Posts tagged ‘Coton de Tulear’
HOT DOGS!
Please remember that this is the time of year that dogs get heat stroke. Do not leave him in the car-even for a minute-even with the window open. If the heat doesn’t kill him, it can cause brain damage.
Where I live, the car seat can brand your bottom with the stitching pattern and you can get burned from your steering wheel. If you can’t take the dog in with you then leave him at home.
Be aware that breeds with flat faces, those who are ill and dogs with long fur are especially at risk. (And any dog can burn the pads of his feet on hot sidewalks or in parking lots.)
I am having my annual internal debate of whether or not to cut my dogs hair for summer. Many people are opposed to ever cutting a Coton’s hair. I have heard the argument that the fur is insulating and will never grow back the same.
But common sense tells me that wearing a fur coat when the heat index is 105 and the humidity is high is dangerous. I get hot just thinking about it. 
Here are some of the symptoms of heat stroke in dogs:
Rapid, shallow panting
Red tongue
Confusion
Rapid heart rate
Vomiting or diarrhea
Hose the dog off, throw him in the car and call the vet on the way. It is always an emergency. You cannot give your dog oxygen, I.V’s or monitor him at home.
It’s much better to have hawt dogs than hot dogs!
TAINTED DOG FOOD LIST
Are you wondering whether making your own dog or cat food is worth it? Just look at the length of this list! Please note the premium brands that are on it and read more about the class action suit here.
This is serious and it makes me wonder what is still lurking in commercial foods. Remember, this industry is unregulated.
What our pets eat is something that we can manage in a world where so many other things seem beyond our control.
Information like this makes me renew my commitment to providing wholesome food for all our pets.
Anyone have any good cat food recipes?
NEW DOG FOOD RECIPE
I like to make my own dog food. I think it is healthier (for them) and more economical (for me).
PROTEIN-40%
Chicken thighs
Lean roast beef-little bit of leftovers
P-Nut Butter
VEGETABLES-30%
Carrots
Green beans
Fresh Spinach
Parsley-(helps Little-Bits tummy)
Mint-”
STARCH-30%
Yams-(no sugar or salt)
White rice-(had to add because it was so gooey)
TO MAKE-
Cook chicken in olive oil.
Cut into small pieces.
Cook vegetables in chicken stock. Drain.
Mix chicken and vegetables with yams and p-nut butter.
Cook rice with stock and saved vegetable water from fridge.
Mix everything together and cool in the fridge.
Put in snack sized Zip-Locks and freeze.
Made about a week’s worth. And the boneless, skinless chicken thighs were only $1.00 a pound. Yea!
GOALS-
My goal for next batch is to try the brown or wild rice again and see if it still affects Little-Bits tummy.
I also want to try tomato to see if we have any allergies. Since I cook with tomatoes so much, it would be easier and I think they are very healthy. There is a bit of debate about this for dogs, though, so I am not so sure.
I also want to see if I can find a better freezer process, although the snack sized bag is perfect for one dog for one day with a little fresh food mixed in. Also, and this is no small matter, the bags stack perfectly in the freezer drawer of my fridge.
DOG GONE BAD VET
I chose our veterinary clinic because it was AAHA certified. I wasn’t impressed with the facilities but the owner/vet seemed competent enough and he was supposed to be available at all times for emergencies. Not only was he not available when we needed him this weekend (See UPDATE), he NEVER RETURNED OUR CALL!
I don’t think that there is anything left to say. He promised a standard of care that was not there. I will not take that risk again. He’s history.
ADDENDUM- I think Little-Bit is O.K., but I will be following up with our new vet.
ADDENDUM AGAIN- The vet and his staff called me numerous times on Monday and Tuesday. Awkward. The excuse given was that the answering service had taken down my number incorrectly. Don’t most answering services have caller ID? I am not changing my mind. Choosing a new vet is never easy, though…
HAPPY ENDING-Well, the answering service sent a transcript of their recording and they had written my number incorrectly as well as my name. I also received an written apology from the operator who had made the error. So I have rescheduled Black Cat’s check-up for this week and we will continue with this practice. Let you know how that goes.
WELL, NOT SO MUCH- Black Cat got carsick in every possible way on the short drive over and then almost escaped. They made me sign something agreeing to pay $25.00 if I cancel an appointment. Then we spent over $300 for a yearly checkup for a healthy cat. We were there almost two hours but part of that was B.C.’s fault as they had to clean her up. I’m sure, if I look closely at my itemized bill, that I was charged for that.
Himself met the vet and didn’t like him either. We really can’t put our finger on why that is. Something about his demeanor.
I don’t see this relationship working out long term, do you?
BRAVE BEBE
I always say that Cotons de Tulears are not great guard dogs but they make wonderful watchdogs. Bebe has proved me wrong.
This is especially amazing when you consider her history. Before she came to us she was not treated well and, unlike most Cotons, is not social. She is afraid of men. She is a one-woman dog.
I was going to my garage (unlocked and not attached to the house) through my back garden (locked gates). It was the middle of the day. The dogs were behind me but are not allowed in the garage as Little-Bit always feels compelled to baptize the floor. Usually they just sit outside the door and wait for me.
Not this day! Bebe climbed over Little-Bit and scratched my sandaled feet in her haste to attack a closed door that leads to a small room in the corner of the garage. She was jumping as high as the doorknob and literally throwing herself at the door. She went what I call “Coton Crazy” and not in a good way. She sounded like a garage full of junk yard dogs.
I thought there might be a rat in the little room and beat a hasty retreat. Bebe would not come away from the door and I had to drag her out of the garage. Even then, she stayed between me and the garage- walking backwards, barking and growling until we were safely back in the house.
I made a mental note to call the exterminator and paid scant attention to the little dog who stationed herself by the back door. She was pacing and hyper-vigilant.
An hour or so later, the animals and I went out to do our “business” (my business was deadheading my roses) and I noticed that things were awry on the deck. Someone had been in the back yard. I think that someone was also in my garage.
The policeman told me that I should have listened to my dog. I agree.
I thought about putting a sign in my back window that says, “BEWARE OF BOA CONSTRICTOR”. That would stop me if I were a burglar. But perhaps my sign should say, “BEWARE OF BEBE”.
My 15 pound, white, not-so-young fluffball is all heart. She is also my hero.
ADDENDUM- I will be locking all my doors all the time from now on. And I will listen to my dog.
MOTHER’S DAY LILIES
and more to come!
By the way, this yellow pollen does NOT come out of your clothes or tablecloths. So if you are cutting your lilies, turn them upside down over the garbage can and remove the stamens. I used to “field dress” my lilies but now the dogs investigate and it does not wash out of fur, either.
THE GREAT ESCAPE
THEY BROKE OUT OF THEIR AREA AND INTO MINE!
LITTLE-BIT MADE HERSELF AT HOME
on my velvet bedspread!
AND THEN I HAD TO CATCH HER
My Cotons live in a large, tiled area that is the size of my first apartment. They are allowed to come with us to the rest of the house -except for my bedroom. I just wanted one area that was an island of serenity and cleanliness. Fur-free, so to speak.
The problem started when I decided to take a nap. God forbid.
They whined and cried at the doggy gate and then decided to body slam the double doors into the dining room. Since they had done that before, there were rubber bands wrapped around the handles. “No hill for a stepper.” as Himself says. BAM! The doors slammed into the walls. Patter, patter, patter of happy little feet headed my way.
I sat up drowsily to see to fuzzy, white, bouncing balls trying to leap up onto my high bed. I jumped up yelling, “Sit! Stay!” but not before grabbing my cell to take pictures because they are just so darn cute. B.B., for the first time in her life, sat and stayed. She tilted her head and looked at me as if to say, “This is gonna be good.”
Little-Bit scratched my bedspread, circled and made a little nest for herself. It seemed as if she was laughing at me as I chased her around the room and she kept going back to her nest like it was home base.
Finally, I was able to catch her with her head stuck under the bed and her butt stuck up in the air. Her tail was wagging away like a plume of white feathers. She thought that if she couldn’t see me then I couldn’t see her.
The funny thing is that she used to be able to wiggle under that bed. Not any more…
CANINE QUOTES
“No animal should ever jump up on the dining-room furniture unless absolutely certain that he can hold his own in the conversation.”
The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of
his tongue.”
-Anonymous
“Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are
wonderful.”
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they
went.”
“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.”
“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves
himself.”
“The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.”
“If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have
known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.”
“A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times
before lying down.”
“I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.”
“Dogs need to sniff the ground; it’s how they keep abreast of current
events. The ground is a giant dog newspaper, containing all kinds of
late-breaking dog news items, which, if they are especially urgent, are
often continued in the next yard.”
“Anybody who doesn’t know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.”
“If your dog is fat, you aren’t getting enough exercise.”
-Unknown
“Outside of a dog, a book is probably man’s best friend; inside of a dog,
it’s too dark to read.”
“Ever consider what they must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul — chicken, pork, half a cow. They
must think we’re the greatest hunters on earth!”
“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and
get used to the idea.”
“To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.”
“God… sat down for a moment when the dog was finished in order to watch it… and to know that it was good, that nothing was lacking, that it could not have been made better.”
BeBe
