Axel

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!)

Rottweiler rambles (28 of 31/63 of 274)

March 28, 2009 by kathi

Saturday is obedience class day for the lovely Freya. I consider group training classes a lifelong activity for my dogs, and I’m always happy to find those classes, clubs and instructors that can make those classes a good experience for both me and my dogs.

We like our current class very much. It is an intermediate/advanced class, which means some of the dogs are fresh out of beginner class, some are more experienced and some are working on off-lead or competition. Class size is small: 10 dogs when everyone is there. We use mostly positive training with food and praise, but correction collars and corrections are not forbidden. After owning six rather stubborn Rottweilers, I no longer believe that all dogs can be trained solely with pure positive methods. If you do, that is fine, and we will just have to agree to disagree.

What I really like about our instructor is that he is able to help reactive and unruly dogs work in class, without undermining the experience for the other dogs. The hall is large enough to provide enough space for dogs to work at a comfortable distance. Over the past few weeks, an extremely reactive dog has gone from working outside the group at one edge of the training room, slowly moving closer to the group, to being able to work with the group for at least half the class period now. Freya is reactive herself to small hyper dogs, so this has also been a good opportunity to get help in teaching her to work through what to her is a huge distraction. This has been so much better for me than having to rely on random public encounters where I have no control over the skill or intelligence of the other dog and its handler.

I need to set up some specific training goals for Freya, and make them more real by picking out some actual trial dates to shoot for. She is a pretty smart dog whose lack of working titles is due mostly to my own procrastination and somewhat weak dog training skills when it comes to competitive obedience.

I am so glad there is such a thing as Rally Obedience now. When our first Rottweiler Heidi came to live with us in 1994, the sport did not exist. All of our Rottweilers go through obedience classes, and we actually did trial with Heidi and her little brother Oscar, but never did title them. Traditional obedience competition demands a lot of precision, which is something I am terrible at. Rally Obedience requires the same routines and exercises as traditional obedience, but it is more relaxed for both dog and handler. This I can probably do, so this is what I will work towards.

My real dog sport love is Schutzhund, but I don’t know if I will ever get back to it. It requires even more commitment in training time and practice time than many other dog sports. Since it involves a protection component, you really cannot do this without a club with an experienced and safe helper. With the current legal climate for all dog owners, there is a particular responsibility for dog owners participating in protection sports and unfortunately, that is not something that can be ignored these days.

Did I not mention Axel yet? No, apparently I did not. I am still deciding on what his activities should be while he is taking a break from conformation showing. We were doing private lessons before he left in December, and I’m not opposed to continuing those, but I also feel he needs to get back into group classes so he remains accustomed to seeing dogs of different breeds on a regular basis. I won’t even think about working titles for him until after he completes his championship.

Giving in (15 of 31/50 of 274)

March 15, 2009 by kathi

I generally try to keep a positive attitude, but I am giving in to some negativity today. I’m disappointed that Axel and his pal Jules didn’t do better at the Kentuckiana dog shows this weekend. Not disappointed in them (they are wonderful dogs and must never ever think that they are not), but just that they didn’t get their turn in the spotlight on this go-around.

For me to feel that way about Axel’s showing is not even right, because he wasn’t supposed to even be there, let alone win anything. So for him to bring home even one ribbon (which is what he is doing) is over and above what he was originally supposed to be doing, which is being at home and wrestling with his sister Freya in our own back yard.

Jules is very young still, and her time will most definitely come, probably sooner rather than later. I just wish it could have started this weekend.

If you refer back to Tuesday’s post, I was inconveniencing most of my circle of dog friends just to ensure that Axel didn’t break the major and thus ruin his good karma. Sometimes I am just too impatient about waiting for that good karma to cycle around.

Speaking of bad karma, I did not think I could hate Mayor Daley any worse than I already do as the wife of a Chicago firefighter. I was wrong. On Saturday he spoke out in favor of a mandatory spay/neuter ordinance which is currently in committee, and on which a vote was postponed this past Thursday.

Understand that I am not against spay/neuter. I am against government making the decision to make it mandatory, and against government involvement in a decision that really belongs with pet owners and their veterinarians. Especially in a time when the city of Chicago has so many other critical challenges to face, the idea that this ordinance would be pushed partially as a solution to gang crime and dogfighting is so ludicrous it makes me laugh even as I should be crying. Yeah, I really see gangbangers being affected by this one. They don’t abide by the laws on the books now, such as registration and leash laws which are underenforced. And obviously committing felonies doesn’t bother them if they are fighting dogs in the first place.

If you are a pet owner in Chicago and haven’t yet done so, please check out AKC’s bulletin on the ordinance and send your letter against it before it comes up for a vote again. If you are reading this blog and think that mandatory spay/neuter is a good idea… why are you even here?

Giving up calories (14 of 31/49 of 274)

March 14, 2009 by kathi

Freya went to the vet today for her annual immunizations and checkup. She is a favorite at the clinic and basks in the adoration of the staff whenever she visits. She received a clean bill of health, except for the approximately 10 pounds she has put on since she was spayed 2 years ago. She weighed in at 92 pounds today. Her ideal weight is somewhere between 82-85 pounds, which is how much she weighed the last time I showed her, and on her spay date.

It is apparently not a myth that a dog’s metabolism may slow down somewhat after spaying or neutering. However, that did not happen with any of my prior Rottweilers, so this is a new experience for me. I’ve had much more experience putting needed weight on a dog, rather than taking it off.

Quite honestly, I could stand to lose about the same amount of weight, so the first thing we’ll do is add some walks of the exercise type rather than the wandering type. I don’t want to cut back on Freya’s food, nor change it right now. She gets 2-2.5 cups a day, which according to the vet’s calorie analysis today, would be about right for her current food. She has a very mild case of IBS, and after one entire summer of experimenting with many different foods to find one that worked well for her, I’m not eager to repeat the process.

One thing we’ll have to do is cut back on the treats. Like most Rottweilers, Freya is extremely food motivated, so training time involves treats as well. This is not going to go over well.

To add to the fun, Axel needs to put on a few pounds during his break from the show circuit. I have always hated that whole deal where show weight is about 10-15 pounds heavier than working weight for a typical adult male Rottweiler, but I have to admit that he does look good at his show weight.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a canine fat transformer, so I could just take those pounds off Freya and give them to Axel?

Nothing for Axel at today’s show, so please hope with me for at least one day of Axel love on Sunday. He’ll be home either Sunday or Monday, win or lose, and then I win since everyone’s home again!

Just a bunch of stuff (12 of 31/47 of 274)

March 12, 2009 by kathi

After all of our best efforts to get Axel down to Louisville, someone else broke the major for dogs. I hope karma doesn’t take too long to come around on this one. We are all very proud of Axel, though. He reportedly looked good today, and we have hopes that he might get something done this weekend, even though he wasn’t really supposed to have a chance, or even be there. In a strange coincidence, Axel’s substitute handler is also Freya’s “grandma” – she bred and owned Freya’s sire. Cross your fingers for Axel’s team! There are three more days and three more possibilities to win!

I got a nice surprise today: Axel actually has 6 points, not 5. We miscalculated the points for the Belle-City show on February 28. We originally thought he got 1 point as Winners Dog and Best of Winners. Dogs were 1 point that day, but bitches were 2 points. I think that both Julia and I were reading the wrong point schedule. As Best of Winners, he crossed over to get the same number of points as the Winners Bitch – 2 points instead of 1 that day. So we’re just a tiny bit closer than I thought yesterday!

Oh, and here is Axel’s new minivan:

Well. My minivan, or more correctly, my company’s minivan. This 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan replaces the 1998 Dodge Caravan that was a great vehicle for us (meaning me, my company, and the past and present vom Viersen Rottweilers) for so long. Only dog people or parents could get excited about a new minivan, and you know which one I am.

I usually try to gas up at a station near Freya’s obedience class, because gas is so much cheaper outside of the city of Chicago and Cook County. When I’m not able to time my fill-up properly, I go to the Mobil station between home and the expressway. This sign’s huge and blatant misspelling has been bugging me for about two years now: