Tag: puppy

Happy 3rd Birthday

by Mr Knitter, posted in Celebrations, Pets

Today is Mazikeen’s 3rd Birthday. I cannot believe how fast the time has passed since we got her as a little puppy aged just 8 weeks. Since we always spoil our dogs on their birthday, and the others always get present too as they would not understand, off M and I went with the girls to the pet store to spend a fortune, then off for a walk. Both of them had a great day with all the treats and toys and are totally exhausted.

Mazikeen at 8 weeks old with me.
3 years on

Dogs looking out

Cooking for Dogs…

by Mr Knitter, posted in General, Pets

Dogs looking out
Mazikeen and Harper looking out at the Natajack pool

I was talking to the trainer last week regarding the food that I make for the dogs, including the biscuits, and she said that she used to do that but after a few weeks gave it up as she didn’t have time to do it.  This I found odd.  I prep the veg, usually carrots, sweet potatoes, cabbage, green beans and broccoli and shove it all into the electric pressure cooker, and press steam.  That’s it!  Not hard or time-consuming at all, it takes all of 5 minutes to prep and the cooker does the rest in 5 minutes.  The only thing that takes more time is cooking the meats.  I usually make them lambs liver, kidney and hearts, turkey, chicken, pork, but even that does not take much time.  I usually just put some olive oil in a large pan, and lightly fry the liver and kidney for about 10 minutes.  The liver I cook as it comes, which is usually slices, which breaks up in the pan, but the kidneys are whole, so I slice them before cooking.  So about 10 minutes whilst the veg is cooking and cooking.  The whole lot get decanted into dishes and popped into the fridge.  I timed it today and it took less than 30 minutes, and that is done every two or three days.  I also do rice in the pressure cooker all of 3 minutes and that too goes into a container in the fridge.  In a week I would spend about an hour to an hour and a half each week to cook everything for them, which in my mind is not that long at all.

The biscuits obviously take longer but when it is raining like today, there is nowhere to go, and so I may as well make a batch for them and put them in an airtight container.

Last week I decided to do the kidneys in their own doggie gravy and added some garlic granules, this went down very well.

One thing I have to keep in mind is that balance is the main thing.

  • High-quality protein (meat, seafood, dairy or eggs)
  • Fat (meat or oil)
  • Carbohydrates (grains or vegetables)
  • Calcium (dairy)
  • Essential fatty acids (egg yolks or oatmeal)

I also give the dogs boiled eggs and add pure salmon oil to their meals, and of course, they get dog vitamins.  All in all, I think they have a healthy intake of food, and I enjoy making them lovely foods.

The Puppy Foundation Assessment Certificate

Exam Time…

by Mr Knitter, posted in General, Pets

The Puppy Foundation Assessment Certificate
Mazikeens Puppy Foundation Assessment Certificate and Rosette.

Colour me pink and call me proud.

Yes, Mazikeen passed her Puppy Foundation exams.  I thought, if I am honest, that we would not pass as she can be a little distracted, which is due to her breed being super alert and watching for everything.

I had to prove that I could give both verbal and non-verbal commands, some and that she could understand and follow them.  As well as this I had to show I could inspect my dog and check everything with her cooperation throughout.

The first test was recalling her with one word only, and when she got to me to sit and wait for her reward.  The second recall was like the last, but this time, littered between her and me were balls, toys, snacks and bowls of food, so lots of distraction.  The time came, and with one word she recalled straight back to me ignoring all the distractions that she passed and sat in front of me waiting for her reward.  As she did the best recall sets she was given a prize, which was lovely dried fish blocks.

Next up was for her to sit and stay for 10 seconds with only one command, and me to walk away.  Obediently she sat, and I walked backwards away from her, all the time keeping eye contact, and mentally telling her to stay.  After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting I was allowed to call her, so rather than saying anything, I nodded to her and she ran over and received her reward.

The next test was one of the hardest, which was walking on loose-lead walking.  Now, if you are a dog family, you will know that dogs just want to pull and explore quite literally everywhere and be about 30 foot in front of us.  Mazikeen, being a springer with boundless energy just wants to be running all the time, and so quite a lot of times will be pulling that much, she will be walking, or hopping should I say, on her back legs as the harness stops her getting any further.  The day before Maz and I went off to a quiet field with no distractions to train as I was determined to get her walking with me.  The only way I could do this was to drop pieces of smelly treats in front of her so that she walked with me, this worked for a bit, but then a bird would pass or a tree would creak in the wind and off she went back up on two legs (Darwin would have been proud).  After 30 minutes solid, she finally seemed to grasp what I wanted her to do.  Before we went into the training hall I practised outside too with her for another half hour.  Our time came and we had to start at one cone, she had to sit, then we walked at a leisurely pace to a cone at the other end of the hall, she had to sit, then we walked back to the first cone.  However, Maz decided that for this she would go deaf at the cones, and just did not want to sit.  I got quite frustrated and thought that this was her and me failing.  She finally sat, and when we went to walk she seemed to be okay, with the odd moment of wanting to dash off, as there were dogs either side of the hall, and two in particular (brothers) were making that much noise it distracted me, nevermind Maz.  The instructor told me to do it again and told the old man and woman to control their dogs.  This was our last time.  Before we set off, the instructor told us that apart from the distractions some of our loose-lead walking was “beautiful”.  We had to shine and do this, this was my nemesis and I wanted us to beat it.  GO!  She sat, I nodded, we walked, she was focused on me all the way, she sat on command, I nodded, then we returned back to the first cone, and she sat again without needing command.  Success!

Finally, I had to do the full dog inspection, and it was done.

So, what now?  I hear you ask.  Well, I have enrolled us in the intermediate training course, which when we have passed that advanced, then finally agility, and with a bit of luck competitions.