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Today has not been a very good day. I made a HUGE mistake last night and gave the dogs a big time No-NO with their dinners. I BBQ’d burgers, made mac & cheese and of course Bush’s Baked Beans from hell! There was an extra burger so i split it into 6 pieces and the dogs each got a bite. There were extra beans too.. lots of them. So I thought I’d give the puppers a little treat in honor of Eris’s b-day, HUGE mistake. Almost instantly Hera started farting. I giggled and thought to myself:

beans beans, they’re good for your heart
the more you eat, the more you fart
the more you fart, the better you’ll feel
so let’s eat beans for every meal

Ha Ha until 4:30 am! I awoke from a dead sleep to a horrible stench. Apollo had gotten sick in the bathroom and boy did it stink. Our bathroom has the toilet off to the side in a separate little room and the main part of the bath is open where the sinks, shower and big tub are. Apollo layed a big giant loaf next to the toilet on the linoleoum (whew thanks) and then a second soupy pile smack dab in the middle of the open part on the carpet - GAG!!!!!!!!!!! I cleaned up the mess, turned on the fan and opened the window. Rufus didnt even want to back in the bedroom it smelled so bad. I went back to bed and thought that would be the end of it.

Not even close! I get up and let the girls out of their crates and Hera, the original farter, did way more than fart in her crate. She had the nastiest accident and covered it up with her blanket. She of course needed a bath and I needed a gas mask. She has been sick all day. She has vomited a couple of times and had the runs, but seems fine now. Poor baby girl. Apollo seems fine now too. I think I am going to go to bed early tonight and hope for a better day tomorrow. Beans are now on the short list of things the dogs absolutely will never have again!

We just made it before the stroke of midnight!

My big fat chocolate chunk is 7 years old today! I can’t believe how time has flown by.

Eris only stared her “real life” 3½ years ago when she was rescued from the Amish puppy mill. She didn’t know how to do anything. She didn’t know toys, treats or how to play. She would follow me around and just lay under my desk at first. Then she figured it out… there has been no stopping that chunky little girl ever since.

This morning she got some eggs and ham as treat and everyone else got a bit as well. We are going to take a trip to Petsmart shortly to get her a present. I cant imagine what she is going to pick out. A bone or a stuffie probably.. She loves bones and loves to chew. I think if I just gave her one of my shoes she would be in heaven, but thats NOT going to happen.

Here’s my girly shortly after she came to live with me.

She’s come a long way and is such a happy girl. I am so thankful for the time I have had with her. Here’s the birthday girl!

I finally broke down last week and ordered myself a Furminator. I have seen them in stores and heard countless accounts of how “wonderful” they are but have never wanted to shell out the $60 for one. I mean for $60 that thing better make my dogs’s farts smell like roses, right? Someone on the Big Dog’s Porch suggested Ebay. Ebay, now why didn’t I think of that? There’s all sorts of deals on Ebay - I found the Large Yellow Furminator for $29.95 plus shipping at Value Pets Supplies.

It came in the mail yesterday and OMG is it great! I had one of those imitation ones from Bamboo and while it does a “Semi-OK” job, It is NO furminator let me tell you! I spent 90 minutes brushing Brutus with it last night and look at the pile of hair that came off him. I think these pictures say it all!

That pile is 24 inches high, 36 inches wide and 40 inches long! He’s almost bald now..lol I didnt take a picture of Rufus’s pile, but it was just as high and just as wide! I could have propagated a litter of puppies with all that hair. I even brush them regularly! They should be very happy this summer with all that undercoat gone. It certainly is going to cut down on the shedding in the house.

We give the Furminator

The neighborhood had another community garage sale yesterday and today. The weather wasn’t very good yesterday so most people didn’t put out any of their stuff. But today was another story. It was beautiful, sunny and 65°F. There was a ton of activity and we decided to venture out and meet the neighbors. I walked Brutus and Rufus separately and we toured the neighborhood visiting all the garage sales. We gathered quite a group of people at each house we went to and passers by stopped and got out of their vehicles just to pet them. They were just soaking it up - especially from the kids. I managed to snap a picture of Brutus soaking up some attention at one of the houses we stopped at.

I think he’s smiling!

It was so nice to have my neighbors interact with them and see how well all the dogs behave. They are also getting alot better at ignoring the neighborhood dogs. Rufus still gets the most excited, but he is starting to loose interest in the other dogs. If I can just get them to ignore those 3 pesky little min-pins in the underground fence.

One of my friends who has 2 Great Danes had a really scary experience today. She let them out to potty around 4am (w/out collars/tags) and they opened the gate and got out. They were gone for hours and hours. I chatted with my friend trying to make small talk and help her to sort out her game plan. Sometimes when in a crisis we aren’t thinking about all the angles and its good to have someone that isn’t emotionally involved to rundown a laundry list of things to do.

I suggested all the normal stuff, call the vets, shelters, canvas the neighborhoods and drop flyers. Since the dogs were not microchipped (later we found out that one was, but she did not know it and the chip was not registered) a Home Again alert could not be broadcast. Then I remembered that Ohio uses Pet FBI and the UK uses Dog Lost to send out alerts, why wouldn’t Colorado have something similar. I prayed to the google goddess for answers and was directed to the Dog Detective site which is a National database that alerts shelters, vets, rescue groups and volunteers of your missing dog.

As luck would have it, the SOS went out of the e-waves to everyone in a 50 mile radius and her dogs were located 45 minutes away in another municipality’s shelter. They had wandered to the water treatment plant which fell under another jurisdiction and the dogs were taken to the shelter that services the area. Oddly enough the vet chipped one of the dogs, but never told her or registered the chip. Both dogs are now microchipped!  She wouldn’t let the other one leave the shelter with out getting a chip.

Had Dog Detective not been involved, there’s a good chance they would not have been reunited. Home Again states a staggering statistic that 90% of dog that are not wearing some form of ID are NEVER reunited with their loved ones. I would just die if I lost my dogs that way. Mine are all chipped AND tagged and always wear their collars - inside and out.

I urge everyone that has not done so, to PLEASE microchip your beloved dog. It may be the ONLY chance he or she has to get back to you if the unthinkable were to happen. You can maintain your information on line on the Home Again website in the event you are on vacation or a natural disaster should take place and you are displaced from your home (I have the 1-800 # programmed on my cell phone). Katrina ring any bells?

Here’s a good recipe for dogs that have trouble putting on or keeping weight on due to illness, age or prior neglect. Many rescues use these when they take in dogs that are severely malnutritioned. They will cause rapid weight gain so monitor the dog to make sure he/she is not gaining too much weigh too rapidly.

Satin Balls

• 5 pounds hamburger meat [the cheapest kind]
• 1/2 lg. box of Total cereal
• 1/2 lg. box oatmeal
• 1/2 jar of wheat germ
• 3/4 cup veg oil
• 3/4 cup of unsulfured molasses
• 5 raw eggs AND shells
• 5 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
• pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together, much like you would a meatloaf. Divide into 5 quart freezer bags (roll into balls approximately the size of tennis balls) and freeze. Thaw as needed and feed raw!

**Recipe has been added to the Canine Cookbook**

As you know, now that we have moved I have to walk my dogs every day. I leash my dogs, carry poop bags and pick up after them. NO ONE in this neighborhood picks up after their dogs when they walk. The next door neighbor has a blind 16 year old beagle who she lets wander around and it comes into MY yard to poop. I have caught him there twice in the past two days and watched him poop infront of my mailbox. The owners are both doctors but of course have NO common sense and just let him wander with no supervision or electric fence.

Well tonight I am walking Hera and Eris and out from between two house charges Coby the wandering black lab - I have already had to take him home once at 11:30PM - his owners had already gone to bed and just left him out. Well, Eris and Hera are on leads and that dog charges out and tries to attack Hera. I get between them and scream at him to GO HOME. They tangle up once and luckily Hera isnt hurt. So he runs off and then ambushes us again from in between two other houses as we round the corner. He snarls, lunges and snaps at Hera and again I scream at him and he runs off. I go between the houses to his house and his owner is out front. I say hello and tell her that he has gone after Hera twice and I am very upset. Hera knows no stranger and is very very friendly. She proceeds to tell me Coby is the same way… (whatever) and right there in front of her he snarls and charges at Hera again and starts circling us and lunges in a few times snapping. Hera is growling back and standing her ground next to me. She screams at him and tells him to go inside and snatches him up. And all she can say is “I dont know what to tell you, he has never done that before” — you dont know what to tell me! how about SORRY for starters and I will keep him in the house or on a tie out!!!! I am “this” close to calling the dog warden. I can’t even tell you how scared and mad I was.

OMG I am sooo freaking ticked off! This dog roams the neighborhood! I can only hope that he is not stupid enough to try and engage B and R because if he ever put on a display like he did tonight to them, I really think they would at the very least attack and severely hurt him, trying protecting me. (I really thought it was going to get ugly tonight) Luckily the last time I saw him when i was out with the boys I saw him before they did and ran back inside with them and was able to take Coby home before I took out the boys.

As it is I walk the dogs late at night to prevent any incidents with the dogs that roam, are unattended in electric fences and being walked on and off lead - I love my house, love the neighborhood, its very posh but walking the dogs is killing me. This sort of neighborhood isnt supposed to be like this. I am just sick! I miss my acreage!

My poor Hera Bera!

There’s a thread on the Big Dog’s Porch about one of the member’s Saint Bernard. He is only about 18 moths old and she thinks he is small. He is gorgeous and does not look small for his age at all. A couple people asked for pictures of B and R since that is around the time that I adopted the. I dug through mounds (not literally since they are all digital) of photos and found a couple that show how young and juvenile they were when I first got them. Its so funny, I don’t remember them growing, but they clearly did and have put on ±30 pounds a piece. My how time has flown by.

THEN:

NOW:

(I just can’t pass up an opportunity to showcase this picture, its one of my all time favorites of the boys)

Coby is the black lab that lives on the next street over. Coby is the neighborhood wanderer. He is a very nice dog, very friendly, but his owner really irks me.  I started to walk Apollo, Brutus and Rufus the other night around 11:30pm. Its quiet then and i don’t have to worry about the little ankle biters charging out at us.  We manage out of our house and start down the sidewalk and my son say “what the heck!” and points at Coby thinking one of our dogs has escaped some how.  Of course it is Coby. I usher my dogs back in the house quickly and set out after Coby with a leash in hand.

I catch up with him and we march back to his house.  The lights are off and his owner has gone to bed for the night and left Coby outside.  I ring the bell a couple of times and finally she comes to the door.  I say “Is this yours?” and she takes Coby in.  We start talking and she begins to tell me how bad he is and asks if I want him.  She can’t find anyone else that will take him. Ummm NO - got 4 labs of my own, thanks.  I ask her if she walks him and of course she doesn’t and the invisible fence?  well, its so invisible that its non-existent.  He apparently went through it after two days and she just shut it off and he doesn’t wear the collar anymore.  So he is free to roam the neighborhood.  I try to explain the benefits of regular walks, but she has her hands full with 2 kids and has NO intention of walking him.  She says she fully expects to find him dead on the road one of these days, and I think she is hoping for that.

Some people don’t deserve to have animals! grrrr

I know thats a bizarre title and you are probably wondering what in the world all four of those have to do with each other. The answer is nothing except they are the top things on my mind for all things doggy today… lol

1. It is hard to believe we have been in (only) our new house for 2 full weeks. Everyone is so settled it seems like an eternity. The dogs have adjusted so well. I am really impressed! People never seem to give well adjusted animals enough credit in their ability to accept change. I was guilty of it too. My worst fear when moving was my dog plastered to the door and windows barking at every car, bike, person walking, dog and child walking by. I pictured them clawing and barking frantically trying to get out at the “intruders” and generally making a scene. But none of my fears have come to fruition and the dogs have adjusted to suburban living with grace. I wish more people could see how resilient dogs can be when they decide to dump them off at shelters because they are “moving”… trust me if I can get a pack of 6 giant dogs to happily adjust to “burb life” from “rural life” in a matter of two weeks, I think someone else can figure out how to manage one dog.

2. Since we now have to do the “poop and go” thing and I am a responsible pet blogger, I mean owner, I have to carry doggie poop bags with me constantly. Recycled grocery sacks are not cutting it. They are always torn and i inevitably get poo on my hands when I clean up after a land mine and the bags absolutely STINK in the trash can. GROSS! So although I would really like to be “green” and recycle it really isnt an option for me with 6 dogs in the burbs. So I went out in search of cheap, biodegradable poop bags at Petsmart and online. I have tried out Mutt Mitts in the past and know they are super dooper pooper scooper bags. They are just pricey in the stores and I have to order them in serious bulk (we’re talking 900 bag cases) to be cost effective. The only down side is that I have to actually carry them in a pocket or my hands. I typically don’t wear athletic pants with pockets when walking the dogs so this is a serious drawback.

When I went into Petsmart yesterday they had individual dispensers with a roll of 15 poop bags inside on sale for $1.99 - What a bargain. So I picked up a pink and blue one to try out. I mean you can’t go wrong for $1.99, The little dispensers attach to the handle of the leash and you pull out a bag from the bottom just like all the other little bag dispensers - nothing special, but the bags inside are alot thicker. They are 100% biodegradable which is good for the environment and don’t stink when you are carrying a used one or in the trash can. I also picked up a package of refills at $9.99 for 120 bags (8 rolls of 15). I’ll give it a whirl and see how it goes. At this point ANYTHING is better than used grocery bags.

3. We joined BARK PARK!! Its a 10 acre private membership dog park about 15 miles from here, similar to the one I used to own (only a lot bigger and better run). Each week a dog rescue organization is featured and all the proceeds of the day’s admission fees, food sales and dog wash is donated to the rescue group. I am really excited for the first date.. May 24!

On our walk this morning we came upon a garage sale in the neighborhood.  Brutus, Rufus and Apollo (I braved walking the 3 together) could hardly contain their excitement and pulled me straight there.  They spied kids!  And kids mean getting loving and pets.  A little, maybe 2 years old max, rushed up to them much to chagrin of his mother.  She screamed “no!  Dont!” and I assured her they are very friendly and love children.  Reluctantly she lets her son proceed to hug and pet the boys.  They stood there and soaked up the attention like champs.  The mother was very impressed how they allowed her son to pet them.  She said, my goodness they are so big (like I hadn’t really noticed.. bwahaha) it scared me and thanked me for letting her son meet them.

Ahh… my boys are the people’s princes..