Our two newest Dinsdale residents are taking up a lot of time.
What's wrong with the above photo? Sure it looks sweet and maternal, however, those pups were weaned three weeks ago from Fiddle! We have a slight set back, Fiddle seems to think her two monsters need additional mothering, go figure. Fiddle has always been a good mom, in the past she has drawn a bold line on how far her mothering duties were to extend.
She doesn't have any milk left, but this little morning bonding ritual is something that she and the pups seem to crave. After that they are off playing with the other dogs and generally causing mayhem to all around them. My sweet Clover has turned into a little devil dog, I find myself changing her name to Clove, or, Cloven One. Quiz is still a bit of a mommas boy, however his confident bratty side is emerging a bit more daily.
Quiz seems to have a big boy crush on terrier Token, she loves to play with schnauzers that are her size, however she is finding his amorous advances a bit annoying. I think Quiz is about to be dealt a terrier reprimand especially if he tries tugging on her tail again, sigh a broken heart for Quiz.
Video of our Ultimate Mom below. Obviously Jewels (sporting a sweater) does not approve of her granddaughter Fiddle's extended nursing regime.
Meet new boy on the block Quiz. I hadn't planned on keeping a Fiddle boy, but Quiz is such a handsome young fella I decided to keep him...for now...until I decide that two pups is way too many, Quiz stays. He is sweet and affectionate, a bit of a momma's boy compared to his tomboy sister Clover, who is pictured below with a beard full of bird seed, she's a charmer.
I am keeping natural ears on both pups, they have nice ears like their mother, and I am fed up with cropping perfectly good ears. So for the most part, our pups and dogs in the future will be sporting natural ears.
This day last year Lia was giving birth to our St.Patrick Day pups. One year old Beamish sends his siblings a big green birthday wish!
In the spirit of the day I have posted a photo of our newest Dinsdale resident, Clover, that's her sitting down. She will be staying with us while all her siblings leave for their new homes this weekend. I loved the name Clover and it was one of the festive names I gave to one of Beamish's sisters initially. I decided I had to have a Clover of my own in the future and it fit this little Fiddle daughter perfectly.
Token tucks into a raw pork riblet, mmmmyummm.
I have for many years given my dogs raw meaty bones, mostly for recreational chewing, not as their full diet. A few of the owners of my pups have ventured into feeding a totally raw diet to their dogs with great success. In our quest for making life easier for ourselves, we not only fill ourselves with processed foods but we have come to the conclusion that kibble is a dogs natural diet. Not true. Before feeding pets became a multimillion dollar industry the family dog was fed daily raw cuttings of meat trimmed as mother prepared dinner, then was supplemented with scraps of cooked food left from the families dinner. These dogs lived long lives, were not obese and seldom suffered from all the allergies and infections of our modern day dogs. If I owned only one or two dogs they would be fed completely natural, not from a bag. As I usually have a few more then that I do feed a kibble based diet supplemented as often as possible with fresh natural species appropriate foods. I have been doing a lot of extra research on feeding raw this winter and will be including more in my dogs diet, and if I can find reasonable suppliers and purchase a big enough freezer I hope to make this the main source of my dogs nutrition, occasionally supplemented with kibble.
If you have concerns about feeding your pet a processed diet I recommend you do a lot of research. As you visit sites you will find that there are many different methods and beliefs when it comes to raw food. You really have to research and make your own decisions based on what you are comfortable with. Below are a few links to get you started.
http://www.totallyrawdogfood.com/Default.aspxhttp://rmb4healthypets.blogspot.com/http://www.rawlearning.com/http://k9joy.com/education/feedyourdog.php?camp=5_RDC
It is surprising how many folks cannot figure out the breed when it comes to the black Standards. OK when they are sort of shaggy like Hex is at the moment I get their guesses of Giant Schnauzer (yes Hexe is a big girl) or Bouvier (not that big) rarely do people ask if my blacks are Miniature schnauzers, something most folks question when they meet a Pepper & Salt, but the funny one that comes up over and over is......
....Scottie??
OK same color and a wire coat, but Scotties have no visible legs. You would be amazed at the number of folks that ask if my pepper & salts are Scotties, some even argue with me when I say, no it's a Standard Schnauzer. Oh sorry what was I thinking, yes I own Scotties, silly me I always confuse the two :-)
What's wrong with the above photo? Sure it looks sweet and maternal, however, those pups were weaned three weeks ago from Fiddle! We have a slight set back, Fiddle seems to think her two monsters need additional mothering, go figure. Fiddle has always been a good mom, in the past she has drawn a bold line on how far her mothering duties were to extend.
She doesn't have any milk left, but this little morning bonding ritual is something that she and the pups seem to crave. After that they are off playing with the other dogs and generally causing mayhem to all around them. My sweet Clover has turned into a little devil dog, I find myself changing her name to Clove, or, Cloven One. Quiz is still a bit of a mommas boy, however his confident bratty side is emerging a bit more daily.
Quiz seems to have a big boy crush on terrier Token, she loves to play with schnauzers that are her size, however she is finding his amorous advances a bit annoying. I think Quiz is about to be dealt a terrier reprimand especially if he tries tugging on her tail again, sigh a broken heart for Quiz.
Video of our Ultimate Mom below. Obviously Jewels (sporting a sweater) does not approve of her granddaughter Fiddle's extended nursing regime.
