Categories
Products

Shampoo for spoiled pups

Okay, how funny are these? We’ve all seen TIGI’s Bed Head products – and now they have Pet Head! Of course Brad and I had to buy it for the dogs. They have hilarious product names like “Life’s An Itch, Fears for Tears, and Feeling Flaky.” We tried the “So Spoiled” conditioner – and it actually works great! It really made the pups coat soft – and it smells really good, too. You’ve got to check out their website for some really funny dog photos. Genius idea!

Categories
Friends

Wednesday Friendsday

Nala Tussing is today’s Wednesday Friendsday pup – isn’t she beautiful?? Nala is one lucky pup, not only does she get to live in Napa Valley, but she has the world’s most amazing mommy! I met Karen (aka “KT”) when working for E&J Gallo Winery, we had so much together at the Louis M. Martini tasting room in St. Helena. I am so blessed to have her in my life, she is such a beautiful person inside and out!I miss her dearly, but it’s great to keep in touch now over our love of golden retrievers (and animals in general)!

Nala is quite tech-saavy, she even has her own facebook account! I find myself stalking her page quite frequently, because she has the cutest pictures and hilarious wall posts. Quincey also checks out her pics quite a bit (they have been in a long-distance relationship for over a year now!). Quincey snagged a good one, Nala is one beautiful pup. He loves his girlfriend 🙂

 

 

Categories
Cute photos

Happy Birthday America!

Just wanted to share this adorable photo I found on the internet. Wishing you and your pups a Happy 4th of July! We are the land of the free because of the brave, thank you to all who have served – including my husband Brad! Brad’s company Veteran Design designed this blog, they offer special military discounts and donate a portion of their profits to Snowball Express.

Categories
Training

Fright of Fireworks

Is your dog afraid of fireworks? We found out Quincey was afraid last Fourth of July.. the hard way. Last year was our first Fourth of July with Quincey, he was never afraid of loud noises before so we didn’t even think that he would get spooked from fireworks. We took him to my parents house to celebrate the holiday, and went to the golf course behind their home with the rest of the family to watch the big firework show. Quincey wasn’t leashed because he never leaves Brad side. However, the first pop of the firework caused Quincey to bolt. He disappeared into my parent’s dark neighborhood, and wouldn’t come when we called his name – and we couldn’t find him for 2 HOURS! My parents live in a really dark neighborhood with no street lights, so it was impossible to find him. We were driving up and down the neighborhood, searching in people’s yards with flashlights (causing one neighbor to call the police – no joke!) – I was a wreck!  Finally, Brad got a call on his cell phone from a neighbor who found him by their front door, and called the number on Quincey’s collar. The best phone call we have ever received!!

Bottom line, even if you think your dog is the bravest of them all – LEASH YOUR DOG if you are going to be outside this holiday. You never know how they will react. It is best to keep them indoors if you can, and leave the TV on for them to distract them from the loud noises. Here is a great article on other tips on protecting your dog this Independence Day.

Wishing you and your pup a happy and safe Fourth of July!!

Categories
Cute photos

Snuggle Pup

Brad made it very clear to the pups that they are not allowed up on the bed. However, I’m a little bit more lenient.. and Roxy knows it! Every time Brad’s not around, she hops up into bed with me – it’s pretty darn cute. It has become our little morning ritual: alarm goes off, Brad gets in the shower, and as soon as he turns the corner she hops up on my lap. In the winter it’s SO hard to get up when there’s a warm pup snuggled up against me.

Roxy cuddling with mama..
Categories
Friends

Wednesday Friendsday

Today’s Wednesday Friendsday features Bentley Guffey – the pup of my best friend (since kindergarten!) Jenny and her husband Bryant.  Jenny grew up having Goldens, I can remember when we were little girls getting to pick out her first Golden puppy Barkley at a breeder’s farm. One of many amazing memories with Jenny Benz! Her new pup Bentley was born October 28th, 2010 so he is just a little guy! The Guffeys live in Ithaca, NY so Bentley has beautiful forests, gorges and a lot of snow to play in! He has lots of toys, but his favorite things to chew are the sticks in the woods behind Jenny and Bryant’s home. Bentley eats Science Diet Puppy Formula.

Doesn’t this shot look like it should be in a Golden Calendar for the month of March? I love seeing pics of Bentley up on Facebook, I just wish he was closer so Jenny and I could have puppy play dates! We miss the Guffey fam a lot, but always love catching up over the phone and comparing Golden stories 🙂

Categories
Travel

Cruisin’

Nobody loves a car ride more than Quincey and Roxy! Every time they hear my keys jingle their tails go a-waggin. It’s hard to resist not bringing them along with me when I need to make a quick errand – so they’ve become quite popular with some of my company’s customers, our local distributor, and the drive through pharmacist. Roxy likes to stick her head out the window, so it’s fun to look in my side mirrors when driving and see a puppy dog smiling from ear to ear. It makes all of the dog hair in my Honda worth it 🙂 Unfortunately it’s getting reeeeeaaaaally hot outside so their car rides have been more limited – but it’s always a pleasure to have two beautiful Goldens in my back seat!

Categories
Health

Junk in the trunk

Quincey had a check up this morning at the vet, and we were a little disappointed when he stepped on the scale.. in the last 6 months he has gained 10 pounds! The vet gave Quincey a goal to lose 5 pounds by his next check up in 2 months, so we are going to be starting a little “Biggest Loser – Doggie Edition” at our house. Keep your fingers crossed for an awesome weigh-in this August!

Quincey gets plenty of exercise, but I think we can easily cut back on the treats. The vet suggested replacing his treats with baby carrots and green beans. Not a bad idea, maybe I should start doing the same with my “treats” 🙂 It’s so hard to say no to this face though, whatever Q-man wants.. he gets!!

PS – She was amazed when she heard how well bananas have helped Quincey’s seizures. She told me that the medicine they put epileptic dogs on contains potassium bromide, and that bromide is usually what helps it – but maybe the potassium isn’t getting as much credit as it deserves!

Categories
Health

Bananas & Seizures

About the third or fourth month after we adopted Quincey, he had his first seizure. We did not know at the time he was epileptic, so needless to say when he had his first episode it scared us to death! After doing quite a bit of research, we learned that is is somewhat common with Golden Retrievers. How do you know when your dog is having a seizure? You’ll definitely notice. When Quincey has an episode, his entire body goes stiff (arms and legs straight out), he does not blink his eyes, and his jaw is locked down tight causing him to drool profusely. It is so sad, but the best thing to do is just pet them and keep them calm. When they come out of it they will be confused, so the more calm and peaceful you can keep them the better.

We immediately took Quincey into our vet, and he suggested that before we put him on medication (since it is so hard on their liver), to document and track his seizures. If they happened more than once a month, medication would be needed. For the next several months, Quincey averaged about one seizure every 4 to 6 weeks. Sometimes they would only last a minute, but he had a couple of really bad ones that lasted about 5 minutes. One time he even got really sick after having one, it was so sad.

Brad had a pet photographer suggest bananas to us to help with seizures. She said her dog used to have seizures all of the time and ever since she started feeding it bananas they had stopped. I was a little skeptical, but we decided to give it a try. We have been feeding Quincey 1/2 a banana in his food every morning for the last 5 months, and he hasn’t had a seizure since! Bananas are the miracle fruit for our family. We buy big packs at Costco, peel and freeze them since fresh bananas never last that long. Quincey is a happy boy 🙂

Does your dog get seizures? We really want to see if this works as well for others as it does for us. Here are some great resources on learning more about canine epilepsy:

Canine Epilepsy Resource Center
Canine Epilepsy Network

Categories
Training

Good dogs gone bad

Our pups are angels.. most of the time. Like any dog they have had their slip ups – but today was probably the worst. I came home to a torn up sofa with stuffing all over the living room. This was the first time they have ever touched the furniture. Yes, they have chewed up newspaper and magazines before (photo below), but never this extreme! I’m not sure why now all of a sudden it started, but I think it may have to do with me traveling and being gone so much lately. Plus they have been getting their walks in the evenings instead of the morning because it is too darn hot outside – so their schedule has been thrown off quite a bit. Nonetheless, they (or I should say Roxy since I’m 110% sure she’s the guilty one) were very bad dogs today.

I went to Michaels and bought needles and thread and sewed the hole in our couch back together. It’s not perfect, but it will have to do for a while. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of our poor couch – I’m trying to erase any evidence that it ever happened so I’ll forget about it!

Now, what to do with Roxy?? Brad and I both agreed that it is time she goes back into her kennel when we are not home. Perhaps we gave her freedom of the house just a little bit too early. Wishful thinking on our part..

What is the worst thing your dog has ever chewed up? My friend Matt Goodman has a hilarious site Things My Dog Ate.  The site is so popular that they created a television show about it!