combine with dry ingredients until well combined.
4. Knead mixture into a ball.
5. On wax paper, cut out treats and place on an unlined baking sheet
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Store in airtight container (this is important! don't want those treats to get old and moldy and get your pup sick!)




Luna loved these treats and I had a TON of them so I ended up giving some to Drew's sister who has a Maltese. The Maltese loved them too! Definitely making this recipe again.


Friday, June 20, 2014

Crate Training Your Pup

I would always go to the dog parks and people would ask me if Luna was crate trained, and I would feel super judged when I said "No..." Everyone acts like crating your dog is the only way to live your life, and if you don't you are just a horrible dog parent. Well let me tell you, it is easier said than done! Putting your dog in a crate was supposed to help potty train them, and keep them out of trouble. From the day we got her, we tried to put Luna in one of those fabric foldable crates with the zippers. Luna HATED that thing. She would cry and cry and cry; I think the experience was torturing Drew and I more than it was actually torturing the dog! We decided that the crate thing just wasn't our thing, so we let the poor tortured pup out of the "death chamber."




Months went by and little Luna was doing great. When Drew and I would go to work we would leave her in our living room area with a baby gate separating her from the bed rooms. She would sleep most of the day, never have an accident, play with her toys, and not get into too much trouble. Then when she was about 9 months old she started destroying all of her fabric toys (basically anything that wasn't a kong). Luna would rip these toys apart and then just swallow pieces of them whole. It got to the point where she would have trouble "pushing" the toy out of her bum, so obviously Mama has to pull it out of her (definitely not the funnest part of being a mom). Clearly this was not a very good practice, and we couldn't let it progress. Drew and I decided that it was her best health interest (and ours) to throw away any "fabric-y" toy that she could tear pieces off of.

The day we threw her toys away, we went to work like any other day, and I came to check on her on my lunch break. Except it wasn't a normal lunch break check up. I came home to a DESTROYED carpet. I panicked. I called Drew up, and sent him a picture of the carpet. A million and a half things were going through my head. How are we going to fix this? How much is it gonna cost? What are we going to do with Luna? Etc, etc, etc... *Cue meltdown* Drew tells me there's nothing we can do about it right now, and to just put a piece of furniture over it, but the thing is WE DON'T HAVE ANY FURNITURE BIG ENOUGH TO COVER THE DAMN THING! So I put a chest on top of the massacre hoping it would deter Luna from attacking it more. I go back to work for another 4 hours. I come home and what's there? MORE FREAKING DESTRUCTION! I couldn't believe it! how is that even possible?? That moment I put my fist down, enough is enough, Luna needs to be in a crate for her own health. Sorry, Charlie, we tried giving you freedom and clearly you can't handle it.



That night we buy a $190 metal crate (the XXL one that Drew could get in and turn around in). We are freaking out, the last time we got her a crate and tried to get her in it she would scream like we were killing her first born child in front of her (vivid, but accurate). Freaking out aside, we know we have to do this and we have no choice. We set up the crate and try to get her used to it by "baiting" her to go in by giving her treats. She was liking it. She would even go in there without us telling her! Luna loved it! We were sooooo relieved. What a huge turn around from the first time we tried to get her in that crate. I think that a lot of it has to do with her maturity. When we first tried it she was young and was already in shock from being away from her mama and siblings. But now she is more mature, and can handle it a bit more. I also think that it has to do with the type of crate we bought. This metal crate doesn't have any "blind spots," she can see right through in every angle. Needless to say, Luna is a happy girl having her own space to herself, and Mom and Dad are happy parents with a less destructive pup.




Moral of the story? If you want to save money on damages, crate your furry friend from the beginning. I know it sucks, but you really don't want to pay for medical bills, or carpet replacements. Speaking of carpet, you may be wondering what we did with that... We decided to just throw a rug ($35 from Walmart) over it. A good DIY carpet fixing :)



Photo Friday!


Every dog parent knows what this is like. I used to consider a 5 second rule, but now I don't even want it because of the amount of fur that piece of food probably has on it now. I saw a home decor sign the other day that said "Dog fur is a condiment in this house." Ain't that the truth! Usually if something is in my food that's not supposed to be there I freak out (probably a common reaction). However, now I'm so used to there being fur everywhere, when it ends up in my bowl of cereal it's not even a big deal.

Photo of the day was found on Tri-Valley Animal Rescue's FB page 

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Kong: Indestructible Toys (Or So You Think)


Last night while Drew and I were catching up on the season finale of Fargo, Luna was playing with her toys by herself as she usually does when we watch TV. Since we threw away all of her destructible toys we weren't worried about her tearing up things she shouldn't be. What we didn't know was that when you said "indestructible," Luna thinks you said "tear this toy apart even more." 

What do I mean? Well a couple months back Drew and I bought Luna a frisbee, but not your ordinary frisbee that costs about $5. We decided we should buy her something more—and I use this word again—indestructible. So we bought a $12 dollar Kong Frisbee, assuming that it would last her forever. Luna must've been laughing at us in the pet store. It's only a matter of time till that frisbee is in pieces, I'm sure was what she was thinking.


Well, she was right. Fast forward a couple months to last night, after finishing the Fargo season finale, I found this piece of rubber plastic on the ground. I thought to myself, what in the hell is that? On this red plastic I read the letters "ONG," and assumed the missing letter was "K." The only thing this could mean was that there was an "indestructible" frisbee out there missing its "ONG." Bad news, Bears, if you ask me. So I looked for the broken toy, and there it was, just as I expected, a hole in the middle like a doughnut. Just lovely. My dog has become that dog where nothing can stop her! 



My question now: What is Kong's warranty policy? Because a frisbee that expensive shouldn't be destroyed so easily. I suppose I will send them an email, and see what's up. 




Wednesday, June 18, 2014

What Would Happen If Dogs Could Drive?

I don't know about you, but my dog loves to go in the car. I think she knows that if we get in the car it means that we are going to do something fun (i.e. dog park, the lake, grandma and grandpas house, etc). What if she could drive? I don't think she would be that interested in driving a car. I think she'd rather fly a plane, so she can catch up to those ducks!

Watch this video and see how dogs would act if they were the drivers. It's pretty damn cute!


First Thing's First

Well I guess I should introduce myself; my name is Britt and I decided to create a blog to post cute photos of my dog, ask questions, post reviews, and just explain to the world about my everyday life with my pup.

So how did it all start?

Well I would say that I've always loved animals, but I've always been a HUGE fan of dogs. I grew up with a Siberian Husky (named Sydney) who was the sweetest and most friendly dog you could ever imagine... she was also pretty lazy. She never ever wanted to play fetch, and as a kid, that's basically the only reason you want a dog, so she could play with you! Sydney got older and my family ended up having to put her down because she was in a lot of pain.




It wasn't until 7 or 8 years later until my family got another dog. (This was all my doing). Ever since Sydney passed, I wanted another dog, but Mom says "NO! You won't take care of it! The last time you said you would take care of the dog, I ended up having to do everything for it"—notice she uses "it," not "her"—she was probably right though, my brothers and I were not very responsible at the time. But one year (2012 I think), I was working at the community pool and a stray dog wandered into our front office. This is my chance! I thought. I took the dog home, hoping that Mom wouldn't be too upset when she saw me and this adorable pup. I ring the doorbell when I get home and tell my mom "Don't be mad..." and show her the adorable little guy that I'm holding in my arms. Long story short, she wasn't happy at first but moms will be moms and when something grows on them they can't seem to let them go. They kept the puppy, and named him Luke (after Cool Hand Luke, because he escaped 3 or 4 times when they first had him.)



Now I am out of the house and living with my boyfriend, and we had been talking about getting a dog, but I was always hesitant. Then one day in September 2013, my cousin posts 2 pictures of these insanely cute puppies that his girlfriend's dog gave birth to, and they were looking for homes. They were adorable Yellow Labrador Retriever and Siberian Husky mixes (basically the best dog breed out there). After some thought (it didn't take much convincing), we drove up and picked up the cutest little pup you'd ever see. We named her Luna, and now she is my pride and joy. She is my childog, my fur-baby, my princess. (She is very spoiled.) A week from today she will be a year old, she's definitely growing up fast.



Luna Vino (Vino is her middle name), taught us so much. I feel like getting a puppy is one of the best things a couple can do for each other. I could imagine that it is very similar to having a child. You have to potty train her, train her right from wrong, feed her, take her to the doctors, and more. There have been many obstacles that we have had to deal with (like the time she DESTROYED our carpet) but we wouldn't change it for the world. She is our little girl and love her completely.




So that's my story...well some of it...
More stories and adventures to come!
Thanks for reading,
Britt

Sunday, June 1, 2014