The Walk At Night

Even though I was quite exhausted from a busy day at work, I had to walk the crew.

Why do dogs like to eat cat shit? I'll never, ever understand this. Rowe-Quinn and Sookie are the worst offenders. If only I could just keep them moving instead of letting them "stop and smell the roses" so-to-speak.

Say WOW to Raw

I'd like to say a little bit about the raw diet (meaty bones & raw meat) that I've been feeding my pack for about 4 months now. The benefits for this is quite astounding.

They eat quite a bit of raw chicken, yes bones and all. The misconception of "never feed your pets chicken bones" should be "never feed them COOKED chicken bones". The cooking/heating (microwave) process dries out the bones that are, in fact, very pliable when raw. They also get some of the cheapest beef, & pork meat I can buy.

For those of my dogs that have pills to take, chicken hearts have the neatest little "pockets" that pills fit in. The hearts are kind of slippery so even if the dogs knew that there were pills in them they slide so fast down their throats, it's too late!

Their teeth get an amazing scraping when the 'crunch' the bones from the chicken leg quarters they get. Sookie (above) has the most amazing smile for a 7 year old girl!

The only problem I have is Alissa sometimes doesn't want to eat the pieces of chicken I give her. I've even been crushing the bones and cutting the pieces into 1" size or so. It's puzzling....but I reckon I'll work through that.

Sugar use to 'bury' some of her chicken in the sheet that I lay out for her to eat on. Can't have that messy, raw food on the carpet now can I? Now she doesn't miss a piece of her meal.

Rowe-Quinn quite savors his food. Studying it, thinking about how to eat the pieces that are too big to gulp.

Rascal, well, he's never turn his back on ANY food. Licks his bowl spotless and then checks out everyone's bowl when they're done. Rascal was suffering from recurring ear infections before I started him on raw food. He's only had one relapse since then and that cleared up very quickly with minimal treatment (cleaning) and no vet visit for a bunch of drugs that would only have made things worse.

I gained all the information I needed about switching my dogs to this diet when I was researching Homeopathy. The list owner told me in no uncertain terms that my Rascal needed to be on a 'species appropriate' diet. I signed into a Yahoo group called Rawfeeding. You don't even have to ask questions once you're on the list. You just need to search the archives and it's all there.

My Son & Cheezmoe

My son is going through a really tough time right now. His girlfriend broke up with him just before Christmas (nice right?). He was scared, upset, nervous. But, he had a job, friends, and is a good young soul.

He found an apartment near my home, near his job and they didn't care if he had a pet, dog, cat, pit bull, low rent, top of the world!

The other day he lost his job ~ he's depressed, scared, hurt, but... he's not alone. He has his Cheezmoe (and me of course). She's just the absolute sweetest little girl on the planet. Just look at that smile!

Mornings

Mornings are the most exciting time for my dogs. They get their biggest meal in the a.m. I'm barely awake and I'm wacking chicken with a hatchet on a piece of plywood. How did it come to be, that 5 living creatures care what mood I'm in, care so much about my touching them, praising them, FEEDING them.
I'm so lucky.

Sleep Time Bed Time

It always lends me to wonder about my dogs 'thoughts' when it comes to who sleeps where at night. They know they can sleep on my bed with me or without me there. In fact, I encourage it because it helps to keep the peace. There's no "it's MY spot", "No~I sleep there!" It gives them options of where to lay no matter where I am in this small duplex too.

Sookie was my first dog and I know she feels it's her 'given right' to be closest to me at bedtime. However, she's 'polite' enough to wait until I invite her (this is all strictly my interpretation-anthropomorphizing if you will).
Lately, or since the fight between Rascal & Rowe-Quinn, RQ has been either judging the time or listening to my words & tone when I say, "well guys, I should probably get to bed", or something of that nature. Factoring in, the time of day, activity level in the house (Tim's already gone to bed). Because Rowe-Quinn will rise from any of his usual spots near my computer and make his way to the bedroom to get the spot that will be nearest the upper portion of my body.

He won't budge from this spot, he won't even open his eyes when I have to scootch him over so I have enough room.

He's adorable & my Sookie's such a good sport.

Shed All You Want Now

Living With 5 Isn't Always Easy

For the most part, living with my pack of 5 (Seven if you included 2 humans) has been quite peaceful, not serene because there's always someone moving around the house. (Below is Alissa & Rascal)
Since my two boys fought I've had to seperate them when I'm not at home. But other than that, life with them has been good. Rascal usually just backs away and/or submits to Rowe-Quinn's growling and threatening postures. (Rowe-Quinn below)

I've always know that Rascal could hurt RQ if he really wanted to. And... he did. Rowe-Quinn's ear will probably never be the same. I have to wonder though, why does he still growl at Rascal? Why hasn't the alpha status changed? It doesn't appear to have change. RQ still growls and Rascal still avoids.
I'll probably never leave them alone together again.