If this sounds familiar, you're in the right place.
While I personally have never owned a dog that needed professional grooming, I have dealt with the annoyances that bandanas tend to come with.
Let me introduce you to a product that will change the way you think about canine apparel for eternity. Pacific Hound bandeau scarves literally solve all of these problems and here's how.
When searching for a trail, we started off using the AllTrails App. If you're not familiar, check your app store and download it. The app is completely free and offers an excellent baseline for most trails in your region. While it is not always accurate, we have found their maps and reviews to be super helpful!
Our goal was to try and find a hike within an hour of our home to respect the guidelines put forth by our state and find a trail that wasn't going to be busy on a Sunday morning. Easier said than done, but we definitely succeeded with Henline Mountain!
Before heading out on the trails, we always put the following items on each dog:
Spot- harness with traffic leads attached to the back loop. Since Spot stays close to us on trails, we attach both his and Emma's traffic lead to his harness. Having access to a lead in case we need to pass someone or come up to a steep cliff is imperative!
Since this trail is only about 6 miles out and back, we packed pretty light. We always bring a first aid kit, water, and a phone. This time we left our victory snack in the car (homemade applesauce) along with meal replacement bars for the four leggeds.
Alright, now that we're all geared up, it's time to hit the trail! In the case of Henline Mountain, it was definitely easier said than done. The dirt road heading into the trail was FULL of potholes, most being unavoidable. Our GPS said it was going to take us 20 minutes to go 2 miles in our SUV and let's just say Alexa didn't disappoint.
When we finally arrived, the pups were eager to start climbing. This is definitely one of the tougher trails we've done as far as grade goes - you pretty much climb straight up for 3 miles but thankfully we were blessed with some pretty fantastic views about a mile in!
Most of this trail is your typical Oregon Valley forest with towering pines and ferns galore which makes having the bright Journey Collar and bear bell on Emma even more imperative. We encountered numerous rock slides which Gunner's fancy feet didn't care for but for the most part, the pack had no issues. We eventually came to a patch of snow a few miles up which Spot was THRILLED about. He made sure to breakdance before we turned around.
Unfortunately we never made it to the summit due to the trail being washed out and quite honestly, it was too dangerous to traverse without the proper equipment of Emma's mountain goat talents. But let me tell you, going down was MUCH easier than going up!
On our way back down we stopped for a few photo ops and were graced with low-hanging clouds and the most beautiful light mist. As a native Michigander who had never seen anything more than a manmade hill prior to moving to Oregon, I'm forever in awe by the beauty that surrounds us.
Until next time!
I’ve always loved dogs, been passionate about rescue, and wanted to do what I could to help. I started volunteering with Gateway Pet Guardians (IG @gatewaypets) when I moved to St. Louis in 2016, walking shelter dogs. Then I became more involved and started doing photography for the adoptables at GPG. Eventually, I convinced my husband to do a “slumber pawty,” or temporary foster, for a dog whose foster had to go out of town for the weekend. It was a nice way to ease into it without committing to an unknown dog for an unknown amount of time. After a couple slumber pawties, I finally got the go-ahead to do a full time foster. And I loved it, so we kept doing it, with a couple weeks break in between. I think the most important thing is to find a rescue that you believe in. Dogs will come and go, but the policies and people that you work with are permanent.
Just try it. You’ll never feel totally ready. You’ll always be a little scared you’re going to foster fail (aka adopt your foster.) You’ll always wonder if it’s the right time, right dog, right organization. But even if you do it once and never again, you’ve saved a life. Even if you choose to do it once every few months, you’re making a difference. Even if you have a bad experience and have to return a dog, you’ve given the rescue valuable notes about how the dog acts in a certain environment. And if your worst fear is that you foster fail, well, I can think of worse things than a dog finding a family to love them forever. Finding the right organization to foster for is essential, because there are rescues out there that try to use guilt and manipulation to keep a dog in a foster home that just isn’t working. And that just adds stress to the people and the dogs. One thing I love about GPG is their realistic and non-judgmental approach to placing fosters. Not every dog works in every home - and that’s perfectly fine. But at the end of the day, you’re making families. And that is the best feeling. My heart is never happier than when I see my fosters go to their forever home.
- THE FUN STUFF -
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
Freeze Kongs
This is one of the easiest ways you can keep your dog busy and wear them out. Find a toy with a hollow middle - we like to use Kongs or empty marrow bones. Fill the toy with peanut butter, wet food or small treats. Put in the freezer for a few hours and BOOM, you're ready to keep fido busy!
Play the Shell Game
Take three cups and place them upside down. Put a treat under one of them and move the cups around so your dog no longer knows which treat the cup is under. Ask them to find it! Make this game harder by adding more cups or hiding them around the room.
Scavenger Hunt
This is our go-to game at our house. With three dogs, it can be nearly impossible to tire them out all at once...unless we do a scavenger hunt! I typically ask the dogs to wait outside of a room while I hide treats. Our favorites are Zukes or American Journey. To start, you should make the hiding places a bit more obvious until your dog has the hang of this. After a round or two, hide the treats in more obscure places so your pup really has to use their nose to find them! Encourage and praise your pups as they find the treats.
Teach a New Trick
Nothing tires a dog out quite like learning. On our down time, we love working on basic obedience or even learning new tricks. This could be something as simple as teaching a down-stay, place, shake or more complex tricks like park or back up. Check out our blog posts for a few ideas on tricks to teach!
Photo Credit: @myadventuretails
Puzzle Toys
With two pointers and a dalmatian in the house, we've become the QUEENS of Puzzle Toys. If it's on the market, we've probably tried it. Click HERE to check out a few of our favorites!
Confidence Builders - from @rockemdogtraining
Chelsea, the owner of Rockem Dog Training, has 10 years of dog training experience in both the entertainment industry and with Canines Companions for Independence. She has offered up these tools to help your pup gain confidence while embracing the indoors!
]]>For this training exercise, we're only using training treats. Spot is extremely food motivated and so we're going to use this to our advantage in this exercise. We'll be using Zuke's Minis - we've linked them HERE.
To start off, let me tell you a little bit about Spot and why the "leave it" command is essential for him, or really any dog.
When we brought home Spot at 8 weeks old, we noticed a couple of things right away. First, he was extremely fear aggressive towards most dogs to the point where he had to be separated at puppy school. I can get into that later, but the "leave it" command has literally saved our lives and his. Second, Spot loves food - it's easily one way to buy his love and he doesn't discriminate. He will go to any and all lengths to get whatever is on the counter, trail, or even the neighborhood sidewalks.
Sound familiar?
Here's how this command can help you:
Giving your dog a job or task to do when stressful situations arise is one of the easiest ways to combat the situation. Dogs WANT to please so give them the opportunity to show you how awesome they can be!
The following video is a basic training exercise that you can start with the smallest of puppies. We're using Zuke's Minis as a reward which can be found HERE under "training tools." We're also marking desired behavior with a "yes." If your dog is clicker trained, please feel free to use that instead!
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We hiked and hiked. Up, up, up. We saw creeks, waterfalls, a few people, one snake, and so many chipmunks! I don't like when people are ahead of me, and they are so slow anyways, so mama let me lead the way most of the time. I did great except for a few chipmunks that lured me off the trail just a tiny bit. I got to carry my pack which always makes me feel important and lets everyone on the trail know that I have a super important job to do. One girl squealed because she thought I was so cute in my boots. I don't know what the big deal is (they are functional, not fashionable), but she thought it was "the cutest thing ever." I am pretty darn cute.
Inside my pack, I carried 1.5L of water, my food for the day, my own camping bowl, my first aid kit (safety first), my sleeping pad, my sunscreen, poop bags, and some trail snacks. Underneath my pack is a special cooling panel that mama got wet in a stream before we started. She also tied a wet bandana around my neck to help keep me cooler. My boots were awesome for the rocky trails, except they got wet in the streams. Mama says next time she will have to carry me over the streams if we are going a long way. I'm not a real fan of that because water is fun; but wet socks are not fun.
After a while, we made it to the lake where we set up camp. Once we got camp set up, we relaxed a bit and had dinner. I got to share a tent with mama and daddy and even got to sleep in mama's sleeping bag, even though I brought my own bed. It's a good thing because I woke up in the middle of the night and didn't know where I was. I stood straight up and woke up daddy. Oops! Good thing mama was there so I knew it was okay. We woke up the next day and we were still in the wild.
Making sure breakfast is made to Chef Adelaide's standards.
I helped oversee the breakfast preparations and then we got ready to go out hiking again. We didn't have to carry all our gear this time so I didn't take my pack and I let mama carry my water. It was another great day, but I was so tired when we got back to camp. Thankfully, we didn't have to do anything but relax. I loved spending the entire day with mama. I followed here everywhere, just like at home, but this was much better.
Relaxing with my favorite person.
The only thing that wasn't great was cutting my foot on a rock in the lake. Mama tried to warn me that the rocks were sharp and I wasn't wearing my boots, but I went that way anyways (if mama goes in the water, I must go in the water). I had to wear a bandage around camp to keep dirt out and 2 of my feet go a bit swollen. Mama was worried about me, but I'm all good now. Just needed some rest and time to heal.
The next day, we packed up our camp and headed back down the mountain. Mama carried my pack for me since my feet were hurting and she was worried about the extra weight. It was a lot quicker going down, but I was still much faster (even with a hurt foot). When we got back to the car, I climbed into mama's lap and had a great nap on the way home. It was the best day(s) ever!
How to Choose a Dog Food
Have you been considering switching up Fido's food? Maybe your friend's dog recently switched food and now she has a pep in her step and a shinier coat. Maybe your dog's stool hasn't been, uh, optimal lately. Or maybe you recently watched Pet Fooled on Netflix and you're hoping to improve your dog's health.
While you want nothing but the best for your pet, all the options out there can be pretty overwhelming. It used to be there were just a few major pet food brands...maybe a couple more at that health food store your weird hippie neighbor used to go to. Now, even the smallest pet store easily carries dozens of brands, each with their own varieties. Dry kibble, wet canned food, dehydrated, freeze-dried, frozen raw...it's no wonder you want to throw your hands up in frustration.
While there are many arguments for and against each type of food, today's blog post will focus on dry kibble. In terms of value and convenience, dry kibble can't be beat. It's shelf stable and calorie dense. Even the most premium brands are only about $2.50 per pound. That being said, there is a huge variety between ingredients and quality for different brands and different formulas.
Buy the best quality kibble you can afford.
Your dog's food is the primary source of all his nutrition. Paying more now for better quality food will yield dividends in the future in terms of a longer life and better health (and lower vet bills down the line!). Just like you shouldn't subsist off a fast-food chain's Dollar Menu, your dog needs quality nutrition as well.
The first ingredient should be meat or meat meal.
Even better, the first TWO ingredients. Meat meal, while sounding less natural, is just dehydrated meat. By weight, it contains more protein than meat because of the high water content of meat. Meat is a high-quality source of protein, easily digestible, and biologically appropriate for dogs.
Avoid corn, wheat, and soy.
These ingredients may lead to allergies and ailments in dogs. They did not evolve to eat grains and while most dogs can tolerate them, they are not ideal for a dog's diets. Corn especially can be difficult for dogs to digest. Ultimately, these ingredients in your pet food are just highly, highly processed (just like in human food!).
Avoid meat by-products, sweeteners, and any artificial preservatives, flavors or colors.
These are just unnecessary attempts to make a bad food more palatable. Choose natural preservatives; rosemary extract and mixed tocopherols are the most common ones. And dogs are colorblind -- why would they care what color their kibble is?!
If your dog has a known health condition, work with your vet to find an ideal food.
How much to feed
If your dog is already in ideal condition, switching to a new food might take a bit of trial and error to maintain his weight. Use the recommendation on the bag as a guideline, not law. If your dog needs to lose (or gain) some weight, feed for the weight you want, not the weight he is. Keep in mind that activity level, age, and neutering/spaying will affect your dog's metabolism. PLEASE do not let your dogs get fat, as this will lead to more health problems (which you're buying high-quality food to avoid in the first place, right?) down the line.
Supplementing your dog's diet
While kibble is generally complete nutrition, many of us like to give our dogs some extras. This may include packaged treats (again, pay attention to the ingredients) or human food. Especially when training, human food can be extra enticing. Adding in fruits and veggies can be an excellent source of antioxidants, which are most likely to be lost in processing. Just remember that your dog's kibble is nutritionally balanced and too much of anything can throw those balances out of whack, especially if your dog is small or eats a LOT of something.
Here are some favorite treats for dogs:
Foods to Avoid:
Further Reading:
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