Rottweilers

Freya’s weigh-in (25 of 30/91 of 274)

April 25, 2009 by kathi

As promised, today we stopped at the vet after obedience class for a weigh-in for Freya. I was quite relieved to learn that she had in fact lost weight during the six weeks since her annual check-up. Not quite so happy that it was just two pounds when she should have lost somewhere between 4-6 pounds, but at least she didn’t gain weight!

Seriously, this just underscores what I mentioned in Thursday’s post. In addition to switching to the low-fat formulation of her current food and monitoring calorie count of her regular meals, I really need to also be more careful about monitoring her treats.

I found quite a bit of helpful information at the Assocation for Pet Obesity Prevention website, including a list of calorie counts for many popular pet treats. Unfortunately, calorie counts for some of Freya’s favorite Wellness treats aren’t included, nor are they given on the Wellness website. I’ll try emailing them for the information, though.

I haven’t done well at increasing exercise, so that will be a greater priority as well. Masha left a good training suggestion in the last post’s comments: using a toy instead of treats as a motivator. I’m going to test it out in our next training session. I’ve had a few dogs who just got way too amped up with a toy as a reward, but it’s definitely worth a try.

Counting canine calories (23 of 30/89 of 274)

April 23, 2009 by kathi

Dr. Patty Khuly at Dolittler had a great post today about calorie counting for fat dogs. The following excerpt is something that really hit home, related to the lovely Freya and the handsome Axel:

The first sticking point? It always comes down to measuring everything the dog eats and does. The kids might have fed X. I didn’t know the treats counted. (Seriously?) My mother-in-law sneaks her food under the table.

While we of course know that treats count, we haven’t been monitoring the types and amounts of treats, as well as food used in training sessions, as closely as we should. I am sure that as I start keeping track, I will be surprised and somewhat dismayed, much as I was when I’ve kept a food diary for myself and realized how much mindless snacking happens during a typical workday.

As you may recall, Freya has some weight to lose and Axel has some weight to gain.

In the month since he’s been home, Axel’s put on several pounds. Once we got a good handle on the amount of energy he expends when spending part of the day in a kennel run and part as a house dog, as compared to being a full-time house dog, it was pretty easy to recalculate the amount of food he needs when living with his handler, and the smaller amount of food he needs when living at home with us.

I must admit that I have not been as diligent as I should have been about getting enough additional exercise for Freya (and myself). I just found a nearby source for the low fat formulation of California Natural Lamb and Rice, which is one of the only foods that Freya can eat due to her mild IBS. I was quite relieved to find that she likes it, and that she can eat it with no tummy troubles, so that will be a help in reducing her calories and still letting her eat enough to feel full.

I mentioned in my earlier post that Freya’s vet calculated her calorie requirements. At the time I did not ask for the details (math is not my strong point and I do trust our vets), but I can now double-check using the information in today’s Dolittler post:

Base calories/day (resting energy requirement) = 30 x (your dog’s weight in kg) + 70
* Weight loss needed, neutered/spayed = 1 x base calories
* Weight loss needed, intact = 1.1x base calories

Freya: [(30 x 42 kg) + 70] x 1 = 1330 calories
California Natural Lamb and Rice = 430 calories per cup
1330 / 430 = 3.09 cups per day (if no treats or extras were fed)

She gets 2 to 2.5 cups per day, plus treats, so that should be fine, which agrees with our vet’s calculations. That is, unless the treats I’m using turn out to be more caloric than I thought. I’ll need to track down the information on that, which was another suggestion from the Dolittler post. It is very true that caloric information for treats is not always on the package, but often easy enough to find on the manufacturer’s websites, so it is time for me to do some research and maybe switch some treat choices. I often use “people food” for training treats, usually hot dogs or frozen meatballs, so it will be easy enough to switch to the low fat versions of those items as well.

I’ll stop at the vet on the way home from training on Saturday and get a current weight for Freya, and see how we are doing so far.

(PS: This is also the Day 7 assignment for 31DBBB. Yes, I’m a bit behind, but still working through this excellent series!)

Blogs and dogs (19 of 30/85 of 274)

April 19, 2009 by kathi

As predicted, it’s been raining all day today. The Rottweiler wrecking crew has been extremely annoying due to a lack of exercise and entertainment due to the rain. They have finally fallen asleep due to boredom. I was very pleased to find a website from a local training facility showing sample Rally Obedience courses. Not only are they free to download, they are also set up for a small room, meaning that I will be able to use them almost as-is in the backyard for practice. Couldn’t use them today, of course, thanks to the ongoing rain!

On the other hand, a rainy day provided a perfect opportunity to catch up on “31 Days to Build a Better Blog.” I got kind of stuck on the Day 4 task of analyzing a top blog in my niche. I was not quite sure how best to search for “top personal blogs concentrating on pets and technology.” I did my best, though, and have come to the conclusion that if I want to be more popular within my niche, the following things must happen:

I have to have funnier or cuter dogs
I have to become an actual expert about either dogs or technology
When I go off-topic, I have to write about sex or relationships, or else use the F-word more

Our upcoming adventures in competition should provide some moments that are funny as all get-out to everyone but me, and like the time I tripped over my dog in the obedience ring, they will even be funny to me in a month (or two or three). I will probably never become an actual expert, but every day I add to the list of dog training techniques that have unexpected results, and things that can go wrong with technology. That’s gotta be worth something. But I’m never going to write about sex and relationships. Ever.

Day 5’s task was to email new blog readers. I haven’t had a new commenter in a few days, and I reply to almost every comment on the blog as a matter of course. But I will definitely put this into practice as soon as a new reader or first-time commenter shows up. I will also try to be a bit more active in commenting on other blogs. I know I’ve been somewhat lax in that regard, even with blogs I read daily.

I’ve also read through many of the Day 6 tips and tutorials from some well-known and successful bloggers. Whether or not you are not doing 31DBBB, that post and the links within are well worth reading. Even if you believe you’re at the top of your blogging game, I think you will come away with something to think about from at least a few of the articles referenced.

Sunshine and rally practice (18 of 30/84 of 274)

April 18, 2009 by kathi

Saturday is normally obedience class day for the lovely Freya, and on a nice sunny day like today, we would have been able to work outdoors as well. Unfortunately, we had to skip class because I had an appointment at the bank to review my IRA account. That account had a less than stellar performance year in 2008. I am sure that is a familiar story to many people. Now that I am on the far side of 50, I guess I should at least check in on my retirement accounts more frequently than I have been. Retirement is still far enough in the future that I’m not really stressing. Yet. My bank guy is nice and seems knowledgeable, but I would have preferred to be in dog class!

We did try to take advantage of the nice weather and do some homework. Armed with the AKC Rally Regulations and a separate list of Rally Obedience exercises, Freya and I spent time working on some of the Novice exercises. Since I had no idea how to lay out a practice course, we mostly worked on the fronts and finishes, and heeling with the different turns.

I know there are books and websites with samples of Rally courses, so I will have to look for some. We are supposed to get a few days of rain (rain has already started tonight) so we won’t be able to practice outside. We might go on Tuesday night to a make-up class for the class we missed today, and we’re definitely going to drop-in obedience on Wednesday night.

Dog-friendly rides (15 of 30/81 of 274)

April 15, 2009 by kathi

Last week at the New York Auto Show, Honda showed its Dog Friendly version of the Element. Press release and photos can be seen here:

New York 2009: Dog Friendly Honda Element Concept

Although my Rottweiler wrecking crew would surely make short work of the soft fabric crate and the cushioned pet bed, I still think it’s cool that Honda would run with a concept like this, and with features that really will be useful to many dog owners.

I seem to remember this being done before, though, but I can’t find any online references to a dog-friendly minivan done several years ago by one of the American carmakers (I want to say it was a Chevy Astro, but I’m not 100% sure on that). I didn’t save the paper article and apparently I didn’t blog about it, nor post to any forums either!

When I got my first Rottweiler Heidi, I still had a 1986 Honda Civic CRX. That would be the 2-seater hatchback. It was a good thing we had only one Rottweiler for a while. I was a bad dog owner and let her ride in the passenger seat, usually unrestrained. Fortunately she was one of those dogs that would fall asleep in the car almost immediately. I learned to fully recline the passenger seat before letting her in the car and surprisingly enough, we were both happy and comfortable and never got hurt.

That car was replaced by a Honda Civic coupe, and my husband replaced a Thunderbird with the ultimate dog-friendly vehicle, a Chevy Suburban. Shortly after Civic #2 was replaced by a Dodge Caravan minivan, he traded in the Suburban for the light truck he really wanted and ever since then, the dogs have had a Caravan as their main transportation. The newest one was just picked up in March. The middle row of seats immediately got folded into the floor, and probably won’t emerge until it’s time to sell or trade.

The Caravan was not my first choice vehicle, but it’s been a good one for us. I’d be all over the Dog Friendly Honda if it were an Odyssey though!