Dog

Categories Apollo, Artemis, Dog

We got a counter surfer…

by

Friday evening Husband brought home a dozen donuts for us to split over the weekend.  No we don’t need them, but we don’t do that sort of thing very often either.  As of last night there were still 4 left in the box.  As of this morning when I got up, the box was on the kitchen floor and the donuts where no where to be seen (don’t worry, the chocolate ones were long gone).

Pretty sure its Arty who’s the problem, Apollo is certinally capable of stealing stuff off the counter, but he knows better.  Arty on the other hand has JUST reached a size where he can stretch up and grab something, and we haven’t been successfull yet in teaching him not to.   And of course although Apollo might not START it, but he’s more than willing to “help” once Arty starts it.  Sigh

Categories Dog

Diamond recalls yet MORE dog food

1 Comment by

This time its Diamond Naturals Small Breed Adult Lamb and Rice.

The recall includes Diamond Naturals Small Breed Adult Dog Lamb and Rice Formula with the following bag codes and “Best Before” dates:

  • Bag Code DSL0801 26-Aug-2012
  • Bag Code DSL0801 26-Aug-2012
  • Bag Code DSL0801 27-Sept-2012
  • Bag Code DSL0801 18-Oct- 2012
  • Bag Code DSL0801 Samples

 

 

I’m starting to wonder about Diamond’s record keeping.  Surely it shouldn’t be THAT hard to figure out WHAT was made during the time period in question and just recall it.  Whats even worse is they keep changing the recall information on the previously recalled brands.  Every time I turn around the numbers that could be in the recall are larger and larger.

Categories Cats, Dog

Two cats dead after eating recalled kibble

2 Comments by

Article here.

I know alot of folks, including the media, keep saying it “can’t be THAT bad, no animals got sick”, but its not that simple.  The problem is IDing the cause of the animal sickness.  Dog or cat gets diarrhea and vomiting and they’re given an antibiotic and fluids and sent home (trust me, I recently had to deal with it).  They might test for Parvo, but salmonella just doesn’t enter the thought process untill WAY down the treatment process unless there IS a current recall.  I highly suspect that if a survey of vets offices could be done, for cats and dogs treated for diarrhea/vomiting in the last 3 months, and then further survey to find out how many of said animals were being fed (or had in the home) kibbles on the recall list,  that the percentage would be pretty high.  And that doesn’t include the animals with mild cases who never saw a vet.  Of course since the affected animal was never tested for salmonella at the time of the sickness you can’t PROVE anything……

Categories Dog

Expanded dog food recall

3 Comments by

If you feed any of the following brands of food:

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul

Country Value

Diamond

Diamond Naturals

Premium Edge

Professional

4Health

Taste of the Wild

 

Please go here to determine if the food you are feeding is included in the expanded recall.

Please note, the recall is for salmonella.  You can avoid getting sick yourself by washing your hands with soap after handling your dog’s food.  If your dog is healthy it is unlikely he’ll get sick from salmonella, however if your dog has a weakened immune system for any reason (including recently have had vaccinations) you should seriously consider buying something new for your dog.

 

 

EDITED:  ALSO LIMTED RECALLS OF CANIDAE, NATURAL BALANCE AND WELLNESS.

Categories Apollo, Dog

Apollo and the breed standard changes

by

So, Apollo and I have been taking a “Confirmation Handling Class” so that he and I can have a clue the first time we enter a show ring.  I almost didn’t bother, with the breed standard changes I didn’t see a point.  But after discussion with his breeder, and some thought on my part I decided to go ahead with it anyway.  Worst that happens is a DQ, and since we don’t plan to breed thats not exactly the end of the world for us.

While we were waiting for the class to start last night a lady walked by who was able to correctly ID Apollo as  Tibetan Mastiff (even among doggy people the usual response is “what IS he??”).  But she then said “he’s not full grown right? He looks really small for the breed.”  Now, on his first birthday, back in December, we measured Apollo at a bit over 28″, call it 28.25″.  He was a bit confused by the whole fuss and was sinking a bit under our hands so it might have even been closer to 28.5″.  The new breed standard puts the upper limit at 29″.  Which means that by those standards Apollo is NOT small (he’s not small by any standard really but…).  Now true, he’s by no means finished filling out, which makes him appear less “big” over all than he is, but even when I said that to her she said, “oh, so not the smallest in the breed anyway.”

Now I agree that care needs to be taken to make sure the breed doesn’t get TO big, there are to many health problems that occur when thats allowed to happen, but yah, 29″ was just NOT the place to put the upper limit.