North Saskatchewan River - Twillegar Dog Park

August 02, 2011 (7:01pm); Twillegar off leash

Vitamin D - The Northern Dilemma

For most of us, and our pets, vitamin D is produced in large enough quantities by a process of conversion within our bodies, using sustained levels of certain wavelengths of UV light. This process is an evolutionary trait found in virtually all mammals. However in certain conditions a lack of vitamin D can be produced. This occurs typically in northern latitudes during the winter when our pets are indoors all day while we work and then let out for brief periods in the evening or morning. The lack of available sunlight lowers vitamin D production and can produce ailments to varying degrees.

Given that vitamin D has direct influence over the absorption of calcium and phosphorus it has significant impact on development and maintenance of our pet's skeletal structures. Not as well known or understood is its effects on production of various enzymes that work with collagen structures in the body. These two issues lead us to consider that many of skin irritations and scratching that our pets endure starting about mid-November (in the North) may be the result of lowered vitamin D concentrations in the body. We now know that vitamin D is one treatment for psoriasis so it is not inconceivable that a sustained lowering of the vitamin's concentration could cause similar effects to a lesser degree.

The addition of vitamin D is achieved primarily through the introduction of cod liver oil into the diet. Although other marine based oils may provide higher concentrations of vitamin D in general terms the cod liver oil should be adequate. A typical dosage would be 5ml (1 tsp) for each 25 Kg (55 lbs.) of body weight per day. One caution though do not over supplement as this can cause negative reactions due to excess amounts of the vitamin.

To Supplement?

• While many believe supplementation is a basic requirement in food the reality is somewhat different. When you look at supplementation there really are only three reasons to include them:
• replace something missing in the diet
• for performance
• to treat a specific malady or disease

If you answer no to all of the above the supplementation is not required.

• If the diet contains a large portion of chicken with bone ground in, a variation of vegetables, the occasional addition of liver, fish, other organ meats, beef, tripe, eggs, supplementation may not be required. All the essential nutrients - fats, minerals and vitamins are contained in those items. Of course that means they are not cooked. 
• [Powdered kelp is suggested], as it is an excellent source of iodine a mineral that has been leached from the soils of most vegetable farmed land due to overproduction. The emphasis should be on variety as that ensures a full and complete diet.
• Do not get supplementation of the raw food diet, confused with supplementation of the dry commercial food! The dry commercial foods are lacking in essential fatty acids, and have been fortified with minerals and vitamins in their chemical forms. Both of these conditions create adverse reactions in dogs that respond well to supplementation. Adding these same supplements to a raw food diet can create different problems as the dog responds to an over abundance of one nutrient or another.

In most instances for the raw food diet 'less is more'. So when considering supplementation please check with a homeopathic vet and or someone familiar with the condition or expectations you are looking for.
 
More here: http://zerogpuddle.blogspot.com/2011/10/excerpt-from-rawfed-on-raw.html

Day 285 - Top of Bearspaw

Raw Food for Dogs

• About eighty million species including animals thrive on raw food. Only humans heat their food. Pet food manufacturers claim processed foods are “nutritionally complete and balanced”. In fact, the process of cooking, baking, heating, rendering, drying and so on depletes, and may completely destroy, the amount of proteins, vitamins and other key nutrients your dog needs. Commercial foods also often use poorer qualities of meats, and can be mixed with grains, vegetables, and other ingredients that your dog does not need. These fast foods lead to obesity, inactivity and other health complications. 
• Animal carcasses meet the nutritional needs of your dog perfectly, without any additives. They contain the protein, fats, vitamins and minerals that your dog needs for proper development. Meat, fats and proteins are used for energy, and bones are a source of fiber and calcium. Key dietary components are also found in and around organs, cartilage, joints and tendons.
• Dogs have NOT adapted to a cooked food diet, as evidenced by the millions of pets sitting in the waiting rooms of veterinary clinics with periodontal disease, skin diseases, cancers, organ diseases, diabetes, obesity—diseases that have strong connections to cooked and processed foods.
• Raw meat diets that include a variety of bones and organ meat contain the proper nutrients and ARE balanced. Raw foods contain the exact proportions of fat, protein, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes a dog needs. Your dog has little need for vegetables. Most of the nutrients in vegetables are unavailable to your dog.
• Another concept of balance is the idea perpetuated by the pet food companies: “Dogs need complete and balanced nutrition in every meal.” This is nothing but propaganda designed to make people buy into commercial dog food. Do we eat a complete and balanced meal every time we eat? No! We eat a variety of foods over a period of time, without signs of nutritional deficiencies.
• Cooked bones ARE quite dangerous. Cooking changes the structure of the bone, making it indigestible and brittle. Raw bones are chewable, are fully digestible and are not dangerous for your animal. Bones are a really important part of a dogs diet, and a major source of calcium and phosphorus required for the maintenance of their skeletons.
• There are also things you should not feed your dog. Advice is to stay away from raw pork and raw salmon. Some argue that raw chicken eggs are not good to feed your dog (I do but hardly ever). Grapes are a no go. Vegetables, fruits, rice, grains, etc. are not necessary. 
• Puddle's main diet consist of raw meaty bones (with heavy emphasis for raw bone rather than meat). Consistently he is fed raw chicken backs, either the carcass or ground up. I occasionally supplement his feed with alfalfa powder and kelp powder, with the occasional cod liver oil pill and salmon oil squirt (omega 3/6) going into his bowl. He's is fed approximately 1.2 pounds of food (all in) a day, breakfast and dinner. This amount of food should go down as he ages. 
• 3 or 4 times a week he chews on raw cow bones (neck, femur, knuckle, shoulder, etc), usually a lunch time snack. Treats are never provided. Training is done with respect and rewards are provided through immense praise and love.  
• Total cost per month = approximately $50-$60 CDN. Return on Investement (ROI) is .... off the charts.  

Day 284 - An eye for you

Sitting near Mill Creek Bridge 200 (Edmonton, Alberta)

Day 278 - Never work against Mother Nature. You only succeed when you work with her.

Day 278 - Meeting Mr Mookie

Mookie
(Toy) Aussie Shepherd x Border Collie; 
Currently 11 pounds, 4 months of age. 
Will grow to approximately 20 pounds.  

Solution - Spray bottle

A friend advised that we take along a spray bottle filled with water during "Puddle walks" to prevent him from pulling or leading on the leash. 



Well, tonight the spray bottle came into existence for Puddle. 


Human pack leader reports initial success using spritzes of the H20; We are going towards achieving the outcome of enhancing our walks by preventing the Puddle leash pull from occurring, and having a pull-free walk experience. 


The take away item here is: not to use the spray bottle too much, but to use it sparingly when "strong" corrective stimulus is required to override a natural canine instinct to go from point A to point B as quickly as possible. 

Flying Kites - Southgate Ward

Aujezky's disease?

"The reason we do not feed raw pork is that 
it can contain Aujezky's disease which is lethal and untreatable in dogs."

Day 271 - Hanging with the Chinook Winds (29 degrees Celsius)

Blackmud Creek, valley floor

Bearspaw, Edmonton - Fall 2011

Fall 2011

9/11 Rescue Dogs

The 9/11 rescue dogs: Portraits of the last surviving animals who scoured Ground Zero one decade on

By ANNA EDWARDS

Last updated at 3:09 PM on 5th September 2011

During the chaos of the 9/11 attacks, where almost 3,000 people died, nearly 100 loyal search and rescue dogs and their brave owners scoured Ground Zero for survivors.

Now, ten years on, just 12 of these heroic canines survive, and they have been commemorated in a touching series of portraits entitled 'Retrieved'.

The dogs worked tirelessly to search for anyone trapped alive in the rubble, along with countless emergency service workers and members of the public.

Moxie, 13, from Winthrop, Massachusetts, arrived with her handler, Mark Aliberti, at the World Trade Center on the evening of September 11 and searched the site for eight days

Tara, 16, from Ipswich, Massachusetts, arrived at the World Trade Center on the night of the 11th. The dog and her handler Lee Prentiss were there for eight days

Kaiser, 12, pictured at home in Indianapolis, Indiana, was deployed to the World Trade Center on September 11 and searched tirelessly for people in the rubble

Travelling across nine states in the U.S. from Texas to Maryland, Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas, 34, captured the remaining dogs in their twilight years in their homes where they still live with their handlers, a full decade on from 9/11.

Their stories have now been compiled in a book, called Retrieved, which is published on Friday, the tenth anniversary of the attacks.

Noted for her touching portraits of animals, especially dogs, Charlotte wanted 'Retrieved' to mark not only the anniversary of the September 2001 attacks, but also as recognition for some of the first r

'I felt this was a turning point, especially for the dogs, who although are not forgotten, are not as prominent as the human stories involved,' explained Charlotte, who splits her time between New York and Amsterdam.

'They speak to us as a different species and animals are greatly important for our sense of empathy and to put things into perspective.'

Bretagne and his owner Denise Corliss from Cypress, Texas, arrived at the site in New York on September 17, remaining there for ten days

Bretagne takes a break from work at the 9/11 site with his handler Denise

Guinness, 15, from Highland, California, started work at the site with Sheila McKee on the morning of September 13 and was deployed at the site for 11 days

Merlyn and his handler Matt Claussen were deployed to Ground Zero on September 24, working the night shift for five days

Most of the search and rescue dogs are Labradors or Golden Retrievers and Charlotte feels that the title works across many aspects of the story.

'I found the dogs, I retrieved them, they were there to retrieve the victims, it is nicely rounded,' explained Charlotte whose work is being exhibited at the Julie Saul Gallery NYC opening on September 8, in time for the anniversary.

After working on a project about police canines and other working dogs, she was inspired to concentrate on the animals that played such a huge part in seeking survivors.

Contacting the NYPD, the New York Fire Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Charlotte discovered that out of the nearly 100 dogs among the first responders deployed by FEMA, there were in fact only 15 still alive last year.

Red, 11, from Annapolis, Maryland, went with Heather Roche to the Pentagon from September 16 until the 27 as part of the Bay Area Recovery Canines

Abigail, left, was deployed on the evening of September 17, searching for 10 days while Tuff arrived in New York at 11:00 pm on the day of attack to start working early the next day

Scout and another unknown dog lie among the rubble at Ground Zero, just two of nearly 100 search and rescue animals who helped to search for survivors

'They were there for the first few weeks, they were trained to find people alive, although that is ultimately not what happened,' said Charlotte, who will hold a fundraiser for the First Responder Alliance at Clic Bookstore in New York on September 29.

'I traveled across the United States to meet with the owners and portray the dogs. They are all retired and I spent time with each of their handlers learning about their experiences.

'It was moving talking to Denise Corliss, who is the handler and owner of Bretagne, one of the Golden Retrievers.

'She told me a touching story of one fireman who was there in the rubble, and how taken he was with Bretagne who comforted him as he sat down to catch his breath.

Handler Julie Noyes and Hoke were deployed to the World Trade Center from their home in Denver on September 24 and searched for five days

Searching for survivors: The dogs worked around the clock in the vain hope of finding anyone still alive at the World Trade Center site

'Years later at a Remembrance Ceremony, the same fireman recognised Bretagne and her handler and they had a touching reunion.

'It developed that even though the dogs couldn't find people still alive, they could provide comfort for the brave firemen and rescue workers of the emergency services.'

Wishing to tell the other side of heroism from 9/11, each of Charlotte's encounters with dogs such as Gabriel and Orion and Scout stayed with her.

'The dogs are now old and they will soon pass away. Even during the time it has taken since my first work on the 'Retrieved' portraits to now, three of the final 15 have died,' said Charlotte.

'These portraits are about how time passes, and how these dogs and their portraits are offering us a way to deal with the things that happened as well as relying on them for comfort.'