Denali's First Bath!

After her sprinkler fun today, it was the perfect time to share the other Denali soaked pics from her first bath this past Sunday.

Being the barn dog that she is, on Saturday she had some fun playing in a giant mud puddle after we cleaned out one of the water tanks for the horses. One of the many reasons I don't have any carpet in my house!  We were also going to see her best bud, Moss, so she wanted to look her best :)

There was quite a bit of splashing around at first as she got used to the slippery footing, but aside from me getting almost as wet as she was, she did great!

Berner crazy eyes, I think this was her plotting just how crazy she was going to go once she was done.

I did the best I could with a towel and then set her free!

I had a pile of towels for her to roll one, but rolling on me was much more fun!

Clean pup!

After a long walk with Mr. Moss she was one tired puppy!  That's a lot of excitement for one day!

16 Week Update

Denali is 16 weeks old today, a perfect time for an update!

She weighs 31.6 pounds and will get her final round of puppy shots tomorrow.

She is such a good puppy, she still (fingers crossed) has not destroyed anything!  

She's starting to lose her puppy teeth so we keep her busy with lots of toys and things to chew on.

She loves the bones her Grandma Cathy got her...

Not only are they great to chew on, but are so much fun to toss around and attack!  

Sadie broke her reins, which was perfect timing, a big chunk of leather to chew on is the absolute best to a puppy!

As she gets bigger we are working on more and more commands and tricks. She sits, shakes, lays down, stays...that one is tough but she's getting it!

She knows to sit and wait for her food and for treats, she's getting better and better about this!

She still LOVES hay and was so excited when I brought 4 fresh bales to the barn yesterday.

She is such a lovey puppy, if she's near you she likes to keep a paw on you.  

Schumi is so incredibly patient with her!  If she isn't loving on him she's wanting to play, and her favorite game is taking his collar off.  She's a master at it, which can be an issue since he's not nearly as good about staying close as she is.   I'm currently searching for a Denali proof collar.  Maybe Liz and Susan at Fairy Tail Collars can help me out with suggestions :)

She likes to fetch and is surprisingly good at it!  This isn't typically something Berners get that excited about, but she caught on quickly and will retrieve quite a few times before getting bored with it.  She's still a little uncoordinated on the slippery floor though!

She loves to ride in the car, but you can't be in a hurry if you take her anywhere.  She's like a celebrity at the feed store!

She's taking her first long road trip this week when we head to AZ.  I hope she still loves the car after that long drive!!  

She'll get to spend the days with Aunt Jess and Bruce Almighty while I'm at work, I'm sure we will have quite the adventures to report back on!

And the last pic of the update, her goofball expression when she gets really tired! :)

Leave it to Dolly...

When I moved back to Colorado one of my top priorities was being able to walk out my door, straight to the barn and to my horses.  I never take that walk for granted, I'm thankful every single day, but during wintertime I'm thankful at a much faster pace!  

This evening was one of the first evenings of the season where it was warm enough to take my time feeding and enjoy the amazing sunset.  

It was one of those water color sunsets, beauty in every direction.

The cottonwoods add such a dramatic contrast.

Since I was taking my time and enjoying the nice night, I let the girls out of the round pen to run and play a bit more while I finished scooping their feed. Sadie loved it and took her time making her way to the barn.

Not Dolly, Dolly ran straight to the barn and upon discovering her feed was not in her stall yet she went right to the feed room.  Buckets flying, she was on a mission!

She never ceases to amaze me with how smart she is, we have 7 trash cans full of different feed and she went straight to hers.

She pulled the lid off like it's something she does every day!  

Ok, Dolly, I get the message.  I'll enjoy the sunsets AFTER your fed :)  Leave it to Dolly to bring the humor and chaos on such a peaceful and serene evening.

They are all tucked in, fat and happy for another night as I admire the perfect view from my door.

Sadie Acres Family History: Part 2

 Back in July I posted my first Sadie Acres TBT blog.

While searching for the picture of Bucky on my last blog, I came across a few more that were definitely worthy of another TBT post.

Me and Brandy.  My Mom and I figured out she wasn't much bigger than Dolly!

Heather on her first pony, Macaroni

Heather on her second horse, Dusty.  What a natural she was!

I told the story of Heather winning money barrel racing, here she was showing Dusty just how much they'd won.

Heather and I doing what we loved best, hanging with our horses

If her big break in Hollywood is playing the part of a cowgirl, nobody will be surprised :)

Worth the Price of Admission

I've always loved training dogs, that love combined with my business-minded nature had me making money at an early age charging my family admission to see our dogs "perform".  I'm sure it was money well spent, after all, who wouldn't pay to see a Lhasa Apso jump through a hula hoop?!  

My "show dogs" Muffy and Scruffy.  This is also when Heather and I had some pretty awful haircuts!

Despite her many circus style talents, Muffy was not the most well-behaved dog and she would constantly run away.  This little dog could get out of everything!  My Dad finally came up with the brilliant plan of attaching an empty milk carton at the end of a rope that was attached to her collar.  She could move freely around the yard, but would get stuck when she'd pull a Houdini escaping through the fence.

One of my favorite dogs ever was named Bucky!  To me he was the perfect dog, he was a giant mutt (in my eyes he seemed like a giant!) with an even bigger personality.  He was a rescue and with his big personality came even bigger behavioral problems.  I couldn't have been more than 6 years old and I would spend hours in the yard playing with Bucky and teaching him what my young brain thought were very important tricks for a dog to know. Unfortunately, what I did not teach Bucky was to stay in his own yard :(  I came home from school one day and my giant friend was not there to greet me.  

Bucky, me and Heather...pre-haircuts.

Given this history, it's not terribly surprising that my biggest worry with Denali was training her to stay on the property. After all, we have 10 acres bordered by even more open land, that's a lot of area for a little pup to explore and get lost!

Denali in the feed room - such a good barn dog!

Denali enjoys going to the barn with me but she often opts to head back to the yard before I'm done with chores.  The first couple times she wandered off it made me a bit nervous, but I knew there was only one way to find out if I needed to start shopping for giant milk cartons.  

I had nothing to worry about.  Denali is incredible, she waits patiently like a little Berner statue, always sitting somewhere where she can see me.

As soon as she sees me wrapping up chores and the barn door closing she is full speed ahead to greet me and walk me back to the house.

And when I say walk me back, she does just that!  When she first started doing it I thought she just wanted to bite my gloves, but I quickly learned that it wasn't about the gloves and if I didn't pull away she would pull me all the way back to the house.  

Denali does a lot cute things, but this is hard to beat!

While my dog training skills have definitely improved over the years, I have to give most of the credit to this incredible breed. Denali is so smart!  If I would have had her as a kid I would have been able to charge a much higher admission price!

Love her little statue pose.

Dog Food Debates and Dilemmas

Anyone who knows me (or reads this blog!), knows how much I love my animals.  All of the animals at Sadie Acres...all 13 of them, are fed, loved on, given fresh water, and had a treat before I even think about having breakfast or even brushing my hair for that matter!  I've always believed that if you can't take proper care of your animals and give them a happy and healthy home then you shouldn't have them!   

I was very young and had no money when I got Mauzzy.  

She was such a cute pup!

Despite my lack of resources I still feel I was a very responsible pet owner, she got tons of exercise, lots of playtime, I made sure she always had all of her vaccinations.  She moved with me multiple times in Colorado and Arizona, there were many times when most people would have given her up due to lifestyle changes, apartment deposits etc., but there was no way I would give up my dog, she was part of the family.  Regardless of what was going on in my life I made sure it was a suitable environment for her as well.

One way that I did save on money was dog food.  After all, when I was a kid we always had dogs and it was unheard of to spend a ton of money on dog food!  

That being said, I have always been adamant that my dogs do not get fed people food, if it's something like plain chicken or rice then I will make an exception but overall my dogs never stray from their dry dog food diet.  I do this for both health and behavioral reasons.  

Once I got Schumi I was more established financially and there was more and more info. and opinions about various dog food brands.  Pet recalls were also becoming more frequent.  Since Purebreds tend to have more health issues I decided to make the change and upgrade the dog food I was feeding Schumi and Mauzzy.  I did my homework and found the best possible food I could feed them.  

Ironically, EVERYTHING made Schumi sick.  It was awful, pet food after pet food he would get sick.  I talked to my vet and found that allergies in puppies are not uncommon and the best thing to do was just keep trying different foods. One day at my wits end I finally bought my standby inexpensive dog/puppy food, after all Mauzzy had been healthy for years. Sure enough, it was the first food that did not make him sick!  

 I have always received compliments on how healthy Schumi looks

As he got older Schumi was able to digest more and more foods and I made the decision to feed them mid-range dog food.  I have always watched to avoid the red flags as one of the main ingredient like meat meal and bone meal which rules out a lot of generic brands.  While many vets do push for the all-natural top of the line dog foods and to only feed the best of the best, I have also had vets tell me that many mid-range dog foods are absolutely sufficient for keeping your pet healthy.  I've also read cases where many "top brands" are tested and found to be virtually no different than more reasonable priced foods.  Reading the label and doing just a little research can go a very long way!

Another area I have always been adamant about when it comes to my animals is not over-feeding.  Many breeds have obesity issues which can lead to so many health issues.  Beagles are definitely one of those breeds, so I'm careful to keep Schumi at a healthy weight.  This isn't always easy now that he's surrounded by loving Grandparents, he's actually on a diet right now :)  I was the same way with Mauzzy, she got a bit overweight a couple of times and I could see such a difference with her energy level and behavior.  Getting her back to a healthy weight made all the difference!   

My dogs have always been incredibly healthy, in 17 years as an adult dog the ONLY thing Mauzzy was ever treated for was an ear infection.  This happened while she was being boarded when I was on vacation.  That combined with the obvious stress upon their return convinced me that I would never do traditional boarding for my dogs again.  On a side note, Mauzzy started cleaning Schumi's ears at least once a week from that day forward.  I think she was trying to prevent him from suffering what she did.  So amazing.

Schumi is going on his 9th birthday and I have never taken him to the vet for any health issues.  His little face is turning white, but watching him play with Denali you would never guess his age!

I know this is a VERY hot topic, and each dog is different depending on special needs, but it's something I felt I should write about with the last round of pet food recalls.  I think you can absolutely keep your pet healthy without breaking the bank from dog food.  I see a lot of very judgmental posts and articles that make you feel like Michael Vick if you don't feed your dog the absolute best and most expensive food out there!  I have a feeling I'm not the only one feeling judged out there so I wanted to share.  I think most of us want what is best for our pet and should stay up on the latest health news just like we do for ourselves, however, like humans I think there is a lot you can do to keep pets healthy in addition to a balanced diet.

I credit the following for my healthy pups:

- Proper vaccinations as needed

- Avoid high stress situations.   I know there are great boarding facilities, but once I started doing independent care, my dogs were so much happier and most importantly, this reduced a ton of stress

- Regular exercise

- Consistent diet, avoiding unhealthy people food that even we shouldn't be eating!

- Evaluating the needs of your individual dog (including nutrition), I am in the process of doing this with Denali

- Keeping your dog at a healthy weight

- I am always extremely picky about the dog parks I take my dogs to.  I always evaluate the cleanliness prior to taking them anywhere

- Dental health - this is another topic that is often argued, I have never had my dogs teeth cleaned but I do make sure I give them treats and bones that naturally clean teeth

- Tons of TLC

I am by no means an expert and know I have also been very lucky, there is so much we can't control with our furry friends.  I was so blessed to have Mauzzy for over 17 years and hope Schumi and Denali live long happy lives just as she did!

The last picture of Mauzzy, I'm so thankful she lived a healthy life up until the end.