Stars and Stripes and Snacks Forever!

(Mama says this fireworks burst reminds her of a watermelon.  I enjoy watermelon.)

Hi all, Lily the corgi here once again to enlighten and entertain. This coming Friday is a thing the humans call the Fourth of July, or, Independence Day.  On this day each year, the humans in our country celebrate freedom.  I've personally never known the horrors of being restricted, confined, imprisoned...but my three fur siblings have had the experience of the animal shelter jail, so they can surely appreciate the freedom that comes from having a loving home.

Do you know that July 4/5th are the days when the most dogs are picked up by animal control?  These are dogs who have been traumatized by the sights, sounds, and smells of Independence Day celebrations, especially fireworks.  In fear for their lives, dogs will bolt and run, and run, and run.  Then, on top of the fright from the exploding fireworks, the dogs become lost, disoriented, or even injured.  Some dogs who escape do manage to find their way home, but every year many dogs wind up in animal shelters following their July 4th night of terror.

So, today, I'm going to pass along a few tidbits of knowledge regarding the July 4th festivities as it relates to the well being of your dog.

*1.  About this time of year (late June) people start shooting off fireworks.  It's time to double check that your dog has ample forms of identification so that if he is lost, there are ways to help find his way back.  If you haven't already done so, get your dog microchipped!  Don't rely on the chip alone, however.  Make sure your dog has proper ID tags that include your phone number.  Also, be sure you have a current photo of your dog, just in case you need to search for him.

*2.  On the 4th, walk your dog early in the day, before people start partying and shooting off fireworks.  Once you get home from your walk, keep your dog inside unless you are outside with her.  If you are hosting a party or barbeque, make sure your dog is kept safe, away from charcoal, sparklers, fire pits, and glow sticks.  If your dog is nervous from the noise and excitement, put her in the house away from the guests and distractions.

*3.  When the fireworks start going off in earnest, make sure your dog is inside and in his safe place--quiet bedroom, crate, bathroom, etc...  My siblings and I actually have our own room just off the kitchen.  (Mama claims this is the human's safe room, but what does she know.)

*4.  If the unthinkable happens and your dog manages to escape,  make every effort to find her as quickly as possible. Contact neighbors, animal control, animal shelters, even the police department.  Sadly, in some areas where the facilities are extremely crowded, "stray" dogs aren't held very long before they are euthanized.  Don't let your furry family member become a tragic statistic!

Hey, I'm not too worried about the fireworks and goings-on, though I'm sure my neurotic sister Sadie will be freaking out on the 4th.  I am much more interested in the fact that I've overheard mama saying there is going to be a party at our house, so I'm sure to get lots of petting, lots of attention, and lots of snacks!

Til next time, stay safe out there!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

(Seriously?  What is the big deal with the firecrackers??  That money could be much better spent on dog toys and treats!)

Info in this article comes from our friends at PetFinder and at Kitties and Kanines.   :)

Yet More Interesting Dog Facts

(This is me with our good friend Tom who came to visit this past weekend.)

Hi all, Lily the corgi here, late again as usual!  This past weekend our good friends Tom and Marcy from Missouri came to visit and my mama was too busy to type my blog for me.  Luckily, having these friends around meant extra petting and attention for me, so I must admit I wasn't too upset about the late blog.  Tom and Marcy think I'm wonderful, as they should, so I like when they show up!

Anyhow, today I'm bringing out another round of interesting dog facts.  So here goes:

*The Newfoundland breed of dog has water-resistant fur and webbed feet.  Maybe they are actually ducks, not dogs!

*According to an Associated Press poll, 72% of dog owners believe their dogs can predict stormy weather.  (My grouchy husky brother Claude is one of those weather predictor dogs, we believe.)

*Dogs have 3 eyelids.

*Dogs' noses secret a thin layer of mucous which absorbs scent.  When the dog then licks his/her nose, a sample of the scents can be tasted.

*Ever wonder why poodles have those super weird haircuts?  Well, originally the cut was given to help them swim better.  The little fuzzy pom-poms were left on to help warm their joints.  (I'd die of embarrassment, personally.)

*It used to be believed that dogs only had black and white vision.  Doggie eye experts now believe that dogs do see in color, along the lines of humans who have red-green blindness.  (This means we are better at seeing green or blue things and not so good at reds and orange.)

*Dogs can donate blood to other dogs.  

*Dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers.  (That's some hard core little dog, there.)

(Cousin Quincy the ancient wiener dog could probably have taken on a badger in his day.  Now he just has a few teeth, so he isn't so much of a hunter anymore.)

Well, that's a few little dog related tidbits to mull over for the rest of this week.  Keep cool out there and I'll see you next week!

Til next time,

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Never a Dull Moment...

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  I'm late getting this blog to you, but my secretary (mama) was out of pocket yesterday--you just can't get reliable help nowadays!  This past week was a little hectic at our house, so let me just tell you about it.

My grouchy husky brother Claude was having health issues, as you know.  He still hasn't been able to get his teeth worked on so he's having trouble eating.  Frankly, I can't imagine any circumstance under which I'd have trouble eating, but that's just me.  Anyway, mama decided it was time to try Claude out on canned food.  Claude thought the canned food was super yummy; us girls thought it smelled super yummy, too, but mama wouldn't share it with us.  For a few days, Claude got to eat this yummy canned food and seemed perfectly happy.  Then, one night, daddy got up in the night to let us out to pee and found the whole house covered in, well, disgusting Claude poop.  Mama and daddy were up before 5 am shampooing the carpets.  I think it served them right for refusing to share the yummy smelling food with all their kids; if they hadn't been so stingy with it, maybe they wouldn't have had this problem.  Okay, so Claude is now back to eating our regular dog food, but he gets it soaked in water so it makes his kibble look all plump and moist and yummy.  The rest of us would like to try out this new culinary creation, but once again, mama is only giving it to Claude.  Hmmmm...seems perhaps she didn't learn any lesson here.  I'll keep you posted.

I don't remember if I've told you before that my beagle mix sister Lucy has seizures.  She began having them a year or so ago and up til now hasn't had them very often.  Her vet said that as long as they were far between, mama and daddy could choose not to start her on any medications for the seizures since once started, she'll probably be on the medications for life.  Up til now, they've chosen not to medicate her.  I'm pretty impressed with my parents on that call; let me explain why.  Years ago, before Lucy and I came to live with mama and daddy, that had a beautiful corgi girl named Audrey.  One day, after never having any problem before, Audrey started having a seizure that could not be controlled.  Despite the efforts of our local vet and the staff of a veterinary school in our state, Audrey's seizure continued and she died.  I am impressed that mama and daddy were able to put aside their panic about seizures to make choices about Lucy's care.  So, anyhow, recently Lucy's seizures have become more frequent.  A few days back, she had 3 seizures in one day and mama decided it was time to reconsider putting Lucy on medication.  At about that same time, Lucy had begun to claw at her left ear.

Lucy went off to the vet.  She got lots of tests (that means blood work and needles, yuck!) and got her ears swabbed to check for germy things.  It turns out she had a yeast infection in her ear, which is pretty common, but she also had a strep infection in her ear.  Strep ear!?!  Never heard of such a thing.  The vet said it was the same type of strep that humans get--in fact, our human cousin baby Kendall has had strep a few times. I wonder if that is coincidence?  The vet prescribed drugs for Lucy's seizures and then said she needed some antibiotics and ear drops for her painful, itchy ears.  I feel kind of bad for Lucy, having to get that little tube stuck in her ear to put in the drops, but I guess that's the price you pay for having those floppy ears instead of correct perky ears like mine.

(This is what appropriate ears look like!)

After all that, you'd think we'd settle down for a nice, relaxing weekend.  But Noooo.  My mama and daddy went off to Tulsa to our grandparents' for something called a Garden Railroad Open House.  My grandpa has a ton of toy trains in his yard; they are interesting things, very chasable.  Unfortunately, no dogs were invited.  That day was my mama's birthday and she told us they'd be home after the open house; Aunt Cathy was supposed to come over to put us out to pee later.  Guess what?  No Aunt Cathy.  Instead, our Aunt Vicky showed up.  Now Aunt Vicky is our pet sitter; when she shows up, we can pretty much assume mama and daddy are going to be gone for a while.  As it turns out, daddy did something called "kidnapping" to mama.  Without telling her, daddy arranged for them to go to a nice hotel and have a sushi dinner and they did NOT come home like they were supposed to do.  I was a little bit miffed.

Don't get me wrong, I love it when Aunt Vicky comes to stay with us; she usually lets us do pretty much whatever we want and feeds us peanut butter crackers.  I just don't think it is very nice for mama to say she'll come home but then not do so; I realize she was birthday surprised by it all and didn't mean to mislead us, but if there is a roadtrip with a nice dinner, I want to be included!  Especially sushi--I enjoy fish.  Finally, yesterday, mama and daddy came home, but after being here just a few hours, they left again.  When they came home they smelled like birthday cake and my cousin Quincy the ancient wiener dog--I'm pretty sure they had birthday dinner at my Aunt Cathy's house and AGAIN we dogs were not invited.

And I didn't even mention the fact that Claude got to go to the groomer's for a spa day (after that pooping incident) and I had to stay home.  Excuse me!  I enjoy a nice spa day for bathing, pampering, and beautification--what's the deal taking that old grouch and leaving me behind?

So that's the story of our week and the reason I wasn't able to put up a proper blog post on Sunday as I've promised to do.  I'm enjoying a more sedate day today and, so far, no surprises.  I do believe that humans make life more chaotic than it really has to be.  

Well, that's all for this week, folks.  Take care of each other and watch out for those surprises!

Til next time, 

Love ya, 

Lily the Corgi

(I'm such a good sister; here I am comforting Lucy after her visit to the vet--don't get any of your old strep ear on me, please)

Ode to the Ice Cube--And Other Frozen Delights

Ice Cubes are Awesome!

Hi, all, Lily the Corgi here.  Well, summer weather has arrived and it is important that all dogs keep ourselves cool, hydrated, and full...as in not hungry.  I understand that it is not healthy for dogs to stand around and munch on noms all the time.  Unfortunately, as we get older, those extra treats tend to stick to our bodies and make us look like plump little sausages.  Because of my advanced cuteness, I am almost always able to fill my humans with guilt enough to share food with me; however, my parents are smart and know there are things that are much better for me than other things.  And some of those things are home made!  That's right, my mama is a pretty great dog-snack-maker.

Now, I hear you thinking "Lily, I want to be cool, hydrated, and full, but my human doesn't know how to make awesome dog snacks."  Well, let me tell you a little secret--my mama says dog snacks are super easy to put together and she has agreed to share some of these!  With my mama's easy recipes, any corgi-person should be able to whip up some delightful doggy treats in no time.  So, sit pretty, put on your best hungry face, and your humans too can enjoy the satisfaction of knowing they have served you some wonderful, ice cold, home-made goodness!

Your best bet for the frozen treats is to lay in a supply of ice cube trays.  Just the regular old square cubes are fine, but you can also buy some cute little shaped trays.  My mama has some in the shape of bones that are just super cute (but they are also smaller than plain old squares so, really, I'm fine with the squares!)  If you have a larger dog, you can also make these in paper cups to make a bigger snack.

Ice Cubes:  Ahh, the sublime perfection that is the ice cube.  My mama says these are not difficult; she just goes to the ice maker in the fridge and hands me a chunk of icy goodness.  I love ice cubes above all other snacks (except, of course, bacon.)  My ridiculous brother and sisters don't like ice cubes, but I will sit around the kitchen all day on the chance of having one of those special treats.  Sometimes when it is really hot, mama or daddy will toss a few cubes in our water bowl.  I charge right in and start liberating the cubes for my own personal pleasure.  Ice Cubes are Awesome!!

Dog Ice:  Seeing how much I loved ice cubes and how these cooled me off on a hot day, my mama decided to try something to get the other dogs to take in some iciness.  So she invented something she calls Dog Ice. Mama takes broth--chicken, beef, any kind will do-- and pours it into ice cube trays and then pops those in the freezer.  A few magic hours later, heaven in a cube!  Even my silly brother and sisters like dog ice.  (You can also drop a small treat into the molds before freezing--a little piece of fruit or veggie or even a bite of chicken.)

Frosty Paws:  My mama says she heard there is an actual store-bought frozen dog treat by this name, but we've never seen it in our area.  Anyway, here's the home made way and no infringement intended to the brand name Frosty Paws people.  Mix 16 oz plain yogurt, 1 mashed banana, 2 Tbsp peanut butter and a TBS honey.  Freeze the mixture in ice cube trays and serve!

Frosty Jacks:  Line the bottom of your ice cube molds with a few blueberries.  Next, mix a container of plain yogurt with a can of pumpkin puree and put that mixture on top of the blueberries.  Freeze and serve!  (Jacks, like in Jack-O-Lantern, get it?)

Frozen Pea Treats:  Cook some frozen green peas until they are soft and mushy.  Mix in enough beef broth to make it "batter" consistency.  Put in ice cube tray and, you guessed it, freeze!

Mama says you can freeze anything your dog enjoys to make a great frozen treat.  Mama gives us our frozen snacks in the kitchen so we don't let any of the melting stuff get in the carpet.  We tried doing our frozen snacking outside once, but that turned in to a dirty, muddy mess.  

Well, all of this talk of snacking has made me hungry so I'm going to go in the kitchen and see what mama has lying around.  If there's something good, I will put on my best begging face and score a few cool noms.

Til next week, everyone!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

This is my best begging face...you'd give me a treat, yes?

An Invasion of WHAT?!?

(Inspecting the dog park for pests!)

Hi all, Lily the corgi here.  Earlier today, mama showed me an internet article about an invasion of ticks in Oklahoma.  Well, since Oklahoma is only about 8 miles from my house, I'm suspecting the ticks may be trouble here as well.  In fact, mama has found 2 ticks on me already this spring.  Eeeeek!

Fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes are all ugly little creatures with tiny little mouths made especially for sucking the life-blood out of the warm, soft bodies of corgis...and other animals. These nasty creatures carry all sorts of disgusting diseases which can annoy, irritate, sicken or even kill your corgi!  And as you know, we've had enough sickness and health issues here lately; we don't need any other trouble brought on by pests.

Ticks come in various shapes and sizes, depending on their type and stage of life. The tiniest ticks are called seed ticks; these are the larval stage of the adult tick and are about the size of a pencil point. Huge bundles of these baby ticks can be hanging on a grass blade or bush—brush against it and you have a mess on you! Seed ticks seem to enjoy latching on to the very edges of our silky ears. They are so small they are hard to see and they are so small they are hard to remove. Seed ticks are awful!

Larger ticks also like to congregate in grassy areas, especially grassy areas where large mammals like cattle and horses are kept. These more mature ticks like to find the less hairy areas of us dogs—our tummies, armpits, skin folds, muzzles, between our toes and again, ears. Ticks start out as basically round or oval shaped, flat things that swell up, expand and turn grayish as they fill up with OUR blood.

(Look at Sadie's silky ears...ticks would LOVE to snack on those babies!)

Once a tick gets on us dogs, we need our humans' help to get them off. The best way to get them off is to just grab firmly and pull straight out (they are icky, so wear gloves or use tweezers or something and be sure not to leave the head stuck in our tender flesh!) My mama flushes the ticks down the toilet; they are hard to kill by smashing, so I guess the toilet graveyard is a good place for them. Some people keep the ticks in some sort of little container in case a vet needs to examine them later.

Ticks in huge numbers have been known to kill dogs from sheer blood loss, but more commonly, ticks are dangerous because of the diseases they carry, like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted tick fever among others. Most tick-borne diseases in dogs cause lethargy, fever, loss of appetite; if your dog displays these symptoms after a tick bite, head to the vet right away.

It is hard to get rid of ticks once they're on your dogs. There are tick shampoos, sprays, collars, and topical medications, all of which work with varying success. Even with these chemical products, ticks can sometimes remain on your dog for quite some time before they finally die. The only sure-fire way to get these monsters off your dog is simply to pull them off. The best defense against ticks is a good offense. Have your lawn treated by a professional pest control company, making sure to heed all warnings about the toxicity of the product. Next, treat your dog with a tick preventative. Remember, not all flea collars, sprays, and topicals work on ticks—if ticks are your problem, be sure you are using a product that works on fleas AND ticks.

Speaking of fleas, ugh! Fleas are the Olympians of the parasite world; those little suckers can JUMP. They jump from dog to dog, dog to person, dog to carpet; they just jump where ever they want. Even the cleanest homes and hounds can pick up fleas and then the fight is on!

Fleas don't latch on and feed in one place on us dogs; fleas will feast a while in one spot then hop on to a different body part for dessert. This makes them sneakier and harder to track down than the tick. Fleas like to hide in the fur of your dog and they'll snack just about anywhere on us. One sure sign of fleas on your dog is “flea dirt.” If your dog is itchy and you don't know why, ruffle the fur and look for what looks like pepper or dirt next to his skin. This is really flea poop and means that fleas are nearby.

During warm weather months, my mama has a periodic ritual for us dogs she calls “a looking.” This is when she downs us, rubs our fur against the grain and looks for fleas and flea dirt. Some dogs hate this, but I think it is particularly nice to spend time getting rubbed by my mom. If mama finds a flea, she picks it off and smashes it. That part is pretty gross, but mama is a tough old girl.

(Looks like Lucy has assumed the position for a "looking.")

Fleas cause a serious itching problem. Some dogs, like my sister Sadie, are actually allergic to flea spit and can end up with horrible skin irritation and breathing problems from just one flea bite. Like ticks, the real danger from fleas is the transmission of disease—fleas also transmit some internal parasites like tapeworms.

Fleas are, thankfully, controllable with topical preparations. Some of these, like Advantix and Frontline, can kill existing fleas and prevent new ones from attacking. Some pet parents also use flea powders and flea collars, but these aren't always as effective. Getting fleas out of your house may be hard. Get a professional exterminator to help, and while you're at it, get your yard treated, too.

Mosquitoes are blood suckers that fly, kind of like little miniature Draculas. A mosquito will fly over, land on you, suck out a quick drink of blood, and then fly away. Their bites are super-itchy and very dangerous to dogs. Mosquitoes carry the dreaded heartworms. Be sure to keep your dogs on heartworm preventative all year round!

Mosquitoes are controlled by controlling their breeding ground—standing water. Make sure you don't have any containers with standing water around your home and don't walk your dogs in marshy areas where mosquitoes live.

I really love my humans, so the thing that bothers me most about ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes is that they bite my humans, too. I'm a pretty rugged little girl, but it would break my heart if my mama and daddy came down with some pest-borne illness. And I certainly don't want my parents all itchy—when they are scratching bites, they aren't able to pet me!

Okay, til next week, keep an eye out for those blood sucking pests!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

(Come on, pet me.  You know you want to.)