Wednesday, July 16, 2008

MILKBONE WARNING:

I want to thank My Little Demon’s mom for sending in this information.

This morning I opened a box of Milkbone- Gravy Bones (for Small & Medium dogs) with an expiration date of 9-17-09 and a Bar code (bottom of box) 79100 94203 and a box (For Large dogs) with expiration date 25 Sep 08 with Bar code 13120 04204 and in the boxes along with the dog cookies was WORMS about the size of rice and the same color. I contacted the company to inform them of this. If you use this product- please check your box by dumping them out on a table before you give any to your dog.


SOURCE HERE

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Agility

Basics of Agility
Dog agility is a sport in which a handler is given a set amount of time in which to direct a dog off-leash through an obstacle course. Originally loosely modeled on equestrian stadium jumpers competitions, the sport has evolved its own additional obstacles, scoring systems and performance ideals. Agility made its debut as an entertainment for spectators at the Crufts Dog Show in 1979; it has since become the most rapidly growing dog sport in England, Western Europe and North America. Spectators continue today to get caught up watching the dog and handler's enthusiasm in their athletic race against the clock.

In the United States, there are several national organizations for agility which sanction tests or trials held by local dog training clubs. Trials which are based on the original international rules and specifications call for the highest level of agility from the dogs both in terms of speed and the physical ability to perform the obstacles. There are also domestic varieties of the sport that call for less actual agility (by using lower jump heights and smaller obstacles) from the dog and focus more on the handling aspects of the game.

There are several obstacles common to all the different organizations:

Aframe
Dog Walk
See-Saw Pipe Tunnel
Collapsed Tunnel
Pause Table Weave Poles
Tire or Hoop Jump
Various Types of Jumps
[pictures of dogs performing these obstacles can be found at the Agility Photo Journal].

The obstacles used in agility have been designed with both safety and spectator appeal in mind. All jumps have easily displaceable bars so that the dog should not experience injury should he misjudge and take down a jump bar. All obstacles that the dog must physically scale have 'contact' zones painted on the equipment; the contact zones enforce safe training techniques since handlers know that dogs will be faulted unless one or more feet are in the contact zones when ascending/descending these contact obstacles. All contact equipment surfaces are roughened for good traction in both dry and wet weather.

In competition, the obstacles are arranged in various course configurations, always unique from trial to trial, that offer levels of challenges appropriate to the class and experience level of the dogs competing. The handler must direct their dog around the course in the sequence that has been predetermined by the judge. At the entry levels of competitions, courses contain few complications and are more of a test to prove the dog can competently perform the equipment within a reasonable amount of time. As the dog and handler earn their way into successively higher levels, the courses increase in complexity and begin to require split second timing and coordination between the handler and dog in order to accomplish the course within the 'Standard Course Time' (SCT) established by the judge.

The rules are fairly simple; handlers may give an unlimited number of commands or signals to their dogs, but may not touch either the equipment or the dog. Dogs are 'faulted' for actions such as taking down a jump bar, failing to put one or more feet in the safety or contact zone when ascending/descending contact equipment, taking obstacles out of sequence, and running past or stopping before the next obstacle to be performed. Time penalties are additionally assessed against dogs that exceed the SCT.

Dogs compete only against dogs of similar height at the withers within a fixed number of jump height divisions. The number of height divisions and the ranges of dog heights assigned to a height division (and therefore the difficulty factor) differ considerably from organization to organization. Regardless of the organization, the dog with the lowest number of faults and the fastest time wins the class or height division.

The largest national organizations are as follows:

United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA)
P.O. Box 850955, Richardson, TX 75085-0995

American Kennel Club (AKC)
5580 Centerview Dr., Suite 200, Raleigh, NC 27606-3390

United Kennel Club (UKC)
100 East Kilgore Rd, Kalamazoo, MI 49001-5598

North American Dog Agility Council, Inc. (NADAC)
HCR 2, Box 277, St. Maries, ID 83861

Agility Association of Canada (AAC)
638 Wonderland Road South, London, ONT N6K 1L8

Monday, July 14, 2008

Solution for the Starved Dog

"Satin Ball" recipe for dogs who won't eat

This recipe is for dogs who desperately need calories and need to put on weight, but who have no appetite. It sounds yucky, but when these are done they are really appealing, even to me.
In my experience, this is a kind of "last resort and hope" food that many sick dogs will eat.

Mix all ingredients (like meatballs). I shape them like thick hamburgers rather than balls because they store easier in the freezer and thaw faster. Freeze in serving portion size. Nothing is cooked -- all ingredients are uncooked RAW and "Satin Balls" are served raw.

This recipe for Little Dogs (1/10 of full recipe) would be a good test to see if your dog will eat them before you make the substantial investment in ingredients of the half or full size recipe. See Notes below about the Total cereal, oats, wheat germ and vegetable oil.

Satin Balls for Little Dogs -- or to try out recipe on your dog to see if he will eat it.

1 lb cheap hamburger (for high fat %)
1 and 1/3 cups Total cereal
1 and 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 raw egg
6 Tablespoons wheat germ
1 package Knox unflavored gelatin
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons unsulphered molasses
Pinch of salt

Satin Balls Half Recipe -- recommended amount to mix up

5 lbs cheap hamburger (for high fat %)
1/2 large box Total cereal (about 6 cups cereal)
1/2 large box uncooked oatmeal (about 7.5 cups oats)
5 raw eggs
1/2 of 15oz jar wheat germ (about 2 cups)
5 packages Knox unflavored gelatin
5/8 cup vegetable oil (this is pretty close to 2/3 cup)
5/8 cup unsulphered molasses
pinch of salt

The half recipe, using hamburger that is 20% fat calories, has 12,400 calories. The last batch I made ended up making 22 patties, so each has about 560 calories. I have big dogs (Danes) so if your dog is smaller you might want to make your Satin Balls or patties smaller.

I find that making the half recipe is so much easier that it is worth doing even though you have half-boxes of things around for awhile and have to mix it up twice as often. The disadvantage of the full recipe is the need of a really BIG container and it is very hard work to mix it all up.

Satin Balls Full Recipe

10 lbs cheap hamburger (high fat %)
1 large box Total cereal (about 12 cups cereal)
1 large box uncooked oatmeal (about 15 cups oats)
10 raw eggs
1 15oz jar wheat germ
10 packages Knox unflavored gelatin
1 and 1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 and 1/4 cup unsulphered molasses
pinch of salt

Notes:
"Whole Wheat Total" cereal (blue box) comes in large 1 lb 2 oz size (about 12 cups settled) and a smaller 12 oz size (about 8 cups cereal), which would work in Little Dog or Half Recipe. But in the long run, the large size is more economical. Don't get Raisin Total or Lo Carb Total.

Uncooked Oatmeal like "Quaker Old Fashioned Oats" and less expensive supermarket house brand, come in large 2 lb 10oz size (15 cups oats) or smaller 18 oz size (about 7 cups oats).

15oz jar of wheat germ is about 4 cups. Some stores only carry a 12oz jar of wheat germ, which contains about 3 and 1/4 cups of it.

Vegetable oil -- use a good one. I use grapeseed oil, olive oil would be next best.

Tip: I don’t break the eggs directly into the pot of stuff. The first time I broke the eggs into a separate little bowl for some reason. One of the eggs was bad and it would have ruined the whole pot of stuff. I had never seen an egg like that and had no reason to expect it, but I never break eggs directly into anything anymore.

The Satin Ball patties were what Duke started eating when he wouldn’t eat anything at all after his torsion surgery. He still gets one a day.

It is important to stick to the proportions. I gave the recipe to someone whose dog wouldn’t eat, she told me she made them but he wouldn’t eat them. Then she told me what she did to the recipe, changing it so much that it ended up something entirely different (no wonder her dog wouldn't eat it). You need to follow the recipe carefully if you are going to go to the trouble and expense of making it.