NewfandHound

Tally Ho! The Big EB Hunt!

Well, we gave it a shot today and went out to look for bunnies on this very special bunny day but we did not see any. Hazel was very determined from the minute she got out of the car, practically pulling us out towards the fields! As you can see she thoroughly enjoyed her hunt and managed to get as dirty as possible to prove that she is a worthy tracker and that nothing will stop her. (Just for clarification we do not hunt or intend to hurt any rabbit, we do scent tracking only.)

We went up to Lagoon Valley Park in Vacaville which has acres of trails and open space to walk your dog. So we looked in the tall grass, in the low lying fields, and on the trails but we couldn't find a bunny. We did find lots of other animals to track apparently because Hazel's nose was swinging left and right as fast as she could to catch up scent and she even did a few nice checks in the field! It was so much fun to see her in action again. She hasn't been to a trial for years but I think this is a good goal to work towards for the fall. 

She even checked out Gabe's cart to see if anything could have possible scrambled up in it during our walk!

We brought along two more big guns, Viggo and Gabe, to help out with the search. Foyle thought that the more backup Hazel had the better off she would be; and we could make Gabe bring the bunny home in the cart! So, we took a few spins around the park to give Gabe some more practice carting and to enjoy the nice day outside but alas we did not find even one bunny. Maybe next year.

Happy Easter! Getting Ready To Find The EB!

Ernie is so excited that it is Friday! For a 14 year old he still has some oomph in his step and gets the dachshund "crazies" every once in a while like he did in this picture. But this Friday is special because he gets to go to his favorite bunny tracking grounds to look for the Easter Bunny!

The whole crew is going up and I can't wait to see the dachshunds work the fields; Nooner has never been tracking so I'm sure she'll pick up a few tricks from Hazel who is very methodical about finding scent. She's much faster in the field than she was in her nosework classes and after seeing what she can do with squirrels at the marina I'm excited to get her on a bunny trail. Now where did I put her tracking collar?

Foyle gets to go along for the ride and to hook up with his buddies Zachary, Viggo, Sea, and Gabe too! Newfie playdate! More pictures to come....Happy Easter!

My Dachshund Love Hog

Is your Dachshund a love hog? Mine are pretty aloof when it comes to needing attention except for Nooner, she is the "worst" love hog of them all which is strange because she is the shiest dog! She has a ritual that goes like this:

1. You walk in the house and she loses her little mind thinking you are the best thing on earth and she is so lucky that you have returned to her. Your ego is inflated for the rest of the day.

2. The minute you sit down she climbs up into your lap to put her head right on your mouth to start grunting and rubbing. Her head is literally on your mouth and over your nose so you can't breathe. It's like she's checking to make sure you are still alive and if not is completely prepared to give you CPR. Once she deems you part of the living she proceeds to grunt and rub her face on yours.

3. Now that you are alive and paying attention to her she flips over onto her back to get her tummy rubbed and if you stop she gives you a look like the one above. "What? Why? I will stare at you and bring you down with the jedi mind trick."

4. Then she'll give you the sweetest little licks, right on the mouth which I think is a bit gross at times considering where it's been, to say thank you. If you're about to go to bed she'll roll over and immediately start to snore as loud as Foyle. Right in your ear. Ok, I'm exaggerating because the Newfoundland can shake the house, but she's loud for a 10lb dog!

Does your dog have a daily ritual that you can swear by?

Snackerday! Ginger Bunny Cookies

A rainy day like today is perfect for staying home and making Saturday a Snackerday! These dog cookies will make your house smell cozy and warm and your dogs will be at your feet begging to steal them right out of the oven.

The original recipe is from Bubba Rose Biscut Company's Organic Dog Biscut Cookbook, but I had to modify it for Foyle and take out the peanut butter to reduce the protein level and replace it with apple butter. This is one of the best cookbooks for dog treats that I've bought so I highly recommend getting a copy!

Here's the modified recipe for their Gingerbread Mailmen:

• 1 1/2 c. oat flour
• 1 1/2 c. brown rice flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1/2 c. molasses (blackstrap or molasses)
• 1/4 c. apple butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients together and mix until a dough forms. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4" thickness. Now this is where my little trick comes in handy!

I bought two slats from Michaels that were 1/4" thick and long enough to cover my matt. Place your dough in the middle and a piece of parchment paper over it and start rolling! You won't get the nice circular piece of dough you usually get when you can keep turning as you roll, but the consistency of the thickness will give you nicer cookies. Place your cookies on an un-greased cookie sheet, or a baking mat, and cook for 18-20 minutes until the edges are slightly brown.

As you can see they are a big hit in our house! We went for an Easter theme with the cookie cutters because the bunny and carrot shape seemed holiday appropriate. The dogs are going crazy for these cookies, and they will make great gifts for all my dog-lovin friends!

Veterinarians Are People Too

We're heading to another specialist for Foyle next week which makes me think that in the past few years we have racked up more vet "mileage" than I could have ever imagined. But if it weren't for an amazing group of friends who have supported us and a few amazing veterinarians who have kept my crew healthy, happy, and literally alive I would have stuck with only one dog a long time ago. I am very lucky that my veterinarian has become a good friend but I realize that she has good days and bad days and frustrating clients like everyone else.

One thing I've learned through her is that a veterinarian's time is precious and although your situation may be critical or an emergency to you (and sometimes it really is) it helps to be succinct and prepared. Here are my top 10 recommendations to make your vet appointment go smoother and help with the diagnosis:

1. Be prepared with a full medical history of your pet. We keep binders on each dog documenting every vet visit, test result, vaccination, surgery, microchip identification, and certifications. This especially helps when seeing multiple specialties so they know exactly what has been done to your pet and can apply appropriate treatments. I have been using the Pet Dossier app to keep track also but just found My Medical app which was developed for humans but has the ability to upload documents and xrays! Also, bring your insurance information with you so you can fill it out and fax it right after your visit. My vet now keeps our forms and the coverage list on file for us.
2. Bring a list of symptoms your pet has been experiencing. It's easy to forget what symptoms your pet has been exhibiting when you are stressed and scared so take a moment and write down what you think the problems is or what your pet has been experiencing.
3. Be polite and respectful to your veterinarian and their staff. I go out of my way to give my clinic little extras like treats, special coffee, and wine at Christmas as a sincere "thank you" for treating my dogs so well. If you can make their day a little more special and show that you appreciate them it goes a long way. You don't want to be the client they make fun of when they hang up the phone!
4. Be on time and call if you are going to be late. I know it isn't fair that you have to wait 45 minutes or more for your appointment but get bumped if you are late, but if you follow 1-3 they are more forgiving.
5. Speak up if you do not understand the diagnosis, medication side effects, or a treatment that you feel uncomfortable with. I've sat with many vets as they went through line by line of a CBC test, TPLO xrays, and radiographs so I understood my options.
6. Ask if you can get a generic pill or if they will call your prescription in to a local pharmacy like Target or Walgreens. You can save up to half the cost and when Clavamox for a Newfie costs @ $18 a day for two rounds you save a lot of money sometimes! 
7. Bring a pad of paper with you to write down treatments, options, recommendations, etc. You'll forget the minute you leave the vet because you've spent the last hour crying....especially over the bill. Plus, how many of us go home and immediately look up the diagnosis on line? I do!
8. Ask for copies of your dogs' records, test results, and even a cd of radiographs and xrays. You've paid for them and other vets may want to take the same tests so it could save you time and money. Put it right in your binder so you don't lose it!
9. Ask ahead of time if they do not get a good ultrasound image or xray if they will take another one for free. This is very important because illegible images result in misread diagnosis or inconclusive results and another vet may want to take them again at a substantial cost.
10. Be clear about your financial limitations, physical limitations, or the extent you are willing to go to for your pet. Nothing is more heartbreaking than when you want to do absolutely everything for your pet but knowing in the back of your mind that you may not be able to financially, or work a full time job and can't stay home with your pet as they recuperate. Ask about other options, ways to keep your pet comfortable for as long as possible, or external caregivers they recommend.

I wrote this because of the site vetsbehavingbadly.com and realizing what my vet and your vet go through on a day to day basis! They are human too!

Nooner's PetQR Tag Winner!

And the winner is......coin please......Lisa! Ok, since we only had two people leave comments (and I really appreciate both of you entering my first contest!) we decided to flip a coin. Jinnie was heads and Lisa was tails and as you can see in the picture above it came up tails. But, since there were two sweet people who took the time to enter I'm going to give both of you an extra prize! I have an OllyDog treat bag plus for Jinnie and along with Lisa's PetQR tag an OllyDog Pick-Up bag as well! Congratulations! See, it's fun to enter contests because you never know what will happen!

Nooner's News: Rescue Edition PetQR Tag Give away!

Nooner has some news to share, or I should say a give away to share with everyone! We recently ordered the new Recue Edition PetQR tags from Barkingdeals.com and I completely forgot that Foyle has one already so we have an extra! Wahoo! So Nooner is hosting our very first NewfandHound give away today! She's sporting her blue tag in the picture above and thinks it is very stylish and the perfect size for a little hound.

The PetQR tags have a QR code on them that is linked directly to  your own web page in case your pet is lost. If someone finds your dog they can use their smart phone to scan the tag. (Nooner recommends using the Advanced QR Scanner Pro reader, we've tried others and this one has worked the best for us.) You will be able to set up your dog's information and your contact information, along with medical and veterinary information if needed, so someone will be able to contact you right away. It's also set up to post on Facebook and Twitter!

So, just leave us a comment on how you came to "find" your dog and you will be entered in the give away! On Sunday morning Nooner will pick the winner! Good luck!

Please Put The Candy Cane Back

"Just move the candy cane out of the way." It's a frequent statement we make when people come over to our house because at some point they'll have to use the bathroom and will come across the scene above. A toy candy cane and dirty paw prints on the bathroom floor! You would think that between an Architect and a Landscape Architect we would have enough design experience and imagination to come up with a better solution to keep Foyle from locking himself in the bathroom but we haven't yet. When he was a puppy we put a magnetic door stopper and that seemed to work just fine, but as he grew he learned how to push the door closed to get the maximum tile space to keep himself cool.

So, after coming home a few times to find that he shut the door completely we devised the candy cane solution. Not pretty by any means but it does the trick....at least it did until last month. Foyle has started to kick the candy cane out every now and then and proceeds to lock himself in, again. So, we're off to Home Depot to see if we can come up with a better solution. Mine was to install a dog door in the bathroom door (don't laugh, another blog post coming up on that solution) or just close the door all together. That seems like a no-brainer but the rest of the house gets too hot and because of the kidneys we need to make sure he stays as cool as possible and the best place is the bathroom.

How about you? Any suggestions? It needs to be removable so someone can actually use the bathroom and close the door. (Portable air conditioner is on the wish list for this summer!)

A NewfandHound Beach Day in March?!

Is this really March weather? I think I actually have a sunburn from playing around at the beach today with NewfandHound, and considering it was at least 74 degrees out it isn't any wonder. Everyone was in need of a bath and if the weather is nice that usually means beach day! Nothing like getting as dirty as possible before getting bathed. Here's Foyle preparing for his calendar shot with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background!

If you head out early enough you can avoid the crowds and have enough space to run and play without getting entangled in a pack. Today was our lucky day because we found some great people to hang out with and polite dogs that just wanted to have a good time. Foyle loved this sweet, calm puppy and she was the only one the hounds didn't bark at. Yes, we were the bad guys today or I should say that Nooner was the bad girl. She has some confidence issues and barks at dogs running by so we put our training to the test and redirected her with treats. It's embarrassing but we keep working at it every chance we get.

The beach is the one place where I Hazel will actually "smile" because she's having so much fun. Here's her "model shot" where her hair is floating in the wind and she's running along the shore. Baywatch, here she comes! She's not afraid of going in the water and has every intention of following Foyle in, but then hangs back when a wave comes in a bit too close to her. You can hear her saying "Oh, hey, I wasn't expecting that to happen!"

And then there was Annie! The minute Foyle saw Annie with her white bumper he knew she was a dream come true; a black lab mix that wasn't afraid to get wet and loved to play short games of chase! Foyle hasn't played with another dog for over 2 years so today was pure ecstasy on his part and a sense of relief on my part. It's been hard for us to judge when his legs have been strong enough to increase his activity, but this past month has been such an incredible improvement that we felt it was ok for him to go full board.

Then there was the stare off. Both dogs just standing there, staring. You could tell Foyle wasn't exactly sure if he should go for the ball or not, but the other dog wasn't making a move....he was just staring. Odd.

Overall the crew had an eventful morning and thanks to their after beach baths everyone is nice and clean. The hounds are in their bed and Foyle is now happily snoring beside my chair, exhausted from a morning of fun and the best part is that he is not limping! That sigh you just heard was my own relief!

Pocketbooth Friday

Hanging out with the NewfandHound crew after a long walk today at the Berkeley Marina. I was playing around with the Pocketbooth app and caught some funny expressions and sweet moments, and the best part is that they were too tired to do anything but lay there so I could get as close as I wanted without them licking the phone. I'm so excited that I can let Foyle off leash and he can run and have a good time with the dachshunds finally. (especially after dealing with two TPLO's last year!) He's a very happy, and content dog now. Have a great weekend!