Well, I finally got around to trying out raw feeding. I decided that I'm just going to do Pallo first, since he is less picky and has an iron stomach. I spent about an hour chopping up a whole chicken into portion sizes for him, so that all I have to do is reach in and grab a chunk of the correct size out of the fridge.
Last night he got a rather large chicken leg for his first raw meal. He looked confused for a while, licking it and gently picking at the skin and fat on the meat, then finally grabbed the whole thing and took off into the yard with it, where he took a good 45 minutes to eat the whole thing.
This morning he seems much more up to speed on the whole raw eating thing, as it only took him about 10 minutes to eat down his morning section of chicken. Since the single chicken is enough to feed my boy for roughly 6 days, we will be sticking with chicken for about a week, then introducing other goodies, to be determined by my visit to the store today.
We are gearing up for a flyball tournament in 2 1/2 weeks, so it might not be the best time to be making this change, but Pallo is a tough little guy and seems to be doing great so far, and I always have the option of switching him back to kibble until after the tournament if he doesn't do so great on the raw.
On the training note, Koira will keep coming to practice with me. I spent some time talking to our trainer, and we came up with some ideas of improving Koira's drive, like throwing the tug out for her instead of holding onto it, so she really drives off the box and over the jump (we are only using one jump right now with her). It seemed to be improving her drive a lot last practice, so I am eager to try it again, but have to work tonight, so will be waiting for next week's practice to get to try it out good.
Right now the snow is hampering our outdoor activities. My dogs aren't used to it, and while it isn't deep, it is cold and slippery to run on, meaning they slip and slide like crazy. We still go out to play, but I try to take it easy on them. Koira doesn't understand the meaning of taking it easy, and did her first ever frisbee catch with all four feet in the air.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
The day after Christmas
Well, its the day after Christmas. Me and the dogs had a good one, traveling to my sister's place. She did a big Christmas Eve dinner with her inlaws, me, and our mom, and then Christmas morning was just us.
It was Pallo's first Christmas with me, since I got him last February.
He is getting a good deal better at posing for me.
He is also a first class present opener. The pets always get presents in my family, so each of my dogs had four toys wrapped up as well as a bully stick each. Pallo got the hang of unwrapping his presents really fast, pinning them down with his paws and ripping up pieces of the paper. No pictures of it since I was supervising making sure the paper pieces were spit back out, not swallowed.
Koira has always been a great model for pictures. She sits still, looks straight at the camera, and seems to enjoy it for the most part.
Of course, you get even bigger pit bull smiles if you take pictures right after running the dogs at the dog park for an hour.
Koira is getting really good with the frisbee lately since we have added it to our playing routine. We've made a pretty big fool of ourselves for the past two years in frisbee competitions, but this summer I think we might actually do pretty good.
And of course, the dogs played tug with one of their new Christmas toys, ripping the tiny little Santa hat right off the hedgehog it belonged to. Meaning, of course, that I had to put the tiny little hat on the dogs and take pictures.
Hope everyone had a great holiday!
It was Pallo's first Christmas with me, since I got him last February.
He is getting a good deal better at posing for me.
He is also a first class present opener. The pets always get presents in my family, so each of my dogs had four toys wrapped up as well as a bully stick each. Pallo got the hang of unwrapping his presents really fast, pinning them down with his paws and ripping up pieces of the paper. No pictures of it since I was supervising making sure the paper pieces were spit back out, not swallowed.
Koira has always been a great model for pictures. She sits still, looks straight at the camera, and seems to enjoy it for the most part.
Of course, you get even bigger pit bull smiles if you take pictures right after running the dogs at the dog park for an hour.
Koira is getting really good with the frisbee lately since we have added it to our playing routine. We've made a pretty big fool of ourselves for the past two years in frisbee competitions, but this summer I think we might actually do pretty good.
And of course, the dogs played tug with one of their new Christmas toys, ripping the tiny little Santa hat right off the hedgehog it belonged to. Meaning, of course, that I had to put the tiny little hat on the dogs and take pictures.
Hope everyone had a great holiday!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
To train or not to train
I have a debate that has been on my mind for a long time. Do I keep training Koira in flyball just because it is a sport I enjoy and want to be part of?
In the basics of it, I just don't see Koira enjoying the sport. She certainly gets excited when we get out there, she likes working with me and tugging and playing. But she has little to no interest in the game. She doesn't get excited by going to flyball practice, seeing the building, walking in there, etc.
I didn't see how it could be with an excited, engaged dog until more recently with Pallo. He has always been jazzed about flyball, but he recently has gotten to a point of intense interest. He is always engaged, he looks to me for direction, and he has a crazy amazing time doing his favorite sport.
Pallo's behavior has emphasized a problem I have seen for a while with Koira, and it seems like I will have to make a decision. Do I keep working with Koira in flyball, or do I retire her from it after almost two years' training and only one (very disapointing) tournament?
I feel like I have done a lot to try to get Koira back into the sport. I switched teams, have done a ton of research, talked with our teachers and other people in flyball for tips. But despite it all, we seem to be at a stand still.
In the basics of it, I just don't see Koira enjoying the sport. She certainly gets excited when we get out there, she likes working with me and tugging and playing. But she has little to no interest in the game. She doesn't get excited by going to flyball practice, seeing the building, walking in there, etc.
I didn't see how it could be with an excited, engaged dog until more recently with Pallo. He has always been jazzed about flyball, but he recently has gotten to a point of intense interest. He is always engaged, he looks to me for direction, and he has a crazy amazing time doing his favorite sport.
Pallo's behavior has emphasized a problem I have seen for a while with Koira, and it seems like I will have to make a decision. Do I keep working with Koira in flyball, or do I retire her from it after almost two years' training and only one (very disapointing) tournament?
I feel like I have done a lot to try to get Koira back into the sport. I switched teams, have done a ton of research, talked with our teachers and other people in flyball for tips. But despite it all, we seem to be at a stand still.
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