Greetings from Vermont!

Greetings from the small, picturesque town of Greensboro, VT! Milly and I arrived yesterday and are having a blast! We spent our first two nights in Arlington, VT where Milly enjoyed romping around the countryside with my brother's Polish Lowland Sheepdog and sniffing at my infant niece's feet - it was very cute! I'm telling you, there must be something in the water in Vermont, because Milly is acting like a puppy! She has the "zoomies" multiple times a day, and yesterday enjoyed a picnic lunch and hike up a small mountain/large hill with my parent's dog Lucy.

As I've briefly mentioned in the past Milly does not like swimming (or did not) and is very hesitant about getting in the water. We are lucky enough to have a sand bar on our beach at the lake up here, and Milly was able to walk out for quite a ways, actually it was more like a hopping, splashing run, and actually ended up swimming! She swam for the first time yesterday, only about five feet before she turned around for shallow water, but today she went out about 20 feet, and really seemed to enjoy herself! Lots of treats and coaxing got her in the water initially, but after that I just let her do what she wanted, when she wanted, and she started swimming! I was thrilled! She still is unsure about just walking right into the lake near our boat house (it gets deeper quicker there), but she really seems to enjoy the security of going in off of the sandbar, and I'm more than happy to let her have that sense of security. It has been really neat to watch Lucy (she is almost one year) gain confidence about water after seeing Milly gain her own confidence regarding the lake. Lucy is now wading up to her belly, a big feat for her!

On a sad note, I took Milly to the vet on Friday for her semi-annual exam. About 7 months ago I learned Milly had a few (minimal) crystals in her urine, but the vet assured me this was probably nothing and we should wait and re-test at her next exam. Well, I got the call on Saturday that Milly's latest urinalysis shows an increase in crystals, and she now has moderate urine crystals. I was pretty upset, to say the least. The vet explained there isn't much beyond diet change we can do for this right now, and she is hesitant to change Milly's diet because of all of the skin allergies Milly has had. Just when we finally get the right food combination and this happens. I am in contact with an animal nutritionist, and hopefully she will have some ideas. In the meantime, I am continuing to force/bribe Milly to drink as much water as possible. Milly hates drinking when I am not home, and even when I am home she wants me to sit with her while she drinks. I am now adding her food to almost an entire bowl of water, and sit on the floor and hold the water bowl for Milly an addition three times a day. I'm hoping this will up her intake of water, and perhaps this will help.

As you all know I am slowly hunting for THE PUPPY to be my first show dog. I am hooked on Golden Retrievers, and the process of finding the right breeder has been long and slow. I found an amazing litter, and was offered a male, but turned it down because I really wanted a female. I found another litter, sired by an amazing dog, and I've seen an amazing dog from the same breeding, but decided to wait for a breeding with fewer outcrosses on the bitch's side. Now I am really regretting this decision. I told the breeder two days ago I was going to pass on a female from this litter, but I really want to e-mail her and say I changed my mind. I know down the road some people might turn up their noses at this dog's pedigree, but having seen a puppy from the first mating, and really trusting this breeder, I am starting to think I made a big, big, big mistake. My boyfriend really does not want me to get another dog, but I am dying to start showing, and I think I will just have to follow my gut. I'm going to reflect on my decision for the next few days, and talk to my parents about it a bit more, and then decide if I should e-mail the breeder when I return from vacation. There is a big chance all puppies will be spoken for by then, but I really am regretting passing this one up. On a happy note, I have found an incredible mentor of sorts in a woman from Michigan that I met through the Golden Retriever Forum. She has really helped guide me down the right path in finding my future puppy, and I am incredibly grateful for her insight as she has guided me away from some novice mistakes I was close to making.

I want to publicly thank all of my guest bloggers for their posts. I have a few more guest blogger posts to post in the next week or two, and I am sure you will all really enjoy them! If you e-mailed me a post and haven't seen it published yet, please be patient. I have a very slow internet connection and some of the guest bloggers e-mailed me some GREAT photos! I'd hate to publish these posts without the photos, but with the slow internet connection I'm having trouble posting more than one or two photos at a time!

Well, time for me to get back to vacation! There are three Golden Retrievers across the street that Milly is telling me she wants to go play with, and afterall, this is her vacation too!

Guest blogger: “Pet” Peeves

I am thrilled to share with you this guest blogger post by my dear friend Anndy. Anndy and I grew up riding horses together, and both have a love of all things furry and four-legged! We both have a tendency to rescue dogs, and love to consult each other about new products, training methods, or dog-owner etiquette. I'm sure many of you can relate to some of her pet peeves... I know I certainly can!!!

“Pet” Peeves

I grew up on a farm with a herd of dogs running wild and free through my parent’s acreage and the surrounding woods. Moving away from the farm was an eye opening experience for me since I now had to leash my dogs for walks and use a pooper scooper. However, I always always keep my dogs on leashes because I have had several run-ins with dogs that aren’t leashed. I have an Australian cattle dog, Barlee. Any of you that have ever owned a cattle dog know that they are a different kind of breed. I wouldn’t say Barlee is mean (but as her mother, I may be a little biased!) but she is super protective of me, of my husband and of our other dog, Crunch. She doesn’t like strange people and she really doesn’t like strange dogs. Several people in my neighborhood let their dogs roam free, and they, of course, like to run over to say hello to Barlee while I am out walking her. I have even had people yell to me, “It’s ok! He just wants to play.” Be that as it may, my dog does NOT want to play. My dog wants to bite your dog’s face off because it is getting too close to me. I literally have to stand in between Barlee and the strange dog to keep anything from actually happening, which is probably one of the most dangerous places to be when it comes to dogs…especially when I’m on the other end of the leash of a 45 pound overprotective, determined whirling dervish. But the fact is, if anything were to happen between the two dogs, it would be my dog’s fault because she is the aggressor. Even though she is properly leashed, I would get saddled with vet bill’s and maybe even a lawsuit. One time I had a mildly ferocious poodle come charging at us and the owner literally took 15 minutes to come outside and get her dog. I was screaming at her from the sidewalk, but she just didn’t think it was important.

Unfortunately, I have seen worse things happen when people leave their dogs unleashed in city areas. When I was still in college, I was walking my basset hound, Guernsey, who was the absolute sweetest dog. A guy saw me coming and yelled to his roommate or girlfriend that they had to come see this cute dog. He opened the door to his house to let his dog out to visit with my dog…and the dog ran straight into the path of an oncoming car. The owner was upset, of course, but I’m not sure what he thought would happen. If a dog sees another dog, the first thing they want to do is run to it and say hi. The dog seemed to be ok when I left the scene, but the situation was entirely the owner’s fault. He also screamed at the driver of the car, which was unnecessary considering there was nothing the driver could do.

I know many people trust their dogs not to run off if they are left loose. I am certainly one of them. I love to let my dogs off their leash in a big open area, far away from roads, people or other dogs. Even if my dogs do take off, they will be back in a few minutes. However, letting your dog loose in a city area is so dangerous. There are many unforeseen factors like neighborhood cats or wild rabbits that will catch your dog’s attention, and they can be in the street in front of a car in a matter of seconds. For the safety of your beloved pet, please always keep them leashed. And remember, not all dogs necessarily like to visit with others so always ask before letting your dog make new friends.

Guest blogger!

My dear friend Whitney was kind enough to share this post with all of my readers! I hope you enjoy, but please have your tissue box nearby!

When you cry from the Pet Smart ad on TV, because the golden featured in it looks just like your dog, you know you truly loved your dog. You know that you were a caring owner who would have done anything to make your best friend comfortable, happy, and healthy. When you are walking on the beach with your Dad while on vacation, and a golden runs up to you instead of its owner, you know it is because that dog knows you love goldens.

Lady was the only thing I ever threw a temper tantrum for when I was younger. My father had never allowed us to have a dog, only cats and horses as pets. His argument was that he had loved his dog, Lord Canterbury (an Old English sheepdog), too much to bear another dog possibly dying in his lifetime. So, for my birthday one year, I asked for a dog. Nothing else. Not even a new dress. I only wanted a dog.

So, when August came along, my parents drove my brother and me to Blacksburg. My Mom helped me pick Lady out. She was the runt of the litter, born from a beautiful tawny red mother and a palomino-blonde father. Both were AKC show dogs, healthy and happy. Lady had long eyelashes and this unmistakable grin, even as an 8-week old.

She was a big jumper in the beginning. But she could already play fetch like a pro. My Dad taught me how to play lacrosse when I was young, so when I was outside exercising Lady I would throw a lacrosse ball and she would fetch it. She learned so fast how to catch balls in the air and how to retrieve balls when they were buried in the sand, mud, or snow. I think autumn was the hardest for her, as we lived on a small horse farm and had several mature maple trees around the yard – and the lacrosse balls we bought were always orange or yellow… not in her favor! But my favorite thing is when she would lose a ball and then find it ten months later buried under a foot of dirt – it was like she had remembered where it was after all that time.

Around the age of 8 or 9, she started to become more lethargic, less active. She would still play lacrosse with us, but she did not enjoy taking walks as much as she used to. She would love to be in dark corners, the woods, or would run away to be alone. When we took her to the vet, they said she had a tumor on her belly, so we of course had her operated on… Two years later, another tumor and another surgery… This June, she was worse than ever. She had just turned 13, and she would not even get up to play lacrosse. It was sudden, shocking, and devastating. She was the light of my Dad’s life, who had taken to her a great deal after I left for boarding school and then college. When he called me to tell me the bad news, that she had a spleen tumor, he cried. I came home and spent 3 days with her. Spending hours brushing her hair and begging and pleading for her to even just pick up her ball that I rolled to her. She refused to drink water, so I would have to soak her beloved dog biscuits in water to get even some moisture on her. She loved for me to massage her limbs and brush her, and I was more than happy to make my pretty girl comfortable.

When I left to go to work on July 13, 2009, it was time to say goodbye. She actually was up and walking around with my Dad, and I wrapped my arms around her neck and smelled her unmistakable scent: sunshine, wet grass, and mulch. I convinced myself to not bawl in front of her as I had done it already a dozen times. I did sniffle a bit as I told her I loved her and I would never ever forget everything she did for me. She gave me her grin, and licked the tip of my nose. And that was it. Lovely Lady of Lexington was put down on July 14, 2009. My best friend, my most loyal friend, is gone from my life. Even now, almost three weeks later, my tears well up a bit when I think about future holidays and visits home without her greeting me at the door. She was an incredibly beautiful and loving golden for over 13 years.

Here is my lesson from this story: always watch for developments on your dog’s frame. Lady’s spleen tumor grew and developed almost overnight - you have to really be super-conscious of your dog’s behavior to catch anything fast enough. Spleen tumors are actually pretty common in golden retrievers, so be aware of them when they even just slightly limp. If you do not have the time to exercise your dog enough to notice a moderate change in her behavior in one day then find someone who can exercise your dog for you while you are at work. If my parents had not gotten her up to play as they did like clockwork three times daily, we would have had a much more difficult situation to handle. We could not have done anything even if we had wanted to, but at least we loved her enough to prevent her from suffering.

FUN FRIDAY!!!

Agility expert "spoof"!


And one more funny video!

FUN FRIDAY!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday, and that you all have a safe weekend. For today's FUN FRIDAY I wanted to share some videos of activities you might not know even exist, and perhaps some of these will inspire you to try a new sport with your dog!

Dock Diving - I really want to do this with my next dog! I wish Milly wasn't scared of swimming!!



Surf Dogs - Apparently some dogs really love it! If you try this I suggest getting a doggie life jacket!



Freestyle - Think of the obedience skills it takes to master this! Simply inspiring! I know I've posted this before, but I LOVE IT!



Toy breed agility - You thought agility was reserved for the large breeds? Think again!!

Boarding Your Dog

During the summer months many individuals and families love to travel, but owning a dog and traveling is something that takes planning and creativity. Over the next few days/weeks I will be focusing on different things you may encounter when it comes to vacation planning as a dog owner.

If you decide not to bring your pet on your trip, you have a few options – leave your dog with a friend or family member, hire a dog sitter to come to your house multiple times a day, hire a dog sitter to keep your dog in their house for the duration of your trip, or use a boarding kennel (many veterinarians also provide boarding services).

Finding the right boarding kennel can be a scary and daunting task, but hopefully these questions will help you weed through all of the kennels in your area, and ensure you board your pet at a reputable kennel that will take excellent care of your beloved dog.

If you need to board your pet while you travel, there are several considerations in choosing a boarding facility. East Lake Veterinary Hospital in Dallas, TX (www.welovepets.net) provides their clients with the following questionnaire to help evaluate facilities:

1. How often and with what disinfecting agents are the pet’s quarters cleaned?

2. What type of bedding material is provided?

3. Are pets walked to eliminate and exercise? If so, where?

4. What type of walking surface is provided? Inside or outside?

5. Does the facility require current immunizations, especially bordetella (kennel cough)?

6. What steps are taken to assure that pets are healthy and parasite free?

7. What diet is provided by the facility?

8. Are staff members trained to monitor pets? Give medications?

9. What protocols are in place to provide medical care in the event of an unexpected illness, injury, or emergency?

10. Are pets kept in separate quarters, or is there a community area where pets intermingle?

11. Are separate cat and dog quarters available?

12. How is noise controlled in the facility?

13. Is ventilation good and temperature comfortable?

14. If community playtime is offered, do trained staff members supervise it? If so, what is the staff per pet ratio during this time?

15. How are pets screened for temperament and socialization skills for interaction with other pets?

16. Are the check-in and checkout times convenient?

17. Are there additional charges for medicating or exercising your pet or feeding a special diet?

18. What additional amenities (such as TVs, music, etc) are offered to make your pet comfortable and feel more at home?

19. Is the pet’s environment generally comfortable?

Sweet Potato Treats!

I am always looking for natural dog treats to spoil Milly with. About a month ago I picked up a bag of dehydrated sweet potatoes for her. They are cut into strips, and the perfect treat to give her – it takes her longer than a small biscuit would to eat, but it isn’t a chew treat that she would spend a significant amount of time on. She goes bonkers for her sweet potato treats, but they aren’t cheap. My bag was $9, and I now have 3 treats left in it. It probably had about 2 or 3 sweet potatoes worth of dehydrated strips in it when I originally bought the bag.

For a long time I have been thinking about purchasing a dehydrator to make my own jerky treats, but right now my next big dog purchase is going to be a professional dryer, and so I’m putting the dehydrator on the backburner for now. But, I really can’t justify or afford regularly spending $9 on bags of dog treats that won’t last that long, and to me the price seems somewhat steep, so I decided to see if I could make these myself.

A few days ago I bought two sweet potatoes ($.99 each) and scrubbed them very well. I then thinly sliced them, and laid them on a cookie sheet (I lightly greased the cookie sheet with oil, but I don’t think I will do that in the future), and pre-heated the oven for 200 degrees. The hardest part was thinly slicing the potatoes, and I found the thinner slices the better. I then laid my sliced potatoes on a cookie sheet (1 potato sliced perfectly fit 1 cookie sheet) and put them in the oven, and waited. Every 30 minutes I flipped the potato slices, and back in the oven they went. I waited, and waited, and waited… after almost four hours in the oven I was tired of waiting. The thinnest sliced potatoes I removed at about 2.5 hours (they were potato chip thin), but the larger strips (like the dehydrated bag I bought) were not yet crispy. I cranked up the heat to 350, and gave them another hour and a half in the oven. The results were great! I actually tasted the chip thin ones, and loved them. Totally baked, all-natural, healthy, easy and satisfying, but would Milly like them? I always ask her to perform a task before she gets a treat so I asked for a “down” and then handed her the potato, and she gobbled it right up, and wagged her tail asking for more. I still have a few left from my homemade batch, and all-in-all I think it was a success.

In the future I plan on doing this on a weekend when I have time to be at the house with the oven on. I will set the oven to 200-250 next time, and give them 6-8 hours at this low heat. Other than wanting to cook them for more time at a lower heat to really dry them out, I was very pleased with my cost-saving healthy alternative to buying dog treats at the store. Milly seems pleased too.

If you have a dehydrator I totally suggest doing them in that, but if you don’t have one, give it a whirl. It’s a great treat for dogs on a grain free diet too! I am saving about $7 by making these myself, and that is $7 I can put towards either a puppy, or the dog dryer I am lusting after! :)

An update: Upcoming vacation; K9 First Aid; Looking for Guest Bloggers!

This coming Saturday Milly, my boyfriend Bill, and I will be loading up Bill’s car and making the long drive from Arlington, Virginia to the North East Kingdom of Vermont for vacation. It is always a sight when we travel, because with Milly’s bag, my bag, Bill’s bag, and the dog bed our car tends to fill up very quickly! I will be gone for 9 days, and am trying to arrange some guest bloggers. If you are interested in being a guest blogger while I am out of town please comment with your contact information, and we can set this up.

Back to the trip, I’m already mapping out our route, and trying to plan a course that will enable lots of stops in more rural areas, because I absolutely hate driving (or riding in the car) on busy interstates in urban areas. I also want Milly to have the opportunity to stretch her legs on some grass every couple of hours. As a senior citizen it is important that she regularly get out of the car for potty breaks, small walks and water breaks.

We will be breaking up our trip by staying the first night near Manchester, VT with my brother and his family, and then leaving on Sunday to drive to a small, picturesque town 40 minutes north east of Stowe. I am so excited about this vacation – it is the longest vacation I will have had in nearly 3 years, and I’m just ready to be off the grid. Many parts of Vermont don’t have high speed internet (this town just got it), or cell phone service (this town does no have reception), and I’m excited about being able to just relax and enjoy the outdoors. Our house has lake front property, and I’m hoping that the 9 days on the water will boost Milly’s confidence about swimming, and water in general. She likes to wade in up to her belly, but no further than that.

I just received an email from my mom (she and my dad are already in Vermont) explaining how she recently met a holistic dog trainer who has a wonderful reputation with locals in VT. This trainer is offering a canine first-aid/CPR class on Sunday, August 2^nd, and hopefully I will be able to attend (it is about 3 hours from Manchester though, so we’d have to leave early in the morning). I am trying to learn more about the trainer, but her name is April Frost, she is the author of "Beyond Obedience, Training With Awareness For You And Your Dog" - she sounds very interesting! Apart from taking a very natural approach to dog training, she also regularly volunteers with a wolf-hybrid/wolf dog rescue and sanctuary – that’s pretty neat, I think!

I try to keep an open mind when it comes to animals, their care, and training, and I really like to try a variety of training techniques. I know some about the natural pet movement, but it seems like she is on her own level, and there will be lots to learn from her. I really don’t believe there is any “right way” to train a dog, but I do believe in learning as many different methods as possible, and figuring out what works for you and your dog, often times it is a combination of methods.

While I doubt I’ll have the opportunity to do any dog training/obedience sessions with her, I really hope this canine first-aid course works out, and I’m able to fit it into my schedule. I have read a lot about canine first aid, but have not yet taken any hands on classes. In an emergency, when you are on the phone with your vet, and he/she asks you a question a lot of times the dog owner may not know the answer, and this can be very frustrating/difficult for the vet. However, if you know canine first-aid and CPR the answers to these critical questions tend to be things you will either know, or can easily figure out. I am very excited about the opportunity to take this day-long course!

Don’t forget to comment with contact info if you are interested in being a guest blogger!

Pupcake Giveaway Winners...

I finally found the time to sit down and fill you all in as to who won my most recent giveaway!! I do apologize for the day delay. I have been so excited about this giveaway, because there is a surprise – there are FOUR winners! I used a random number generator to select the winners. As you all know, this giveaway allowed the winner to pick between the pink pupcakes and the blue pupcakes – therefore, our two first place winners will get to pick the color they desire, and the second, third, and fourth place winners will get the colors not chosen. I have a few sponsors lined up for giveaways, but first I need to reach 75 followers. If you have any dog owning pals please tell them about The Wet Nose so we can have many more giveaways! :)

So without further ado the Claudia’s Canine Cuisine Cookies – special PUPCAKES go to...

comment 3, HLEure!

Please send your mailing information and your color selection my way and I will get your prize in the mail! You can simply comment with your e-mail address and I will e-mail you for a mailing address. I hope Mabry enjoys her PUPCAKES!

And our second place winner is…

comment 15, Donna!
Please send your mailing information and your color selection my way and I will get your prize in the mail! You can simply comment with your e-mail address and I will e-mail you for a mailing address!

And our third place winner is…

comment 14, Lauren!
Please send your mailing information my way and I will get your prize in the mail! You can simply comment with your e-mail address and I will e-mail you for a mailing address!

And our fourth place winner is…

comment 21, The Little Jewelry Box!
Please send your mailing information my way and I will get your prize in the mail! You can simply comment with your e-mail address and I will e-mail you for a mailing address!

One of my favorite photographs of Milly

I wanted to share one of my favorite photographs of Milly - there are a handful I love equally - and this is one of them! This photo was taken about a year and a half ago, and now Milly's face is almost entirely white. I love the way she is looking up at the camera in this shot, and the lighting really captures her in a beautiful way. Another one of my favorite shots of her is the picture in the header and my avatar taken at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC, because you can see the reflection of the cherry trees in her eye.


Milly and I are currently working very hard on basic obedience in preparation for taking our Canine Good Citizen test. For a long time I have wanted Milly to pass the Canine Good Citizen test, but our training and practicing kept getting side tracked - first with my shoulder surgery, and then with the election (for those of you who don't know I work in politics) - but for the past few weeks we've really practiced almost everyday! Today and yesterday I had to take time off from our hour of practice/training, because of bad weather, but I'm hoping to do a lot tomorrow. I try to make the training/practice sessions very fun and positive for Milly. She really seems to enjoy every minute of it (that makes my job much easier)! Over the past two weeks we have worked hard on perfecting loose leash walking, down, down/stay, and long distance recalls. She is really doing great, and I'm very proud of her. Milly and I will be heading to the North East Kingdom of Vermont in about a week, and while on vacation I plan on doing a lot of off leash work with her, and hopefully by the end of nine days on a lake she will over come her fear of swimming. It's probably a stretch, but I'd like to try to take the CGC test when we get back from Vermont (the middle of August).

I will be doing the drawing for the pupcake giveaway tomorrow using a random number generator. If you haven't already entered there is still a little bit of time left. Your odds are pretty high of winning, because there will be TWO winners! :)