ChemNutra - They Poisoned our Pets!

Shame on you, ChemNutra! You bought and used Chinese imports that poisoned our pets! I visited the ChemNutra website to see what they had to say for themselvs. Not a word of "We're sorry we poisoned your pets". The alarming thing is that they also provide ingredients for the human food and pharmaceutical industry. Be careful what you're eating!
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"The China Source Experts ChemNutra imports quality ingredients from China to the U.S. for the feed, food and pharma industries. We are a professionally managed, American owned company experienced in negotiating, securing and delivering ultra-competitive pricing on high-quality chemicals and ingredients from quality-assured manufacturers in China. We bridge the business and cultural gaps…including all regulatory, compliance, import and transportation requirements.
We specialize in Taurine, L-Cysteine, Glycine, Vital Wheat Gluten, and Glucuronolactone, and we also handle many other ingredients.
ChemNutra imports high-quality nutritional and pharmaceutical chemicals from China to the US. We purchase our inventory from quality-assured manufacturers in China; most of whom we have strong relationships over the past twelve years. Our US customers are manufacturers of food, pet food, and nutritional ingredients, who want high quality, the best service, and the most competitive prices.The ingredients we import include amino acids, preservatives, nutritional minerals, proteins, flavor enhancers, and sweeteners.The principals of ChemNutra have exported large quantities of feed and food ingredients from China to manufacturers in the US and elsewhere worldwide. Annually, our volume exceeds 4,000 tons of Amino Acids and other quality ingredients.We are qualified as a woman-owned and minority-owned company.
ChemNutra imports over 4,000 tons per year, and our customers include several Fortune 500 companies

• Feed and Pet Food
  Vital Wheat GlutenRice Protein Concentrate
  Amino Acids
  L-Cysteine USP29L-Glycine USP28L-Taurine JP8
  Sweeteners
  D-Xylose USP
  Minerals/Preservatives
  STPP (Sodium Tripolyphosphate)
  Potassium Sorbate
• Food
  Amino Acids
  L-Cysteine USP29L-Glycine USP28L-Taurine JP8
  Preservatives
  Potassium SorbateSorbic Acid"

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While there have been no related recalls since August, this isn't information to be lost. Who knows what product will be next to be found to poison our pets? If you want to tell someone at Chemnutra what you think of them, here's a contact e-mail: steve@sdsternpr.com

Puppy Puzzling

Although I no longer breed or show AKC dogs, I am absolutely impressed by the Hastings (AKC husband & wife judging team) "Puppy Puzzling" dvd. One of my students just let me borrow her copy to review, and I am very much in agreement with what I saw. Much of what I always believed about puppy evaluation was substantiated, and many questions I had about certain qualities and flaws were answered. I plan to watch it several times over the coming week, taking notes and absorbing the amazing knowledge being offered.
I highly recommend it, and I will be offering this service to local breeders to help them evaluate and properly place their litters. If you'd like to check it out, here's the link!
http://www.dogfolk.com/dvd.htm

Turbo's Grooming Grumbles

Ok I am a pretty tolerant dog most of the time. I let Feef walk by without jumping her... I let kids pat me on the head... I let Biff the Newfie drool all over me... I even let the groomers groom me without giving them any grief.... until NOW.
It all started innocently enough with Mom letting Meagan groom me. Things were slow in the salon, and I went willingly to my doom. Little did I know what horrors awaited me. I can't even speak of it - I have to let mom take over now... Oh, the shame...
Well poor Turbo - you can't imagine what he's going through. Let me preface the story with the fact that there's 2 feet of snow on the ground. Thats why the salon was so slow. Meagan brings Turbo out to me after he's been groomed, and she tells me "He's usually so good, but today he was being a little grump! He wouldn't let me groom his butt. He got all sorts of upset with me and all grumbly and fidgety."
"Hmmm" I said, "I wonder why"....
Fast forward a day, Turbo and I are playing around. He's learning a few tricks, like roll over and play dead. He wallows around on his back for a minute, legs flailing and I notice something I'd never noticed before. "Wow Turbo, when did your kahona's get so big!" Then it hit me... "Wow Turbo, when did your kahona's get so SHAVED???"
Yep, now I know why Turbo got mad at Meagan. She shaved his twins! There's 2 flippin feet of snow on the ground and she SHAVED HIS TWINS??? No wonder he's upset! That's gotta be darn cold on the poor lil' guy! When I told her why he's mad at her she felt VERY bad about it. She promised it will never happen again. Turbo is still taking a wide berth around the grooming salon entry door. He is not happy. Going out and playing in the snow is not nearly so much fun as it was.
Needless to say, it now says in BIG letters on his grooming card "Do NOT shave the boys!!!"

Important Dog Food Information

Feef's mom steals the soapbox:
I'm providing a link today, to a website that delivers some important nutritional information. After losing 3 dogs in one year to cancers, I realized that it just doesn't pay to feed cheap dog food. Rather like my friend Kim's shirt says "Life's too short to drink cheap beer", I now feel that a dog's life is too short to shorten it further by feeding cheap dog food.
Sure, the savings is immediate when you buy the cheap stuff. After all, our parents dogs ate the cheap stuff and they lived 15-16 years! Rethink that concept please!! Back in the olden days, dog foods were still fairly healthy simply due to the fact that the cornucopia of chemicals and preservatives prevalent today were not available. Farm animals weren't given daily doses of antibiotics or steroids. The ingredients going in to the dog food way back when were still simple meat and grains.
Nowadays though, your source meats are given all manner of chemicals to make them grow faster. Companies are cutting corners buying cheapie ingredients to provide bigger payouts to shareholders. They allow carcinogens into the pet food chain that are banned from the human food chain.
You save money at the checkout but consider the cost of treating a dog with cancer or some other disease caused by feeding that cheap food. You also feed less with a premium food, your dog enjoys better health, longer life, and you pick up less poop! Yahtzee!
Well, check this article out. It is a real eye opener. Then throw out the alpo and go buy some GOOD dog food.
http://www.5stardog.com/dog-food.asp

Feef's Faves - Bacon Biscotti Recipe

Finicky Feef is what Mom calls me. Her search to find palatable Fifi treats is endless. For Christmas, my groomer, Kelly, was so sweet and made little tins of cookies and biscotti's for her vict...er... clients, myself included. Wow! I liked them! Mom was so impressed she decided to try her hand at baking for me. Her first attempt was barely edible, I was a skeptic at first, but honestly, they weren't too bad. I thought she was nuts when I saw her cutting up that pumpkin and whizzing it in the food processor, but now it makes sense! Those cookies are TASTY! My favorite so far is the Bacon Biscotti. Give it a try - experiment with other ingredients and see how YOUR finicky Fido likes them!

Feef's Bacon & Peanut Butter Biscotti
2 1/2 cups flour (your choice) Mom uses whole wheat since none of us have allergies.
1/4 cup flax
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon ginger
blend all dry ingredients then add:
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
1/4 cup bacon grease
1/2 cup bacon crumbles
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
3/4 cup water (or broth)
mix it all up til it's a huge sticky ball and line a pizza pan with parchment or oiled foil. Spread your giant gooball around - it should be about an inch thick. Bake at 325 for 1 hr. Cut into 1" squares and bake on low until your biscotti is nice and dry. Cool, and store in a parchment lined tin.
We would never let this stuff sit around long enough to go bad (Duke and Turbo are such PIGS) but use common sense - if you're not going to use it up in a timely manner consider freezing some for later.

He's So Excited!

Feef Speaks: I'm just a little dog! When I take mom to work, we see a lot of other dogs. Most of them try to maul me. Not in a mean way, they're just just way too excited. They need to get out more. As they stand, I wish they'd STAY home. I try to show them the right way to greet a princess like myself, but most of them are jumping, barking, and lunging, and by no means are they heeding their people! Luckily, my mom spends a LOT of time talking to their people, and shows them the right way to meet me. They usually apologize for their dog's beastly behaviour, and tell mom "He's just so excited to come here". Well la-de-da! I get pretty excited when mom gets ready to go and grabs my fifi-cave but I don't go around mauling everyone! Mom taught me that when I see another dog she wants me to sit first, I think because it helps that other dog be a little less excited. I, of course, could really care less if I get to sniff noses with most of the ruff-raff she exposes me to but it pleases her, and helps her train those other dogs. Nice stuff that I get tossed under the bus so other dogs can learn! Plus, when I do act nice she gives me a yummy little piece of goodness to nosh on! I guess that makes it worth it although there's occasionally a whirling dervish dog that I simply don't want to have anything to do with. Mostly mom will understand if I really don't want to meet them.

I try and be nice but sometimes these other dogs can be just downright irritating. Mom says "Feef, say hello" so I very nicely walk over and sniff their stupid nose, and they get just a bit too sniffy. I let them know with a snark that being too friendly just is NOT on my itinerary! They back up fast! Usually it's the puppies that are the worst. The little bohemians NEED snarked! I don't go overboard, just a quick "yarrrgh" usually puts them in their place and gives me room to breathe.

I think more dogs need to learn to say hello. I'm happiest with the dogs who will also sit when they see me, and who approach slowly and respectfully. All it takes is some practice! So people, if you're reading this, don't let your big oaf of a dog come running up to other dogs without asking if it's ok. Teach your dog to sit and wait to be invited over. Leash manners are a must! They always tell mom "Oh he gets so excited here. He doesn't act like this at home." I want to cough up my kibble when I hear this. I'm thinking to myself "Well if you'd bring him out in public more often than vaccination day and teach him how to act, meybe he'd be a bit more mannerly!"

So, my mission as a training demo dog is to bring manners to the dog world, one snark at a time. To learn the finer art of teaching your dog to say hello, sign up for a class with my mom. She's awesome at teaching people how to have a more polite dog! After all, she's done wonders with Turbo. He actually listens when she tells him to leave me be and if you knew Turbo, you'd know that is impressive!

Be A No-Brainer Trainer

Feef Speaks: When I found my mom, I was so scared! She was very patient with me even when I peed in her lap. But she's a smart mom, and she used really positive methods to help me understand her. It worked so well for me, she wrote it down so all you guys can have your moms and dads do the same. I highly recommend listening to her. She's a smart mom, and so now I'm a smart Feef. I call my mom the No-Brainer Trainer because she really worked hard to make it easy for me to learn!



Tori Talks: So often when we try to train our dogs we just try to bring too much to the table. Remember the old rule of KISS - Keep It Simple Sweetie. Stick with the basics. This Far Side cartoon by David Larson says it all:

Cue - Mark - Reward - Release

• CUE the dog with hand signal and voice. "Spot, WATCH ME". Use food as a lure if you need to. Hold a treat by your eye. Eventually, pointing the index finger at the eye will be the hand cue.


• When Spot's gaze scans across your eye for a nanosecond, MARK* the action quickly with a crisp "Yes!". Note: "Good Dog" is NOT a marker. It is a reward phrase to use AFTER the marker word. We commonly confuse these things, thereby confusing the dog, thereby making training more confusing for everyone. Lets not do that. Use "eh-eh" as a marker if he gets it wrong.


• REWARD - At first, reward immediately after marking the action. Say "Yes!" then add a praise phrase such as "Good dog!", and offer the treat. As your dog starts to understand that cue = action = reward, you want to require longer DURATION of the action before offering the reward.


• RELEASE the dog from the action. Do NOT reward if he jumps the gun. Use your eh-eh, and have him repeat the action. If Spot is jumping at the treat, RELEASE him before rewarding him.
  
  Dogs repeat behavior they are rewarded for! Dogs live in the NOW. Be sure when you reward the dog it is not jumping up on you, snapping at the treat, or engaged in other unwanted actions.
  * MARKERS can be either positive (YES!!) or negative (NO!!). Most of us have overused "NO", and it can cause your pup to "shut down" and be unreceptive to learning. This is why I like to use a more benign "EH" for training. Save "NO" for when the pup is doing some heinous act such as piddling on grannies antique quilt.
  FEEDBACK: Consider this - if your boss never said you were doing good or bad and then just went off on you and fired you, you would think it was pretty unjust that he didn’t give you a chance to do it right by telling you that what you were doing was wrong. SO... please give your dog feedback in the form of "yes" and "eh-eh". You have about 3 seconds leeway after an action to provide this feedback or it has no meaning to your dog.
  BE PATIENT: When you get frustrated, Spot will too. Just like you crunched gears the first week you drove a stickshift, or hit the wrong letters in typing 101, your dog will have to think about what you are asking. If you’re both getting frustrated, try something Spot already knows, reward, and take a break from training to play a while.
  BE CONSISTENT: Use the same word for a cue. Use the same word for a marker. Use the same word for release. These consistencies will help your dog "get it".
  DOGS DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. When training, do NOT use more words than your cues, markers, release and reward phrases. Why? All the other words we throw in are just junk words at this point, and confuse the dog.
  Keep it short & sweet. Have fun. Be patient. Be consistent.Work on training for about 15 minutes tops, then play some.

Turbo adds his 2 biscuits worth: I'm pretty busy, and sometimes it's hard to listen. Mom makes it easy for me using only the words that have meaning for me when she's training me. When she's not training me, all kinds of stuff I don't get comes out of her mouth. I try keep up by just watching her face and listening for words I know for cue's to what she's blathering on about. During training sessions, she keeps it fun, uses only training words, and that keeps me interested. I've seen some other dogs people getting mad and those dogs just hate it when their mom and dad do that. So ask yourself this when you start up your next training session with your pup: Would you rather have Hitler or Jay Leno teaching you to sit?