On to happier things…

Alright so I figured we would move on to a more light topic after all the recall posts. I am sure you all are sick of hearing about it all by now, honestly I am.  So on to some Luna phone pics!

First off she could not stay out of a panoramic shot I did at the river so you should go check that one out on my Photo Blog . She has a habit of photo bombing my photos, but usually I don’t mind.
Now on to the iPhone photos… many courtesy of Instagram, some of you may have already seen these if you follow AKGInspiration on Instagram… pardon the repeats.

The weather has warmed up, which means I am trying to get the pups to spend more time outside…  this became much more enjoyable when I dug out this old bed to put out there.  Everyone enjoys laying on it, it is really hard to get pics of it though as they always get up when I come out the door.  If you are new to the blog, that white German Shorthair is Dover, one of Luna’s buddies.

Sometimes the bed is just not good enough for Luna though… she enjoys a higher vantage point, yep she jumped up there on her own, silly girl. (this photo is probably a repeat but I love it)

I have been trying to make the most of some of this nice weather by getting Luna out (and wyatt when I can).  Here is a photo from an outing to one of our old haunts.  On the left we have a rather young deer.. on the right is Luna practicing her down stay so I could go back and get the photo of said deer.   After discovering this deer she ran even harder and searched all the tall grass for more.  I love finding critters on our walks for this very reason.

We checked out all sorts of new woods locations too on our hunt for deer sheds.. I love that we are all looking at something, and I love that I can now get wyatt to get up on objects to join in the photos.  For the longest time he would just sit on the ground while Luna hopped on the log/wall/rock I asked.  The whole idea of jumping/climbing on things has come a little slower for him.  But now he can keep up pretty well in the woods hopping over fallen trees and logs pretty easily.

We have also been checking out our local haunts along the river, though I think we all are getting rather bored of this location.  How do you mix things up while at your regular haunts? I find the dogs don’t run as hard if they have been there a lot already, which for my sanity is not good as it means that Luna comes home totally un-tired.  Suggestions? I think I might need to dig out the bike again.

What I really need to do is go get my fishing pole… because swimming is one of the easiest ways to wear the pups out.  And results in photos/naps like the one above, which is a GOOD thing.  I typically wade out into the river and will fish while the dogs swim and explore.  Oh and another added bonus to these river outings??? I just got a new waterproof camera to use on these adventures.

All of these outings result in a rather dirty dog, which usually I don’t mind but sometimes it does require the dreaded bath.  Luna is not a big bath fan, despite the fact that she is a regular fish in the rivers she does not care for baths.  No shock there considering she hates anything having to do with health/upkeep. I do love the smell of a nice clean Vizsla much more than a Vizsla who smells slightly of pee.  Yes you heard me right pee.  Due to her awesome ability to walk on her two front feet while peeing, she now ends up peeing on her front feet while doing so.  Not cool chica.

My clean girl ready to go have her post-bath crazies.

No doubt she probably will get all kinds of dirty again tomorrow when we go romp in the woods with her buddy Bosley.  And after we wear the dogs out, my friend and I are heading to the river for my first adventure with a kayak!  Who else has some fun weekend plans???

The recall is expanding…

Here is another link to a very extensive/thorough list of the pet foods that have been recalled.  Bear in mind I don’t think there are many pets getting sick from the food, but quite a few people have.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/05/qa-on-the-diamond-pet-foods-recall-and-salmonella-outbreak/#.T6uwVskb3gg.facebook

I say better safe than sorry, wash those hands friends.

This is what I got to do yesterday on my day off… re-organize the deep freezer.  Mainly because I will be getting in more raw food for the dogs so I needed to know where I was putting it.  And also so I can tell the Mr. where various meats are.  This will com in handy since we recently bought a gas grill

Nice huh?? It will allow us to grill a lot more often than our charcoal hassle one.  Which means that hopefully there will be less oven heat to heat up our lil apartment, whoooooo.

The directions were not half as bad as they look, I follow each and every one… even when it seemed like things couldn’t possibly fit, I made it happen. Also spent 20 minutes fixing one of their mistakes in construction.  But in the end I was left with no screws or washers left over, and it didn’t blow up the first time we used it. So I would call that a success.

Another success??  I did not find too many surprises in the freezer.   Which means that though it got unorganized I still knew where things were and what things were.  One thing I did realize is how many random pieces of meat/bones I have collected for the dogs. I think once this bag of kibble is gone or nearly, I will be trying Luna on a bit of a raw diet, if only to use up our stockpile and make room for other things.  I found a local butcher who will supply us with some items we can’t find in stores.  I am probably the only vegetarian who is excited about this.

In any case, whatever you feed your dogs, do yourself a favor and at least sanitize your hands after.  Nobody likes being sick right?

Dog food recall hits east coast… again.

So many of you are probably already aware but there is a pretty darn big dog food recall going on right now.  Sadly many of the higher end brands are doing voluntary recalls simply because their foods were made in the same plant where the tainted foods were found.  Check out more info here and here.  This largely applies to the east coast but you may as well take a look to make sure your brand/state is not affected

Normally these recalls don’t apply to me, part of the reason I have stayed with Great Life since I found it, but I will pass them around facebook as I have a lot of friends with dogs who do eat these foods.  But this time it was a good thing I read further into the article.  Many Diamond based foods were part of this recall (I hear that Diamond has been recalled quite a bit, especially in last year) some simply because they were made in the same plant (who knew??)

On a recent trip to Costco I noticed they started carrying a grain free food.  I checked out the ingredients and they did not look half bad at all… nor was the price. SO I wrote info down and went home to check it out further on some of the dog food review sites I use (DogFoodReview and DogFoodAdvisor).  I think they only had possible problems with 2 ingredients, and it came highly recommended on both sites.  I took that as a green light and picked up a bag the next time I was in town.  I have been cutting the dogs food with this food half and half for probably 2 weeks now. Both took to it wonderfully and there have been no loose stools, extra gas or any other problems with the 4-leggers since it was added.
Then I checked the recall list and noticed this food was on it ARGH!  I checked the product code and dates and both were in the clear…. so I think I am going to keep this bag and just keep an eye on them.   Plus I am a firm believer that a good healthy dog can handle some salmonella anyhow, it is usually us who are at more risk.

As you can see nobody in this house (even me the vegetarian) is squeamish about meat and so far nobody has gotten sick… Sure I am not wiping my face with the towel she eats on or licking the counters but we probably don’t sanitize around here like some do and nobody is worse for it.
BUT due to the risk of salmonella in the kibble lately please PLEASE wash your hands after you feed your dogs or touch their bowls… More and more people are getting sick after this recent dog food recall.

It is so hard to know what to feed your dogs these days, there are so many opinions out there. How many of us have childhood dogs who ate crappy old school food and did fine… living into the double digits easily with minimal care? (yeah I admit I did not know HALF of what I know now, back then… sure they got table scraps and grocery story foods, would you be able to tell?)  Plenty of dogs eat corn and grains, and then there are others who swear they are killing their dogs by feeding them such (no I am not one of those people)… oh then you have the people who feed raw, or try to sometimes, and even then you have different opinions about how that should be done (omnivores or carnivores??)  Where does one even begin to know what is right or wrong?  I personally hope I can get Luna on a totally raw diet one day (probably the whole prey model) but for now I will have to settle for a high end kibble with occasional raw.

And I will continue to make my own treats as much as time allows… My dogs are thankfully not picky and love the dried sweet potato treats I make… and heaven knows they will not turn down the dried liver or meat I do for them too.

Speaking of treats do you feed chicken jerky treats??? Have you checked where they are made (not packaged people, read closer)?????? If they are made in China please do your dog a favor and trash them.  There have been countless cases of dogs getting sick and some even dying who feed chicken treats made in China…. the company will not issue a recall but upwards of 6 dogs have reported this after feeding these treats.  IMO it is totally not worth the risk.  I follow the “don’t buy anything food related” from China whenever I can, whether it is for me or the 4-leggers.  Reasoning??? They simply don’t have the regulations we do here, and it is not worth the risk to me when there is plenty of more local options.

Like this  liver, which was semi-dried by a local butcher… who I am hoping to score more beef body parts from in the future.
I will try and post the link about the chicken jerky treats when I find it.  Didn’t mean to get on a rant about this issue at all, just trying to pass info along and help you all keep your pets safe.

EDIT:  Here is a link with a bit of info on chicken jerky treats

Thanks for sharing this link DogDaz

Speaking of food/treats I think I am going to do a treat give-away soon so stay tuned.  Gotta figure out how to do one of those through the blog (any suggestions/help welcome).

Little Stinker…

Alright so these photos are WAY overdue, well half of them are. A fellow Vizsla owner and friend has started a bit of a collar making business called Canine Design.  

You all know how much I love collars, as seen in a previous posts concerning our first custom  collars and  another that was given to me for my birthday  and here is my collar collection . I am sensing a purple theme, but hey I can’t help it as that color looks fantastic on her, and helps people know she is a girl.  In anycase Laura over at Canine Design recently purchased a new order of ribbon and I saw this pattern in the order and knew I HAD to have it.

Isn’t it just perfect for this crazy girl??

As per usual she had to speak her mind about this too.

And then got haute (sp?) with me… little stinker

Wyatt was a bit skeptical at first too and had to give a sniff.

(We are still working on convincing the Mr. to let me get a collar for him,  I have had my eye on the green Dino pattern)

Well this first collar has apparently gotten me hooked because when I saw another new ribbon… I fell in love again.

A perfect collar for spring, and I love the color combination on her. Thank you Laura!

I have not had a single problem with these collars.. sewn very well with plenty of double stitching, though I usually walk Luna on a slip lead anyhow I am sure they are tuff though as I have not heard any other Vizsla (and other dog) friends say anything about them not holding up.

The fit is great too even for my petite girl.. plenty of room for adjusting and sniffing.

(PS. I rather love this shot. I do wish Juneau had stayed out of the photo)…

Oh and did I mention the price???!?? You know me, ever frugal, I can’t complain about the price either.  $8.00 will get you a simple buckle snap collar, and you can make it into a chain or ribbon based martingale for another .50 cents!  You can’t beat that price at all (and because of this I just ordered 2 key fobs and a ribbon martingale), plus she gives a 10% discount for return customers… AND she donates 10% of your purchase to local animal shelters/groups.  Really, can it get much better?

So if your 4-legger is due for a new collar or if you know anyone you want to gift one to head on over to Canine Design Etsy shop and pick one out.  And if you want to stay up to date with her sneak peak ribbons and sales ‘Like’ her facebook page too.

Happy collar shopping!

Luna’s Trick Bonanza…and a contest

So this will be the fastest blog post whipped up ever… I have to be out to work in 3 minutes.

I wanted to share the latest Video of Luna, this time it is her going through her trick paces.  She knows more tricks than this but it gives you a good idea of how our sessions go at night sometimes.  Hopefully YouTube will be kind and comply with my embedding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYBign2b81o

(score! Looks like both are showing up, so I shall not touch it and hope for the best)

Those are just a few of her tricks, she also knows how to roll a ball, “gun-sling”= alternate paws, down, balance a treat, shut doors, tug and probably some others I am forgetting.  See how fast I have to go to keep her interested? If I slow down much she will just start throwing things at me, so I usually do things in rapid fire.

My favorite is probably the play dead off “Bang” I am thrilled with how quick she picked this up, and I love when she gives me a bit of lip about it too.  She also knows that it does not count unless her head is all the way down, so sometimes she will pick up her head and then  put it back down, clever girl.

I have been kinda working on her opening the fridge, but I think I am going to switch that to opening a cooler, maybe eventually fetching a gatorade out.  I also want to teach her to pull my socks off.

Do YOU have a trick you want us to try?? Or that your dog can do that you are especially proud of??

Now on a totally unrelated note, please go over to Karma Collars and  vote for Luna.  We have been trying to win one of their beautiful leather collars for a while now, but just can’t seem to get enough votes (sooooo many bully breed fans out there that rally together, me thinks). And hey if you see a dog you just HAVE to vote for and it isn’t Luna, we won’t hold it against you. But you can only vote once I believe.  The theme for this contest is “Best Bark.”  You all know how much Luna likes to bark,  as seen in this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMvC29EZbNI

So if you have a moment, and think she deserves a pretty leather collar please go vote for her.

Okay I am done promoting, have a wonderful Wednesday

Bound for space!

Luna and I had a little fun with the latest LPTG Theme… the challenge was to include a paper airplane into a shot.  When I spotted the Nasa paper I was to use for a plane I knew I had to include Luna, you know with her name being “Luna” and all.  I also had a feeling we would be including some of her tricks to carry out these photos.  Anyway I will let them speak for themselves.

These first two shots required the use of her “hold” command/trick.  As you can see she is not too in love with this trick, but it is a vital part of her bird dog training so I try and work her on it often.  Working with her “hold” involving random objects seems to make her like it more, but in the field she simply wants to get back to hunting.  But that is another topic for another day. I love her attitude in the shot on the right, so Luna.

Bet you can guess what trick we used here. I tried to get it to balance on her nose but 1. it would not balance and 2. it would obstruct her face too much so I gave up before she lost patience with me.  So we opted for balancing it on her head, much easier for all.  I really need to work on a “pause” trick with her, basically teach her to “freeze” in whatever position she is in. It would be very handy for pictures.

And a black & white for kicks

Have you and your 4-leggers been working on any new tricks? This is a goal for Luna and I this year, it’s always fun to have new party tricks (if I ever went/threw parties).  Also a good thing to do when it is hot as blazes out and nobody including the dogs want to be outside.

Vizsla in action

Wanna see a bit of Luna and Wyatt in action??? I finally bothered to throw some of the phone videos up on my YouTube : AKGInspiration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hiu8JkD48iY&feature=channel

(incase embed did not work)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hiu8JkD48iY&feature=channel

This video is nothing fancy, but it does sort of give you a hint of how hard Luna likes to play when she is in the mood. If you see her and a vizsla buddy play hard it really sounds like they are eating  .  Luna comes from a VERY vocal family so she learned to bark in the face to try and illicit play… can’t really blame her for that, and sometimes it actually works.  Sadly Wyatt usually ignores her (downside of getting a rather laid back lab… but guess we couldn’t have gotten a better dog for the Mr.) and thus she has to take matters into her own hands…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJuwp726PRs&feature=channel

(incase embedding did not work : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJuwp726PRs )

This is a bit of what we call “wild hares” or “Zoomies.”  Vizslas are known for these antics, even 4 year old ones like Luna. It never fails to bring a smile to my face… pardon the retard crazy owner egging her on in the video, it is what I do and I have little shame. Heck I will do it with client dogs too to encourage these moments.  Some stop and look at me like I am crazy, probably because they never had anyone encourage this behavior but eventually they catch on and carry on.  This is a mild wild hare as well, she has gone for what seems like 10 minutes sometimes all by herself, even better if anyone is bothering to try and chase her.  She probably hates living with such unenergetic/lazy dogs lol. I sure do as they do not help her wear out. But oh well, such is life I don’t see us getting a puppy for Luna anytime soon.

Here is another cute video I simply had to share… these two are currently staying with us in the kennel, and I just love how friendly they are.

(incase embed did not work) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWXHccY_S0c&feature=channel

NOTE: I have tried to embed these videos like 10 times now about 4 different ways and it is still not working. Anyone have any ideas??? Sorry

Free treats???

It’s not often that packages arrive for the 4-leggers… call me cheap or frugal… but I think through dog purchases carefully, especially ones that involve treats which don’t last long.  But sometimes I just have to spoil them, especially when it’s free… but more on that later.

Luna and Wyatt are nosey by nature especially when treats are involved.

Luna often tries to use her paws as hands, sometimes it actually does help.

Sometimes she tries the cold shoulder method…

When her methods don’t work, I am always happy to lend a hand.

Look what they found.. a box full of goodies from Mr. Chewy

Dehydrate cheese treats, split deer antlers, some canned food for kong stuffing, Fromm Liver flavored biscuits… need I go on?

How did we get all this for free you ask?? Mr. Chewy.com asked us if we would do a review of of their website for them for a gift card. I was more than happy to oblige.  They wanted an honest opinion so here goes.

~*~Home Page / Webpage setup~*~

Pros:  

-  Great header displaying the free shipping deals and contact numbers on home page. No need to do a search for contact info

-  Inviting, colorful and interesting.  I like the menu bar at the top for basic categories.

- I like the further search categories on the left and brand search options to narrow things down for those looking for a particular brand.

-   Cart is easily modified

- Nice photos (yeah I am a photo critique, can’t help it being a photographer)

Cons: 

-  Searching by brands is tedious due to having to hit “back “and reopening the brand  menu.  I chose to search by brand due to not wanting to miss out on any treats.   Somehow when I searched by price I came up on some items I didn’t first see through the brand search.

- Would be nice to see some treat “type” search options maybe instead of brand.  Such as: chews, jerky, soft treats, training treats, made in USA treats etc. Just a thought, my theory is if people are set on a brand they will put it in a search by right away.

- The Promo Code box was difficult to find upon checkout, but eventually I located it on the far right hand side

- I wish there was a “keep shopping” option to make going back to search easier, rather than basically having to start your search all over.

~*~GENERAL~*~

Pros:

-Love the deal on free shipping when you go over $49… and that the cart keeps you up to date on your progress towards this. It would really make it worth it to order my food from here, if the food I use (Great Life) was offered.

- I love their line about all dogs loving treats but too many makes them fatty pants… nice to see a company warn of giving too many treats to their pets.

-Flea & Tick prices are very comparable to others.  It was only $3 dollars more than Costco which is a great deal

- Deer antlers were found to be at a very reasonable price, and I liked that they offered split ones too.

- Merrick brand chews etc were comparably priced to one of my other go to companies (whitedogbone) which was nice to see.  Offering bulk prices would be even nicer

- Treat and Food prices were comparable to store prices as well as some online stores… and they did offer a great variety

Con:

- One of my biggest problems with this site is the fact that they choose to sell some very low quality brands. I feel if they are going to bother with some of the highest-end brands (ZiwiPeke, K-9, Fromm etc) then they shouldn’t bother (support) the lower end brands (Beneful, Purina, Cesar). I totally understand some have been feeding these brands for years, but to me it makes a statement.

-  I could not buy single cans of dog food, this was a big bummer as I had wanted to try out a few kinds but did not want to buy a case. I know this probably poses shipping problems for them.

~*~ Overall I was quite happy with the variety of selections, just wish they wouldn’t offer such low end brands as it just makes me sad that people buy these simply because they don’t know any better and they are offered.  I would love to see more bulk discounts, as that usually gets me back as a buyer.  The setup was quite good, and could be great with a bit of menu option changes, though search options/methods were great.  Prices were comparable, and the conveniences of shipping (which would end up free with a high end food purchase) would make it a great place to buy treats and food.  Thank you Mr. Chewy for your generosity, it gave me a chance to check out some brands and treats I have been wanting to try on my 4-leggers. They may not be picky but they love variety.

One of the chews I have been wanting to try is a split antler in a smaller size than the full deer racks my dogs have had as options. I ordered two medium (4-6 inches) split antlers for the pups to see what they thought.

Well proof is in the pudding… she carried it off to the bed and began to chew

Wyatt was soon to follow.  Luna worked hers for nearly 40 minutes and seemed to be enjoying it but then went to take a nap.  Wyatt in true Wyatt fashion chewed till he had broken it into pieces after nearly an hour.  So all in all the antlers were a success and I may have to bump size up to large for the split ones, good to know.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend…

PS. Luna also approves of the Newman’s Own cheese biscuit found on her nose.

Can you balance a treat…

on your nose??? Well Luna can, here is our latest trick…

On VIDEO, yes I finally did it. Now let’s see if I can remember how to share it with you, let me know if you have any problems viewing it.

This is a new record for her, 3 in a row.  We have not been working on this long though so the patience to wait is still a work in progress as is the catching… especially when I switch up the treats.  Did you catch how she went to eat the treat all of .5 seconds before I gave her the release of “take it”??? She is just that quick, can you imagine what general trick training is like with her? Which is totally why I have been using the food tube much more often while teaching tricks. I hope to one day be able to stack treats on her nose and get a picture.  I have another video of various tricks she can do in one big sequence, I will try and get to sharing that as my back allows.  Here is a link to the video through my YouTube

Hope everyone has had a nice week.  Things are busy here with the kennel being full of training dogs and thus lots of lessons to be given . Soooo off to sleep I go.

Team 12-Legger hits the woods

Some of you may be wondering what we have been up to, but most of you probably have not.  I shall fill you in anyway.

Meet Team 12-Legger… well most of the team, the Mr. is missing (he was positioning the trail cam).  We have banded together to roam the woods in search of Deer antlers.  They have been dropping them for the past month or so, but more so in the past week or two.

So just about every outing with the pups has been in search of these antlers.  We were hoping Wyatt could help us find them, but we simply have not put enough training into him yet for all that.

Though he might not know exactly what we are looking for, he is  happy to join us in the search.  And he does manage to find deer bones. I guess that is a given as he gets to eat those so it is normal for him to want to find those… the deer poop he finds and eats I could do without.

And if you were wondering about Luna, she has been on these adventures too.  Running and combing the woods like the energizer bunny that she is, looking for anything that is breathing.  Some might wonder why I don’t use her to find the antlers as she would have a lot more stamina, it all comes down to the retrieve.  I will not lie, Luna does not enjoy retrieving nearly as much as Wyatt… not even close.  The whole idea is to teach a fetch sort of game at first with antlers… then eventually move on to a bit of hide and seek with the idea that they will bring them to you for praise when they find them.  Luna likes finding things for sure, but I wouldn’t put it past her to just leave them there and not bring them back as she really is not a retriever fan. But maybe one day if I feel she might want to learn this I will.  I have no doubt with Wyatt’s desire to please and retrieve he will put two and two together and begin to find them and bring them to me. I don’t have as many good pictures of her on these outings as I have not been bringing the big camera much, and she tends to stay out ahead as most pointers like to do.

After the hours of shed hunting we have managed to come up with a couple. But not nearly as many as we had hoped. All of the ones I have found have been chewed on by critters.  Your dogs are not the only ones who like to chew these antlers.  Mice, squirrels, rabbits, and any other rodent like creatures seek them out for the calcium and minerals in them.

  

Case in point I found one today that was in the creek… what we figure is that a squirrel was trying to carry it across the creek and it fell in.  Each of the tips was already chewed on but buried in the mud so that had to have fallen there after it was chewed on.

Antlers were not the only discoveries during our hours in the woods. The dogs had a blast jumping up deer, woodcock, rabbits, and even quite a few turkey.  Today Wyatt jumped another woodcock up (look them up if you don’t know what they are, they are hilarious looking) and it flew right in front of me, I could have reached out and touched it. Pretty darn cool, Wyatt had a look on his face afterwards as if to say “what just happened??!?”  Luna went on point near a big bush, and when I got up close Wyatt noticed and came over to see what she was pointing and a rabbit shot out. Both took off after it and I actually heard Luna attempt to bark in her pursuit, she wanted that rabbit BAD but we called them off due to the fact that they probably would have gone to China after that rabbit, and it was thick cover.  It had them both hunting hard after that, and I am happy to say both barely made it onto the couch when we got home.  Now I gotta go see if I can manage to wake the Mr. up.  I think we have just about exhausted our shed efforts for this year, but at least it gives us something to look for when we are out walking.

Time for some well earned dinner for all