Humans for Dogs

What kind of food do you feed your dog with allergies?

Teddy is allergic to chicken, beef and pork, so I feed her California Nature Lamb & Rice. 

You know your dog is allergic to something when they start gnawing and itching at themselves so bad they leave bald spots that eventually bleed.  Figuring out what they are allergic too is a bit more difficult.  You have two options.  You can run a blood test and find out exactly what they are allergic to - this starts at $250 and goes up from there.  The second option is to try feeding your dog different foods until you find one they are not allergic to.  Here are some foods to cut out of their diet:

• wheat
• corn
• chicken
• beef
• pork

Try dog foods with the following ingredients:

• potatos
• rice
• lamb
• turkey
• deer
• rabbit
• duck

Be sure to read all of the ingredients!  Just about all dog food in the grocery store contains chicken by products!  A good pet store can help you pick the right food.

It might take your dog anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks to respond to the new diet.  Although it usually only takes 3-4 days for Teddy's allergies to clear up, if she eats chicken or beef it only takes 24 hours before she starts itching all over again.

What type of food do you feed your dog with allergies?

Photo by laffy4k.

Helping your puppy to not be food aggressive

When Teddy was a puppy I wanted to be very sure that she never got “food aggressive.” Whenever anybody came over to the house I’d have them stick their hand in her bowl and then pretend to eat some of her food. When I was sure it was safe, I had kids do it as well. I still would never trust a dog not to defend their food, but I feel a lot safer knowing that she’s let lots of people play with her food! (Especially now that she’s in kidney failure and always hungry, I worry about the kids – someday she may want their food!) The only time she’s ever growled over her food is at Chase, our chocolate lab. It’s ok for people to take her food, but not Chase! 

Photo by  Jan Tik.

Backpacking with your dog

Backpacking with your dog can be a lot of fun if you do it right.

• First, pick the right pack for your dog. Your dog should be able to move her legs and elbows freely and lie down in the pack.  The straps should fit like a collar – you should be able to fit a couple of fingers between the straps and your dog.
• Second, get your dog used to the pack. The first couple of trips your dog’s pack should be empty or contain just a      few ounces.
• Also, if you do a lot of bouldering or hiking in close quarters, your dog will need to learn that it’s now “wider.” Different dogs learn in different ways – just like people. When I take Teddy bouldering, if she reaches a tight spot, I can say “hang on” and then I can point or gesture to the best path and she’ll take it. Chase, on the other hand, wants to figure it all out for himself. The first time I took him bouldering I was really worried. He got stuck at least six times in the first half hour! But once he got the hang of it, he turned into a bouldering pro and never needed any help with suggestions or with getting unstuck.
• Watch the weight. Dogs should carry no more than 20% of their weight in a pack. Some breeds like huskies may be able to carry more weight relative to their size than other breeds like greyhounds. Their breeding and bone structures are obviously different!
• Be careful what you put in the pack. Never put anything in your dog’s pack that you can’t do      without! Another good suggestion, especially if your dog likes water, is never put anything that can’t get wet in your dog’s pack! I usually have them carry their own food well sealed in ziplock bags. I’ve also tied a small piece of matting to the top of their pack for them to lie on at      night.  They could probably carry more weight so now that we’ll be backpacking with a baby, I’ll probably add a few other things to Chase’s pack.
• If your dog yelps when carrying the pack or refuses to move, listen to him or her! Especially if they used to carry it happily. When Teddy started yelping whenever we put the pack on, it turned out she had a slipped disc! After Teddy slipped a disc, I never had her carry a pack again, even after the chiropractor fixed her back.

Enjoy backpacking with your dog!

Free feeding your dog

When I got Teddy, my black lab/golden retriever/irish setter mix, I decided that I would free feed her. Free feeding means making food available to your dog all the time – as much as they want.  If you start when your dog is a puppy, free feeding is really easy. I just put out a bowl of dry dog food and filled it whenever I noticed it was empty. Teddy self regulated herself – never overeating. It helped that I made sure she got lots of exercise. My vet warned me repeatedly that with her lab genes she was going to get fat. I told him I’d watch her and if it became a problem I’d change. (Ironically, Teddy is now wasting away from kidney disease. She never was overweight though.)

The reasons I wanted to free feed were:

• I don’t like it when dogs fixate on food. You know the type, it’s dinner time and they are jumping and slobbering all over. I had a roommate who had a cat who thought he ought to be fed at 6am every morning. If she wasn’t home he’d gallop down the hall and slam into my door. Repeatedly. And he weighed 30 pounds.
• I knew I wouldn’t be home everyday at the same time and I didn’t want my dog feeling like she was starving.
• I figured she could self regulate and just eat what she needed better than I could regulate for her. On weeks where we went backpacking and 6 mile runs, she might need more food. On days where I spent all day in meetings and went out for dinner instead of running, she might need less food.

A couple of warnings or caveats:

• It’s much harder to start free feeding when your dog is already used to a scheduled diet. You can try but for the first few days they are sure to stuff themselves. They may or may not even out.
• You should stick to dry food. Wet food shouldn’t sit out all the time.
• Introducing a new dog into the situation creates difficulties. I had to stop free feeding Teddy when Chase joined us. She would gobble down all her food as if she was terrified Chase would eat it all and there wouldn’t be any more. Now we pretty much free feed both of them but Chase still insists on being fed at 6pm. If there’s still food in the bowls, we pick up the bowls, pour food from one to the other and put them back on the floor. Then he eats!

Photo by leff.

The Fox and the Hound

Everyone has probably read or watched The Fox and the Hound but I wonder if dogs and foxes would get along if raised together?

One summer there was a litter of foxes that hung out by our normal walking path.  They all watched the dogs but the dogs never seemed to notice them!

Do you have any fox and dog stories?

Photo by Rob Lee.

Help! My puppy chews my shoelaces!

First, remember your puppy is just exploring the world.  But don't forget that cute behavior in a two month old puppy might become unbearable in a two year old dog so now's the time to teach your puppy what's acceptable.

If your puppy is pulling on your shoelaces, don't laugh or ooh and ahh no matter how cute he is.  Tell him no very firmly and offer him his toy.  Praise him when he lets go of your shoelace and takes the toy. 

Any other methods that work well for you?

Photo by grazie, davvaro.

Don't let your dog down!

Dogs pay a lot of attention to routine.  My dad came to visit once and I let him sleep in my bed and I slept in the living room.  Every morning he took Teddy for a walk while he was waiting for me to wake up.  After he left, I couldn't figure out why Teddy kept running around my bed in the middle of the night.  Turns out it wasn't the middle of the night, it was 5 am.  Walk time!

Photo by It'sGreg.

How fast can a dog run?

Greyhounds have been clocked at 35 mph!  Our chocolate lab loves to get out of the truck at the beginning of the dirt road that leads to the lake.  He then runs to the lake.  He is so excited that he usually runs at 20 mph for almost a mile.

Note that your dog just doesn't have to be predisposed to being fast, he also needs to be in good shape in order to run fast!

Photo by Amnemona.

Can your dog carry a cup of coffee?

This dog is balancing a coffee cup on his head.  One of my dogs, Teddy, can balance a grape on her nose.  She holds it there (going cross eyed) until I say ok.

The trick to teaching your dog how to balance something is teaching them "hold still" while holding their head firmly but gently.  If they move and drop the item, no treat.  If they hold still until you say ok, then they get a treat.  (Note that this method made my dog very treat focused.  She doesn't hold still unless you are trying to balance a grape on her nose.)

What tricks does your dog know?

Photo by SuperFantastic.

What's your cutest story?

Do you have a photo or a cute story you would like to share?  Send it to me, humansfordogs@nospam@gmail.com,  and I'd be happy to post it!  (Remove the @nospam from my address.)

Photo by --morgan♥♥.