The Girls, a Raw Food Update, and Recent Adventures.

Hello all!

I have been extra busy with school and graduating and starting new jobs. The girls have also been busy and enjoying the time that they are able to spend together now that Matt and I are further apart.

Summer and Bijou are both eating OC Raw Dog and loving it! Summer now weighs over 50 pounds and looks amazing! She is still extremely muscular but now has a bit of fat on her as well. The fat balls are perfect for her and her fast metabolism. Bijou LOVES the patties and finishes them off in one swallow. She has lost over 10 pounds and looks happy and healthy. I started giving her tripe for dinners as she dropped below 30 pounds and that seems to be the trick to keeping her between 30-35 pounds. Perfect.

We have been feeding brewers yeast pills since Jan/Feb and their coats looks amazing. We also haven't found any fleas on them! Much better than last summer. We are still really careful as it doesn't really offer tick prevention but we have only found ticks when we go hiking. The girls are in great health and are probably two of the most spoiled dogs on the planet :)

Enough typing, here's some pictures from our adventures!

At Grandma and Grandpa's House, our current home.

Big Baby

Visiting Bijou's cousin Charlie, who will be coming to stay with us soon!

Typical

 

 

 

Are you awake Mommy?

Car rides

We got a new toy from Petsmart!

Can I sit in your lap?

Sharing

Thundershirt!

Daddy and Summer hiking

Supporting Daddy at the Firebreather Challenge! Hottest day of the year but the girls stayed cool with wet bandanas and playing in the creek!

Exhausted after running around on 4th of July

Bigger Baby

We have had such a wonderful summer so far and hope our friends are also enjoying theirs!! Much love from Bijou and Summer :)

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?

Daily Walk

Sorry for the delay in posting...I am on Spring Break and I have done nothing but relax. I've been trying to avoid my laptop as much as possible. However I thought I would share some pictures from our regular walk.

As told by Bijou and Summer...

 In our harnesses ready to go!

 Lets go!

 Leaving the apartment

 Sometimes we walk really close

 Sometimes we walk far apart,

 And sometimes Summer drags us along.

 We had to drag mom up this hill.

Beautiful day!

 mmm good smells

 Made it to the top!

So tired.

So our walk starts with a steep hill to get out of the complex and then back down the steep hill to get to the main road. I love living in this area because the roads are lined with sidewalks and the girls and I can usually walk about 2-3 miles. It's extremely hilly too which makes for a good butt workout! Haha. 

Wordless....Thursday

Sisters.

Beautiful day at the dog park!

I am a proud mama today. The girls were angels at the dog park. Bijou made friends with everyone and actually PLAYED with other dogs. Summer decided that playing fetch is now her new favorite game. And then there was a comment Matt and I heard as we walked around the dog park.....

"Every pit bull I have seen here is always so well behaved. Like that one [referring to our very own baby Summer]."

For every pit bull owner, this is huge. It made me so proud not only of my own baby but of every other pit bull owner who goes to that park. 

Now Summer and Bijou are not always complete angels at the park but Matt and I are learning how to make every time a positive experience. Just this past weekend I told Matt I wanted to walk around the entire dog park a few times when we first walked in. This helped Summer who has issues with dogs running up to her face (she will snap at them). It gave her the opportunity to view all the dogs from afar and if a dog did approach she could keep moving instead of turning to snap at them. It worked.




Seriously though, it was as close to perfect as we can get at the dog park. It was extremely motivating to hear that comment but a small part of me is bothered by it. The reason our pit bulls are so well behaved is because of how people would react if they were not. Yet there are so many other dogs at that park that go quite often who have terrible manners and owners that have no understanding of dog behavior. Though I loved hearing how well behaved all the pit bulls are, I would much rather hear how well behaved ALL the dogs are.

Natural Flea and Tick Remedy - we need YOUR input!

It's not Bijou, it's DA Bijou!

Good morning everyone! My dogs are out of flea and tick medicine and as today is payday I was perusing the interwebs in search of the best price for the usual stuff. Then a thought occurred to me and I can't believe I was actually looking to use these toxic chemicals! Our girls have been on a raw diet for almost two months now and they are doing great. Summer barely has any dandruff and her coat is looking shinier. So how could I go and put toxic chemicals onto her skin??? I have no idea what I was thinking.

So this is where you, my readers, come in. I want to know if you use a natural form of flea and tick prevention. If so, what do you use? If not, what are your thoughts on going natural or why wouldn't you? 

Thank you so much, your input is greatly appreciated!

Wordless Wednesday

Yay! An award!

Thank you to One Pibbles Wish for awarding me with the Liebster Blog Award!

 

1 - Copy/paste the award to your blog - Done!
2 - Link back to the blogger who gave you the award - Done!
3 - Choose five blogs with fewer than 200 followers and let then know you've given them the Liebster Blog award - Done!
4 - Hope the five you've chosen will continue to spread the love!

Congratulations to the following blogs... (sorry if this is a repeat!)

Redberry Cottage
The Doggy Blogger
A & A Friese
Shit My Pit Does: Real Life Stories of a Pit Owner
Trinity's Love

Please visit these wonderful blogs!

School is extremely busy so apologize for the lack of blog posts. Currently Bijou and Summer are napping and running in their dreams :)

Tricks for Treats

The girls wanted to share their favorite tricks with everyone....

please check your sound as Bijou talks very loudly at times.

Bijou and Summer would love to know what other tricks you think they should learn!

Would you agree to this?

From culture.wnyc.org

Mitt Romney put his family dog on top of their car in the dogs carrier. I don't care how many people are in my car, my dog would NEVER go on top.

Here is a link to the story on NPR. Read the full story.

I would love to hear your feedback on this and if it would change your view on a presidential candidate.

Deer Antlers

I can not tell you how many people told me that Deer Antlers are great for dogs and last forever. Both our girls are excessive chewers and can destroy anything. I have yet to find something they can not tear apart. So after hearing how awesome these Deer Antlers are, I finally broke down and bought Summer one for her birthday.

Bad idea.

If I hadn't taken it away they would have finished it within hours. HOURS.

I don't think that comes close to forever. Man do people exaggerate. That or my dogs are just ridiculous chewers.

Moral of the story - if you have an aggressive chewer do not spend a ridiculous amount of money on a Deer Antler like I did. You're welcome.

What breed of dog is best for me?

What breed of dog is best for me? This was the title of a yahoo article that actually bothered me when I started reading it. I understand there are certain characteristics of breeds that may fit your lifestyle but when it comes down to it, personality-not breed-is what matters.

Okay, I'm guilty of stereotyping dogs by breed. I have this thing against Huskys (would that be Huskies? Not sure how to spell that). Not only did I almost lose a finger when one tried to bite me, my little dog Bijou was also attacked by one at the dog park (Bijou is very dominant and this dog had her cowering). I have met some nice Huskys but I am always wary of them.

Despite this I always try to think about the individual dog its self and not the breed. Just like people you can't judge someone by the way they look. Yes, certain breeds have particular traits. But I have met some dogs that act nothing like their breed says they should.

So when you're looking for a dog don't think 'what breed is best for me'. Look for the dog's personality that is going to complement you and/or your family's personality and lifestyle.

When I went looking for a dog I contacted a rescue after seeing a gorgeous Irish Wolfhound on their Facebook page. I really wanted a larger dog (I LOVE great danes!) that would be a good couch potato. Once I started talking to the rescue we realized that the Wolfhound would not live well in an apartment. So in my next e-mail I sent them a short bio about myself and what kind of dog I would like to find. They replied with about 6 different dogs that would do well with apartment living, wouldn't mind being left for long hours, and liked to go for walks. I was skeptical of Bijou being that she was only 30 pounds and I still wasn't convinced when I adopted her! But the rescue was extremely encouraging and told me that Bijou would really warm up to me in a few days. And of course, they were correct.

 

 Bijou and I on adoption day. January 24, 2010.

Although Bijou was very different than what I originally went looking for she was exactly what I needed. She is an amazing little dog that finds her way into your heart :)

Some photos of our 'firsts'...

First full day home and she had already claimed my pillow!

On the way home from our first visit to the dog park. Who wouldn't love that smile?

First snow! Bijou was not impressed.

First adorable snuggle!

First day of sunshine! At grandma and grandpas.

First day at the barn and learning how to listen to mommy with lots of distractions.

First time meeting her cousin Charlie. 

First time meeting her baby sister.

Alright that's enough firsts! I would love to hear everyone's stories of succesful adoptions/rescues. Share in the comments below or link to a post where you have shared the story on your own blog. I just love happy 'tails'!

Doggie Birthday Cake Recipe

Go on over to my baking blog to see the recipe for Summer's Birthday Cake! Gluten free and didn't cause any upset tummies!


Sarah Loves to Bake my gluten and dairy free baking blog. Even though I absolutely love my dogs I also LOVE to bake! Check it out, and also read why I started the blog. It's something I'm very proud of :)

Summer is one!

The girls found a patch of sun to warm up in this afternoon. Far left is Bijou, Summer in the middle, and Abby on the right (Matt's roomate's dog).

Today is Summer's first birthday! One year old! I can hardly believe it was almost a year ago that we got the little tiny puppy who has now grown to be huge! I love our baby girl and she has quite enjoyed her birthday festivities. Check my baking blog tomorrow for the recipe to her Peanut Butter Sweet Potato Bone Cake (Sarah Loves to Bake).

This is Summer, today as a one year old...

and Summer as a tiny barely 6 week old puppy :)