Winter Yorkie

My blonde Hair is soft and Silky

Hi Everybody

Winter is slowly coming around the corner and I thought I would share my experience with three of them.  I know that some humans think that people are crazy for dressing up their dogs.  Maybe they are and then again maybe not so nutty.  Yorkies are special dogs and those of you that know me, know that I am VERY Special (wink wink). 

A Yorkie has one of the most distinctive coats in the canine world.  I am very much like a human, and can be very susceptible to the cold.  There is a good reason for this.  Most dogs have fur, and two coats of that, i.e., a soft undercoat and a course top coat that helps keep them warm.  These types of dogs also shed in the summer time, which prevents overheating.  The undercoat is like an insulation layer of fur in most dogs.  Yorkies, on the other hand do not have two coats and my hair is like your hair, i.e., long, silky and soft (even though my “D” keeps it cut short most of the time).  Now here comes the bonus part; because I have hair like a human, I don’t shed and my hair is hypoallergenic. The down side of this type of insulation is that I don’t like the cold, I prefer warm surroundings.  How is this accomplished, you say?  It’s accomplished by having a human that takes care of that need.  This of course includes an assortment of Shirts, Hoodies, Sweaters, Coats and Shoes. (OK Halloween is mostly for fun, not function)

I have a nice house that keeps me out of drafts when they annoy me. 

My house is Quilted and keeps out drafts

I have a nice warm bed and blankets to sleep on or under if I get cold.

Warm blanket... my favorite is Cashmere

When I go out, I have Sweaters and Hoodies for when there is a chill in the air

I love sweaters

I have several winter jackets when it’s really cold, including a Parka and when the air is below freezing my “D” won’t let me stay outside very long (not that I want to)

Let’s not forget my feet.  My feet are very tender and can get burned on hot roads in summer or frozen on cold ones in winter.

A Parka for really cold days and Uggs when the frost is on the Pumpkin

Do you know where the best place to keep warm in my house is?  When I am chilled at night, I like to creep under the blanket and snuggle up behind my “D”.  He is like a big furnace in a log cabin.  I like to snuggle behind him and lay very quiet so as to disturb his sleep.  Ahhhhh what a life.

One final note; even with a coat, your Yorkie is at risk for hypothermia during the winter. Signs of hypothermia include uncontrollable shivering and lethargy (that means lazy). If you see any of these symptoms, bring your dog inside immediately. If that's not possible, pick him/her up and hold him/her inside your jacket in the meantime.

There you have it, that’s the truth, cross my paws.  Until next time.

Eats & Treats

Hi, some of you have been asking, “What do you Eat, Dolly”, so I thought I would tell you in a little blog I’m calling “Eats and Treats”.  Ok, ok, there are all kinds of schools for thought, out there in the world, Raw vs Cooked, Dry vs Wet, Canned vs Fresh, Homemade vs Store Bought etc.,  so save your emails, cards and letters.  This is what I eat.  I am not necessarily recommending anything, but I will say, that my “D” treats me very well and my last Visit to the Veterinary Clinic, gave me an “AAA” bill of health and my Doctor Said to my “D”, and I Quote: “Whatever you are doing for her, keep it up, she is in remarkable health.”

EATS

Let’s start out with my Daily Diet. First what do I need: I weigh 8.4 pounds, so to maintain my ideal weight, considering I have typical activity, such as Guard duty on the front porch, Chasing Squirrels, small walks and nightly play, I need 300 calories per day.  Dog’s needs are different from humans. They, of course, need essential nutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Your dog must have all these in correct proportions to stay healthy.  You can ask a breeder or veterinarian for advice, but it's up to you to see how the food affects your dog. If your dog's energy level is right for his breed and age, if his skin and coat are healthy, if his stools are firm and brown, and if he seems to be in overall good health, then the food is doing its job. 

Boiled Chicken Gizzards and a Carb

Dogs have sensitive stomachs, especially Yorkies and you should never suddenly change their diet.  I found out that everybody has an opinion, Professionals, Amateurs, and “Do Good Nannies”.  There is no single answer for proportional breakdown of food that I eat, so having said that I can only tell you what my “D” feeds me and what I like.  Every night around 6:00 pm or 6:30 pm I have my main meal of the day.  80 grams of Chicken Gizzards (Yes he weights them), along with this I may have some vegetables and I especially like Carrots, peas and lima beans.  (At the time of this writing, I left my carrots on the plate to take a nap; I will however return and finish them later.)  I also may have some fruit like a Banana, Apple, or Melon.  “D” is very careful not to give me too much or it will upset my stomach (he has experience with this).  Of course like most dogs, if “D” is eating a snack on the couch, it is my duty to bug the hell out of him.  Occasionally I get a small bite or lick the plate, if it doesn’t contain any hazard foods (read more on this later).  My favorite time to bug him is when he has Acme Take out Chicken.  I always get a bite or two of that. MMmmmm…

My Favorite Kibble

On the subject of Kibble: after a lot of trial and error, and because I am a very fussy Princess (“D” calls me a Monkey), I found that I like Blue Buffalo Wilderness Duck the best. (This is expensive, but a 5 lb. bag will last me a month and cost about $18.00) My “D” always keeps this in my “Cosmo” Bowl (a very good friend gave this to me and I love it) Kibble is available to me all day long to eat when I am hungry or just want a snack.  He says this provides the necessary food supplements that I need and is also good for my teeth.  Alright now sit down, I know a lot of you won’t approve, but after all I am his little girl.  I am allowed at the Kitchen table, if I behave (and I ALWAYS behave, I’m a good girl).  I will occasionally get some Peas or Lima Beans or a Small Piece of Bacon, but every time “D” makes pudding I always get 5 finger tips of “Cool Whip”.  I take a running leap into his lap at this point.  The Veterinary Doctor frowned at “D” over the Cool Whip, but I just licked her face and she got over it. (Note! It’s about 1 table spoon total and that has 13 calories, and about 1 gram of sugar and 1/2 gram of fat.  Commercial Dog treats are worse).

My "Cosmo" Bowl a gift from a fan

Starchy Vegetables: Veggies such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and winter squashes (including pumpkin), as well as legumes (beans), provide carbohydrate calories that can be helpful in reducing food costs or keeping weight on skinny and very active dogs.  Starchy foods must be cooked in order to be digestible by dogs.

Water is important for Hydration

Fresh Water:  Fresh water is very important for me and I always have a supply on demand by the TV.  Water for drinking is a very important part of your dog’s daily requirements and overall nutrition. Water is the main component of healthy, living cells of the body. Without water, your dog’s body will not be able to function properly. More specifically, your dog will dehydrate. In order for your dog to get enough water daily, you need to provide water along with a healthy, balanced diet which also contains some moisture.

Treats

Some Good Treats

It’s important to understand the treats are just that, “treats”, not Dog Food.  Treats come in 2 or three categories, i.e., Healthy Treats, Unhealthy Treats and Unhealthy things to chew on.  I almost have a Daily treat routine.  When I get up in the morning I trot to the kitchen because while my “D” is making Tea, he usually gives me 2 small treats of the unhealthy variety, while he laughs and watches me waddle away into the living room to eat it before he takes it back.  I also get 3 or 4 more throughout the day, but never after my evening meal.  Now he might give me healthy treats more often, but not in excess, this is perhaps 5% of my total diet, if that much.  If we're going out, I can always count on him having a pocket full of healthy treats to draw upon.  I also have a portable water bottle, he brings along too, depending on how long we will be out and the temperature. 

Some Not as Good Junk Treats

Now a word about Junk treats, I’ll leave that to your judgment, just don’t be excessive.  Everyone likes a little of what they shouldn’t have, from time to time.  My “D” likes McDonald's and I have a friend who violently objects to junk treats:  “I make my own”, “Don’t give my dog any”, “No, he can’t have those”.  Her dog recently passed away at an early age of 6.  Then I have another friend who feeds his dog all kinds of junk and table scraps and the dogs belly is on the floor, Obese.  He is 14 going on 15 with no issues.  It’s like the little old lady who smokes a pack a day and has three beers a night, living to be 95 vs the marathon runner, on all the right foods that drops dead at 27.  You are the judge, they all contain enormous amounts of sugar and grain but dogs love them.

** WARNING ** Very Bad things that could do serious harm.

Thing that could Kill

Never give your dog chocolate. It contains theobromine, a chemical that is toxic to dogs. Also, don't feed your dog bones that can splinter or that have sharp edges. Large, hard bones such as knuckle and marrow bones are fine, but parboil them to destroy harmful parasites, and take them away from your dog if he starts to actually eat the bone rather than just chew on it.  Personally I like a ham bone(from a ham steak), but never feed your dog ham, it’s too salty. (“D” has experience with this after I threw up all night)

Never give your dog Walnuts or Macadamia Nuts! Both are extremely poisonous for pups (a toxin in macadamias can lead to tremors and hind-quarter paralysis). Cashews and peanuts are ok but I never get any of those, and I hate peanut butter. Avoid Grapes and Raisins, which can cause kidney failure in dogs.

Here by no means is a complete list, of other common people foods that should never be given to your dog: avocados, alcohol, baking soda and powder, caffeine, chives, corn cobs, fruit pits and seeds, garlic, (a little garlic powder is ok, but not regular garlic) milk and milk-based products, mushrooms, nutmeg (and other spices), onions, rhubarb leaves, tomatoes (especially stems and leaves), xylitol (found in many candies and gums), and yeast dough.

 

I Lick U Face

That’s about it.  I hope this clears up my eating habits for all of your inquiring minds, thanks for visiting my blog.  Now back to my nap.  Oh! Oh! : “D” Just got a hot roast beef sandwich, I can’t have any because it has onions and I don’t digest Pork well, but that won’t stop me from Bugging him, the nap can wait.  I will leave you with these Dolly words of wisdom.  "What goes in one end comes out the other."

On the Subject of: “The Dog Days of Summer”

Whew!

The Dog days of Summer

Why, I ask you do they blame these hot days on dogs?  I say it’s unfair, discriminatory, anecdotal and prejudicial and when we have a Dog as president, (oh wait! Dolly should be good now, and bite my tongue), we will do away with “The Dog days of Summer”. 

The constellation Canis Major

So by now you know how much I like history, and in actuality, this is something else we can blame on the Romans.  The Ancient Romans called this period of the year “Dies Caniculares”.  This is from the Ancient human language called Latin and means, you guessed it “Dog Days”, but why?  Glad you asked me because I am going to tell you.  Back in Ancient times, there were no big city lights to obscure the night sky, so lacking anything better to do at night, they began studying the night sky, looking at the stars and connecting the dots, while creating myths about what they perceived they saw, today we call these constellations. 

Ancient Egyptians and the rise of Sirius

The Romans associated the hot weather with the star Sirius.  They painted the dots to resemble a Dog and considered Sirius to be the “Dog Star”, because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Big Dog).  In fact, it is so bright that the ancient Romans thought that the earth received heat from it. Regardless of its brightness, however, the heat of summer is a direct result of the earth's tilt. Look for it in the southern sky (if you live in northern latitudes) during January.  In the summer, however, Sirius, the “dog star,” rises and sets with the sun.  The heliacal rising of Sirius marked the flooding of the Nile in Ancient Egypt and the "dog days" of summer for the ancient Greeks, but for this story we will blame it on the Romans because it’s their language that we title the time period as “Dog Days”. 
I am a smart little Bitch and for the record, what the naked eye perceives as a single star is actually a binary star system, consisting of a white main star, termed Sirius A, and a faint white dwarf companion, termed Sirius B. Sirius appears bright because of both its intrinsic luminosity and its proximity to Earth. At a distance of 2.6 parsecs( for you humans that don’t watch Star Trek, that’s about 19 Trillion miles and the Sirius system is one of Earth's near neighbors.) Sirius A is about twice as massive as the Sun and has an absolute visual magnitude of 1.42. It is 25 times more luminous than the Sun. 

Roman Mosaic depicting Dog Sacrifice

Originally the dog days were the time when Sirius rose just before sunrise (this is no longer true because of the procession of the earth’s rotation on its axis.)  Today the Old farmer’s almanac defines it as the period of July 3rd and ending August 11th, coinciding with the ancient heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. These are the days of the year when rainfall is at its lowest levels.  The Romans believed the days to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, Quinto raged in anger, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies", according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813.  The Ancient Romans sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that the star was the cause of the hot, Humid weather (What barbarians they were, and I always thought they were civilized).  When we get our first Dog for president, I think we should sacrifice humans, for a while as an act of contrition.

  

If you ask around, many humans believe the phrase is in reference to the conspicuous laziness of domesticated dogs (we’re not lazy, just in danger of overheating with too much exercise) during the hottest days of the summer. When speaking of "Dog Days" there seems to be a connotation of lying or "dogging" around, or being "dog tired" on these hot and humid days. A similar myth asserts that the time is so-named because rabid dogs are supposed to be the most common then. Although these meanings have nothing to do with the original source of the phrase, (as I have already told you where the term came from), however, they may have been attached to the phrase in recent years due to common usage or a misunderstanding of the origin of the phrase.

Nurse Dolly

When humans overheat they are able to sweat in order to cool down. However, your dog cannot sweat as easily; he or she must rely on panting to cool down. Dogs breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, directing the air over the mucous membranes of the tongue, throat and trachea to facilitate cooling by evaporation of fluid. Your dog also dissipates heat by dilation of the blood vessels in the surface of the skin in the face, ears and feet. When these mechanisms are overwhelmed, hyperthermia and heat stroke usually develop. I like to keep cool, by staying in the air-conditioning in the summer or rolling on the wet grass.

A good cool roll in the wet grass on a hot day

According to petplace.com  “Working up a good sweat in the hot summer months may be good for you, but it can lead to heat stroke in your dog and kill him in a matter of minutes. Heat stroke is a dangerous condition that takes the lives of many animals every year. Your dog's normal body temperature is 100.5 to 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. If it rises to 105 or 106 degrees, the dog is at risk for developing heat exhaustion. If the body temperature rises to 107 degrees, your dog has entered the dangerous zone of heat stroke. With heat stroke, irreversible damage and death can occur.”

“If your dog is overheating, he will appear sluggish and unresponsive. He may appear disorientated. The gums, tongue and conjunctiva of the eyes may be bright red and he will probably be panting hard. He may even start vomiting. Eventually he will collapse, seizure and may go into a coma.”

“If your dog exhibits any of these signs, treat it as an emergency and call your veterinarian immediately. On the way to your veterinary hospital, you can cool your pet with wet towels, spray with cool water from a hose or by providing ice chips for your dog to chew (providing he is conscious).”

Keep Cool like me, have a Limesicle and stay in the shade

Well I hope I have cleared up the subject of “The Dog days of Summer”. Keep cool like me and safely enjoy your and your dog’s summer. That’s the truth, cross my paws.