Baking for the Woofuses

October 7, 2015 by janet

I love to bake. I’ve been baking for my family and friends for years. Making Christmas cookies at my house with my nieces is a beloved, time honored tradition. My chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies are produced in double batches to bring to family gatherings so everyone can bring some home after we eat a bunch for dessert.

It makes sense that I would bake cookies for my dogs – the furry family so dear to my heart – but I have not yet tried! Knowing that I have some eager taste testers, I am borrowing some cook books from a friend and I’ll report back next week!! I am very excited to give this a try. We are baking for ourselves but also for a fund raiser on October 24th for our friends at A Pathway to Hope. I think we need some trial batches to make sure they are really, really good. If you have any suggestions or a recipe to share, please let me know!

A week or so later….

Inspired by my love of baking and the woofuses’ love of treats, I decided to search for a good recipe that would work for Halloween. I found one at a great blog called “use real butter” – Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats. The simple ingredients are: whole wheat flour, eggs, pumpkin puree, and peanut butter. That’s it. Simply natural. For the recipe and directions, please visit the page on the use real butter blog – Jen tells it so well and her blog is a very interesting one well worth following.

I would suggest doubling the recipe, although it does make a lot, because every one you know with a dog will want some and then want some more. We made little “tombstones” for Halloween. These are cut out cookies and I had a hard time finding a small enough cookie cutter amongst my rather large collection. However some kind soul had given me a small tin of tea themed cookie cutters ages ago, and the tiny slice of toast (yes, there is a toast-shaped cookie cutter) worked perfectly as a tiny tombstone! Necessity is the mother of invention, eh?

Fiona and Secret beg for pumpkin treats — Fiona stares intently waiting for a pumpkin treat. Secret licks her chops impatiently.

Of our three dogs, Fiona is the pickiest eater. She is my litmus test for a good biscuit. This was her reaction. Do you see the intensity of her eyes? Secret is out right licking her chops. They are doing a down stay to earn their treats. Lobo thought they were mighty delicious as well.

We’re going to give dog treats out at Halloween to the dogs we know in the neighborhood – why not? Sounds like fun. We’ve put a dozen treats each in a snack size bag and added some Halloween stickers for spooky spirit. Let’s spread the ‘ruv around!

Lobo and Secret waiting patiently for pumpkin treats — Lobo and Secret beg for pumpkin treats – soulful eyes!!

Full Moon Madness: Ancient Canine Habits Are Hard to Break!

October 4, 2015 by janet

Our pups become noticeably more energetic as the weather turns cooler. I guess that is to be expected with Siberian huskies, who favor colder temperatures. I see it first in October, when the leaves begin to fall, the wind to howl and the Halloween decorations to go up around the neighborhood. Yet it is when the moon is full, that the doggie demon comes out to play.

Our girl Secret almost turns into another dog, like some sort of autumnal transformation. She doesn’t exactly become a werewolf, but I would describe her as somewhat possessed!

When the wind begins to blow and the full moon rises, little Secret wakes me up in the middle of the night with a paw to my chest. She’s not to be ignored. If I don’t rise to let her out, she wakes my husband. Often enough, he is the one she wakes first. Since his alarm goes off at 5 am to get ready for his commute, that is not really appreciated. This night, I decide to give him a break.

Sleepily I walk with Secret downstairs and let her out into the backyard. She is keyed up and wide awake. The full moon makes it bright as day if it’s not cloudy. I watch as she paces and runs. I attempt to quietly call her inside. No response. She is taken over by full moon madness.

I shuffle outside in my slippers and try to encourage her into the warmth of the house. She runs away, just beyond my reach. The full moon mocks me from above, terrible beauty that she is. Resignedly I go back inside, sit on the floor with my head against the sliding glass door, and watch her through drooping eyelids.

I give Secret a few minutes to sniff and pace and run, and then decide to try to coax her in again. I am afraid to fall asleep at the door with her outside all night. Dog cookies, usually a sure fire way to get her to come to me, don’t work at 2 am.

I walk outside, this time clad a bit warmer in a sweatshirt over my pajamas, determined to grab her and carry her in if she won’t come. She comes up to me, tail wagging, eyes locked on my face. When I reach for her, she runs away like a tease, still looking at me. She walks around the yard whining and crying, barking and howling at me as if I have broken some unspoken code of human-dog relations.

Finally as a last resort I go inside and grab her leash. After a few minutes of dodge and dash in the backyard, I manage to lasso her and bring her inside. I am sure I am breaking all manner of rules of dog training but I don’t care. I’ve taken the classes. Positive reinforcement. But it goes out the window in the way pre-dawn hours. I am a bit smarter about dog behavior in daylight hours, when I am fully awake.

Does this continue when the snow begins to fall, you ask? When the moon is full, sigh, yes it does….. Winter brings a whole new set of adventures and sleeplessness! Stay tuned as the season advances and the temperatures drop.

Separation Anxiety? One Myth Debunked

September 27, 2015 by janet

When we first met Lobo at an adoption event, there was a look of anxiety and confusion in his sweet eyes.

When we adopted Lobo, we were told he had separation anxiety. It was suggested to us that he go to doggie day care every day while we were at work. We started out this way and all was well. Yet something didn’t seem quite right.

We have two other dogs at home. They stay home all day while we are out at work. We knew that Lobo could do the same. So we started to leave him at home for the latter half of the day. We’d pick him up from doggie day care in the early afternoon. Drop him off at home with Fiona and Secret. And head back to work for another four hours.

I was nervous. Lobo seemed to have some aggression issues, which mostly manifested in barking but sometimes rough play.

The separation issues were not with us leaving him at home. The separation anxiety was simply about being left totally alone. When the other two dogs were with him, he was not alone at all. He had a pack of sisters.

Soon we were leaving Lobo home all day with the girls. There was no destruction, no accidents, no injuries. The only thing that happened was when we had a thunderstorm, Lobo moved the couch out from the wall to hide behind it. That fear too has receded with time and patience.

Dogs are pack animals. Huskies are more pack animals than some other breeds, in my experience. Once Lobo had the security of the pack and the comfort of a regular schedule to understand, he was just fine in the house all day while we were out.

Now our final challenge is that when Lobo came to us he was on prozac, a medicine used to treat depression and anxiety in both animals and in people. We were not sure what he was like before the meds, and one of our vets cautioned us to be wary of his “honey moon period” of being good, and not take him off the meds without seeing a behaviorist first.

Although I respect this opinion, Rob and I did not agree with it. We wanted him off the medicine and were certain he did not need it long term. We talked to our usual vet who suggested we bring Lobo’s dose down from 20 mg to 10 mg for a while and then wean him off over a period of two weeks with a pill every other day.

Lobo is now at ease and living a comfortable life with his two sisters.

We are currently in the midst of this process and giving him the lower dose, and all is going very well. Lobo is a little extra, what we call “barky bark”, where he barks at us for seemingly no reason. Yet it lasts for no more than a minute or so, we give him some affection, and he lies down at our feet. Other than that, we are seeing no ill effects.

I do feel that some dogs who are labeled as having separation anxiety, may profit by simply having another dog around with them. I know this doesn’t work in all cases but it may be a simple way to eliminate stress for some pets and their families. Adding another animal to the house may sound like a lot of work, but they keep each other company, tire each other out when they play and can bond like devoted family members. If your poor dog trembles when you leave the house, it may be worth trying!! Consider a foster situation where you have the option to adopt if all goes well – that’s how we wound up with three (amazing) dogs….

Making Vet Visits Fun? Why Not?!

July 12, 2015 by janet

Lobo is nervous at the vet's office. — Lobo is nervous at the vet’s office.

Our Lobo is a bit nervous at the vet. Being a rescue dog with a hazy past, we have a hard time separating fact from fiction with what we have been told about him. What we do know is that not long before we started to foster him, he was taken to the vet because he had injured himself trying to escape the room he was left in overnight alone. His mouth and paws were bloodied (it breaks my heart to think of it) and he had to be muzzled at the vet because he was in such an agitated state. This was before we met Lobo.

Our first visit to the vet with Lobo was just a meet and greet, not an exam. He glued himself to the exit door of the room. He even squeezed between Rob and the back of a tiny chair. He wasn’t aggressive but he wasn’t friendly.

The second visit was for a rabies shot for Lobo. The vet’s office insisted on an examination as well and our usual vet wasn’t in that day. The other vet was fearful because Lobo bared his teeth at her and she had us put a muzzle on him for the exam. I wasn’t happy with this but I guess I can’t blame her for being nervous. He’s a big boy and he can be a bit of a loud mouth.

Fiona smothers her doctor with enthusiastic kisses.

Truly Lobo is “a big mush,” as more than one person has told us about him. Our two girls Fiona and Secret love their vet excessively and we want Lobo to have the same experience. Rob and I have always felt that the vet-pet relationship is so very important because an animal must be comfortable with the doctor and the doctor’s office in order to be well-examined, cared for or diagnosed.

This weekend, Fiona and Secret were scheduled to see the vet for an exam and shots. We wanted Lobo to see how much they love their vet. To bring the experience up another positive, emotional notch, we picked up two Wendy’s hamburgers en route to the appointment. We gave them to the vet to share among the three dogs.

Lobo looks at the doctor adoringly - more hamburger please! — Lobo looks at the doctor adoringly – more hamburger please!

Lobo must have thought he was in heaven! This nice lady with a stethoscope was giving him hamburger and petting him. He looked at the doctor adoringly and ultimately threw himself across her foot as he lay on the floor.

Our hope is that when we go back in a few months for a checkup for Lobo, again with hamburgers in hand, that Lobo will associate the office and the vet herself, with a positive experience, and allow himself to be examined easily. The poor boy’s teeth are a mess from his days and nights left alone and trying to escape, so they will need to be seen to in the near future. All in good time.

We are going about this gradually to give Lobo the best chance for stress-free healthcare. I’ll keep you posted on our progress! This vet-apprehension is a new experience for us. If you have any comments or suggestions, I would really love to hear them!!

The Key to Canine Health: Know Thy Dog

July 11, 2015 by janet

Our girl Sabrina was an amazing husky. She traveled with us all over the US. My husband was racing a BMX bike so in the summer, spring and fall, we were outdoors at races in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Massachusetts etc. We would set up our canopy, bring lots of water, ice and a battery operated fan for Sabrina to help her stay cool.

I also had a business selling Irish books and would set up shop at Irish festivals across the east coast. Sabrina would come along of course -she was quite a draw at the booth, with those blue eyes! And the Irish wolfhounds which invariably came to the festivals got along with her fine, even though she looked like a wolf as most huskies do!

We knew our girl very well. One thing she loved above all else was popcorn. When we drove long distances in the car, we would throw popcorn to her in the back seat to catch. At home we shared popcorn all the time. So when she turned up her nose at popcorn one night, we knew that something was seriously wrong.

Sabrina was lying in her crate and would not come out. We placed a trail of popcorn from within the crate, to the foot of the couch where we were sitting, worriedly watching her every move. Or lack of a move. She would not budge from her little cave.

I looked at Rob and he looked at me. He picked up the phone and called our vet – we’re coming in now! No desire for popcorn – something is definitely amiss. Luckily we have an excellent, twenty-four hour veterinary hospital only ten minutes away and we drove down there at 11 o’clock at night with Sabrina.

After a few hours with the emergency vet and techs, we discovered that Sabrina had a grapefruit-sized growth on her spleen. They scheduled surgery for the next morning to remove it. Once they removed it, we had to wait anxiously for several days for the test results to come back to see if the growth was cancerous. Thank God, it was not.

Had we waited, that growth on Sabrina’s spleen would have burst, and Sabrina would be dead. She was twelve at the time and lived to bless us with four more wonderful years of love and affection.

What saved Sabrina were a few things. First, our luck to have a good vet nearby. Second, the vet on duty (who became our doctor until this day – the dogs worship her!) had excellent diagnostic skills and pinpointed the problem immediately. We credited her with saving Sabrina’s life and rightly so.

Most of all what saved Sabrina was our being observant and noticing her change in behavior, recognizing it as significant, and acting on it. Dogs cannot speak. We need to hear what they are saying by what they do and what they don’t do, what they are doing or not doing that is different from the norm for them.

I know a trip to the vet can be scary for some dogs and expensive for humans. The only way to know if a change in behavior requires medical attention, is to have a of expert eyes take a look at your sweet canine.

Sabrina lived to happily continue traveling with us for four more years, and to be the flower dog at our wedding. I am still learning to speak my fur babies’ language. I am so very grateful that Sabrina taught me the valuable lesson that actions (or lack of) do indeed speak louder than words.