You say its December?

It was yet another sunny, warm day here in Sandy Eggo. You'd think I'd get tired of it, huh? You think wrong.

Over the last few weeks its been pretty chilly. While the days have been kinda warm (mid to high 60's), the nights are kinda cool (low 40's). It felt nice and wintery according to Mom and we even had a fire in the the fireplace a few nights! Mmmmm...I've decided I like fires. They sure feel good!

The on Saturday, we had a heatwave. Ok, I guess you can't really call it a 'wave' since its only suppose to last for a day, but either way, I'll take it!

Mom took advantage of the nice weather to head out to another Great Dane Meetup. Can you say FUN?!?

All my favorite GD's were there, including my 2 girlfriends Cloey and Maggie. These 2, along with their sidekick Dexter (an Italian Greyhound) are regulars at my normal doggie park, so I see them a lot and we have a really good time together!

Cloey

Maggie (lookin quite cute!)

Dexter

Bentley also came out, although we didn't play together so much today. He came without his sister Cleo cuz his Mom was going to lunch with the rest of the peoples and Cleo is too naughty to take to a place where there are foodables. The last time she went to lunch with us, she stole part of her Mom's sandwich, and tried to steal sumthin else from a table who wasn't even part of our group! It was kinda embarassing for Cleo's Mom so Cleo has been banned from the lunch outings.

Bentley

Tuttle

I got to play with other doggies besides my Great Dane friends too. Me and a Boxer played keep away for quite a while. It was FUN!

Bentley and I played for a bit.

Harlow also came out to play today. I haven't seen her in a little while cuz she recently got spayeded and pexied. I forgot how pretty she is! And, boy...does she have a LONG tongue!

Harlow

This was a new park that we hadn't been to before, so there were lots of new smells to investigate.

Dexter, the Italian Greyhound, is so much fun! He's not like your typical little doggie...since he grew up with Great Danes, I think he believes he is one! (a mantle of course!)

He really likes Ari and Titan so he spent a lot of time playin with them.

Tuttle and I played lots. He has been to several of the meetups, but this was the first time we had such a good time together!

Right before we left, this cute little girl got to the park. She was a 5 month old bloodhound. Just check out those ears! She sure is gonna be a heartbreaker when she gets older!

Mom keeps tellin me not to take for granted the pawesome weather we have in Sandy Eggo. I'm not quite sure what she means by that, but I sure do plan to take advantage of it every little bit I can!

Gettin the hang of it

Mom says if you're squeamish you may want to skip this post. Lots of raw meat pictures...some kinda bloody (just the way I like em!)

Its been 9 days since Mom started me on the raw diet and both of us are really startin to get the hang of it. Mom found a great price for whole chickens, so she has been buying a bunch and stockin up.

Here's what about a weeks worth of food looks like...pre-processing.

yummy chicken.

At first, Mom was removing the skin so my tummy couldnt get too freaked out by the new food I was eating. The skin is pretty fatty you see, and can sometimes cause digestive issues (aka, runny poops!) in doggies with sensitive tummies.

Once I was eating the skinless chickens for a few days, Mom decided to just leave the skins on and see how I did. I am happy to report I have had no problems!! Other than losing a couple pounds from not eating enough in the first few days, I have made a smooth transition over to a completely raw diet.

Now, lucky me....here's what I get to eat in a day. Half a chicken!! Mom gives me one half in the morning and one half for dinner. It sure is yummy! As soon as she opens the fridge now, I am headed for my pen, ready to eat.

Mom's gettin the hang of things too. Cuttin up and freezing the chicken has gotten to be a much more efficient job. Takes hardly any time and right now there's about 2 more weeks worth of food stored in the freezer. She's even freezin me the yummy innerds from the birds! She says those are special treats that I'll get in a few more days. Guess I'll have to wait to see how I like em!

46 week measurements

46 weeks, 120 lbs, 34.25" tall

Mom's gotten kinda lazy with this...I think cuz I haven't really growed all that much more in the last few weeks. Watch for a few more posts on my height & weight, cuz once I turn a year she said she's gonna stop keepin track. Instead she might go to once every 3 months or so...just not every week.

Sophie KitTON

Mom is kinda sad these days...Sophie KitTON is sick, and is not going to get better.

You see, Sophie KitTON has lymphoma. She was diagnosed over 3 years ago and Mom has been treating her with lots of medicines. She is such a good kitty! Every morning and every night she takes her pills without a complaint.

Earlier this month, Sophie had to go to the special list for her regular 8 week checkup. It was there that Mom found out some bad news. The betterinarian says there's a mass on Sophie liver. She is not sure if the lymphoma has spread, or if it is a different type of liver cancer, but either way its not good news.

Mom had to make the hard decision. The betterinarian wanted to do something called an uhltra-sound and biop-sea to find out exactly what is wrong with Sophie KitTON.

Mom said no. Sophie KitTON has had enough.

That was a very hard decision...but Sophie KitTON turned 17 in August and has had a VERY full life. 3+ years of living with lymphoma and keeping it at bay. Mom say's that's 3+ years longer than she thought Sophie KitTON would be around. Its really not fair to Sophie to put her thru any more. Sophie told me she is tired of having to go to the betterinarian every 8 weeks for blood work. She doesnt mind the pills, but she doesn't want more surgeries. And she sure as heck doesnt want to have to take IV drugs to fight the liver lymphoma, if that is what it is.

So, now we are waiting. The betterinarian told Mom it could be 6 weeks...or it could be 9 months. It all just depends on what it is.

But now...after only 2 weeks, Sophie KitTON isnt eating very well. It prolly doesnt help that I keep stealin her foodables...but they do taste oh so yummy. She also has kind of a fat belly, which is strange since she isnt eating much. Mom said she prolly has fluid in her abdomen, but without more tests its hard to know.

Now its just about quality of life for Sophie. She is gettin all kinds of attention, and Mom won't even let me harass her anymore. Life is definitely not fair, but I guess its all about Sophie right now. I just keep leanin against Mom so she knows she is making the right decision, as hard as it is. It doesn't always stop Mom's eyes from leaking though. 17 years isn't long enough.

She's a lucky KitTON...over 17 years with Mom. I can only hope to grow that old one day!

breakin the law, I'm breakin the law...

My feet are on the floor...

my butt is on the (cat) bed.

so technically, that means I'm not on the furniture, right?

Paw It Forward!

I got mail!!

Dis is the first package EVER that has come special to me. At first, when I saw that the UPS guy had been here, I was a little wary.

That guy can be bad news.

I think it has sumthin to do with his brown shirt, brown shorts and brown shoes. I usually have to chase him away with a bark and a grrrr.

Mom and I investigated by the back door to see what he had left, and whaddya know! The package was for ME!!

It came all the way from my fellow (and fella) doggie bloggers in Oregon! I'm not so sure zactly where dat is, but Mom says its kinda far from here. Its part of a game called Paw It Forward. They got some super fun stuff from Darwin who got super fun stuff from Moose (and so on and so on!), and then I was one of the lucky guys to now get super fun stuff from Bess and Heffner! This bloggin community sure is fun!

I could smell the fun inside. Just waitin to be let out.

Can I open it Mom? Can I?
I was right. Dis box was FULL of fun!

It definitely called for some more investigating.
I used my sniffer a bit to detect the level of funness.

There was all kinds a fun stuff inside. A squeaky ball with legs, a crinkly doggie, some fun bubbles Mom said we could play with at dog park tomorrow, and a supersized squeaky tennis ball! I wonder how they knew I loved sqeaky stuff so much?

I got down to business right away, testin each of the toyz out. First the crinkly doggie.

Next was the red squeaky toy with legs. Yeppers...that's a mighty fine squeaker in there!

Mom even got a video of me playin with the squeaky red toy. Its not annoying or anything!

Then, I realized why I loved the yellow crinkly dog so much! Its just like one of my first toys that I had when I was just a young pup!! I immediately removed the plasticy bottle from inside..flippy floppy toys are much better than crinkly crunchy ones. BOL.

So...I have to send many "Thanks!" to Bess & Heffner for their thoughtful toys. And now Mom says its my turn to Paw It Forward! So, the first 3 people who send me a comment that they want to participate will be part of the fun! Please have your human leave their email address in the blog comment and Mom will contact them to get your snail mail address. I might not be able to pick out gifts soon enough for Christmas, but they'll be a lot of fun for the new year!

You want me to eat WHAT?

Last week, Mom spent a bunch of time putting raw chickeny stuff in plastic bags. Little did I know what her plans for it were.

Apparently, this is what I am suppose to eat from now on. Mom plopped a big ole meaty chicken breast in my bowl, and told me to eat. WHAT? Where's my kibble?

Don't get me wrong...I LOVE my raw bones, but aren't those just for special ocassions?

Seriously...I really am not sure what I am suppose to do with this piece of meat. Its not as crunchy as the bones I love, and its a little slimy.

Maybe if I take it out of the bowl it wil be easier to eat?


Hmmm...not so much.

Murphy's mom here. Yes, I have finally taken the plunge and switched Murphy over to a Raw Meaty Bone diet. He finished off the last of his kibble last night, so this morning was the first of many raw meals to come. I have done a LOT of reading on this, but I have to say I am still pretty nervous about it. I'm not crazy about him eating raw meat in the house, especially since he doesnt seem to want to keep it in his bowl when he eats. Plus, he's a growing Great Dane! He needs the correct nutrition to grow properly. Even though all my research tells me otherwise, I worry that he wont be getting the right amounts of vitamins and minerals with this diet.

I am starting him off on chicken. Whole breasts with the bone, and quarters. He'll stay on that for about 2 weeks, and then I'll start adding in different types of meats. Muscle meats, organs and bones. Beef, fish, lamb. Anything I can find that is cheap.

I decided to make this switch for many reasons. 1st, he has never done great on kibble. I have been buying him premium kibble since he was a pup, and he has always had stomach issues and loose stools. Plus, they are the smelliest poops I have ever encountered!! This last kibble he was on seems to be the best of them for him, but he still has issues. 2nd, he is super picky. He'll love the kibble for about a month...and then not want to eat it. Lastly, from all the research I've done, a raw meaty bone diet is the healthiest and most natural way of feeding dogs. They are carnivores. They are born to eat meat. They need to tear, and rip their food. Its good for their teeth, and for their overall health. Now I just need to convince Murphy of that!

He ate about 1/2 of the chicken breast/back this morning. He kept looking at me for reassurance. I kept telling him to eat. At one point he really started gnawing on the meat and I thought he finally got the concept...but I think the texture is weirding him out a bit. Its not crunchy like his kibble, or like his raw bones. After about 30 minutes of sniffing, licking and only a small amount of eating, I took the chicken away from him. I'll try again tonight, he should be good and hungry by then!