fearful dogs

Here is a good website for socializing fearful dogs
www.fearfuldogs.com

Real "Russian" Tea

Russian Tea recipe:

3 lemons (about 3/4 cups)
3 oranges (about 1 3/4 cups from juice oranges)
2 slices pineapple
1 teaspoon cloves
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar (use beet sugar or evaporated cane juice to make it vegan)
8 cups water
8 regular tea bags

Squeeze lemons and oranges and set juice aside. Boil water and pour
over lemon/orange rinds, pineapple, cloves, sugar and tea (I've also
boiled the water in the pot, added these things and taken it off of
the heat to steep). Let sit for 5 minutes then add juice. Strain to
remove rinds, pulp, cloves and pineapple slices. You can store in the
refrigerator but don't reheat to a boil, just warm and serve.

Cosmo

My crazy cat seems to be doing better. I'm letting the hair grow back on his chin now without keeping it trimmed. He seems to be getting better with his attitude and desire to come around for attention. I think he and Zelda have come to an understanding and it is helping his acne go away.  I've been using the feliway plugin for a few weeks. Who knows if that is working too.

I have finally gotten Zelda to stop scratching the door frame in the bathroom. She doesn't exactly scratch it but she runs up to it and jumps up as high as she can like she's looking for a ledge and drags her claws down the side.  Her nails are trimmed so all it does is make a noise similar to nails down a chalkboard and it is annoying.  I duct taped the door frame so her feet will stick to it if she tries it again. It's working.

Making the Switch!

If you are contemplating making the change to a vegan lifestyle, I
would recommend a gradual change and not going cold turkey. And by
not going cold turkey, I mean finding a suitable substitute and then
eliminating that item. Not going back and forth from item to item.
Once you find a decent "chicken" pattie without chicken, then you can
move to finding one without egg whites.

The Purging Process

I think I introduced Guinness (Nick, Gus, smelly boy) in a previous blog. I'm happy to say that he is doing well. The purging process is gross but he's getting better every day. The purging process is the process that a dog goes through once he leaves the shelter and gets into a home. It is the de-stressing, cleansing and adjusting of his system form his previous life to his new one. While we are just a stop on the road to Guinness's hopeful new home, the process is the same. 

He has an eye infection, ear infection, skin infection, worms, low weight, diarrhea....a sundry of the things a dog gets when running loose. Every dog comes in with a different set of circumstances and "illnesses". Occasionally we will get one that needs minimal care but most require about a month of recovery and detoxification. The first thing that usually happens is a good cleaning - a double bath! and then into a crate with a soft bed to sleep it off. 

The first week home, the dog usually spends a lot of time in the crate adjusting to sights, sounds and smells of a new home. That helps with the stress and also, if a dog is coming from a shelter they normally are very tired and use the time to catch up on sleep. Shelters do the best that they can but it is not a home and during the time there, dogs usually lose sleep just from the stress of their situation. In that first week comes the wormings, vaccinations and the vet visit. Spay/neutering, testing for heartworms, and whatever ailments come with a particular dog. At the end of the first week, there is a slow progression of more time out of the crate so the dog can start to experience life in a home and get the routine.

We are starting on Guinness's second week tomorrow. So far he is doing well.

Our new foster dog

Ol St Nick. Of all the dogs in the shelter, you might be the grossest and definately not the cutest and you might even be the oldest......but damn, you sure are the nicest.  Picking out a foster dogs was a no brainer this day.  Of all the pretty dogs, puppies, purebreds and what not to choose....we chose this guy.  We chose him because in spite of what he looks like on the outside (gooey eyes, bad skin, dirty ears and patchy rough dry coat that is pretty thin) he has a heart of gold.  He is snuggly, wiggly and just super sweet.  I think he will turn out alright once we get him home, cleaned up and vetted.  He's got a nice deep red and chocolatey coat. He has a bomb proof temperament and is just a real gem. He's good with other dogs and appears good with cats. He is a mellow love bug. He is quiet in his crate and responsive to direction. He is learning house manners and leash training and has a few basic commands. He would be a good choice for any home, even a first timer to the breed. He's a fantastic dog.  Just wait until he is feeling and looking good!

Why a vegan blog

I decided to make this vegan blog so that there is another supportive
website out there for vegans. Don't get me wrong, it's not hard to be
vegan and it's becoming easier every day. There are just so many
people out there (most of my family included) who aren't supportive of my lifestyle choice and probably won't be supportive of yours. I want to be supportive of your decision as much as I would want you to be supportive of mine.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. I'm healthy and don't feel
deprived. I'm not 100% vegan yet but I'm working towards it. I'd say
I'm 98% vegan with some slips when I don't read labels carefully
enough. I also have some leather that I haven't replaced with animal
friendly versions. I also use leather leashes when I'm working with
dogs. Until they come up with a animal friendly version that's easy on
the hands like a leather latigo leash to use on an unruly shelter
dog....i'll be using leather.

The best thing about being vegan is that I don't have to deal with
meat. I actually like food more now than I did before making the
change to vegetarian and then to the big V. I always hated dealing
with meat and meat by products and handling raw meat to cook it. It
made cooking a chore and I always had to be concerned with it
spoiling. Now the worst smell I have to deal with is a piece of
rotten fruit if I don't use it in time : )...so much better than
carcass.