windows to mac

I must apologise for my lack of good posts/blogging lately. I've just transferred from my trusty Windows Laptop to the famous Apple Mac and Oh My Goodness, I never thought they could be so different haha. I'm still trying to figure out where I save pictures from and so many other things, however I'm definitely improving! Has anyone else got a Mac with a few tips to share to a newbie?? haha.


Anywho's, a blog post wouldn't be much without talking about Jess and Molly so here's a little update on the cuties -

Jess got training with a little cat today, I'm actually thinking she'd be really good at co-existing with a kitty as she doesn't seem fazed by them at all. Although that could be different if it was in her house.

We're still working on the car stuff, we now have a game where she's in the car and I'm sat outside throwing treats in and she will look in the car for it, it seems to make her relax more there and I'm hoping things like that + the thunder shirt are going to make her a little less stressed/vocal when we're driving!

Molly saw a JRT today in her training, she kind of freaked out a little (this is the breed of dog that bady attacked her in January and she can be very on edge when they're around). She was fine after a few minutes and would listen to my commands, but she never took her eye of that little dog! We're going to work on that, I hate seeing her stressed but I can't take her out in the hope we don't see a certain breed of dog so we need to work on it.

We've also started on a new type of food. I'm not sure I've ever mentioned it here but one of my biggest fears are my girls developing bloat (this is what can kill your dogs in less than 6 hours and knowing the symptoms is life & death). You can probably call me paranoid about it and yes, I have symptoms files saved on my old laptop (crackers I know). The one thing that was really interesting that I heard was it saying that a dog on a high protein diet very rarely gets it, I wasn't happy with standard dog food tins so found a 100% mince meat in various flavours (beef, chicken etc) all I have to do is add other bits to make it a meal, yesterday they had mince with spinach, and it gives recommendations of things to add, such as apples, rice etc.
I'm hoping with the new diet I don't have to worry about them not have a more meaty diet. It's fairly cheap too (I can't remember the brand but will find it for another post).

Last part of my ramble, I've noticed a few of my favourite doggie bloggers do a wordless Wednesday post, I'm thinking of doing the same starting next week to make me a more consistent blogger (& we all know I take too many pictures of J&M haha).

Sorry for the no picture post today... I'm reading up on the Mac as we speak so shouldn't be too long before I figure out what I'm doing!

Heart Murmur Diary #1 (Feb 2012)

Today I sent the girls for their routine booster shots. Everything was normal I didn't think anything of it.

Jess went first, she had her injection and I asked could she have her nails cut as I can't do them myself (she had her toes broken in her previous home and gets so upset it upsets me seeing her like that) I thought a stranger and a vet at that would be fine with it but after one nail he said he couldn't do it as she was so distressed. He's recommended filing them down over time which is probably the best way.

Then Molly came in, he checked her over, she had her injection and then he threw me bomb that said "she has a heart murmur". My throat tightened and I couldn't speak. She's only 3. Only turned 3 on Halloween.

I know people have a heart murmurs and it never affects them but dogs are only with us a short time as it is so  it really upset me that this early on her health is affected. I'm going back for a second opinion I think... and advice as I knew nothing about canine heart issues before today. But I'm going to keep a diary about it all, so I can keep track & this is the perfect place.


Weight Loss - 0 as we only found out today. I have to get her weight from 24kg to 20kg. 


Symptoms - 

• Fainting - No
• Laboured Breathing - No
• Reluctance to exercise - No, she loves fetch as she always has. 
• Tires Easily - She pants but is always up for more so I suppose, No?
• Bluish tinge to gums or tongue - Nope, nice and pink :-)
• Chronic hacking cough - Not that I've noticed but I'm keeping an eye out. 
• Breathlessness - Yes. She pants very easy. I don't know whether that's cos she's over weight or if it's the murmur but lets pray that once she's at the 20kg she'll be as fit as a fiddle.

Diet - No more treats for family members. At all! I've warned my dad as he used to always give her biscuits. And she's going on a white meat only diet. Low salt. The best. 

Exercise - She had her sprints and a run today. She loved it and was my happy Boll. I'm unsure what exercise she's not/is allowed to do. Something to ask the vets. 

General personality/health - My happy girl as always. Always up for playing and currently snoring away in her dog bed :-)

Meal to try - Brown rice, Tripe, vegetables.


Gosh I love my pups.

Molly's weight story

It's not really a secret that my Molly is a greedy little thing when it comes to food - she has quite an appetite on her. Of course over time though I noticed that she had grown a pair of (ahem) boobs. I knew something wasn't right as Jess hadn't put on any weight and they both get the same diet & exercises.

So I looked a little closer at them eating and noticed then after I put the food down and I walked off to let them eat, Jess quite often (when she was purely on dog food) would refuse to eat her food and walk off.  Molly seeing this, would finish off her own dinner and then eat Jess's, which meant her weight gain was following closely behind as she could sometimes eat 4 meals a day!

But I'm happy and somewhat relieved to have noticed that after putting my girls on a home cooked diet, Jess has gained a healthy amount of weight and Molly is steadily losing the extra booby baggage.

She's looking much leaner and much more the size she is supposed to be.

There is still a bit that needs to be lost but I think we're definitely on the right path to getting both dogs weight to perfection!

 I know the health implications that can come for overweight dogs and my goodness I will avoid all that at every cost as I'm hoping to have two healthy, happy monsters for a long, long time!

The Homemade Diet

I've been umming and ahhing for a while but I'm now starting to put the wheels in motion and make the girls a homemade diet. Jess in particular has been a pain to feed over the years. She will refuse to eat dog food and just when I think I've found her a brand that she likes she'll get bored and I will physically have to lure her into eating something.

On the other hand she has never ever refused a cooked meal, but I suppose I was too lazy to really do that. Not anymore though!

Being a long time vegetarian I do worry about cooking their meat, not because of moral reasons (I will not make my dogs vegetarians) but because it's been so long I'm not sure how to cook it and I don't want to make them ill.

I'm still going to give it a go though, I'll buy all the ingredients, cook what I can and my mum has agreed to teach me how to cook the meat.

update: both girls have been on the cooked diet a few days now and I have never seen Jess so excited for dinner time in all her 3 years of being with us - she actually sits in the beg position, without being asked, until her dish is on the floor ready for eating, so I'm thinking it's quite successful!

xx