Wordless Wednesday - Up to the Chin in Mustard

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Beach Resolution 2012

Cabana and I love going to the off-leash dog beach, and it's an absolute CRIME that we go there just once or twice a year. We only live 30 minutes away, but we don't go more often because (these reasons need to be read in a high-pitched whiny voice) it's almost always foggy and windy on the coast, Cabana gets all sandy and stinky, and it costs $7.00 to park our dern vehicle.

But our crazy northern California temperatures have been in the 70s this past week, and since the coast was clear (ha ha, by that I mean no fog), I made it a priority to go there. And this time, we got to go with our friend Susan and her English Springer Spaniel, Maggie.

Cabana has lots of doggy pals, but none are as special to her as Maggie. I don't think it's anthropomorphizing to say that they are true friends. When Cabana and Maggie see each other, it is pure joy--for them and for anyone who is watching. In fact, people at the dog park comment all the time on how these two girls play. They sneak up on each other, pounce, go for the other's hind legs, while all the time running and rolling and growling playfully. They never get upset with each other--they just are so comfortable and in sync when they play. I never get tired of watching them.

Cabana thinks the beach is great no matter what, but being there with Maggie was really the icing on the cake.

I hereby resolve to go to the beach more often this year, at least 6 times. So this was my first time in 2012--I'll post about our 5 subsequent visits, so keep me accountable! This was Maggie's first time ever at this dog beach, but I'm sure she'll be back. Hopefully, with us!

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Color Coded Dogs

The saying goes that birds of a feather flock together--but is this also true for dogs? These photos, taken over the past week at the park, might say that it is...

...or, oops, maybe it isn't! This photo makes me think of the Sesame Street song, "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the other, by the time I finish this song?" Yes, this jingle will now be stuck in your head all day--welcome to the club.

A grouping of black dogs, plus an Aussie, who is a white dog with black and grey, but is called blue (blue merle). Is there any rhyme or reason to that?

These black dogs have smidgens of white (isn't smidgen such a great word?). But the two that are facing away from the camera are Blue Picardy Spaniels--again with the blue! And some people say dogs are color blind!?!

These dogs look very similar, but the one at the top is a Brittany Spaniel. The other two are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

This is a Catahoula Leopard dog, who defies color categorization.

Then there's sweet Josie, a Golden Retriever puppy who's not really very golden. She's almost white...

...or WAS almost white, before she decided to give herself a makeover.

The pleasure is all hers.

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Now Playing - Valentine's Day

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Mr. Chewy, We Love You!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a new pet website called MrChewy.com. They offered me $50 in free products to give my honest review of their website and offerings. Of course, I was more than happy to comply! My first commercial review--woo hoo!

The first thing I noticed was their clean and bright website design. It's very easy to use, and I love that each food/treat item has both a description and a complete LIST OF INGREDIENTS--that's key information! I was impressed with both the variety and serious QUALITY of the food brands they offer. Very little, if any, of the cheapo corn-filled stuff. Instead, they offer tons of high quality brands that I trust.

With free shipping for orders over $49 and such reasonable prices, I can see myself ordering on a regular basis. The product ships from Pennsylvania, so it took about a week to get to me in California. I'm sure it would be much quicker for people on the east coast. Especially for people who live in areas that have inclement weather, whether heat, snow, or rain, or who have a difficult time schlepping big bags of dog food, having your order delivered by Fedex to your front door would be very convenient.

And best of all, if you order with my referral code (MIMI213), you will automatically receive 10% off your order. AND Mr. Chewy will donate $10 to the Best Friends Animal Society. How awesome is that!

Cabana is set for treats for quite a VERY long time. Hopefully.

I wonder if Mr. Chewy single. I think Cabana would be QUITE happy to take on the role of Mrs. Chewy!

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Update on Itchy Paws

Over the past week, Cabana's itchy paws seem to be less itchy. I've seen her biting on them a little bit, but not with the same intensity. It seems more like a boredom thing now, while before, it was more of a desperation thing.

Unfortunately, I don't think drinking apple cider vinegar helped her. I didn't try spraying it on her paws, as some folks suggested. I was worried it would leave residue on the carpets, but I suppose it would have been easy enough to wipe off any excess before letting her walk around.

I think the culprit was Cabana's food. It's kind of a long and convoluted story, but basically, a few months ago, I had switched Cabana to Nature's Domain Salmon and Sweet Potato. It's a grain-free food and seemed very high quality, which it may well be. Because it was grain-free, I just figured it wouldn't be highly allergenic. I guess I was wrong.

Around the same time that I was slowly switching Cabana to the new food, some good friends of ours moved to Hawaii. They gave us a HUGE container of Kirkland dog food, which Cabana has eaten in the past. Because I didn't want to waste the Kirkland food, I had been mixing it with the new food, 50/50, since mid-December. But in the last couple weeks, since we had finally made a dent in the amount of Kirkland, I started giving Cabana 75% of the new food, 25% of the old.

The transition was so gradual that I couldn't tell that the new food was the problem. I think when the ratio changed to mostly new food, the allergy signals became apparent enough that I finally paid attention.

Of course, it's all guesswork, but the pieces seem to be fitting together, in my mind anyway. Interestingly, over the past few months, I had been noticing that Cabana didn't seem as playful anymore. She would play with other dogs at the park, but only for a few minutes and not with much gusto. I just thought she was growing older and losing interest in that kind of play. But this past week, after removing the new food from her diet, she seems much more her old rambunctious self. Hooray, I'm glad she got her youthful energy back. And I'm sure she's relieved that I finally figured out the problem...or at least I hope I did.

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