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KONGS
Hi this is Kara. My turn at this. I didn't
get any direction from the "front office" (I'm sure this happens to you also), so I decided I'd just give a short report on
something that I just love: KONGS! I love my KONG toy. In my opinion, if there was one toy every dog should
have, it would be a KONG.
I've had occasion to mention how wonderful KONGS
are to some of my doggies buddies and occasionally I get a response of: "Its just a boring piece of rubber." I
then find out that their humans are not fullfilling their responsibliites with the KONGS: STUFFING THEM WITH GOOD
STUFF!!!
I'd have to agree that their is nothing more unappealing
than an old piece of weird looking rubber laying around. But you put a smidge of peanut butter, cheese, a slice of sandwich
meat pressed around the inside with a biscuit or two in the center and WOW! you've got my attention....at least for an hour
or so.
Its not just the food, though I have to admit that's
a big part of any dog's life. We are predators and have innate and genetically hard-wired prey behaviors. One
of them is DISECTING. Yes, that's right...tearing some hapless lower order animal to shreds and devouring it.
Sorry to get graphic, but that's what we dogs do...or we would do if life wasn't so comfy living with humans or if the humans
decided to leave the planet. Sometimes I get all twitchy in my sleep dreaming about what I would do if I ever caught
that dang squirrel that hangs in the backyard around the birdfeeder.
It is a big stress reliever for us dogs to engage in
our dissecting skills. Not only that, it is HARD WORK!!! I'm "whooped" after an hour or so of digging the goodies
out of my KONG. Cougar and Nickel are too. We usually get KONGS when the boss leaves us to go do whatever he does
(he alwasy comes back smelling like LOTS of other doggies, so we wonder....). Before we know it, after our post-KONG
nap...he's back! I've noticed he also gives them to us when he needs do some work on his....ah...what's the word....oh,
yeah...computer!
So, if your canine companion doesn't have a KONG please
consider getting one for him or her, pronto. Use your imagination for stuffing it (a mixture of yogurt and kibble
frozen is one of my favorites) or you can go to CLICK HERE to visit the KONG company's website, then click on "Tips and Advice"
at the top to access KONG stuffing ideas (the boss told me to add this, what do I know about computers and websites??!!?!!!).
Oops, gotta go...good news, the boss is leaving!...I know because he is in the kitchen
stuffing our KONGS...woofs! to your canines from me...Kara
Keep our health in mind when giving treats
Nickel here. My turn for the
staff report and since the boss didn't give me marching orders this month I thought I'd submit something about my favorite
topic: TREATS!!!. I must admit that I love treats. In fact "Food of any kind at any time"
is my personal motto! One of our "golden rules" is: If you find food, eat it NOW!
Being such "food hounds" as we are affectionately called,
can cause problems. One being overweight (something the boss accuses me of being on the verge of)
and the other is health problems. We dogs are carnivores and eat MEAT! We don't even need carbohydrates (sugars)
to survive. Sad for us (we just LOVE candy), but true.
So, please do not stop giving treats to your
dog, especially when they do a job well done (and once in a while for just being cute is ok too!) but do carefully
consider what you are giving. For help selecting appropriate and healthy treats, here are some important points
to consider....woofs....Nickel.
· Do not purchase and give
commercially made dog treats purchased at grocery stores (Beggin’ Strips, Pupperoni, Snausages, and Milk Bone dog biscuits
are just a few examples of poor quality treats that are actually detrimental to any dog’s health)
·
No
treats containing artificial preservatives and/or colors (Vitamins C and E are effective and safe preservatives. Dogs and cats do not care about the color!)
· Look for treats at pet stores that contain whole grains (wheat instead of wheat flour
or wheat bran), and/or fresh whole NAMED meats (chicken or chicken meal instead of chicken “by-products” or “meat”
by-products), fruits, and vegetables
· Buy organic products whenever possible
· If a sweetener is used, it should be natural and food-based such as honey, molasses,
and applesauce.
HEALTHY TREATS DO NOT CONTAIN:
- Artificial preservatives
- Artificial colors
- Propylene glycol (used to keep foods moist and chewy. Has been proven to cause depression of the central nervous system and kidney damage
in animals)
- Artificial or low-quality palatability enhancers (sugar,
corn syrup, sucrose, ammoniated glycyrrhizin) and artificial flavoring (such as barbecue flavoring or artificial smoke flavoring)
IF
YOU REALLY WANT TO IMPRESS:
Buy a pound of chicken, turkey, or beef cold
cuts from a deli and cut up into 1/2 squares. This is actually far cheaper than any of the commercial dog treats
and much, much better for the dogs and cats.
Training Treats
(Cougar reporting)
The boss asked me to taste test (I just LOVE these kinds of assignments) a
new dog food created by NaturaPet, Inc., the people who make INNOVA brand dog food. Its called EVO. I thought
I was going to get a nice bowl of it, but instead I only got a small piece at a time during a clicker training exercise.
All I can say is that the stuff is GREAT! I was higly motivated to do as many silly little behaviors as I could to get
another morsel.
The food was developed for owners who regularly feed a raw diet, typically referred to
as a B.A.R.F. diet (Bones And Raw Food) but need on occasion the convenience of feeding a kibble (when traveling for instance).
It is a nice size, about a 1/4 inch square, and is a very healthy and nutritional option to use for clicker training.
Nickel and Kara loved it too. A three pound bag will go a very long way when used as training treats. It can be
purchased locally at Creature Comforts on Upper Front St. You can visit the following website to check it out in more
detail: www.naturapet.com.
Once there click on the food tab and select EVO dry food (At least that's what the boss
told me to say...my paws are way too large to push those tiny little buttons! If I could, I'd be ordering a bunch of
that stuff for DINNER!)
COUGAR
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