Grateful

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Nope, I absolutely, pawsitively did NOT get into the trash.

Tissue? What tissue?

This girl is a SNUGGLER and I loooove it!! Last night I was on the couch and she nosed the covers so that I would let her get under. (just as she does in bed). As you can see she eventually took over.

Her Auntie L gifted this blanket to her last weekend. It's soooooo incredibly soft and Hazel loves it. Unfortunately, so does D and she tries to steal it from her all of the time.

Do you see a dog that looks like you on this blankie? I didn't think so, back away.

Happy Thanksgiving eve!! We are having a low key holiday and staying home. With the human girl and I being vegetarians, there is a 20 pound turkey in the fridge with hubby and Hazel's name on it. She's not sad about that at all!

You know it's all about the place..

I have touched on the fact that we had some challenges with Hazel initially in regards to appropriate inside behavior. One of our issues was that at times, she would get overly stimulated and had the doggie crazies x 1,000. It was beyond the typical "doggy zoomies" and was actually dangerous behavior around my daughter. It became dangerous instead of "fun" because she was completely out of control and didn't care what was in her pathway. She could potentially hurt herself by running into tables (with sharp corners), or one of us by taking us out! It's completely fine and normal to be crazy silly, but this was too much. Hazel needed an "off" switch. I needed to train her to respond in a way that unwanted behavior stopped immediately, no matter how amped up she was. I decided to teach "place"..a very common command, nothing earth shattering, but it literally changed our lives!

It was apparent that Hazel had endured some harsh training methods in the past, because as soon as I started working with her, she shut down. Her body language was fearful and she pancaked to the ground. It broke my heart! This is when I decided to introduce the clicker to her. Some dogs can be afraid of the loud noise a clicker makes, so to introduce it, I put the clicker behind my back so muffle the sound a little, and then clicked. I treated her immediately so that she would associate the sound of the clicker with something positive. After some success with that, training began. This video was the 3rd time I had her "place". She couldn't please me fast enough! I loved it! Clicker training made her come to life..her eyes danced and she was eager to learn. This is also helpful if you have an enthusiastic greeter with people coming to the door. :)

Friday

Monday through Friday we pretty much have the same schedule. If I haven't woken up on my own, the song "Happy" fills the air in the early dawn hours. This is what a 3:45a.m. wake up call looks like..


But I don't wanna

Waking up at the hour may seem crazy to some, but it's the sacrifice I make to have the "ideal" working hours that enables me to put in a full day's work, and get off in time to pick the human daughter up from school. I usually don't have issue with it, but now that the mornings are cooler, it's becoming more and more difficult! It's even harder when Hazel is typically snuggled up close and we're all cozy warm. 

Here's an idea mom, you go run, and I 'll just steal your pillow.

I was a runner before we adopted Hazel, but I only ran 3-4 days a week and was able to cross train INSIDE on my non-running days. Hazel has changed all of that. Her exercise needs take priority, so we are now out 7 days a week. I don't know what I would do if I lived in harsh temperatures! Because I do leave for work by 5:30, we are typically only out for about 45 minutes, but it's enough for her to get her crazies out, check the pee mail, and sniff for bunnies all along the way. Now that's it's cooler out in the afternoon, we can get a 2nd hike or walk in for the day and we're not as rushed.

Yeah, you can go now.

Yes, no sooner had I removed my running shoes and got a drink of water did she crawl back in bed and get under the covers. She would definitely not make it back East. ;)

Wordless Wednesday

A pittie and her girl enjoying story time..

Weekend stuff

Good morning doggy dogs and peeps! Mama left for work so I thought I would do some writin' today. I wanted to tell you about my weekend. First, mama took me to her mountain Saturday morning..she didn't take me last week so I was feeling neglected. Geesh. We had fun running on the trails and I liked the wind whipping through my ears. Mama said they are so cute and floppy. I wish she would let me off that dang leash though. I smell so many bunnies and birds, and I am not allowed to chase them! What the heck????

There's birds in them bushes

Goshhhh....isn't anything sacred around here? A pup cannot take a snooze without a camera in my face?? Well, my lips are quite kissable so I guess I can understand.

Saturday night my girl, mama, and me all dragged a bed mattress in the middle of the living room floor so that we could have a slumber party. We watched a movie and ate snacks in bed, (even me!)

I also got to see one of my rescuers this weekend. We went to a big doggie event where there were lots of people and other pups. Oh my sniffer was there alot to smell! I was being sooooooo good on a leash..My mama was proud of me, I could tell. But then, I kind of lost my stuff when I saw Ms C. I shook my butt so hard I thought my tail would fly off. I guess I lost my manners a little but mama understood. I also got to see some miniature dogs that mom called "puppies". I had never seen them before. I was very good with them and I could tell they thought I was cool. Their dad said he hoped they growed up to be like me some day. Yep, I'm cool like that. I can tell mama was real happy with me this weekend. I did something a little new called "listening". It made her realllllllly happy so maybe, just maybe I'll do it some more. Aaaand, being the great doggie dog that I am, I didn't even steal any food of their plates! All.weekend. Yep, Imagooddawg.

Food!

When Hazel first came to me I was told she had a sensitive stomach and also knowing that she was prone to allergies/itchy skin, I was paranoid about what to feed her. During her "foster period" I had her on Canidae limited ingredient salmon. It had 8 ingredients in it and she did well on it. I mixed this with some canned food, (usually Taste of the Wild), or some Honest Kitchen dehydrated food. I am an ingredient Nazi, let it be known. In my own life, I try to do my best to eat whole foods (though would be lying if I did not admit I am a donut/pizza junky once a week), and decided I wanted to do the same for Hazel. I have struggled with this decision in the past with my other pup, Haley. I wanted to home cook for her and did for awhile until I had an ethical battle within due to me being a vegetarian and not wanting to support the meat market. I found myself buying more meat than I ever had before, my "rule" in our household was if hubby wanted meat, he had to buy and prepare it himself..I wanted no part of it. I homecooked for Haley for only a short while before I could not take it anymore. I stopped with the meat, and wait for it...tried to make her a vegetarian as well. Doh. Lesson learned. I know some dogs are on a veggie diet for one reason or another, but it wasn't for my girl. Nope..not one bit. I went back to feeding the highest quality kibble and canned food. I lost my girl to cancer, and I often wonder if I could have prevented it with a wholesome diet. I truly believe that wholesome food is nature's medicine and I didn't want to have to wonder about this again, so I have taken the plunge.I have to be honest, the old feelings cropped up again. The only way I would feel a little "ok" with buying meat is if I bought it from a local source where the animals were treated humanely, but I have yet to find a source that isn't $8 a pound. I wish money were no object, but it is. While I have found few companies who sell raw dog food pre-made, or the meat/organs already ground, so far, it's been most cost effective to just buy my meat at Sam's Club. (Equivalent to a Costco). Hazel was on a fish diet, so I was concerned about her having a reaction to different proteins. My first batch of food was made with turkey as the primary source, and next, I tried chicken. While some who cook for their dogs like to make big batches as once and freeze, I prefer to make enough for just a few days. I used to cook the ginourmous batches at one time, but I found that much more labor intensive. I don't want to spend hours in the kitchen. Instead, I currently pop a few chicken thighs in the oven with diced sweet potato and let them cook together. When that's close to being done, I saute some mixed greens in coconut oil. Once everything is cooked, I put it in my Blendtec which is SO much easier than dragging out my food processor. (Another reason why I prefer small batches).

I add a little water to help blend well

The finished product..I know, it doesn't look pretty!

Hazel really loves her meals and we're still experimenting. I was really confused as to what amount to feed her. I started out feeding the same amount I feed kibble/canned food. 3 full cups/day, divided into two meals. This *seemed* ok initially, but then she acted like she was starving to death, so I have upped it a little. Our last batch that she just finished up this morning was chicken, quinoa, sweet potato, kale, spinach, and chard. She gets raw bones only once a week so to make sure she gets enough calcium, I grind up cooked egg shells and mix them with the food as well. Tonight I am going to hard boil some eggs, and then throw them in the blender shells and all to mix with the meat source. It has been fun experimenting, and so far, she has had no ill reactions. When I researched home cooked diets, many articles were promoting "must have" supplements to mix in the meals, but for now, my thinking is that she will get what she needs from food sources, not more artifical ingredients. I hope I am not naive in my thinking, however a good friend who has been home cooking for over a decade, shares my view and she has had great success. Her dogs are living incredibly long, heatlhy lives! The only supplement that Hazel currently gets is a fish oil.

I thought home cooking would be much more expensive, but compared to high quality kibble which can range from $45-60 a bag, in addition to canned food with is $2-3 a can, this also makes economical sense as well. The only thing I really need to buy is the meat, and eveything else is always on hand. I hope this continues to work for our family. This is a new blog and I know I have very few readers, but would be interested to hear what diets have worked for your dogs. I am a complete dog food nerd. I don't know why I have this obsession, but I am always walking down the aisles in our pet food stores and reading ingredient labels. Please tell me I'm not alone! ;)

Sunset trail run

Last night we had the rare opportunity to run off leash and it was amazing!! This is a rarity because we have a very strict leash law here, not to mention that it's also safer for everyone for obvious reasons to have dogs leashed. We were able to run on private land with no cars, no people or dogs- nothing! Hazel loved sniffing from bush to bush, catching the scent of a bunny and then running full force, and just being a dog as she should be. She had a cute smile all night! Dogs should be able to have this opportunity and it's sad that they don't have them more often.

Isn't she stunning????

I just love this girl!

I am recovering from my injuries so we should be able to enjoy a fantastic hike or two this weekend. Happy Friday!!!!!!

Times are changin'

People often ask me why I chose to adopt a pit bull type dog, (and by people, I mean mostly family members and acquaintances.) My inner circle, many of whom are also heavily involved in rescue, get it. We are truly so tired of seeing this breed vilified, and even more tired of the damaging stereo types that can't be more untrue. I made the conscious choice to seek out a pittie when looking to add to our family. I wanted to be an ambassador to the breed and provide an amazing home. I live in a county with the 2nd highest "kill rate" in the nation, second only to California. Pit bulls rank the highest to be euthanized, followed in 2nd place by Chihuahuas who are really over bred here. There are a few rescues who focus on the bully breeds and do an amazing job. But the truth of the matter is, these dogs, no matter how great they are, still take a long time to get adopted. Families are not lining up to adopt a pit bull.

Hazel waited nearly a full year before she came to us. I think we all can agree that this is far too long for a dog to wait. I thought that if I did my small part in showing what amazing companions these dogs can be, maybe, just maybe, I may change a few minds about the breed. I hear stories from other pit parents about backlash they receive from others and some really negative experiences. I braced myself for the same thing and hoped that I could handle it. Knock on wood, I have not had a single "bad" experience. I am out with Hazel 7 days a week, often 2 times a day running in our neighborhood, hiking our mountain trails, walking through our parks, shopping in pet stores, and you know what? I have not heard a single negative comment. In fact, I have had nothing but positivity! The most recent being last week. I was at a very busy park where there are many fields being utilized for various sport practices/games. Hazel and I had arrived much earlier and had met up with a few dogs that she has played with before. After their play session we took a little walk before leaving. People were everywhere, and lots of families with kids. I looked up to see a family with two small children approaching us. I swear, this little boy, who must have been barely three years old, asked me in his little voice, "is that a pit bewl?" I smiled and said yes, and while looking at dad for permission, asked if he would like to pet her. I put Hazel in a sit and the little boy came over to say hi. He was followed by his 5 yr old sister who praised Hazel up and down. I didn't have parents tearing their children away from the vicious "pit bull". It was awesome. We continued on only to hear from another mom, "hey! nice pit! she's beautiful!" It made my heart sing. This is what I was hoping for. When I have my 6 year old daughter with me, it gives even more credibility. It "softens" our appearance to other parents, and it's no accident on my part, we get out a lot. I want people to see the loving relationship between my daughter and Hazel, and look at the breed as a family dog..as they should be.

Wordless Wednesday

Waiting for something fun to happen

Photo bomb!

I've fallen and I can't get up!

This weekend started full of promise. I had Friday off and was so excited. Hazel and I still got out uber early, ("sleeping in" to us is 4:30am). We were out on a fun run/walk adventure..Hazel was "extra sniffy" and because I wasn't short on time, I let her sniff her puppy heart out.The full moon was so beautiful and lit our way. I stopped to take a picture that shockingly enough, did not turn out well on the old I-phone 4S dinosaur. It was just one of those mornings that you are so darn grateful for everything around you, and that feeling was magnified by the "warm fuzzies" I had sharing this with my best furry girl. Until.....all went to hell in a handbasket.

Let me preface this by saying that what happened next was MY fault and my own damn stupidity. I am embarrassed to even tell the story, but it pretty much tainted the rest of the weekend. Hazel and I were less than a mile from home when we saw a man an his very reactive dog approaching across the street. Hazel started to pull but I put her in a sit/"wait" as I do in similar situations, and she is always a rock star as the dog passes. Well, today my girl caught me off guard. She was "in postion" as requested, and I let my guard down. I was relaxed..too relaxed, and just as the dog was nearly past us, it reared up on it's hind legs and barked. This was too much for my girl to take, so she suddenly pulled with such a force that sent me literally up in the air off the curb I was on, into a semi somersault, landing on my shouler/hand/arm onto the asphalt. It. hurt. Now here is where I get proud of my girl all over again. She was like, "oh crap mama,I didn't meant to do that" and came right back to me as the person and his dog kept going. (Even though this was totally my fault for not controlling Hazel, like totally, I know!) I was also bleeding profusely and in so much pain I was crying. I thought I had broken my hand because I couldn't move it and it hurt like a mutha.

Regardless, this fine gentleman kept on walking, not even asking if I was ok. Now granted, he had no idea what Hazel's temperpent was like, and he could have been more concerned just getting his own dog under control, but he could have at least yelled back in my direction just to see! Argh! Moving on, with blood dripping down my body, I gathered the strength to try and make it home. I took a short cut down a dirt canal path, still crying out loud. I can only imagine what I must have looked like. It didn't take long before I started to feel faint and knew I was going to pass out. Grrreat. My hands were too mangled to use my phone, so I had Siri call the hubby. I just kept yelling so that he could hear me, "I'm hurt! I'm going to pass out! I'm on the canal just in case I don't make it home, come find me". Oy. My poor husband..I can't imagine what he must have been thinking. I made it to our neighborhood when I was met by him squeeling around the corner. He loaded us up and took us home. I will spare you the rest of the details, other than my hand was NOT broken, which I was ever so thankful for. Just swollen. I may be missing a few layers of skin on both hands, shoulder is jankie, and I have nice road burns on my shoulder, forearm, and hip. It made the rest of the weekend a little lower key. I was really sore and didn't feel like going on our long hike. :( We still got out for walks, but no fun adventures. Hence this pathetic look...

"I have NO idea who was snootin' around in the garden. none."

Two sleepy girls during catching the DVR of #pitbullsandparolees This time Hazel couldn't help but to fall asleep on her cushy girl pillow.

Sundays are raw bone days for Hazel. It completely grosses me out, but she loves them. I got some huge knuckle bones from the Farmer's market. She enjoyed her bone while the fam enjoyed popcorn and a movie.

Hazel was very sweet towards me all weekend. She was obsessed with my bandages and kept sniffing my "owies" constantly. She curled on next to and on top of me all weekend. I love this girl. (Despite the fact that she stole half of my toast right under my nose..and she was NOT one bit sorry.;) )

My 'doption story, as told by meez, Hazel

So, my new “mom” has been saying lots of stuff about me lately, so I thought it was time that I give you my pit of view of how I came to be ‘dopted.. A little over a year ago I found myself inside a scary place that I have heard peoples refer to as “the pound”. I didn’t know what was happening or what I did to get there. All I knew was that I was all alone inside a cage on a hard, cold concrete floor, with no human contact. People would walk by my cage and look inside, but just as quickly as they approached, they left. One time, a little boy who smelled like cookies came up to my cage. Just as I was about to give him a lick, his mom pulled him away and said in a mean voice, “that is a pit bull-stay away!!!”. I looked around to see what they were so afraid of, cuz geez, maybe I should be scared, but nothing was behind me. I heard that word “pit bull” many times after that and still don’t know what it means. I only saw dogs around me.

After a few weeks of being inside what I came to know as doggy jail, I started to feel sick. I knew what that meant for me. I saw the dog next door to me get taken into what others know as “the room”..the place where doggies go in, but they don’t come out, and I’m not talking about being ‘dopted. One day, a lady with a kind face stopped by my cage. She talked to me and called me “pretty girl”. Pretty?? Me??? She took a picture of me and touched my face the best she could in between the bars. I gave her some kisses but then like all the others, she walked away. I walked to the back of my cage and tried to get comfortable, but it was no use. The concrete was so hard and cold. Then I heard a voice. A kind voice. “hey pretty girl, do you want to get out of here?” I wagged my tail with all my might hoping she would know that I meant “YES!!!!!”. She leashed me up and I pulled her down the hall before she could change her mind. Before I knew it, I saw the sky, I smelled fresh air, and felt the earth beneath my paws. FREEDOM!! After a car ride, I was taken to a girl who I was told was responsible for me being what they call, “rescued”. She saw a picture of me on something called the “e-list”, and asked the lady who took the picture of me to get me outta that place. I came to love this lady and her dogs that lived with her. For the first time, I had a nice warm bed, yummy food, and I could even sleep on the couch!I loved her very much but she explained that this was not my “furever” home. I was her “foster dog”. Nice volunteers would take me hiking and to ‘doption events to meet families. I saw some of my doggy friends find new homes and they were so happy. I was happy for them and I knew my day would come. Some day. Until then, I had a nice place to stay.

Then, the day came…my foster mom told me that I was going to a new home. I would stay with them to make sure it was a “good match”, and then I would be adopted! I was very happy! I had been waiting for many months for a new home, and my time had come! I moved into my new home and everything was great. I liked my new doggy brother and I had a new bed. My new people said they would be my mom and dad. A mom and dad?? Wow, was I lucky!! After I had been in my new home for awhile, I noticed my toys being packed up and my special food was being carried out of the house. “Why would they take my stuff?” I wondered. Well, I found out why. My stuff wasn’t staying because I was not staying. My “new home” was not my furever home after all. I don’t know what I did to make them change my mind. It didn’t matter though, once again, I was in a car heading to someplace new.

The next several weeks are a blur..filled with vet appointments, spending time with new volunteers, and trying to figure out where I belonged in this big world. One day, my foster mommy took me on a walk all by myself. This wasn’t normal,..my foster siblings were left at home. I could tell something was different but I didn’t know what. We walked in the grasses and there I saw a little girl with long hairs, and her mama. They were both smiling at me and spoke softly. I wagged my tail very hard and gave the little girl kisses. This time, the mama didn’t pull her child away from me…she seemed happy that I was giving kisses, so I gave more, and then more, and even more!! The mama’s eyes started leaking and she came over to pet me as well. I got lots of lovins for awhile while she talked to my foster mama. Then, just like that, the leaky eyed woman and her girl started walking away from me..just like everyone else. They kept looking back at me and the little girl looked sad. I tried to pull to get inside their car but it was no use. They drove away. Oh well, off I went back inside to my foster home. Maybe I was just meant to be a foster dog forever.

One week later, that leaky eyed lady came back to my house. This time, she came inside and something weird happened. She started taking MY stuff out of my house! “Hey, what are you doing with my crate?!” I wanted to shout..but then, something happened. She came back. Not only did she come back, she leashed me up and took me to her car. This time, I got to jump inside!! I didn’t know where we were going, and I didn’t care..meez loves car rides! Soon we were at a new house. She took me inside, and there in front of me was the little girl who loved my kisses! I gave her lots of kisses again and she made a high pitched squeaky noise. Someone needs to tell her that it hurts doggy ears! They took me outside and there was a big grassy area that I immediately started running free in. I pounced on balls as they laughed and laughed. They kept saying how “precious” I was, and how “perfect” I was. All I could do was smile. This felt good. I wondered if this was what they called “a family”. I had a mom, a dad, and a human sister. I had never had one of those before. I spent lots of time with this family, and we had ups and downs. I never spent much time with those little humans, so excuse me, but I didn’t know it wasn’t cool to pounce on them, or take their arms in my mouth. That’s how I played with my doggy friends, geez, what’s the big deal??! Well, I could tell it was kind of a big deal. One day, I made the little one cry really hard, and for the first time, I saw her being afraid of me. This confused me. I could tell the mama and dad were concerned and not happy with me. They wondered how they could keep the little human safe and me happy at the same time. I had seen that look before..I knew they would probably start taking my stuff out of the house again. I was used to it. Dang. I was liking the feeling of having a family. The mama came over to me and looked into my eyes. She was saying words that I didn’t understand until she said one I DID understand. They were what’s called “training words”. At first I got scared but then she gave me something delicious and then I heard the word again. This made me happy,and me being happy made the mama happy. She used a clicky thingy and every time I heard that click, I got something deeelicous to eat. I couldn’t please her fast enough! This is all she wanted me to do?? Why didn’t she say so?! Then my mama came to me again…she looked deep into my eyes and in front of her girl and the daddy, she said, “we are not giving up on you. We will make this work. We all have to work hard, but we will do whatever it takes. Hazel, you are home and we are your family. And family is forever.” Something changed almost overnight on my insides. I felt different. I felt safe. For the first time in forever, I knew my stuff was here to stay.

The thing is, my mama told me that I probably had more “luggage” that is yet to be unpacked. I don’t know what she’s talking about, because I have everything I need here. Whatever it is, she said she would help me unpack it, no matter how much I brought with me. Well, that’s enough talkins for me today, but I’ll be back! For now, there is a big comfy couch with lots of pillows calling my name. Peace out doggy dog friends! Love, Hazel

Weekend Fun

We had a full weekend of dog activities! We kicked if off with a home visit with RESCUE dog Ava who is currently searching for her furever home. She is the only dog that can put up with Hazel's crazy play style, and then some. She has spent a lot of time with us, and the girls are finally starting to bring it down just a notch. Before I had to give them "time outs" because their play was a little too rough and intense for my liking..

Tug of War and nice chasing games are more up my alley ;)

D had to be one of the dogs

See the little mark on D's cheek below her eye? Compliments of Hazel...oy. That one hurt a lot. This is an ongoing issue for us and a struggle. D was laying on the couch and Hazel just slammed her with her head. I know she didn't mean to hurt her, but she HAS to learn she cannot do this! She's made great strides and we have made leaps and bounds with her inside behavior but there is still alot of work to be done.

Peaceful puppy sleep post wrestling match. She's such a love!

One of the highlights was attending our annual RESCUE adopter's picnic. This is my favorite event of the year...a time to see so many of our dogs who were once on death row, now happy and beloved family members! :) Along with a lot of great food, (including people/dog friendly cake that we could share with our fur kids), we had some fun contests. Hazel and I participated in the "wet t shirt" contest. (She was the only one with the t-shirt, thank you very much). Two dogs and their parents line up at the starting line, then race to a kiddy pool filled with wet t-shirts, put one on our dog, then race back to the finish line. Hazel was a definite handful at the event. She wore her new "Freedom Harness" that is supposed to help with pulling, but it was no match for being surrounded by over 80 people and their dogs. She was very good meeting every dog of all size and incredibly polite, so I was very proud of her for that. She doesn't flinch even when other dogs are rude and barky. The one issue that we do have is her being an "over enthusiastic" greeter with people. Before I knew it, and even though I had her on a short leash, she jumped up and smacked one of our volunteers in the face with a "kiss". I felt terrible and knew she hurt her just like she does my D. :( From then on she was in a sit position any time she met someone new, and I held the leash in a manner to prevent her from being able to jump. More work to do! Sunday was a gorgeous hike which was topped of with a scrambled egg/veggie breakfast and a raw bone. Hazel likes our Sunday tradition. ;)