It's been a while ...

What a difference a couple of years makes! Things are down to a manageable amount if chaos. Radar is past his puppy stage and is pretty well behaved really. They both still have their canine socialization issues. Maybe in time we can get that worked out yet.

Best,
-jd

Off the hook! BAD DOGS! & Re-thinking dog food

Oz is on his collar today FYI. He sorta knows he's on it, sorta doesn't.

I busted Radar digging at the corner of the couch and soaked him with the squirt bottle just as he was getting started. He has retreated to his crate. He remembers pretty well. Fingers crossed. Maybe catching him in the act will fix that one.

Of course, things were okay with Oz when I got up. A little ampy as normal. A couple of squirts and he calmed down. Then Radar came out. The chaos began with the green blanket being drug off the couch.

Then I was getting their food going. I had to go to garage for something. I come back in and Oz is eating the dry food out of his bowl on the counter. That was it. Collar on. Then I opened the can and left it there. I backed off into the hall where I could see the bowl and the can. I waited. Yep, he went up to the counter. I zapped him and he backed off to the counter and lied down again.

Dog Food:

We changed to a mix of I/D dry and I/D canned. It's working but it's disgusting. I can't imagine all that processed shit is any better for them than it is for us. Lord knows what the hell is in it really. They start with crap they wouldn't give to people right? But, making your own is an un-mittigated pain in the ass. The problem is it spoils so you have to either make is daily or make it every week at the most.

Idea - Meat grinder & Freezer

So, what if we get a small freezer so we can make batches of fresh food for them once a month. I can get a small chest freezer for about $200.00. Then we can get a meat grinder for the KitchenAid for $150.00. (plus tax & shipping)  That's a good one that'll deal with regular use.

I think these will pay for themselves in six months.

One week:
Rice - 6 cups ~ $2.00
Chicken - 2 lbs ~ $12.00
Veggies, broth for flavor,  vitamins - $5.00
(We can use scrap veggies since they are going to get cooked & ground up anyway)

One week ~ $20.00 (rounding up) (could be less if I use Costco prices)

That's probably half what we are paying for dog food.

So the payback on the food is going to be about $80:00. Now take away $20.00 for electricity and we are still $70.00 / month ahead. So in six months we end up saving about $420.00. That's close to paying for the initial investment.

The time and fuel investment will be less too. No more separate trips to get dog food. Just a couple hours a month to make the food. I'm guessing that saves us 4 hours a month or more. Maybe more if we tag team it and work it in with regular meal prep.

If the cost difference was only like 10% I'd say no. Usually when the cost difference is penciling at 50% or better like this, you will actually save money.

Maybe we can do a two week experiment without all the extra equipment to see how it goes with the dogs. We need to see what the mechanics are. How does it go when you forget to thaw a batch? How long does it take to thaw out? Stuff like that.

We've done chicken & rice a few days at a time when they get "out of sorts".  These two typically eat anything, with a vengeance. I doubt boredom is going to be an issue. With the broth / bullion we can change it up too.

Oz - 4 / Radar - 40

Out first Thanksgiving with the Pups is behind us. It was also the first Thanksgiving in this house. This has been one hell of a year for change. New jobs, new house, new town, losing Winston, adding Oz & Radar to the family, learning to live with our daughter & her boyfriend as adults. No wonder I'm in a fog about half the time. I digress.

Not too bad a day considering we are just coming up on five months with them. Every day is a challenge with these two. A day full of exposed food tempts disaster. Fortunately we were spared.

I don't think Radar knew what to do. He must have been in heaven. He's such a scrounge he probably gained a pound getting scraps off the floor all day. Poor Oz doesn't even try anymore. Radar is too quick so he gets the good stuff before Oz even knows it hit the ground. So Oz uses time, his honestly superior intellect, and his other true advantages, size and power to score. Yes, less often, but ten times as big.

His reward on this meal was the near surgical consumption about four turkey slices off the stove. It was between dinner & desert. We were doing the table sweep and initial kitchen de-clutering so we could get desert going. As the four humans scraped plates, stacked pots, and took out the trash the dogs worked the room for whatever we accidentally cast off onto the floor. Radar patrolled the edges of the room stealthy avoiding getting stepped on while he darted between our legs. Oz took his normal position in the center of the kitchen. Which, oddly, works out best. He's least in the way there actually. 

He watched and waited for that inevitable moment when we were all out of the kitchen for 30 seconds, including Radar who follows Aaron everywhere. We did not even hear him make his move. I wish I would have had a camera running to see it! It was perfectly executed. The plate did not even get moved a millimeter. He plucked four slices off the top somehow. As I returned from taking out the recycling through the garage door I saw he was licking his chops and checking the floor for anything he missed. You could see the pride of accomplishment in his eyes. Not a bit of remorse. I instantly looked right to the stove to see a much diminished pile of what were to be perfect sandwich slices. These were some of my finest carvings mind you.

I looked back at him. Out of my mouth came the loudest and lowest "OZ .. OUT!" that I could muster. With that he turned tail and promptly left the room. He was on constant surveillance the rest of the evening. Oh, well, lesson learned.

Then I caught him this morning front legs spread eagle up on the dinning room table licking crumbs off the table cloth while I was washing pots. He went on the leash for an hour for that.

That's our version of grounding him. He gets tied off to the Ikea cabinet we put all the heavy pots in. There has to be 300 lbs of crap in that thing. He can move it if he wants, but he's got to really want it. He's tied off to the leg so there's little chance he's going to take it over. Knock on wood.

This is marginally effective for behavior modification. Very effective for getting him out of the way so you can get something done. It's not so bad, it's one of his favorite nap spots anyway. I actually sense some relief in him at times when we do this. It's clear. He knows he's not going to get in any more trouble while he's there. It has it's limits. About an hour is about it. Beyond that he can get agitated. At that point it's not teaching him anything and getting him more spun up. Not the desired result.

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving too!

We've achieved a Winston level walk

I'm tired, get that iPhone outta my face John

Oz had a really good walk this morning! We managed not to come across any other dogs either, so ... But, the squirrel, cat, and skunk hunting was at a minimum. He pulled a little, but he hasn't been out on a walk for a couple weeks, so, some slippage is to be expected.

I've been sick so no early a.m. roll calls to walk the dog. Sorry Oz.

We are still having issues with diet. The only food that seems to work is the I/D from the vet. I think we'll try 2 cups of rice and 1 can of food for a couple days to see. We've still got half a case of Science Diet cans.

The I/D works, it's just a little more expensive. Maybe we can find it on-line for less and get our vet to meet that price.

Jolly Ball!

Oz & Teri playing with his new Jolly Ball. Besides the Kong, this is the only toy we've ever given a Rottie that has not been shredded in 20 minutes. That kinda the test. If it makes it 20 minutes, your good to go.

Nail Trimmer Success!

        

We have acquired one Dremel 3000, pictured to the left < and have successfully trimmed Oz's nails. This is a good thing because:

1. They needed trimming
2. He was not having anything to do with the vet and her team  doing it
3. He is getting better with people messing with him

DO NOT BUY PEDI-PAWS! We did. It's a pile of shit. 

This thing works great. Put in the bigger of the two sanding drums, set it a little higher than the lowest setting and start grinding down some dog nails. 

Little bits of cheese sticks and one other person to distract the patient help a lot. Thanks Teri!

Oz is okay

Other than stinkin' up the place all night, Oz is right as rain this morning. I got a big wet nose in my face at 5:00 a.m. as usual. My clock was set early today, so I get that. What I don't get is all the other days. Someone must have a clock set near us that he can hear is all I can figure.

Teri let him out, I started my a.m. routine. One more commute over the Bay Bridge and I am here at work again. Another day ...  It is nice having the best interactive security system with an attitude that money can by watching over our home.