Friday, July 21, 2006
Each week when I cook the turkey for the gang’s food, Benjamin parks himself on the mat by the stove. He stays there the entire time I am cooking and while he relaxes a bit he is always alert and ready to pounce on any morsel I may drop.
While I love Benjamin and enjoy doing things with him, I wish he didn’t try to help as I cooked turkey. Cooking about 11 packages a ground turkey is a tedious process and I could sure use the extra foot room while I am working. But that is where the little man likes to lay, so I just work around him.
Luna and Henry aren’t as interested in the cooking process. They prefer to lounge in the living room while I cook.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Not Guilty. That was the plea that Benjamin entered the other morning when he was accused of stealing Cheerios out of my cereal bowl. The only problem the pug faced was that there were witnesses that saw the little pug hop up on the kitchen chair and proceed to fill his chubby little cheeks with as many Cheerios as possible before someone realized what he was up to.
Sorry, Baby Benny, you were totally busted! If your lucky and your play your cards right maybe we can work out some kind of plea bargain.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
This weekend I took a quick trip to go visit my parents. Since it was such a short trip the pugs did not come with me. However, when I got home they did give me a nice big welcome. However, I'm not sure if they were happy to see me or my suitcase. See, I make these trips many times a year and by now they know that Grandma doesn't let me leave until she has loaded my suitcase with treats. So as soon as I get home they head straight for my suitcase and start looking around for treats.
Here Benjamin is asking, "So where did you hide them this time?"
Monday, June 5, 2006
Benjamin, Henry and Luna are all on a special, homemade diet. The main ingredient in their special food is ground turkey. To make things easier during the week, Sunday is the designated turkey cooking day. Each Sunday we cook anywhere from 10-15 packages of ground turkey. Needless to say, it can be a tedious task, but overall it is worth all the effort. Since we switched to the new diet almost 3 years ago many of Benjamin and Henry’s digestion issues have been cured. Since adopting Luna, she has been transitioned over to the new diet as well. Out of all three of them, I would say that Luna likes the food the most. She just goes nuts for the turkey.
While we cook the turkey and get everything prepped for the week, Benjamin, Henry and Luna all wait patiently in the kitchen watching our every move and just hoping that a bite of turkey will fall on the floor.
Monday, May 1, 2006
Last week my Mom, Dad and Sister all came to town for a visit. It was great to take a break from work and to have a chance to spend some time with the family. Benjamin, Henry and Luna had a great time as well because no one spoils them quite like their Grandma and Grandpa.
Grandma and Grandpa came bearing gifts and treats. Plus, they even made sure that they got the boys and little Luna frozen custard from our favorite ice cream shop. Doggie dishes of ice cream are actually on the menu and every doggie dish comes topped with a bone. It is funny because the boys and Luna want nothing to do with the bone until after they have finished their ice cream.
Oh and don’t worry, we didn’t get a fourth pug. We accidentally ordered four doggie dishes. We kept the extra one because we thought the cat might enjoy it. No such luck. She didn’t want anything to do with it.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
This diet has worked very well for our pugs over the years, however, I recommend you check with your vet before switching your dog’s food. We worked very closely with our vet to determine what to feed our pugs and since every situation is different I strong encourage you to work with your vet if you want to create a special diet for your pug.
Well, as you can see by the above photo there is a lot of work that goes into the preparation of the boys’ meals. Their special diet began when Benjamin developed Pancreatitis. He was a very sick little boy and had to be in the hospital for 4 days. Pancreatitis is difficult to diagnose and really to this day we aren’t completely convinced that the diagnosis was correct. It occurred at a time when we were unable to get in touch with our regular vet and had to rely on a family member’s referral. It was not a vet we were completely comfortable with but we really did not have a choice but to go on her advice. After the whole ordeal was over and Baby Benny was safe at home with brother Henry again we were able to see our regular veterinarian and she told us that it may have been Pancretitis but we could not be sure because it was so far after the onset and the first vet had not done a lot of truly necessary lab work to give an accurate diagnosis. However, our favorite vet did recommend that we switch to a special diet for both boys. Our favorite vet, (we’ll call her “Dr. H”) is more of a holistic type of vet and very into using foods and dietary supplements to solve many of today’s medical problems before trying medications that may be unnecessary and cause unwanted side effects. (I don’t know why but I am embarrassed to say that I do this for the dogs but not for myself.) Anyway, Dr. H gave us a list of homemade foods that we could try to keep the boys healthy. She recommended a low fat diet. This was especially important for Benjamin because if the diagnosis of Pancreatitis was correct, then a diet high in fat would cause serious relapses which may include death. We knew there was really no other choice. Of course, Henry would also benefit from the high quality meals. However, it is a lot of work and somewhat expensive. Personally, I justify the cost in what it saves in vet bills and the sheer fact that you cannot put a price tag on good health. Anyway, here is the “secret recipe”:
1½ cups of browned ground turkey (97% fat free)
1 heaping tablespoon of canned pumpkin
1 heaping tablespoon of plain fat free yogurt
1 heaping tablespoon of cooked plain oatmeal
The boys eat 3 meals per day. They have been on this diet for about 2½-3 years (they will be 4 years old in late March and early April). Benjamin weighs in at 20 pounds and Henry is a hearty 23 pounds. They do get the occasional table scrape but it is most often a very healthy choice (i.e carrot stick, bite of banana, Cheerio) unless it is time to clip their nails in which case, all the stops come out and the baggie of Chinese noodles are used for wiggle control. We have often been asked how we keep the boys in such great shape and that is when we discuss their special diet. They also go for at least 2 walks per day for at least ½ mile each walk. It is a big job keeping the gluttons in good condition but that is the job of a dedicated pug mommy. So, this job is done with a smile!
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Last Sunday, we went to our local dog bakery, Doggie Dayz Bakery. It was our first time there and the bakery was awesome. The bakery was fully stocked with all types of goodies and the thing the boys loved the most was the doggie bar. The doggie bar was normal counter height, but to make it dog accessible there was a set of stairs leading up to it. At the top of the counter were bowls filled with assorted treats. Once at the top of the stairs, the boys could pick any treat they wanted from the bowls. Needless to say, the boys loved being able to help themselves to their very own samples.
The treats are made with all natural ingredients, so they fit into the boys’ diet. We bought a bag full of assorted goodies so the boys could try all the different treats. We are trying to figure out their favorites so we know what to stock up on during our next visit.
« Older Posts
| More Recent Posts »
Want more? Wander through our archives.
