We keep up with dog news on Itchmo and Itchmo Forums, where we read about feeding, toys, training tips and more. Itchmo and so many of the posters on the Forums have had a positive influence on the premium pet foods companies. They're testing their products for more toxins, looking for the best sources for added vitamins and minerals.
It's a good thing!
Itchmo

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

Jake's just an overgrown lap dog

 

 
 
 
 

Saturday night walk

 
We enjoyed a cool night walk in the park this evening. Lots of kids, bikes, basketballs, dogs getting last walk of the day made for a busy park and a fun start to the night. See slideshow below for Jake's latest Geocache find. He's always the first to spot it! This is his third "find."

Last night Jake was running outside to bark at our back fence. The Geocache box has been placed under the Western Red Cedar in the park once again! Tonight, we discovered it had been moved into our yard. Jake is always the first to spot these things. Since Geocache is not supposed to be placed in locked yards, and we don't want people trying to climb over the fence, much less strangers in our yard if Jake is outside, we moved it right back where it had been put last night. I think we'll add something to the box and record the new location. Geocache is an especially fun game for kids and families. Google it if you have not yet heard about the game!

Canidae responded to unfounded claims of acetaminophen on Friday to Itchmo, revealing their product tested negative for acetaminophen at UC Davis.

Jake and his dinner feasts

Jake certainly eats an interesting and varied diet. I had not meant it to be quite so varied, but due to trying to keep ahead of recalled foods and even foods that might later be recalled due to reports of sick dogs that had been eating them, Jake has gotten to taste varieties of a number of brands. We settled on Canidae for kibble. He was already started on half of each meal being home cooked, so the other half became Canidae All Life Stages, with Canidae Chicken and Rice for one bag. He liked that arrangement! Then we tried Orijen Adult to rotate for the kibble, and that was a big winner. Today we got a small bag of the new Orijen Six Fish, which will work well for treats and later to rotate with his Orijen Adult. The only catch may be that this food suddenly exploded in popularity in the USA, and I'm not certain how long it will be available in my area until production is ramped up. It would be a shame if the sudden increase in demand is too much for them to maintain their usual supply of ingredients and quality control. People have reported to me that Orijen has helped their dogs' coats. Jake's is certainly shining these days.

Take a look at this collar

I've used a "break-away" collar long ago, and although I don't know that this one called KeepSafe Break-Away Collar is exactly the same, it certainly looks like it from these photos. I prefer not to have a collar on a dog when the dog is in a crate or around fencing where a collar can get caught. If your dog is in the right setting to safely wear a collar only for walks, by all means just keep their collar with whatever tags on it on their lead, and clip on before going out your door. If your dog is going to run off lead anywhere, by all means have the collar on complete with tags, and never let your dog/s run off lead without close supervision and in an appropriate setting. A friend of mine had a beautiful Labrador from my own bloodlines. She had let her dog out the back door, into her fenced yard first thing that morning and wondered why she didn't come back to join the family in the kitchen. Going outside, she found this black beauty hanging by her collar from a faucet that was way up in the air with the hose neatly coiled up and hung on the house. It was too late to save this inquisitive puppy. In another instance I know someone who gave her son a puppy for his birthday. They put the puppy in a crate when leaving the house for part of the birthday boy's party only to return to find that the puppy had accidentally choked herself while in the crate, which was supposedly for safekeeping. If only that collar had been removed before putting the puppy in the crate!

Choose a safe collar. Use it only when you really need it on your dog!

We went for a walk, returned to sit in the shade. While I'm out and about, I love to be loved...and my fan club gives me lots of attention!

Sometimes Carol takes pictures of something other than Jake.

But the lense always turns back to catch my smiles:

Photo by Cindy Koehring

For all of you who have been enduring the seemingly endless heat of summer, perhaps even more than a week over 100 plus, the above photo, taken by Cindy Koehring and shared on Jake's blog with her permission is entitled "Winter's Here." Enjoy her lovely Ruby and Black and Tan Cavaliers!

News from Itchmo

News for cats and dogs - Canidae Responds To Acetaminophen Test Results

Here is just a little bit about how some lab testing is actually done. Pay particular attention to the second paragraph where you will read about the difference between a specific test versus a non-specific test. This link will give you a basic idea of "GS-MS" as seen on the ExperTox report:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GC-MS
When you have finished the link above, come back to more here:
http://www.unsolvedmysteries.oregonstate.edu/GCMS_05.shtml

Dog foods and false reports of problems

Here we are with another beautiful Sunday to report. And speaking of reports, there have been false reports of problems with premium brands of dog kibble. As if it were not enough to have actual, legitimate toxic substances in some dog foods and treats for much of this last year we now have to be wary of people reporting problems when there are none, even going so far as to say that there was an independent lab report verifying this in at least one case. This was done on a site that gets a good bit of traffic, even more readers than actual participants. You have to ask yourself why on earth anyone in their right mind would do this! Maybe I just answered my own question while reading that sentence. Only the insane would pull this stunt. So Jake can return to his usual dinners of a combo of home cooking and either Canidae ALS kibble or Orijen Adult kibble. Jake has turned into an enthusiastic chow hound. Luckily he has never experienced any illness from his various commercial foods and has enjoyed a number of premium brands, none of which were ever recalled. Jake-the-Pup also gets Canidae Snap Biscuits and Darford Dog Biscuits.

(Footnote and one correction: On May 4 there was a scan of an ExperTox report on Pet Food Tracker regarding the result of composite testing of Canidae samples. Today, which is now Sept 5 I'm reading that the actual date of the samples are June and not July as has been stated on various forums previously. Canidae did not even run dog food on that July date, so it could not have been even possible. This is just an added footnote to amend info above. It doesn't prove anything, but does not disprove it either. I'm keeping an open mind on this and will await further testing. Canidae is also doing their own testing and being responsive on this.)

Jake will be 2 in November, so this is just his second summer. Both last spring and this he began to shed clumps of dead coat. The clumps look and feel very much like felted wool, and this is not normal shedding. Last year it went on thru the fall and did not clear up until winter. This year because he was for the first time carrying an adult coat, the shedding was even heavier. Good news is that several weeks ago he began to improve. We don't know what made the difference, but Jake is rarely scratching now. Terrific and even better if we ever figure out what the trigger was. Definitely some type of allergy. Seasonal is our best guess.