Fit Friday: Special Dogs are Special

At practice last night, I had some teammates set up to video Pallo being special. His stopping and spinning has just not seemed to improve with training no matter what we try, and the vet can't find anything funky about him.

Go figure, then, that he didn't once do his "stupid" at practice last night. I guess all we have to do is set up a video camera to record him and he'll run fine. Weirdo.

In all seriousness, though, I am wondering what the difference was. Yesterday had a high of 82, so the weather was even warmer than it has been. I've always thought he did worse when it was warm. Apparently not. He ran two races of five heats each at practice and ran all of them quickly and well without once balking, stopping, or spinning, or even showing any signs of wanting to balk, stop, or spin.

Thinking about it, he didn't do any of that at the demo last weekend either. He didn't run correctly (he skipped jumps like all the other corgis as his contribution to Corgi Chaos), but he didn't pull his usual thing.

The little bone shaped treats, with the bag in the background.

I am, of course, hoping that this means he is magically cured. Maybe it was a training thing and we finally got past it. Maybe it was a physical thing and it finally healed. The only solid difference I can put a finger on is that I started him on a new joint supplement. I actually started both him and Koira on new supplements, though different ones. Pallo is trying out Pet Naturals of Vermont's Hip + Joint supplement. And while I can't say for sure that it is what has made the difference in his flyball performance, and certainly can't rule out random chance or the juju of a video camera poised to capture his moves, I will certainly be keeping him on the joint supplement just in case.

It helps that he absolutely loves these. They are little bone shaped treats and are tasty enough that he acts like they are treats, not pills. Even the cats come and beg for them when I open up the bag. I've been using them as Pallo's treat when I put him in his kennel before leaving the house. He is supposed to get two per day, based on his body weight, so it works out well if I give him one when I leave for work and when I crate him for something else, like running to the grocery store. The dogs are spending more time at home now that the weather is warmer and they can't come along on car rides as much, which means they spend more time in their crates. They don't seem to mind, though, as long as they get treats when they go kennel up.

Theodore Trex invited himself to take part in this photoshoot in hopes of getting a cookie.

Koira has tried them a few times and likes them as well. I just have her trying out a different supplement right now, which we got samples of at BlogPaws, that has slightly different ingredients, hopefully to help her neck stay healed and her joints healthy.

Pallo refused to balance the treat on his nose, so Koira kindly stepped in, with the treat as payment.

In any case, I am rather over the moon with Pallo's perfect performance last night at practice. If it is the supplements, that is awesome, and I plan to keep him on them anyway. If it is some other magic juju, that is fine with me too, as long as it continues!

If you want to try out the Pet Naturals of Vermont Hip + Joint, follow this link for a free bag (first 100 people) or a coupon to try out the product.

Pet Naturals did send me the Hip + Joint supplement to try on my dogs for free in exchange for posting truthfully about our experience with it. As always, all opinions in this post are 100% ours and are simply our experience when we tried out the product. For what it is worth, I didn't honestly expect a huge difference in my dogs, since they have both been on joint supplements and glucosamine supplements for years. But this does have some other ingredients in it, and is much easier to give than a refrigerated liquid (like we've used in the past), and I was very pleasantly surprised at Pallo's performance in flyball.

Pet Naturals did also send us an additional product to try out, their Flea + Tick wipes for dogs and cats. These are a super simple, easy to use wipe that come in a dispenser. You just use the wipe to easily apply the product to your dog or cat, working it down to their skin if at all possible. On Koira, this was easy to do and required just one wipe. Pallo took 2-3 wipes, depending on how much he squirmed, and the cats each took one wipe. None of the animals were thrilled with this, and the cats object quite a bit. I like the smell, which is kind of herby and citrusy.

The container of wipes. Easy to keep by the door or toss in the car for quick application.

I am still finding fleas on all of my animals, though. For what it is worth, it is a very bad flea season here and even the Frontline topical that we normally use has failed, so I don't know if this product would be more effective in a year with fewer fleas.

As for ticks, I have not found a single one on any of my animals. We do have ticks in this area, but I honestly rarely get them on my dogs, and normally find them before they have a chance to attach. But using these wipes (or the spray with the same ingredients) before going on hikes or out into tall grass seems like a simple step to help keep the ticks at bay. After all, ticks can carry some really nasty diseases, so I don't see the downside on taking a simple step like this to help deter them in the first place.

As with the Hip + Joint, there is a chance for a free bottle of Flea + Tick spray for the first 100 people, or a coupon for anyone, by following this simple link. I was sent the Flea + Tick for free in exchange for posting about the product, but the experiences related here are 100% true and my genuine experience with the product.