It's difficult dealing with a dog who has separation anxiety. Unfortunately, many people experience their dog acting out but don't know it's anxiety that's causing their dog to "be bad". If your dog is doing these things when you leave the house, they might have separation anxiety: Excessively barking or howling Destroying furniture by chewing  and scratching Scratching doors or … [Read more...]

I ventured into the raw feeding world when Chester was 8. I'd given Chester and Gretel a little raw food here and there and not noticed the differences that a lot of raw feeding devotees claimed they saw. However, once I switched his diet to 100% raw, I did see a change. It gave him the zoomies. He not only started acting like a puppy again, but he started acting more spunky than he ever did as … [Read more...]

I hear a lot of people say that they would never separate from their pet in the case of a natural disaster emergency. I feel the same way. However, I have worked in emergency management before. I know the truth is you can't always choose to stay. Also, it's quite possible you could be away from home when disaster strikes. In that case, there is a very good chance you won't be allowed back into … [Read more...]

So you read my article about how cold laser therapy can help your pet with things like arthritis, ACL and other ligament tears, Intervertebral Disk Disease (IVDD) and other spine problems, general pain, healing wounds.... well, some claim a cold laser can cure about anything. Now you want to buy a cold laser for your dog but the information out there is overwhelming and sometimes conflicting. … [Read more...]

I was invited again this year to attend the Nestlé-Purina Better with Pets Summit in New York. I had such a great experience last year, I jumped at the chance to go. This is the same event that brought Gretel and I to New York for the first time last year where she had her first subway experience and explored almost all of Central Park. Unfortunately, because of the way my travel schedule … [Read more...]

In the world of environmentally-friendly products, there is a term called "greenwashing". Greenwashing is the practice of using deceptive marketing or labeling to imply that a product is environmentally friendly when that feature is marginal or missing all together. When companies saw that people wanted "green" products, some adjusted their marketing to put a green spin on their product or created … [Read more...]

It's been 6 weeks and 4 days since Gretel hurt her back and was diagnosed with Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD).... not that I'm counting or anything :) The initial diagnosis of Gretel's IVDD was scary. I knew that Gretel wasn't past the "window" when IVDD is most likely to occur if it's going to at all - 4 - 7 years old - so in a way I had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I suspected … [Read more...]

I often get asked what Chester and Gretel eat. It's been a series of transitions for us but I settled on a diet of raw food for them. Did you miss the posts on why and how Chester and Gretel transitioned their food from junk kibble? You can catch up here: Our Food Journey Pt. 1 – My Dogs Eat Better Than I Do Our Food Journey Pt. 2 – The Transition from Junk Kibble to Grain Free Dog Food Our … [Read more...]

My adventure down the Cannabidiol, aka. CBD, knowledge road started when I visited my first recreational marijuana store a few months ago. I live in Washington State where recreational pot is legal now, which is still feels really strange to me, so I thought I might as well see what a "pot store" looks like on the inside. I snooped around in the store a bit and discovered some CBD dog treats. I … [Read more...]

The story of my life is this: Shitty things happen to me but they happen in the best possible way. Look on the bright side, right? In this case, the shitty thing is happening to Gretel. The irony is shocking here. I've been blogging for 5 years. I JUST now decided to write about Dachshund back problems and IVDD. Gretel developed a skip in her step last month. I took her to a specialist and … [Read more...]

Chester and Gretel are active dogs so it makes sense that they need really good nutrition to keep them going. However, there are many reasons to improve your pet's diet from less vet bills to helping them live longer. I felt pretty good about myself for changing Chester and Gretel's food to grain free kibble. I knew it was an improvement in the quality of their diet and one small step toward … [Read more...]

If you haven't already, you will probably start hearing about Cannabidiol, or CBD, treats for dogs soon. Before I'd heard of them, I discovered them in a local marijuana dispensary (it's legal here so I decided to check one out). A marijuana dispensary carries lots of weed (surprise), smoking paraphernalia, edibles (weed cookies, brownies, etc.), and cannabis tinctures. This dispensary also had … [Read more...]

Gretel and I have a couple of big plans this summer. We are planning to hike a 72-mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail near the end of August. To help us get shape for it, we started training for a dog friendly 5k near Seattle. However, a couple of weeks ago our plan came to a halt. One of the days that we were out running, I noticed that Gretel was skipping a step on her right back leg. It … [Read more...]

Chester was my first and only Dachshund until I adopted Gretel. I knew a little about the breed but we basically lived in a vacuum. We didn't know any other Dachshunds, or dogs for that matter, so I didn't have anything to compare him too. Originally, he was my roommate's dog. I just took care of him when she was out of town for work... which was often. I had wanted a dog desperately in college … [Read more...]