What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

[ZaraD]

Ok so I'm on day tow of the diet and I am enjoying it more than I thought the only problem I have is having to eat probiotics as I like the fage yogurt which has live cultures but I don't like the other foods that are fermented with live cultures but I need to include a lot of live cultures in my diet so I'm thinking of taking a capsule form from my local health food shop instead as at least I don't need to eat anything other than the fage yogurt

Other than that I enjoyed my breakfast today I made an omelette with fresh onion,fresh garlic, and fresh mozzarella cheese with a handful of blueberries and a redbush tea ( on the diet I'm not allowed caffeine) redbush is a nice alternative to normal tea or coffee.

Sampson not been on the sofa once and has enjoyed his new bed which I'm shocked about but over the moon

[Lotsaquestions]

Removed

[JudyN]

Jasper and I explored pastures new yesterday. Still walking distance from home, though further than I'd really want to know. But J was on a mission, and we ended up having a 5-mile walk. (And he still wanted a play in the garden when we got home and whined for his second walk at 2pm ).

At one point we saw a woman leading a horse. J (who I put on lead) was very interested, as in 'dancing on tiptoes and ignoring treats' interested. Which in itself was interesting as he's pretty rock solid with horses we meet on our usual walks, whether ridden, being led, or loose. It was quite a striking horse - broad, black, beautifully groomed with fluffy coat and clipped areas, and with neon bands (can't remember the correct term) on its legs & tail, but I'm not sure any of these features would have registered to a dog. So maybe it was just because we were in a new place.

So, this is by way of a warning - get your dog stock broken on a couple of bits of heath he's familiar with, and he still might react very differently in a different place.

[JudyN]

I've been playing with the camera on my new phone and though it's blurry, this photo cracked me up



Nettle, do you find your dogs drop weight/need more food in the winter? I've never noticed it before but this winter I've had to up his food a bit. He's not underweight IMO, though round the bottom end of what I'd like, but he's looking (to my inexpert eye) quite 'well defined' given that he's not a spring chicken. I wish I could say the same for myself... I imagine it's not always easy to assess the right weight for a lurcher - some saluki crosses can look very bony, but a deerhound cross should probably not have vertebrae visibly sticking up.



OH doesn't really look like Worzel Gummidge's dad. It's a much better picture of J than it is of him

[ZaraD]

Awesome jaspers very beautiful and very graceful looking

Not all but some of my lurcher clients do seem to loose weight in the winter too but there all over the age of 6yrs?

[JudyN]

Maybe it's more common as they get older then? He's eight now.

[Ari_RR]

Ari The RR of weighed in at 115 lbs at the vet a couple of weeks ago, definitely gained weight during winter... the vet was not thrilled (to put it mildly), so the boy is on a diet again.

At least supposed to be on a diet.

My mother, the great self-discovered animal advocate, believes that dogs suffer enough just having to live with humans.... not sure whether she upholds his dietary restrictions when she visits him during the days.

[JudyN]

Ari's heavier than me

He's quite lazy though, isn't he? Jasper seems to want to walk further, and further and further. The further he walks, the fitter he gets, the fitter he gets, the further he wants to walk

[Lotsaquestions]

Jasper is so long and thin! Love the photo of him bowing, such lovely long legs.

[Ari_RR]

Ari is not necessarily lazy, but definitely adverse to even minor inconveniences... like wet, or cold, or snow, or pretty much anything, so in order to get a good walk we have to drive somewhere (to the nature park, or to downtown), then he is full or energy, moves fast.

But walks around the neighborhood are not that interesting I guess unless deer or foxes show up, so he drags his feet....

But winter is almost over, with all its weather related impediments to good walks.
On the other hand, the vet ordered us back in 8 weeks at no more than 110 lbs....

[Nettle]

JudyN, mine have always needed more food in the winter, but then the house isn't centrally heated so they use a lot of fat to keep themselves warm (how I wish that worked for humans!). In the days when I had working dogs, you could see the weight drop off them after a day/night's work. I had one that I could never feed enough.

As they get old, not that Jas is old yet, they go like people - either fat or thin.

AriRR, you need to put Mom on a three-line whip! Not fair her digging the dog's grave with his food bowl. Ari has always looked stunning under your care.

[JudyN]

Oh dear... on another dog forum someone posted a video of deerhounds chasing deer, and another one, pre-ban, of saluki coursing resulting in a kill. The response was not favourable, and one person mentioned 'those poor dogs being forced to do this'

I have given my thoughts but suspect I'm likely to get flamed...

[Nettle]

Ahahahahaha! people do have the strangest ideas. And of course those ideas set up a lot of dog owners for failure, or being really upset, and a lot of dogs into rescue or PTS just for being dogs.

You are very brave, JudyN, and if your post sets just one person right, it was worth it.

[JudyN]

You are very brave, JudyN, and if your post sets just one person right, it was worth it.

Fools rush in... That person replied that they found the vids hard to watch but I pointed out that what happens in an abbatoir would be hard to watch too. I even struggle with some wildlife documentaries

I tried to explain prey drive in terms of how the dog is in the zone, fulfilling what he sees as his whole reason for living, but it's not easy. Most people probably think of Fenton chasing deer in Richmond Park, or a dog barking at cats.

[Shalista]

proof some pups never grow up. my FIVE YEAR old dog dragged my fav pair of sweatpants out of the bedroom while my back was turned and chewed a giant hole out of them. thx bax