Gunky Eyes

Lily's coat is beautiful, her scratching is decreasing, she's got a great shape and is growing nicely. The thing I just can't get a handle on is her gunky eyes! She wakes up with eye goobers, I clean them out and she's good for the rest of the day.

The vet checked them out and said she doesn't have an infection or anything that requires treatment, simply to clean them and rinse with saline if needed. He seems to think it's probably an environmental irritant - dust, grass, pollen, etc. Darn it, it's irritating me!

Andi has an eye rinse solution in her book but it includes boric acid and I just can't bear the thought of putting boric acid (makes a good natural ant poison, BTW) near an eyeball. Need to do more research to feel comfortable.

Lily's Pals

Here are two of Lily's friends, Kalani and Ricochet, practicing their surfing at Fiesta Island. (Cheez Whiz is a favorite "attractor" in surfing ... it gets on boards and puppies!)

Look at that sad face! And a tongue sticking out, even. You can tell these two are sisters!

Nutritional Source

I ordered kelp powder and calcium lactate from VitaSprings.com this morning. The prices were great and all of the supplements were familiar names from Henry's and Whole Foods.

I'll keep you posted as to delivery and service!

Slight Hiccup ...

Lil has SOOO much good nutrition packed into her chicken stew that I don't know what to bribe her with for training!!

I can use some diced chicken. She loves carrots ... but boy do I ever miss the days of the neat little pieces of kibble!

Luckily Lily's tummy likes the new stuff much more than my fingers like the old stuff - she wins!

Sparkle! Sparkle!

We started the Essential Fatty Acid formula on Wednesday. By Saturday night Talen, Jordan, Lisa, and I were all enthralled by the glimmering sparkle of Lily's coat!

It has a sheen to it that reminds me of show horses with that "Show Sheen" formula. You know, the greasy stuff you rub on the horse, then cover them with a blanket till showtime because any dust, hay, etc. will stick to it??


Except that Lily is shining from within and there's no greasiness to her! I know this picture doesn't do it justice, but just pretend that you can see little glimmers of spun gold in that fur!

Granola Girl Gone Wild

It is Week One of the Whole Pet Diet Experience. This week is all about Essential Fatty Acids. The chapter includes a recipe for an oil blend to balance Omega 3's and 6's in forms that are readily available to dogs and cats. We are essentially lubricating Lily's body: not only skin, coat, and nails but also heart, eyes, and other tissues. We are providing her immune system with an extra boost to fight off any bad guys. We are on a mission!!!


Last night was an experience. Armed with "Whole Pet Diet" I bee-lined for the nutritional corner of my local Henry's Market. I asked for wheat germ oil (out of stock) and barley juice powder. (What?? They make juice powder?? Stop and think about THAT for a moment!)


In short, I found things like kelp powder, spirulina, and chlorella. Nutritional yeast, lecithin granules. I found Things I Have Only Read About In Books. Mystical things, one and all. My wonderful little service dog in training has led me to the Temple of Nutrition.

Apparently I am the World's Worst Granola Girl. I survived 9 years in the wilds of Northern Idaho, following my dad's whims that ranged from "mildly back to nature" to "raving survivalist."

I could identify keifer long before I knew about cake mixes; we canned fruits and veggies for the long, cold winter ... I have read whole food nutritional articles for as long as I can remember. But I had never before experienced the thrill of The Nutritional Yeast Aisle.

Folks, when 'they' say that pets are good for you, just believe them.

Lily's Diet

For those of you who have read the Service Dog Blog, you may remember the trouble I had trying to decide what to feed my Virtual Dog. Let me tell you, the real dog isn't any easier!

I read multiple books and was frustrated. Can it BE THAT hard??? Can't we come up with a number of calories for the day by weight + activity level, proportionate amounts of fats, proteins, carbs, and then just mix it up? This is NOT rocket science - the fact that there are dogs in 3rd world countries and that wolves survive lets us know that this is a rather hardy creature!



I was tinkering a bit with Lil's food, trying to decide if I really did want to cook home cooked after all of the warnings about possible imbalances, etc. when we had a bit of a hiccup. I fed her some Natural Balance Turkey roll as a training treat. This was an all natural, premium, commercial food, on par with the Canidae kibble I was feeding her while studying more about home cooked food. It gave her diarrhea that had me running down 3 flights of stairs multiple times in the middle of the night (in my pajamas, hair sticking up all wild ... what a sight!)



I switched quickly to steamed rice and chicken. Her tummy settled right down and, not surprisingly, I noticed within a few days that she was scratching less and her coat seemed to have gotten just a wee bit softer.



I did the Classic Move: "Well," I thought to myself, "that's going well. Why not mix some kibble back in?"



Does that sound smart to you? It wasn't. More tummy trouble, more itching, no benefit. I was worried that rice plus chicken wasn't giving her all of the vitamins she would need. Obviously, over the long run, this is true, but kibble is not the answer - at least not for Lily!



So I was back at the bookstore. I read through Pitcairn, Strombeck, and Brown. I decided upon Andi Brown's book for it's simplicity, attention to detail, ease of asembling ingredients, AND the foreward by Dr. Pitcairn. There are so many reviews on the internet - I found one this morning from a professed "dogaholic" who quoted some DVM sources but apparently has no credentials of her own. She endorsed Pitcairns book but specifically opposed "The Whole Pet Diet" by Brown for lack of complete nutrition. This seems self-contradicting given that Pitcairn himself endorses the book in his forward.



So I am following the "Whole Pet Diet" for the next 8 weeks. Who am I kidding? I'll do week one and two this week because I am impatient - but I will take the time to do the journaling and will keep you posted on the results!



My specific goals for this dietary plan?

• "Properly formed" stool


• An end to itchy skin


• No more eye boogers (yes, the vet checked them - they're fine but seem to be sensitive to some "allergen.")


• A healthy animal that lives a long, happy life!

There she is - doing a somersault on Couch with Blankie!