Life With A Golden

Just your typical day with a Golden Retriever who loves all things snuggly and loves to retrieve your things for you....whether you want them or not!

Our New Chuck It!

Oh boy did we have fun at the park the other day!

We got a new Chuck-It for Christmas and we were just dying to try it out!

Dad threw it as far as he could!

Then one of us would chase the other! It was so much fun!

We kept bringing it back to Dad who threw it again and again!

Murray kept being a ball hog but that's okay! We had so much fun and slept the rest of the day!

- Genevieve

The First Snowfall!

It snowed! This is just a bit of the dogs having fun in the snow!

Happy Birthday Murray!

This weekend we are celebrating Murray's 6th Birthday!

thegoldenduo in Doggy Tubby Time!

Chasing Ducks

These ducks love the chase!

They flock around us, quacking and begging us to come after them.

Look at this one mocking us! How can we ignore that?

But every time we get a little too close...

...they take off! What a tease!

One day ducks. One day.

- Genevieve & Murray

Daily Life In The Country With thegoldenduo

Treating Hot Spots At Home In Dogs

The majority of our last vacation at the cottage was unfortunately a wet one.  Most of the time it was humid, sticky and rainy.  Add a lake and some dogs who love to be outdoors and Genevieve came home with her first hot spot.

We didn't notice it at first because it was right under her neck.  She loves to be scratched there.  The day after we got home my husband was scratching and felt something hard.  We had a quick look but all it really looked like was a scab.  Since she's a Golden Retriever her hair is longer and hid the spot well.  We didn't investigate further at that point, thinking it was a deer fly or mosquito bite that had bled and scabbed over.

The following day Hubby checked the scab again to make sure it was healing.  That's when he pulled the fur away and we saw the oozy pus and sore looking skin.  Although we hadn't dealt with a hot spot before as dog owners we knew what they looked like and had encountered other dogs with them.  Instead of going to the vets we decided to try and treat it at home, give it a few days and if it didn't clear up, then we'd book an appointment.  She didn't seem to be in pain and it didn't bother her if we touched it.  It was also in a spot that she couldn't get to, being right under her neck (I'm assuming she got it because I forgot to take their soaking wet collars off the first night we were there so the skin didn't have oxygen to dry).  Then because of the bad weather and full access to the lake the area stayed moist for too long.

This is how we treated it:

1) Cut away all hair on the hot spot and surrounding away, cutting as close to the skin as possible.  Please be very careful not to nick your pet and have someone help you if your dog is fidgety.  You might be astonished to find when you start cutting the hair, just how large the hot spot is.

2) Gently wash the area with a gentle pet shampoo to clean and disinfect.

3) Use a green tea compress on the area to draw out the pus, cleanse and soothe.  Green tea has been shown to reduce inflammation and have healing properties.  Many people use it for sunburns.  To make the compress boil water and make a pot of tea.  I put four green tea bags in my tea pot and let it steep for about 15 minutes, making it nice and strong.  Put in a container and let it cool in the fridge.  Then soak a clean face cloth in the tea and gently apply to the hot spot.  I usually held it there for about a minute to make sure it soaked in.

4) Next spray a Benadryl spray on the area.  Benadryl spray is great because it helps to reduce itchiness and pain.  It's also something vets will recommend both orally and topically so I knew it was safe.  At this point I'd leave her alone for about 10 minutes to let everything dry out.

5) Finally we applied a topical hydro-cortisone cream we got at the drugstore.  This helped to heal the wound.  For the first few days we saw a lot of pus but that's because it needs to draw out the pus before the area can heal.  Make sure to cover all areas thoroughly.

We followed steps 3-5 two to three times a day for about 8 days.  At first we weren't sure if it was working because of all of the pus we were seeing but Genevieve stopped scratching at it within a day or so of starting the treatment, then the area turned red, scabbed over and it's been just under two weeks and her skin looks great!  Now we just need the hair to grow back!

I would like to note that as Genevieve is a Golden Retriever she's a fairly large dog so we weren't worried about the dosages hurting her.  Our vet has recommended Benadryl in the past so we knew it was safe and I had been told by someone who's dog frequently gets hot spots that their vet prescribes a hydro-cortisone cream so that was why I picked it up.  Most importantly though since it was in a place she couldn't get at, we knew she couldn't ingest the medications.  She also wasn't in any pain that we could tell.

If your dog has multiple hot spots and/or seems to be in a lot of pain it may be best to see your vet as I would not recommend anything oral that your vet hasn't prescribed.  Since Genevieve wasn't displaying any signs of stress or pain we decided it wasn't crucial to see a vet unless our method didn't work.  We saved the cost of a visit and got the same antibiotics we would have from the vet for under $10 at the drug store.  Whatever form of treatment you decide on, immediate action is crucial.  Hot spots are created by bacteria that can spread rapidly on your pet in a matter of hours.  Making sure your pet is on a flea/tick/mite program is also important.  Bugs will attack a hot spot worsening the area, preventing treatment from working and can easily cause severe infection and infestation.

Genevieve & Murray Explore The Upstairs!

Now that I work from home and spend the majority of my time upstairs, I was feeling guilty about leaving the dogs on their own for most of the day. Our dogs have never been allowed on the top floor of our house as they make the small pets nervous and two of our cats, Charlie and Indie never seemed to socialize with the dogs properly. A lot of this I'm sure is because Genevieve has always been incredibly high strung and would chase them excitedly when they would come around.

I slowly began to put this plan in action about a month ago when I moved the cat litterboxes down to the laundry room. I didn't do this to be mean but I wanted to force the cats to interact a bit with the dogs. I also wanted the dogs to get used to the cats so they wouldn't be so excited when one suddenly turned up. I also was tired of all of my clean laundry going right in to a linen closet that also contained a litterbox! Yuck! 

The litterbox trick worked perfectly and we started to see Charlie and Indie come around a lot more. In the evenings, Charlie has even jumped up on the couch for a cuddle with me! We've never had this issue with our other cat Cali as she has kept the dogs in line right from the beginning!

So since everything seemed to be going according to plan it was time to give the dogs access to the top floor. I made a new spot for the cat's dishes in the bunny room and put the baby gate up there. That way the dogs don't have access to any of the small pets or the cat's food. Then I went about my day. 

A few minutes later Murray made his way up the stairs. He had a quick look around, saw me in the office and settled in to a spot near my desk. 

I'm not sure what Genevieve had been up to (I'm sure she was busy causing some kind of trouble) but she didn't show up for about a half hour or so. Of course her tail really started to swing when she realized she was being allowed in forbidden territory. Unlike her counterpart, she had to get in to everything!

There were, of course, bonuses to having Genevieve upstairs like if your feet were cold she would bring you some socks. They might be covered in dog slobber and have holes in them by the time they made it to you but it's the thought that counts right? Or one morning she even brought me an entire outfit! How thoughtful! And just in case the temperature dropped 20 degrees over the course of the day, you could always count on Genevieve to bring you a blanket or two. 

Some days it seemed, they thought the extra space they'd been given was so they could have a good tussle! 

And of course the only way to get Genevieve to settle down, was to let her up on the bed. Hubby and I had agreed that if the dogs were to come upstairs they were not allowed on the beds. They already had the couches and we didn't want our bedsheets smelling like doggies. Well of course that's the only place that Genevieve would behave! I resorted to letting them have the spare bed only. 

 They both seemed content with this new agreement!

And my plan was working! One afternoon I took a coffee break and found Genevieve laying on our bedroom floor with Indie only a few feet behind her!

And another afternoon I was plugging away on the sewing machine when Charlie jumped over Murray and made herself comfy on the bed!

They've seemed really happy this week.

And how can you get mad at a face like that?

Mending Hurt Paws

At the beginning of the week Genevieve was jumping around in the creek when she cut her paw.  Although she was limping she wasn't bleeding and it wasn't until we got home that she laid on her side and gave me her paw to look at.  She had a look on her face that said, 'Mom look at my broken foot.'  Upon examining her paw I could see a very deep slice in the main pad of her foot as well as a chunk missing out of it!  Nothing was bleeding but it looked very painful.

Genevieve's bandaged up footie.

Since then we have been soaking her foot 2-3 times a day in warm water and epsom salts.  We leave the wound open during the day to let it breathe, then when I get home from work and after the soak I spray some of the spray bandage for animals on it to help keep it sealed.  Once I've let that dry, I apply some of Dr. Maggie's healing ointment on it (it's basically polysporin but for animals) and finally apply a gauze pad to the area and use some gauze to bandage it all up.  To stop her from ripping it apart I cover her foot with a stylish sock.  Of course if you let her out of your sight for more than 2 minutes, the sock is in pieces and she's got the bandage in her mouth which is also why we don't bother when we're not home.

Genevieve sporting her most stylish sock.

It's been about 5 days and although she still walks slow, she's finally stopped limping and can go further distances (which is great since we don't let the dogs in the backyard).  Also the gash is definitely healing as it doesn't split open anymore although I think the chunk missing out of her paw pad will take a while to heal.

For The Love Of Dogs

Genevieve completely exhausted after vacation at Patti's

I have to tell you about the amazing in-home boarder we use for our dogs when we're away on vacation.  We stumbled upon this business accidentally while we were fretting about who would look after the pups last summer when we went to Watkins Glen.  My husband was actually at work and Patti, the owner of For The Love Of Dogs In Home Boarding came in to do some printing.  He got talking to her and immediately called me to check out her website.

I have to tell you I had looked around everywhere for the right people to look after our two spunky Golden Retrievers.  It would be our first time leaving them for more than a night or two (in which case we had family stay with them) and the thought of them being thrown in a barn with 20 or so other dogs or being stuck in a kennel all day broke my heart.  I wanted somewhere that I wouldn't have to worry about how they were being treated, or how much love they were getting or how much exercise they were being given.  I wanted to know that they were having a fun vacation just like we were!

Well I checked out the website and was so excited we began e-mailing back and forth right away.  Patti is very thorough, making sure all dogs are up to date with vaccines and flea programs.  She even requires a puppy play date in advance at her house to make sure the dogs are suitable to being in a group setting, get along well with her young Golden Retriever, Jack and so that we can tour her setup.

It was so hard leaving them for our first vacation that summer.  I had no doubt in my mind they would have a great time but it was our first time leaving them, and with people we didn't know!  Well Patti took care of that!  She updates her website daily with a quick blog on what dogs have come and gone, what's happening and even adds photos so you can see just how great of a time your dog's having too!  That first trip we were on her website every morning to make sure Genevieve and Murray were being treated well and you know what?  They were having the time of their life!

Murray slept for 3 days after he got home!

For our second trip, Genevieve and Murray were there for just over a week and I didn't worry about them once.  Sure it was hard to leave them (especially when Genevieve started whining at the gate) but the daily updates showed us just how much fun they were having without us which meant I could have fun without them!

The best part was how tired they were from a week's worth of playing and running around!  We were exhausted when we came home but didn't have to worry about them, they were asleep in the back of the truck before we even hit the highway!

So if you're in the Durham or Kawartha area in Ontario and your dogs are an important part of the family there isn't any boarding establishment I'd rather recommend than Patti at For The Love Of Dogs In Home Boarding.  Her and her husband are truly amazing people and are running the business for the right reason: because they love dogs!

Home Cooking Dog Food

First of all, let me start by saying making your own dog food is a lot of work.  I dread dog food days, I even find myself counting down the days until the next day I have to make it again because that's how much I hate doing it.  So why do I continue?  Because the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Genevieve and Murray have always had sensitive stomachs.  It took us about 6 months to find a food that both of their tummies could agree on when they were younger.  They seemed fine on this for just over a year but it was costly.  We were spending $80 every 3 weeks!  And Murray had hives off and on and they both had regular ear infections.  Since they're Retrievers I didn't think the infections were because of their diet but because of their floppy ears.

Then last Fall, Genevieve started throwing up and having diarrhea off and on.  At first we thought maybe she had just eaten something she shouldn't have on a walk because other than that she was acting completely normal.  After about 2 weeks though she couldn't keep anything down.  After about 3 or 4 visits to the vets, tests and meds our vet came up with nothing more than an allergy to her food.  Genevieve also had a parasite in her intestines for the first 8 months of her life which he said could have done some permanent damage.

I had looked in to home cooking before but because of the work involved wasn't sure about it.  Now I felt I didn't have a choice.  So I looked at the back of some dog food packages to see what kind of fruits, veggies and other foods they put in it and made a list.  We also suspected that Murray was allergic to grains so I made sure to keep those out of the food.  Well within a day of making up a batch, Genevieve was back to normal.  Within a week Murray wasn't scratching and the hives we frequently found all over his body were gone.  And in over a year there has been the odd ear infection here and there, not monthly.  Both dogs have lost the extra weight they were holding (Murray was getting to be quite the heffer) and they're now more active and their coats are bright and shiny!  Our vet was amazed at how healthy they look and also the variety I put in to their food!

So what do I feed them?

• 8 cups of rice
• 2 2/3 cups of oatmeal
• 1 zucchini
• 3 carrots
• 6 large potatoes
• 2 yams
• meat
• 2 apples
• 1/4 cabbage
• 1/2 container of cottage cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1 large can of each kidney beans, chickpeas and green peas
• 3 stalks of celery
• Any other fruits and veggies I have lying around except mushrooms, spinach and onions 

I cook up the rice in 8 cups of water and 4 cups of beef or chicken broth.  The oatmeal I cook in 6 cups of water.  A food processor becomes your best friend with all of the veggies.  I chop them up then throw them in 1 or 2 veggies at a time and pulse them enough to get them small enough.  If you add too many veggies at once by the time they're all chopped up you'll have made veggie stew.  The processor is also great for the meat.  If you don't have ground burger then cutting up a steak and throwing it in the food processor for a few minutes will mince it enough to make it easy to mix in to their food.  I heat up the beans, cook the eggs and stir fry the veggies in oil and garlic.

All of this food lasts my dogs 5-6 days so we usually spend an entire day making up 6 or 8 batches to get about 4-6 weeks worth.  Of course if you have a little itty bitty dog one batch may last you a few weeks or even a month.  Lucky you!