Sick Bijou :(

**I wrote this post about a week ago and never got around to posting it. And unfortunately my easy dog, Bijou, ended up sick last night! So here's a little update on our food journey, hoping Bijou's stomach will fix itself before a visit to the vet is needed.**

Another update on our raw feeding journey. Summer visited the emergency room, again, after a night of diarrhea and vomiting. The vet told Matt that she just has a sensitive stomach and we have to watch what she eats. Matt had her at a friends house in their backyard and thinks she may have eaten part of a tennis ball. Yup, that would do it.

We love feeding them raw however it has become time consuming and is taking over my freezer. I also feel that we aren't feeding them enough meat and they definitely haven't been getting any liver or organs. So on Saturday after a nice visit to the dog park we stopped by an all-natural organic pet food store that Matt found. It's so close to my current apartment and I'm so mad because I'm about to move!! Fortunately it will be a half way point between Matt and I so we may meet in Kennesaw some weekends. Anyway-back to the pet food store...

We visited The Good Dog Co. Atl. and chatted with Lori and Regina about different options for the girls, what they were missing from their diets, and how to fix Summer's terrible gas! These ladies were extremely helpful and the girls had a blast being spoiled. After much chatting here is what we have decided upon:

For Bijou She is the easiest dog who can eat anything without it messing up her stomach (or so we thought!). My only concern is that she was overweight until we went raw and she finally lost the 10 pounds she needed to lose! I wanted to put her on a dry kibble but wanted to make sure it's a high quality so she won't gain weight. We decided on trying Acana Ranchlands. It's about $20 more expensive than Blue Buffalo (which she was previously on) but a 30 pound bag will last at least a month. I've been adding 1/4 cup of food to what she normally eats while cutting back on the raw slightly. She did have itchy face last night but was fine this morning.

Acana For Bijou!

For Summer Summer is the difficult one and we want her on an extremely limited ingredient diet while still getting all the nutrients she needs. We decided on OC Raw Dog frozen patties. We are also adding tripe to help her gain weight (she needs about 10 pounds) and Goats milk for her stomach. Bijou also gets goat's milk but only once a day. Currently I'm feeding Summer half a pattie twice a day while cutting back on her normal food. Next week we will start feeding two patties a day along with tripe and fat balls!! Fat ball recipe to come. We will prob use veggies/fruits as treats.

Summer loves these!

Goats milk has really helped Summer's Stomach!

We are hoping this will be easier time-wise to feed the girls and also help Summer gain weight.

Unfortunately Bijou has had diarrhea and I'm really hoping it's not the new food. We will see in a few days :(  Summer however is doing great with her new diet and the Goat's milk has really helped her!

Police Officer's Shooting Dogs. What?!

In the past few days I have now read two stories concerning police officers shooting dogs. The most recent story is about Cisco who was shot by a police officer Austin, Texas. The police officer arrived at the WRONG address when he was called out for a domestic disturbance, pulled a gun on unsuspecting Michael Paxton when Cisco ran out from the backyard. Cisco and Paxton had been playing with a frisbee in his backyard before the officer showed up.

The other story is about Parrot the pit bull who was shot after being thrown down a flight of stairs by an officer. Please read this story and view the video for more information.

I don't understand why these officers would shoot without hesitation. Or why that officer threw Parrot over a railing down a flight of stairs. I worked in a Pet Hotel and I saw a fellow employee pick up a dog and throw him across the pet yard. It was his immediate reaction when two large dogs got into a fight and the other employee in the yard couldn't break them up with an airhorn (which is company policy). Not the 'prettiest' solution, but it worked. When we looked back over the situation it was the best way to separate the dogs immediately. Then again, he wasn't throwing the dog down a flight of stairs.  In Parrot's case the dogs had already been separated and the officer had Parrot pinned down. The rest was unnecessary.

What do you think about the way these police officer's handled the situation?

Raw food Update

So Matt and I have slowly changed the girl's diets in the past few months and finally seemed to have settled on a grain free raw diet with fruits and veggies. Saturday we went shopping for their food and made two weeks worth of meals. We chopped green beans, snap peas, celery, carrots, potatos, and apples and mixed them between morning and evening meals into small baggies. To that we add raw chicken, eggs, fish oils and/or salmon, brewers yeast with garlic (as flea and tick control), alfalfa sprouts, and kelp. We also have banana to use as treats or added to their breakfast. Summer is currently getting ham for breakfast and raw chicken wings at night to help her gain some weight. She keeps growing and we can't seem to get weight on her! We hope she's stopped growing taller and will now start to fill out.

We were inspired by the Honest Kitchens amazing dog food products as well as Sojos; both of which are all-natural, raw, dehydrated meals. However we could not afford to feed these products to our dogs so we decided to make our own. And yes, it's actually cheaper to feed raw. Well, it does depend on what meat you feed. We currently feed chicken but will start adding variety in the next few months.

Ice cubes are delicious but not nutritious. 

It's been going really well so far, but we still can't seem to get weight on Summer. Suggestions???

Bobbing for Ice Cubes

The girls and I went for a good long walk today. About 3 miles up and down hills. I've been slowly increasing the distance to help build up muscle for my knees. These hills really do a number on my knees and after blowing out my knee over a year ago I've had to be extra careful. But today I was ready for the longer distance and the girls behaved themselves so well. They have become comfortable walking side by side on the coupler so today we tried walking right next me on my right side. They did great! It really helps when we all fall into the same rhythm.

After our walk I gave the girls ice cubes in their water and I had a blast watching them bob for them! Summer was a bit confused at first but quickly figured it out. If you turn up your volume you can hear them blowing bubbles :)

Chilling.

School has honestly not been keeping me away from the blog...it's job hunting! So time consuming. Expect fewer posts and more pictures. Hopefully. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Wordless Wednesday

Sunggles over Spring Break

Last week I stayed with my parents for a few days during spring break. My younger sister was also on her spring break and my older sister was in town for her baby shower. My entire family was at home! Weird. I brought the girls with me since my younger sister LOVES Summer. Let me give you some background on my little sister so you can understand how monumental this is.


We acquired a small white cat when I was in middle school. This cat was named Mr. Fluffy. He was the devil. My younger sister quickly became afraid of cats. Mr. Fluffy could sense her fear and would enjoy hiding under furniture and jumping out to attack her when she least expected it. Actually we all were targets of his attacks. However my little sister was the one left with the an intense dislike for cats and wariness of other creatures.


In my sophmore year I brought home a cat I rescued from the local shelter. My little sister yelled at me and would not let the cat near her. It took some coaxing but she began to slowly trust my cat, Nebula, and soon fell in love with her. Nebbies (one of her many nicknames) forever changed her opinion. She was a cool kitty.

So when we first brought Summer to my parents house my sister was much more open to animals, especially since Summer was only a few months old and the most adorable puppy.

Easter 2011 - Who wouldn't love this precious face?

The day my sister (right) met baby Summer.

My younger sister got to spend a few more weekends with Summer and then a week over Christmas break. She was so excited to get to snuggle with her this past week. Summer knows that my younger sister is the one to go to for snuggles. However Summer spent quite a bit of time laying at my older sister's feet. I swear she knew that my sister was pregnant.

Summer cuddling with her sister and her favorite aunt over spring break.

Even though my family was never against pit bulls they still were wary of them from what they had seen on the news. I'm so glad my family knows what a wonderful breed this is. My little sister commented on her tumblr,

I have a snoring pit bull sleeping on me who is trying to cuddle me to death. Obviously this breed is very dangerous.

And someone replied with - They also like to give people heart attacks with their cuteness, watch out! Hehe.

So what are some cute things you have heard people say about their pit bulls?