Flooding and Other Disasters

A ride and a hike--what a great way to spend an afternoon!

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here. Well, since mama and daddy were away last weekend, it's been a couple weeks since we've had a blog post so we have LOTS to catch up on.   

So a week ago Wednesday, Keisha the foster dog went away to get her spay surgery.  When she came home she was pretty loopy for a day so she stayed out of our way, which was pretty nice.  By Friday, though, she was back to her puppy-acting self.  That day, mama and daddy packed up early and left us to the able care of our Aunt Vicky.  We all love our Aunt Vicky, but Lucy is especially close to her.  Lucy had been having so much trouble dealing with Keisha that it was nice for her to have Aunt Vicky here to give her some special attention. 

On Saturday morning, Aunt Vicky's niece Laura (who also fosters dogs for the same rescue as my mama) came to pick up Keisha to take her to an adoption event at Petsmart.  That's where I met mama and daddy!  Anyway, Laura took one look at Keisha and thought she was the cutest thing ever (you can't see it, but I'm rolling my eyes right here.)   Long story short...we never saw Keisha again; she'll now be living forever with Laura as her mommy.  Mama teased Laura and said it took real talent to have a foster-fail with someone else's foster!

Mama and daddy came home Sunday night, smelling like our friends Morris and Sophie (they are labs who live in Missouri where mama and daddy were visiting.)  I'd like to have gone to visit, too, but I'm glad I got to be here with Vicky.  We aren't allowed to go to visit those friends because of cats--mama is afraid I'd treat them like squirrels.  I'm not saying I would or wouldn't...I like to be mysterious like that.

On Thursday, mama got an urgent call from the rescue about a little dog that was about to be put down.  In our state, strays are required to be held for 5 days at the pound to give time for owners to call for them, but if a dog is surrendered by its owner, there is no requirement for it to be kept at all.  The shelter our rescue works with keeps dogs as long as they can, as long as there is space.  Well, it seems they had a batch of dogs coming in, no space, and a little guy who was an owner surrender who would be killed to make room for a dog they were required by law to keep--unless mama would come get it and foster it.  Of course, mama said "No Way."   Right...if you believe that, let me sell you a bridge.

So mama came home with this pitiful excuse for a dog.  He's a little black thing, smaller than all of us, and I have no idea what breed he is.   He had coarse, ugly brownish-black dull fur and was afraid of EVERYTHING.  He was afraid to come in the house and afraid to go out of the house; he is afraid for anyone to walk by him; he's afraid to be walked on a leash; he's afraid to be picked up; he's afraid of the food bowl and the water dish.  It is truly pitiful.  I have never met such a scared dog before--and I live with Fraidy Sadie!

See, after a bath he doesn't look half bad.

The new guy's name is Casper, but mama says she can't bring herself to call a black dog Casper, so right now we're still looking for a good nickname.  He's terrified of all us girls, so he causes no trouble; he's certainly not going to get in the way or bother any of us.  He has no idea what toys are about and doesn't understand how to romp or wrestle with daddy. He has figured out that it is nice to snuggle up by mama and get a little scratching.  Yesterday, mama gave him a bath and it scared him so badly he pooped in the shower.  When it was all done, though, we found out he didn't have coarse, ugly hair but is soft and silky and shiny black.  I have about 98% confidence we'll be keeping this guy--mama is saying things like "no one is ever going to take him; he's too closed down" and "if he ever gets used to us it would be a shame to make him start all over again somewhere else."  Yep, whatever he ends up being called, I'm thinking we've gotten a new brother.

For the last couple of weeks, we've had rain almost every day.  Long, slow, steady rain followed by hard, pouring, drenching rain; and then light, gentle rain--and then it starts the cycle all over again.  By now, we are having huge amounts of flooding.  Our own home is in no jeopardy, except that our backyard is quite a marsh, making potty trips a trial.  But there are neighborhoods nearby that are under water.  Our Uncle David and Aunt Becky in another city were bailing water out of their house last night when their little creek overflowed its banks and started coming at them.  

Yesterday, mama and daddy loaded all us dogs up and took us to a little town near where mama grew up.  There is a dam there with a thing called a spillway that mama said would be pretty amazing to see after all this rain.  Getting started on the trip was pretty memorable as the new guy was so scared he pooped on mama, but after that was cleaned up everything went fine.  We got to walk around  at the dam and mama and daddy took lots of pictures.  The water was very high and rolling and loud; I wanted to swim in a mud hole but I did NOT want to swim in that flood water!  Wow!

Mama says back there, under where the water is calm, there is a HIGHWAY!

I've never seen water like that before.  As much as I love to swim, that's a sight to make even me stop and think about the power of nature.  Some people have been swept away around here by flood water.  Mama said even a fire fighter was drowned last night trying to evacuate some people from a flooded apartment complex.   We usually have tornadoes; this flooding business is new to me! They say 6 inches of water will knock a human off their feet--of course 6 inches of water covers half of me--and that 2 feet of water can float a car.   So please, everyone, stay out of the flood water, even if it seems pretty shallow.  

After we did the flood survey, we went to a little Sonic-type eating place and we got a nice tray of tater tots.  Even the new guy ate tater tots; he's afraid of dog food but he will eat tater tots--mama says he probably ate nothing but table scraps all his life.  Personally, that doesn't sound so awful to me, but I know it isn't healthy so, I guess it isn't the most loving thing (but I bet it tasted good.)

And last night and today, you guessed it, more rain.  I really need to get back to some intense squirrel patrol but mama and daddy get all weirded out when I get muddy in the yard, plus the squirrels aren't coming out much in the rain.  So, I'm spending some quality time stretched out on the floor or the couch, getting some beauty sleep.  

Til next time, try to keep dry!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Waiting for our 

tater tots.

                           More big water.

Random Thoughts on This Mother's Day

That is one good looking corgi right there.

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  How are you doing?  I hope you are having a wonderful Mother's Day!  I want to give my love to all the moms out there, human and canine.  They do so much for us every day and we don't give them nearly enough appreciation for a difficult and never ending job.  Not that they don't bring the work on themselves.  I mean, they're the ones who do things like giving birth, adopting, and, oh maybe, FOSTERING??  

Yeah, fostering.  So last week, the lady from the dog rescue called my mama and she was in a panic.  It seems she had a load of dogs on their way to their various foster homes, which is a very good thing.  She had taken one little dog to her foster home and the foster family dog there is apparently even MORE bat crap crazy than my sister Sadie (is that even possible????)  The crazy dog wanted to kill the foster dog.  So anyway, the rescue lady called my mama and said the foster dog had no where to go, the fosters were full, the shelter was full, please help.  So guess what?  Right.  We have a new foster.

The new foster.  Her name is Keisha.  

Well, you know the routine around here.  Sadie was less than pleased; I had to show the newbie who runs the show; Lucy has favorite toys that were in immediate jeopardy.  Actually, this time around, Sadie chose mostly to growl softly and then ignore the newcomer.  Lucy is the one who has been most vocal in her displeasure at the new arrival--yep, mild mannered Lucy has had enough of this fostering business.  I knew it was going to happen.  After the demise of her beloved gingerbread baby toy, Lucy has drawn her line in the proverbial sand.  Daddy bought her a new toy (dragon baby) and Lucy is not about to lose it.  So, second day here, Keisha grabbed dragon baby and it got ugly.  We now have several new toys and dragon baby is safely put away.  Lucy is happy again but she will not acknowledge the new girl exists.  Pretty sad since Lucy is usually the one who plays with the fosters and tries to show them the ropes.  We told mama we were tired of the fostering but she didn't listen.  Now our house smells like pee again and we are pouting.  However, Keisha is beautiful and someone will surely want to adopt her soon.

 Left:  Keisha courts danger by playing with dragon baby!

Right:  Lucy sleeps the sleep of the righteous after dragon baby is saved from the clutches of the interloper Keisha.

So anyway, Mother's Day.  Keisha is going to the vet on Wednesday to be spayed.  Of course, all of us girls have been properly spayed because we don't do puppies at our house (and if we ever thought we wanted to, this fostering would have brought us to our senses in a hurry!)  It is SO important that all girls be spayed before they start populating the world with more puppies.  Obvioiusly, my offspring would have been remarkable, but there are just so many doggies in this world who do not have good home and who suffer from neglect, abuse, starvation and just plain loneliness.  Mama says that as young as she is, she thinks Keisha may have already had a litter at some point.  Mama says she can tell because of boobies. I personally don't go around checking out boobies; proper etiquette demands that butt sniffing is the way to go for any well-bred, well-mannered pooch.

Well, I realize today's blog post is a bit light on content, but we are having yet another storm roll in here.  This is about the third or fourth day of storms here.  Mama and daddy are talking about getting a boat.  I think that's a really great idea and would be lots of fun; Sadie rolled her crazy eyes at me and said they don't literally mean it and it has something to do with the story of some guy named Noah and a flood...I have no clue.  But, til next time, all, keep your heads above water and take care of each other.  Oh, and hug your mama!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Found this on the internet and don't know to whom the credit goes for creating it.

What is Wrong With Your Face!?!

Do you see how FAT my snout is?   UGH!!  (And that's after the swelling was way down!)

Hi, all, Lily the Corgi here.  How was your week?  Here, things were going pretty well.  Mama has been getting ready for a fundraiser for our favorite animal rescue group, so she hasn't been paying nearly enough attention to me, but I knew that was going to be temporary so I dealt with it.  Then Friday morning came along.  Daddy had gone off to work and mama's alarm clock went off so she could get ready for her computer job; everything normal.  I was lying sweetly in the bathroom floor when mama stepped out of the shower and screeched, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE?"

Well, to say the least, I was offended.  As we all know, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my gorgeous corgi face; how dare mama imply I am somehow less than perfect?  Thus began a long day of mama messing with my face and head--a lot.   Every time I sat still for more than a minute, mama was in my face.  If I slept for more than a few minutes, mama was waking me up with, "Lily, are you doing okay?"  I understand mama was concerned, but, geez.  

You see, my head was swollen; it appears I had gotten hold of the wrong end of a bee.  Mama said I no longer had the cute little nose and face; my head now was a solid slope from the tip of my snout to the back of my head.  Mama said I looked like a collie.  Mama kept trying to take a picture of me, but I wouldn't allow it--I think she just wanted a picture so she could humiliate me later.  After a few hours, mama thought my swelling was going down and things settled down.  A couple hours later and mama said I was re-swelling, so she loaded me up and took me to the vet.  The vet concurred that I had probably been stung by a bee...she also suggested I might have "snorted" some stinging insect.  Ridiculous woman...I'm too smart to snort anything; I don't do drugs.

The vet said I could take some Benedryl if needed but other than that, I should be fine.  She says the swelling should go away after a few days.  Mama quit stressing and made my life a lot easier.  She's still been grabbing me to look at my face a lot, but she isn't panic-stricken anymore.  Daddy has been petting me a lot and I sure like that.

Even though I didn't feel bad to start with, daddy makes me feel better!

Having this brush with with a small facial imperfection has made me think of a few of my friends who have much larger facial problems.  Even my cousin Quincy the ancient wiener dog has a face problem that altered the course of his life--he's a purebred boy who should have sold for a lot of money to someone so he could grow up to be a show dog, but since he has a huge overbite and wouldn't have been "fit" for the show ring, he ended up being my Aunt Cathy's pampered baby.

One very dear doggie with a different face is Lentil the French Bulldog.  Lentil was born with a severe cleft lip and palate that required surgeries to repair.  Lentil was luckily adopted by a kind woman who was committed to saving Lentil's life (he couldn't eat like other puppies) and giving him a great life.  Lentil is now a spokesdog who raises money and awareness for those with cranio-facial differences, both human and canine.  If you aren't familiar with Lentil, please take a look at his Facebook page "My Name Is Lentil"...he has turned his troubles into such of lot of good for so many!  

This was the tiny little face that grew up to be our buddy, Lentil

(photo from FB page My Name Is Lentil)

Another doggie who has become famous despite a face that is different from others is Tuna.  No, Tuna isn't a fish; Tuna is a dog.  In fact, lots of people believe Tuna is the world's ugliest dog, but those people aren't looking close enough at Tuna's funny, sassy, loveable personality.  Tuna raises funds for animal rescue.  Tuna has a beautiful heart and that is so much more wonderful than a perfect face.  Check out Tuna's Facebook page "Tuna Melts My Heart" and you might recognize him from books and a recent tv car commercial!

The lovely Tuna

(photo from FB page Tuna Melts My Heart)

So I realize I don't have to worry about a few facial imperfections.  I should have let mama take my picture when I was really swelled; heck, I might even have laughed at me later on!  I guess I learned a valuable lesson this week from my little insect-based edema.  

In other news, yesterday was very nice.  Grandma and grandpa came to visit so grandma could go with mama to her animal rescue fundraiser.  Grandma and grandpa always bring snacks when they visit and they were passing out dog treats like it was Christmas morning.  Aren't grandparents great?

Mama and the other ladies raised several hundred dollars for our favorite dog rescue group and that made us all very happy.  And best of all--the Royal Baby was born.  Yes, another little British royal who should grow up to love and appreciate corgis.

Today was just a nice, relaxing day.  Mama says the swelling in my face has gone down a lot.  I have had a little itching in my face, especially when it was really swelled up, but this has all bothered my parents much more than it bothered me.  Mama says I have to be more careful when I play around in the flower beds out back.  Hello!  How can I stop to be careful when there are squirrels running amok?

Til next time, folks, take care of each other and watch out for wandering insects!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Why are you petting those two?  I'm the one with the hideous head injury.

No Fair!

I think we've been tricked by our humans!  My tiny trust is shattered.

Hi, all, Lily the Corgi here.  This week has been, quite frankly, very dull.   Mama is up and running with her online business and had a lot of assignments this past week, so she didn't take us anywhere or play with us as much as she should have.  Mama has kept her word to us about taking a break from fostering dogs for a while, so we didn't even have any rowdy, uncivilized beasts to cut the monotony of the hours.  That is, until Saturday!

Bright and early Saturday morning, mama and daddy told us to get our leashes on because we were going in the truck.  The weather was lovely, we were going somewhere, I'm thinking "Dog Park!"  We were all very excited and hopped into the truck happily.  We made it to the very end of our street when, hey...the dog park is to the right.  Why are we turning left?  

As it turns out, there was no dog park trip planned.  We were going to a place called a fire station to a thing called a shot clinic.  I didn't know what either of those things were, but color me skeptical, I didn't have a great feeling about this.

We unloaded at the fire station and that turned out to be pretty nice.  A fire station is where they keep those really big, really loud red trucks that race around and have sirens that are very noisy.  We were able to get up close and personal with the trucks, sniff the hoses, and check out all the knobs and valves and buttons on that thing.  It was rather interesting.  Then we left the trucks and went on around a building and found a whole line of other doggies, along with their parents who were all just eager to pet me and admire me as they all should.  Maybe this wasn't going to be such an awful experience after all.

Lined up for the Shot Clinic

Mama and daddy had to file out forms while we dogs all sniffed and socialized with the others in line.  Then we got into a little building that was FULL of people and dogs and shelves of boots, coats and hoses.  It was very exciting.  Then I noticed...dogs at the front of the line were being placed on a table and a guy behind the table was messing with them  Wait, I recognize this scenario...this is the VET!

I don't know who made up this meme, but it summed up my feelings exactly!

Yeah, we were lining up to get actual shots...2 of them!  Mama says one shot is to keep us from getting rabies, which is a horrible scary disease that kills any animal who catches it.  The other shot is called a 5-in-1 and keeps us from getting parvo, distemper, and 3 other nasty doggy diseases.  I guess that's a good thing; I don't want to get sick.  But seriously?  Two shots on a beautiful Saturday morning when we thought we were going to the dog park?  That's just not fair.  Poor old Sadie thought it was even MORE unfair...she already had taken her insulin shot that morning and would have to take insulin again at supper time, so she was well and truly tired of being poked with needles this day!

Despite the unfairness of the whole situation, I must say that the vet who gave me the shots was a fairly nice looking young man.  And, because they were having to get paperwork done for all three of us, I was standing on the table for quite some time and the vet had nothing to do but pet me and tell me what a pretty girl I am.  That was almost worth the shot.  After the vet, we went to yet another table where there was a nice lady who gave me 2 charms for my collar--a pretty green rabies tag to show I have had my shot and a shiny silver city tag, to tell people I'm an official resident of my city.  Like most girls, I'm always happy to get jewelry, so that was certainly a plus.

Here I am, sitting like a good girl, while the vet gives me my shots.

Now usually when we do something nice and behave ourselves like ladies out in public, mama and daddy will drop by Sonic and get us a little bag of tater tots to share, but not this time.  Mama said that after having shots, sometimes dogs can be a little sickly; mama didn't want tater tots barfed in her floor so no tots for us.  To make matters even worse, last night was "Cruise Night" in our town and we should have been welcome to go sit by the side of the road with all the other people and doggies in town to watch classic cars, motorcycles, and assorted oddities go up and down but noooooo.  Mama said she really didn't want us to be out getting all excited (you can read that to say she didn't want Miss Neurotic Sadie getting all stressed) so we had to stay home.  *Sigh* 

Well, no one got sick and now daddy says we may get a treat later on; I know there are still chew treats in the kitchen.  I don't know how I feel about all this shot clinic business.  Mama says it is a good thing; our city puts on this shot clinic every year so residents can get low-cost vaccinations for their doggies.  Mama says the law requires that we have that rabies shot and the city wants to make sure everyone obeys the law. She also says doggies who haven't had shots aren't allowed at the dog park!  I'm sure I don't want any dogs getting sick and I certainly want to continue visiting the dog park, so I suppose it was all worth it.  Hey, city people, maybe next year don't schedule shot clinic and Cruise Night for the same day, okay?

That's all I've got for this time folks.  Why don't you check your records and be sure your doggies are up to date on their vaccinations?  Even though it is a bit of a trial, having shots is really not such a bad experience and it can save lives.  Many cities, towns, and rescue groups sponsor low-cost shot clinics from time to time.  If you can't afford shots for your doggies, talk to your vet; he/she may be able to help you find a low-cost or even free option to keep those canines (and kitties) healthy.

I'm going to go give daddy the moist eyes until he comes up with that treat he owes us.  Til next time, everyone, take care of each other.  

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

One more picture of us, sniffing our way through the line at the shot clinic.

Dog Flu

I am too cute for my own good.

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  How has your week been?  We've had a little weirdness here this past week...but, isn't that the normal for life around here?  This week, we got a new foster dog named Popcorn.  Popcorn was a nice enough guy, but he was big and very energetic and he really scared Sadie.  I mean scared her to the point she was trembling, hiding, peeing in the floor.  Lucy and I tried to protect Sadie by growling and snapping at Popcorn the foster dog to keep him at a distance.  Since Sadie has poorly controlled diabetes already, mama was afraid the stress would cause her to become very ill, so Popcorn had to leave.  I know I've made snide comments about the fosters, but I was once a foster myself and I know how important it is to have foster homes for these homeless doggies.  Popcorn is safe at the rescue, but at our house, we're taking a break from fostering for Sadie's sake.  

Mama is very upset that we are having to stop fostering for a while; she says dogs may die because we don't give them a place to go, but that Sadie has to be her first priority.  Folks, if you can find it in your hearts to foster...and if your doggies don't get so upset they become ill like Sadie...please, please consider fostering.  Okay, that's my public service announcement for the day.

Sadie is not the most stable dog in the universe, but we love her.

So, anyway, today I wanted to talk to you about something pretty serious.  It seems in some parts of the country, canine influenza is becoming quite widespread.  Many dogs, including my sisters and me, had our flu shots, but we are being told this outbreak is of a different strain than the one covered by the vaccines.  A lot of dogs in the Chicago area have become very sick from this new dog flu; vets and pet parents are afraid that flu is going to spread far and wide since no one has a vaccine for it.  

In the interests of stopping, or at least slowing, the spread of this doggy illness, some basic precautions are recommended:

1.  Vaccinate your dog.  This will protect your dog from one of the flu strains and afford as much protection as possible.  

2.  Avoid social situations like dog parks and kennels, doggy day car and corgi meet-ups (GASP!)   Also avoid taking your dog to places like Petsmart, Petco, etc...where your dog can come in contact with items an infected dog might have encountered, and by encountered I mean sneezed on, peed on, and slobbered on.  Anywhere your dog interacts with other dogs is a place where flu can be passed.  Remember, an infected dog doesn't have to appear sick to pass on the disease.

3.  If you humans come in contact with other dogs, wash your hands, clothes or any object that comes in contact with the other dogs.  You could be the carrier of the flu germs (and besides, it really ticks off your dog when you come home smelling of foreign dogs!)

4.  Speak with your vet about any questions or concerns you may have.

I've never been to Chicago, but our former foster dog Linus lives there now.  I hope he's okay.  I live in a small town just outside a small city so we aren't as worried about infection as big city critters might be, but one can never be too careful!  This flu can surely make dogs sick; a doggy who is not in good health to start with runs a risk of having the flu turn into pneumonia which is potentially fatal.  Use your good judgement to protect yourselves from this flu.

That's all I've got for now.  My mama is starting a stay-at-home job tomorrow where she will need to talk on the phone and on the computer part of the day.  She says we need to be quiet while she's working.  Okay, mama, I'll try, but I make NO promises if a squirrel happens to romp across the fence.

Take care of each other and remember to cover when you sneeze--I recommend burying your snout in a pile of fresh laundry to catch any flying snot.

Til next time,

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Here I am getting some much deserved attention at the dog park.  I may not be going to the dog park for a while, at least until the threat of the doggy flu has passed.   SIGH

Information for this post taken from the websites of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMC).

How Much Is Too Much?

These dental treats are pretty tasty, but you must protect them from your greedy sisters.

Hi, all, Lily the Corgi here.  First off, I have to say "sorry" for missing my blog post last week.  My secretary (aka Mama) was having some problems and didn't have time to help me with my typing.  Anyway, I'm a week late here, but I think you'll find this blog quite informative.

First of all, let me set the scene:  Mama had gone to the grocery store while my fur sisters and I played outside; when she got home mama let us back in the house and we all played a while and then the rescue lady came and took our foster dog Canyon away.  Canyon has gone on what they call "transport" to a rescue in Colorado, where they'll help her find her forever home.  Mama was really sad--I think she wanted Canyon to stay and live with us.  When daddy came home, he felt sorry for mama and decided to take her out to dinner to cheer her up.  

While they were gone, my nosy sister Lucy decided to snoop around a little...you see, mama was putting away groceries when the rescue lady came and had left a couple of grocery bags on the kitchen floor.  That's a recipe for disaster at our house!

Mama and daddy came home and immediately saw there had been some sort of packaging shredded on the living room floor.  Upon closer inspection mama realized it was a present she bought for daddy--a 7 oz solid milk chocolate Easter bunny from the clearance bin at the store.  There were pieces of box all over the place, but not a sliver of chocolate was anywhere to be found.  Mama lined us girls all up and asked us who ate the chocolate.  She actually sniffed my breath and said I smelled a little like chocolate to her.  I have no comment on this.

Mama tells us that chocolate is bad for dogs.  Well, she must have thought this fairly large bunny was a big problem so she got really worried and hopped on the internet to find the answer to the burning question, "How much chocolate is too much chocolate for your dog?"

Did you know on petmd there is a little program where you can put in the weight of your dog, along with the size and type of pilfered chocolate and then the program will tell you how much trouble you're in?  Mama found that milk chocolate is the LEAST dangerous type of chocolate for dogs (well, except for white chocolate which isn't really chocolate at all.)  Since mama didn't know who ate the chocolate or whether we shared the ill-gotten gain, she decided to go with the worst possible scenario.  With that, she found out that if either Lucy or I had eaten a whole 7 oz solid milk chocolate Easter bunny from the clearance bin at the grocery store, we could expect to suffer only "mild to moderate" symptoms; and if Sadie ate the whole bunny, she'd probably have no difficulties at all.  The little program told mama that we should be watched and taken to the emergency vet if we showed serious symptoms such as:  confusion, increased temperature, rapid breathing, increased heart rate, low blood pressure, seizures, weakness or coma.  The mild to moderate effects that could be expected were vomiting and diarrhea--now don't ya know mama was looking forward to that!?!

Well, as it turned out, no one got sick, which made mama assume we all three shared the stolen bunny (again, I have no comment on this.)  Mama was pretty relieved that her carelessness hadn't poisoned any of us girls and says that should be a reminder to everyone that it only takes a little slip-up to put your doggies in jeopardy.  If that bunny had been dark chocolate, it could have killed one of us!

She looks pretty innocent, but under that sweet facade lies the heart of a food kleptomaniac.

Mama felt really bad that she'd left that bunny down where Lucy could get it.  Daddy, on the other hand, was just ticked off.  You see, he has a tough history with gifts of food.  One of the most memorable of these incidents involved my cousin Quincy the ancient wiener dog and a wrapped box of beef jerky under the Christmas tree...I bet you can see where that went!

Today, mama and daddy were both back in good humor; they took us to the dog park to romp in the grass and swim in the little lake.  We had a very good time and we didn't have to share our parents with any fosters.  Mama says that is supposed to change tomorrow when the rescue lady brings us a new guy to take care of until he can catch his transport to a new life.  I hope this one has some house manners!

Well, that's it for this week folks.  Enjoy this lovely spring weather--you know it is going to get hot and muggy someday soon, so take advantage of it while it's nice.  And remember, if your doggies have any sort of chocolate indiscretion, you can get valuable information from the little program at 

http://www.petmd.com/dog/chocolate-toxicity

Take care of each other, til next time!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Here I am, looking lovely and drying in the sunshine after a dip in the dog park lake.

The Deal With Dog Food

I'll just be over here, waiting for more food to show up in my dish.

Hi all, Lily the Corgi here.  Here's hoping you've all been safe this past week despite the rash of tornadoes and hail storms that struck.  We lost a big limb in our front yard but other than that we are just fine.  Today, daddy was cutting and burning that limb and a few that we lost during the winter, so it smells like a camp out around our house.  Sadly, no one has yet roasted any hot dogs to share with me.  Sigh.

Last week, I mentioned to you that mama had gone crazy and not only changed our dog food brand, but also started feeding us healthier portions.  Then, this past week, some corgi parents on one of mama's Facebook groups had questions about her dogs' kibble.  So that got me thinking--what is the actual deal with dog food?  What's in it?  Where does it come from?  How do pet parents choose?  So, I sent mama off to do some research, and I tried to take a nap without being bothered by Canyon, the crazy foster dog.

Had to tackle Canyon to the ground and make her settle down.  This dog needs to learn who's boss around here!

Mama says when she was a kid growing up on a farm, their doggies ate scraps.  The leftovers from breakfast, dinner (which is really lunch), and supper (that means dinner) were dumped in a bucket.  Then they poured in any spoiled milk they had and made a soupy mess.  If there wasn't much of this mixture, mama's daddy would toss in a can full of some cheap dry dog food.  After that sat for a while and the dog food soaked up the liquid, it was tossed out on the ground for the dogs to eat.  This sounds horribly primitive and unpleasant to me, but mama says that's just the way it was done back then.  Her doggies were likely to find bones in their food mixture, and I'd surely like that, but the rest just sounds nasty.

Today, thankfully, mama has grown a bit as a pet parent and goes about choosing our food more carefully.  Mama says that first, she has to consider whether she'll feed us dry or wet food.  Around here, mama almost always feeds dry dog food, unless a doggy is sick or stressed or in case it is a holiday or special occassion.  Mama says dry food is easier to feed, cheaper to buy, and better for our teeth.  I like the crunch. My cousin Quincy the ancient wiener dog, who has maybe 3 or 4 teeth left, has to eat wet (canned) food because he can't chew the dry kind anymore.  Sometimes, my Aunt Cathy feeds him little bits of cooked chicken; that sounds wonderful, but I'd rather have my teeth.

Old Quincy has always been a lean, mean, barking machine.

Next, mama says she has to consider what the food is made from.  The ingredient list on our dog food bag is a foot long, so it is hard to know what is important and what isn't, but mama says it especially matters whether the main ingredient or 2 of the food is meat based (meat, meat meal, egg, etc...)  Folks, we are dogs.  We were born to be meat-eaters.  We need our protein.  Foods primarly made from grain products probably won't contain enough protein to keep us at our best.  Even if the food technically has enough protein in it, too much filler can cause the food to pass through our systems undigested so we don't get the full benefit of the protein that's there.

Be careful about where and how your dog foods are manufactured.  Keep abreast of any recalls that may have been issued concerning your brand; not only do ingredients matter but sometimes there can be contaminations at the plants where dog foods are made.  Just like human foods, dog foods can be hit by nasty little germies, like salmonella, or they might be accidently mixed in with some sort of foreign objects or mold-causing moisture.  And, rightly or not, my mama won't buy any dog food or snacks made in China.  She says they just don't have the controls needed to insure that her babies will be safe.  You can take that for what it's worth, but I like that mama is picky like that on my behalf!

Mama says her favorite source for dog food information comes from a website:  www.dogfoodadvisor.com   That site shows a review of many different kinds of dog foods and also explains what is good and what's not, so it helps to educate the consumer as well as inform.  I invite you to check out that site to see how your dog food brand measures up.  Also, get recommendations from your vet about the best diet for your dogs.  

 All pet parents want to give us the best they possibly can, because, well, look at us!  We are adorable!   Remember that next weekend is Easter weekend--doggies and those delicious chocolate bunnies should be kept apart, unfortunately.  That's all I've got for this week, everyone.  Til next time, take care of each other and keep reading those food labels!

Love ya,

Lily the Corgi

Flashback to last Easter:  my sister Lucy was pretty good at hunting eggs.

Research for this blog came from the following:

www.dogfoodadvisor.com

www.petmd.com

petco

petsmart