Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop

So I'm slowly learning that the world of blogging is incredibly complex. I thought I was pretty savvy with the internet and computers, but it just goes to show that you are never as smart as you think you are. This is my first attempt delving into the world wide web of bloggers... (I know this isn't technically "wordless," but it's my first time, so bear with me!)

Check out all the other blogs participating in Wordless Wednesday and leave a comment for them!

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Switching to a New Diet

I started the boys on a new diet about a month ago. I had been wanting to switch them over after talking with some people last year about how healthy it is. I did a bit of research at the time, and there are tons of opinions and options out there. I'll try to narrow it down and explain my thought process.

The first model I looked at was called BARF - Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. The best website I found for this was www.barfworld.com. The website describes the diet as "...feeding pets responsibly and properly to maximize health, longevity and reduce allergies and vet bills. The diet is based on human grade whole foods including raw meat, finely ground bones, offal and other healthy ingredients such as fruit and vegetables." Their basis is that dogs are omnivores and require all those types of foods to eat a healthy diet.

I was pretty much sold on this diet. The benefits were great - keeps the dogs at a healthy weight, makes coats shiny, less poo to pick up (which means they're using more of the food they eat), and the best part? Teeth! A raw diet helps clean teeth as the animal eats. They brush and floss all at the same time. It cuts down on vet bills so you don't have to get your dog's teeth cleaned.

I talked it over with my friends Amber and Anna, who both feed their dachshunds BARF chubs (a small portion of frozen meat with ground bones, veggies, etc). I looked at the prices, and whoa!! No way. Too expensive. Almost four times what I was spending on the dog food at Costco. I shopped around a bit, compared prices, did calculations (several times) and every time, I came up with the same solution. There was just no way I could afford it. I put it out of my mind; the thought came up every so often over the past year, but I just ignored it.

Then the vet told me it was time for Kool to get his teeth cleaned. He turned 8 in May, and the vet said Kool needed to have his teeth cleaned soon - it can lead to all sorts of infections with the plaque build-up. I kept putting it off, then I had a conversation with my new friend, Stephanie, when we were camping for Dachshunds on Parade.

Stephanie told me about some of the terrible things that are put into dog kibble. I found a dog food report that explained it well here. The part that got me was this:

Meat and bone meal is made of more than just meat and bone. All kinds of things find their way into the rendering pot. In addition to slaughterhouse waste, animals that fit within the 4D Rule are also rendered - that includes animals that are disabled, diseased, dead or dying. Other rendered items include restaurant grease and leftovers, road kill, euthanized companion pets complete with flea collars and the green bags in which they are transported, grocery store items such as meat and baked goods that are past their expiration date (Styrofoam tray and plastic wrap included) and much more.

I was shocked, disgusted, and horrified. That made my mind up. I was switching over to a diet that I actually knew what was going into my dogs' mouths. (There are tons of other articles if you are interested. Just Google "rendering plants dog food." Be warned - do not read before eating.)

Stephanie and her friend Star both feed their dachshunds raw as well, but not BARF. The type of diet they use is called Whole Prey Model. The best website I found for this was www.rawfed.com. The theory behind this is that dogs are actually carnivores, not omnivores, and only need to eat meat and bones (including organ meats) just like a wolf in the wild would. What I found most interesting was the article dispelling the myth that dogs are omnivores. If you compare the teeth of a canine to that of a bear or human (omnivores), it doesn't have any molars like we do for chewing/crushing vegetables, grains, etc. All of a dog's teeth are sharp and pointy for ripping flesh and gnawing bone.

After doing a lot more research on the two different raw diets, I decided I fell more in line with the Whole Prey Model as opposed to BARF. I joined a couple of Yahoo Groups and a Facebook Group dedicated to raw feeding. Over the past few weeks, I've learned so much just by reading and observing these groups. I'll share some of my views and opinions some other time, but I think this post has enough information!

Overall, I'm pleased with the results after a month of raw feeding, and I'll share the details (and some pictures!) next time.

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Hiking

Sorry I've been gone for a couple of months. This is going to be a quick short post just to get back into the swing of things.

Swift and Kool and I have been hiking on our Adventureweiner hikes. We went on Rattlesnake Ledge with some friends last Saturday. It was tough and hard, and I had to stop several times, but I made it! The dogs did so much better than I did.

 See how smiley I am? This is before we started.

Here's us at the top of the ledge. Still smiling, but not quite as big.

Ah! I forgot to give credit for the pictures to AdventureJess of www.youdidwhatwithyourweiner.com.

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Our Wednesday Jaunt

Last Wednesday I was supposed to go to a dog group at Robinswood park. A friend asked me that day to go out to dinner, but I declined because I had already made plans to go to the meetup. I rushed home after work because we were meeting at 6 pm. I fed the boys and changed clothes and threw some laundry in the wash. It was time to go!

Swift and Kool were a little confused, although excited, because they never get to go anywhere during the week. As we walked out to the car, I noticed the sky was a little darker than it usually is. It had been sunny that afternoon, but I was afraid it might start to rain. No worries, though! We are adventureweiners, and we were going to tough it out! It is Seattle, after all, so what is a bit of rain?

We get to the park, and I found a great parking spot! It's just a little after 6, so I thought, "Perfect! There will already be some dogs here." Swift and Kool took their sweet little time walking down the trail to the off-leash area, sniffing at every rock and peeing on every bush. We saw another doxie walking towards us. Of course, everyone had to sniff butts and greet each other. I asked the doxie mama if there were other people in the off-leash area. She said there weren't. She had been there about 10 minutes, and it was getting pretty cold. (Yes, my Ohio friends, 50° is extremely cold to Seattleites.) I decided to wait it out anyway.

The boys and I were the only ones there, so I was able to get Swift's ball out and throw it for him. I am not athletic at all, so my first throw went right into the ground. Swift didn't care, though. As long as he got to squeak it, he was fine. My throws got a little better, and Swift was able to run and chase his ball. Kool wandered all over the area, finding stinky stuff to roll around in.

After about 10 minutes, I checked my email and found out the meetup had been canceled. I was disappointed no one else showed up, but then it thundered. I decided it was time to go!! I called the boys over, and Swift's hair on his back end was standing straight up. It was pretty funny. They hadn't seemed to react at all when it thundered, but apparently Swift was quite aware of it!

We left just in time, too. As soon as we were all in the car, it started to pour! And thunder! And lightning! We got home safely, and I was even able to go out to dinner with my friend. I think the boys enjoyed getting outside during the week. I'll have to make it a point to do that more often with them once it starts warming up more.

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Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

We had another adventure this weekend. Swift and Kool and I joined about 30 other doxies to walk around Greenlake. It was a blast! After the 3 mile walk, we went out to lunch with Brian and then drove home. We were all pretty tired. Both the boys slept in the car on the way home. I tried to play on the computer, but crashed on the couch. I woke up with Swift lying on top of me and Kool almost on my head. They were conked out! The rest of the evening was pretty calm with tired doxies. No running or squeaking!

Kool took over my pillow and wouldn't give it back.

Swift just burrowed under the covers and wouldn't come out. Here's his little nose.

We're going to keep walking and hiking so that we aren't completely exhausted after our walks. Swift needs to lose some weight, and Kool needs to learn to keep up with the rest of us. Here's to more walks and more adventures!!

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Swift Loves His Squeaky

Swift is totally and completely in love with his squeaky toy. He carries it around everywhere. Sometimes he can't decide between squeaky and dinner (but other times he gets so excited for dinner that he'll drop squeaky in his food dish). Lately, in the evenings, while I'm eating dinner or watching TV, Swift won't leave me alone. He squeak-squeak-squeaks his ball and wants me to throw it for him. It's a never-ending battle. And, although he doesn't do it often, he will become so attached to orange squeaky that he insists on bringing it outside on potty breaks.
Any little squeak gets Swift's immediate attention. Even if it's in my coat pocket at the park and he's forgotten about it, his ears immediately hear any subtle squeezing, and he go berserk, wanting me to throw it. If it's the middle of night and he has brought orange squeaky to bed, I must be careful not to roll over it or else Swift thinks it's playtime.
One Saturday, we had a big day. Swift and Kool and I went to two meetups - first we went to The Bellevue Dogs Under 35 lb Meetup Group. Then we proceeded to our regular dachshund meetup. The boys were pretty exhausted (as was I), and later I caught Swift napping on the pillow I brought out to the couch. What did I find? Swift sleeping with orange squeaky.

Swift does not like to share squeaky. Here he is, with a protective arm on it. Last summer, we took his ball to the park, and a French bulldog decided it was his ball. He stole it from Swift and wouldn't give it up. Swift wasn't quite brave enough to try to take it back, but I could tell he was devastated from the defeated look in his eyes.

"That's right. This is my ball."

He's also on constant alert, as I mentioned earlier. Swift likes to get his picture taken and is pretty good at posing. However, once I took the video and squeaky came out of hiding, Swift was ready for action. Here he is looking at me, ready to go at a moment's notice.

"Is it playtime?"

It was pretty late, and I was definitely not in the mood for squeaky playtime. I tried to ignore him as best I could (which is hard because he's so darn cute!), and he finally gave up. I think he was too tired anyway.

"Ah, forget it. I'm tired."

But when he isn't tired, he runs with that squeaky in his mouth with all his might. Here he is, in action, with the wind blowing his ears and his tail straight up with happiness. I love this picture of Swift, and I think it shows his love for his orange squeaky.

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Adventure Weiners!

I met a girl named Jessica through my dachshund meetup. She and her boyfriend have two dachshunds, and they go hiking adventures with them! She has a blog called you did what with your weiner? It's all about the adventures she and her boyfriend have with their two dogs, Gretel and Chester.

Jessica's been creating smaller, easier weiner adventures for those of us in the meetup group. We've gone on walks around Greenlake (3 miles!!), and she's also scheduled harder hikes in some of the parks/mountains in the area. I went on one a couple of weeks ago at Carkeek park. Man, am I out of shape. Poor Swift and Kool wanted to catch up with the rest of the dogs, but I was lagging behind. After making it up the *huge* hill, the rest of the hike was fairly easy. I was so proud of my little boys.

It's a wiener dog parade!

Saying hi to everyone at Carkeek

Kool trotting along the trail at Carkeek

This summer, Jessica is going to plan a sort of training series so we can get into hiking shape with our doxies. I'm so excited for that! Hanging out with other dachshunds is fun, and it will definitely be easier with a group of people.

The group after our hike at Carkeek

About half of the group at Greenlake

Swift and Kool say, "We're ready to be adventureweiners...

as long as Mama carries us, right?!"

(All photos courtesy of Jessica Williams of the youdidwhatwithyourweiner.com blog.)

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