Tag: Shadow

Taking A Break

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The girls and I are taking a fresh-air break…


We’ve been inside most of the morning – eating breakfast, having to listen to the news and the dog-daddy cussing at the TV, and me working on my test answers for Stage 2 of my Vet Assistant course.

Oh! I didn’t tell you yet! I got a 95% on my Stage 1 exam. Proud of myself? Hell Yes!!

Anyway, I have more work to do this afternoon on my upcoming test, so decided to get some fresh air first. And Ducky’s been in brat mode this morning. Hopefully the fresh air will settle her down a bit.

It’s chilly out here, like Spring should be! Temps are in the high 50s/low 60s, there’s a strong breeze (more like a “wind”), and the sun is playing peek-a-boo with the puffy, white clouds and gorgeous blue sky.


To think that this time last week I was wearing shorts and short-sleeve t-shirts and spending late afternoons in the air-conditioned house. Crazy weather!

Tomorrow is Shadow’s re-check appointment with Dr. Steve. Hopefully he’ll say the toe sprain has healed enough to be able to lift her playtime restrictions. We both miss our favorite game. And Ducky will be at daycare for a few hours.

We hope y’all will have a great day!!

So The Vet Said…

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About ten days ago I shared with you that I was concerned about Shadow’s odd meal-time behaviors in my post, Senior Eye Exam Scheduled. 

I wish I could have gotten a better video to show her odd behavior, but it just didn’t work out. 


As I told the vet, any time she senses that she’s being watched, Shadow stops eating. Period. But that being said….

When I finished telling the vet my slightly abbreviated version, the vet checked everything. Shadow’s eyes, her teeth, her spleen/abdomen area, and his records on her past visits. Her teeth are all good – which I expected him to say – except for a little tartar on one of her premolars. She does not have cataracts. She has a little bit of sclerosis (hardening) of the lens of both eyes; but it’s so slight that it is not a concern, nor is it painful.

I raised the concern that she’s not eating enough to stay healthy. The vet knows me well enough to know how hypersensitive I am to Shadow’s issues after Callie’s illness last year. I told him that on days when she eats her full meals she gets between 800 and 1,000 calories…

“For a dog her size, her age, and her activity level, she’s getting enough calories on average.” She had lost very little weight since January – maybe 4 ounces, if even that – so we’ll just do monthly weight checks and see if there’s any need for concern.

“In short,” the vet said, “Shadow is playing with your head. She knows your emotions well. So, what I suggest is some ‘tough love’ at meal time. Continue with the same food; and when she walks away from it, pick up the bowl and put away whatever’s left until the next meal. Eventually she’ll figure out that if she’s hungry, she’s going to have to eat her whole meal first time around. She’s not going to starve. If she starts losing weight too quickly, we’ll run tests again; but I don’t believe she will. There’s nothing in her chart to worry me right now.”

And with all that out of the way, we had to do an X-ray on her left foot. Since Wednesday afternoon, she’d been alternating between favoring the foot slightly and really limping noticeably. I’d been using ice packs on it and giving her some Tramadol; but it didn’t help. Turns out that in one of her jaunts around the yard – chasing the ball – she stumbled and sprained the second joint of the left toe on her left, front foot. (We did the X-ray to rule out any tumors.) So, she’s on rest, Tramadol, and generic Carprofen for the week. We go back for a re-check on Friday. She was already walking better by Friday night, so the Carprofen must be working. 🙂 

Yummy, Healthy Treats!

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#ChewyInfluencer

Time for another review! Can you believe April is nearly over already? I certainly can’t believe it!

Today the girls and I are reviewing the Sojos Blueberry Cobbler flavor treats that our friend at Chewy.com sent us.


These treats are made in Minnesota with fresh, wholesome ingredients: oat flour, rolled oats, blueberries, canola oil, vanilla, eggs, and honey.

Neither Shadow nor Ducky like the texture of blueberries, so this is a good way to get the girls to eat them. They are a perfect size for when I don’t want to spoil their appetite with too many between-meal snacks. And they love these bone-shaped treats. And the best part? They don’t aggravate Shadow’s reflux, either! (Just like the treats we reviewed last month!)

Disclaimer: As a Chewy Influencer, I received one box of Sojos Blueberry Cobbler flavor dog treats from Chewy.com in exchange for an honest review. I received no other compensation for this post.


Ducky, Shadow, and I would like to thank Sugar the Golden Retriever and Oz the Terrier for hosting this Chewy blog hop.

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Senior Eye Exam Scheduled

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Some days Shadow will eat her full meal first time around the bowl. Sometimes she’ll sniff at it and walk away.  And other times she goes through this weird ritual of eating some food, walking away, wandering around the kitchen like she’s lost, going back to the bowl and just picking at the food. And sometimes she walks around the kitchen oddly. It’s like an exaggerated alternating movement of her front paws.

(I wish I could take a video of this ritual to show the vet. BUT Shadow will walk away from the food bowl altogether if she knows or even senses that she’s being watched. That in itself is an odd behavior that started after Callie passed away.)

The wandering around the kitchen thing makes me wonder if maybe she has a hard time seeing well at times. Last week I decided to switch back to her old, stainless steel bowl from the large, black, plastic bowl. It helped a little bit but not enough to make a noticeable difference.

Being concerned that Shadow wasn’t eating enough to stay healthy, I would (more than) occasionally put some of her canned food on a spoon and hold it up for her at a level where I  believed she could see it better. And, usually, she ate it. When she didn’t want it, then I knew she just didn’t want to eat, period. And I would pick up the bowl and put it aside before feeding Ducky. I know. Spoon-feeding isn’t a good idea. But sometimes it was the only way to get her to eat her whole meal. She is so picky about her food to begin with that I can’t give her the same food two days in a row. Or even every other day. I was running out of food to try with her that I can afford and/or trust. And I have to be very careful about how much variety I give her at any one mealtime.

On Saturday morning, the new elevated food bowl I ordered from Chewy arrived. Supposedly, elevated food bowls help dogs with arthritis because they don’t have to bend as much to get to the food.  But I was thinking more along the lines that maybe it would also help her see the food better. 

Well, my own emotions have gotten off their roller coaster over the last few days, so Shadow isn’t being finicky about what she eats. Her ritual, however, continues and it’s baffling me…

While it’s not quite as exaggerated as it had been, it’s still evident. Some of it may be the aging process. After all, she celebrated her half-year birthday on Saturday  when she turned 11-1/2. She will eat some of her food out of the elevated bowl but then wander around the kitchen. The other day I emptied her food out of her bowl and onto a regular plate. As soon as I placed the plate on the floor, she started eating again. But she would back away and then move around the plate as though she was having trouble seeing after a moment or two. 

The last few days I’ve been putting her food first in the elevated bowl. When she starts to back away or wander, I transfer it to the plate. And when she backs away again, I turn the plate around. And she ends up eating her full meals, minus maybe 3 or 4 pieces of kibble. Maybe her peripheral vision is beginning to suffer from old age. Next week I’m taking her to the vet to find out what’s going on. Meanwhile, I’ll keep trying to get a video of her ritual to show the vet during her appointment.

Shame On Me

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Yes, I’m shaming myself. Let me tell you about it…

Yesterday, Ducky and I went over to the little dog park near our house to meet up with Casper and his mama.

As it turned out, the place was crowded – it was a warm, sunny day – and all the strangers around were overwhelming for Ducky’s anxieties. 

When Kayla and her hubby arrived and she got out of the car, Ducky started barking at her. She was wagging her tail tentatively. It was as though she wasn’t sure if this was truly her friend or not. 

Then Kayla got Casper out of the car. And instant recognition. After a super-happy, tail-wagging greeting between the pups, Ducky went to Kayla and put her front paws on Kayla’s knees and was rewarded with a big, loving, hello rub. I could see the joy in Ducky’s greeting.

After the greeting was over with, we decided to come back to my house for the pups to play in the ballfield across the street. But when we got here, the field was drenched in hot sun. 

So, we came around to the shady back yard. I had the hubby come out to get my wallet and keys – and to meet Kayla and her hubby – and then unlock the gate. He brought Shadow out, too. Brad left to go visit his grandmother while we girls chatted and watched the pups play.

Well, Casper played “hard to get” and my girls played. A few times all three of them ran the fence with both neighbors’ dogs. And chased each other along the fence line. Poor Shadow had a hard time keeping up with the youngsters, but she tried her hardest.

The whole time we were out here, both Kayla and I had our phones handy. And here comes the shaming part. Neither one of us thought to take even one picture!  

So, here’s a picture of Shadow and Ducky….

 
 Both girls were wiped out last night. And this morning. I bet Casper was too. Zzzzzz

That’s okay. Hopefully, the pups will have more play dates in the near future. (Kayla no longer works at Ducky’s daycare.) And we two hu-moms will be able to take pictures of our furry children playing together. 🙂

Thunderstorms

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A thunderstorm woke me up at 2:15 this morning. Normally I sleep right through them now that Callie is in heaven. This one was different.

I’ve been opening the bedroom window at night these past several nights and letting the cool air in. But when I awoke to the storm, Shadow was pacing in the small space between the bed and the bookshelf that sits on the floor beneath the window. 

Shadow has never been afraid of thunderstorms before; but she was definitely uncomfortable earlier. So, half asleep, I got out of bed and closed the window.  That helped a little, but she was still upset. I invited her up on the bed, and after a momentary hesitation she jumped up. 

Meanwhile, we got a loud clap of thunder and Ducky barked at it. I smiled in the darkness and she stopped. But Shadow moved closer to me. I turned on to my side and put my arm over her shoulders. After a few minutes she finally let out a deep sigh and relaxed.

The storm ended about half an hour later, but my sweet Golden baby is still on the bed even now. She’s fast asleep. And I’m wide awake, though yawning as I type this post. I’m glad she feels safe at my side; but I wonder what it was about this storm that made her feel so uncomfortable?  And what was it about this storm that woke me up? Maybe in my sleepy state I felt Shadow’s discomfort and knew she needed my reassurance that all was well?

Best Part Is No Bugs!

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Spring here in Taylors, SC, is great – when it’s not raining – the girls and I can relax in the backyard. The temperatures are in the low 70s (today at least) AND the warmest part of the day is right around 4 pm.  

 
And the best part is there are NO BUGS yet! There are a few bumble bees here and there; but the yellow jackets, noseeums, and fire ants are still hibernating in their underground homes.

Thanks to our Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop hosts, Jodi of Heart Like A Dog and Linda of 2 Brown Dawgs! See the links below for more great blogs.

  

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Our First Reviews, Part 2

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#ChewyInfluencer

Well, here we are again. As I told you in Part 1, we decided to try two products for the March review. For “Part 2”, I was looking for a treat that I could give Shadow that wouldn’t aggravate her reflux issues. Through trial and error – and a lot of experimenting – I have found that she has the least trouble with soft treats without grains. But she misses the hard treats that she has to chew in order to savor and really enjoy.

I wanted to find a grain-free, made-in-the-USA treat that she could really enjoy. So when I found the Fromm Four-Star Nutritionals Grain-Free Parmesan Cheese Recipe Dog Treats, I figured they were worth a try. So, this is how they’re packaged:

 
The product description reads as follows:

“A grain-free gourmet treat, oven-baked with fresh Wisconsin parmesan cheese, vegetables, and a touch of oregano.”

Key Benefits:

Grain-free

Wisconsin parmesan 

Fresh vegetables and fruit 

100% USDA-inspected ingredients 

Made in Wisconsin in a USDA plant

These treats are about the size of a quarter and hard as a rock, but my girls don’t care. They crunch away and “vacuum” up the crumbs likety-split. (So fast I couldn’t even get a picture of my slower eater, Shadow.)  I took a couple of the treats out of the bag and took a picture of them. They actually look pretty tasty to me as dog treats go …  

The very best part? They DO NOT aggravate Shadow’s reflux! I’ve given her several of these treats over the past week and she hasn’t made that god awful sound she makes when the reflux is acting up on her. (And Ducky, my canine “Life Cereal Kid who eats anything” likes them too.)

Have you tried Fromm’s Four-Star Nutritionals dog treats? Head over to Chewy.com and get some for your dog.

Disclaimer: As a Chewy Influencer, I received one bag of Fromm Four-Star Nutritionals Grain-Free Parmesan Cheese Recipe Dog Treats from Chewy.com in exchange for an honest review. I received no other compensation for this post.

  

Ducky, Shadow, and I would like to thank Sugar the Golden Retriever and Oz the Terrier for hosting this Chewy blog hop.

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Our First Reviews, Part 1

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#ChewyInfluencer

Since this is our first review as a #ChewyInfluencer, please forgive us if we mess it up a bit. And I should warn you ahead of time that I took all my photos with the camera on my iPhone. My only computer that accepts SD memory cards is in Islamorada, Florida, being fixed by my brother so I can’t use my regular digital camera for reviews right now.

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to try The Honest Kitchen’s bone broth mix for a while but just kept putting it off. So when I received my first email from the Chewy.com Blogger Program with all the items available for review this month, I was delighted to see the bone broth mix on the list. I sent Sydney my request for it (and the product in my next review) and received it a few days later. Of course, the package arrived at the same time as my older brother so I never got around to testing the products until this past week.

Here’s what the package looks like….

 And the mix looks like this when you open the can…

So, I made a cup of the broth according to the directions, let it cool down some, and poured a quarter-cup’s worth into a bowl and set it down on the kitchen floor for Shadow to sample. She sniffed at the bowl and walked away. So I dipped a finger in the bowl and offered my finger to her to lick. She licked the broth off my finger a few times and then decided she’d had enough. But not to worry. I live with the canine version of Mikey, the Life Cereal Kid, who will eat anything. I called Ducky into my testing kitchen and placed the bowl in front of her….

 She Likes It!

Well, I decided to experiment with Shadow’s reaction to the bone broth this morning. I had saved some of the broth in a small container and put it in the fridge. I poured a little of the broth over her breakfast before I put her bowl down for her. At first she just sniffed at the food, but then she went back to the bowl and ate her entire breakfast!  Yay! Now I know what to add to her food when she’s being finicky.  Now I can honestly say that both of my dogs like The Honest Kitchen’s bone broth mix.

I don’t normally do reviews – I don’t want to monetize my blog – but after talking to the folks at Chewy.com’s Blogger Outreach department, I decided I could handle working with them. I’ve been buying Shadow’s and Ducky’s food from Chewy’s since shortly after our vet said she had IBD back in January of 2015. Their Customer Service department – in my opinion – is THE BEST ANYWHERE.  Chewy sent me one can of The Honest Kitchen Bone Broth in exchange for my honest review of the product. I was not otherwise compensated.


Ducky, Shadow, and I would like to thank Sugar the Golden Retriever and Oz The Terrier for hosting this Chewy Blog Hop.

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Back To Normal?

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Back to normal? What IS “normal” anyway? For us, it’s Ducky spending only two days a week at daycare, not six. For us, it’s Ducky being a little loud and demanding at times but not stressed out. And it’s Shadow being mellow, except when hubby yells at Ducky. (There’s no getting through to some people at times.)

And for Shadow, Ducky, and me, normal is spending sunny days out in the back yard. Hubby prefers to spend his days watching the news or reading while music is playing so loud that it gives me a headache. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

Not much was normal around here while my brother was visiting. Ducky was stressed out because there was a “stranger” in her house. And Shadow was stressed out because Ducky was stressed out.

Daycare was a blessing for Ducky – it gave her several hours during six of the seven days her Uncle Doug was here to relax and play with her doggie friends. And it was a blessing for Shadow and us uprights. The rest of the time she was fine as long as Doug was sitting quietly somewhere in the house.


But I had to keep her on her leash except when she was in her crate.

On the way home from daycare the night before Doug was going back home, we had a terrifying hail storm during the last mile plus of our ride home. The hail was smaller than a quarter, but it was coming down fast and furious. And there was no place to pull over. I had no choice but to keep going. So I kept going. About five miles an hour with about ten car lengths between me and the car in front of me. And behind me. Ducky hunkered down in the back seat and curled up into a little black ball. We pulled into the driveway; and as I turned off the engine, I looked up at the sky and thanked God and the universe for getting us home safely. I coaxed Ducky into my lap and we sat there – both of us shaking – until the hail stopped. Hubby opened the front door and I carried Ducky into the house. My insides finally stopped shaking a few days later. Ducky is finally past her uncertainty about the car.

Anyway, around the house things are back to normal. Ducky is our little “wild child” again. And Shadow is back to eating her normal amount of food. And, as long as it’s not too cold and windy, the girls and I spend our days in the yard. Thankfully, Spring has sprung around here.

Thanks to our hosts of the Thursday Barks and Bytes Blog Hop, Jodi of Heart Like A Dog and Linda of 2 Brown Dawgs!

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