Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Good Gracious Sebaceous!

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Handsome Sampson

Sampson is a handsome boy.  I mean just look at this face.

photo You cannot see the Sebaceous cyst in this photo.

Besides a myriad of nick names, I sometimes call him Handsome Sampson.  Try saying that three times fast.  Go ahead.  I double dog dare you.

See you can’t.  It’s just like licking your elbow.  Not possible.

Dogs don’t care what they look like

Sampson’s mother is a Golden Retriever while his dad’s breed is unknown.  Since we’ve never had any DNA tests run, we’re guessing Black Lab.  His vet records indicate Golden Lab.  As you can see from this photo, Sampson is beginning to get the white face that you see on so many Goldens and Labs.  When I look at that sweet graying face, it breaks my heart because I know my time left with him is less than the time I’ve already had with him.  But Sampson rarely looks in the mirror and when he does, all he sees is a happy dog.

Good gracious sebaceous!

There’s one other thing Sampson has going on on his face and that’s a Sebaceous cyst.  (Thanks to poor planning on my part, the photo I took of it, is not currently available.  I’ll share it on Friday.)

Sampson of course, is oblivious to the growth on his face. I’ve never noticed him paying much attention to it.  It doesn’t seem like it’s itchy because I haven’t noticed him scratching at it or rubbing his face on the carpet to scratch it.

He doesn’t look in the mirror every day to see what the cyst is looking like, he doesn’t pick at it in hopes of ‘popping’ it or making it smaller and he certainly doesn’t rearrange his fur to try and ‘cover’ it up.

Heart Like a Dog Lesson

I on the other hand seem to always touch this when I’m petting him.  At least once a day I think Oh no, he’s got a tick before realizing I’ve touched the cyst.  It’s well below his eye and in no way affects him.  Yet I still obsess over it.

I also obsess over what people will think of me because I’m carrying a little more weight than I feel comfortable with.  I worry what people will think when they look at my choice of outfits.  I make damn sure to point out the zit on my face before anyone else can.

In a nutshell, I’m vain.  I worry about how I look.  And because of this vanity, I also worry about how my dogs look too.  Which is why when Sampson goes in for his teeth cleaning on December 10th, I’m have that Sebaceous cyst removed.

Why I don’t know, because it’s certainly not bothering Sampson.

Are you like me, worried how others will view you?  Do you find yourself projecting that worry on your dog’s appearance as well?  Are you struggling to find your inner Heart Like a Dog?

Cocobanana

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Many moons ago I worked in a health food store called Natural Rythyms.  They sold vitamins and various other health aids.  There was a small sitting area where you could sit and enjoy a salad from the salad bar, or a sandwich from the limited menu.  They also sold baked goods.

It was a part-time job I took to help with the expense of my daughter’s wedding, so I only worked on Saturdays.  I didn’t wait a lot on customers, I was mostly in the back washing dishes, except for when I was baking muffins. Still I recall those days fondly because I got to spend time with one of my favorite people and I got to bake muffins.

Let me be clear.  I created my own muffins.  And it was all dependent upon what mood I was in and what ingredients were available.  But there was one thing you could be sure of, the muffins had chocolate chips in them.

It’s a wonderful feeling when a customer comes in and says, “Oh, I was hoping you had this muffin today, it’s my favorite.”  One of my muffin creations was Orange Chocolate Chip and it was very tasty.  I would think about it all week long, what type of muffin did I want to bake on Saturday?

So imagine my surprise yesterday as I was thinking of a treat for Tasty Tuesday when my mind began wandering back down the creative trail, but this time to dog treats.

Here’s what I came up with.  I’m calling it Cocobanana.

1 banana
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup cooked oatmeal
1 egg
2/3 cup oat flour
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
 

Before you start gather your ingredients.  The key point is to get the egg out of the fridge and let it sit for a few minutes, this will keep the cold egg from solidifying the coconut oil.

I’m not sure if you know this or not, but coconut oil is solid when the temperature is below 70°, you can buy coconut oil in the liquid form but it’s super pricey so I say, buy the solid and melt it.  My understanding is it’s not good to heat coconut oil in the microwave, so I put my coconut oil in a small glass dish and set that in another dish with hot water.  I changed the water a couple of times until the coconut oil was entirely melted.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

While the coconut oil is melting, break your banana up into about six pieces and add the egg, beat with an electric mixer until blended well.  My banana was a little too fresh so it wasn’t mixing well.  I mashed it with a potato masher and then worked it with the egg.  It’s okay to have small lumps of banana in this.  I then added the already cooked oatmeal and blended that as well, then the coconut oil.  Now mix in the oat flour.

At this point I added the shredded coconut but I used a spatula.  It was a fairly stiff dough, but not unworkable.

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I dropped by 1/2 spoonful onto my baking stone and cooked at 350° for about 25 minutes. I peeked in on them at about the 15 minute marker and they hadn’t moved at all so I pressed them down a bit with a fork.

My original intent was to add Carob chips to them which would have been perfect for both dogs and humans, but since my local grocery store didn’t have the chips, I used M&M’s in four of them.

Thoughts:  The cookies were browned on the bottom and the edges, but the inside was still moist.  Not raw but moist.  Jodi Chick thought the cooked oatmeal might have been too much or the banana might have been too fresh.  I’m going to try this recipe again, with dry oatmeal and an older banana.

Let’s see what Sampson and Delilah think.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Ooops, she was too fast and my finger got in the way of the camera. I’ll say that means the cookie is good.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Dammit!  He was too fast too!

Sampson and Delilah give these cookies a four paws up.  I’m not kidding, these suckers are tasty.  Anywhere I moved with that container of cookies, there were two dogs right on my tail!

So when I named the cookies naturally I got the tune of Copacabana stuck in my head.  I tried to work with that.

Her name was ‘Lilah, she is a labby
A purple collar on her neck and she doesn’t give a heck
She’ll work for kibbles, or any nibbles
But while she tries not to be a pest, she puts her Mama to the test
When Mama bakes there is a fest
These treats are sure the best
We call them coco, coco bananas!
 

You’re welcome for the recipe and the ear worm too.

This post is a tad bit long but tell me, have you tried baking for your pets yet?  How do you feel about it?

Smiley McSmiley

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Back in September I made an appointment for Sampson to have his teeth cleaned.  It’s scheduled for December 10th.  And yes, my vet is booked that far in advance.  I know right?

I think a professional dental cleaning is a good thing to have done before your pet gets too old.  I’ve been told it has something to do with age and anesthesia (just like people.)

Brushing your dog’s teeth

Back when Sampson was a puppy I wanted to give him the very best of everything.   Sadly I did not know about brushing your pet’s teeth.  By the time I learned, I was too lazy to acclimate him to the tooth brush, although I do on occasion brush his teeth.

Choosing the right brush

I bought two of those little finger brushes, but last year I won a dental kit from My Brown Newfies.  Included with the kit was a really nice dog tooth brush.  I’ve used both and I like the brush better.  It fits better in the dog’s mouth and saves your finger, just in case you have a pup that doesn’t tolerate the brushing.

Here’s where the raw diet helps

Dog breakfasts at Stone Manor consists of raw chicken necks.  It may not be the best diet for those of you on the squeamish side, but like anything else, if you do it long enough, you get used to it. (Besides sometimes you can make a blog post out of a chicken head.)

Feeding Sampson and Delilah breakfast bones has made a huge difference in the cleanliness of their teeth.  I mean look at this smile.

SMILE-Pic That right there could be a Pepsodent smile!

As good as those teeth look, some of the chompers in the back have a little tartar at the base, and this needs to be removed.

Delilah’s teeth look good thus far, (she was a bit younger than Sampson when we started the raw diet) but we will address this with Dr. Soutter at Delilah’s next wellness exam which is scheduled for June of next year.

Heart Like a Dog Lesson

Sampson spends his day in the now, he does not project what’s to come, he doesn’t worry about tomorrow.  When tomorrow comes he will roll with whatever comes at him.

Not me.   December 10th is fine when you’re looking at it from the far side of September but it’s a lot scarier for me now.

I’m terrified.  Terrified that something bad will happen while he’s under anesthesia.

What if he has a bad reaction and doesn’t come home?  How will I live with that guilt?

How do I learn to live in the now and NOT project what scary things might come my way on December 10th?

How do I learn to live my life with a Heart Like a Dog?

Veterans Meme Don’t forget to thank a Veteran today and remember, it’s not just two-leggers who serve.

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