Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Help! My IW Doesn't Like Dog Food
Got a little problem. Riagan doesn't like dog food. She won't eat it. She'd rather starve than eat it. She will eat canned dogs foods like Alpo with sliced sirloin, but she'd really prefer people food.
Let's see...salmon, hamburgers, bagels, bacon, toast, eggs, pretty much anything we like. As a general rule, if we like it, she does. If we don't like it, she won't. (Except the Alpo example, but that does look pretty good, too.)
What should I do? Does this mean I need to add another plate at the dinner table?
Let's see...salmon, hamburgers, bagels, bacon, toast, eggs, pretty much anything we like. As a general rule, if we like it, she does. If we don't like it, she won't. (Except the Alpo example, but that does look pretty good, too.)
What should I do? Does this mean I need to add another plate at the dinner table?
Monday, July 18, 2011
Hanging Out with a Celebrity
No matter where you go with an Irish Wolfhound, you're popular. Not that you are popular, since all everyone wants to see is the Wolfhound, but when you're holding the leash--hey, you get the benefits of their celebrity. It's really nice to be a part of all that friendliness. On our adventure yesterday, there was a man who smiled from ear to ear and told us he'd grown up with a Wolfhound. I know what that feels like. After having grown up with one, too, it took me over 20 years to see another.
Once you've experience the intense, I'd say FIERCE, loyalty and love of a Wolfhound, you never forget it.
Riagan is so intensely connected, she won't even eat her food at meal times until she's convinced there is no more opportunity for us to pet her. If that is an hour, she won't think about food for an hour. In the mornings, if either my husband or I are still in bed and the other gets up to take her out to the bathroom or go to work, she won't go. Instead, She'll turn around at the stairway, go back to the bedroom door and she'll lay there until whoever is still in bed gets up and comes out.
About a month ago, my husband and I finally got to order a canopy for our dogs. It's not something we would have ever wanted for ourselves, but as Riagan grew, it was more and more difficult to travel with her in the cab. I couldn't do it by myself because she'd want to jump in the front with me, making it difficult to drive. We were super happy when we got the call that it was in and had it installed. The next day we decided on a ROAD TRIP with our girls.
And this was our reward.
It was a gorgeous day with our dogs.
These pictures from Mt. Spokane, looking over the GREAT Northwest, remind me of some craggy spot in Ireland. Riagan looks right at home.
Last month Riagan came into heat. Irish Wolfhounds experience their first heats later than other breeds, and from what I've read, only have one a year. It presented a lot of problems for us both because of the bleeding and the possibility of breeding. The bleeding, it turned out, was pretty manageable, and we spent a lot of time out of doors. The breeding surprised us, too. Not one male dog showed up on our property--that we know of. Doesn't that seem strange? Usually they come from miles around when a female is in heat. But nada. So, I'm hoping there are no surprises and that we were successful in keeping her chaste.
I can't remember if I wrote about her porcupine encounter on this blog, but she had one. Hers was particularly bad because she also killed the porcupine, which means it was in her mouth, which means the quills were all over her mouth and throat. It was horrible.
After a successful surgery and recovery at home, we started to feel something hard lodged in her nose. She stopped eating her food. We took her back in and discovered it was a broken-off quill. They removed it about a month ago and we haven't seen anything else since. It is scary though because porcupine quills burrow in, rather than out, and can make it up to places in the head you do not want them to go. We can only hope that there are no more quills. She seems very healthy and happy, so they're likely gone.
We've had Riagan for a year now and she has changed our life in so many ways. As she's grown, we've expanded with her--bigger cars, bigger beds, bigger hearts. We've become an Irish Wolfhound family.
Once you've experience the intense, I'd say FIERCE, loyalty and love of a Wolfhound, you never forget it.
Riagan is so intensely connected, she won't even eat her food at meal times until she's convinced there is no more opportunity for us to pet her. If that is an hour, she won't think about food for an hour. In the mornings, if either my husband or I are still in bed and the other gets up to take her out to the bathroom or go to work, she won't go. Instead, She'll turn around at the stairway, go back to the bedroom door and she'll lay there until whoever is still in bed gets up and comes out.
About a month ago, my husband and I finally got to order a canopy for our dogs. It's not something we would have ever wanted for ourselves, but as Riagan grew, it was more and more difficult to travel with her in the cab. I couldn't do it by myself because she'd want to jump in the front with me, making it difficult to drive. We were super happy when we got the call that it was in and had it installed. The next day we decided on a ROAD TRIP with our girls.
And this was our reward.
It was a gorgeous day with our dogs.
These pictures from Mt. Spokane, looking over the GREAT Northwest, remind me of some craggy spot in Ireland. Riagan looks right at home.
Last month Riagan came into heat. Irish Wolfhounds experience their first heats later than other breeds, and from what I've read, only have one a year. It presented a lot of problems for us both because of the bleeding and the possibility of breeding. The bleeding, it turned out, was pretty manageable, and we spent a lot of time out of doors. The breeding surprised us, too. Not one male dog showed up on our property--that we know of. Doesn't that seem strange? Usually they come from miles around when a female is in heat. But nada. So, I'm hoping there are no surprises and that we were successful in keeping her chaste.
I can't remember if I wrote about her porcupine encounter on this blog, but she had one. Hers was particularly bad because she also killed the porcupine, which means it was in her mouth, which means the quills were all over her mouth and throat. It was horrible.
After a successful surgery and recovery at home, we started to feel something hard lodged in her nose. She stopped eating her food. We took her back in and discovered it was a broken-off quill. They removed it about a month ago and we haven't seen anything else since. It is scary though because porcupine quills burrow in, rather than out, and can make it up to places in the head you do not want them to go. We can only hope that there are no more quills. She seems very healthy and happy, so they're likely gone.
We've had Riagan for a year now and she has changed our life in so many ways. As she's grown, we've expanded with her--bigger cars, bigger beds, bigger hearts. We've become an Irish Wolfhound family.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Riagan Chases Her First Coyote
Riagan and Maggie sleeping together--she looks so much smaller like that.
Yesterday was the first day Riagan chased a coyote off our property. Yay, Riagan!! She didn't seem to want to hurt it, because she could have easily caught it, but instead ran behind and made sure it left the pastures.
Maybe this means our barn kitties will survive.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Memory Lane
I was going through my old Blackberry memory card before I threw it away, and I found some photos I'd taken on the phone. Memory Lane. Riagan is much bigger now and just celebrated her first birthday. Puppy time really flies, doesn't it?
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Irish Wolfhound and Mustang Play
Here's a very short video of our Irish Wolfhound, Riagan, playing with our Mustang, Beautiful Girl. They're buddies and Beautiful lets her get away with a lot. Most dogs would get kicked if they took the liberties Riagan does.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Walking Riagan & XXXL Dog Bed
I didn't realize the hole in my dog training until we took Riagan out this weekend. The temps hit 50 with sunshine, and everyone was out for a stroll. When we walked the same place in colder weather, there was no one to be seen.
But this was a good thing--an opportunity to teach her to walk on and not jump out to say hello to every dog and human that passed. Was it easy? No. She's so strong, it's really hard to keep her back. By the end of the walk, she was much better. She was on my right side, and she would cut to the left a bit where the walkers were, but only slightly.
Did I mention before that she has a bursa on her right elbow? Wolfhounds are lanky, boney dogs, and there's a reason why her breeders suggested a comfy, elevated bed other than just wanting their dogs spoiled.
Apparently, if their boney joints lay on hard surfaces, bursas can form--these large, fluid-filled sacs that help protect the joint. They're unsightly, but not painful. Hers has been there for at least two weeks now, with no sign of going away. I think she developed it from laying on the concrete garage floor on a day we had to leave town, and we put the dogs in there to be safe. We put their beds in the garage, too, but she's so big, she sometimes lays half off it. I need to order the extra, extra large bed for her.
I found this one on Amazon--apparently, sold out. It received 5 stars from almost everyone who bought it, and many of those people own Great Danes. I put it on my wishlist.
JUMBO XXXL OVER STUFF EXTRA LARGE ORTHOPEDIC 58"X50" THICK HEAVY DUTY MEMORY PET DOG BED PILLOW with 2 layer of covers
2 layer of fabric cover : Inner layer water resist Taffeta fabric zipper cover with strong industrial stitch to secure the stuffing. The bed also comes with our durable zipper jean denim fabric cover (outside layer) for easy cleaning and maintain. BEST material for best comfort and long lasting. Extra replacement cover is available at my other listing for combine shipping discount.
The bed is over stuff with top quality shredded memory foam for ultimate comfort and support. Mixed with 100% new premium fiber-fil and new shredded polyurathane foam for maximum resiliency and loft. Our new shredded mixed foam comes with multi color and density to achieve the best comfort and support in balance.
DogBed4Less bed product is 3-5 times weight more than other bed sold in retailer and a lot more practical compare to others because of our premium foam stuffing and re-useable durable fabric. Why spend more money to replace the poly-fill bed regularly while you can get a luxury comfort foam bed that your dog will love and last longer with easy maintain? Additional replacement cover, more sizes or memory foam pad bed are available by clicking at dogbed4less link on the top next to the title.
The external zipper fabric cover is luxury Durable 10 oz jean denim with dark blue color (58"X50"), re-usable many many times and machine washable/dryable. The listing size is for the cover size only, the actual size of the bed will be slightly smaller due to thickness of memory pillow. Only internal cover is water resist which able to temporary block the water. The same denim fabric is sold for $9.99 to $19.99 for 1 yard in the big retailer store like Joann, This 58"X50" denim cover will need 4 yard of fabric that will cost $40++ just the fabric alone.
Our best thick combination foam stuffing be able to support your pet up to 180 lbs and will not flat overtime unlike others poly-fill bed. Great for multiple dogs or large dog. This product arrives very tightly packed with reusable vacuum storage bag. Please unwrap and allow 48 hours for this product to return to its original shape. We charge less shipping and handling fees from our customer compare to the actual Fedex shipping cost due to the higher weight of our materials. (about 20 lbs each).
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Jealous Riagan
Riagan is the typical younger sister: she always thinks her older sister, Maggie, has something better. When I hand them brand new bones out of the package, Riagan lets hers drop to the ground like it's not even there because she already wants the one Maggie has.
Maggie is a wonderful older sister, very understanding and kind. She will usually trade bones with Riagan. However, when Riagan does get the bone she was crying for, she'll then want the one she gave up. So, round and round and they go like this until they lose interest switching.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Riagan is Better
Well, that was scary. Riagan went off food and didn't go to the bathroom yesterday. However, it's been solved! She's gone to the bathroom both outside and INSIDE today! (Usually, I wouldn't be all too happy about the inside one, but in this case, YAY!)
I let it dominate and somewhat ruin my day. When one of my animals is sick, I can do nothing but hover over them. My husband, on the other hand, is quick to point out it will all be okay, everything's all right, etc. And he is correct 99 percent of the time....but the other 1 percent, he's wrong!
So, I'll continue to take seriously every possible threat to my animal's welfare. But for the time being, we're out of the woods.
I let it dominate and somewhat ruin my day. When one of my animals is sick, I can do nothing but hover over them. My husband, on the other hand, is quick to point out it will all be okay, everything's all right, etc. And he is correct 99 percent of the time....but the other 1 percent, he's wrong!
So, I'll continue to take seriously every possible threat to my animal's welfare. But for the time being, we're out of the woods.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Riagan Is Sick
Something is wrong with Riagan. A few nights ago she threw up at about 3:00 am. Then, yesterday, we found traces of where she'd thrown up again. And, last night, she gagged a bit.
Other than that, she seemed perfectly normal: playing, sleeping, eating...until this morning. This morning, she isn't interested in food and she hasn't gone to the bathroom. She still seems happy and energetic, but going off food and not going to the bathroom are bad signs.
If it doesn't clear up soon, by noon, we'll be taking a trip to the vet.
I'm wondering, could it be parasites--worms? An obstruction? It will be an interesting day. I hope it will be resolved quickly and easily.
Other than that, she seemed perfectly normal: playing, sleeping, eating...until this morning. This morning, she isn't interested in food and she hasn't gone to the bathroom. She still seems happy and energetic, but going off food and not going to the bathroom are bad signs.
If it doesn't clear up soon, by noon, we'll be taking a trip to the vet.
I'm wondering, could it be parasites--worms? An obstruction? It will be an interesting day. I hope it will be resolved quickly and easily.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Stylish Blogger Award--Thanks!
I want to thank, Wolfie, at What Was I Thinking, for the Stylish Blogger Award. Thank you so much! How fun to get an award for this blog--For the Love of Irish Wolfhounds!
The rules are:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!
As for the 15 bloggers, please see my Blog Roll on my blog, Beautiful Mustang, they are all my favorites, and I read them every day. They are all quite different-some are horse people, artists, writers, dog lovers--a large collection of interesting people and stories.
Now, for seven things about me--seven unusual things about me....
1. I love to hot tub (almost 12 months out of the year) with my husband and a cigar. We like to look at our horses, let a glass of wine float (the stemmed ones float really well) and smoke a stogie together. If you read someday, I've died of throat or lung or tongue cancer, you have my permission to blame it on this particular bad habit of mine.
2. I'm really bad with money. I really don't "get" the phrase, There's no more money. I mean, I can understand it intellectually, but not practically. Luckily for me, my husband does.
3. I love to watch reruns of Frasier and the PBS version of Sherlock Holmes. Love them. Love them.
4. My first car was a yellow Datsun pick-up from the '70's. It had bad rings and blew smoke every time I shifted. I paid $500.00 for it from the lemon lot. Oddly enough, even though it could barely push 50 mph, I managed to get tickets in it. I think the cops saw me coming from all the smoke and probably thought---This will be fun! Lucky for me, the truck was hit by another vehichle when it was parked--like winning the Lottery!!--and I got a new car out of the deal--um, a newer car.
(Riagan's dad, Keller, US and Intl Champion)
5. I want to "show" my Irish Wolfhound, but I have no real idea how. I might give it a try this spring, despite that.
6. I have to wear arch supports.
7. I LoVE, LOVe, Love boots. I try to wear them all year 'round. If I had an endless supply of money, I'd buy more, more, more. I'd love to have a pair for every mood, every day, every outfit, every whim. Ahhhh....if only.
Thanks again, Wolfie!!!
The rules are:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!
As for the 15 bloggers, please see my Blog Roll on my blog, Beautiful Mustang, they are all my favorites, and I read them every day. They are all quite different-some are horse people, artists, writers, dog lovers--a large collection of interesting people and stories.
Now, for seven things about me--seven unusual things about me....
1. I love to hot tub (almost 12 months out of the year) with my husband and a cigar. We like to look at our horses, let a glass of wine float (the stemmed ones float really well) and smoke a stogie together. If you read someday, I've died of throat or lung or tongue cancer, you have my permission to blame it on this particular bad habit of mine.
2. I'm really bad with money. I really don't "get" the phrase, There's no more money. I mean, I can understand it intellectually, but not practically. Luckily for me, my husband does.
3. I love to watch reruns of Frasier and the PBS version of Sherlock Holmes. Love them. Love them.
4. My first car was a yellow Datsun pick-up from the '70's. It had bad rings and blew smoke every time I shifted. I paid $500.00 for it from the lemon lot. Oddly enough, even though it could barely push 50 mph, I managed to get tickets in it. I think the cops saw me coming from all the smoke and probably thought---This will be fun! Lucky for me, the truck was hit by another vehichle when it was parked--like winning the Lottery!!--and I got a new car out of the deal--um, a newer car.
(Riagan's dad, Keller, US and Intl Champion)5. I want to "show" my Irish Wolfhound, but I have no real idea how. I might give it a try this spring, despite that.
6. I have to wear arch supports.
7. I LoVE, LOVe, Love boots. I try to wear them all year 'round. If I had an endless supply of money, I'd buy more, more, more. I'd love to have a pair for every mood, every day, every outfit, every whim. Ahhhh....if only.
Thanks again, Wolfie!!!
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