I really wish that I could commit to the raw food thing, but while we're on this island, that's not happening. Food prices are elevated, and meat prices are INSANE. I can barely afford to eat meat myself. Tofu is pretty cheap here, so I eat a lot of that, but I don't think that falls within the recommended dietary intake for a canine. Thanks for that link tweety. I will check it out. I guess the way the food made some dogs violently ill worried me. At his worst, he was disinterested in it. I haven't had him long enough to notice his fur, but his bathroom habits are very regular. With a coupon, I got his food for $27/29lbs. He is probably through around 1/3 of it, and we've had him around a month. I guess my target price is about a buck a pound. I want to find a good, solid food and stick with it. I know it isn't good to keep switching your dog's food up. I may stick with this type of food and I may not, but I'd at least like to know what is out there and what quality those things are.
With the tweaking I've done, I'm somewhere around $1.25/lb ($0.60/lb of it is the meat and processing). The dollar values I used in that post from a few years ago are old. I spend around $250 and get 200lbs of meat out of it, which will last me at least three months. I can't stress this enough, though: do what works for your dog. Signs your dog food is working: - S/he eats enthusiastically - Coat is shiny and only sheds during season change - Teeth are gleaming white; no plaque or tartar - Eyes are clear and not running. When you see a white dog with eyes running so bad it's stained the fur? That's poor diet. - Not chewing their paws or constantly itchy (although this could be due to environment. My big guy gets skin problems from swimming in bogs). - Solid poops that don't smell horrendous. If you can answer 'yes' to ^ that stuff, then don't change anything. If you can't, keep looking until you get that result.
I have posted a few pictures of my mutt, she is a lab/husky and maybe a little sheppard throwing in. With all this talk about dog food, i decided to look up what i feed my dog, Pedigree dry dog food(1 star). I know dry isn't the best, but your list got my thinking, - She eat's any food enthusiastically - everyone always says he smooth and shiny her coat is, and everyone is always supprised when we say we feed her dry food. She only majorly sheds during season changes - her teeth aren't all that white, we should take a look into brushing her teeth - Eye are clear, once in awhile she will wake up with stuff in the corner of her eye, but her eyes dont run - she constant chews at her paws, but barely scratches herself - solid poops but they stink So i am going to look for another brand of dry food right now, and when i have more time, maybe look into doing so sort of wet dog food. And just for fun a picture taking recently of her passed out. And yes she does use pillows. When the wife allows her on the bed, she will use my pillow.
Man, check out these happy faces from a trip to the park. Don't you wish you were as easily amused. My "poser" dog, Jake My "throw me the ball" dog, Theo
Izzy was watching me fold my laundry, so I started a game of "how many pairs of socks can I put on top of her without her caring." The answer was every pair.
Thanks for all of the advice last week about volunteering in a shelter, you guys. I did make sure to ask about bringing in collars, tennis balls, treats, etc. Not only are they allowed, but encouraged. Since the place operates on a "shoestring budget," those commodities are difficult to come by. One of their current dogs is a 1-year-old Alaskan Malamute named Balto. He already weighs 97 pounds, and his head is nearly to my chest. I'm going to have to resist every temptation to adopt him, even though I have no place to keep him. On a positive note, when I tried adopting from there previously in November 2010, they had a shepard/Akita mix with TONS of energy. I was disheartened to see that he was still there when I went to my orientation, but found out that he's finally being adopted next week. He's their longest resident, having been there since March 2010. Anyway, sorry to clutter the thread with lots of typing about dogs that aren't even mine, without so much as a single picture. Although I may try to snap a pic of Balto at some point tomorrow. Saturday figures to be my regular shelter day.
TiB meet Sophie. Sophie is 8 weeks old. She is a Black Mouth Curr and Catahoula mix. She is so precious.
My dog has some kind of allergy. I'm thinking it's pollen or grass or the water at the dog park. It only hits in the springtime. He starts chewing his paws obsessively. Anyone have any good cures for itchy paws? So far I've tried: - Hot spot spray from the pet store - Putting socks on him - Giving him Benadryl - Cortisol cream between his toes I'm open to suggestions.
Are you sure it isn't a fertilizer that the parks use on the grass? In my parent's development, whatever the landscaping companies use on the lawns, definitely affects both my dog and theirs. It leads to excessive licking/chewing. Perhaps you can find out from the town what they use there? Or wait until the next rainfall to take the pups to the park?
When I started volunteering at this shelter, I told myself it'd be no problem, that I wouldn't get carried away and want to drop $100 on an adoption fee. Then early last week, they took in this 10-month-old mix. She looks like she has Golden Retriever in her, but she's only 46 lbs. and is supposed to be full-grown by now. This whole "I won't take in a homeless dog because I can't keep one here" thing won't be as easy as I thought it would be. Not that I'm surprised, though. I'm a sucker for playful dogs. I couldn't get her to hold still long enough to get a decent picture of her face; here we are stopping during a walk to explore new smells:
Yo shorty - it's your birthday, gonna party like it's your birthday Gonna sip bacardi like it's your birthday
Couple of pictures of the dog. First time i have felt safe taking the camera out because of rain in 3-4 weeks. Fuck this town sometimes.