Copper's Tips of REALLY important things to remember

1. Squirrels can fight back.
2. Plastic bags will not hurt me...even when they are caught on the fence making noise
3. I must resist to eat bees
4. Always check the sliding glass door to see if it's open before I try to run through it at full speed
5. I must realize that coyotes are terrible snobs and that howling along with them will NOT get them to talk to me
6. It really isn't necessary for me to clean Mum's ears when she is sleeping. She is perfectly capable of cleaning her own ears.

...to be continued...

Herbal healing power

Copper had stomach problems again so I was looking for a herbal remedy to give him some relief.
I found chamomile, which has amazing healing power. The best way to give it to dogs is as a slightly warm tea with some honey. Copper loved it and he seemed to feel much better after a few hours. The Diarrhea disappeared too.
Besides using chamomile for stomach and digestion issues, the tea can also be used as a soak for a wounded paw.
Never use Chamomile for the eyes The tiny hairs of the chamomile flower can irritate the eyes very bad and is no help at all!

Walking thoughts...

O.k. I must admit, today didn't start on a high note. Copper decided to make cardboard confetti and run out in the mud with my fresh shirt. And Lacy enjoyed rolling in "you don't want to know what" before we even left the yard this morning. So while I was walking off some steam, I heard geese flying above (sign of spring)and realized, that march 23rd is fast approaching. So what, you might think, its just another day, but on that day four years ago, I had to say goodbye to my first dog, my boxer girl Amy. I only had 2 years with her until cancer ripped her out of my heart and life. And all my anger about Copper and Lacy vanished. How can we be holding a grudge for long, when we never know, how much time we will have together. Let's cherish the good and "not so perfect" times with our dogs and friends, family and loved-ones.
Even after four years, I still miss Amy, but couldn't be happier having Lacy and Copper right now, right here!

Finding a way out of a "hole"

I truly can't believe my last post was in November last year! Nothing life-changing happened, just life itself took a tight grip on me. With trying to get ahead of the daily grind, I all of a sudden realized that instead of moving forward, I was digging myself deeper into a hole. It took a long time, and huge digging effort from Copper and Lacy, to get me back on top of my game. Every day,they started with enthusiasm, playful and full of joy and never stopped trying to make me smile, when I felt like crying, to make me dance, when I barely felt the strength to crawl. Thanks to my dog companions (better time management and taking on less projects), the bad times are over, I'm out of the hole, soooo ready for spring and much more. Stay tuned...my blog is back being inspired!

Big ears...listen well!?

O.K., I just have to write one more post about the big hound ears. You would think, that with such big ears, hounds are able to listen well to commands and such. Mh, Copper is a hero in his obedience class, sit, down, stay, heal no problem. But off leash, the command "HERE" becomes a possibility, which gets all to often ignored. So I'm attaching a long leash to him every time we go out, and walk him with a 16ft. flexi leash, when we leave the property. I feel bad taking away his freedom to roam, but I can only secure his safety by keeping him close. So more walks for me. With an east wind blowing and minus 20 Celsius it means bundling up for me and out we go...

Not ready for winter!

Copper loves to be outside in any weather at any time! Lacy...not so much. She wants to be, wherever I am, and the cold wind that's blowing today, I rather sit in my cosy office, then being outdoors. Lacy likes to cuddle up on the couch - yes I know I admit she is allowed on the couch-, never enough snuggle time for her! Looking at her gets me over any winter crankiness in a heartbeat!

Big dog ears...big problems?

All you hound owners (and not only you), are you fighting with yeast infections in your dogs ears? Copper had terrible trouble last winter, really painful, hot red ears. The treatment was painful and he was hiding as soon as he saw me approaching with the ear cleaner and antibiotic drops. I want to be pro-active this winter and was looking into a natural way to balance the yeast in his body. I found the onlynaturalpet.com website, which carries natural health remedies for animals. Always consider a food allergy, if the symptoms persist. Make sure you get a vet diagnosis first and then decide the proper treatment. Sometimes antibiotics are necessary, but if it turns into a chronic problem, other treatments should be considered. I will try the Phytostan Therapy from onlynaturalpet.com. Also I started feeding Copper joghurt and will look into some Schuessler mineral tissue salts to support Copper's ear health. More about this soon.
Stay in tune with yourself and your dog companions!