May 23rd, 2014 - amazon.com for K9 Toys / Healthy Recipe to stuff the Kong

I just placed a nice size order for large puppy and dog toys from amazon.com

I've always ordered books, dvds, cds and cards for my camera from there and was curious if they carried dog toys. I was pleasantly surprised! I also always read the reviews of anything I purchase and came across this one review that I thought was well worth sharing.

I saved this particular review so I can copy the man's instructions on a healthy recipe he came up with to stuff his Kong that his Greyhound loves.

"The invention of the "Kong" is maybe one of my favorites (second to air conditioning) and I know my dog agrees.  I have a greyhound who suffered a slight bout of separation anxiety after I adopted him from the track.  I needed something to keep him busy and get him excited about my departure to work.  The Kong is the answer.

 

I'm sure this sounds weird, but I bought 5 of them - one for each day of the week I have to work.

 

Every Sunday I make a combination of oatmeal, non-fat plain yogurt (good for their tummies) and peanut butter.  I heat up the oatmeal and add the yogurt and peanut butter while the oatmeal is hot - it creates a really nice combination of delicious things to fill the Kong with easily.  I take the Kong, put some kibbles of his dog food in first, then I pour the mixture of items into a large, durable Ziploc baggy and cut a hole in the corner.

 

I squeeze a good amount of the oatmeal, yogurt and Peanut Butter into each Kong, leaving a bit of space for a milk bone to stick out of the bigger hole on the end of the Kong.  I put all 5 in the freezer and give my Greyhound one each day.  He gets SO excited when he sees a Kong come out of the freezer, that he runs full speed into his kennel and waits for me.

 

The Kong keeps him occupied for HOURS and because it's frozen, it lasts even longer and he spends forever licking and biting at the Kong to get the goodies out.  Dogs need something to do with their mouths. They use their muzzles like we use our hands.  A stuffed Kong can prevent so many behavioral issues like destructive chewing or excessive vocalization from boredom or anxiety.  Also, Kongs are without a doubt the most durable toy on the market.  They last ages and ages.  I recommend them to everybody with a dog."

May 22nd, 2014 - Emmett's first Vet visit as Emmett Johnson

Emmett had his first visit to the Vet as Emmett Johnson and received the start of his puppy shots.

 

 

He was 7.5 weeks old and weighed 12.4 pounds.  He goes for his 2nd series of puppy shots on

      June 19th at 3 PM.

 



 

He's gained almost 7 pounds since we brought him home when he became part of our family on May 9th.

After breaking my fibula and being in a cast, we have still managed to work on his potty training and he's still doing well.

I have potty pads in the Den, Kitchen and Office.  The key to potty training a puppy is, to take him outside to go potty when he first wakes up, after he drinks, eats, sleeps or plays.

No water or food after 7 PM.

 

Emmett will go to the backdoor to be let outside to go potty and if I'm not fast enough, he will go on a potty pad.  I have 2 cases of potty pads and change them daily or as shown in the picture below right after he poops I change the pad immediately.

 

 

 

For his age Emmett is doing very, very well.  He still has accidents but we're definitely on the right track and he will whine if he needs to go outside.

I put a collar on him a few days ago and once I finally got it on, he was okay with it.  I attached a puppy leash and played around with him in the kitchen and he didn't care for it very much.  Since then anytime I leave the kitchen I put a leash on him and take him along.

 

This way he gets use to the leash, has a little more freedom with the rest of the house and I can monitor his outside needs.

 

 

I will walk him around the front driveway with it to get him more accustomed.  Out front he'll be distracted and will not pay attention to the leash and it's a great way to get him use to it.

 

He definitely has razor sharp little puppy teeth and I have been approved as a chew toy as has Mark.

 

 

 

                                    

 

 

I love watching Emmett and the things I've already learned by doing so.

 

1)  He puts everything in his mouth to taste - sticks, paper, leaves, human body parts, shoes etc. 

      Anything at his eye level has his undivided attention.

 

2)  He's very smart with a very testing and stubborn streak.

 

3)  He loves to dig and is very "FOOD" motivated!  Emmett is very polite and gentle taking

      any and all food from my hands.  Considering his age, weight and size, it looks like he's

      developing some really good habits.

 

4)  He's curious about everything, I really enjoy watching him as he experiences anything new for

      the first time.

 

5)  He loves to play hard and he drags his Teddy Bear all over the place.  He and Mr. Bear are now

      the same length. 

 

6)  He started chewing on the wall paper and I managed to catch him in the act. 

 

 

 

 

I now carry a little bottle that sprays water and so far any time I've had to give a gentle correction he responds very quickly.

 

I've also started to train him to sit and to watch me.  Watch Me is a command that I learned many years ago and all it does is teach Emmett to look directly into my eyes when I speak to him.  In an Obedience Trial you can either do voice commands or hand signals.  When I tell Emmett to Watch Me, I have all of his attention.

Speaking of the little darling, I need to wake him up and take him outside for a potty break and romp around the yard.  Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day.



 

May 16th, 2014 - Saw some attitude and laughed

Well, it's been an interesting day learning how to balance with the cast and so far Emmett has shown no interest in chewing on it.  It was an on going battle to keep him from chewing on the soft cast.

 

 

 I chose black at the VA Hospital so it wouldn't show dirt.

A couple of nights ago Mark went to Wendy's and picked up some chicken nuggets for me for supper.  I wasn't really hungry and both Rosie and Emmett were sitting at my feet staring at me as if they were both starving.

Because of my leg, I decided it be far easier to just put Emmett up on the kitchen table and feed him there instead of next to Rosie.   I know it's wrong but he's not going to be small enough for me to pick up much longer and anything I can do to develop our bond is A-OKAY with me.

I broke the nuggets into bite size pieces for him and he seemed to really enjoy them and was very gentle taking the food from my hand.  I accidently gave him a whole nugget and saw he was having a problem with it and reached over to break it up.

Emmett growled loud enough that Mark heard it in the Den and I started laughing.  I thought it was absolutely hysterical, gave poor Emmett a very, very light pat on the nose and told him "NO".

I removed the nugget broke it into tiny pieces and hand fed him.  It was no big deal and I admired that he had some spunk.  I've been feeding him 4 times a day plus sample bites of anything I was eating.  He appears to have a really healthy appetite, drinks plenty of water and no longer has diarrhea from a sensitive stomach.

Today, we had beautiful weather and I decided to leave the back door open so he and Rosie could go outside when ever they wanted.  Keep in mind that Emmett will be 7 weeks old tomorrow and he didn't have one accident in the house all day.  I am totally amazed by this.

When the door is closed, which it usually is, he will go and stand by it and wait.  Being so young he does have accidents but even so he does it on the potty pads.  Once I get my cast off it won't take me long to finish potty training him.  At his age, accidents happen and he really is too young to be expected to be fully trained. 

 

 

In the picture above, I noticed his right leg is a little odd but don't know if it's a Great Dane thing, perhaps joints grow separately, or perhaps he somehow twisted it.  He doesn't flinch when I felt and examined it but it is something I will ask the Vet about when he goes for his shots on May 21st. 

I'm really quite proud of my boy and have noticed little things that he's been doing that is an insight to how easily he will take to being trained.

 

 

Let it be known that I do suspect he is very bright and will be doing little games to see which way I will go about training him.  I've noticed that he is very curious about the bedroom doors being closed and has tried to dig his way under them.  He's also tried biting through the metal dog gate that is attached to the wall in the Living Room.  I also saw him chewing on the cord to a lamp and even though corrected several times he went back to trying to chew on it.

 

He's got a stubborn streak, but I don't know if it's just his puppyhood or he's trying to figure me out and how far he can push me. 



May 9th, 2014 - Broke the fibula in my left leg

I guess this would be as good as any time to give a short explanation of how I fell off of the front porch.

On May 21st, 2007, I woke up to go to work and found myself with absolutely no warning, paralyzed from the waist down.  It took 6 months to be properly diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis.

Transverse Myelitis is very rare,  and I was extremely blessed and grateful that I was able to learn to walk again.  It took me almost 18 months to do so and talk about an unexpected journey. 

Once I was properly diagnosed I Googled what I had and the first thing that popped up on my computer monitor was,
                                                   "Very Rare Disease"

It's really hard to explain with clarity all the emotions that I felt at that moment.  Terrified doesn't even come close and trying to be informed so I knew what sort of recovery I might expect I read everything the internet had to offer.

4 - 5 people per a million get it yearly and there are roughly 33,000 documented cases in the United States compared to the 14 million people globally who are diagnosed with cancer yearly.

There are several internet sites available for information and basically they all say,

"Transverse Myelitis (TM) is a rare inflammatory disease causing injury to the spinal cord with varying degrees of weakness, sensory alterations, and autonomic dysfunction (the part of the nervous system that controls involuntary activity, such as the heart, breathing, the digestive system, and reflexes)." 

There are several Facebook support groups and possible recovery is divided into 3rds.

1/3 of the inflicted have no recovery at all

1/3 has some recovery

and the final 3rd

has a complete recovery which is very rare

It's really a life changer to say the least.  I kept a journal the whole time that I was paralyzed and I am no longer able to work.  I really didn't want to mention all of this in Emmett's blog but since I broke my fibula I guess I need to give some sort of explanation.  On a good note, Emmett will have the benefit of a stay at home mom.

From T8 - T7 down I have nerve damage which affects my balance.  If I walk from a carpeted room to a wooden floor, my feet don't recognize the difference.  I can walk in snow barefooted and won't feel the cold.

I did not feel the end of the porch and down I went.  I immediately knew I broke something but I wasn't really sure what.  I was hoping I might be wrong and that perhaps I had a really bad sprain but by the next morning my foot was swollen and starting to turn purple.

 

 

The night that I actually broke my fibula, Mark put a large ice pack that covered my entire lower leg and Emmett fell asleep in my lap for several hours.

 

 

 



The doctor in the Emergency Room was sort of surprised that though the x-rays clearly showed a nice clean break, I wasn't crying or asking for pain medication.   I need to wait for the swelling to go down before I get a hard cast.

I was very concerned about how my little misstep would affect the housebreaking progress of Emmett, who turned 6 weeks old on the day I went to the Emergency Room.

My thoughts were all scattered trying to figure out the best possible conclusion and a new game plan was established!

I had Mark move Emmett's crate back into the den where I will be sleeping the next 4 - 6 weeks in my recliner.  I had been working with Emmett on coming and going on the back step out into the backyard.

At night he sleeps in his crate, he wakes up twice a night to go potty, eats some dry kibble, drinks water then wants to play for awhile.  The minute I hear him crying I open up the back door, then his crate and Emmett follows me outside.  It actually works really well.

 

It's amazing how much faster he is now compared to when we first brought him home.  He's a vocal little guy with all sorts of interesting little noises and all of them different. 

Emmett had his first visitors and got to meet his Aunt Amy and cousin Maggie on Mother's Day on their return trip back to Nashville after visiting Mark and Amy's mom, Carolyn who lives in South Huntsville.

 

 

I awakened to a wonderful surprise at 4 AM with Emmett crying to be let out.  First he went directly to the door, down the steps out into the backyard and went potty.  When he came in, he showed interest in some dry kibble and ate everything I put out for him. 

 

To say the least it was a  very proud mommy moment that got even better when he brought me the tennis ball to play.  He actually picked it up, in his mouth!  The ball looks huge compared to Emmett's head but he was strutting around extremely proud of himself.

May 8th, 2014 - WE HAVE A PUPPY!

Mark and I brought little Emmett home today.  We let him play outside in the backyard which was his first experience not only in fresh air but actually having his paws on the grass.  He absolutely loved it and sniffed around for awhile before we brought him in and I gave him his first bath.

Like all puppies before him, he did not care for his first experience with water very much and cried a little but tolerated the bath.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I fed him for the first time.  It was the first time for him to eat as much as he wanted without the competition of his 8 other male siblings.  No growling and he had no problem with me touching him or his food while he was eating.  I hand fed him a little piece of cheese and he was very gentle.  Not bad for a 6 week old puppy!

He had a long day and fell asleep instantly when I put him in the crate that I had prepared for him.  As I stood there amazed that he was actually here and asleep I decided to give him a stuffed Teddy Bear that I had just in case he got lonely and woke up later crying.

He really seems to love his Teddy and is always snuggling with it.

 

 

 

 

At 2 AM he stated crying and was quite determined to bite his way through the crate.  I was concerned because he was so small that his bottom jaw might get stuck and he end up hurting himself.  I also didn't want him waking up Mark who went to bed late himself and had to be up early to go to work.

I opened the crate and took him and Rosie outside then realized if he ran out in the yard I would never  find him without a flashlight and was relieved that he stayed really close and directly under my feet.

I decided to push the bed up against the wall and put Emmett on the wall side and he curled up next to me and slept all night without even a whimper.  

While I was making sure the crate was puppy proof I placed Emmett on my bed and he went right to sleep.

 

 

 

Before I forget, the introduction of Emmett to Rosie went even better than either I or Mark thought.  She did nip on him a little and was corrected instantly for doing so, she then accidently stepped on him and he cried.  It's sort of funny how things work out and in this case for the better.

 

Actually, Rosie has every right to nip at poor Emmett after he tried to nurse on her with those extra sharp puppy teeth of his.  Since that initial nip Emmett has not tried to nurse.

 

Rosie fled when he started crying and has every time since.  She still nips him to put him in his place and he keeps a nice respectable 2 - 3 feet behind her.  Something out front had caught Rosie's attention and she started barking at the gate which startled Emmett and now anytime Rosie barks he heads back inside on his own.  I was pleasantly surprised to see him actually make it up the back two steps to get into the house.

 

Rosie is actually doing really well with him and has no problem sharing the water bowl.  I was happily surprised when I saw the two sleeping together.

 

 

 

The first 24 hours went by quickly and Emmett went from being needy and missing his momma and litter to a 6 week old puppy, full of energy, curiosity and just so fascinated about life in general.

 

We're just starting to housebreak him and have learned it's a lot easier to wipe up little accidents on the kitchen floor verses the carpeting in the den.  I like to sit at the kitchen table to do just about everything so it seemed logical to turn the kitchen into an enormous puppy pen.

 

We've put up two doggy gates and made Emmett as comfortable as possible with food, water, toys and a couple of pee pads, which he uses faithfully when he first wakes up.  He also seems to really love the Teddy Bear I gave him and snuggles up to it when he naps.

 

The video below was taken after Emmett had just awakened after a nap.

 

 



 

 

 

I've noticed that Emmett likes to nap every place he has seen Rosie napping.  Rosie loves to sleep under the kitchen table and so does Emmett. 

 

 

 

 

Emmett is very playful and he truly has the sharpest puppy teeth that I have ever had the pleasure of being chewed on by. 

 





 

May 7th, 2014 - Diamond Large Breed Puppy Food

I spent several hours researching Dog Food and learned from the Vet that there is a Large Breed Puppy food.  For years I've heard and read, Great Danes should never have puppy food because they grow so fast.  The Vet explained that the Large Breed Puppy was designed for fast growing puppies.

I came home and did some more research, made a few phone calls, went to PetSmart and though I'm a huge fan of Eukanuba and have used it for many years, when I read the ingredients on the bag I was sort of surprised when I saw chicken-by-products, corn meal etc.

I'm not a fan of anything by-products.  I went to the Diamond website and was able to read the ingredients on their product.  It's a good food and I've been feeding the dogs we had, (RIP) Parker, Ginger and Emma for years and they all had gorgeous coats.

So after all the research, Emmett will be raised on Diamond Large Puppy Food and then switched to Diamond Natural when he's older. 

 

	Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy Calcium and phosphorus for ideal bone and joint development DHA for proper brain and vision development L-Carnitine helps convert fat to energy Enhanced with super foods and probiotics No corn, no wheat, no soy

Ingredients

Lamb, lamb meal, ground rice, cracked pearled barley, peas, garbanzo beans, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), egg product, fish meal, tomato pomace, pea protein, potato protein, potatoes, natural flavor, flaxseed, salmon oil (source of DHA), salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, dried chicory root, L-Carnitine, kale, chia seed, pumpkin, blueberries, oranges, quinoa, dried kelp, coconut, spinach, carrots, papaya, yucca schidigera extract, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus reuteri, vitamin E supplement, beta carotene, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Feeding Guide (standard measuring cups/day)

Weight (lbs.)	6 - 11 weeks	3 - 4 months	5 - 7 months	8 - 12 months	Adult Dogs
5 - 10	1 1/3 - 2 1/4	1 1/4 - 2	3/4 - 1 1/3	2/3 - 1	1/2 - 3/4
10 - 20	2 1/4 - 3 1/2	2 - 3	1 1/3 - 2 1/4	1 - 1 3/4	3/4 - 1 1/2
20 - 30	3 1/2 - 4 2/3	3 - 4	2 1/4 - 3	1 3/4 - 2 1/3	1 1/2 - 2
30 - 40	4 2/3 - 5 2/3	4 - 5	3 - 3 1/2	2 1/3 - 2 3/4	2 - 2 1/2
40 - 60	-	5 -6 1/2	3 1/2 - 4 2/3	2 3/4 - 3 2/3	2 1/2 - 3 1/2
60 - 80	-	6 1/2 - 7 3/4	4 2/3 - 5 1/2	3 2/3 - 4 1/2	3 1/2 - 4
80 - 100	-	-	5 1/2 - 6 1/2	4 1/2 - 5 1/4	4 - 4 3/4
100 - 120	-	-	6 1/2 - 7	5 1/4 - 5 3/4	4 3/4 - 5 1/4
120 - 140	-	-	7 - 8	5 3/4 - 6 1/2	5 1/4 - 6
140 - 160	-	-	8 - 8 3/4	6 1/2 - 7	6 - 6 1/2

For pregnant or nursing adult Dog, we recommend free-choice feeding

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein	27.0%	Minimum
Crude Fat	15.0%	Minimum
Crude Fiber	4.0%	Maximum
Moisture	10.0%	Maximum
Calcium	1.2%	Minimum
Phosphorus	1.0%	Minimum
Zinc	150 mg/kg	Minimum
Selenium	0.3 mg/kg	Minimum
Vitamin E	150 IU/kg	Minimum
L-Carnitine *	30 mg/kg	Minimum
Omega-6 Fatty Acids *	2.0%	Minimum
Omega-3 Fatty Acids *	0.3%	Minimum
DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) *	0.05%	Minimum
Total Live & Active Cultures*	*Not Less Than 220,000,000 CFU/kg (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus reuteri)

* Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.


Calorie Content: 3,650 kcal/kg (342 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

AAFCO Statement

Diamond Naturals Large Breed Puppy Formula is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for All Life Stages.

May 5th, 2014 - The puppies first visit to the Vet

Today, Mark and I drove to Veronica's house to help her take all the puppies to the Vet for their first check-up and physical exam.

Neither her car or our car was tall enough to carry a crate to transport all the puppies in so I threw some comforters in the back of our Station Wagon, then Mark and Veronica sat in the back seat to keep their eyes on the puppies.

This was the puppies very first experience outside from the house.  We brought them out 2 at a time with the mother dog, Sadie staring at us wondering what we were doing with her puppies.

Not that she was overly concerned at this point, she watched with caution and didn't seem upset about us handling them.  The puppies slept for the whole ride to the Vet and did very well for their first trip in a car.

 

 

The Vet was very nice and good with all the puppies.  The largest puppy weighed almost 11 pounds.

 

My Emmett weighed 5.3 pounds but will quickly catch up to the others in weight now that they're all eating real dog food.  The Vet, Veronica and I had an informative discussion about the different dog foods and the Vet said they should be fed Large Breed Puppy food.

Both Veronica and I were sort of surprised by that statement since everything we've read said that Great Danes are never to be given Puppy Food.  The Vet said that the Large Breed Puppy food has all the essential nourishment for them and recommended a few brands.  Tomorrow I will call Harvest Mill and inquire about their Large Breed Puppy food.

The last time I saw Emmett he was 4 weeks old and what a difference one week made. 



The puppies eyes are on the verge of changing color from blue to brown and all were very alert and playful before they collapsed as a group for a quick nap.  Once back in the car, all the puppies fell asleep except for this little guy who was very curious about what was going on.

 

 

The puppies all fell asleep in a nice furry pile on the way home and woke up after I parked and opened up the back door to start the puppy convoy to get them all back inside.

 

 

 

 

All in all, I had a wonderful afternoon and took a lot of pictures of the puppies for Veronica so she have some to cherish and treasure for many years to come. 



 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

May 3rd, 2014 - Rosie's Introduction Plan To Emmett

After 25 days, Rosie is finally eating again after missing Emma. 

Rosie had turned down everything, hotdogs, cookies, ice cream, scrambled eggs, toast, canned dog food, canned cat food, all doggy treats, cake, chicken, Wendy's, Arby's and all table scraps.  She is such a pig when it comes to food it broke my heart seeing her miss Emma as much as I did.

 

Rosie was a feral puppy that adopted us when she was about 4 months old.  The first time I saw Rosie, she was running with a pack of much larger dogs.  At the time we had two very large male dogs, Parker (135 pounds) and Gunther (110 pounds and losing weight after being diagnosed with cancer ). 

 

 

 

 

Rosie started hanging out at our house, came into the backyard and hung out with the "boys" as I affectionately called them.  She then started showing up every night at 5 PM to be fed and for a short while was known as the 5 PM Puppy. 

 

Before long she started hanging out inside and eventually just stayed. 

 

The picture below was a month or so after Gunther passed away and Rosie was roughly 6 months old.

 

 

 

Mark and I knew that Gunther didn't have much time left and decided to keep Rosie as a companion for Parker.  They became the best of friends.

 

 



Then I rescued a very neglected Emma from horrid living conditions.  She was about 10 weeks old and in pretty rough shape.  My heart went out to her and apparently Rosie did not share in my joy.  It took a couple of weeks to get Rosie to accept Emma and then for the rest of Emma's life they were the best of friends.

 

 

Mark and I were a little concerned about how to introduce Rosie to Emmett.  

 

We're eleven days away from bringing Emmett home and have done everything possible to make his home coming as smooth as possible. 

I've given great thought to this and have spent hours rationalizing the best approach.  A couple of nights ago, I prayed and asked God to show me the best way to make their introduction and my prayer was answered. 

After we pick up Emmett, we will drive home and pick up Rosie and go for a nice long car ride with me sitting in the back seat holding Emmett and letting Rosie smell him all over in a controlled situation.

We will stop and Mark will take Rosie out for a short walk in a few new places while I hold Emmett in the car and watch. When Rosie gets back in the car, I will have hot dog pieces waiting for her.

Once home we will go into the back yard for a little while, leave the back door open and let Rosie go back and forth.  Before I enter the house with Emmett, all toys and bowls will be picked up. 

Both dogs will be separated at all times when fed.  I will gradually give Rosie and Emmett snacks, side by side and I will be in between the two of them at all times when I'm doing so.

For the time being, Rosie will never be alone with Emmett and she will go with us when we take Emmett for his puppy shots so she doesn't feel left out. 

My husband has Wednesdays and Thursdays off, so we will be picking Emmett up on May 14th which is a Wednesday so the two of us, Emmett and Rosie can have quality time together from the moment Emmett becomes a much loved member of our family.