High Value Treat

So, a while ago, a dog trainer said to find a high value treat to train your dog. She said don't buy treats like "Beggin' bites" and "Pupperoni" because they are all full of sugar. We used anchovies for Mika's training and he liked them. The trainer had mentioned that one of the parents had brought brie cheese because the dog could smell it and was all over it. That parent had all of the other dogs coming to her.

Well, when I came home from visiting my family, I had brought home some of my dad's homemade beef jerky. I opened the bag and took one out to munch on, guess who was next to me in a blink of an eye? Mika remembered what this thing was! I had used some to train Mika before (I ate most of it and gave him a strip or two during training.). Now, every time I take a strip of beef jerky out, he's at my feet. This is a huuuuuge break through because before this, his high value treat were "Greenies," but how could I make that into a training treat? I didn't, that treat is his special treat to make him beeline back home if he escapes. He only eats that treat on his bed. But now, I have found something that I can pretty much make him do anything for. I have never seen him so focused on dad's jerky. So, all I need to do is buy a dehydrator, a kitchen aid and the meat grinder attachment, and make my dad's yummy jerky.

The funny thing was, I recently had Taco Bell and Mika was uninterested, until I went and got a strip of jerky. That's how much Mika likes my dad's beef jerky. It trumps processed fast food. The cool part is, I know exactly what is in the jerky too (no unknown chemicals to preserve the stuff). =)

-mika's mommy

Do Your Research

This is a little late since most people would have already bought the dogs they want to give as Christmas gifts, but please, please, please do your research on the dog you want.

Rescues will be overflowing with dogs that need to be re-homed because people don't do their research before buying dogs.

A friend of mine just asked me to repost this because a special shiba is going to be put to sleep on 28 December 2010, a few days after Christmas. People who live in San Diego, please help spread the word that this shiba needs a home or a foster home. http://www.petharbor.com/pet.asp?uaid=SNDG.A1390011 I hope this is not his last Christmas. Please help make this a special Christmas by adopting him and giving him a wonderful warm home with lots of love. Please help spread the word!

Thank you so much!

-Mika's mommy

Thank you, Mika!

I had a small early lunch yesterday (it's past midnight, so yeah, yesterday). In the evening before Mika's daddy got home, I got tired and took a nap with the TV on. Just a note, I'm not diabetic (I just had a full blood panel done not long ago to make sure I'm still good and everything is functioning properly.), but if I haven't eaten in a while, my blood sugar gets real low and I get the shakes.

I remember looking at the time before I fell asleep and it was around 1730. Right before it was 1900 (around 1845), Mika had started whining, pawing at the closed dog door, and at one point, he had stuck his cold nose on my hand and wouldn't move. I had let Mika out to do his business around 1700, so I knew he was still good. I thought Mika just wanted attention, so I shooed him away and told him to go to his bed. I heard him go towards the direction of his bed and then a few seconds later, he was back up and walking towards me and whining. This time, was when he came up to the couch where I was laying and stuck his cold wet nose on my hand. His nose did not move, but his eyes were looking at me. I opened my eyes to look at him and asked him what was wrong. He still didn't move. Then I pulled my hand away and Mika just got closer to my face whining again, so I thought, "Wow, Mika must have drank a ton of water when I was sleeping."

So I got up and then I realized, my sugar level was low, I was light headed, had trouble focusing, and my hands were shaking. I needed sugar. (The thing was, when I was laying down, I felt fine. I was groggy because I just woke up, but I didn't feel like there was anything wrong.) Once I got up and headed towards the kitchen, Mika followed me as if to watch. Luckily, I had a bag of gummies out, so I had some of those and Mika calmed down. I opened the door for him to go outside, but he just looked back at me. It wasn't until after looking at me for a while that he was satisfied that I was ok, then he went outside, peed real fast, then came back inside.

Thank you, Mika for waking me up and letting me know that I needed sugar. If I didn't get that sugar, by the time that Mika's daddy got home, I would feel really sick and nauseated, and I'd want to just sleep it off. Then Mika's daddy would be making me eat something and I'd need to make sure I didn't eat too much or else it'd make me more sick. It's just a pattern of yuck. He knows my eating (or should I say non eating) pattern, especially if I'm stressed about something, I eat very little or not at all because I forget to. (I know, not a good habit, but I have two boys to remind me. One has a curly tail.) Thank you, Mika again.

It's so intriguing how in tune Mika is with people. I noticed that when I was on my period and I would be in pain, he would stick by me. When Nami's daddy was out with gout, Mika was glued to him. When my godmother had her surgery and was recovering, Mika was glued to her too. I knew Mika has a 6th sense, but I didn't know he could sense my sugar level dropping so low.

Flu Season is here!

My mommy wanted to borrow the blog to remind all the humans of some stuff. Here ya go, mommy!

Thanks, Mika.

Anyways, I just wanted to remind everyone that washing your hands is the best thing to do to prevent getting sick. Mika's daddy is down with the flu right now, so it was a reminder that the sicky season is here.

Here are some tips to for this sicky season:

1. If you are in the "at risk" group (over 65, I believe, and/or have asthma or another chronic condition, and/or work in a health care facility) it is best for you to get the flu shot. Best speak with your primary care physician first.
2. Always wash your hands! 1st thing to do when you walk into the house (besides unhooking the dog and dropping off the groceries in an area where the dogs can't get to, and taking off your shoes) wash your hands. After you cough or sneeze-> wash your hands. After anything you do, wash your hands! Warm water and soap (doesn't have to be antibacterial), sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" twice, rinse and dry. Simple, right? (You can sing the ABCs too, rather than "Twinkle, Twinkle" if you need to brush up on your alphabet skills.)
3. Always cough into your shoulder or where your elbow bends, and always sneeze there too. You use your hands to do everything from greeting other people, to preparing food, so it is best to prevent sneezing or coughing there unless you like to spread your germs around.
4. Drink lots of water. Stay hydrated!
5. Get lots of rest. The less sleep you get, the weaker your immune system.
   
6. Don't stress out. The more stressed you are, the weaker your immune system. So that means, more walks for the dogs! Some fresh air and frolicking from your furkids may be just what you need to destress and SMILE!
   
7. Get lots of Vitamin C (hopefully in the form of fruits).
8. If you're sick, don't go to work or school. No body likes getting sick from coworkers or classmates.

I think that covers it. If I missed anything, let me know and I'll add it to the list.

All the images are from Google searches.

He Waited!!!!!!!!!

I gave Mika a bully stick last night and I put it away after a while so he wouldn't finish the whole long thing. Today I gave the bully stick back to him. I had him sit, lay down, and then wait, which he did just fine. Then I thought, you know, it's been a while since I've tried putting something on his paws to try and wait for. (I tried in the past with a dog biscuit and that went horribly wrong, he ate the cookie before I said "OK") I figured, we're in our room and it's a long bully stick. It's going to take longer than a few chomps to eat the bully stick, so I had him lay down and wait while I put the bully stick on his paws. (Don't try this at home if your dog is treat aggressive, or just doesn't like you taking things away from him/her. I taught Mika that the treats are mine and if I want it back, he needs to let go. His treats are on loan to him, so I can take them back at anytime.)

This is how he did:

-Mika's mommy

Mommy was being silly again.

Last night, after mommy came home, she changed to her sleepy clothes. I followed her to make sure she wasn't changing into going out clothes and she decided it was a good idea to put her shirt on me.


Mommy, purpley-pink is NOT my color.

Veterans Day

Happy belated Veterans day to all of the Veterans out there! I gave daddy extra love yesterday. =)

Troy and Emmie from Hike for our Heroes was at the Veterans Day parade in San Diego. The SD Shiba Inu Meetup Group scheduled a meetup on that day to see if we could meet Troy and Emmie.

Here are some pictures from the eventful day.

Nami and Troy

Nami got kissed by Troy!

Our shiba friend, Tokyo, guarded our loot. Ah hem, the cookies that are for Troy and Emmie.

The cool thing was, my mommy and Nami's mommy was trying to get a photo with Troy. We followed him around and finally found him when he was about to walk for the second time in the parade, and he told us to join them in the parade! (It took us over an hour to locate Troy because he was running around finishing up stuff before he needed to walk in the parade again.) We were parade dogs! It was my and Nami's first time walking in a parade. We felt so important trotting along. I don't think Nami liked the drum very much, though, because she kept walking closer and closer to me to the point where she is right up against me next to me.

There was so much excitement on Veterans Day that when we got to the car and finished taking turns drinking water from the no spill water bowl, we both slept in the car on the way to the lunch stop. Then we drowsily followed our mommies to sit on the outside of the restaurant (where we dozed some more) and finally went back into the soft seats of the car to get more sleep. That night, though, I was so tired, I didn't want to go upstairs to be with my humans. Daddy had to carry me upstairs because I was so tired, then I curled up in my bed and zonked out.

Happy belated veterans day!

-Mika

Prepare for Veterans Day

Mommy and J were scrambling around the kitchen on Wednesday. They didn't allow anyone but themselves in the kitchen. They kicked everyone out, but since I have such a keen sense of smell, I knew exactly what they were doing. BAKING COOKIES!

Mommy and J were making cookies for Veterans Day for Troy and Emmie. For the humans, mommy made sugar cookies and cut them in the shape of ribbons (like the support our troop ones you see on cars), and piped lemon frosting on them to make the yellow ribbons. Too bad, she didn't take a picture of the finished product, but there are some pictures of their progress.

The little bag you see on the left side of the picture is the home made dog biscuits they made for Emmie and Harley!

Sugar cookies!

Cooling organic peanut butter dog cookies. Nami and I got to taste test. Boy did we love them. =) (Mommy and J didn't tell W, A, and J2 what they were and gave them each part of a cookie. Their expressions were priceless! Especially J2's! He looked around like "am I supposed to say that these don't taste like much?")

Anypaws, I can't wait until they make more cookies. The fresh ground peanut butter smell is making me drool! They still have the rest of their container full of that.

-Mika

Troy and Emmie pt. 2

Good news, everyone. Emmie doesn't have the pyometria. She just has a small infection that she needs to take antibiotics for and she will be 100% in no time.

Take Me With You!

Last week, I was out of town. I was probably gone for almost a week.

I got home, unpacked and left my suitcase open. This is what I found that evening:


He much rather would have slept in my suitcase than on his bed which is that blue cut off thing in the top right corner of the picture:

Is he trying to tell me to take him with me next time, or that if I can't get my clothes in my suitcase, I can't go?

-Mika's amused mommy

Yes?

I was opening mail near Halloween sometime and I found a "YES" sticker that was sparkly and thought it would be interesting to put a word to Mika's thoughts.

He let me put the sticker on his forehead and every time I called him over, this was his response:

J and I were laughing so hard! We thought he would take the sticker off, but he really didn't care. He even fell asleep with the sticker still on his head:


Thank you, Mika, for putting up with my silly-ness.

-Mika's mommy

Troy and Emmie

For those of you who have been keeping up with Troy and Emmie's trek, Emmie has fallen ill and has gone to the V-E-T for some testing. She might have pyometra (bacteria). Here is a link to Wikipedia about pyometra.

Mika and Nami are very sad to hear that Emmie has fallen ill.

Here is Mika and Nami sending good vibes to Emmie:

Gopher #2

Shiba: 2
Gopher: 0

Another gopher was found in the back yard today. Guess who got a nice plate of shredded chicken, rice, and a small handful of kibble? (I am true to my promise of giving real chicken for a gopher. Sounds like a fair trade. -1 gopher to chew up the roots of my plants and +1/2 chicken breast for shiba who caught it. Save my plants and I will reward.)

I'd post a picture of the gopher, but this one looks like it got caught in the middle of trying to grab a bite to eat because there is some sort of nut type thing still in its mouth. Anyways, I'll save all of you from the picture.

I should have taken a picture of the plate of food, but unfortunately I didn't think of taking the picture before putting the plate down. Sorry, no picture of the yummy food. (You should have seen how fast the food was gobbled down. The plate was clean when I picked it up!)

-Mika's mommy

Napping

Here is a missing picture I just found. During Mika's vacation with me, Mika and Uncle Tennis Ball had a nice time napping...

Mika's Reaction to Dreaming Puppy Video

I found this video on You Tube today about a puppy dreaming and talking in his sleep.
It is a really cute video.

Anyways, I noticed that Mika was slowly heading in my direction, and then went under my table. I think he was looking for the puppy. Anyways, I replayed the video and recorded Mika's reaction. He doesn't tilt his head as much here, but he does head under the table to "find" the puppy. Sorry, it doesn't seem like my camera recorded the sounds the puppy was making to make Mika tilt his head.

Playing with Tennis ball and Water (to the next level)

Hello humans and gentlepaws. It's Mika's mommy posting.

I assume everyone has seen the pictures of W taking a bath and Mika being really interested (nearly jumping into the tub) in this previous post. Mika has taken his love of water to the next level. Remember how he was getting the balls out of the box? (I updated the post with a video of Mika getting some tennis balls and destroying the box. We are waiting for another box from Uncle Tennis Ball for Mika to try to get tennis balls out of.) Mika now will bring the tennis balls to W while W is in the bath tub soaking and drop them into the tub. Here is a picture of the tennis balls drying on the sliding door handle/towel rack. So far, W has taken 2 baths, and during each bath, Mika will bring over the tennis balls and try to plunk them into the water.

Lagging with Picture updates

Man, mommy has been lagging with the picture updates.

Sorry, there are no pictures of me with my head in the box trying to get tennis balls out.. good luck to mommy for getting a picture of me like that. =P There are no pictures of the little kids that were giving me lots of love either, but there are picture updates to me grounding myself and me spending time at god mommy's house.

Now I'll turn the computer over to mommy where she will post pictures of things that happened in the last few months...

-Mika

Alrighty.. this stuff is probably going to be out of order because I just did a massive dump from my phone to my computer via bluetooth. Boy did that take a while to get everything set up and synced..

Remember when I mention in earlier posts that Mika loves water? W was taking a bath and Mika heard some splashing, so he goes over to investigate:
Then Mika loses interest and leaves, W is smart and closes that side of the sliding door but opens the other to let some heat out. Mika again hears splashing and goes over to investigate further... much further: Then he just sits and waits for another splash... He didn't fall in that night, but we realized afterwards that the doors need to be mostly closed when someone is taking a bath. Mika will pop by every now and then when one of us is showering, but just to check in and say hi, then he leaves and does his own thing.

I'm glad Mika can be so calm when I take him out. Here he is at Panera bread. We were meeting up with Nami and her mommy for lunch.

When I was visiting my family, I took Mika to the high school I went to. Uncle Tennis Ball was meeting up with his friends to play soccer, so I decided to meander around the school and park (it was a great day). My high school had a looooot of squirrels and I think Mika found his prey drive there. He would not leave this hole alone.

One night, I decided to go to my friend's house to play on her Nintendo Wii Fit. I didn't know they had a place where you can keep track of your dog's weight too. I thought I needed to get Mika on the board so it could weigh him, so this is him sitting patiently for the Wii to say "step off the board." lol It turns out, you need to get on the board holding your dog. Obviously, the Wii assumes you own a small dog. It was fun though and I got a ton of odd looks from Mika watching me hula hoop with the invisible hula hoop.

And lastly, this is the most recent. I was chasing Mika and Nami around the back yard to burn off their energy. I had two shiba running the shiba 500 around me, it was getting hard to keep track of. This is the result of the shiba 500: Mika didn't even bother heading over to his bed, he just plopped down on the pile of dirty laundry and fell right to sleep.

Kids in September

This is Mika's mommy posting. I wanted to let everyone know that Mika is back to his old self with kids again.

One day in September, I took Mika out for a walk in the afternoon and I hear across the street some kids saying "awwwww... how cuuuuuttteee!!" They were more mushy sounding than hyper. I heard them "aww"ing at Mika for about a minute as I'm making my way down the hill, and so I turn towards them and ask them if they want to see Mika. Their father was doing some yard work and asked "can they?" I said it was fine and brought Mika over to them. I had Mika sit and let the kids approach. Mika at first jumped back a little, then walked up towards them and let all 3 kids hug him. There was a little boy that hugged Mika and wouldn't let him go for about 5 minutes. Mika was a trooper. He was calm and snuggled up to the little boy and let the two little girls pet him. When the little boy finally let go of him, Mika gave all 3 kids kisses on their cheeks and let them pet him some more. He got hugs from all 3 kids, and petted by all 3 kids everywhere (paws, ears, tail, belly, back, side). I was so proud of him for being so calm by laying there (or sitting when he was being hugged) and letting the kids coo over him.

At one point, the neighbor's chow mix ran over towards the kids barking and Mika got up, and stood between the chow mix and the kids. The chow mix couldn't get to the kids since it was in a fenced yard, but Mika felt the need to protect his kids. After the chow mix calmed down, Mika came back to the kids and let them coddle him some more. I'm sure he loved the attention he got from the kids and the kids were very calm and gentle with Mika. I wish I got the picture of the little boy hugging Mika and Mika kissing all the little kids. It was very sweet and it would have made everyone go "awww." Well, Mika is back to his kid loving self again.

Remembering the little boy hugging Mika, that is what love is. I could tell the little boy really cared about Mika. It was easiest to tell with the little boy because he hugged Mika for so long, but every time each of the little kids hugged Mika, it's like you get a glimpse of their heart. Not tainted in any way, just pure love for what was in front of them. It was very heartwarming. I hope to see the kids out again and bring Mika by some more. We all enjoyed it.

Tennis balls and a Medium Flat Rate Shipping Box from the USPS

Mommy was sooooooooooooo mean this weekend! She received two packages from Uncle Tennis Ball (You will know the reason why I call Mommy's brother, Uncle Tennis Ball later..) within the last month. The small box (first package) had some cards and other stuff in it... and a zip top bag with 3 tennis balls in it. I was very, very, very, very interested in that box. I was head deep in that box sniffing until mommy said the magic "ah-ah" word that means I need to stop. I stopped and looked at her with my protesting eyes, but she put the box on top of the dresser. Booooooooo!! Anyways, about a week later, another package came from Uncle Tennis Ball. This one, mommy had barely opened. (This was the medium flat rate box from USPS.) She had just barely opened it enough to get her shoes out. Why she had Uncle Tennis Ball send her shoes for some event this weekend, I don't know. She could have just bought a new pair that little sis, Nami would have spread her love on. =) Anyways, I was pawing, and pawing at the box and finally daddy asked mommy why I was pawing at the box. She responded, "Because there are, look, t-e-n-n-i-s b-a-l-l-s in here." Then mommy had the (what she thought was brilliant) idea to put the three tennis balls from the package before plus leave the two tennis ball in the box to see if I can take them out... What a meanie!! She was laughing so hard when I stuck my whole head into the box to grab the tennis ball and *almost* got stuck. It took me a few seconds to figure out how to get my head out. What was even worse? When I took 4 balls out, daddy put the 4 back into the box and I had to do it all over again for Auntie J (Nami's mommy) to watch. After the second time, I took all of them out and went under the bed with one of my beloved presents from Uncle Tennis Ball. I refused to come out when mommy was leaving for the Mira Mar Air Show. It took them 5 minutes to get me out from under the bed with my tennis ball.



I would have loved to have gone to the air show with mommy and Auntie J, but the Marines would not have let me in (even though I'm used to the sounds that the jets make because we used to live right next to that base.) It's ok, I got to play with my beloved tennis ball while she was gone. Anyways, if you can't tell, tennis balls are my weakness. I will do anything and everything for the chance to play with a tennis ball. Of course, real chicken, and filet mignon, and fish are at the top of the list too, but if none of those are readily available, a tennis ball will do the same.

Mellow but Jealous

Mommy forgot to post this incident up a few weeks ago. This happened during my vacation with mommy. She asked her sister to dog sit me for the day while mommy was at the dealership getting the chewed up seat belt fixed. It was so early in the morning, I didn't want to get out of bed, mommy had to (translated literally from Chinese) "scoop" me out of bed, which was more like a rolling me out of my bed. Once we got to her sister/her god mother's house, her sister took me and *whispers* let me upstairs. Mommy usually doesn't let me upstairs, but ever since the shaking incident, she has let me up there as long as I'm good. The minute I do something bad (like regurgitate water under daddy's computer table) I have to go back downstairs. Anyways, mommy's sister let me sleep in her bed! Because I was so thankful, I slept next to her head and did not move one bit. Mommy's god mother came in to check on us every once in a while (because she thought that I would be bored) and saw that we were both asleep and when I wasn't asleep, I would just lay there calm as a toad in the sun (what a weird idiom I found online). When mommy's sister woke up, we went down stairs to watch TV. Because mommy's god mother was still recovering from surgery, she was laying on the couch. Mommy's god mom invited me up on the couch so I gingerly go up and curled up next to her. I made sure to not move too much so I don't make her booboo hurt more. Mommy's god mom was so surprised! Here is me on their arm chair napping while god mommy went upstairs. Throughout the day, she would ask her daughter: "he just lays there? He doesn't move?" And mommy's sister said "Yeah, mom. He just lays there. He's not like L. (name was cut to save the other dog she was living with for a couple of months)." When mommy came home, her god mom said that I was really calm and I just laid there with her.

Later on, uncle came by to see how god mom was doing and we found a stuff animal dog. I was so calm at god mom's house that when I was laying there, they put the stuffed dog on me and I didn't try to move it. I'm keeping watch with the "stuffed dog." This went on for a long time until the humans got bored. Then uncle started petting the stuffed dog and asked me "Mika, are you jealous?" What kind of question is that? You're petting a stuffed dog over petting me? Of course!! So I walked over to the stuffed dog and proceeded to lay right on top of it, forcing uncle to have no other choice than to pet me. =)

When we were getting ready to leave, god mom said "you're welcome back anytime, Mika." =) Mommy was so happy that I was on my best behavior and I comforted her god mom, she forgave me for chewing up her seat belt.

What a day! I got to go upstairs, sleep in bed (at the head of the bed), go on the couch, cuddle with someone on the couch, and I'm welcomed back anytime at this house. Wow! Can't get any better than this! I can't wait until I can go back again.. I hear that god mom cooks real yummy food and she likes to sneak some to the 4 legged friends (despite what mommy and mommy's sister say).

Ohh.. speaking of sneaking food. Mommy's mom (we'll call her mom, my mommy is mommy because mommy's mom doesn't want to sound like she's old.)kept asking mommy if I could get some human food. Mommy kept saying no. Then one day mommy said that if she made extra rice, she would sometimes give me a little. Mom picked up on that and took some rice and fed it to me. Uncle was so proud of mom. Mom was bitten by a dog when she was a little kid so she does not like dogs very much. Mom feeding me was a biiiiiiiiiig deal. She let me eat out of her hand too! (Also, the reason why mommy took so long to bring me to meet her mom and dad was because she wanted to make sure I was trained real well so if mom gets uncomfortable, mommy can trust that I will come back.. which I do have good, not great, recall in the house. I visited last year, but she had me for a year and a half before that, at least, working on my training.) Anyways, every time mom made rice, she would give me a little bit. One day, everyone was eating Peking duck ('cept for me) and I was sitting there watching mommy and mom eat. Mom started feeling bad that I couldn't eat any duck, so mom asked mommy if I can have a little bit on the buns with nothing on it. Mommy said no, but mom looked at mommy grabbed a bun and ripped a piece off and all while looking at mommy gave me the piece of bread. The look on mommy's face while watching her mom do that was hilarious!! I would have laughed but I really wanted that bread. Then, guess what? Mom did it again!! OMdog, I looooooooove mommy's mom. But that was the last of it because mommy took that bun and ate it (it was the last bun).

Anyways, I can't wait until my next trip up to see mommy's family again!!!! So much good stuff awaits me!

Proctor & Gamble bought Natura (Innova EVO)

I have just found out of some bad news today. On 1 June 2010, Proctor & Gamble and Natura finalized their deal. P&G now owns Natura. If you haven't noticed in the past, P&G + dog food = recalls. I hope this doesn't happen to Natura foods, but it's a risk I'm not willing to take. As soon as Mika gets this bag finished, he's being moved to another brand food. I'm thinking Orijen, but we'll see how his tummy handles it in their red meat formula. Just when I thought I found the perfect food, this happens: http://www.naturapet.com/news/letter.asp

Good bye Innova EVO. I had a wonderful time with you, but I'm not taking any risks.

This makes finding dog food with a red meat formula without chicken meal difficult. Canidae has outsourced to Diamond (know for a long list of recalls). Wellness Core doesn't have a red meat formula. Taste of the Wild has chicken meal in their prarie formula. I really hope Mika's tummy is ok with Orijen. We'll cross our paws and fingers that everything works out with Orijen, the only company I can think of that has a red meat formula that is still independently owned.

Dog Food Recall by Proctor & Gamble

Hello everypaws!

We just want to warn everyone that there is another recall happening right now. We got this email from our Vet:

"We want you to be aware of the following expanded product recall from P&G:

P&G Expands Voluntary Limited Recall of Specialized Dry Pet Foods Due to Possible Health Risk

CINCINNATI, July 30, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ —

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) (NYSE: PG) is voluntarily expanding its recall to include veterinary and some specialized dry pet food as a precautionary measure because it has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. No salmonella-related illnesses have been reported.
Product Name Version "Best-By"
Dates UPC Code
Iams Veterinary Dry Formulas All dry sizes
and varieties 01Jul10 - 01Dec11 All UPC Codes
Eukanuba Naturally Wild All dry sizes
and varieties 01Jul10 - 01Dec11 All UPC Codes
Eukanuba Pure All dry sizes
and varieties 01Jul10 - 01Dec11 All UPC Codes
Eukanuba Custom Care Sensitive Skin All dry sizes 01Jul10 - 01Dec11 All UPC Codes

View full recall alert from P&G.

Salmonella is a group of bacteria that can cause illness in people and pets. If your pet has eaten the product(s) mentioned above and is experiencing diarrhea, fever, or vomiting, please make an appointment for an exam as soon as possible. If you or one of your family members has handled any of these products and is experiencing any symptoms, please contact your physician immediately.

Remember, washing your hands before and after handling any food products is a great way to reduce your risk of contracting infection."

Here is the link to their Press Release: http://www.pginvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=104574&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1454785&highlight=

When mommy read this email, the first thing she thought was "phew! Thank goodness I feed Mika Innova Evo". In fact, she just bought me a new bag of dog cereal today. =)

Anywoos, we hope, if you are munching on those kibble, that you stay safe and gnaw at the humans until they bring your kibble back to the store. We would much rather you get yelled at for gnawing on your humans than you get real sick and have to visit the V-E-T where they stick you with pointy stuff.

-Mika

Confused...

Uh oh... Mommy isn't too happy with me today.. We all went out to get some food for lunch (in what I thought was a stranger's car) and I got a little bored on the way so I chewed on the seat belt... When mommy found out she was very unhappy, I can tell by the look on her face (no smile and her eyes were shooting icicles at me..). I heard her call the dealership, where she got her car at the beginning of the month (it's mommy's new car.. less than a month old..), to schedule an appointment for a new seat belt install. She was on speaker phone and I heard something like two hundred something dollars? for labor and parts for one seat belt. Man, humans really treasure this seat belt thing. Anyways, I know I did something wrong, I've been on my best behavior since we got home. I even grounded myself in my make shift cave (mommy draped a heavy sheet over a folded foldable chair leaning against her desk to make a cave for me) for a while.

I was confused about mommy's car because it didn't smell like me.. and her old car is still here too, but she doesn't drive it. A guy, I call my uncle? drives it now and doesn't take me around in it. I'm sorry mommy, I don't know what got over me. I had a sudden urge to chew the seat belt, I think I was posessed because I never had that urge before.. and I'm 7 years old as of last month. I hope I don't get posessed again because mommy might get really mad at me... I know she already made a call to cancel my order of treats from her aunt because she is taking the seat belt charge out of my treats fund. =( I need to make sure I'm on my best behavior for a while so I can get back on mommy's good list.

-Mika

Shaking at Night

For the last month, I had been on vacation (without Mika). Daddy had been home with Mika and noticed that at night, he was shaking really bad. It was as if the apocolypse was coming. Daddy took Mika to the vet and they did xrays on him, ran urine tests, and blood tests. Everything came back normal. It didn't occur to us that Mika was having anxiety attacks. Everytime I've gone on vacation for a few weeks at a time, Mika was fine. He didn't shake at night, he ate just fine, and he was his happy self. For some reason, this time, he was a nervous wreck at night. I decided to bring this up to a few of my friends who have had dogs for their current life and their past gazillion lives. Many of them asked if he was cold and if he wasn't, it was probably anxiety.

When I went home for the week and a half, I did see him shake the first night I was home, then nothing. So, I decided to test out the anxiety theory by taking him on vacation with me. As of today, Mika has not shaken once after coming with me on vacation. I guess he's a mama's boy.

I'm just glad that we figured out what the shaking was. My worst nightmare was that it was a nerve problem. Now, I just need to work on him being ok with me leaving for long periods of time (which doesn't happen very often).

-Mika's mommy

Yikes!

(Mika and I are on vacation right now. Mika is doing very good right now. He's comfortable and calm. He does what he usually does when I'm home: be my second shadow.)

Yesterday, I took Mika to meet the neighbors. Bad idea. Their daughter is too young and hyper to be around dogs. Now, Mika usually doesn't get phased by a hyper kid running around and laughing and talking loudly, but something about this little girl scares him, which is a first. I've never met a (as young as 2 years old) kid, until now, that Mika did not like. Now, I need to make sure that no one in this house takes Mika out to "see" the little girl when I'm not around. There is no telling what Mika will do when he's nervous and I'm not there to read his body language to get him out of the situation on time. He hasn't snapped at her yet, but he's jumped (from being spooked) a few times and sticks to me like glue when she's around.

I took Mika and the little girl walking up and down the block (actually less than a block) for a little bit (within eyesight of the little girl's parents so they can stress less) and Mika was relaxed when he was walking, but every time the girl needed to stop, I could tell he was uncomfortable. I think he just didn't know what the little girl would do next. I cut the interaction time early with the excuse that it was getting dark and late and Mika needed to go to sleep. When I walked into the garage to the house, the little girl followed me and spooked Mika so much, when I opened the door into the house, he bolted right in. If it weren't for me being attached to the leash, he probably would have ran right into my room and hid under my desk that I made into a cave for him.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can say to the little girl to let her know that she needs to calm down? Or that Mika is uncomfortable around her? I've already tried asking her to calm down and to be more quiet, but it's not working. Right now, I'm just going to keep Mika away from her with the excuse that he's tired. I would really appreciate any advice on this matter since I've had no experience with a kid that Mika did not like.

-Mika's mommy

Pictures Updated!

Mommy finally got off of her fat lazy butt and uploaded the pictures.

P.S. I think mommy needs to play with me more... She needs to tend my needs 29/8 400days a year.

10 Rats or 1 Gopher

Mommy and daddy were doing yard work on Sunday, 2 May 2010. Mommy was taking a rest so she looked into the pool and there was a dead rat that Mo (our Hayward pool cleaner.. named after the cleaner robot from Disney's Wall-e movie) tried to suck up. The rat was too fat, so it just got stuck. Mommy called daddy and let him know that there was a dead rat in the pool so daddy got the rat out and double bagged it and tossed it into the trash can. Then mommy went onto mowing the flat area of my lawn (the hill needs to be weed whacked and mommy isn't doing that, daddy will hire someone to weed whack on the hill and help us redo the hill part so it looks nice.. not a terrain that only us fuzzy critters can run up and down on). Mommy mowed half of my lawn when she saw another dead rat. Again, she called daddy to remove it for her so she can continue. Our electric lawn mower cut 3/4 of my back lawn (some doofus humans decided the front lawn should be cut first, then a week later my back lawn.. what were they thinking? They should have cut the back first, then waited a week so the power discharged some, then cut part of the front. I think the back is more important than the front.) Since the battery ran out, mommy had to bring the battery back inside of the house to charge and not cut it until Friday.

Anyways, since mommy saw two dead rats in my yard on Sunday, she made me a deal. If I killed 10 rats (including the two that were already found dead) or killed 1 gopher (since we have a gopher problem in the neighborhood) she would give me real cooked chicken (since that's the only chicken I'm not allergic to). She also said she promised. So on Friday, after she mowed the lawn and took a little nap and then went outside to play with me again, she found a gopher. I am very human food motivated. If you give me a choice, between 8 or 1... I'm going to go for 1. Mommy took pictures of the gopher and send it to her friends to help her identify the rodent.. they all said GOPHER! So mommy turned to me and said "I guess you get chicken this weekend."

This is my "I'm getting real chicken soon" face.

Saturday comes around and mommy and daddy come home from lunch with a white box. I thought it was my chicken, so I followed mommy around until she told me that it wasn't my chicken. I was going to get my chicken for dinner. I was disappointed, so I followed mommy around like another shadow until she got annoyed enough to go out and buy my chicken. They came home from the super market with raw chicken and barbecued it for me. (Although they got yummy hot dogs and hamburgers with the chicken.. boo) Mommy tried to take a picture of the biggest grin I had on my face after I finished the half of the chicken breast that mommy gave me, but she didn't succeed.

This is the other half of the chicken breast then grilled for me. Mommy forgot to take a picture of the half she gave me, so she took a picture of the other half.

After I ate the yummy chicken, mommy changed the deal. 10 rats or 5 gophers. 2 rats down, 8 more to go and 5 more gophers to go.

I am finally honing in on my hunting skills.

Shiba 3, Rodents 0.

mommy been sad part 2

This week mommy has been extremely buzy, even daddy was home for a few days. Seems as though grandpa will not be coming over anymore, i have heard mommy and daddy talk about how grandpa has now gone to people heaven(there is a people heaven??) Daddy has been proud of mommy of how she has handled her self in dealing with grandpa now being gone. Mommy has been trying to spend time with me when she can and i have been licking/cleaning up her tears when she cries at times even though they taste yucky.

namichan

mommys been sad

I dont understand why mommy has been so sad lately. She has been leaving the house very early in the morning which is unusal becuz usually she sleeps until 8:30-9:00 and not come home until like 5-6 or sometimes not until late in the eve.

I have heard them sometimes talke about grandpa not feeling so good and that he is a people hospital and he may not be around to throw me my balls and toys anymore. :( Mommy has been doing alot of crying, so all i have been doing is trying to lick her tears away, but the water tastes like salt,, ick! Daddy too has been coming home very late. I guess all i can do is be there for mommy when she gets upset this week.

namichan

daddys new wallet and moms tupperware

mom and i decided to get daddy a new wallet for xmas.. Granted it was a lil late but i made sure that he really needed it.. One nite after dad came home from work i decided to to some exploration of dads wallet to see if he really needed a new one. I took his wallet outside the backyard and proceeded to take out all the green paper stuff, figuring he would not need that and some other nicely printed paper that had money amounts written on it, not to mention some icky plastic cards that i tried to chew up and bury. Well, the next day when daddy was looking for his wallet he could not find it because i had it outside. Later mommy found it and was not happy that i had chewed up very important green paper money to which mommy had to tape it all together and take it to the bank to be exchanged. So daddy got a new wallet and its much nicer, but he wont let me near it :(

Then mommy did not like the idea of her tupperware stuff ending up in the living room or outside with my lil teeth marks in them, she tried to put some grey masking tape on her cabinets, but i decided that it didnt look very good and took it off, so mommy decided that she would go and get some locks on the door to keep me from decorating her tupperware with my teeth marks. Gezz all i wantd to do was make her tupperware more pretty.. :(
namichan

"Just For Dogs"

Just the other day, Uncle B was talking to me saying that I looked like I was getting old. My muzzle doesn't have as much black as it used to, and it looks like the white is taking over. One of my cousins made this today (with the help of his human). They thought it up while we were on the topic of age and our muzzle color:

(For those pups that aren't familiar with the human world and the oddities of human life: companies make products that color a human's hair, aka fur, when it gets gray or white back to their old hair color, or at least close to it.)

SD Shiba Meetup: January

Here are some pictures from the January meetup for the SD shiba inu group.

I think this shiba is a little confused. Nami's mommy isn't carrying any treats, but Nami's daddy is!

Here is Nami getting some love!

"You distract the human, while I grab the treats!"

Here is a shiba trying to imitate a shepherd.

"Maybe if I hide here, mommy and daddy will forget about me and let me stay here.." -Nami-chan

-Mika's mommy

Beach time!

So at the beginning of January, mommy and daddy took me to the Del Mar dog beach. This beach was smaller than the Coronodo dog beach mommy and daddy took me to before, so they kept me on leash. This beach was located a lot closer to the busy street too. (For people who want to go to this beach, check the tide reports and go during low tide. There is more beach for you to run around on during low tide.. nearly none during high tide.)
Here is me and mommy heading towards the water. The beach is fairly flat, so even though it looks like we're way out there, the water was really shallow.

There were some rocks on the beach. They were very smooth and oval.

I was trying to find a pet rock. Unfortunately, none wanted to be my friend, so I didn't take one home. Mommy apparently found it really funny and intriguing when I kept sniffing at every single rock to examine it and ask it if it wanted to be my friend. (I didn't vocalize, I was telepathically talking to each and every rock.)

I was trying to hide my smile about how happy I was to be at the beach and around water!

Daddy didn't get any pictures, but I love to snap at splashing water. When the waves came up and crashed on the rocks, I tried to bite it. I also found out that while mommy walks in water, she splashes water up, so the whole walk back to the entrance of the beach, I was blocking her way, walking in front of her trying to get at the splashing water.

Surprise: There was a surprise for me that day. Mommy and daddy didn't let me know that my first family was going to come and visit me! When we got near the entrance of the beach, mommy and daddy stopped and talked amongst themselves for a while. I just looked around, "greeted" some fellow dogs and they "greeted" me until they started walking again. I was wondering where they were going until I smelled... MY FIRST FAMILY! They came to visit me and pet me (the humans caught up with stuff) and then we all decided to go home. Their visit wasn't short, it was a lot of pets, love, me trying to trip my family... =D I had fun at the beach. I can't wait to go again.