McGee's Holiday Gift Giving Guide: Part II

In this installation, we will focus on gifts that McGee would like to have for herself. Don't worry, she's not going to get everything on her list. She'll have to narrow it down and be good...

For Dogs Who Like to Pull

McGee might disagree with me on this one, but we just got a Snoot Loop for her and so far, we (the humans), love it. Although she was already used to her Gentle Leader, it's still taking McGee a bit of time to grow accustomed to the extra structure that's built into her Snoot Loop, namely the piece that comes down between her eyes. It seems to me that, as she gets more and more comfortable, we are noticing less pulling and more paying attention from her. We've even stopped double leashing her to her harness and head halter in favor of using only the Snoot Loop on walks.

Ma, stop staring at my Snoot!

 

For Dogs Who Like to Chew

McGee's favorite chew toy in the house is an antler. It also happens to be my favorite chew to in the house because A. nothing had to die for her to have it and B. it was free because Dog Dad found it in the woods. Now that it's starting to wear down, I've been wondering: where can I find her a new antler if I can't find another in the woods? The answer: Grateful Shed Antler Chews. I will definitely be checking these guys out. Especially since they offer Moose and Elk chews (what are the odds that I'll find one of those just sitting around in Maryland?) and their prices are way more reasonable than anything I've on the shelf.

Bonus: Grateful Shed draws a client's name each month and plants a tree in their dog's name. How cool is that? That is something we can totally get behind.

For Dogs Who Like to Walk (In the Dark)

We need to get a replacement for our the light that McGee wears on her collar when we go for night walks. Especially since she is a black dog, we find a light on her collar makes us feel much safer when we walk her in the dark. We also practice extra safety (and dorkiness) by wearing headlamps and reflective vests of our own. These PetLit LED collar lights by Nite Ize are a fun addition to your dog's collar and keep them safe and easy to see in the dark.

For Dogs Who Like to Shiver

Stop it. Just stop. A dog pig?!?! Now your dog can be warm and embarrassed adorable at the same time! You'll have to check out Courtanai's other cute creations for yourself over at her Etsy shop.

Perfect for dogs who oink. This just solidifies the fact that I cannot eat a pig.

For Dogs Who Like to Minimize Their Intake of Animal Products

Dog Dad and I do our best to stick to a vegan diet. We know it's not for everyone, but it makes us feel good to remember the welfare of all creatures when we make choices about our daily food intake. We have thought about transitioning McGee to a fully vegetarian diet, but haven't yet found a vegetarian dog food that we feel would meet all her nutritional needs. For now, we stick to vegan treats and chews. We are intrigued by this new little vegan bakery called The Kind Puppy. The treats sound almost good enough for us to eat!


Sweet Potato Christmas Mix anyone? Yes please!

For Dogs Who Like to Help the Earth

Earthdog is the first company I ever bought a dog collar from. 10% of their profits go to Kody's Fund, a non-profit which funds spay and neuter programs. The products they make are earth friendly and they also take in foster dogs and get them ready for adoption. They even name their different collars after dogs they love. We give them five out of five stars for sure!

For McGee

Shhhhh! Don't tell her!!! I think McGee is getting a new tag from Purely Personalized this Christmas. They are just too cute to bear.

 

For Dogs Without a Home

A foster home, a bag of treats, a Kong, a jar of peanut butter... it doesn't take much to make the season brighter. Many dog treats and toys are on sale at this time of year. Please remember your local shelter dogs this holiday season when you consider deserving charities to give to.

For those of you who missed it, Dog Dad had a fun gig this weekend dressing up as Santa and getting his picture taken with local dogs to raise money for the Humane Society of Calvert County. The weather was yucky and the roads icy, but quite a few families still braved the snow and rain to have their dogs (and one cat) meet Santa. Molly Humphrey of Artistic Imagez donated her time and talents to the event and snapped some super photos of Santa and this sweet dog, who is currently available at HSCC. Special thanks to HSCC board member Jill Lee of Custom Dog Jackets for organizing a great event!

Such a sweet boy- his tail never stopped wagging even though he was feeling a little shy!

Does your dog get holiday gifts? Do you wrap them? Do you give gifts to dogs that aren't your own?

Why Spoons Are Great (& a 100 Mile Pact Update)

Dude! We may finally be on to something here! You may remember that in my last post I was languishing the fact that my dog is a Honey Badger when it comes to treats in general. She's got no time for the usual suspects when it comes to high value rewards. Chicken? Pish. Steak? Posh. Stinky cheese? That's ok Ma, you can have it.

So imagine my surprise when we discovered that our secret training tool has been right there in front of us all along! We just didn't know how to use it.

After we ran out of pizza at Monday night's class, I hunted around in our giant bag of dog gear and was dismayed to find that the only food items at my disposal were a half empty mason jar of dry dog biscuits and the jar of peanut butter we use to top off McGee's Kong whenever we stuff it with food.

Enter stage right: spoon. Spoon? Spoon!

Holy bunnies, spoons are awesome for so many reasons I already knew about, but now I have a whole new reason to love them! Did you know that if you load a spoon with peanut butter and hold it just out of your dog's reach, she will do most anything for a scrumptious lick? And not only will this distract her from all other canines, it will also be hilarious to watch her work so hard to please you while simultaneously licking gobs of goo off her cute little dog nose?

We may really be on to something here.

Natural progression leading to McGee's best impression of Crazy Eyes.

It should also be noted that McGee does not care for metal spoons. They get all clickety-clackety on her teeth and freak her out. I'm going to use up some of our stash of spoons-that-come-with-takeout-even-when-you-don't-want-them and then switch to bamboo.

As with any breakthrough, I'm sure we haven't found a cure all for our reactive dog woes, but progress is progress. I'm going to take this as a win and stock up on some JIF. Or maybe something all natural with no added sugars, but I'll worry about that later.

100 Mile Pact Update

Miles Accomplished: 10.44

Miles Left to Goal: 89.56

Days Remaining: 40

A Lovely Cheese Pizza, Just For McGee

When we first began our Reactive Dog training class five weeks ago, one of the first questions the instructor asked was "Is your dog food motivated?" Dog Dad and I simultaneously shook our heads in dismay. Though The McGee does enjoy her mealtimes, no treat seems to be important enough to keep her attention when she is reacting to another dog.

The list of foods we have tried is starting to sound like fodder for a Shel Silverstein poem:

What's in the fanny pack today, Boss?

Chicken Sausage, Spinach, Lamb,
Broccoli Tops and Cubes of Ham,
Hotdogs cut in bite size nibbles,
Ground Beef mixed with Doggie Kibbles,
Zukes, Cloud Star, Buddy Biscuits,
Tortilla Chips or maybe Triscuits,
Parmesan and Sweet Potatoes.
No Dog, you can't have Tomatoes.

I could go on and on here, but you get the idea: this dog is not easily pleased.

We chuckled during our week one class meeting when the gal in charge mentioned that she has seen people resort to ordering a pizza for their dog. Hahaha, isn't that so funny that someone would be that desperate to get their dog's attention?

Knock on wood people, knock on wood. If there is one thing we are learning from this class, it's that when the teacher speaks "hypothetically" or talks about that "1 dog in every billion", she is speaking directly to us. It's like if you were a middle school teacher who needed to address the issue of one kid who really needs to start wearing deodorant, you'd address the whole class so the kid doesn't feel embarrassed and hope that your point gets across. That's us with the pizza.

Yeah, McGee, you heard right. You really need to start taking this pizza eating thing more seriously for the comfort of everyone around you.

So this past Monday evening, we loaded up the car and I sat for the entire hour drive with a pizza box in my lap and a pair of kitchen scissors in my hand. That's right friends, I cut up an entire medium sized Papa Johns pizza into bite sized morsels for my dog. Then I bagged that sucker up and put my Ziplocs on the dashboard to warm over the defrosters. This is what it means to LOVE YOUR DOG.

Overall, McGee wasn't super ecstatic about the pizza like we hoped she'd be. The distraction of hearing or briefly glimpsing another dog was still more powerful for her than the alluring offer of some gooey pizza bites. While all the other dogs in class are now walking from cone to cone in an orderly follow-the-leader fashion in the center of the room, our little crew is still huddled behind baby gates and a tarp in the corner bracing ourselves for any moment that another dog might bark.

Though we don't feed her on class days so that she's extra hungry and ready to focus, McGee still had quite the food baby in her belly when we finished up on Monday night. Keeping her attention for a whole hour with other dogs in the room, as well as pre-class work with her buddy Mr. T, meant that McGee ate THE WHOLE PIZZA. I am so grossed out by this, I can't even tell you.

Since the pizza wasn't the enormous hit we thought it would be, not to mention the fact that I'm worried about the long term effects of letting my dog gorge herself on Papa Johns, I don't think it's an experiment we'll repeat. The good news is that, when we ran out of cheesy, doughy bartering chips, we still had a few minutes of class. In those few minutes, I think we may have discovered OUR NEW SECRET WEAPON. But more on that later...

How do you keep your dog focused on you when other dogs are around? What treats have you found work best?