Jun 282013
 

I was mailed a sample of Orijen dog treats for review and frankly, my dogs LOVE them.  The treats are small meatball size and can easily be divided into smaller pieces.  They are not gooey so they do not make a mess in your treat bag and the high quality ingredients take away the guilt we might sometimes have “stuffing” treats into our dogs mouths each time they agree to do what we have asked when we are training.  I shared with some other folks in my training class, and their response was the same…dogs love them.

Orijen is a Canadian dog food company and I have purchased their products in the past by mail order although none of my local stores carry the brand.  The food is given the highest rating on dogfoodanalysis.com and is very high calorie so even though a little pricey, the quantity you feed can be reduced making up for the difference.  I especially like the food when my dams have a litter of puppies and they need the best I can give them.

Chewy.com has good pricing, home delivery with free shipping on orders over $49 and no sales tax.  If you are in an area where a variety of dog food brands are not available, or you just like coming home to a heavy bag of food on your doorstep rather than lugging it home from the store, this is an alternative.

Check them out at http://www.chewy.com/s/orijen

Note–chewy.com does not support Alangus Aussies in any way other than providing a treat sample for my  review

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Mar 202012
 

Pregnant Aussie

It only takes 63 days from ovulation for the puppies to be born and I can hardly believe the time has almost rolled around for Izzy.  She should be whelping April 6-10. Last year when Izzy had puppies, she seemed to have morning sickness the entire time so I babied her with yummy canned puppy food. Well, we know the end result of all those calories, little fat ground hog puppies that did NOT want to be born. This time, she hasn’t been noticeably sick and I’ve just kept her on her kibble letting nature help her decide the proper amount.  No hand feeding!

There is another noticeable difference with this pregnancy. Izzy’s hormones must be raging because she is one grumpy bear with her best buddies. Lots of “looks” and “raised lips” to tell them she’s in “no mood”. Haha. Like all houses with multiple dogs, we have multiple Nylabones throughout. While we were watching TV last evening, she went through the house gathering them up and bringing them back to her favorite pillow. Nesting?  Or just being snarky? The other dogs, even little Rose, knew not to cross a pregnant mama’s path!

Around April 1, Izzy will go back to the repro vet for X-rays to give us some idea of placement and sizes.   Hoping for healthy babies and an easy whelp for Izzy. 

 Posted by at 9:15 pm
Jan 212012
 

Diamond Puppy FoodWellness Puppy Food

My litter of miniature and toy Australian Shepherds are in the process of being weaned.  At about 3-4 weeks old, I started offering small breed puppy food to the puppies. Initially, I mixed the kibble with hot water and K9 Puppy Gold powder available online. I’ve found that the PG gives the food a smell that is irresistible to the babies and makes the transition much easier with no stomach upset.

After a few days of “soup”, I slowly decrease the water, continuing with the addition of PG. By 4-5 weeks old, my litter is eating heartily and my dam is visiting them less often. With five chunky monkey puppies, that’s a good thing. She’s done her job well and deserves to gradually move to the sidelines.  

There are many excellent puppy foods on the market, but I have chosen to use Diamond Puppy Food for Small Breeds and Wellness Puppy Food  for Small Breeds. I initially start with the Diamond because it is grain free and the kibble is tiny so there’s no danger of choking.  About five weeks when the pups have their teeth, I start adding the Wellness to the mix. The Wellness kibble is still small but larger than the Diamond.

You may be asking why I use two foods instead of only one. I have a couple of reasons, first it gives the new owners a choice of two different foods in case one of them is not available in their area. The biggest cause of sick puppies at a new home is a change in food. Secondly, I think slow change up on dog food occasionally with different protein sources helps the gut flora of an adult dog to be adaptable, much like they would be if they were scavengers. 

I’m very picky about dog food and have a link from my vet on my website about choosing a food for your dog.  However, I am not brand loyal as long as the food is rated at least 4* on dogfoodanalysis.com and does not contain corn and wheat, high causes of allergies in our pets.  I do buy smaller bags of food for my adult dogs and rotate among brands like Timberwolf, Wellness, Merrick, Orijen, California Natural etc.  It has worked well for me and my dogs do not typically have issues with stomach upset.

 Posted by at 3:19 am
Jan 102012
 

Rub A Dub Dub, five puppies in a tub.

The puppies just turned three weeks old and are starting to munch down on puppy food along with still nursing.  I’m currently feeding Diamond Puppy Food for Small Breeds because I’ve had good luck with it before as a starter.  It seems to digest well and not cause upset.  I add a heaping T of Puppy Gold to each serving along with a little hot water.  After another week or so, I’ll phase out the hot water.

One of the black tri females and the red tri female are still available (bottom right with eyes open), but the others now have families watching and waiting for them.

Rub A Dub Dub, Five Aussies in a Tab

 Posted by at 5:51 pm
Jan 012012
 

A mama dog requires at least double the calories she would eat normally and if she has a large hungry litter will often eat 3x as many calories. I have taken that into account with my bitches by feeding them high quality food and also by adding a product called K9 Puppy Gold to her food for the extra calcium needed for a good supply of milk.

This product is a powder and can be mixed with hot water and poured over the food to make a stew or just mixed in dry.  My females love the flavor and gobble it up. I have found it keeps their coat shiny and helps them maintain their weight during the stress of nursing.

Once the puppies are changing over to puppy food, I also to mix Puppy Gold with their kibble and keep them on it as a supplement until they leave for their new homes. Fat and fluffy puppies are the result!! 

 Posted by at 5:58 pm
Dec 222011
 

I know you new puppy parents are perusing my Blog to not miss a moment of your new friend’s life so I took another video this morning.  It’s with my Iphone and not high quality, but has a good view of the little ones.  They are eating really well, as is Momma Dog, and their little bellies are starting to pooch out.  I love the time when they start to turn from newborns into puppies.

At this point it is very very important for me to keep Fancy healthy with as many calories as I can get down here.  She’s currently eating Orijen Fish dog food because it is very high calcium and  very high calorie (600+ kcal per cup), a six star food, the very best rating.  That is much higher calorie count than I would like to feed my dogs normally because when not whelping I like to keep them just a tad lean.  Fancy loves that particular food and I’m adding some hot water to make a stew because her intake of fluids needs to be maximized as well.  This morning early, she ate about 1 1/2 cups of dog food covered with hot water.  At lunch she got another bowl of  1 1/2 cups mixture of cottage cheese, rice and chicken that I had cooked earlier and frozen for her and a little puppy food.  The extra calcium in the cottage cheese and the protein again will help her milk supply.  With five nursing puppies, a female dog can lose a lot of her body fat and sacrifice her own health just as nursing skin mothers do.  Tonight she’ll get another meal and perhaps a chunk of cheese if she’s still hungry.  To compare, when not with puppies, Fancy eats 1 cup of food per day and maintains a healthy weight.

I’m not seeing a way to link to my video on my version of WordPress, so if necessary, you may need to copy and paste the url into your browser:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vpBTrynYPM

 Posted by at 6:09 pm