The Three Jacks, Beanie, Maddie, and Petey are my dogs and I love them with all my heart and I know they love me too.  Because of my love for them I want provide for them the best possible life I can.  I want them to live long, healthy lives!  It’s wonderful that at 11 years old, Maddie still competes in agility and is in wonderful health!

Maddie 11 years old - still competing in agility!

I’m sure most of you were alarmed, as I was, of the pet food recalls in 2007.  Melamine in dog foods and treats.  And why was this chemical in there?  Profit, the all mighty buck!  The pet products industry is a huge market, according to the American Pet Products Association, Inc. in 2009, $45.5 billion dollars were spent on pets in the United States!  This is one of the fastest growing markets in the country.  Sales in 1998 were only $23 billion.  It’s no wonder so many companies are jumping on the bandwagon to get those dollars.  And do they really care what’s in the products our pets eat or play with?

Big companies like Purina, P & G and others spend millions to advertise their products and therefore they have become household names.  But what is really in these treats that they are pushing to our pets with their cute television commercials?  Let’s take a look at the ingredients in just one very popular product: Pup-Peroni – Original Beef  Recipe -

Pup-Peroni Original Beef Recipe
Ingredients: Beef, Meat By-Products, Soy Grits, Sugar, Liver, Salt, Propylene Glycol, Garlic Powder, Caramel Color, Natural Smoke Flavor, Potassium Sorbate (used as a preservative),Sodium Nitrite (for color retention), Red 40, BHA (used as a preservative), Onion Extract.

Now let’s take a closer look at these ingredients: Open the document – What’s in Pup-Peroni PDF

I don’t know about you, but there certainly are quite a few ingredients in there that I will not feed The Three Jacks.  One in four dogs in the U.S. die of cancer.  Our pets are subject to all types of chemicals in flea products, heartworm preventatives, lawn fertilizer, worming agents – why in the world would we want to have them eating chemicals and questionable ingredients?  It’s not just Pup-Peroni that has these chemicals and bad ingredients – it’s many, many treats, and foods that are produced for our pets.  The way I see it, if it’s not fit for human consumption, it’s not fit for my dogs.  Food for humans and animals are supposed to be nutritious and healthy, not just something to fill the stomach!

I urge you to take a look at the labels of the treats and foods you feed your pets.  Just as in humans – healthy food choices lead to less health problems.  The additional amount you may pay for really good food and treats for your pets means less cost at the vets office, and less discomfort for your pet.

Stop shopping at the big pet superstores and visit your locally owned pet specialty stores.  Here you will find wonderful healthy products for your pets and you will also be helping your local economy!

So – Go Organic! Good for your Dog! Good for your Planet!  – at the very least go natural – no artificial preservatives, no artificial additives!  Look for products without added sugar – they don’t need the empty calories!  Your pets will thank you for the great care you give them with added healthy, happy lives!

Let's Play Ball

Beanie loves to play ball, splash in his swimming pool, dig for worms, walk in the woods, play in the hose, and boss the other Jacks around!  Though he suffered an injury when  he was about 2 years old that left him without the use of his left front leg, that didn’t slow him down much.

Age has began to slow Beanie down some, and he has arthritis now.  He still plays hard in his pool, and pushing around his big blue ball.  And he definitely still likes bossing the other dogs around!

Click here to see a video of Beanie and his Big Blue Ball!

Each day with Bean is a celebration and today on his 12th birthday he will have an extra special day – swimming in his pool, a walk in the woods, a trip to the store for a new toy, and we’ll stop and get some ice cream.

As I see him struggle a little more to get up each the morning, and notice that he naps a whole lot more than he used to I know that our time together is winding down.  I can’t really imagine life without Bean, I just know that there will be a huge hole in my heart.

Happy Birthday my Beanie Boy, I love you!

Hey Mom

I'll kill 'em Mom

Celebrating the 4th of July 2010

Can you help an old guy up?

Tired Old Guy

I spent days researching foods, I even switched them over to a different kibble for a week or so, all the while I was still researching raw.  Finally, because the cost of the new kibble was just too much I decided to switch The Jacks to raw.  It is something I have thought about many times, but thought it was just too much of a hassle.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Now three weeks into their raw diet, I have gotten into a routine and find feeding raw no more of a chore than feeding kibble.  What exactly do I mean when I say raw?  Raw meat and bones, the prey model.  No vegetables, no cooking, just raw meat and bones.

The first raw meal was interesting… We started off with chicken which is what is generally recommended as the first meat you introduce when feeding raw.  The recommendations are 2 – 3% of the dogs ideal body weight in food each day.  I chose to feed this in two meals, since two meals a day is what they were used to.  So here we go, scale to weigh meat, chicken breasts, meat cleaver, cutting board.  Each little pile of meat put onto a paper plate for each dog.  Petey being the hunter of many things and having just enjoyed a freshly killed rabbit meal two days previous ate away at his chicken with gusto.  Maddie, being the little prima donna she is, I thought would look at me like “um, excuse me, what’s this”, Oh, how wrong I was!  She was thrilled and gobbled it up, crunching away through the bones.  It was Beanie who was confused.  He picked up his hunk of chicken and held it in his mouth, like okay mom I killed it, shall I bury it now?  Being 12 years old and a lifetime kibble eater I can understand the confusion.  So with a little help and encouragement, my holding the chicken and him ripping and biting it, he devoured his first raw meal.

Three weeks of raw feeding behind us now, The Three Jacks have been enjoying chicken, chicken liver, chicken gizzards, and this week pork.  I am so am amazed how excited they are to eat their “real food.”  They crunch through the bones like little wolves!   I have noticed some improvements in a few little health issues, Maddie has always had a runny eye, and it’s pretty much cleared up.  Beanie has/had a sinus condition where he would sneeze big boogers – yuck!, well that problem seems to be gone!  I wasn’t one of those that would have believed such claims of disappearing health issues, but I have seen the results for myself.  Another big difference with raw feeding is what I call the “Poo Factor” – so much less poo, and a lot less stinky!  And no more stinky dog breath – I am truly amazed!

Raw Feeding is not for everyone, but if any of you have even given it the slightest thought, let me say Go for it.  I can’t imagine feeding The Three Jacks kibble ever again.  Of course they still enjoy their organic dog biscuits from Three Jacks Dog Bakery.  I feel so good knowing that Beanie, Maddie and Petey are eating totally nutritious meals and treats.

Take a look at how Petey likes to spend hot summer days!  There is no lazy in his Crazy Days of Summer!  And what keeps him going?  Organic Banana Blueberry Bites from Three Jacks Dog Bakery!

One day a couple of summers ago, I was taking Maddie out to the agility field in the back of my property.  We had to go from one fenced area that’s attached to the house, to a separate area a little ways in the back.  Maddie is an extremely good dog and was excited to be going back for some agility practice.  Because I was in my own yard and Maddie just wanted to go play agility, she was off lead and walking with me to the agility field.  Suddenly the bold cat appeared, taunting Maddie to a game of chase.  Maddie just couldn’t resist.  This was her yard and she wasn’t going to tolerate a cat in it.  So, she chased it two yards over to it’s house.  I ran following her.  Upon our arrival to the cats house, the owner appeared.  This woman immediately started yelling at us!  Maddie was barking at the cat, who so (innocently) was hiding behind her human.  The woman continued yelling at me, telling me I had a wild out of control dangerous dog!  After 5 minutes of her ranting and raving I told her how her cat was in my yard and Maddie simply chased it home.  By now Maddie was in my arms, kissing my face.  The woman’s ranting started again – now calling Maddie vicious and that she should call animal control.  At that point I did become a bit angry but held my temper.  I then said that’s a wonderful idea, that I should call animal control whenever I see her cat in my yard!  I then asked her why did she allow her cat the run of the neighborhood?  She informed me that the cat was an outdoors cat, and that’s just the way it is!  Wow, what is the thought process of such people?  I then asked her, if my dog is not welcome in your yard, what makes you think your cat is welcomed in mine?   Her reply was, that even if she had a fence she couldn’t keep the cat in it so there was nothing she could do about it.  Rather than argue with this very clueless person, I reminded her that there were coyotes around and that her cat could become dinner for them.  I also told her that if one of my dogs got hold of her cat in my yard that I could not guarantee they would not kill it.

I do not hate cats by any means.  My sister has a sweet little house cat that I adore.  But my dogs do hate cats!  I don’t appreciate people who seem to think it’s okay for their cats to roam freely.  I do not appreciate cats that torment my dogs.  This seems to be a problem here that there is no solution to – animal control will not come and catch these roaming cats.  They won’t even go speak with their owners.  But I’m sure if my dogs were roaming or even got loose accidentally, animal control would be dealing with us!

Petey said there's a CAT in our yard!

Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend

by Patricia McConnell

I’ve read several other books by Patricia McConnell, so it was no surprise to me when I began reading, “For the Love of a Dog”, that I became completely immersed.  Patricia has a wonderful way with intertwining scientific facts and information with everyday life.  This book is a beautiful blend of both, with the science of the brain (both human & canine), and stories and examples from her own experiences with dogs, both her own and of her clients.

Patricia explains and proves that dogs do share many of our same emotions.  Though this is something I have always believed, to finally see scientific proof that indeed our canine companions share these emotions with us, is like a breath of fresh air.  Finally, we, the lover of dogs, can debunk the naysayers.

“For the Love of a Dog” is a must read for anyone that has any contact with dogs.  To begin to understand the emotional ability of an animal that humans have chosen to live with for thousands of years.  For dog trainers this book is of utmost importance, in that it explains, not only how a dogs emotions are shown, but also why a particular dog may behave the way it does, and how to deal with that.  It also explains and shows, with wonderful photographs, the expressions of canine emotion, and compares that to the same show of emotion on human faces.  The similarities are simply astonishing!  Of course body signals from dogs are also discussed and shown in this amazing book.

This book has enlightened me on one of my own dogs.  Petey is an amazing little Jack Russell Terrier that I adopted when he was about 8 months old.  When I adopted Petey I had grand visions of him becoming a champion agility dog.  Physically he was perfect for it.  For years I’ve trained Petey in agility, he is truly an amazing athlete.  His level of speed, accuracy and advanced skills are those of some of the best agility dogs in the country.  So why is it that Petey is not an agility champion?  Why is it that in all of his years of training and trialing he only has three successful qualifying agility runs?  Finally after reading “For the Love of a Dog”, I now understand my little Petey better.  I knew that he was stressing at trials, there were all the classic signs of it; marking on the course, yawning, the zoomies, looking like a scared puppy and not moving.  Yet I continued to try with Petey.  I thought maybe it was me stressing, therefor sending stress signals to him.  I read books on relaxation for competition.  I competed with Maddie who loves to play agility, though not quite the athlete Petey is, she taught me it was all about the fun, and to relax.  I tried again with Petey, utilizing the lessons in relaxation I had learned, and still no success.  I would go long periods of time where I didn’t trial Petey because the little guy would stress so badly that I felt like it was cruel of me to want him to compete.  Now, I really do understand, thanks to Patricia and this wonderful book.  Petey, more than likely will never be able to compete successfully in agility.  No matter how much skill and confidence he shows when training, the stress of a trial is just too much for him to emotionally overcome, probably due to his very early weeks and months of life, when he did not get the proper socialization and emotional confidence needed to compete in the overly stimulating atmosphere of an agility trial.

There is so much more I have learned from this book, I could go on and on.  I urge everyone who loves dogs to pick up a copy of “For the Love of a Dog”.  No dog lovers library could be complete without it.

Here is a link to Patricia’s website where you can buy a copy right now.

http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/product/for-the-love-of-a-dog-understanding-emotions-human-dogs

You might also want to consider some of Patricia’s other books, as they are all equally fascinating!

Here is a link to Patricia’s blog -

http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/