At DogDaz Zoo, I try to control the amount of food that any animal eats in a day based on their size and energy level. I parse out all kibble in the morning into containers and then give a portion at each feeding, making sure that there is some left over for evening in-house play. The dogs have several toys to chose from (1) a large feeding cube (mostly used by Sofie), (2) a medium feed ball (which was too big for Charles, too little for Lulu, and Sofie doesn’t like it). So I got, (3) a little feed ball (for Charles, who can’t figure it out), (4) a big rope jug (that Louise LOVES), and (5) a spinner (currently only Sofie’s survived because Louise ate hers – bottom is rubber).
Everyone waits, impatiently, in the evening for play time. I used to wait until 8 PM or so to do this, but now they have started demanding play time earlier and earlier. Sometimes, I give in and they have playtime only 30 minutes after dinner. What’s the difference, it’s all their food anyway.
Charles gets a special treat in a puzzle bowl with some kibble, because he is either too lazy for the feed ball, or just doesn’t want to lower himself to work for it. He loves a teeny tiny Busy Bone (r) and will gobble it up as soon as he finds one under the kibble.
We have lots of food fun at the Zoo. What kind of mischief did you get into today?
I am not sure Mini knew that she was the focus of attention when she chose to hide behind the front door this morning. Sometimes I wonder if the cats know that their tails are sticking out under things when they hide. At first, when I saw the group hovering, I freaked. On occasion, Black Rat Snakes have found their way into the foyer and I thought that was what they were all looking at. On closer observation, it was too fluffy and moved slowly (which the snakes don’t do when they are in the house).
Mini must have felt all these eyes on her tail because she started to pull it back behind the door with the rest of her.
No animals, or tails, were hurt in the moment. Thank goodness.
As the days go by with Mommy stuck in bed because of her foot surgery, I amass a larger and larger stash of cat toys next to her. I love all my little toys. Mom says that I like ‘catnip’ tea, because I suck on every cat toy in the house. Sucking on things makes me feel much better and I figure since it makes me feel better, I will bring them to Mom to make her better.
The Zoo is kind of funny when it comes to toys. Charles steals the biggest toys in the dogbox to play with (sometimes they are bigger than him). Louise likes Charles little tiny tennis balls to chew on (which freaks Mommy out so she watches very carefully to make sure nothing is swallowed). I prefer small soft toys – the smaller the better. Mom says “to each their own,” whatever that means.
The 3 dogs and the cat-dog all want my lunch. It is kind of hard to ignore all the salivating stares when you are trying to have a bite to eat. They always have been beggers, but now that I have limited mobility, they all seem to push me around a lot more. They aren’t getting the exercise that they are used to, and just like me, all they want to do is eat right now it seems.
Oh, those begging eyes, Louise! I know that you want to go for a walk, but it still going to be a while. Good thing that I know how to resist those pitiful stares, well sort of.
(P.S. Do you notice Mini asleep in Charles bed in his exercise pen? She uses it much more than he does. Hahaha)
Mom has been lying down on the job for 38 days now because of her foot surgery. She thinks that it will be 18 more days before she can sit at her desk again (she hopes, she hopes). That would be 8 weeks of having her foot in the air. We hope she is right, but we kind of like this lying down thing. We get to be in the middle of everything.
She is the luckiest Mom because she has three doggies protecting her legs from any bad things, like cats coming up on the bed to bother her.
Louise thinks she is a small dog and tries to cuddle up as tight has she can to Mommy’s good leg. It gets a little crowded.
Mom is lucky that Sofie mostly stays on the floor because, with 2 computers, 2 dogs on the bed, a leg cast, a giant leg pillow, and all her files and crossword puzzles, there is hardly room for her on this little bed.
We love the pink snow when it falls. It looks like the white stuff put it isn’t cold. We don’t know if Charles ever saw pink snow before because he tried to eat it. Pink snow makes us happy. Do you have pink snow? This is our friend Amy’s yard (she’s a yellow lab). She has lots of trees that line her drive. We only have one cherry tree and it is little and get’s white flowers, not pink. Pink snow is slippery and Mommy worries that we are going to slip. Mommy always worries.
The temperature went from cold to hot in a moment. I didn’t bring water and all the dogs’ did was pant and eat grass on our long walk today. Maybe I have 3 sheep instead of 3 dogs. I wonder if the grass tasted cool and moist, quenching their thirst until we got home to the water.
In case you were wondering, eating grass is fine for dogs. In my review of veterinarian and journal articles, no one really knows (or agrees on) why they do it, but they all say that it is not harmful. Basically, it has no nutritional value (sort of like iceberg lettuce). There is speculation that dogs eat grass when their tummies are upset, which I know is true. Mine have always eaten grass when they want to barf (especially Sofie). But, I also think they like the taste. Squash had a particular onion grass that he preferred each spring on my neighbor’s corner, and I find that Louise enjoys the same grass when it comes up.
The cats like grass too. We actually grow it indoors in hopes they will leave the houseplants alone. It doesn’t keep them from eating everything else, but they have fun with it. I know that the houseplants make the cats barf, but interestingly enough, I don’t find the grass does. Go figure?
My only concern with grass eating is when people starting putting all those chemicals on their lawns (which I hate). I make sure to keep the dogs off those surfaces so that they don’t get chem-paws, and so they don’t ingest the pesticides and other things that are just plain deadly.
Mr. B, an ex-shelter dog, became a therapy dog in October 2016. He loves to talk about his endeavors, his "big" furry sister Ms. Zulu, and life in general.
