dog

Croc the Dog: A Hilarious Mealtime Experience

Our mastiff-lab mix came to live with us about seven years ago at the age of three at a svelte ninety pounds. Having no interest in body image or physical fitness once he moved into a childless home, he let himself go and started packing on the pounds. He eventually got up to a a roly-poly one hundred twenty-eight pounds. Though he continued to be proud of himself, we dreaded taking him to the vet. It wasn’t so bad if we got the portly vet, but the slim and trim vet fat dog-shamed us. I’m pretty sure she came close to mentioning our physiques, like dog like dog parent I guess.
we tried cutting back on the amount we fed him, but he begged for food incessantly .

After considerable suffering, I decided to can his food myself: one third each portions of lean meat, vegetables, and brown rice. The weight started to drop off. Over about three months, he’s lost twenty-eight pounds and is allergy-free. He gets a quart every morning and evening

.I thought you might like to see how my big dog Croc feels about his food. You needn’t watch the 4 minute 24 second video to get the idea. For the full experience, turn the sound up. He usually interrupts his meal half-way through to drink about a pint of water, not bothering to close his massive mouth before walking back to his food bowl, wetting four feet of kitchen floor en route. He never wastes a morsel of food, except maybe to get a smear on my white cabinet doors. He’s generally grateful enough after a meal to come kiss me.

Dog Food Day

Today is dog food day, the day I can food for my mastiff-lab mix. Croc’s weight peaked at 128 pounds. He was short of breath,wheezed and snored badly. He was also plagued with allergies and licked his itchy feet incessantly. The vet wanted his weight down to 90 pounds. I decided to start him on home canned dog food.

I make it of 1/3 lean meat, 1/3 vegetables, a mix of beans and whatever frozen or fresh veggies or fruit I have available, and 1/3 brown rice. I can enough for it least a week at a time. I could as easily freeze it. In three months, his weight has dropped to 100 pounds. His allergies have cleared up and he no longer has itchy feet. He runs again. His snoring and shortness of breath have resolved as well.

He is always so happy to see my canner come out, knowing he’ll have fresh food for dinner

His health is greatly improved since switching him to home canned food.

The Boys

Izzy, my little dog, is guarding his treat. Croc is checking to see if there might be a crumb left.

Izzy’s Stressful Life

I thought I was giving Izzy at treat and inadvertently introduced stress into his happy little life. He is now obsessed with this chew. He normally spends a good bit of his time lap-sitting but the last couple of days, he’s been moving this to keep it out of our big dog’s reach. He seems to derive no please from it. I think I may need to swap it out for a toy so he can get back to business as normal.

My Dog’s Quirky Habit: Treasures in Bed

I’ve written before about how my little dog, Izzie, puts his treasures in our bed. This morning when I got ready to make the bed, I found he’d adapted his habit a bit. He regularly hides toys among the bed covers. In addition, he’d hidden half a hotdog and a dog snack. He also stashed half a piece of garlic toast he’d salvaged from the trash.

Fortunately for Izzie, his brother, Croc, our mastiff mix, is too heavy. He cannot get up on the bed to make off with Izzie’s goodies.

Izzy’s Journey: From Trash to Treasures

My little rescue dog obviously never had a toy before settling in with us. He was a quick study. Soon he was obsessing over them.

When I make the bed in the morning, I empty the bed of his menagerie. He quickly returns them to the foot of the bed. As the day continues, he progressively moved them toward Bud’s pillow and rumples the bed covers in order to conceal them.

I’m glad he shares his collection exclusively with Bud, especially his two favorites, a desiccated round steak bone and a shark rib bone he snitched from the trash. Bud trashed the bones several times, but the keep returning.

Izzy’s collection
Izzy

Dog’s Life in Photos

Croc in his bed in living room

Izzy’s bed in living room

Izzy on bed. As soon as I make bed he scrambles to put all his toys back on bed.

Croc giving me attitude. It’s 315 pm and he can’t eat till 400 pm.

Izzy, the Runaway

We’ve had our little dog, Izzy, less than a year. Our former dog, Buzzy had died not long before. Our big dog, Croc, was lost without his friend. My niece, a rural mail carrier, called us about Izzy. It seems a lady on her route had several dogs. Izzy strayed up to her house, begging to be let in. She was kind enough to rescue him but busied herself hunting him a new home.

He is adorable but almost instantly we discovered his little secret. He’s a runner! That’s likely how he got to his foster home to start with. He’d not been with us two hours. He took the opportunity to scoot out the door and run, just a streak of white.

I followed calling him but he was gone. I got in my truck to look for him but he was nowhere to be seen. I was sick with dread fearing I’d never see him again. Eventually, I saw him resting on a doorstep, exhausted. I scooped him up and brought him home. He managed to run a couple of more times, despite our vigilance. I suspect he’d run today, given the chance.

I apologize for three lower images. I erroneously inserted them and can’t get them out.

Happy Homecoming

Our big guy, Croc, was so glad to see us after our three day trip, He’s always unhappy to see the suitcases come out but feels better after learning, Kylie, his dog sitter will be staying with him and his brother, Izzy.

Croc came to live with us about six years ago. His original owner was a forty-year-old man in South Carolina who died suddenly. Grandma, an eighty-year-old lady, was overwhelmed by his rowdiness. Sadly, she had to return him to the shelter. Since it was winter, Croc was sent to New Jersey, which had a dearth of adoptable dogs in winter. A relative’s family gave him his next home. Their tiny NJ yard was inadequate. Croc caused a ruckus, disturbing the peace of the neighborhood.

We’d learned to love him, so brought him home with us. We were concerned about how he’d get along with our old American Eskimo dog but they became friends at first sight. Croc just adores children. When we are lucky enough to have a young visitor, he tries to claim them for himself.