Fussy eaters

Fussy eaters suck; plain and simple. I don't like feeding humans or dogs who are fussy; it is so much more work than it has to be. I've only ever had one fussy dog and luckily my whole family is non fussy. Luke is my fussy dog; always has been, always will be.

So what do you do if you have a fussy dog; some people say to ignore it. "No dog will starve themselves." Well that may be correct but they sure will get really skinny; so I try my best to serve up what tastes good to Luke. Dogs are not like people; you cannot say "eat it or no dessert."

Luke is a beef man; he likes chicken but is not a big fan of fish. Luke also likes "human food." "Human food" is a term I try not to use often as I believe food is food whether it is for your dogs or your humans. When I say "human food" I am talking about Pizza, sausages, roast and potatoes, omlettes and chicken stir fry. You get what I mean; right? Prepared stuff, food that has a recipe and frankly food that tastes good.

So Luke likes food that tastes good; he does not eat for the sake of eating like most dogs do. He loves black forest ham so if I have some handy I will add it to his food. Sometimes it is enough to kick start the eating process. And Luke loves dairy; he loves nothing more than whipcream, who doesn't? He loves it so much that if he hears that all familiar hiss from the whipcream can he comes running. And just try to sneak a blended drink topped with whipcream past this boy.

Being that I deal with a fussy eater on a regular basis; I am very thankful for my eaters; eaters of whatever is put in front of them. I've come to understand that no matter human or canine you are who you are.

canine communications - growling and stuff

Do we understand our dogs? Often we get what our dogs are trying to say all wrong. Many of my clients ask me what this means or what that means when their dog is displaying some sort of behavior they simply don't understand. And what is one of the most misunderstood communication displays is the dreaded growl. I have been told by many k9 guardians "there is no growling in my house." Growling is good, what is causing the growling may be a bad place by often a growl is simply a growl.

Easy for me to say right? A growl is a display or response to something that your dog either does not like, feels uncomfortable about or threatened. A growl is how dogs communicate; take that away and all you are left with is body language that we again misread often.

I have a video of a new puppy greeting an adult dog; the sound is not great but the adult is growling her head off. The thunder sound is the growling. The puppy is finding it difficult to contain herself but if you look at her body language the puppy is communicating submission; not alot but it's there. The adult is telling the puppy that she is not thrilled with this over exhuberant display of affection. The growling is nothing more than communication. But far too often the owners of the adult would scold their dog; messing everything up completely.

What you do need to do is look into the cause of a growl. Is it the approach of a stranger, another dog, attempting to take food from your dog? Then these issues need to be addressed, not the growling. Many people feel that a slap or alpha role is in order when a dog growls, wrong. This only teaches a dog not to give you a "heads up" when they feel something. This in turn is a very dangerous situation; take our dogs ability to communicate away and we are left with an unpredictable dog.

Personalities

Ah, the canine personality; great aren't they? No matter how many dogs I meet they are all different. Even within a breed there are no two dogs alike. Sure there are dogs that remind you of other dogs. Heck, I was at a store the other day and the lady swore she knew me. She said that my identical twin lived somewhere in the Florida area; so I definitely reminded her of someone. (My fraternal twin lives in Canada; just to set the record straight and we look nothing alike. HE is a blonde 6 footer.)

I love getting to know dogs, often what you see is not what you get. Infact that is more often than not. I know so many dogs that look one way on the outside and are the complete opposite on the inside. Dogs that look like big tough guys who are anything but. Dogs you'd love to wrap your arms around and hug but best not if you want to keep your head attached to your body.

So getting to know a dog is all about what is on the inside; dogs don't care what they look like. They do not have the vanity that we humans have, it has nothing to do with who they are. Some of the coolest dogs I've met have been second hand dogs; one specifically was a street dog from LA. He was one of the most amazing dogs I've ever had the pleasure to meet.

When you meet a dog you first see the "how much they like strangers". Which may throw you at first; maybe they are become over excited or they really aren't interested in meeting you. But sit back and watch; watch the dog interact with it's guardian and you will see the true personality come out.

Sit and watch dogs play at the dog park; you see the real stuff there. Dogs are who they are when interacting with other dogs. I love nothing more than watching dogs be dogs; if I get the priviledge to meet some of them I am truly honored.

Weight

Weight may not be as controversial in dogs as in humans but it is very important. Dogs have a good weight; a weight where they are healthy and able to do what a dog should be able to do. That is to run and enjoy life without the risk of injuring themselves. This discussion is strictly about dogs; so let's not be pointing any fingers k?

Pretty much if your dog is fat; it's your fault. Our dogs do not have the capability of feeding themselves nor controlling what and how much they eat. It is our job as canine guardian. I for one have always kept my dogs on the lean side. They are very active and excess weight can and does damage joints which will in turn cause health problems down the road.

The way that I tell if my dogs are a good weight is in the ribs. You should be able to feel your dogs ribs; ribs that feel like they have a thin layer of neoprene on them. They should have a waistline when you look down at them; even the bulky breeds have a waistline. Now some of the bulky breeds like Bulldogs, rotties, and mastiffs carry extra weight. But that is no excuse or license to be fat. All these breeds should have the same right to be able to run and have fun.

Seeing a fat dog is sad; they cannot enjoy life to the fullest and they suffer from health issues. Just recently I had my boy Luke at the vet; he's a skinny. He has always been a skinny type dog; he is very picky and it is alot of work keeping him even at this skinny size. So I took him to the vet to have another blood panel done just to be sure it is just Luke and nothing else to worry about. The good news is that he is just a skinny guy.

Keeping your dog fit includes exercise and what they eat. Always choose the best dog food you can purchase; or if you want to go the really healthy route; start cooking or feeding your dog a raw food diet. You know the saying "you are what you eat?" That applies to all creatures; at least those who eat. ;)

Protection dogs

When asked if you think your dog would protect you most people think not. Many breeds nowadays have had all the guardian instincts removed in the attempt at making the perfect companion. Take the Great Dane for instance; a very large and scarey looking dog. Once bred to be a guard dog; breeders have bred a more even tempered gentle giant that can live in our crowded society.

There are still many guarding breeds; and even more that we are just finding out about. So what is it that we really want from our dogs? Some people think they want a guard dog; they go out and purchase a guarding breed but then soon realize that a guarding breed can be alot to deal with. When I am on a "future dog" consult I ask alot of questions with regards to what the individuals in a family want. One is the guarding factor.

Many people think they want a guarding breed but once we go over what they really mean by this; they want a dog to bark if someone comes to the door. Having an actual "guard dog" is far from a dog that barks to let you know someone is on your property. And in the wrong hands a guard dog who is left to their own devices guarding your property can be a huge liability.

The bigger the dog the more intimidating usually. That is if you are not talking about a Golden Retriever which is one of the softest breeds there is right now; that and maybe the Cavalier. Having any dog at all is a good alert system. Most would be criminals would rather head next door where there is not canine alert system to do there dirty deeds.

But as far as the family dog is concerned; you really never know until put to the test which is somewhere you never want to go. Dogs have the innate ability to distinquish friend from fo; often much better than we do. I listen and watch my dogs and if they are freaked out by someone; I pay attention. Sometimes it's just a non dog person; someone who is uncomfortable and ackward around dogs, other times it is someone to keep a close eye on.

We should never underestimate our dogs; although I've only seen small glimpses of guarding from my guys I have no doubt when needed they would spring into action. And being that I have poodles; most people have no idea what great protective guard dogs they are; which is just fine with me.

Collars visited yet again

Okay, I have to talk about collars again today; and yes I know I've discussed them alot. Yesterday I was driving through my neighborhood and saw a young boy with his dog; nice picture eh? No, it was not a nice picture. The dog was a sheltie and it was straining at the end of the leash which was attached to a choke collar. I cringed when I imagined what was happening to the dogs neck. The young man kept yanking on the leash, thinking nothing of his dogs neck.

It is not the fault of the young boy but society as a whole. We have been raised with choke collars, choke collars give you control. Can't control your dog? Throw a choke collar on it. Choke collars choke; bottom line. Collars are a bigtime controversy these days and talking to trainers who use them and believe in them; the conversation can become heated quickly. They believe there is a place for everything and that there is a correct way to use them; I don't.

I was also watching a show on television the other night about training your dog. I don't know what it was called or what station it was on but it was pretty lame. The host who was a small notch above the worst I've seen and the content, junk. The host asked the trainer if pinch collars really pinch; he skirted around the answer and made his best attempt at a positive explanation about them. Yes they pinch; that is how they work and if you don't think they pinch PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME HOW THEY THINK THEY WORK.

Recently I purchased some beautiful 2" wide collars which were handmade from an online store. I was very impressed with them and would like it if more companies made the wide collars. If you have to put a collar on your dog; best to go as wide as you can to spread out the pressure. Rather than focusing on choking or pinching your dogs neck for control.

JMHO

Travel'n dogs

One of the most important things that I have ever taught my dogs is to not jump out of the car uninvited. Whether you have a car, SUV or truck your dog/dogs should wait until they are asked to get in and get out. With September around the corner I will be beaching it more often with my dogs. The Main Beach in Laguna opens up all day for dogs on leash Sept 17th and goes until the long weekend in May.

With the tourists all safe and sound back in their hometown; I have the beach back. Often I park on the street; which means extra care must be taken when I lift my back hatch. My dogs are trained not to get out unless asked but they are dogs and they are not perfect; just like us. So proofing is a must; there is one word and one word only that gets them out of the car. That magic word is "okay" which is their generic release word. Unless they hear that word, they best not be jumping out of the car.

So what if they do? What if they boldly jump out without being told to do so.? They are back in the back of the SUV before they even know what hit them. This gives a clear and very understandable message to them. Get out, and you don't go anywhere. Luke is my most likely to................... So it is he that requires most of my attention. Tilley wouldn't think of getting out uninvited and Jessie; well maybe sometimes but it is a big leap so she's not keen on it anyway.

Things are changing in our pack, Tilley is now 11 and I rarely let her jump out of the car unassisted. I know she does not like being heaved out but she tolerates it. Getting in has become routine to her now; I lift her front feet up to the back and then give her rear a boost. She doesn't mind this at all; as it is a much better option than tumbling onto the road if she doesn't make the jump.

I've seen cars full of dogs trying to push their way out; the guardian holding the door tight in attempts of holding back the onslaught. Believe me it i much nicer to teach your dogs not to bolt out of the car and much more becoming for everyone involved. ;)

Starting age and time span

How young can you start training a puppy? I've often been asked at what age do you start training? The old thought was 6 months old; I honestly can't imagine waiting that long to start the ground work of training. But the reason behind the 6 months was to make sure that the puppies neck could take the collar corrections, makes me cringe even thinking about it. As far as I'm concerned as soon as you get your puppy, get at it.

Hopefully the breeder got a head start for you; many teach their puppies to sit and go to the bathroom on grass way before they are ready to go to their new homes. My daughters new girl who is now 7 1/2 weeks old and already has sit and down; and is ready to move on to bigger things. At this young age she is like a sponge and responds quickly to any feedback she receives.

Waiting for unwanted behaviors to form and then trying to get rid of them just doesn't make sense. So start as soon as that little puppy walks through your door. Not all training is to perform a position; lots of training is about instilling rules and regulations for living in your home; get off on the right foot. Don't mix messages; if you don't want your full grown dog on the couches, then don't let your puppy on the couches etc.

The other question I am asked often is how long do you train? Training should never be a session; it should be worked gently into your daily routine. This results in a dog who behaves all the time; not just during the training session. And push those little brains; typically people have no idea just how smart dogs are. I'm a trainer and they still blow me away with what they can learn.

Poodles, poodles, doodles?

I was stopped several times again lastweek; "are those, those doodle dogs?" "No, they are poodles, standard poodles." "Really? these are poodles?" So I thought "Wait a minute, is that right? I think these dogs are poodles................ah yes; THEY ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!

It never ceases to amaze me how just a hair cut can throw everyone. One of the people who asked me if they were doodles had a poodle on the end of his leash, a standard poodle at that. I have to admit that the doodles that they are being bred back to standard poodles (don't even get me started)very much resemble Standard poodles. Might be the fact that are now between 3/4 and 7/8ths standard poodles.

Yes the amazing wonderdog that the money grubbers advertise shed and yes, they have lab in them. For some reason people think that these doodle dogs, either labradoodles or goldendoodles are much better because they are not the prissy poodle. Yes they are happy for a piece of the poodle but their ego cannot stand the whole thing.

But what these people have done is to take a non shedding, amazingly intelligent breed and messed with it. They added a huge shed factor and the over energized lab personality. So what the unsuspecting puppy buyers get is a curly coated lab that sheds and may or may not have longer legs, different color and coat type than a poodle or lab.

Don't get me wrong, I love all dogs but what I don't love is people trying to make a buck from the uneducated. Now in a class of the very popular designer dogs; the doodle dogs are filling up the shelters and rescues. While advertised as the greatest of both worlds, the would be new guardians forgot that these are still very active, energetic dogs.

Once you add a lab to a poodle you can no longer call it non shedding. Labs shed like crazy and I have sadly met many people who were very allergice to their new dog; after being lied to about the shedding.

There are truly so many breeds of dogs that there really is no need to start making cocktail dogs; honestly. If you can't find a breed that would suit you and your family; perhaps check out the cat section. The whole "mutts are healthier than purebreds" is wrong to start with and the people who are pumping these dogs out for a buck are not doing it for the love of the "design."

So please do your research, do not believe what you are told. Research, research, research.

Submissive behaviors - greeting

Submissive behavior in dogs can be displayed for many reasons. Often it is in response to harsh sounds or body gestures from other dogs or us. Some dogs are just plain submissive and you have to go above and beyond to not get a submissive response from them.

For many dogs too much attention is enough to get a submissive response. Take for instance when you go to someones house for a visit; upon arrival you are greeted at the front door by the family dog. As you reach over to pet her; she drops onto the floor and pees, don't you feel awful? You shouldn't; the guardian of this dog should have told you to ignore the dog.

Although this peeing behavior is extreme, dogs often exhibit smaller, more difficult to see submissive behavior on greeting. The above image clearly shows all the submissive signals this dog is trying very hard to give off. This dog is particularly submissive upon greeting; so I asked my son to greet her upright and loom over her to obtain these great images.

The signals to look for is sunken body posture, ears plastered back, eyes squinting, lips closed and pulled back and the left front paw was just on the way up.

Tail wagging

How many times have you seen a wagging tail and thought "Oh, that's a friendly dog?" I hear people say this all the time but looks can be deceiving. Tail wagging can be a sign of so many things that you need to see what the rest of the dogs body is doing first. The tail is very good at demonstrating the dogs state but if you go by tail alone you may get a surprise.

Tail position is a biggy, is it held high, midrange, down or tucked. In all of these positions a dogs tail can be wagging. Wag speed means differnt things as well. Very fast wagging is a sign of excitement; and excitement is not always a good thing. Nice flag type wagging with the tail held between upright and halfway is usually the best wag. This typically means that the dog is happy or content.

Low tail wagging although submissive in signal can be fearful. A fearful dog can be dangerous and many people receive a bite very unexpectantly. Often you think of a fearful dog as non threatening because they are afraid. This is the case sometimes but other times a dog will lash out because they are afraid; watch the rest of the body.

A wagging tail is only one sign to watch for behavior in dogs, the other two important signals are body language and the eyes.

We are through our first day and she did pretty great. She has had two nights at home and a few here. She is getting use to the other dogs but hates to be crated and left alone. Tough coming from a litter with brothers and a sister and then getting use to being alone in a crate. I'm sure she will have the swing of things very soon, all my dogs have.

Her name is Brook so far.

She's here

My search is over, she came home yesterday. My daughter has a new girl, a beautiful little white standard poodle baby. Can't blog much right now, super busy. Althought she will be staying with my daughter; she'll be here lots. I will be writing lots more, believe me.

Shut up - your dog is learning

I've done it, Luke's done it, he is actually coming in and out of the doggie door unassisted. He actually used his own little brain yesterday and came in without any coaxing; he was some proud of himself. I have to admit I am some proud of him; not that I didn't think he could use it, I just never thought that he would. I knew he could do it; he just didn't know it.

Luke's learning process is a little different than the norm; that said there are no two dogs alike. There may be similarities in how dogs learn but no two are identical; so sometimes you need to put on your thinking cap. We had several obstacles to get over with Luke.

First he had to get over his touch issue which is the reason I thought the door would not be on his "things to do" list. The touch issue took the bulk of the time, convincing, coaxing and generally making a fool out of myself. Once he was over that hump we had the push issue, another biggy. So by working backwards to my goal the open spot on the flap became smaller and smaller; there was no choice if he wanted in.

Once he got the whole pushing thing down, it was time to shut up and let him learn. This "shut-up" stage is very important; the dog must figure it out on their own or they will never do it on their own. There comes a point when you know that they know and you just have to wait.

That point was yesterday for us, I told everyone not to say anything and ignore Luke peering in the window. It only took 1/2 a minute and low and behold there he was upstairs in my room. Spinning and huffing like a mad fool; he had figured it out. He may have an occasional brain freeze where he stands looking at me on one side of the door realizing that he is on the other side. But with patience and keeping quiet, he'll figure it out once again.

The most impactful lessons are those when your dog figures it out on their own. This lesson is stored away for use down the road unhindered by commands, signals and unnecessary blabbing from us.

Saturday morning; this and that

Good morning; I didn't blog yesterday because I was up bright and early to take the dogs to the beach. The rest of my day was nuts; I felt like I was being pulled in many different directions. But as far as our morning walk is concerned it was great. I had my hesitations about going as I opened my eyes though. The night before I had told myself that I would do the beach in the morning knowing full well that meant getting up at 5:30. Which is fine because I'm usually up at 5:30 but yesterday the beach was the only reason I had to be up at 5:30.

The alarm went off and I was slow to get up and stop it. I crawled back into bed noting that the sun was just thinking about making an appearance. It would have been very easy to just fall back asleep; heck the dogs were all crashed on the bed with me and no one looked like they cared if we went to the beach. See you have to be off the beach by 8 in these summer months so that means I have to be there by 7. I gave myself a kick in the butt and got up to get ready.

It took a while to get the dogs up, they don't like getting up early at all. But from the first jingle of a collar they were up and willing to go where ever we were headed. They had a quick couple of Liver Biscotti and were off. I'm so glad I went, the beach was quiet with only a few people up and at it so early. It is a great way to start the day and I wish I lived closer to the beach.

Once home I cooked up a nice breakfast for Jessie, Tilley and Luke and then it was on to "bone day." Bone day is the official teeth cleaning day at my house; the dogs know it as the great day that they get bones. It only takes one bone to be out of the fridge and they are all over it. Luke is at the forefront; being that he is the tallest he can actually see the bones on the counter. I trimmed all the fat, scooped out some marrow and put them on a platter.

Manners are a must; so is supervision. Raw meaty bones are a very high value item and things can go from good to bad quickly if you don't supervise. There is to be no visiting other bones, no checking out, no just seeing. Each dog must stay on their own bone; this is for the good of everyone involved. My house is a perfect one for this event; we have windows running the entire length of the back of the house which enables me to see what is going on from every room.

After a good 2 hours I've got other things to do so I bring out the customary trade off raw beef. Each dog is handed a piece and then I take their bone, bag them and toss the bunch. The dogs then scour the backyard for a good hour picking up tiny pieces that were dropped in the heat of the chew. Happy dogs with sparkly white chompers.

A morning adventure

I held off on blogging early this morning as I had an appointment set up for Luke at a new vets. I've been searching for "my" vet for over 30 years; but with each new vet comes the explanations I need to offer about me and my dogs. First I tell the story of Tilley running away, and the need now that I be with my dogs for all procedures.

The next is that Luke although sounding very much like CUJO on steroids is indeed a sweet guy. I pre-emailed to the vets about my boy a couple of days ago; I think this is a good thing so they have a heads up. So I loaded him up this morning trying to keep myself as calm cool and collected as possible. I don't want my hesitations to come across to him.

As we arrived I had my doubts that this vet would be any different than the many I've visited over the years; I couldn't have been more wrong. As soon as I walked in they asked if I was Sherri and ushered me to the consult room immediately. The head nurse and another girl came into the room within minutes and Luke started.

He greeted them with all the ferocity he could muster in attempts of keeping them at bay. The humans turned sideways and ignored his show. His body shook from head to toe and his eyes darted around the room stopping every so often on my eyes. A quick eye contact and he started to calm; that is until someone new came in the room; the vet. He regressed to his CUJO routine and she sat on the floor, nice.

He quickly started to calm; calm for him that is not lazyboy type calm. He got his blood drawn for a blood panel, had his physical examine and was quite a good boy about it all. He was the boy I know he is when he is not trying to keep everyone away from him; which is only ever displayed at the vets.

The lobby of the vets was filled with "real" food and healthy treats. This in itself is a huge difference from anything I've seen before. I'm stoked to say the least; glad I made the trip and couldn't be happier to have FINALLY met my vet.

Success at last

It finally haoppened; I'm not sure if it will happen again anytime soon but it happened yesterday. I have a new dog door; one that Tilley was using the day we got it. She loves going in and out, in and out all day and evening; whenever the urge hits her. Jessie uses it if she really has to; she tends to go only when she absolutely has to. Then there is Luike; right from the start, before we even got the door I had my doubts.

Like I have said before he is not a pusher in a physical sense; he doesn't open doors. The girls attempt to open doors all the time; they are accustom to using their head and pushing their way through. Luke is more of a "open it and if it looks safe I'll enter" kind of guy. So I thought that there was a good chance he was never going to use the new fabulous dog door.

I have been working diligently with him; never expecting too much. We have been taking tiny little baby steps to get to our goal, through the dog door. I started with bigtime treats, dog door held completely open. Then moving it slightly more closed each time so that he could get use to the feeling of the flap on his body. He doesn't like the feeling and would reverse often if it touched him. So we worked and worked until he was okay with it touching him.

Next was the push issue; I truly didn't think I could convince him to push at the age of almost 8. I dropped the door down inch by inch until he was physically having to push the door. We were at the point of a one finger tiny corner lift yesterday when I noticed that instead of standing beside the dog door he was standing at the dog door waiting for my assistance. He got that going inside meant the dog door which was a step in the right direction.

So I lifted the corner and he started to come in; midway he changed his mind and retreated causing the door hit him and hang on him. I thought that this was going to cause a glitch in his progress as he stood outside once again. So, I decided to ignore what had happened and coax like crazy; he really wanted in. He nudged around the flap and then did it!!!!!!!!! I threw a party, he spun around in excitement obviously thinking that he was very cool to have entered the door.

Did he repeat his performance? No, I coaxed and coaxed but we were back to the one finger corner lift. So we will remain at this stage until I see that he is going to offer a push once again on his own; what a guy.

Hands off control

"Control that dog," I've heard this statement many times. Years ago when I was in the show ring on a regular basis there were always control issues; I guess so seeing that there are hundreds, even thousands of dogs in one building together. But control; true control takes work. Sure anyone can grab a leash or a collar and control their dog but can you control your dog collarless? In my training regime I often tell guardians to take a collar off; collar grabs become too much of a habit.

Sure there are times when I have a difficult time getting things under control; an over excited pack can be a handful but I do not rely on equipment to do my job. As canine guardian it is my and your job to control your dog. Teaching, consistency and feedback or reaction are all needed for control. First you must teach your dog commands that are easily followed; sit, down, stay, wait, place etc. If you have no means of communicating your wishes to your dog then how are they to do as you ask them?

Next is consistency; if one minute you have rules and the next you let your dog get away with whatever they like then you are not being a good guardian. Dogs are pack animals; give them an inch and they'll run miles with it. So when you make a rule stick with it; there are no sometimes rules. Rules are only made to be modified by the boss and only the boss.

Feedback or reaction; yes life has consequences not only for dogs but for us as well. What if your dog jumps on each and every person who walks in your front door? The reaction will be that less people will visit you and there may be one of those people who actually ends up getting hurt; not good. "Feedback is a gift," a statement I've heard often and agree with whole heartedly. Without feedback how do we know? Feedback can be positive or negative in content; but what it does is educate.

With the whole visitors coming to your home; teach your dog to go to a "place." A certain spot or carpet where they go and stay until told to move when visitor come over. Feedback for going and staying in their place is praise and maybe a small food reward. Feedback for not staying is a vocal sound and you moving into let them know that there is no other option.

Collarless control is work; but this work is educating your dog. By giving your dog the tools to understand your desires you become a better guardian and your dog becomes a better canine citizen. Dogs go through life learning by the action/reaction education process. If you are committed you can teach your dog anything.

So take off that collar and give it a whirl.

Concept of age

I have three senior dogs at the moment; although I do not consider them to be seniors. Jessie is the oldest at 12, Tilley 11 and Luke who I think of as the baby will be 8 on Saturday. 8, how the heck did he get to be 8 already? It seems like just the other day I brought home the bundle of golden curls. But now at 8 years of age he has matured nicely; it took him a full 8 years to hit maturity; a first ever for me. My poodles in the past all hit a marked maturity at the age of 3 years old.

The only thing that causes me to stop and think about the age of my dogs is the cloudiness of their eyes. Tilley has the most clouding and if she is standing in the light a certain way you cannot miss it. And although Jessie is older; she is physically younger as a much smaller dog; but the clouding is there for her as well. Other than Tilley taking a bit longer to get to her feet you would never guess her age; she is in amazing shape.

So when someone talks about there 7 or 9 year old dog in "really old" dog terms I don't get it. What I am getting now is that some people consider a number first, dog second. The health and shape of the dog makes a huge difference in judging age. I've seen 3 year old fat and soft dogs who lumber along struggling to breath that I would have sworn were oldies only to find out that they are young dogs.

The size of a dog makes a huge difference when discussing age; big dog age more quickly in general. Although I have met people with small rat terrier sized guys who called their 7 year old dog their old girl. And this particular dog looked like she was 17. Dogs are just like we are; if they are kept active, stay fit and eat a good diet; time will be kind to them. If they live a sedentary llifestyle and consume a poor diet; time will be harsh on their body.

And truly age is only a number; up to now Luke has been my baby and he will remain my baby until a new puppy joins our family. At 8 years of age he is happy to be the baby and plays his part well. And as far as I'm concerned I have a great pack of mature dogs; the term senior never crosses my mind.

Waste not want not

I hate waste; I never mind buying food if it doesn't go to waste. Throwing perfectly good food in the garbage is a huge issue for me so it rarely gets thrown out in this house. If we don't eat it; chances are I'll feed it to the dogs. Don't get me wrong; my dogs don't eat garbage, no cut offs of fat or waste for them.

The only thing I will give my dogs that I won't eat is grissle or tough pieces of meat. Everything else is exactly what I would eat; I just ran out of room in my stomach so into theirs it goes. Just this morning I only ate 1/2 my banana and 1/2 my yogurt so yes; they are getting it for breakfast.

Especially in a world that is quickly shrinking; with places where food is scarce it truly is an awful thing to throw good food in the garbage. Let's say I cooked chicken, spinach, squash and rice for dinner. My eyes were bigger than my stomach; I though I was starving. Once halfway into dinner I realize I took too much food; no big deal. The dogs eat it for dinner.

I have a basic food that is prepared for my dogs; but! If one of us can't eat all the food we had on our plate I don't stress over it; the dogs get it. They eat well as do we, I try to buy as much organic food as I can so what is good for us is just as good for our dogs.

Now there is food that I don't give the dogs; the typical things like onion, chocolate, saucy dishes etc. But if it fresh homemade food with not a ton of butter or spices on it; their getting it for dinner.

I remember being out for dinner onetime; a very high end place. I ordered Lobster and Filet mignon; very indulgent but a rare treat. I couldn't eat all of my filet and there was no way I could see it go in the garbage. I ordered a doggie bag (a real doggie bag) for my filet and brought it home for my very appreciative pups for dinner.

So the next time you are scrapping good food into the garbage; look at those eyes staring at you and think twice. If it is good food for you; its good for your dog.