Shadow's 28 Day Eukanuba Challenge

About a month ago, I received an invite to participate in a 28 Day Eukanuba Challenge. I was informed that during this time, I would receive free food for my dog if I agreed to feed it to her and blog about it. I accepted. I will be blogging about this experience during the next few weeks ...

First off, it was very nice not to be excluded for living in Canada. There are SO many product review opportunities that I am asked to participate in and as soon as they find out I'm in Canada, they thank me for my time and send my on my merry way - product-less. It is nice to find a company who is willing to include Canada in its surveys.



In fact, the contact person - Christina Kwan - was great about the fact that I live in Canada. When I notified her that the food hadn't arrived, she tracked it down (since it was over a week late) and confirmed that it was on its way. She mentioned that it might take a bit longer to get over the border but it will get there ... she was right! It has arrived and this weekend marks the beginning of Shadow's 28 Day Eukanuba Challenge ...

Let me begin by telling you that Shadow is 10 years old. She is a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix. She has had super severe allergies since her first birthday. Her allergies include food and environmental nasties. When Shadow has an allergic reaction to food, her face swells, gets itchy, her hair falls out and it will often begin to bleed. When Shadow has an allergic reaction to environmental nasties, her whole body experiences the reaction mentioned above (she gets bloated and itchy, then her hair falls out, then she bleeds from all sorts of sores). We have used many different products and procedures to control "the allergies of Shadow". Listening to her cries of pain and frustration during a reaction is heart wrenching. We take every precaution necessary to prevent outbreaks. Although I have agreed to test this food, I will stop feeding it completely if Shadow shows any signs of an allergic reaction. (We do already know that she can eat the Naturally Wild formulas so I don't anticipate any issues but that doesn't mean we won't be watching like hawks!)

When I went to the post office to pick up the food, the post lady said that she didn't know what was in the box; that they'd all been trying to guess at what it was; and that it was too heavy for her to pick it up so could I please come to the back and get it. (Ok, so I live in farm country ... the post office has been run out of someone's house ever since I can remember ... everyone knows everyone else and the post lady knows ALL ... they were quite perturbed that they couldn't figure out what was in the package! Snoopy ladies!)

The ladies at the post office weren't the only snoopy ones because as soon as I brought the food box home, the ACD thought she might like to participate in this challenge too! Sorry Kosha ... we only received ONE bag of food for ONE dog ... !

It was a challenge just to get the food out without the help of all three dogs! Pah!

Over the next 28 Days, Shadow will be eating Eukanuba Natural Lamb and Rice Senior Formula.



This was the only picture I could get of her that didn't show her crawling out of her skin with excitement that there was another bag of food in the house. (As it was I had to put the other two in a down/stay on the other side of the room to keep them out of the way!)



The other dogs are going to be jealous. They are already jealous. They always are when one of them has something different. They don't care if it is better or worse ... they are too concerned that they might be missing something to rationalize.

The new food has been poured into our air tight dog food storage bins. The bin on the right (the full one) is the new food. The bin on the left is our old food.



When I poured the contents of the dog food bag into one of the storage bins we use, I noticed a distinct difference about the smell of the kibble ... most IAMS products smell like play-doh to me. I don't know what it smells like to dogs. I've had some foster dogs who refuse to eat IAMS products. I don't normally like the smell of IAMS kibble. This kibble is different though ... it actually smells like dog food! It smells good ...



The other dogs are pining for the food and I actually caught the cat yesterday and today climbing into the food bin to steal dog food! Crazy, no? I wonder if I will have to buy a bag of this stuff for everyone in my house just to keep the four legged arguments to a minimum??

Guess the Breed #19

It's been so long since I've done a GTB post ... I think the last one I published was in June! So, I thought I'd put up an easy one to get the ball rolling again!

Here is today's GUESS THE BREED! What do you think this one is?? I'll give you a hint ... no, he's not a sheep.





Ready? Set? GO!



It's been a while but remember the rules ...



1. No bashing other peoples' opinions.



2. Post your opinion. Don't be shy.



3. Have fun!

Pictures Say a Thousand Words ... Caption Day

It's been quite a while since I've published a captions post. I really like them because I LOVE reading everyone's responses!



It's been so busy that I haven't been able to get my creative juices flowing. Unfortunately, that is most evident in my blog ... so, here's another one of those wonderful captions questions!



If a picture says a thousand words ... what does this one say???



Please feel free to post any thoughts that come to your mind! I'd love to know ...

Pupdates at the Shetler ~ Charlie

Well I have some good news! Ralph has been adopted! Yahoo! You go, ol' man! I have to admit, I was rooting for him. There's something about a 12 year old GSD at a shelter that makes my heart cry ... We still have Penny, Gracie and Charlie and apparently have 4 more dogs coming this week sometime. Penny isn't even listed as adoptable yet ... I will tell her story either later this week or next week. For today, I am going to tell you about Charlie ...




Charlie

At 6 months old, this guy has already been through a LOT. He was at his last home for only a week before they decided that he was too much energy (he was chasing their cat all over the house) ... before that, he stayed with a family for about a month. That family found him in a card board box covered in mange. They took him in, treated the mange with a local clinic, had his vaccinations administered and then rehomed him. We don't know any history before that ...



Charlie is a drama queen - and can you blame him?? If you touch or grab him the wrong way, he screams. You'd think you're killing him. He startles even the most steady of the volunteers with his theatrics.



He is a very chatty guy and will wow you with his "Beagle Bugle". He is mouthy and loves to get his own way ... but ... I do believe that deep down, he is going to be a really good dog. We are working through the mouth-i-ness and he is a lot better this week than last. I think he is stressed at the shelter and has too much energy to be cooped up in a kennel all day. Sometimes he just seems to forget his brain ...



Charlie LOVES to play fetch and will play with just about any toy. He seems to love everybody equally - there's no favourites here! Luckily, many of our volunteers will play fetch with him for a while, which seems to make him happy.

The picture to the right is him singing ... a-woo-woo-woo!! (I asked him to sit/stay and this is what he did!) He'll need someone who understands the breed or at least is willing to learn about them ... someone who will love him for who he is ... I shudder to think what would happen to a guy like this if someone took him home and didn't like his singing ... can you see a shock/citronella bark collar in his future? I hope not ...

Low Cost Spay / Neuter Clinics ~ Michigan

I am posting a list of Low Cost Spay / Neuter Clinics that I have run across in my internet travels. I've never tried these clinics out but if you have, PLEASE post your experience about them!! For a complete list of the states/provinces, see the contents page here.

MICHIGAN

Pupdates at the Shelter ~ Ralph

We currently have Penny, Ralph, Gracie and Charlie at the shelter. We had hoped that Charlie would be adopted this weekend but it fell through. Today I will tell you a little about Ralph ...



Ralph

Ralph is 12 years old ... he will be 13 on October 30, 2011. How do I know this so exactly? Well you see, Ralph was picked up by canine control in December. He was scanned for a microchip and one was found. After a long and frustrating search (three phone numbers later!), his owners were found but they did not want him back. We learned a bit about him from his previous owners ... he's only ever been with one family (lucky dog!), the date he was born.



You know, he's a great dog and anyone would be happy to have him ... except perhaps his old owners. Funny how that happens when you get old, eh?



Ralph is the nicest old man I've met in a while. Most German Shepherd Dogs I've met get cranky when they start to age and ache but for some reason, Ralph is not! He seems to always be in a good mood, though some days he has more trouble walking than others. Ralph walks with a hitch in his step. Sometimes he falls down because he loses his balance or he's trying to run and move too quickly. He just gets right back up and continues with whatever he was doing - it doesn't seem to bother him at all.



Ralph is on Metacam to manage any pain he is experiencing and he has decided that since he feels better, he should move faster (which is not good since his balance is so terrible!) Ralph's new home will need to continue administering Metacam daily.



Hopefully his new home comes along soon ... he's been with us a long time for an old guy! I'm sure he'd prefer a nice warm house (with no stairs) over the shelter's cold concrete floors (ok, he's being spoiled at the shelter ... he has 3 different beds and a special room to himself but that's beside the point!). Cross your fingers for this guy. He may need all the help he can get.