Holiday Dog Cookies

1 cup chopped skinless turkey
1 cup cooked sweet potatoes and leftover green beans and carrots
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1.5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey

In a blender or food processor, combine turkey, veggies, oil, honey, and egg yolk (reserve the white for later). Blend until smooth; some small lumps are fine.
Put the flour and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add the blended mixture and stir well until you have a dough. Roll the dough into a log shape and put in the refrigerator for an hour, or until firm.
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and set aside
Slice firmed dough into cookies about an inch thick.
Place cookies on baking sheet, and brush each treat with the reserved egg white, topping with Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350° for 25 minutes; turn oven down to 250° and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes. Check them occasionally to make sure that they don’t get too brown.
Turn off the oven. Leave cookies inside to dry out for about 3 hours.

this is a great recipe to help get rid of all those left overs.

 

Holiday Dangers To Your Pets

The Holidays are just around the corner. Here at +Dog Wash we would like to help keep your pets safe. We are going to list some things that will help do this.

Lets talk Turkey, first.

Giving your dog the bones from the turkey is a huge, no no. They can get stuck in your dogs throat. Also, that fat from your Thanksgivings meal can cause your dogs pancreas to inflame. (Also, known as pancreatitis) Please skip this step of your dinner.

Did you know, grapes, raisins, and currants, can result in kidney failure?(these can be found in the traditional fruitcake.
 
Most of us know that you can not give chocolate to your pets. Small amounts may give your dog or cat diarrhea or upset stomach. A larger amount can give your pet seizures.

Sugar free candy has a toxic sweetener. Please keep those candies our of reach.


Oh Christmas Tree.

If you have a cat, tinsel is not a good idea. No, it isn't poisonous. But, it is shiny and will draw the cats attention to your tree. If swallowed it can do damage to your cats intestines.

Glass Ornaments are also dangerous for good reason. If you dog bites into the glass shards can get caught in your dogs throat, stomach, or intestines.

Lights on a Christmas tree can also be hazardous. Bubble lights are filled with a liquid chemical that can make your pet really sick. Not to mention, if they are plugged in when your dog decides to eat them, they could get shocked.

We want you and your pets to have a fantastic and safe holiday.  

A Day In My LIfe With Iggy.

I was asked to write a blog about my adventures of being a potbellied pig owner, by +Tori Lattig . Today's Blog is going to the hogs.

I am going to write about a day in the life of Iggy and I. Everyday, is different but there are general things I can explain.

We wake up at 4:45 am. We let the dogs out of their kennels. (that is if Iggy hasn't already sprung them) We send the dogs outside and Iggy immediately runs to the kitchen for breakfast.

He gets 1 cup of piggy pellets for breakfast and dinner.  ( Mazuri Elder pig food) Which takes him 6.8 seconds to inhale. (probably more like 2 minutes) As snacks he gets fruits, vegetables, cheerios or oatmeal.

When breakfast is finished, he goes outside to handle business. I thought dogs urinated a lot. I am not joking when I tell you it takes at least 5 minutes until Iggy is finished. Once he is done he then finds a new dry area to finish the potty break.

Once Iggy is completely done, we let the dogs in. I have their food dishes ready and we race to their bedroom, in hopes that Iggy doesn't make it in. While the dogs eat breakfast, Iggy oinks around the house with attitude. ( we call this "Pigitude") If you are lucky he will let you pet him. But, most mornings he's mad because the dogs are eating with out him. Yes, even though he just ate. He is a pig after all.

Once the dogs are done eating, I open the bedroom door for him. Iggy has a nice comfy dog bed that he sleeps in by the dogs kennel, covered in 3 heavy blankets. You might also be surprised to know that he has a litter box in there as well. He is litter box trained. While we are at work he has some where to take care of business.

Now that it is getting cooler he likes to burrow under the blankets to stay warm. Sometimes the only part you see of him is his snout. Most morning he will go in there and go back to bed. Then there are the mornings, when he doesn't feel like it. I let him roam around the house with his buddy, Coop. (a teacup Yorkie, all of 5 lbs) When we brought Iggy home he was smaller than Coop. Coop took such great care of him. On the mornings he doesn't feel like going back to bed. I know I am going to have a fight on my hands when it is time for work. When you are trying to get Iggy to do something that he doesn't want to, he makes this coughing/choking noise. If you didn't know him. you might think he was going to die. When this happens I go and get a couple cheerios or some oatmeal. He will follow me into the kitchen and see that I am getting a snack. Then it is off to the races. Who can make it to the bedroom fastest. Once he is in there I close the door. He eats his snack and goes to sleep.

You may have heard pigs are very smart and easier to train than a dog. Sadly, in this household I am the one who has been easily trained. My pig doesn't do tricks. He barely listens to me. I always tell him he is lucky he is cute and so full of personality.

I go to work. Sometimes, my husband beats me home. If Iggy is inside when I come through the door, I might be greeted with very loud happy oinks. Or sometimes he runs to the kitchen thinking I am home solely to feed him. (many times my husband has already given him dinner) Then there is the occasion he doesn't even acknowledge me. Like us, piggy's have moods too.

We let all the animals out in the evening. When Iggy is ready to come in he will give his oinky squeal to be let in. Sometimes when I am on the couch he will come over and give me little oinky whimpers. They melt my heart. I will pet him on his back. Or if I am in the mood I will rub behind his ear and he drops immediately for belly rubs. Oh yeah, just like a dog. He will fall asleep to belly rubs. Now that it is cooler I will put a blanket over him and sit on the floor and he sits in my lap. Let me just say this was MUCH easier when he was not 50 lbs.

After we feed the dogs their dinner. Iggy is ready for bed. Sometime he will still have his blanket on him from our cuddle time. You will see him walking down the hall with it on. Sometimes, we realize that it is suddenly really quiet and we look and Iggy is fast asleep, with out so much, as a good night oink.

There are a lot of Similarities to our other household pets. I wouldn't trade Iggy for the world.

Starting in January, the Dog Wash will be hosting Suds and Snouts monthly.
http://www.azdogwash.com/suds-and-snouts/
We will have everything worked out soon. Please check back.

If you want to know more about Iggy and his shenanigans please follow him on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/IggyThePiggy

Pet Flipping!

This morning, I woke up and grabbed my tablet, to see what I had missed last night on Facebook. As I was scrolling, there was a photo of the cutest dog with a for sale sign next to it. This post was from one of our local news stations. I stop and read what it had to say. It went on to talk about "Pet Flipping". If you are like me, you may not have heard about this. Let me do my best to explain. When someone loses a dog or worse, the dog gets stolen, people resell the dogs for a profit. I  never knew they had a name for this horrible crime. Being in the pet industry, you would think I would have.

I crawled out of bed and got onto my laptop to do some research on this subject. I invite you to google, Pet Flipping and see all the stories. I literally feel sick to my stomach after watching some videos and reading all the stories of this happening.

There was one family, who had lost their dog, they checked online and found a dog that looked like their family pet. They contacted the new owner, went to meet them and the dog. This was their family dog. The price tag to get their dog back, $900. So, they told the person that they had to go to the ATM to get cash. Instead they went to the police. This story has a happy ending, but how many other do?

Then I thought of the lost dog sign we had up at the Dog Wash. We had gone to pick out a pumpkin, at the pumpkin stand close to our house. You know, the ones where people live out of the fifth wheel for a few months (Pumpkins and Christmas trees sellers) We were in my car, which advertises the Dog Wash, They saw my advertisement and immediately told us their Old English Bulldog had been stolen from there. Now, it makes me wonder if it was a dog who has or would be flipped. Bulldogs are not a cheap breed as it is. They haven't got him back yet, that I know of. It is just so heart breaking.

My next question would have to be, what can we do to keep our animals safe? Tags on collars are easy to get rid of. Microchips seem like a good idea. But, it is only good if the person who finds your dog is honest.

I guess the best we can do is keep our pets as safe as possible.

Shampoo, how do you know which is best for your dog?

We have an all purpose shampoo which we use on all the dogs, unless your dog is having skin issues. This shampoo is called Davis Gold. It is scent free and does an excellent job of cleaning your dogs.

If you come in and tell us your dog has sensitive skin. We will suggest the Hypoallergenic Shampoo. It has no fragrance or additives and is gentle on your dog.

If your dog is itching and scratching, we would suggest the Baking Soda Oatmeal shampoo. This shampoo helps clean and deodorize your dogs skin. It also, remove the dead skin and helps sooth the new healthy skin.

If your dogs skin is really irritated and has redness, we would suggest using our medicated shampoo. This shampoo cleans and helps with skin issues from microorganisms and bacteria.

I might also recommend our new mud bath too. It is for dogs who have irritated skin. It is similar to a human mud bath. We apply it to a wet dog and let it sit for 10 minutes then we rinse the dog well. After the mud bath we will then give a bath with the above shampoos.

Skin conditions are quite common here in Arizona, just because of the climate. If you think your dog is having problems with dry skin, please feel free to ask anyone of us at your next appointment. We will be more than happy to check for you.