Writtenwyrdd

This and that, part...I dunno. And a dog cookie recipe

I'm sliding by briefly to update you on my lack of blogging.   Color that excuses if you wish; it's pretty much the truth.

Anyhow, I have been spending far too much time playing games on Facebook and not writing when I have the laptop open; and I haven't been spending that much time at those activities.  what I have been doing, when I've been doing anything besides playing with silly 10-month-old puppies, is still digging in my yard.  I confess to being sick of it most of the time and only digging in a couple of times per week for several hours.  That's enough for anyone, I'd think.  But I still have to move the dirt I've already removed into the semblance of a flower bed against the bank, edge it with rocks in a semblance of a rock wall, and dig up the rest of the dirt in the yard and replace it with gravel.  Once I get that done, then there's the remainder of the pavering.  But I can live with it in gravel until next summer if I must.  Because next summer I have to get more gravel delivered and dig up the driveway side of the ho use to install drainage tile, so I'll do the other digging projects then...to include the rest of the stuff from this year.

What you can't do this year, postpone until the next year.  Works for me!  That, and my favorite motto: "Pay the man the money."  As in, have a pro do the work properly instead of me screwing up, as it'll be cheaper and far less frustrating in the long run!  (I wish I could have done that this year, actually; but I have been enjoying the labor in the yard, for the most part.  It's just getting a bit old, is all!)

On the puppy front, Luger and Chance are 10 months old now.  They are bouncy boys and full of naughtiness.  Luger is full of nervous energy and we have to practically force feed him to keep weight on him, and Chance, with his bad heart, is a bit sluggish and a bit (just a tiny bit) overweight even on less food than his brother.  As I see signs that his heart condition is segueing into the beginning stages of congestive heart failure (trembling, fatigue, hard pulse, tires easily and hard breathing) we are scheduled to see the doggie cardiologist in Portland (a 4 hour drive each way) in early September.  He'll likely end up on diuretics and who knows what-all else, but the scan will inform the doc as to what's going on.  The murmur is much improved, but the extra work the defect creates is nearly always going to eventually lead to congestive heart failure.  So, my boy will likely have a reduced life span, but that doesn't mean he won't live a long and fully functional life with some minor caretaking my his faithful human servants.  (I'm also giving him l-caratine and taurine, which work to promote healthy cardiac function and don't hurt, either.  And probiotics and papaya enzyme for both of them, as better digestion means better use of the extremely expensive kibble they eat.)

Luger has food sensitivities, and I'm still trying to find a kibble that works best for him.  I'm hoping the red meat EVO will do it.  Chicken, wheat, corn, gluten and soy are all out of his diet at the moment but he's got a worsening problem with the yeasty ears, so I haven't found the cause yet, I believe. 

Also, I came up with a really yummy wheat/corn/soy/gluten-free dog cookie recipe.  Even humans can like it.  See below. 

Sorta Hypoallergenic peanut butter molasses dog biscuits

2 Cups old fashioned/rolled oats milled to flour in your food processor
2 Cups buckwheat flour
2 Cups potato flakes (aka instant potatoes)
2 Cups peanut butter
1Cup molasses (or more, to taste)
5-6 eggs

Mix together all ingredients except for 2 of the eggs.  Mix thoroughly.  You should have a slightly sticky dough that you can roll into balls without having it so sticky it sticks to everything like contact cement.  If too wet, add more oats or buckwheat; if too dry, add remaining eggs, one at a time.  If still too dry, add more molasses or a bit of water.  Heat oven to 325.  Roll dough into small balls, about 3/4" across.  Press them into about 3/8" thick discs on the cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 for 8-9 minutes.  NOTE: These will not spread, so you can place them relatively close together. 

This recipe will make at least 8 dozen cookies.  Freeze excess.

 

Alas, I have no toe nails.

My lack of writing has gotten me on the extreme disapproval list for the McKoala challenge, and Goblin has arrived to snatch my toe nails!  Le sigh.

I am presently forced by the nearly continuous rain and the thin "sod" that is my newly fenced, 100% shaded, side yard is a churned up mud pit and I can't let the pups into it until, at minimum, I get the whole thing dug up and a gravel base installed.  I still will have to pave it all, except for flower beds, before snow falls, though.  

On a different front, I am missing my writing, but a few other commitments in my personal life have cropped up and are taking what time I do have away from being a dog mommy.

I didn't even post a happy mother's day here, so I hope all you mothers and dads too had a great mother's day.  Madre scored from me, including jewelry.  I generally always get her earrings or a necklace of some sort because what do you get someone her age that she really needs or wants?  She has it already!  But I did get her gormet coffee and a mug that says "The best child has four legs" and "Dog Mom" on the other side.  It seemed oddly appropriate given our pet-centered lives.

Except for the nagging, pernicious cold that I have which has lingered as sniffling and mild chest congestion for two weeks now, I'm doing great.  And it appears that some work changes are going to cause me to actually not get scheduled to work every day this summer, which means....maybe some writing gets done (after yard work!)

 

As I'm heading off to work...

Guilt trip achieved.

I know it's poor quality, but the intense staring was highly cute.

Luger at 6.5 months

We go most mornings before dawn, just enough light to see, and go to the park so they can run amok in a fenced area. They are a lot calmer for it!

He's much better looking now...before his features were a touch mongoloid, what with small eyes, narrow head and the ginormous ears that made those feathers seem even more out of proportion.

 

Chance at 6.5 months

 

Ignore how the cats have destroyed my expensive chair.  Someday, when the pups are older, I'll reupholster in leather.  At least that will last.

Chance @ 6 months.

I finally was able to get a good shot of Chance! The boys will be six months in a few days. Wouldn't trade 'em for anything, but they are a lot of work. I stopped at Kittery Trading Post on the way home from my Boston doctor appointment, and the staff were friendly and extremely helpful. A young fellow in the hunting section called over a fellow who trained bird dogs and he gave me a number of pointers and assured me that my idea of working them on faux birds was a great way to take the edge off their energy. Cuz, man, they need the edge taken off. I also got a 50' lead so I can work them safely until I can trust them on recall, and some scent and a decoy. Can't find that stuff locally.

My impression that they are sharp is underscored by how quickly they learn commands. They turned a corner last night and "saw the light", e.g. They got the sit/stay and have come when called today. It hadn't sunk in entirely until then. There was an almost audible click, lol.

But, word of caution, don't try training 2 dogs at once for retrieval. It becomes a competition and then a game of grab ass, which is not supportive of retrieval as the 'birdie' languishes, forgotten.

Contest declared a fail

I've got to apologize for the late post on this, but the lack of entries to the contest is resounding, so I'm going to call the thing off.  My readership is down just as far as my participation, so it's not very surprizing. I am not giving up the blog, but I declare myself unenthused for the moment and won't be up to much (unless I feel like it) for the forseeable future.

I think I should set my sights on transferring back to blogger, which is free.  But five years of blog posts, nearly 1600 of them, is daunting!  And I'd lose the great comment trails!

On the home front, the pups are still just under 40 pounds and sweet little guys.  Or not so little guys.  They even give the cat a break and only mob her after a few moments of licking and nose sniffing.  She truly is asking for trouble, but you can't say it's her fault, necessarily, any more than you can say the bikini clad model was asking to be raped.  Molly taunts them, but she should still be safe from molestation in the form of two large dogs pinning her down with their paws and chewing on her fur.  (But I must observe here that a slobbery 'do on a cat, all spikey and stuff, is highly amusing.)  I hope to get some new pictures soonish, but I've been really, really tired and occupied with a few personal projects and walkign the dogs twice a day.  (Chance, by the way, still thinks the outside is for walking and the inside is for peeing on the paper.  He's sweet, but stubborn.)

Madre has been handling the details of getting the electric shifted and a door ordered.  Once the ground thaws, we will have the new yard fence installed, then I will build the stoop/deck from the new side door.  (That means we can get the dogs properly housebroken, and none too soon.)  I got my construction permit last week, and it must be said that small town construction is relatively headache free, at least in my small town.  I just drew a sketch, filled out a few blanks, paid the man my $20, and off we went. Thank goodness! 

And I'm taking an electrician correspondence course so that I can rewire my own house at some point.  Yes, I have a master electrician for a friend who will supervise the proceedings.  But the house is two wire (ungrounded wire) and needs redoing, sooner rather than later.  And it's easier to do it one room, one circuit, at a time so that we can still live in the place.  The best solution is for me to do it catch as catch can. 

Both boys

 

if I could just get them to actually hold still a second...

Luger, enjoying his Nylabone

 

Caught napping

Here lies the sum total of my weekend. Stretched out, the pups are almost the length of the sofa. They are very warm and cuddly, though. 22 weeks. How the time has flown.

I had three days off over the weekend, which was great.  One day was a trip to Bangor to see my neurologist, who wants me to get an MRI as I'm either having some med side effects or something else going on.  That was fun, four hours driving and spending $50 in gas to spend an hour in town. 

Saturday I loafed about and did not much except as you see below. I was tired, and the dogs were glad to join me.  The cat was up there for a while, too!  It's not the most flattering picture of me, and the photo quality of Madre's camera stinks, but it is pretty representative of how I am living my wild-child life these days. 

I also bought new collars for the dogs in Bangor.  I was having a devil of a time and coming home from the dog walks frustrated and angry; this weekend, though, walking them was delightful and relaxing.  This was because I gave in to the inevitable and bought them prong collars, aka German choke chains.  They simply will not cease throttling themselves against the regular chokers or a nylon collar, and this can lead to neck injuries and thrachea or larynx damage.  I hated having to use them, as they look cruel; but they are excellent training tools.  (Hopefully, I'll be able to quit using them eventually.) 

Upon being kitted out with the prong collars, the pups lunged as per usual, squealed in surprize and immediately became delightful walking companions.  Madre, the Pug and the boys and I walked a couple of miles without having to wear jackets yesterday, and--due to the new collars--it was really nice.

I'm amazed how many people think the dogs are Dalmations, though.  The pure hound dog faces ought to be a giveaway, but they aren't.

Puppies...before & after

Okay, remember when?  12 weeks, below.  See how small they are?  Both fit on my lap!  Chance is on the left, Luger on the right.  (I'm the human in the middle.)

Now check out the today shot of Chance:

Now, when you compare the boys' 6 weeks head shots... Amazing change in 16 weeks, eh?

The puppies

Chance (left) and Luger (right, with black ear) taken a few days ago.  They are 5 months/22 weeks at the moment.

These guys look so solemn, don't they?  Chance is really just wondering what I'm doing with that camera thingy.

Luger is not quite as solemn in appearance, perhaps because he doesn' have quite the soft muzzle that Chance does.  Chance, by the way, has started to drool while I'm making their food dishes.  Just so long as he doesn't start with the gross drool strings! 

I have been getting a bit of a break since DST ended, as that translated from 3:30 to 4:30 wake ups...but this morning I got the potty call at 3:30 again.  Bleh.  Hope that doesn't become a trend.

Can't wait until the snow melts so I can get the fence and door up so they can be kicked outside for the potty break.

We are experiencing a slight lapse in Winter...

Rain the past 2 days and it's 45 degrees. We are pleasantly surprized.  We want more, but it's supposed to snow some tonight and drop down to single digits again tomorrow night.

In the meantime, don't forget to set your clocks forward an hour tonight, as we are ending Daylight Savings time.  I wish we'd stop doing it all together, but it is now institutionalized and therefore a juggernaut.

On the home front, I'm surviving on about 6 hours of sleep a night and no time for much except puppy minding when I get home from work.  Now that it'll still be light when I get home, I can safely walk the puppies every evening, which I will do as soon as I get home, barring hideous weather.

They are still growing.  I have a few more pictures, but nothing too exciting.  I'll try and get some more this weekend and post them.  They were 21 weeks old as of yesterday, and officially 5 months old next Tuesday.  My babies are at least 45 pounds now, and they're 26" at the shoulder.  English Setters are tall, lean dogs, sometimes described as gaunt.  So I have no idea how much taller they will become, but, judging by the paws on those boys I suspect a couple of more inches in height.  Pappa and granddad are both 60-65 pounds, so that's my best guess as to size.  You can't go by momma's size, as there's a wide variance between boys and girls in this breed.

At any rate, they are cute, and they are listening much better than they were.  The cats are still for chasing, but they aren't as crazy about it as before, and if you tell them to come off, they do (most of the time.)  At the risk of oversharing, the only serious problem of note right now is Chance developing coprophagia.  Yep, poop eating.  The best preventative is monosodium galutamate, aka Accent or MSG in the food to make teh poop taste nasty, but I can't give that to Chance due to his heart.  I really hope he outgrows this behavior.  *shudders*

My highly appropriate coffee mug

Madre tells me it's my own fault that the pups insist on 3am potty breaks. I have spoiled them, and they want their morning cuddle/snooze with me. However, I maintain that if they would actually go to the bathroom before bed it might mean they slept until 4:30, which is when the alarm is set. Le sigh...

Photos of the boys

I've posted some photos of the puppies on Facebook here.  No need to be a member, the link is public. 

I am particularly amused by the one of Chance eating a carrot.  (It's good for their teeth and gums.)

More boys

Madre just took this one with her phone, so the quality isn't the best...but you get the idea about their size!

The boys

Well, the boys were 18 weeks last Friday, and 4 months on the fifteenth. As you can see by the picture, they are waaay bigger than they were when I got them 5 weeks+ ago.

We saw the vet today, and the great news is that Chance's heart murmer is a lot harder to hear, implying it's grown smaller!

They are double the size they were when I brought them home. Chance is 32# now and Luger is 34#. No wonder they've gone through over 65# of high grade kibble!

Oh, and for comparison, check out the picture that is here.  It gives the pups in a similar pose.

Brain = mush

Yep, it finally is confirmed: my brain has turned to mush.  Probably something to do with lack of sleep due to puppies who are determined that 3am is the proper time to wake me for a potty break (this despite being, ahem, purged at 9:30 and I know they can hold it 8 hours) and my apparent incipient senility.  I mean, who else do you know cannot remember she received a 40# bag of dog food from FedEx and calls to complain...only to find out from their relatives that the package not only arrived, it was you who unpacked the silly thing?  And you don't remember doing it?  (I still don't, as a matter of fact, but the bag of dog food is unquestionably in my laundry room, smirking.)

I suspect it might be that I've doubled one of my migraine preventatives, but since I've been on the new dose for better than 3 months, you'd think it would have been obvious before now.  But I'll ask the doc when I see him in a few weeks.

As far as puppies go, I got them Rogz collars that have a chain loop inset into the nylon collar, which allows you to have the benefit of a choke chain without having a chain all around the pup's neck.  It works very well to stop the lunging, although it isn't as good as a choker with Chance.  He still leans into the collar and I have to tug on it.  But it's better than one of those nose doohickeys that you have to use all the time.  I prefer suffering through the training process so that my dog (eventually) gets it that he shouldn't act like an idiot on the end of a leash.  (Or at least not act like the idiot at the other end of the leash, viz my confession above. :) )  At any rate, they are doing well, but as they are puppies they are little idiots with zero self control and the sense of, well, puppies.  But they are picking things up, slowly but surely. 

Chance's ultrasound results came in the mail just in time for me to present them to the vet next Monday.  The report is very hard to read, but I got that he had "good function" but there is an approximately .5 cm hole.  Couldn't make out the location due to doctor gibberish writing and it being a light copy, but the vet will understand it when she sees it, no doubt.  But a half a centimeter is about a 1/4 of an inch!  And that's a HUGE hole in a 12-week-old puppy heart!  Chance doesn't seem to be suffering, and he's keeping up with his brother just fine.  We did put him on a diuretic because he seemed to be a bit stressed, but they are growing rapidly.  I gather that it is during the growth that the dog's heart is going to be stressed the most.  We'll see Monday if it's sounding better, worse, or the same.  The worst prognosis involves the hole being situated so that blood that's pumped sort of gets sucked back into the other side of the heart, reducing the oxygen flow and causing the dog to become weak and grey due to lack of oxygen.  That's a situation where I gather you euthanize, as heart surgery is vastly more likely to kill the animal than help.  And if the dog is able to function without surgery, you leave the hole and just see what happens.  It might just get smaller or close. 

In any case, the boys are getting much bigger very fast.  Chance and Luger are 18 weeks today.  And they are at least 7 inches longer in the back than when I brought them home 5 weeks ago.  (Has it only been 5 weeks?  Lordy, it seems like forever.)  They are also 5 or so inches taller.  The jackets I made several days after I got them home?  They were an inch past the base of their tails, and are now short enough the bottom hem is ahead of their kidneys.  I think they are about twice the weight now, too: 30+ pounds, or darn close.  And their spots are still coming in.  I think they might look like their mama when the spots have all comein, especially Chancey.  He's getting the blue belton streaks all over his head and back! (See this delightful page for examples.  The dogs here are a very good example of the smeared dots that are called beltons...and these dogs are very much what mine will look like when older...except my boys are tri-colors, e.g. have both black and brown spots.)

In any case, so long as the boys will still fit on the sofa with me for a nap after they get their business done, I can survive on the five hours sack time.  It's nice snuggling with them, but they are getting a bit large now and I'm discovering that the bony frames of English Setters mean elbows and knees jabbing me when they sack out with me. 

I'll post pictures soon.  I actually have a couple of days off, Sunday and Monday and plan to do that as well as a few things like cleaning my room and office.  I have spent all my time doing dog minding since I got the boys.  Not that I particularly mind, but zero writing or cleaning.  C'est la vie!

Puppy update

They are making sad faces because I told them it's time for bed. We are learning leash manners and that you are supposed to potty outside. They are paper trained well now, though. But we are starting to transition. And the boys are growing FAST. They are a bit over 25# I think. Chance is doing very well, but he's on a diuretic due to his heart, and we are avoiding sodium. All in all, they are both fantastic dogs, but they are puppies and squirrely as all get out.

Nutrition stuff (for dogs and people)

Okay, still educating myself on canine and feline nutrition.  But I am pretty convinced already that most commercial food isn't comprised of entirely 'safe' ingredients for your pets.  And, if you have time and money, fresh food is a good way to go...if you educate yourself and are very careful (and can afford it.) A great article on why you should consider a corn free diet for your pets is here.

A few facts:

Reading the label.  The first 5 ingredients are the ones that are most important.  If you check, most of the cheap grocery store brands have corn or wheat as the first or second ingredient, and sometimes 4 of the 5 first ingredients are some flavor of grain.  They will often have chicken or other meat byproducts as the first ingredient, though--which looks like there is more of that first ingredient than the corn.  But that's misleading  (see below).  The listing is from the weight before processing...and unprocessed meat is full of water that is then removed when making kibble.  So you may have five times the corn content as the yummy meaty stuff.

Additionally, the pet food of good quality should have a Nutritional Adequacy Statement or AAFCO statement and a statement regarding the crude protein, fat, fiber and moisture content of the food.  This is really the place that you should pay attention to after the first five ingredients.  You need to consider your pet and his protein, carb and fat needs to know if you have too much or too little nutrition.  (see my previous post.) 

Understanding the common terms.  The USDA has a listing of common terms on human food labels here and terms defined for pet food here (in very intricate and confusing detail, too). But there are a number of terms that are very important to understand which you generally don't find on human foods, such as

• "Byproduct."  "When a label reads byproducts, you can be virtually assured there is no measurable meat value in the ingredient."  It can contain the bloody sweepings and sawdust from a slaughter house floor, or uncleaned viscera full of fecal matter, hair, hide, horns, bones, meat that is unfit for human consumption, or sick animals that die at the slaughterhouse and cannot be used for human consumption!
• Meat.  The term "meat" by itself means there could be anything in that ingredient that basically comes from an animal--from intestines, brains, dead cats, dogs, lab animals and any sweepings from off a slaughter house floor or byproducts from other processing.  And that can include unhealthy, diseased or experimented upon animals!  So look for a specific meat types on your label. (There is apparently even enough wiggle room that byproducts can also be called "meat."  Pet food regulations are vague and full of loop holes.)
• "Mill Run."  The vegetable equivalent of meat byproducts.  The hulls and stems and what all else that are left over from a manufacturing process. 
• "Meal."  Which is the condensed version of the named ingredient.  From what I've read, you remove about 80% of the original weight in water and fat from the meat, which means pound for pound there is vastly more protein in chicken meal versus chicken meat.  And "chicken byproduct meal" has more protein than the regular chicken byproduct...and may also have hair or other protein sources that are not digestible.
• "Natural."  Gah.  A useless word, but it sounds nice. "Natural" has not really been legally defined, but AAFCO requires a products labeled "Natural" to consist of only natural ingredients without chemical alterations, except for vitamins, minerals and other trace nutrients.
• "Organic" has been legally defined for human foods by the USDA. Pet food companies can currently use the term "organic" if they follow the same rules as applied to human foods. Note that natural and organic are not interchangeable terms.
• "Holistic" has no legal definition and is unregulated with regard to pet food. Any pet food could use the term "holistic" in marketing their product. The term currently has no meaning in pet food.
• "Human grade" is not an allowed term on a pet food label, unless the food is made in a plant approved for manufacturing human food. Because of this, there are very few pet foods that are labeled "human grade." However, this regulation doesn't apply to advertising and websites, so some pet food companies will tout "human grade" ingredients in their products.
• "Clinically proven" on a package or pet food label means the claim must be supported by two clinical studies. All Science Diet dry pet foods contain clinically proven antioxidants.

Oils, fats and preservatives.  Well, the truth is, if you don't have a good grade of oil or some preservatives, you are going to have rancid pet food if it's sat for a while.  And if you don't have a good grade of oil listed by name, you very likely have by-product oil or oil considered unfit for human consumption.  It can consist of processing oil that's gone rancid, or old restaurant oil!  Oils that are low in saturated fat and high in Omegas are good.  Oils high in saturated or hydrogenated fat are not good, except apparently some argue that coconut oil and lard (aka pork fat) contain nutrition that is good for dogs.  Flax seed oil or Omega 3 oils help with skin and coats.  (Too much can cause diahhrea.)  Fat soluable vitamins need fat to be ingested so that they can be properly metabolised. 

Grain, while not evil, can be low in nutritional value or cause food allergies or digestive upset.  Especially in puppies.  Corn is the main ingredient in many foods AND it's the worst offender.  Not good.  Wheat appears to be better but is still not a really great source of food value for canids.  Proteins are graded based on a value of the best biologically absorbable protein, which is eggs.  On that scale, eggs are 100.  Here's a list I found here that shows a list of values. 

Grains that appear to be 'good.'  From my reading, I see that unpolished or brown rice, flax meal, sweet potato, pea, chickpea/garbanzo, peanuts and a few other grains and nuts are considered good additions to doggie diets.  Not best for cats, though, I suspect (yet many foods have corn meal second to chicken or other meat byproducts, meaning corn might be the primary ingredient in the little carnivores' diet!) Some sites say that feeding your dogs commercially prepared bread is good for them because the bread is usually fortified. Others are proponents of considering your breed's origins and using only grains or vegetables which were readily available to them back in the mists of history.  (A not necessarily good example being potatoes for North American canids or white African yams for African canids.)

Veggies and fruits or not?  Dogs are basically carnivores, although they are slightly omniverous.  Some proponents of natural diet say that in the wild dogs absorb all the grains and fruits they need by eating the predigested grains and such in the alimentary tracts of their prey.  But most sites that are not flogging commercial foods say that dogs can digest some veggies but not all the ones that humans can.  Some veggies and fruits are high in fiber but low in absorbable nutrition, making them mere filler.  (Thus the argument against corn, which is a fruit and not readily digested by dogs.)  Others (such as beets) are so high in sugar that unless the sugar is reduced they aren't as valuable as they are harmful despite the high nutritive value. 

Minerals and vitamins.  If you decide to give mineral or vitamin supplements, you need to be cautious.  For one thing, if you give a human dosage to a dog that weighs 20% of your weight (that would be a medium sized  20-40# dog, most likely) you might overdose the poor critter.  Secondly, if you give an excess, you can make your pet sick.  Third, if you create an imbalance such as with sodium/potassium, you can make your pet very sick or even kill them because you supplemented in the wrong amounts. So be judicious and do your research or ask a vet for her advice.  Above all (and this should be common sense) do NOT use people vitamins!  Certain supplements would be fine if you can measure them accurately via powdered form rather than in pills...but you need to use caution.  I take powdered Glucosamine as well as Hyaluronic Acid for my joints.  If I had an arthritic dog, I'd find out the dosage and try supplementing with the same stuff to see if it helps them, as these products are sold for dogs, horses, cats and other critters and are safe in the correct amounts.   But not everything is, and the literature is apparently conflicting in some regards.

Meat is best?  Well, it depends.  For one thing, dogs and cats need their nutrition in different configurations, particularly fats and protein.  If your dog has ever gorged on cat food and suffered severe diahhrea as a result, you will know what I mean!  So learn to read the labels and know what the terms mean.  The word "meat" with no descriptive can be anything--including by products.    Meat meal is concentrated protein because the ingredient is weighed after much of the water is removed.  Meal contains something like 20% of the original water content, so if "chicken" is listed as first ingredient, but "chicken meal" is the fifth, the chances are that your two ingredients are close to the same value or the meal actually has more protein/nutritional value in it!  The Biological Value of the protein in a particular foodstuff is how the benefit of the product can be generally determined.  First you have to know the type of protein and whether it's condensed into meal, is raw or is cooked.  These factors affect the relative protein in the product.  Then you have to consider whether the recipient can actually digest it.  And third you have to see where it lies on the label. 

The list below, from this site, gives some common foods and their Biological Value.

Protein Ratings

FOOD	PROTEIN RATING
Eggs (whole)	100
Eggs (whites)	88
Chicken / Turkey	79
Fish	70
Lean Beef	69
Cow's Milk	60
Unpolished Rice	59
Brown Rice	57
White Rice	56
Peanuts	55
Peas	55
Whole Wheat	49
Soy beans	47
Whole-grain Wheat	44
Peanuts	43
Corn	36
Dry Beans	34
White Potato	34

As far as sources of protein created in the lab are concerned, here is a short list of some protein sources you can find in supplements common today. See how they compare to the natural sources listed above:

Protein Ratings

PROTEIN SUPPLEMENT	PROTEIN RATING
Whey Protein Isolate	159
Whey Protein Concentrate	104
Casein	77
Soy	74

You can see that many of the common (read: cheap) ingredients in commercial foods are on the lower end or not on this list at all.  That said, the high priced grain free foods have issues, too.  A lot of the grain free foods have beets or potatoes, have objectionable preservatives, have a short shelf life, must be frozen, are difficult to find, or cost the moon. 

That all being said (and if you are still with me here) the cost of the food that is grain free (which seems to be anywhere from $1.50 a pound to $4+ a pound) is better metabolised with less weight.  Read that to mean that the dogs poop less because they use more of the food you have given them.  You can feed them less kibble, so it will last longer, making the cost differential less...but NOT exactly cheap.

You can extrapolate for yourself how this knowledge of USDA label requirements can apply to your human diet as well.

I'm on the side of getting the best foods for my doggies and cats I can afford.  When I saw that three of the top 5 ingredients in my Iams cat food are CORN I about choked.  They are getting a trial batch of grain free food as well, because Mikey has been vomiting on a frequent basis for the past couple of years, and no food seemed to make a difference.  Methinks I know why, now. 

 

Puppy update

A few cute pictures from week (I think) 15.

Here are my two clowns acting all innocent and stuff.

Here's Chance being coy. 

Wish I could get the demonic flash gleam from happening!

 

They are doing very well, except that they cannot yet resist chasing the cats.  I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can take them for morning walks.  But that will also entail having to train them to walk on leash properly, too.  Ack.  But I'm getting them to listen more with liberal application of food rewards.  They're easy in that regard:  their kibble is sufficient!  How many of your children would do tricks for the reward of a cracker?

Feeding Large Breed puppies

I've been educating myself (really, updating, there's so much new info out there due to the internet and the passage of time) about the care and feeding of puppies.  Particularly the feeding of larger breed puppies, as I had heard that too fast growth can lead to malformation or malfunction of joints, including hip dysplasia.  And the thought that I could cause my dogs to suffer problems that could cause their early demise or long term pain was rather upsetting!

So I looked up dog food and problems for puppies.  Three nutrients are generally listed as potentially problematic in too large doses:  Calcium, Energy (generally deduced by the fat content), and Protein.

A very nice site on the issue is here, and I quote the relevant bits below. 

The most significant problems appear to be related to the following, in order of decreasing importance: 1. Calcium, 2. Energy, and 3. Protein .

1. Calcium: The ideal calcium content, on a dry weight basis is 0.7%-1.2%-. AAFCO recommendation is 1%-2.5% which is generally acceptable though not ideal; however, for giant breeds, such as the Great Dane, the lower end of this range is especially recommended. It is believed that calcium in excess of 3% on a dry weight basis can predispose to significant skeletal abnormalities, such as those mentioned above. Keep in mind, also, that adding of vitamins, particularly Vitamin D, will also increase absorption of dietary calcium (to possibly excessive levels).

 2. Energy: If too many calories are supplied and consumed on a daily basis, too rapid growth results and the excess mass that must be supported on an immature skeleton can result in microscopic damage to skeletal tissue, with subsequent malformation and/or malarticulation of joints, degenerative changes and potentially chronic pain. For most practical purposes, energy levels in food can be extrapolated principally from dietary fat, which should be no less than 9% (AAFCO recommendation) to maximum of 12% on a dry weight basis. Total kcal/kg of food should remain in the 3.2 to 3.8 range

 3. Protein: As a percent of diet on a dry weight basis should range between 15%- 27% (AAFCO recommends minumum of 22%). The ideal protein concentration is difficult to specify, since it is, in part dependent upon biological value of the protein source; (i.e. if of high biological value, then less is needed {more is assimilated} and the lower end of the range is desired). Protein markedly above the upper limit described here will be converted to energy, rather then incorporated into protein tissue. This will, therefore, add to the energy burden, and potentiate the problems associated with excess energy consumption, as described above

Check out the AAFCO (Assn of American Feed Control Officials) page for information on your dog's nutritional needs.

Another issue that came up, as Luger is showing signs of food sensitivities, is that both corn and wheat are not particularly digestible for dogs, and they often show up in the first 5 ingredients in dog food--including expensive, supposedly excellent brands.  The Iams weight control formula we've been giving the Pug has corn as the first ingredient and more grains among the first five.  This is not the best nutrition, as corn is poorly digested and just passes through the dogs' bowels without giving up as much nutrition as you would expect. 

So I looked up grain free foods (there are a lot of options out there these days) and settled on one that isn't necessarily for puppies but which has for the first 10 ingredients various types of meat and for carbs ground peas and sweet potato.  There are also fruits and some fat, but not that much.  I will have to be careful the pups don't get too much energy but have enough calories, but overall the grain free stuff looks to be a good option for my boys.  The Pug gets a substantial portion of people food so I know he's not lacking in meat and veggies. 

The cost difference is substantial, working out (as I ballparked it) to about 20%-35% difference in cost, depending on the volume purchased.  And I'm figuring it from the Max puppy chow and the Iams chow that I had been using.  But if you can afford it, your dogs will do best on a diet that supports their growth and consists of foods that they can properly digest. 

Puppy update

Wow, I've had the boys for 2 weeks now.  They have grown and changed so much already, there's barely any comparison.  They have gained several pounds and are quite a bit bigger.  They no longer look quite to gangly and coltish, either, and their coordination is vastly improved.  The paws are huge now, but don't look so oversized in proportion as they did. 

These dogs respond extremely well to positive reinforcement versus correction.  They do get corrected, but I immediately follow it up by giving them something for them to do where I can reward them, such as come and sit.  They get a treat for doing something right and soon realize that Mom gets unhappy if they do certain things, but she gives them food if they do others.  It worked well for potty training too, although they are unreliable on that front unless you watch them.  I did smack Chance's butt yesterday morning when he stood next to me and started to pee, but not hard.  A tap is all it takes with these sensitive boys.

I was a bit surprized that the English Setter breed is as energetic as the boys are proving to be, but I'm going to install a dog run in the back for the summer so they can run amok and work the squirrels out of their system.  Chasing their rubber ducky around the house won't be enough for long, and neither will be the walks they will be going on every day.  My lab and my golden retriever were not this bouncy! 

This morning the boys were too sweet, tails wagging and licking me when I let them out of the crate.  That adorableness is what lets them live when they really gnaw on your last nerve, lol.  Seriously, though, they are maturing quite a bit already. 

The boys at 14 weeks

The picture of innocence.  But do NOT believe it!  Overall, though, these two clowns are really well behaved, considering their age.  I have to constantly correct them, but they do learn.  They are even getting better about not chasing the cats.  Claws slapping their muzzles has certainly helped, though. 

Chance

Wiggleworm won't hold still for pictures.

Luger

Cutie!