Monday, November 21, 2005
This weekend we attended a local Doggie Fest. The event was a lot of fun and there were lots of contests to enter. Henry entered the “Best Smile” and “Most Unusual Looking” competitions and Benjamin entered the “Curliest Tail” and “Best Wag” competitions.
The boys had fun at the event and Benjamin took home 2nd place in the “Curliest Tail” competition. Imagine a pug only coming in second place in a curliest tail competition! First place went to an Akita that had a unique kink in his tail.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
This diet has worked very well for our pugs over the years, however, I recommend you check with your vet before switching your dog’s food. We worked very closely with our vet to determine what to feed our pugs and since every situation is different I strong encourage you to work with your vet if you want to create a special diet for your pug.
Well, as you can see by the above photo there is a lot of work that goes into the preparation of the boys’ meals. Their special diet began when Benjamin developed Pancreatitis. He was a very sick little boy and had to be in the hospital for 4 days. Pancreatitis is difficult to diagnose and really to this day we aren’t completely convinced that the diagnosis was correct. It occurred at a time when we were unable to get in touch with our regular vet and had to rely on a family member’s referral. It was not a vet we were completely comfortable with but we really did not have a choice but to go on her advice. After the whole ordeal was over and Baby Benny was safe at home with brother Henry again we were able to see our regular veterinarian and she told us that it may have been Pancretitis but we could not be sure because it was so far after the onset and the first vet had not done a lot of truly necessary lab work to give an accurate diagnosis. However, our favorite vet did recommend that we switch to a special diet for both boys. Our favorite vet, (we’ll call her “Dr. H”) is more of a holistic type of vet and very into using foods and dietary supplements to solve many of today’s medical problems before trying medications that may be unnecessary and cause unwanted side effects. (I don’t know why but I am embarrassed to say that I do this for the dogs but not for myself.) Anyway, Dr. H gave us a list of homemade foods that we could try to keep the boys healthy. She recommended a low fat diet. This was especially important for Benjamin because if the diagnosis of Pancreatitis was correct, then a diet high in fat would cause serious relapses which may include death. We knew there was really no other choice. Of course, Henry would also benefit from the high quality meals. However, it is a lot of work and somewhat expensive. Personally, I justify the cost in what it saves in vet bills and the sheer fact that you cannot put a price tag on good health. Anyway, here is the “secret recipe”:
1½ cups of browned ground turkey (97% fat free)
1 heaping tablespoon of canned pumpkin
1 heaping tablespoon of plain fat free yogurt
1 heaping tablespoon of cooked plain oatmeal
The boys eat 3 meals per day. They have been on this diet for about 2½-3 years (they will be 4 years old in late March and early April). Benjamin weighs in at 20 pounds and Henry is a hearty 23 pounds. They do get the occasional table scrape but it is most often a very healthy choice (i.e carrot stick, bite of banana, Cheerio) unless it is time to clip their nails in which case, all the stops come out and the baggie of Chinese noodles are used for wiggle control. We have often been asked how we keep the boys in such great shape and that is when we discuss their special diet. They also go for at least 2 walks per day for at least ½ mile each walk. It is a big job keeping the gluttons in good condition but that is the job of a dedicated pug mommy. So, this job is done with a smile!
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Last Sunday, we went to our local dog bakery, Doggie Dayz Bakery. It was our first time there and the bakery was awesome. The bakery was fully stocked with all types of goodies and the thing the boys loved the most was the doggie bar. The doggie bar was normal counter height, but to make it dog accessible there was a set of stairs leading up to it. At the top of the counter were bowls filled with assorted treats. Once at the top of the stairs, the boys could pick any treat they wanted from the bowls. Needless to say, the boys loved being able to help themselves to their very own samples.
The treats are made with all natural ingredients, so they fit into the boys’ diet. We bought a bag full of assorted goodies so the boys could try all the different treats. We are trying to figure out their favorites so we know what to stock up on during our next visit.
Monday, November 14, 2005
One evening last week, when the boys and I returned home from our evening walk, we found this package by our door. The box was business cards that I had ordered earlier in the week, but the UPS man also left two treats for the pugs that always bark whenever he comes near.
Needless, to say the boys were quite surprised to find treats waiting for them at the door. After Ben ate his treat and we went inside the house, he even scratched at the door so that he could go back outside and check for more treats on the porch. Lucky for them, I like to do most of my holiday shopping online, so maybe they will get lucky and get more extra special packages delivered.
Friday, November 11, 2005
After a couple hours at the dog park we had two tired pugs on our hands. They slept the entire trip home and never stirred once. Which is highly unusual for Henry because he usually gets very excited whenever he hears the the car blinker.
All in all everyone had a great trip!
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Once we arrived at the dog park the boys were ready to romp. Our first stop was the small dog area. Once through the gate the boys quickly greeted their fellow dog park goers and then had fun playing in the sand and running around the small pond.
After spending some time in the small dog area, we went to the fenced trails section. This is one of the boys’ favorite areas. They love to run the trails hopping over fallen branches and running through the brush. Here is an action shot of the boys. Ben is leading the way and Henry is just getting ready to hop over a branch.
After walking the trails we headed back to the small dog area. The boys were still full of energy and were running around the pond when a very young Boxer puppy arrived. The Boxer was adorable, but it was very young and it still wasn’t quite sure how to interact with the smaller dogs. As soon as the Boxer entered the small dog area it set its sites on an unsuspecting Papillon. Within one minute of being in the park, the Boxer had pounced on the Papillon and the Pap was shrieking for help. The Boxer not picking up on the Pap’s cues had to be pulled off of the small Papillon.
The Boxer’s owners tried to calm the boxer down and moved her away from the Papillon. The Boxer then headed right for Henry. I wasn’t too worried when the boxer headed our way. The boys are fairly rough and tumble and I would consider Henry a very rough player. He usually seeks out the biggest dog at the park and tries to play with him.
So as soon as the Boxer came over to the boys she jumps right on top of Henry. Well Henry didn’t take to well to this and he wiggled his way out from underneath the Boxer and gave the Boxer a run for her money. After a few brief seconds, we called Henry off to settle him down and to give the Boxer a chance to regroup. Poor, Boxer, all she wanted to do was play, but she was just way too rough for the small dogs.
To help ease the tension, we headed back to the trails to give the Boxer some more time to get acquainted with the other dogs. When we came back to the small dog area, the Boxer was no longer there. Surprisingly, the boys still had some energy left and they decided to run around, up and down a huge sand pile. Here they are perched at the top enjoying the view and acting like they own the place.
Monday, November 7, 2005
On Sunday, the weather was fantastic. It wasn’t too hot or humid so we thought it would be a great day to spend at Dogwood Park. Dogwood park is an enormous dog park with all kinds of fun stuff for dogs. The only problem is that it is 89 miles away from our house. So, needless to say, we don’t get there very often, but when we do we have a blast.
Luckily, the boys do very well in the car and enjoy going for car rides. They seem to like the rides much more now that they have their doggie seat belts and are allowed to ride in the back seat. Before they rode in the very back part of our SUV in a crate so they would be safe.
Even though they like to ride in the car, they knew they were going to the park and the anticipation was keeping them from resting like they normally do in the car. For the entire ride Henry sat on the floor in the back with his head on the armrest asking, “Are we there yet?”
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