Catching up with the girls

It feels like a long time since my last post. And it really was a long time!

How have our doggies been doing? Quite fine, actually.

 

Aschiuta, the picky eater?

I jokingly say that Aschiuta is a goat. She eats things you wouldn't think a dog would enjoy. She eats fruit, such as apples or bananas and also pieces of bell peppers or even cucumber peelings! Yes, our little goat crunches them as if they were the tastiest treats.

But lately, Aschiuta has started to be a bit picky about food. Maybe she just doesn't enjoy Acana much. But there is one trick to convincing her to eat her kibble.

What do you mean, diet kibble?!

 

I give both Aschiuta and Nightmare some yoghurt or sour cream each day, since it is the best way to administer Nightmare's medication. For some reason, Aschiuta first goes to her bowl and pushes the kibble around with her nose instead of eating it. It took me a while to catch on, but it seems she is actually trying to stir the kibble around and coat it with the dairy. Sometimes, she even walks away without eating. When I realised what she was trying to do, I stirred her kibble myself before serving it to her. Bowl licked clean!

 

Nightmare, figure skater!

Nightmare's seizures have stopped since she started taking the epilepsy medication every day. Phew! But she still has some issues with coordination sometimes, especially after just waking up.

I think the shiny flooring doesn't help either... We have laminate wood and tile flooring; even I slide around in the kitchen as if I were a child on the icy roads during winter. But Nightmare also overdoes everything. You could say that her enthusiasm is always one step ahead of her and her feet (and bottom) are trying to catch up.

She jumps on the couch and over the little table and runs up and down the stairs, she is a real whirl. She just sometimes skid or slip and lands on a belly flop, the poor girl. Even yesterday she missed the couch and landed on the floor, knocking one of the wheels off the little table. I found one of the pieces across the room!

She is fine walking normally on non-slippery ground, but she can be a real figure skater in the house. What a figure!

She likes to sleep up on the radiator. But if she rolls over in her sleep she tumbles down on the couch!

Trials and tribulations with Nightmare

Continuing the Nightmare tale...

If you remember, I mentioned that the dog had a pretty bad infection on her forehead, which had oozed out and caked the fur around the wound.

My first order of business the next day after taking her in was to try to clean the wound as well as I could. The only disinfectant I had around was medicinal alcohol, but that one really stings. So I went with "grandma's recipe", camomile tea.

It took me about half an hour to clean the fur and then the wound and, even if the tea is very mild and wouldn't hurt her, my patting and rubbing surely caused her quite a bit of discomfort. Surprisingly though, she made no move to stop me or draw away, she just lay there with her eyes closed, in complete resignation.

Feeling down in the dumps, poor girl...

She was actually quite lethargic the first couple of days, sleeping a lot, eating only a little and generally unwilling to walk around much. She was also picky about the food and didn't want the kibble or treats Aschiuta had at the time. I eventually bought her a can of dog food and she seemed to like that. She also liked mozzarella. I later on bought a brand of kibble (Bosch) that we used to feed Aschiuta when we were on a budget at the vet's recommendation and which we have kept giving her from time to time. The big black dog seemed to like the kibble, so it is again a staple in the dogs' diet.

But I digress... After cleaning her wound, I continued to do it from time to time, since it was still suppurating. I decided I would have to finish work early and try to take her to the vet. This way we would get her wound checked and also verify if she had a microchip.

Our vet is not very close by and usually with Aschiuta it takes me about 30 minutes on foot. I gathered my usual supplies of bags and tissues, put the leash on the dog and we were on our merry way to the vet.

Unfortunately, we didn't get too far. We had just reached the public street (yes, there are private streets in my town...) in front of our building and made a few steps, when the dog decided she was not going to take another step. In neither direction. She planted herself on the ground, just like when climbing stairs, and would not budge. After a few good minutes of trying to coax her to go further, I had to spend almost as much time convincing her to go back. We were going home, no more scary long walks.

We would need to switch to plan B then... taking our car. Luckily, we have our own car, complete with safety accessories for doggies. But more about that next time...

Hot potato is not a fun game...

"You can't stop me from eating this!" 
 

Aschiuta isn't the kind to steal food from the plate while we're watching. She does try to get to anything that is on the kitchen table when I'm not looking, but there usually isn't anything there.

I don't know how many other dogs do this, but when we give some new food to Aschiuta, she will take it in her mouth for a quick taste, drop it on the floor to inspect it and then eat it. Of course, this doesn't happen with meat or bones she finds in the grass. Prudence also goes out the window when she is caught stealing.

She knows she's not supposed to eat certain things and that we'll take them out of her mouth if we catch her and is ready to gobble everything up before we can do anything about it. This is never a good idea. We usually present her with a more enticing treat to make her let go of her dangerous prey.

Easter with a bad twist

This Easter night though, there was no time for that and, before I could even reach her, she gobbled a hot piece of sausage right in front of my eyes. No berating could have helped things, so we decided to leave her alone without any special treats that night.

Unfortunately, pooch really got herself into big trouble this time and the sausage (almost unchewed) came out almost as fast as it had gone in. Poor doggie had really upset her stomach and she spent about two hours throwing up. She was mellow and salivating and looking at me with the saddest little eyes.

We were extremely alarmed. We tried calling our vet, but on Easter at 1am we didn't get any answer.

Little pooch gets better in the end

So, I just sat next to her to pet her back and take care of her. Little by little, she calmed down, stopped throwing up and salivating and eventually fell asleep. Relieved that she was better, we went to sleep too and she came to curl up at our feet.

I must have woken up a few times that night, checking on her, to see if she was still sick or if she was breathing normally. I woke her up once and she raised her head, looked at me and then got comfortable again and dozed off. Somehow, I realised she would be alright.

The next morning, she was back to her usual self, bouncy and happy and ready to play. I gave her some food and she ate hungrily and nothing bad happened afterwards. Little pooch was all better now, but she did give us a huge scare.

You can look, but there's nothing there to steal.

I hope everyone had a safe Easter and remember, you can never be too careful when pets are involved.

Bobita, our doggie neighbour

You might remember one of my first posts, On the streets. I talked about one of our friendliest stray dog neighbour, the dog from the other block. It's been a while and we've had time to get better acquainted with him.

Aschiuta and Bobita. The photo is a bit fuzzy.

 

A very smart doggie

He lives in front of the entrance to the block of flats next to ours. The people like him and take care of him. He has a nice little dog house and they also give him food and water. They even gave him a name, Bobita (the Romanian equivalent of Bobby), which seems to fit him quite nicely. I used to call him Don Juan, because of his advances to Aschiuta, but he has been a good boy lately.

Bobita in front of his home.

 

He has the best strategical position among the other strays: next door to the pet shop. A lot of people who buy dog food leave him some in the corner. I've even seen cat food around there, although there are almost no stray cats around.

Making friends

When we first met him, he was very curious about Aschiuta and tried to mate with her, but of course we didn't let him. For a while, he kept his distance, pretending he wasn't interested in her anymore. A few days ago, when we were out for a walk, he actually came after us all the way to the back of the parking lot. That was a very brave move, despite my "shoo"s and "go home"s. The whole pack in that area chased him away barking.

Even when we aren't with Aschiuta, he comes to greet us when we pass by. He's always sweet and lets us pet him on the head. He once came with me inside the pet shop, but the shopkeeper knew him and didn't make him leave. He was very well-mannered, sitting down and waiting for me to buy what I needed. He then followed me outside and I left some food for him in his usual spot.

The clearest photo Scorp could take for me. That is Aschiuta in the corner too.

 

Like brother and sister

Just imagine a black version of Aschiuta, with a big white patch on his chest and only the stub of the tail remaining. We always say they are like brother and sister, because they look alike (pointy ears and all), they act very much alike and get along really well. Aschiuta loves meeting him and always wants to play. Bobita will jump around her too, catching a sniff or two. I think they might even be around the same age.

This is a video Scorp took while on a walk with Aschiuta. Bobita and she are great friends and always play together.

That's the story of Bobita, our friendliest neighbourhood stray. I hope you'll get to hear more about him.

Taking care of the doggie economy-style

Scorp and I are getting by on one salary at the moment and Aschiuta is a third (albeit smaller) mouth to feed in our little room. We often have to cut down on costs as much as possible. And it's not hard to take care of a dog economically while also providing for all its needs.
 

Of course, some things can't be found at lower prices and good quality, such as some medicine or vaccines, but for the rest of the stuff, you don't have to spend a lot of money.

Food

The big issue for everyone. After trying a lot of options, we've realised a few important things:

• Cooked food can be cheaper than commercial dog food, but doesn't last as long and it might not cover all the necessary nutrients. As a compromise, we also give Aschiuta other things, like chicken, raw bone, cheese or sour cream (the occasional milk is ok too, but can cause stomach problems) and some fruits and vegetables (carrots, peppers and apples are her favourites). We give her a little of the food we eat if it's something that will be ok for her. Rice, oven roast chicken and soup are quite ok. You can find good recipes for homemade dog food and treats all over the internet; I'll recommend Doggy Dessert Chef (the writer is very careful about what a dog shouldn't eat).
• The cheapest dog food isn't always the best. There are some good cheap brands too though (our vet recommended a few brands to us) and we've found out that we can afford to buy relatively good quality food (stuff like Acana, Pro Pac etc.)

Bedding

We used to try and make a small bed for Aschiuta from a cardboard box and some old clothes. Aschiuta though had other plans. Once she grew old (and bold) enough, she started sleeping in bed with us or on the couch.

Very comfy.

A wooden crate and old clothes (you can even make a pillow out of them) can be a good solution, depending on the size of the dog. Aschiuta kept outgrowing her carton beds.

Bowls for food and water

Scorp bought a plastic food bowl from the pet store, which we used for water. Other than that, we used big plastic ice cream boxes. Talk about recycling, right? My mom keeps all of those boxes, so I thought I'd put them to good use.
 

Unfortunately, Aschiuta chews on plastic things, so after a few of the makeshift bowls and the pet store one being chewed to pieces, we decided to not leave them within her reach. She has learned to ask for water too.

Bath

I'm still using a sulfur soap for doggie baths, since the vet advised me to give Aschiuta baths with sulfur soap and apple vinegar rinse when she had her skin problems. We don't use the vinegar anymore, but the sulfur soap does its job well. It's not expensive and it doesn't smell appealing enough for her to try to eat any of it. In fact, Scorp claims it smells too bad and Aschiuta's docile manner during bath time might be because she also hates the smell.

Toys

Another hot topic. Well, here we've improvised a lot. We have the famous old socks that she loves to play with.

Aschiuta helping the sock do some stretching exercises.

The two things we bought were a rope toy and tennis balls. But if you can find a sturdy rope, you can make a toy for your dog too. I've also read a lot of interesting ideas for makeshift treat dispensers. All you have to do is use your imagination.

Ever since she was a puppy, she's always loved her tennis ball.

Clothes

Not all dogs need clothes, but for the short-haired ones, it is a good idea to have a jacket on during the winter. Aschiuta's jacket was made out of one of my old t-shirts.
 

Not quite in fashion, but still necessary (saved us from red spots all over the place).

 
There are a lot of ideas out there about reusing old clothes to make jackets (or other clothes) for your dog. At Sew DoggyStyle, you can find some interesting ideas about making doggie clothes and accessories.

And, Aschiuta was lucky and got a nice winter coat from Scorp's mom for Christmas. Bought, but we're planning on getting the design idea, buying material and making others ourselves.

Spaying or neutering

There are programs for free or low-price cat or dog spaying or neutering. All you need to do is get informed. Consult your vet too for the best possibilities. We are waiting until spring and will spay Aschiuta.

Well, these are the tips I can offer for keeping your dog healthy and happy without emptying your pocket.

A trail of rice crumbs and chicken bones

If you've read my post Time for dinner! What are we having? you know that there is a huge debate among dog owners about whether we should feed our dogs commercial food or home made dog food.
 

Hmm, not bad... Needs more parsley.

 
Aschiuta's first diet

When we first got Aschiuta, we didn't know what to feed her. Her stomach was also a bit upset because of the odd stuff she had been eating and she also had a parasite.
 

To calm her tummy, our vet told us to make her some soup: chicken, rice and a few vegetables. It was meant to be easy on the stomach, since rice is easy to digest. She loved it and we kept making it.

After all the problems went away, we figured we should buy her some kibble. The vet sold some good brands too and gave us samples of each. Needless to say, she was very young and didn't know how to eat the small kibble, so we put it in her soup and all was ok.

Kibble dibble. Yum yum

Since the vet insisted that we feed Aschiuta only kibble, we tried to teach her to eat it. She didn't like it much, and couldn't chew it properly. She did eventually eat from our hands and that's how it was for a while.

One time, we decided to buy dog food from a nearby pet shop, so we got the most advertised one (one of the only we knew about). This led to a lot of problems and you can read about them in The Vet.

Just like Mom used to make it...

After all the problems with the dog food and visiting Brasov with Aschiuta for the first time, we went back to chicken and rice. My fiance's mother had two dogs of her own before the two cats and only fed them home made food. One of them, she kept saying, got to a "matusalemic age" with that diet.

Aschiuta didn't even want to look at kibble again, of course. She loved her "soup", which in time had turned into a nice pilaf.

No more time to cook for pooch

After I got a job, I barely had time for a lot of things, so we decided to switch back to commercial dog food. We were careful to get a good quality one and she eventually got used to it.

We might get back to the home made food again in the future... Who knows?

Time for dinner! What are we having?

You must be overstuffed with the discussions and advice all over the Internet about what a dog should eat to be healthy. I'll just add my personal opinion and some useful information that I found.
 

Munch munch

Commercial dog food vs. homemade dog food 
 

The big buzz is about kibble versus homemade dog food. There are plenty of people on each side of the barricade who are convinced that their idea is the best.

Kibble

Commercial dog food has one great advantage: it's already made for you. This means that your dog should get the right amount of nutrients, that it doesn't take any time to prepare and that it will last a long time.

The problems are various... The worst is that the food can be contaminated (see news of dog food being withdrawn), which can lead to serious problems. Another issue is food allergy. Aschiuta once had that from a very popular brand (which the vet clearly said we shouldn't have fed to her).

Let's not think about some things that go in the kibble. But of course, it also depends on the quality of the food.

Last but not least, I've heard about a lot of dogs that don't want to eat kibble. Also, feeding the same thing every day gets the dog bored of the food.

Homemade dog food

The benefices of this kind of food is that you know what goes in it and how it's made. It's also fresh (if you are a responsible cook) and your dog might like it better than kibble. Aschiuta loves homemade food. A lot of dogs won't eat anything else.

The problems can be pretty bad, dog nutritionists say. You should consult your vet when cooking for your dog, to know what and how much your dog needs. Insufficient nutrients can cause problems. One of the worst ones is the lack of calcium. This should most likely come from bones or dairy products. I give Aschiuta some cheese or sour cream now and then. She used to have quite thin little legs, but now they are very strong (packs a bad punch too).

Decisions, decisions...

No matter what you decide to feed your dog, one problem remains possible in both cases. Pet obesity. Remember to consult your vet about serving sizes and exercise more. Don't forget that treats are food too.

Consulting with your vet is very important. They can tell you if your dog is eating properly.