This weekend I am going to a dog show in Cleveland to watch a few of my friends show their Saint Bernards.  I usually make a tray of Saint Bernard cupcakes to take to my Saint Bernard Club November meetings and I’ll take them to the dog shows that I go and watch.  Ive mastered the ones I posted about in 2011 (LINK to post) I’ve tweaked them over the years and they are a big hit.

I’ve seen some great cakes online that use fondant, gumpaste and candy clay.  I’ve always been afraid to try it out, it seemed so hard.  I finally decided to dive in head first and made my own edible candy clay and tried my hand at making a Saint Bernard cupcake topper.  My first attempt, less than stellar but I was actually able to do it.  So I ran out and bought some more chocolate and made more candy clay and gave it a full on go.  Here’s the end result.  I’m actually pretty impressed with myself.  I hope everyone likes them at the Cleveland Cluster this weekend.

We all complacently look the other way when they instituted breed bans on Pitbulls because it wasnt our breed… but guess what, it is!  Although Pittbull BSL has been repealed here in Ohio, insurance companies didn’t repeal their position on “dangerous dogs”.  A disturbing new trend is starting to arise in the insurance world.  As the insurance industry gains more and more power they are turning on their insureds for the sake of a buck.  What we need to remember is they do not have their customers’ best interests at heart and are in the business of making money, period.

Dogs have become a very sticky subject with Insurance Carriers for the simple fact that there have been increased dog injury claims within the past 5 years.  While most standard homeowners and renters insurance policies cover liability for dog bites, up to the policy limits.  Even if you have a dog with no bite history it may be considered to be within one of the aggressive dog breeds the majority of insurance companies  will decline to write your home owners policy or cancel you when they find out you have a dog that falls in that category. The following dogs are considered aggressive: Pit Bull, Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, Presa Canerio,  Doberman Pinscher, Chow Chow, Great Dane, St. Bernard, and Akita. The few companies that will write your home owners policy will most likely exclude the dog and offer no coverage for dog injuries to others.

Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky are “strict liability” states (there are 30 total plus the District of Columbia) meaning a dog owner, harborer or keeper liable for an injury to a person or the property of a person, including a person’s dog. 

• §955.28 of Ohio Revised Code
• Section 258.235 of Kentucky Revised Statutes
• Michigan Compiled Laws Section 287.351

An umbrella policy is an affordable alternative for providing liability coverage that a regular homeowners policy does not cover.  It also extends the maximum payable coverage for dog bites up to a million dollars.  While shopping for insurance make sure you ask if the carrier you are considering affords:

• Protection for your Saint Bernards?
• Are all canine-inflicted injuries covered?
• What are the umbrella policy’s deductibles?

You many have to make a few calls to the companies themselves because the agent may not know.

I worked as an insurance claims adjuster for many years.  I have first hand knowledge of how unscrupulous the insurance industry is and how they handle dogs in the underwriting department.  When you get your homeowners policy documentation, READ the fine print!

Insurance providers who do not discriminate by breed

We encourage dog owners to do their homework and look for agents that represent these companies for renters and home owner policies. Know of others? Please share your favorite insurance resources.

• State Farm
• Farmers Insurance
• United Services Automobile Association
• Chubb Group
• Amica
• Auto-Owners Insurance

DogBite Law

Many times it is difficult to figure out which dog has loose stool or diarrhea when you can’t watch them every time they go out. A good way to identify the stool is to shave a little bit of different color non-toxic Crayola crayon in each dogs food. The crayon does not break down in the digestive system and you will be able to tell that Sam was given pink crayon and his stool is firm but Abby was given yellow crayon and her stool is loose.

Only use Crayola non-toxic crayons. Other brands may contain lead or toxins.

It seems that every time I turn around another food or treat is being recalled for one reason or another.  It makes me concerned and extremely nervous to feed my dogs these days.  Chicken Jerky treats and Sweet Potato treats (manufactured in China) are the latest treats with cause for concern.  Since 2006 chicken and most recently sweet potato/yam jerky-type treats have been responsible for over 1,000 (reported) dogs getting sick, ranging from vomiting, diarrhea, (most notably) kidney failure to death yet they are still on the shelves available for purchase at countless retailers.  As of yet they do not know what is specifically causing the illnesses but many vets are recommending to steer clear.

So this brings us to the cooking portion of today’s installment… Making your very own healthy chicken and sweet potato treats.

It’s remarkably easy to make your own chemical-free HEALTHY treats.  Not only is it easy, its cheaper to make your own than to buy and you know exactly whats going into them. I have tried out two easy methods of making home made jerky style treats. If you dont already have one, a food dehydrator can be purchased relatively inexpensively at Amazon, Walmart or Big Lots.  I paid less than $20 for mine a few years ago at Aldi.

Method #1 – Dehydrator

What you need:

• Raw sweet potato/yams (2 yams filled 3½ trays with ¼ inch slices)
• Thinly sliced chicken (I bough thinly sliced breast meat but any chicken will do)
• Food dehydrator

Wash and dry the meat and yams.  Since its for dog treats, you wont have to add any spices or flavoring, nice. For uniformity and to save time I used a mandolin slicer to slice the yams ¼” thick. I then sliced the “thinly sliced” chicken in half and cut it into pieces.  Place the slices in a single layer in the trays. 2 yams will fill 3½ trays and 1¼ pounds thinly sliced chicken breast will cover 1½ trays.

Once you have filled the trays plug it in and wait.  It will take approximately 12 hours to dehydrate (you should read the instructions for your dehydrator, times vary).  Treats should be kept in an airtight container or ziplock bag.  They will keep for about 3 weeks (remember there’s no preservatives in them) but unless you only have one tiny dog, they wont be around that long.

Method #2 Oven Dehydrated 

What you will need:

• Sweet Potato/yams
• ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 250ºF.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Slice yams and bananas ¼” thick.  Again, for speed and uniformity I used a mandolin slicer.  Place the slices in rows on the cookie sheets and bake in the 250ºf oven and bake for 3-4 hours for “chewy” treats and 5-6 hours for crunchy.  Flip the pieces about half way through.

Easy Peasy!  Nothing says lovin’ like goodness from the oven…