you all know this one.
June 20, 2006
how this freaky site works...
September 09, 2005
training tip #1 (this is a new series- it'll be endless...)
If you happen to have a hyper, aggressive or generally intense dog, change their diet to a low-protein dog food without artificial preservatives (look for about 20% protein). Any protein that they're not using for serious growth spurts is essentially extra energy ripping through your dog's system. Like ROCKET FUEL. UNNECESSARY ROCKET FUEL. Think about it...

Whenever you change a dog's food, do it gradually, 25% of the new food at a time. A quick change in protein levels most of the time results in stank, rancid loose stool. I don't think this is what you want. (is it?)
So, do it 25% new/ 75% old for a week or so, and if the dog's system can handle that, then go to 50%- %50, and so on...
About the preservatives: dog food contains lots of fats in it, which tend to spoil easily, thus the need for a preservative of some sort. Some smart idiot took a chemical that was originally used as a rubber stabilizer/ insecticide/ pesticide (ETHOXYQUIN) and decided to use it to preserve the fats in dog food. (hey, guys, i have this great idea!...) So now almost all of the dog foods on the market use this pesticide/ rubber stabilizer, which means our dogs are eating it. Me personally, i don't think it's a good idea to give it to them. So, i feed Wellness brand, which is probably not THE best food, but pretty darn good considering what else is out there. And Wellness (owned by Old Mother Hubbard) uses ethoxyquin-free meat sources, and there are no chemical preservatives in there. Check your dog food bags at home if you want, chances are you'll see that "e"- word in there somewhere.
Oh, and Nutro Natural doesn't use ethoxyquin, either.

March 14, 2005
Sam is a sweet little man (#1)
He really is. It's rare I get to see an all-around good dog, since people call me mostly for problems that are making them tear their hair out. In this case, Sam is not one of those dogs. My first impression of him was this; he's just a happy puppy who gets a little too happy when people come over to visit. This is expressed through lots of bouncing around the visitor, and grabbing them on the way back down. His owner likes it that he's so ecstatic, but wants to stop the jumping altogether. Sam uses wee wee pads but sometimes misses when he aims to pee on them. I don't count these as accidents, but they're not to be ignored completely. He's at the age (adolescent pup) to start using only the yard as his bathroom. He has learned to ring bells hanging from the doorknob when he wants to go outside to play, which could turn into a signal for when he has to relieve himself. Right now, the backyard is his playpen where he becomes the greatest entertainer of himself. He loves to stuff his face deep into the snow and dig wherever he finds a suitable spot. When he is not tossing pine cones into the air, he is barking back and forth with the dog on the other side of the fence all day long.
He has a habit of running out the front door when the opportunity arises, to explore nothing in particular, and then to play "catch me if you can". He will steal if given the chance (a stray dish towel, stuffed animal, etc.) and he needs to learn how to walk on a leash without dragging his owner around the neighborhood.

