Thanks to Comedy Plus for hosting Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Hey there, this is Riley here to give you my good news. Can you guess what it is?
Did you notice? No, it’s not that I have an old bone. It’s that I DON’T have something. Here, I’ll give you a hint. When I got up yesterday morning I looked like this:
Yes! I got the ear wrap and the cone off after the nice vet took the stitches out of my right ear flap. I’m so, so, so happy! Thanks, friends, for your pawrayers and good wishes. *wags!* And just in case you want to see me one more time without all that cr… stuff on my head…see my right ear? It’s not a painful balloon anymore! I guess you could say I’m a day early on Thankful Thursday!!
Lucy: We all love our Dad, and are thankful he was here to feed us and take care of us and sleep with us. Uh, or let us sleep with him. I guess it’s the same thing. We surrounded him with love both nights Mom spent in the hospital with our brother Adam.
Xena: We are all thankful that our brother Adam made it through the surgery OK and is in a hospital room recovering. Every day he gets a little better. I sure wouldn’t like to have a hole in my stomach letting icky stuff out into my body or something called an ulcer leaking lots of blood into my stomach. *shiver* He had both those things! That was the scariest Halloween ever for Mommy and Adam. But he’s going to be alright. We want to thank everyone for your prayers and POTP and purrayers and good thoughts and wishes. It all helped!
Riley: I will be super thankful next week when I get the stitches out of my ear and hopefully the ear wrap and the cone of honor removed. Right now I’m thankful for good food and my pack.
Chia: Mom has decided I’m way too thin and has started giving me more food. Yay! Thanks, Mom!
Xena: You oughta be thankful Mom even gives you food after you unstuffed Riley’s bed and Mom’s bed quilt and chewed up the zipper on Daddy’s favorite fleece. Chia: *Grrr*. You can’t prove any of that!
Lucy: Girls, this seems like a good time to finish up our post with World Peace Day. I’ll start. I think if everyone could just agree to disagree, and to accept each other’s differences, there would be peace in the world.
Chia: Ummm, let me think…I know! If everyone played nice together, there would be peace. So, who wants to play with me?
Xena: I think life would be more peaceful if little sisters didn’t bug their older sisters; if everyone was held and loved; and if everyone’s tummies were full.
Many thanks to Comedy Plus for hosting Happy Tuesday.
Xena: We’re still waiting for Mommy to come home. She’s still at the hospital with our brother Adam. We haven’t seen her since Sunday morning. We are all going to be sooooo happy when she walks through that door. It’s true, she sent instructions to Daddy about how to feed each one of us, and what supplements or medicines we get, and how to cut the aloe plant and who gets it rubbed on their poor tummies. He’s trying really hard. We even saw the email she sent him saying, “Now, don’t you wish you had let me teach you how to feed them their raw diets?” And we all curled up tight next to him in bed last night. Anyhoo, I guess — no, I know — we’re all very happy that Daddy is still here with us. Lucy, haven’t you been wanting to introduce a new groom?
Lucy Ace Reporter here with another episode of Grooming with Mom
Today I want to introduce our newest groom, Katie. Katie is a peach-colored miniature poodle. Her 5th birthday is coming up this month. Groomer Mom loves doing the poodle cut, and only has one other pooch she can subject to this, so she was tickled to get this pretty girl in for a groom. Katie’s Mom asked for what Groomer Mom refers to as a modified puppy cut. Groomer Assistant Dad was recruited to hold Katie while she had her front paws shaved and nails cut. Groomer Mom is quoted as saying, “He’s extremely good with the dogs.”
Since Katie was not in bad shape to begin with, there is no “before” picture. Here she is after her groom.
We want to thank Lily Parker’s Mom for the referral! If you missed Lily, you’ll get to see a real before picture by clicking here. I also want to report that Lily has been back twice since her initial groom in August. She was still covered in fleas, but her Mom’s working on that, and ordered the special collar her excellent groomer told her to get after the first visit! After her last groom, her Mom texted Groomer Mom: “Perfect! I really love the way you do her cut. Keeps her looking like a sweet little baby pup!” Groomer Mom said it made fighting all those fleas worth it.
Lucy, Ace Reporter, signing off with a promise to keep you updated on our brother Adam’s progress.
Xena: Pupdates? Does this mean you have a date with Achilles, Lucy?
Lucy: No, Xe, although I wish I did. There’s just been a lot going on around here, especially with Riley and with our brother Adam.
Chia: Whatcha’ll woofin’ about?
Xena: Everything going on around here. We wanted to do a Halloween post, but this stuff is more important.
Chia: I don’t care what anyone said, it wasn’t me that unstuffed Riley’s dog bed.
Lucy: We all know it was you, so quite your fibbing. Besides, this isn’t about you today. Let’s start with Riley
Riley: I’m trying to get a last pre-food nap in. Leave me alone, will ya?
Lucy: Go back to sleep, Ri. I’ve got this. Ahem. Lucy, Ace Reporter here…
Xena and Chia: *groan*
…reporting on Riley’s ear situation. As many of you know, Riley whacked his ear on something hard while he was shaking his head. It was later determined that the cause of the shaking was both a bacterial and fungal infection in both ears. The ear hit so hard that the Mom heard something go *whack* but didn’t know the source. The next morning, while sitting on the floor next to Riley to put in his eye drops, the Mom saw that his right ear was swollen “like a balloon” and sticking straight out from his head. The vet didn’t have time to do a full aural hematoma (that’s a techinical medical term) repair because of being already booked full with surgeries that day. Instead, they sedated Riley, drained the blood and liquid and put an “ear wrap” (another medical term) on to try to keep it from refilling. Per Murphy’s Law, this occured the day before the folks were going away for their anniversary trip, when they dropped this reporter and her sister Xena at our Uncle Bill and Auntie Jen’s.
This Ace Reporter was told the dog sitter took good care of Riley, yet the ear had swollen back up by Sunday night. Upon our return, the Mom took Riley back to the vet to have the aural hematoma surgery performed. The surgery had been scheduled the week before on a “just in case” contingency. The patient was quite loopy all that evening, but returned to “himself” within a day or two. He kept managing to get one or the other of his ears out of the now-hated wrap.
Another instance of Murphy’s Law then kicked in. A week ago on Saturday afternoon when all except the emergency vet was closed, he managed to drop the full, undisturbed bandage on the floor, with his ear still in the green wrap. The Mom and the Dad worked together to use gauze pads and scotch tape to create what appeared to be a viable alternative. Thatworked for about an hour. The Mom wanted to move to duct tape, but The Dad forbid it. They once again created a new bandage wrap for his ear that didn’t come off until bedtime, when they gave it one last try before turning out the lights for the night.
The next morning the newest bandage came off and out of the ear wrap before the first cup of coffee was drunk. The Dad went to the corner CVS drugstore and stocked up on everything one might want to bandage an ear. This time, after wrapping it with gauze, they laid it flat against Riley’s head and went over his ear and round and round his head with a stretch wrap before placing the expensive green ear wrap back on. That lasted until The Dad got Riley to the vet for his first recheck the next afternoon. They were both feeling pretty good about it, and thought that the vet staff would congratulate them on their ingenuity. *rolls eyes* (Why do I feel like I’m at Nelly and Phenny’s house?)
The ear was examined after looks of horror at what the staff saw upon removing the green ear wrap. They unwound the stretch wrap and the gauze and saw that the ear was healing nicely. They re-wrapped the ear — correctly — and put the green ear wrap back on so tight that it was said that Riley is “so wrinkled on his forehead that he looks like a Shar Pei.” The Dad was told that Riley has to wear a cone at all times to prevent him from rubbing the side of his face on anything, causing the ear to come out or the wrap to come off even when the ear isn’t out. The vet did not want a repeat of home-made ear bandages. The Mom facilitated the cone by borrowing the Reporter’s collar, since Riley’s collar was too small to go all the way around with the green ear wrap on him.
Chia: So that’s why you’ve been running around the house naked all week!
Lucy: *blush* Anyhow so Riley has to go back for recheck #2 this Tuesday and probably another one a week later, at which time the stiches will come out and the expensive green ear wrap will come off. OK, Xena, do you want to tell about what’s happening with our brother Adam? *drops head* You’re his favorite.
Xena: Sure, Luce. First a picture so y’all will know who I’m talking about. This is Adam holding me about 3 years ago when I was only one. He loved Angel Lexi a lot, and he loves me a lot too. He thinks us schnauzers are the best!
Mommy got a call last Monday from Trish who is in charge of the group home where Adam lives. She said that Adam had passed out and fallen in the bathroom. There’s more gross details we won’t mention. He was weak and dizzy when he got up. He said it was ok for her to call 9-1-1, but when the EMT’s got there, he refused to go to the hospital. We know it’s because of the terrible trips to a different kind of a hospital over 20 years ago. Trish handed the phone to Adam, and Mommy tried her best to convince him to go. Nope. I overheard Daddy say the stubborn fruit didn’t fall far from the tree. Hmm, I wonder if that fruit is good to eat…
Anyhoo, that was the same afternoon that Daddy took Riley to the vet for his first post-op recheck. After hanging up with Trish, Mommy called Daddy and asked him if he was on his way home with Riley yet, ’cause they had to go to Cleveland (about a 40 minute drive without a lot of traffic). That’s where brother Adam lives. Thankfully, Daddy was almost home, so Mommy didn’t have to go alone or have to drive the old truck there. It took a lot of people doing a lot of convincing, but they were finally able to call the non-emergency ambulance and get Adam to the hospital. He was too weak to even walk out of his bedroom, and pale like chalk. Our folks had a pretty good idea what was happening, and knew that it was a life and death emergency to get him help right away.
In the E.R., he got all kinds of bloodwork done and a CT scan of his tummy. Our folks were right — he had a hole in his tummy and poisons were leaking into his body. His tummy was also filling up with blood from an ulcer, too. He hadn’t told anyone that he had been throwing up for weeks. Mommy knew something was wrong the first week of August when he was here for his birthday and didn’t eat his steak and shrimp. She saw how much weight he had lost, too. But his next regular checkup didn’t show anything ou of the ordinary.
The nice surgeon came to the E.R. to see Adam around 10 o’clock that night. He had originally planned on taking Adam into surgery right away, but when he looked at the CT scan, he saw the hole was on the far side of the stomach, right next to his colon, and behind his pancreas and something else I don’t remember what. So he gave Adam two more options. Adam picked having the tube run through his nose into his stomach. We won’t go into the black horror that kept coming out of it for a couple of days. He was hooked up to all kinds of other tubes, too, and had to keep getting blood transfusions.
Thursday he got another CT scan, and it seemed that the hole had closed, and things were looking up.
Friday evening the hospital called Mommy and told her that even though the hole had supposedly closed, the ulcer was bleeding into his tummy, and they needed to go in through a vein in his groin to place a “coil” in the ulcer. They said Adam was ok with it, and Mommy gave her permission.
Saturday the surgeon called again. He said Adam’s crit was all matted [hematocrit] and very low. He said that whenever Adam got another blood transfusion, thatt crit thing would go up. Then later when they would check it again, it would have dropped low again. The doctor asked Mommy to meet him up at the hospital this morning (Sunday) around 8 o’clock. More bloodwork would be done, and if the crit was low, he would need to take Adam to the O.R. to repair the ulcer. Mommy knew she was going to have another fight on her hands convincing Adam that this was necessary.
We’re all waiting here for them to come back and tell us how our brother Adam is. In the meantime, please send your prayers, POTP and good thoughts his way. And maybe a few for Mommy, too. She has been what’s called an “emotional wreck.” We’re doing our part with POTP and being on our best behavior. We hope to be able to give you good news later today or tomorrow.
Lambie, please say a prayer for our brother Adam to be OK.
This is Lucy (Ace Reporter) and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess waiting for some good news.
Thanks to Comedy Plus for hosting Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
I was sitting around minding my own business when I heard Mommy’s phone go *ding!* I think she was in the bathroom and didn’t hear it. So I looked to see what it was *dinging* about. Hey, if I can figure out how to use Alexa to get my supper, this oughta be pretty easy!
While looking at the phone, I remembered Mommy always uses her finger to swipe down from the top to see her messages. I thought my pawpad might work, even though this wasn’t an eyepad…bingo! Here’s the text!
Heyy is this Damir? its Bexley… we chatted on tagged last time I came down to see my relatives but we didn’t connect irl…Im back n the area for a min if u wanted 2 actually meet up this time, around?
Since I know there is no one here by the name of Damir, I texted this back:
U have the wrong number
It worked! I got an answer! And the person even sent me her picture. She must be really nice.
Ouch did I just text some random dude? Ouch My bad. Im such stupid some of the time.
I didn’t want my new friend to feel bad, so I let her know it was ok and sent her my picture.
I’m a dog, not a dude, and I didn’t even understand half your abbreviations. Don’t worry about it.
Then I got this reply:
Thank you for not being pissed off! I suppose not all men are a jerk that gives out fake phone nos haha; P Wanna chat? What is ur name?
I was sitting there wondering why she thought I was a man. I looked at my picture real close to be sure I didn’t look like a man in it. Right then, Daddy walked by and saw me using Mommy’s phone. He looked at the texts and said, “Xexe, it’s a robot.”
Whaaaaat? How could a stupid robot text us? Nonetheless, Daddy said I wasn’t allowed to text with my new robot friend anymore. Not even after Bexley tried one more time…
Haha cool meeting ya! Thanks 4 keeping me company . What kinda hijinks do u get up 2?
I so wanted to tell her I love to dance and go for rides and get treats. And I like playing with both my sisters, too. Maybe she’ll text me back when Mommy or Daddy aren’t around.
Mom: Riley, I’ve got good news. Your nice vet, Dr. Holscher, sent me the results of your bloodwork:
“We received the results of Riley’s labwork from his visit to CHAI yesterday. Overall, everything looks great! His red and white blood cell counts, organ values, electrolytes, and thyroid hormone are all within normal limits. His heartworm test was negative.”
She also told me on the phone that the xrays and bloodwork showed that nothing is wrong in your abdomen or anywhere else. It looks so big because, well, because of fat. I told her it started looking like that when you were on steroids because of your ears. We do need to try to get you more exercise. We just have to be careful to not exercise too much because it also showed that you have spinal lumbar arthritis, which can cause the pain we see from time to time when you walk up our front hill. We’ll just have to remember to give you your cream cheese-coated CBD oil treat about an hour before going walking. Speaking of going walking, are you ready to give me urine and feces samples to drop off before work tomorrow?
Riley: You have got to be kidding me. Pee in a cup? No way.
*shortly*
the next morning…
Riley: Hey, that was a good CBD and cream cheese treat. Are we going walking? Hey! Why are you putting me in the car? No! No! *shaking*
the next morning..
Riley: What happened?
Mom Amy: How are you feeling, dear boy? Your ear flap was filling with fluid again, so we had to help you with that. You sure slept soundly when you got home from your surgery late yesterday.
Riley: You mean the hematoma?
Mom Amy: You always were a smart boy. Yes, the hematoma. We already had the surgery scheduled for in case the quick fix didn’t work. Now your ear’s OK.
Riley: If it’s OK, then take this hood off me.
Mom Amy: No can do. The doc gave firm orders it is to stay on at all times except when you go back to their office once a week for the next three weeks to check your ear.
Riley (beginning to shake): No! I don’t want to go back! No!
Lucy: Don’t worry, my friend. I’ll go with you and hold your paw.
Chia: Me too! Me too! Me too!
Riley: I’m thankful for my friends, although they do seem a bit over-enthusiastic about going to the vet…
We are joining Comedy Plus with much thanks for hosting Awww Mondays.
Xena: Thanks for holding me Auntie Jen. You’ve had a busy day and I’m glad to be here for you. Uh, where’s my Uncle Bill? Did Mommy leave my comb so I could look pretty for him?
Lucy: Mmph, mm, mmph. *pushes up head* Ah, I couldn’t talk with you laying on my head, sister. I want to be next to you, Auntie Jen, and cuddle and let you know I love you, too.
Xena: Is it time to eat yet? Where’s my Uncle Bill? Mommy gave him the instructions for feeding me, um, I mean feeding me and Lucy.
*Later*
Achilles: Ella? Don’t you wanna play with me and Lucy? What’s wrong?
Ella: My back legs hurt. You know, the ones I had surgery on. Mom warned me about running and playing too hard, but I was just so excited that you’re here, Lucy.
Uncle Bill: Yes, well, about that…uh, I think we’re all set with liver treats, and I’ll have them sent to you when they arrive. How about if you just cuddle here on my lap while I work?
*later*
Achilles: I love you, Lucy. I want you to live here.
Lucy: I love you too, Achilles. I would stay here with you and your sister Ella, but I can’t ’cause it would break my Dad’s heart. Why don’t youand Ella come home with me? You’d have fun playing with Chia – if you didn’t mind her hanging off your cheek – and we could be together forever.
Achilles: I can’t, my love. Riley and I don’t get along. I can’t stand the thought that he used to be your boyfriend. Grrr.
Lucy: But I never loved him like I love you, honey.
Both: *sigh*
Lucy: Mom and Dad will be here soon. Please ask Auntie Jen and Uncle Bill to bring you to visit me. And take good care of my BFF Ella, please. Bye bye until next time. *smooch*
Xena: I heard Mommy ‘splainin to Uncle Bill all about how to feed me and Lucy. That’s when I realized I was gonna get left! Aghh! After her and Daddy left, I laid by the back door for 87 minutes waiting for her to come back, while the three “biggies” got all the excitement out of themselves.
Uncle Bill works from home, and everyone collapsed in his office. Since I hadn’t been running around like a crazy dog, I was able to help Uncle Bill with his work.
Uncle Bill even texted Mommy to let her know how great I was helping him with quotes on Dell products. Let’s see, I think this one could sell for about a gazilion liver treats. I love my Uncle Bill. Hmmm. Maybe it won’t be so bad being here for a few days after all…as long as I get to cuddle with him all night.
Riley: I can’t believe Mom Amy and Dad Jeff up and left again. Wednesday they took me to the new vet and left me all day. I was on my best behavior this time and everyone was super nice to me. They even helped me relax and take a little nap while I was there.
Chia: I wondered where you were. What happened?
Riley: When I woke up Wednesday morning after having a rough night with “the runs,” my left ear flap was swollen up like a balloon. I found out after the folks picked me up from the vet hospital late on Wednesday that it was something called a hematoma. While I was napping, the doc drained all the extra blood out of my ear flap and strapped my ears down to the side of my head. She said both my ears have fungal and bacteria infections and I must have hit something hard with my head when I was shaking my ears. They cleaned out my ears and put medicine in them while I had my nap, too. I found out they also stole some of my blood to send off to the the labs. If I catch those labradores, they’re in big trouble. But they must be smart dogs, cause they’re gonna let us know if I have heartworms, why my abdomen is so big, why the lymp nodes on my back legs are swollen (I don’t limp), why I had liquid poop, and if it would be safe for me to come back next week and take an even longer nap. I might have to do that if my ear flap swells up again. So where’s Mom Amy and Dad Jeff, and where’s Lucy and Xena?
Chia: I heard something about an anniversary trip. Mom took Lucy – my best buddy – with her. And she took Xena – my second best buddy and the only dog in the house who can make Alexa obey her.
And she took the laptop with her. So I’m gonna try to get on the work ‘puter as Mom. I can pound on that keyboard type really fast. Then she will get paid for working while she’s gone. And I’ll (hopefully) get more treats. Pretty smart, huh? But I’m gonna take a work nap first.
Ace Reporter here on the Groom Beat with an update on Roxxii.
Roxxii’s first groom by Groomer Mom got reported a little over three years ago. Now this Ace Reporter is back with a practically unbelievable story about what’s happened to her in the last year.
When Roxxii was first introduced, it was explained that her Mom was the girlfriend of one of brother Andrew’s friends. About 1 1/2 years ago, Andrew’s friend took his own life while his girlfriend, who we’ll call Em, was in the house with him. Understandably, she was a total wreck after that. (Groomer Mom explained this all to me.)
Well, about 14 months ago, Groomer Mom got a text from Em saying she had been in jail, and the police took Roxxii to our local shelter. When she got out, the shelter had “adopted” out Roxxii and wouldn’t give Em any more info. Em needed her old girl and all the unconditional love she gave, and she felt that Roxxii needed her, too. Mommy wished with all her heart that she had known what was going on, ’cause she would of gone to the shelter and bailed Roxxii out to live with us until Em could get her. But now it was too late.
Fast forward to last week. I’m gonna give you the full story since I am a reporter of integrety.
Daddy came home from work in our old truck that was suddenly missing the passenger side mirror. Over supper he told us that as he was pulling out from our subdivision onto the main road at o’dark thirty, a set of headlights suddenly appeared coming around the curve, and the truck was moving fast! He whipped his head around to see if he was about to get rear ended. As he did, he heard a loud bang! but didn’t know what had happened. Remember, it was really dark out. The next time he looked out at his mirror, it was gone! It all had happened in just a couple of seconds, with no time to think. In telling us about it, he came to the conclusion that there was also a truck coming toward him. (Yes, he was driving our truck, and the vehicle tearing up behind him was a truck, and the vehicle coming from the other direction was a truck.) (Remember, we live in Tennessee.) Anyhow, he figured the truck coming toward him in the oncoming lane must have had a ladder or something sticking out from the truck bed, and that’s what hit his mirror.
Fast forward to the next evening. Our folks had just finished their yummy supper out on the porch when they heard someone ring the front doorbell. As usual, Mommy got up to see who it was. Long story shorter, it was the nice young man who had been driving toward Daddy. And he had our truck’s shattered mirror in his hand. After everyone talked for about an hour, Daddy realized what had really happened. What really happened? Here’s the scoop!
Daddy, needing to turn right out of our subdivision, looks to the left before pulling out. Seeing no headlights, he starts to pull out, and is too far out when headlights suddenly appear, coming way, way over the speed limit at him. As he reflexively looks back over his shoulder to see if he’s going to get hit, he doesn’t turn the wheel hard enough and crosses the center line, where this young man is just reaching him in his own truck. Their driver side mirrors collide. No one stops, because that would be suicide at that point. You know, ’cause of the maniac tailgating Daddy and just ditches on both sides of the road.
The accident was clearly my Daddy’s fault because he crossed the center line. The young man somehow tracked Daddy down using Google maps or some Googe app. After the congenial hour-long conversation, they decided it would cost too much to just give the man cash to replace his truck’s mirror and repair the scrapes on the side of his big, new truck. It would have to be turned into insurance. Which means the police would have to be called.
Next thing we knew, there was a police cruiser parked in front of the house. The policeman, who was the same age as the young man, asked him if he wanted to press charges. He said no. He knew it was an accident, and that my Daddy had nowhere to pull over, and so on and so on.
Lucy: Xena? What do you think you’re doing? Are trying to impersonate me?
Xena: Uh, well, you see..
Lucy: Yes or no?
Xena: Well maybe, but I never said I was you. *pushes laptop over in front of Lucy*
Lucy (really!), Ace Reporter here on the Groom Beat with an update on Roxxii.
That whole long story that only Xena could do in the name of journalism was to tell you that while Groomer Mom was down by the road with Dad and the police and the young man, a car pulls up and the lady asks if anyone knows where the groomer lives. Turns out, it was Roxxii’s grandmother and Em’s mother. She wanted to make a grooming appointment. Groomer Mom realized Roxxii was back, safe and sound. I was watching from the house and saw Groomer Mom doing a Happy Dance right there in the road! The grandma paid the dog shelter $1000 to get information to track down Roxxii. Man #1 who got her from the shelter was fostering her. Man #2 came to his house and took Roxxii and wouldn’t give her back. Man #3 got Roxxii from Man #2 and brought her to her grandma. This was over the course of several months. Her grandma has no idea who Man #3 is or how he knew where to bring her. His only caveat was that Roxxii live there with her grandma, since Em was back in jail and facing serious time. Roxxii’s grandma loves her and wanted to keep her anyhow, so she readily agreed.
Roxxii was in pretty bad shape groom-wise, so her grandma said to just “cut it all off.”
This is a picture from the first time Roxxii came to us, about three years ago.
She looked even worse this time, with her hair grown over her eyes and the eye snot underneath them stuck to her skin.
Here she is after her groom this time. Her hair had to be cut really short because of all the mats. Her grandma promised to keep bringing her so she doesn’t get in bad shape again.
I’m ready to go home with my Grandma now, Miss Amy.
We are very thankful for a happy ending for Roxxii.
Groomer Mom: While this turned out well for precious Roxxii, we are all praying and doing POTP for “Em.” We ask for your good thoughts for her to be able to get her life turned around.
Lucy (really!) and the imposter Xena, Ace Reporters, signing off.
Xena: Just one more thing to be thankful for! The young man whose truck mirror Daddy knocked off with our truck mirror just bought a zero turn lawn mower and, next summer, when it gets too hot for Mommy to cut the grass, he is going to start cutting it. And one more thing to be thankful for is he said we were so nice to him that he wants to take Mommy and Daddy out to dinner! BOL! It’s a crazy world!
Thanks to Shoko and Tyebe of the Canadian Cats and Nelly and Phenny of Easy Blog for hosting this yummy day.
And, despite it being very wordy Xena posting today, we’re also joining Wordless Wednesday blog hop. Thanks to Comedy Plus for hosting!
Hi everyone! Mommy said I’m such a snoopy dog, I might as well post the recipe I found in her old recipe box. I think this recipe would keep us fed for a very long time. I wonder if we could eat it raw. It would be done and ready to eat sooner that way, too. And it doesn’t have any foods I’m allergic to!
Mmm, daydreaming about stew.
Ready for the unique recipe I found in Mommy’s box? Here you are, and if you make it, be sure and let me know how it is. (Sorry, I don’t have any pictures of it.)
A note from my Mommy about Riley’s new food:
Shortly after my post about Riley’s new food, a concerned blogging friend emailed to say grain-free dog food has been associated with cardiomyopathy in dogs. I researched some articles, and there may be some correlation. Nothing has been proven yet, and there is not a final determination. I did want to make my readers aware of this, though. Even more importantly, I asked my holistic vet, who gave me the full story, and it does not correlate with most of what you find on-line, not even with the CDC report. She even explained in detail how the nutrients in the grains work and why there is now all this hype about it, without revealing the entire story. Once again, it comes down to the big dog food companies like Hills and Purina trying to beat down their competition. Most of The Honest Kitchen’s food is NOT grain-free, but contains whole grains, so I hope you will still check it out. The two things that stood out the most to me…. 1. It is all HUMAN-GRADE. I don’t have to worry about sick or euthanized animals or moldy corn being used in their food. 2. NO High Heat Cooking. First the meat and then the formed chunks are all cooked at a low temperature. The very high temperatures at which most other kibble is cooked causes carcinogenics to form. Also, if you do want to try it, check on-line with Petco. Apparently they are “gobbling up” most of what Honest Kitchen is selling, so they’ve got it in stock with free shipping over $30.
Thanks to my blogging friend for sending me this info, and I will soon be letting Riley try some of Honest Kitchen’s other great offerings!
Xena: Hey, Mommy, can we try the one with the funny-looking schnauzer on the bag? Or do you think they have any elephant recipe?
As many of you know, I choose to feed raw meat, as well as fresh fruit and lightly steamed veggies to my pups. Chia has successfuly – and joyfully – switched over, also.
Then there’s Riley. He looked longingly at the other dogs’ bowls as I placed his bowl of kibble on the floor. Technically, he is my son Andrew’s dog. Andrew is not in a situation where he can keep Riley right now, and probably not for the foreseeable future. We had Riley before he became Andrew’s dog, and we continue to love him more and more as each year passes – he’s a 75 pound 11-year-old. But, eventually, RiBoy will go back to living with Andrew. The two of them are closely bonded. Anyhow, if we switched Riley to raw now, he would not to continue on that diet.
We always want the best for him, things that can continue after he moves out again. So what to do about his food?
When my sister-in-law was here visiting this summer with her daughter and dog, I took a good look at the bag of dog food she brought.
This intrigued me, so I went to their website. I learned that the food was never cooked at a high temperature (it also says this on the back of the package, below. High cooking temps are a big contributor to cancer. There were a few ingredients I didn’t recognize, so I researched them, and they’re all good.
On the website I learned they only use human grade ingredients, and test batches by tasting them. Yes, the people eat the dog food!
So, now you know what Riley eats. He loves it. And it doesn’t bother me if one of the other pups eat a few chunks of his food. I couldn’t believe I had never heard of this food before!
After a couple of weeks of this, he began eyeing the fresh food that Lucy, Xena and Chia were eating, and looked a bit sad. So I began adding some “extras.” Fresh broccoli, homemade sauerkraut and beef bone broth, greens, carrots, greens beans, etc. There were a few he didn’t care much for at first; it took him a little time to get used to them. Now, he looks for what is hidden in amongst the other food and gobbles it all down together. Until I got this Honest Kitchen dog food, Riley never, ever cleaned his bowl, no matter what was added to it.
So, along with this new, healthy diet, becoming part of a pack, and the addition of 1-year-old Chia, Riley’s puppy side has once again emerged.
I want to add that I am not being paid or given anything for this post. I care, so I’m spreading the word. Let me know if you try it! Oh, and I just learned that the company is adding cat food, made with the same integrity, to their line of products.
Our Mom gets this dog food recall alert, which is what she copied and pasted below. The links are safe, so don’t be afraid to click them. We are so very thankful that we eat a fresh diet and don’t have to worry about aflatoxin killing us! But for those of you who eat kibble or canned dog food, ask your folks to read this article. We love you all and don’t want anyone to get sick from aflatoxin.
Dear Fellow Dog Lover, Like you… I’ve been watching in horror as the number of deadly dog food recalls that mention “aflatoxin poisoning” as the cause… has been increasing at an alarming rate. And frankly… I’m concerned. Not just because of the hundreds of innocent dogs that have already died… That’s bad enough. But… Because only a small fraction of dog owners seem to be aware of just how dangerous this toxic contaminant can be. Truth is… In larger doses, aflatoxin can kill a dog… suddenly… and without warning. These are the cases you hear about the most. But… What most dog owners don’t know is that… Chronic, long-term exposure to smaller doses of aflatoxin can be just as deadly. That’s because… Tiny, invisible amounts of the poison can accumulate in the body… over time… and can ultimately cause liver cancer… and death… later in your dog’s life. Which is why I published this revealing report: Aflatoxin… Avoiding the Deadliest Natural Toxin in Dog Food
What can you do right now… to significantly lower your dog’s risk of aflatoxin poisoning?Read the article here. Please help spread the word. And share this important article with other dog lovers. Keep learning. Mike Sagman, Editor
We’re joining Comedy Plus for theAwww Monday Blog Hop!
Miss Christy: You pups got a video message from your Mom. Gather round and I’ll play it for you. *mumbling* I never get video messages…I’ve never even stayed with pups before who got video messages.
Xena: The ocean sure looks calm there and small.
Riley: That’s not the ocean, it’s a swimming pool.
Lucy: She’s changed locations. Oh dear. Do you think she’s been stolen and we’ll have to go find her, or maybe give a reward to get her back?
Chia: Why isn’t anyone playing with me? Wait! What did she say at the end there? Miss Christy, did you tell her what we did yesterday, running off to to look for her and Dad on Talk Like a Pirate Day??
Miss Christy: No Chia. I promised I wouldn’t in exchange for you being a good girl for me.
Riley: What? Mom Amy found out? Xena, push the duster around the floor. I’ll pre-wash the dishes, and Lucy, you lick the kitchen floor clean.
Chia: What about me?
Riley: Hide that thing you chewed up and stay out of trouble.
Xena: And I’ll look up at her adoringly when she gets back.
Lucy: And I’ll try to not look too guilty.
Miss Christy: That’s right. You pups do all that work and I won’t have to. I’m sure she’ll forgive you then.
Chia: Won’t have to what, Miss Christy?
Miss Christy: Uh, umm *thinking* I won’t have to tell our little secret!
Xena: It’s really nice having Christie here with us, but isn’t it time for Mommy and Daddy to come home?
Lucy: I know it’s Mom’s long weekend birthday trip, but it seems like 87 days.
Chia: Play with me! Let’s play! I got your cheek, Lucy and I’m gonna pull until you play with me!
Xena: I want my Mommy.
Riley: I’m gonna go find them and bring them home I heard somethin’ about a beach.
Lucy: I saw this on social media:
Riley: That’s them! That beach can’t be too hard to find. Anyone with me?
All: We’re coming too!
*A few hours later.*
Chia: I’m wearin’ the hat and that makes me the captain. I wanna’ turn this wheel when we get goin’.
Riley: Smartly, me lasses. Daylights a’burnin’. We don’t wanna be caught out in a storm after dark and end up in Davey Jones’ locker. That’s right, everyone in. No scallywags or landlubbers amongst ye, right?
Xena: Uh, what makes you think you are less of a scallywag or landlubber than us?
Riley: Garr. I be showin’ ya’ this picture of me in the (un)briny water:
Xena: Oh, ok. Sorry. We’re jumping in.
*87 seconds later*
Chia: I’m the driver.
Lucy: The weather looks clear, Captain Riley. It should be a good trip.
Chia: I’M THE CAPTAIN!!!
Xena: Where’d you go, Captain Riley? Are we there yet?
Chia: I’M THE…
Everyone: Yeh, yeh, we know, YOU’RE the captain.
Riley: I’m up in the in the crow’s nest and I’m really tired after all that walking to get to the ship. I think I’ll take a nap.
Unknown woman by the boat: Are y’all ready for the ride to start?
I'm Dalton, a Rat terrier mix and I came here in Sept, 2017, I was rescued from Hurricane Harvey. My birthday is 8-20-2016. My Gotcha Day is 8-27-2017. And I am Benji, a terrier mix of unknown origin. MY Birthday is June 6, 2018, and my Gotcha Day is Dec 28, 2018. I also was a rescue from a different part of Texas. We also have Angel MrJackFreckles, (2-5-2018); and also we have Angel Minko, (6-18-2017); and Angel Pipo, (11-3-2020);There are also Angels Groucho, Simba, Suki, & Toki. We meezers used to be known as WeBeesSiameezers. We'e all from Michigan, Dalton and Benji both came here from Texas, as rescues..
Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess with Lucy and Chia 