Who is this poor little puppy, coughing away, having to battle pneumonia at 3.5 months of age?

That would be me.

This is one of my favourite toys! And I think Mother’s favourite too. Of course, her reasons are different from mine. I love it coz it throws out treats now and then! Mother loves it coz she says it keeps me very occupied and she can go do something else instead of trying to entertain me 24/7. She says I get bored easily (which is true) and this toy keeps me busy for a bit while I’m playing with it and for a little bit after that too coz I’m usually tired from knocking and chasing it around for so long. Great workout!

I can just about hear your mums going “What great invention is this and where can I get it?!?” It’s called the Dog Pyramid because it is sort of triangular with a wider base which is weighted, making it much much harder to get the treats out than those other toys which you just roll and everything comes out. It was created by Nina Ottoson. I have a love-hate relationship with that woman. She makes great toys that always involve treats but I have to really use my brain! When she makes out that just dispense treats every second she will top my list of favourite people. 

Mother: *AHEM*

Er.. after Mother of course.

The downside to this brilliant invention is that it is made of plastic. And is heavy by dog toy standards. These 2 combined with the force of my muzzle smacking it across the room can break things. Like glass cabinets. And Mother’s toe. Ok I didn’t break her toe but she’s yelped in pain several times when that slowpoke didn’t manage to get out of the way in time. I slam it against walls, doors, etc. It can get quite noisy if played on wooden floors but should be much quieter on carpet.

Mother got it from Haute Hound but here’s a listing of other places you can find it online.

Here’s me on a night Mother had something else to do than to pander to my every need.

For those of you with mums that are clicker fans, you may have found yourself in a similar situation as I recently have, when they decide it might be fun to play 101 things to do with a basket.

I helped Mother make my treats! They are made of a combination of liver, kidneys (from pig, chicken or lamb), egg (with shell), rolled oats, flaxseed, flour, seameal powder and garlic. Blend together (it will look and smell gross at this point, pourable but not too thin or thick either),  spread onto a large pan (Mother makes 2 different batches using different organs and puts them on the same tray), then bake until cooked through (about 15 mins). Cool and slice into strips then pack them into airtight containers and freeze!

I am an eager beaver.

See how I helped Mother – such dirty, tiring and tedious work! But someone has to do it!

..site, the day before the USDAA trials. Heehee.

Look what I (did not) participate in!

I’m clear! I don’t have Degenerative Myelopathy!! Mother whooped for joy then stopped and said “Ok, so now you have a nameless genetic disorder that may or may not get worse. Hmm.” Mother’s happy that she can strike that one off the list tho’. At least now there is a possibility that she won’t need to get ramps for the house and wheels for me!

The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals sent a test result slip that said “This dog is homozygous N/N with two NORMAL copies of the gene associated with Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) susceptibility.” To which Mother went “Normal? What does that mean??” and proceeded to tear through the accompanying explanation of results. Of all the dogs OFFA has tested so far, dogs with test results of Normal have never been confirmed to have DM. Normal means I can only transmit normal (non-DM) genes to offspring and it’s unlikely I will ever develop DM. Woohoo!

Some dogs will get the result “Carriers” (meaning they may or may not have DM themselves but their offspring might, especially if they are paired with other Carriers I guess), others will get the result “At Risk” (meaning that they will most likely have DM, if no symptoms show, then as they age, and they will also pass the mutated gene to their offspring.   

WOOHOO! CEEEE-LE-BRATE TONIGHT COME ON!