Busted!

Came into the living room and noticed that somebody had made herself quite cozy in the Love Sac.  This now explains the dog hair we were finding in the Sac....

In her defense, however, it does look like a giant dog bed.   

Silly Girl.

Snaps of the Eastern Sierras

Snap shots from the base of Mt. Whitney

Lone Pine, California

Just a bit north is Manzanar Internment Camp.  We toured the Memorial.

Taiga's New Bed

I bought Taiga a new bed.  And if you know my dog, you know she likes to lay on anything you set down {towels, a blanket, air mattress, a tshirt, decorating pillows, etc.} Well, her dog bed was pretty flattened.. so I bought her this nice fluffy one.  Well, its so fluffy, she cant even lay on it!  You can see in the first picture she's holding on with her back leg... and the last picture, she has totally rolled off of it.  Haha, silly girl.

Taiga & the Raw Diet

When we first got the mutt, (don't worry, she didn't hear me type that derogatory reference) the breeder had been feeding her a "raw diet."  She encouraged us to continue with it for at least Taiga's first year.  German Shepherds are highly susceptible to hip dysplasia and the raw diet, being free of any "filler foods" keeps the dogs trim.  Extra weight on the dogs' bones and joints early on in life, can cause a more severe case of dysplasia later.  So, we did it.  We kept her on the raw diet for her first 13 months.  Then we moved to kamp, where there was no refrigeration, so onto bagged, dry food she went.

Well, Taiga is now 3 years old and we have decided to put her back on the raw diet.  Since moving to California, she seems to have developed allergies.  She itches and scratches and bites and her nose runs... and well, the vet said, it's more than likely the difference in air and soil (climate allergies).  The raw diet is high in amino acids, fatty acids and oils (all which are good for the skin).  So, after bouncing around dog foods for awhile, we're back to square one with her and she loves it.

Also (I get this question a lot) the raw diet costs about the same as dry food.  We spend about $40 a month on her dining.

Her typical daily diet includes:

Breakfast - either raw chicken quarters (we keep em individually frozen in foil) or mackerel (1 large can).
Dinner - "the mix" She gets a couple scoops of this at night:
                -Total cereal
                -molasses
                -wheat germ
                -flax seed
                -V8
                -olive oil
                -whole oats
                -raw hamburger

Ingredients

This amount will last one week.

I call it, "Doggie Pate."

 

Yum

I'm a happy girl with these meals :)

Cheese!

A High Altitude Vacation - Durango & Camp Kivu, Part IV

The last leg of the trip was spent in one of our favorite places nationwide, Durango COLORADO!!  We got to relax amidst the beauty of the San Juans for three days before heading back to the city.  It was great catching up with old staff and seeing friends.  A few highlights from the days in Camp were 1] Taiga running around like crazy, enjoying the outdoors as much as us 2] a play day at the lake (blobbing and surfing) and 3] eating at some of our favorite places.

And finally, the 12 hour drive back to Los Angeles - feeling tired, but satisfied with our time away.  

Taiga has the Funk

Taiga and I made a trip the vet today because of this funky growth that sprang up a week and a half ago on her lip :( But, good news, Dr. Hussein (yes, like Saddam) says it's nothing to worry about.. just a cauliflower wart! Apparently it's common among younger dogs. She called it Papiloma Virus! Yikes! But she said it will probably dry up and fall off. Weird!!! I am just supposed to watch and see if it continues to grow... if it does, she can do a quick laceration and leave a dissolvable stitch. Poor, baby!
On another note about Taiga... she got schooled yesterday at the dog park.. a pack, literally, a pack of huskies and malamutes showed up and totally put our dog in her place! It was awesome! I have never seen Taiga cower or whimper to another dog before.. it was great for her to get a taste of her own medicine!