What is your dog currently eating?

Mine's been eating:

Turkey & Veggie Oma's Pride Raw Mix
Raw Green Tripe (from cows)
Turkey Hearts
Raw Eggs (Shell and all, since I get them from a local source)
Probiotic (for digestive health)

Now -

I love the Turkey & Veggie raw mix from Oma's Pride (http://www.omaspride.com/) for a few reasons.
It's not just because the Turkey & Veggie mix received 5 stars from Dog Food Advisor (http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/omas-pride-raw/)

First, it's a local business to me. Made & prepared in Avon, CT, this is about 30 minutes from my home (and it is the town where my hubby works). I like supporting local businesses. More than I like supporting huge corporations, anyway.

Second, they have a LARGE amount of raw meat in this mixture, of all types. Here is the official ingredient list: Turkey & bone, turkey necks, green beans, okra, yellow squash, turkey hearts, turkey gizzards, turkey livers
This means my dog is getting organ meat, muscle meat, and bone. Hurray!

Thirdly, there's some veggies in there, but not too much. I no longer supplement my dog's foods with vegetables, because I believe dogs need VERY little amount of fresh veggies in their diet, and this food has that small amount I'm looking for.

Fourth, I'm the type of person to be busy 24/7. Literally. I'm either at the gym, or at a random dog sport practice, or training/exercising the dog, or cramming in a book, or sometimes, even sleeping! I don't really have time to grocery shop (even though I'm working on it since I've been eating more naturally), and this is PERFECT for my schedule. I set it out to thaw- then hubby and I bag it up into separate bags, and voila. No headache for me :D


Now-

I love the Raw Green Tripe because it's a natural digestive enhancer. I know there's a debate going on about whether it's actually beneficial for dogs, but I feel like it can't hurt, and dogs LOVE the taste. When I was puppy sitting my friend's pittie and she wouldn't eat her food, I added some tripe and the dog ate ALL of it. So I like to think, it definitely at least, doesn't hurt.

Now-

Turkey Hearts are PACKED with protein. For an athletic dog like mine who needs her energy at things like tournaments and classes, it really helps to give her protein packed, energy filled treats. And she loves them yum!

Now-

Raw Eggs with shells, and I won't go into crazy detail, the whole egg balances itself out. And the shell has calcium. It can't hurt. And it helps make the dog's coat shiny and glossy.

Now-

Probiotic supplement because my dog's poos can be....bad. She has had digestive issues for much of her younger life, with diarrhea and loose stools and HUGE stools. Since she's been on probiotics, her stool has been hard, small, and compact. Works for me!

So during a small agility practice this afternoon, my friend's dog Jada came over to Baer (We usually have them off leash and there's never any problems) but there was a treat on the floor and Baer was trying to get it (we were working on weave poles) and when Jada put her face next to Baer's, obviously sniffing for the treat, Baer went after her. It wasn't mean, it was a "back off" warning but Baer didn't just snap at her, she continued to snap at Jada's side.

I put Baer in a down-stay immediately, and wouldn't let her up for a few minutes.

I'm really torn about this. I do not want a resource guarder. I want the dog to realize, your actions have consequences, and going after another dog for any reason is not acceptable. She's been getting better (It's been a long, long process.)

But I think I have to explain a little of Baer's personality in order this this to make sense-

Baer doesn't have that much confidence, when it comes down to other dogs. She's been in more than a fair share of altercations that were not her fault- causing her to go on the defensive immediately. This means when she meets another dog who is confident, Baer will stand tall with her tail curled over her back, trying to be assertive. If the other dog backs off, Baer backs off. Not many dogs will pick a fight with her, but Baer has no issue getting into a brawl. There have been a few instances where Baer has gone after a very submissive dog, but that hasn't happened in a while.

I think her issue, is actually a lack of confidence. She wants to show she is the leader- and the moment leadership comes into question with a new dog, she has to assert herself.

I know dogs live in the moment- but I also feel like Baer understands the "order" of things.

My normal tactic, when she meets a new dog, is for me to greet the dog at the same time. I will sweetly call out to the new dog- and I will greet it myself. 99% of the time, this is enough for Baer to relax, stay calm, and remember to be happy.

But when she does decide to try and assert some authority (my nice way of saying, pick a fight), I always will separate her immediately and make her sit-stay or down-stay, for a decent amount of time. And since I've started doing this, I believe it's really helped. All behaviors have consequences, positive behaviors mean you get to play and run with the new dog, negative behaviors mean you have to sit out, do something boring like lay down for a while, and you are at my whim as to when you can get up.

Baer has never, EVER drawn blood, but I don't ever want to test her. I am dead set on setting her up to succeed, not fail.

Today, with the incident with Jada and the food, I understand why Baer snapped at Jada. But that doesn't mean I approve- and I think it was highly unneccesary for Baer to continue going after her. Once Baer was given the release word to get out of her down-stay, she was calm and fine after that.

Damn dogs.... if I ever have a heart attack, I'll know why ;)

Also, I've started an official conditioning program with Baer using the Jogger at work. My goal for her is to build endurance- so we're going to work up to doing 30 mins on the treadmill every other day. It'll probably take a good month, but it's a good goal to work towards.

Says it all x]

Well, it's been quiet few weeks for me. Uneventful is never bad! I've had lots of time to work out, practice agility with the pooch, and just relax.  So in the spirit of sharing, here's my past week.

Baer chilling at a seminar with me at work- on essential oils, which I admit, I LOVE.

My friends, waiting for agility class to start.

My newest book... HIGHLY recommended. It is very detailed and goes into exact amounts and measurements of how to balance a canine diet- and kibble feeders can use this formula too. 

My favorite GSP ever. 

Trips around town in the shiny new car (:

A flirt pole we have newly stocked at work. Of course I'm buying one. I can't WAIT.

I love Nosework! So much. Did some more pairing today, Baer was quick and knew immediately to search and she found her targets quickly (plus we did this upstairs in the agility ring for the first time- and she just knew what she was supposed to do. Smaaaart dog.)

Hubby's doing our taxes right now. Crossing my fingers we get a good return... life has been kicking us in the ass lately money-wise. And these flyball tournaments aren't going to pay for themselves.

I did the second work out of the six week plan to run a 5k. I still can't believe I'm doing this- me, running over 3 miles straight. Holy shit. I'm the girl who's never really run before for anything, and I am going to tackle this. Not for nothing, but that fact alone motivates me so much. I've been upping my work outs too. My arms are becoming solid muscle... pretty soon, Baer, hubby, and I will look alike body-wise haha

So anyways, here's a video of Baer and I doing what I call "Hurdle 8's" (not sure what the technical name for it is...if anyone knows, please tell me!) but this is just my attempt to get her to learn to turn more sharply once she's over the hurdle. Her leaps take her waaaay over the jump, and she'll lose time if she doesn't start making the jump more tight.

It's been a fun but VERY busy past few days!

Dog sitting for my best friend, if you couldn't tell (: Since Friday we've been to Flyball practice, gone on a hike, and done some agility practice. You'd think the dogs would be tired but nope.

I'm going to start doing weekly photos to see the difference in Baer and I. So it'll be every Sunday evening, after I've finished my gym session. I really like to see which workouts have the biggest difference, for both of us, and this will be a fun way to track it (I hope).

Which way from here, I'm caught up in the pages of my 
mind
And it's not so clear but it seems the hurt is way too much
 this time
'Cause I see a vain look in your eyes
Tell me, do you see the same, same look in mine?

Winter Storm Nemo!

Whee!! Lots of snow (:

When Baer was about 5 months old... (:

Hind End Awareness

I've made a video detailing how to teach your dog to have hind-end awareness.

This is the same reason people use cavalettis and other training tools- building on muscle memory so that they can be more agile in the future. (Think flyball- not hitting the box SO HARD.)

A lot of bigger dogs aren't sure how to control their back legs from the rest of their body- and in agility, and other sports, it is crucial for the well being of the dog.

This isn't hard to train at all, and it's VERY beneficial in the long run. So get training today!

Thawing this raw green tripe out for Baer's food for a few weeks. I'm wondering how much she should get per meal- but I'll probably go a little on the lighter side for now til I see how she reacts.

This stuff is SMELLY. Super, duper smelly. But it has many, many benefits as well.

http://www.k9instinct.com/1/post/2013/01/the-benefits-of-raw-green-tripe-for-dogs.html

Check out the link if you're not up to speed on raw green tripe- nothing like it's white, bleach, sanitized cousin, tripe you find at the grocery store. This baby is PACKED with nutrients, calcium, phosphorous, and digestive enzymes. Nom nom.

Agility class- all girls, even the dogs.

One of the most adorable Aussies I've ever met

So we did some sequencing today! And oh my GOD it feels like I'm actually doing agility. Mwuahaha. 

Getting my dog to jump over hurdles in a figure 8 has never been so much fun.

We're still doing the walking-backwards-up-the-stairs thing. And she's getting better at that. AND I went to the gym today and had a decent work out even though I'm balls tired. Take that, laziness. Can't touch this!

I'm planning on doing a little training video on how to teach the dog to walk backwards up stairs. In case, you know, you want to teach your dog hind-end awareness (OR you want to laugh at your dog who can now walk backwards up stairs. Either or.)

Oh, and there's a huge snow storm coming straight for us, apparently. So I have a couple days to clean the house, watch some movies, and watch it snow. Sounds good to me :)

Here, in all of its wordless glory, is the dance of two dogs who are friends.

I want it to be a winner. No doubt about it, there is only one way to go from here.
And that's up.
I know I got what it takes- strength, wit, determination the size of mt Fuji.
I will go hard. I will bring my best game. I know I can- which means I can.