Home Visit - The good, the bad, and the ugly

So the home visit went ok. The lady who came out to see us was pretty nice, although she brought the BIGGEST golden retriever that I have ever seen in my life. Cody took one look at him and then looked at me like, "Mom, why are you bringing a horse to visit me?" He was fairly well behaved, only growled and nipped at Robby (the GR) once. The lady got really nervous but all was well. Personally I think the funniest part was when she asked us what we would do if we came home and our foster dog was standing on the kitchen table. DH and I looked at each other and then looked at her and said, "It happens all the time here...." She looked so shocked. For pete's sake we find him on top of the refrigerator. That's right, ON THE REFRIGERATOR! Now if that doesn't qualify us for doggy foster care, I don't know what does. Once you've walked in the door to your dog's face peering down at you from the top of the fridge, I am pretty sure that you can handle anything.

The strange part was when she decided to walk around our house and point out every little hazard to dogs. Like I don't know that dogs aren't supposed to eat lotion. Please. She even went into my bathroom....that was a tad weird. But other than that it went well. Now that we've cleared that hurdle, it's on to practicing for Cody's upcoming photo shoot. That's right, I'm going to be a stage mom. More on that later...

Home Visits - Will the good kid show up or the bad kid?

Oh man is it tense over at our house today. We just got notified that our official home visit to be a certified doggy foster home is tomorrow morning. Of course we just happened to be in the middle of a home remodeling project, but hey who am I to complain? Here's the part that makes this mama nervous. They are bringing a 100 lb golden retriever to the house as part of the visit. Cody is not always the most well-behaved when it comes to giant strange dogs invading his territory, in fact a lot of the time he goes into full on sulk mode. What if he tries to growl off the invader, what if he jumps on the tester, what if she looks at us at like "who let you adopt a dog?" Oh man, I really don't want to have the bad kid on the proverbial playground. I suppose one could say this is the downside to being a fully involved Doggy Mama, I feel  like I get judged based on the behavior of my Codyman. Oh god what if people think I'm a bad mom because he jumps?? Am I being illogical? Probably. I just can't help it. Oh the neuroses of being a Doggy Mama.... I'll post an update tomorrow. If my head hasn't exploded from the remodeling stress and the stress of trying keep an over-exuberant fuzzbutt from attacking the tester.

My bad-kid.....

Good doggy cake recipe

If you're like me (and even if you're not) sometimes you like to do something special for your pupper's birthday. I found this recipe for a dog safe cake and it's really easy. 

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup cooking oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup honey (optional)

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup whole wheat or white flour

1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 6 cup ring mold. (I use a regular cake pan.)

2. Combine the egg, peanut butter, oil, vanilla, honey in a large bowl; blend well. Stir in the carrots and mix thoroughly. Sift together the flour and baking soda and fold into the carrot mixture. Spoon cake batter into prepared pan. 

3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes; then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely. 

Dogs love it! 

Cody + Kids = War

This weekend on Mother's Day (couldn't have been more fitting) my Codyman had a breakthrough. A breakthrough that got his momma so excited she cried a little. I'm not ashamed to admit it either. Before I let you in on what exactly got me this excited, let me fill you in on the background of the Cody vs. Kids war. 

When we first got Cody 3 years ago, we were hoping to have a typical happy go lucky, easy-going lab mix. You know the kind, good with kids, loves to swim, likes to lounge and loves to play ball. Well we got the last one, but that's about it. The first time my nephews came over, Cody got so agitated he ran around my apartment in circles. Whoops. That progressed to nipping at their ankles when they ran around, which when you're 2 and 4 is all the time. He won't herd anything else, but when it comes to kids oh boy. From there we started barking obsessively at all short humans. If a kid makes a sudden movement, Cody tries to catch them and hold them with teeth. Needless to say this does not go over well with the average parent. He never tried to hurt them, it's just instinct. 

This brings me to the milestone. On Sunday my nephews and Codyman played tennis ball nice and sedately for over 2 hours with no one getting nipped!!! This has NEVER happened before. I totally cried. It's one more step in my baby's growth. Now we just need to work on the obsessive barking......all in due time I suppose. 

Ode to Doggy Mamas Everywhere

Here's to you Doggy Mamas! We are the unsung heros in this culture of families with 2.5 children on suburban streets with picket fences. We are the ones who are not afraid of conversations revolving around smushy poops and how to fix them. We are the ones who drop everything to run to the store and buy the best bones our money can buy because our babies "just don't seem happy." It is us who stand outside in the pouring rain at 5:30 in the morning urging our "kids" to go potty. We are the brave souls who venture to the dog park in 20 degrees below zero just so our "kids" can socialize and play ball to their hearts content. Dare I say it, but we are the ones who hand cook our dog's dinner just so they can have the best nutrition.

Some may say that we are obsessed or think we're weird because we don't have "normal" kids. To them I say, "Oh yeah? Have you ever tried to get a urine sample from a dog in your front yard? Didn't think so." They've got nothing on us. We are the few, the proud, the Doggy Mamas.

To all my fellow Doggy Mamas: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! You deserve it.

Thanks to my Codyman for letting me be his all-time Doggy Mama.

Foreclosure crisis - Silent Victims

I know there have been some news stories about this, but it really didn't hit home until yesterday. One of the groups I work with has been so slammed with incoming dogs, that yesterday we received an email saying that we are going to have to stop taking dogs for the time being. At least 75% of the last 100 dogs we've taken in since January have been surrendered because of home foreclosures or people about to lose their homes. 

So I started to do a little research about it and HOLY CRAP this is a HUGE problem. ABC News did a piece on it and man oh man.  Not only are shelters getting crammed with dogs and cats,  but adoptions are really slow because of the current economic situation. So now the dogs that we are taking in have nowhere to go. This can only mean one thing....euthanasia rates will go up. That is NOT O.K.!!

This is a problem that no one really thinks about but that is well on its way to overwhelming and crushing the rescue community. So if you can, help us out!! 

P.S. Cody treed his first squirrel today!

The Great Dog Food Debate

This is a debate that has been raging in the dog community for ages. What is the best dog food for your dog? The real answer is whatever works best for your dog's health and taste-buds. While I was not "cursed" (I would say blessed, but hey that's just me) with a picky dog, some people do have to spend a fair amount of time finding a dog food that their dog will eat. 

For the first year or so that I had Cody I was feeding him Purina One Lamb and Rice. I assumed that because it is the biggest brand of dog food out there that it was good for him and he was getting all of the right nutrition. Au contraire my friends. Purina One is actually a really crappy food, full of corn fillers and fat and overall really hard on the digestive system. Well if that doesn't make you feel like a bad mother right? So off we were on the hunt for good dog food. We've tried a lot of things and finally settled on Nature's Variety. It is an off-shoot of the raw diet. It's all natural meat and veggies with no fillers. It's got double the nutrition and as an added bonus has cut down on Codyman's gas, which if you've even been privy to you know that's a BIG bonus. 

Nature's Variety doesn't work for everyone, so below is a list of dog foods that I like: 

Solid Gold

Nature's Variety

IAMS

Canidae

Dr. Harvey's

Nutro

There are two downsides to feeding your dog highly nutritious dog food. 

1. It costs more...sometimes up to $15 more a month

2. You can't shop at the big box stores (PetSmart, PetCo) because they don't carry these high grade foods. 

If you're in MN, try these stores:

Chuck and Don's Pet Food Outlet (they are REALLY good about supporting rescue groups)

Urbanimal (really funky and cool)

Bottom line: Getting new dog food can be a pain, but good nutrition is the best investment you can make in your dog. Believe me, I've seen what even a few weeks without good nutrition can do to a dog, especially if they are still growing. 

Constant Battle - Husband vs. Wife

Almost any female animal rescuer knows my pain. You know what I am talking about... I always want to take on one more and he says hell no! I just can't help it, I love to help any homeless dog no matter the inconvenience or problems they cause in our life. I want to fix them and make them happy and find them a better place to call home. Intellectually I know that I can't save them all, but I sure as hell can try. This is where the conundrum comes in. How do you balance family life and fosters? How do I keep my husband happy and still do what I love? Will it ever stop being a struggle between man and dog? Probably not. But I've got to do what makes me happy and maybe he can get used to it. Wishful thinking I know...

But if fighting with my husband means saving a life, maybe it's worth it.....

Loose Stools - Gross I know...

I know, it's a heck of a title right? I was talking to some family members this weekend when I was in TX and the subject came up. We're a family of dog lovers, what can I say? I mentioned that 2 tablespoons of canned pumpkin (not the filling, just plain canned pumpkin) in both meals works wonders at firming things up a bit. It surprised me that some people didn't know that. My step-mom said, "Now THAT is something that should go on the blog!" So dear readers, here it is.

If your dog has loose stools, 2 tablespoons of canned pumpkin in both meals for 3-5 days should do the trick.

Disclaimer: This trick is for loose stools, NOT diarrhea. That calls for a different tip entirely. We'll hit on that lovely yet so common subject later.

List of Destruction

People wonder how I know so much about dogs for having no training. That would be Cody's fault. He has presented every training challenge and scrap of patience in the world. His path of destruction has been spread far and wide. Think I'm kidding? See the (partial) list below.

3 feet of electrical wiring

2 lampshades

Pyrex dish

Statue I received in South Africa

A King size pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Easter Eggs PLUS the wrapping and plastic bag

5 lbs of margarine

20 plastic Easter Eggs full of chocolate (he climbed trees to get those)

2 1/2 lbs of sand out of Lake Pokegema in my DH's hometown

Tin can of green beans (not the beans, just the can)

Jumbo box of Tums

2 lbs of fudge

A cheese cutter from Sweden

At least a dozen loaves of bread

So the bottom line is this: You think YOUR dog has problems? Talk to me. I bet I can give you some advice. There's a pretty good chance that I've been there.