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| My rotten, flawed, very much loved dogs. |
I am far from perfect. I spent six years getting a Bachelor's Degree. I like wine, beer, and chocolate. I eat red meat, probably too often. I don't exercise enough. I can admit these things.
I love all the dog blogs I read. I love the gorgeous pictures, the funny stories, the training tips, the product reviews, the health advice. But what I really love are the bloggers and posts that are honest and sincere, the stories of health and behavioral struggles, the poignancy and beauty that comes when one is writing from their heart, because they have nothing left to lose. The reactive terrier, the aggressive northern breed, the dominant mutt. The bloggers who are willing to admit their mistakes, and that their dogs are not "perfect." Though some bloggers make it seem otherwise, dog ownership is not all rainbows and butterflies.
I brought home my girl, my princess, my heart, when she was a seven week old ball of fluff. I wasn't ready to get a dog, particularly one composed of breeds that are known not to be dogs for beginners. That dark brown, 12 pound, gorgeous fluffy girl stole my heart. I had to carry her into PetsMart with me, to buy a crate, bowls, and dog food, because I had none of these things. She was the product of an "oops" litter, posted on my employer's online bulletin board. I couldn't resist.
I could never have dreamed that dark brown, 12 pound (and full of worms) puppy would grow into a blond, 100 pound, headstrong adult. We did everything you are supposed to do with her. After a bit of research, I fed her high quality puppy foods. I vaccinated. I took her through three series of training classes. I took her everywhere with me, and socialized her nearly everyday. After all of this, she is a bratty, at times obnoxious, diva. She doesn't walk well on a leash. She is leery of screaming children and imposing men. She doesn't like other dogs getting in her face, and won't hesitate to tell other dogs this, with what I refer to as her "bitch bark." She is the fun police, often times breaking up good play between my boys. She dislikes most other female dogs. She is nosy. She has no recall. She only listens when she wants to. She is stubborn, and most likely smarter than I am. I love her, despite her flaws.
I feed raw, but I am not a raw purist. I have no problem feeding processed treats, but for the most part seek out treats made of simple, high quality ingredients. Guess what? I sometimes give my dogs junk treats. They love marrow bones. Those sugar laden, full of chemical treats that are supposed to look like a section of bone with the marrow exposed. These are like crack to my dogs. I buy them a few times a year. My dogs love them. I give them to them. They also love Bil-Jac liver treats. I regularly buy these. My big boy gets his twice daily medicine smashed in them. Because I give my dog medication, for his
anxiety. I used to feel bad, guilty almost, about this. But I no longer do. It's ok. He is flawed. There is something wrong in either his genetic makeup, or puppy hood.
When my girl was a year old, we decided to get her a friend, another dog. We decided to do the noble thing, to rescue. We found our big boy on PetFinder, in a local rescue group. I was immediately drawn to his photos. Something about his features, his bone structure, his size, drew me in. We went to meet him. We should have known he was defective, flawed, not right, from the get go. But he was so handsome, and as big as our girl, so we ignored these signs. We adopted him. He bit me a few times in the first couple weeks. Our girl was such an easy puppy, never mouthy, never growling, never guarding, so this was an incredibly hard pill to swallow. My pride and heart overtook common sense, which is a frequent flaw of mine, and instead of returning him to the rescue we kept him. The big boy is not good around most other dogs. He cannot be around children, and most adults for that matter. He resource guards food. And toys. And space. We did basic obedience with him. Lots of positive reinforcement. Tried a Gentle Leader, he rubbed a raw spot on his muzzle. Speaking of muzzles, he has to be muzzled at the vet. When he gets really excited or nervous, he has to poop, usually it's diarrhea. He marks inappropriately when out and about. We have had him for three years, and have never trimmed his nails. He comes unglued, and tries to eat me whenever the nail trimmers come near him. I suppose a benefit of his inappropriate/excessive marking is that he kicks with all four feet afterwards, and this has kept his nails just shy of bear claw length. He can be incredibly sweet, and affectionate, but on his terms. I love him, despite his flaws.
While I try to make smart, informed decisions, another of my flaws is that I can be impulsive. I fell in love with my little boy from a Facebook share. When I learned he was only 30 miles away from me, I had to have him, no questions. It was serendipitous, in my opinion.
I went "just to meet" the little boy, and of course brought him home. He was sweet, and slightly pitiful. He had obviously never been a house dog. I can make this work, no problem! He ate a couch. Two XBox controllers. A Uverse remote. A TV remote. OH's divorce decree. He peed in his crate. He fear/submissively urinated. Daily for months on end. He was reactive. He was a frustrated greeter. He jumps on people, but is getting better about that. He is pushy. He resource guards food. Bad. I have never fixed the resource guarding issue with either of my boys. I manage it instead. He will growl and snarl if he guarding some illicit item. But will happily trade. He adores everyone he meets. He greets other dogs rudely, but wants to say hello to all of them. He doesn't walk well on a leash. I love him, despite his flaws.
My dogs can be crazy. They can be rude, they can be obnoxious, they can be jerks. Despite all of this, I would not trade them for the world. I love them, flaws and all.
I make mistakes. It is crazy cold here, and I haven't walked my dogs in a week. I sometimes give them treats without making them work for them. I let them bark at me as I am preparing their food. I sometimes coddle them when they are behaving badly. I have forgotten to set out food to thaw for breakfast a few times. Despite all this, despite all my dog related, and non-dog related flaws, I believe my dogs love me. I can only hope that I make my flawed fur balls as happy as they make me, their flawed human.
Approximate retail value $8.42. A dehydrated mix of all organic ingredients meant to be mixed with raw ground meat and an egg, and baked to make treats. It is a very clever idea, and perhaps a "gateway" to help people consider preparing whole foods for their dogs. It is oat-based, with spinach, pepper, parsley, and basil. I will definitely be making these for my crew, as the finished product is good to go in the freezer, and my dogs really love "homemade" treats.
Approximate retail value $8.49. Gluten, wheat, and yeast free treats with simple ingredients. These are made in the USA! I am comfortable giving these treats to my dogs, though not entirely confident they will like them. All three, at some point or another, have snubbed a sweet potato based treat. Time will tell.
All Natural Lamb Dog Treats. Approximate retail value $6.52. No corn, wheat, soy, yeast, artificial colors or preservatives. And they are made in our neighboring state of Michigan. Round jerky type treats that are easily broken. I am sure these will be a HUGE hit with my crew.
Approximate retail value $7.81. This is a smallish, felt covered squeaky toy that honestly feels quite flimsy. I don't think it would last longer than 1.3 seconds with any of my dogs. For this reason, it is going in the bag of goodies to be donated to the shelter doggies. In my opinion this would be an appropriate toy for a dog 40 pounds or smaller, and one that has a very soft mouth.
Approximate retail value (for two packets) $2.16. We have received products from this company in the past, most recently in our