Liver. Yum...

Progress! Last week I was able to put Mokey in a run directly next to another dog without her freaking out!! But don't get too excited, there were a lot of reasons why it worked on that particular day ;) For one thing, I'd exercised her quite a bit before taking her in. I also chose a day when we had very few dogs and so the kennel would be relatively free of barking, I also chose a 'companion' doggie who is quite old and relaxed and unlikely to get upset by anything Mokey did or didn't do. Still, Mo had a good experience being around two dogs that are well adjusted, calm canines so I say: Yay!

Because of all the dog food/treat scares going on lately, we recently decided to just make our own treats. The dogs were getting high end treats anyway, just because I'm generally opposed to giving them stuff with a lot of filler ingredients, but even some of the more trusted brands are having issues. So, here we are. Last week I dove into making dehydrated liver and chicken strips. I'd never worked with liver before. The humans in our house don't eat it and the canines always received it prepackaged and delightfully dry. To be honest, I was a bit grossed out by it and will admit to wearing gloves while cutting it up. Just to be extra safe I cooked all the meat before tossing it on the dehydrating trays and rather predictably, Mokey and Chase drooled the whole time. We were all rather happy with the finished product :)

Mokey 'relaxes' on Marks bed. She's such a goof.

Big Silly Puppy

Mokey and I have been taking it easy lately. We train off and on throughout the day and play outside while I try to get her to the point where she can be handled more comfortably by the vet - just taking it easy for a little while. But what's funny about having such a big yet scared Leonberger is that she's so emotional. My family has always had dogs, but we've been big Sheltie lovers and sheltie's aren't exactly 'wear your heart on your sleeve' kind of dogs. Most of them are of the 'play it cool' variety. Mokey is most definitely not cool and nonchalant - anything this dog feels, she expresses. A lot of the time it's hopeful expectancy - if you get a drink with ice in it, then to be polite you aught to give her an ice cube as well. If you decide to go outside, should you not play with her? Some of these things are like action and consequence for her - tied at the hip and unbreakable - and if you dare to interrupt the cycle her little head tilts and her body pauses, as if to say "what is this crazy person doing?" Of course, this means that she has also recognized my 'going out' routine and will flop down on the floor and sigh as if resigning herself to her fate. Sometime I'll try to get a video of her with one of her 'special treats' - she gets soo excited over them - play bowing and pouncing and shaking her head - we laugh and say she's 'flirting' but it is really cute. :)

Mokey with rice stuck to her nose :)

Now for something that's not really cute:


Last weekend Mokey got diarrhea and was getting up every two hours to go out. Ugg.
It took several days of a rice, chicken & pumpkin mixture to get her stomach back to normal and even now I'm easing her back onto her normal diet slowly. I wish I knew what had her guts in such a twist but my best guess is that it was a piece of cheese she had earlier in the week as a special treat. Won't do that again!