Dog Park [very img heavy]

Photo dump! Click any photo to enlarge it. A bunch of photos from the park. My dogs are Denali, Kaytu, and Diesel the foster.

Denali: female Siberian husky (white), 2 years old
Kaytu: female Siberian husky (red and white), 2 years old
Diesel: male Boxer, 1 year old
Kai: male Siberian husky (grey and white), ~8 months old
Jafar: male Siberian husky (black and white), Kai's uncle
Penelope: female Labrador (yellow), ~8 months
Jaxx: male Jack Russel, ~6 years old?
Ringo: male Standard Poodle, 4 years old
Lilah: female Pitbull (bluenose), 10 months old
Unknown 1: Labradoodle (black/brown)
Unknown 2: Australian Shepherd (blue merle)

Kai, Penelope, Denali, and Kaytu

Penelope, Kai, Denali

Greeting a new dog

Diesel is looking good!

Kai

Lilah

Jaxx and Penelope

Ringo

Jafar, unknown, Penelope, and Kai

Lilah checking out Jaxx

Jaxx

Jafar

Kai

Jafar

Take down!

Ruuuuuun Kaytu!

Denali saying hello to a boy

Busted Booties

So much for those booties. They were recommended to me by a source I trust and apparently most people have success with them. I'm not sure if it's the way Denali runs, the surface of sidewalk and dirt, or a combination of both, but those booties I was so excited for less than 3 weeks ago have been destroyed already. I'll try to find tougher ones. The problem is that the tougher they are, the stiffer they are. Her wrists still need to be able to bend and her foot still needs to be able to spread as she sets it down. I got 4 of these booties and only the first 2 have been ruined. At least I have an extra 2 while I try to figure out what kind to try next. On the plus side, they have done a great job protecting her feet. No more peeling. She's running much better and more confidently.

First Foster

Meet Diesel! He is a male boxer, 14 months old. His owner has left for a deployment, and never expected herself to have to do so. Shortly before she left, Diesel escaped her yard. He was in the wilderness having adventures on his own for almost 2 weeks. When he was found and returned to the owner he was emaciated and had many wounds from coyotes, or other animals, or barbed wire fence, or who knows what. His face was also full of cactus. She got him to the temporary foster where he lived for over a week until he was given to us. The temporary foster family quickly grew attached to him and since they live close and have a boxer of their own we plan to meet at the dog park regularly and to keep in contact. The owner has a very long deployment so we may end up splitting the foster time between us somehow.

He is getting along great with the girls and also with the cats. He is understandably very excited about the cats but Everest avoids him and Zebulon has been giving him plenty of warning swats.

He is a bundle of energy and we're having a blast with him!

Booties

Denali got her booties today! I've noticed that her front paws often peel and sometimes get small cracks in them. This is apparently due to her gait, the way she likes to trot when we mush instead of loping or running.

I ordered booties from dogbooties.com. I chose the heavier 1000 Denier Cordura® ones as I wasn't sure the lightweight ones would give enough protection and traction on the sidewalk and dirt.

I let Denali smell them all over first. I asked for her paw and held the bootie on it, not sliding it over her paw. I did that on both paws. Then I slid them on and encouraged her to walk.


This is the result.




She pranced and bounced all over the place!

I took her outside and did a few long distance Sit-Stay-Comes to get her running. She got better and better each time and wasn't lifting her paws as high or bouncing up as much. She also has excellent traction on both the sidewalk and the grass. I took the booties off so she could eat and I'm about to put them back on again so she can wear them more before we mush to the park today. If she's having trouble with them I'll take them off and we'll go for walks and such to get her more comfortable with them, but I think she'll be ok.

Salmonella Recalls of Commerical Dog Food

"I'm confused. You post that dogs do not get sick from raw meat but then you post about a recall for salmonella. Which is it?" 

Very good question, anon! The recall in question is the recent Diamond brand recall including Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul.

Salmonella recalls are mainly for the safety of humans. It is possible for dogs to get sick from salmonella but it seems very rare. I can't find a single statistic about how many dogs get sick from it. Many seemingly healthy dogs have it in their system, perhaps even naturally.

When commercial dog food is recalled due to salmonella it's because when people handle contaminated food they can get sick.

 

For example, there was an outbreak in 2006-2007 from dry dog food in which 70 cases of human salmonella infection were identified across 19 states.

Multistate Outbreak of Human Salmonella Infections Caused by Contaminated Dry Dog Food --- United States, 2006--2007

Note: "S. Schwarzengrund" is the specific strain of salmonella.
www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5719a4.htm

There you have it. That is why they ("they" being the FDA) recall dry dog food for salmonella. Because it makes people sick. I don't recommend feeding anything that has been recalled. Your dog might be ok, or they might get very sick and possibly die. A recall is a recall. I respect the recall and personally wouldn't feed any product recalled due to salmonella. It is a good idea to keep food bags and cans for a few months just in case there is a recall (for many things, not just salmonella). When a recall is issued the specific product information, expiration date, and other identifying numbers are released. If you don't have the bag or can you're not going to know if you're feeding recalled food.

Basically everything I have found about salmonella and dogs is that many seemingly healthy dogs have salmonella- sometimes more than 30% of dogs in the study. I can't find good comparison studies of raw vs kibble, but you can probably assume the dogs are fed kibble unless otherwise noted.

Whether you feed commercial food or raw you should always wash your hands well for about 20-30 seconds with warm water and soap after feeding your dog, or after scooping the yard. If you feed raw you should also clean any surfaces the meat was on or near, and if necessary also clean your dog's face, paws, or other areas that touched meat. I also don't allow dogs to give me kisses or lick me for several hours after they eat whether commercial or raw fed. You should also wash your hands after giving treats or chews as these too may have salmonella or other bacteria.