a poem

Riley
Underfoot in the kitchen
With pleading eyes
And that question mark tail
Ever hopeful

Thanksgiving 2008

Riley's Rochambonz

I feel like it’s Passover for dogs at our house as we sweep out the grain as if it were leaven. Had to come up with a canine cancer un-friendly cookie recipe (lean protein, low glycemic index, grain free) so this is what I've cobbled together so far from a few old recipes and the strange workings of my own brain. Riley loves it. Still tweaking it but basically it goes something like this*...

1 lb. lean, organic, free-range ground meat-boiled in...
1 c. green tea with...
1 stalk celery and...
1 small cooked potato
2 whole eggs plus shells pureed in blender with
1 c. barely blanched green beans, and the
cooked meat and vegetables
all stirred into 3 c. potato flour
then spread on 2 jelly roll pans lined with no stick Reynolds foil.
Put wax paper over each pan and roll batter flattish. Remove wax paper before scoring with knife into ½ inch strips.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour
Cut strips apart and turn over.
Return to oven 5 min then turn off oven without opening and let cool and dry out completely in warm oven.
Break strips into bite size pieces.
Once completely hard, dry and cool, should be shelf stable at room temperature in a loosely sealed container.

*human assistance suggested for operations requiring opposable thumbs

+Also, try the following variations and shape with your favorite cookie cutters after it has firmed up a bit in the oven:

SCAREDY CATS: add cat mint

SOMETHING FISHY: add unsalted sardines and sea kelp

SQUIRRELLY BITES: add small amount of ground peanuts

MOUSE-MEAT: add banana and peanut butter if mice are out of season

TURKEY-TIME TREATS: use ground turkey with puréed pumpkin

BUNNY BITES: add minced greens

GIMME-CANES: add fresh or dried peppermint then cut into candy-cane shapes

please note: These cookies are made with healthy ingredients but, by the time they have finished baking, they are largely free of life-giving water. They are meant as an occasional treat only. I like to cut them into strips so that I can break them into smaller pieces.

~Riley's mum

diet for a broken pooch

It's so simple. I wish I had known earlier. If I had, I would have been doing this all along. Water is the most important "nutrient". Dogs need a grain free, protein-rich diet that contains about the same proportion of water as a freshly killed mouse or rabbit does. Since most dogs don't drink enough water, a diet of dry food causes mild dehydration that can do irrepareable damage to their urinary system over a lifetime. A good quality canned food from a reputable natural pet food store would have done the trick. Homemade food is inexpensive and super simple, but time-consuming. Think of it as therapy for your dog. There's nothing like the smell of meat simmering, along with the sound of tasty tidbits dropping, to perk up a tired appetite. Boil meat, add low glycemic veggies, and supplement as your vet recommends. The following recipe makes enough to feed Riley for a two week period.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

(Aim for a proportion of 75% meat to 25% veggie)

-save your washed egg shells (up yo 14) in a freezer bag in the freezer before your big cooking day (Make a bunch of hard boiled eggs for an egg salad or, if you don't eat eggs, you can feed an occasional poached egg to your dog).
-wash (inside and out) and boil a large, whole organic chicken for about an hour (bring to a full boil, then cover and simmer until the hip joints loosen).
-simmer the giblets, plus a pint of chicken livers, and a pound of ground meat (not pork) in a separate covered pot for 30 minutes

-add about 7 new potatoes for the last half hour of cooking or simmer with the variety meats
-add turmeric, celery and parsley for the last 15 minutes

-make a large pot of green tea and let it cool
-remove cooked meat and vegetables from broth to a cold metal or glass bowl and place in fridge to cool
-combine broths and keep warm on low (covered).
-wash, trim and chunk brocoli, cauliflower, and green beens; then return to fridge.
-remove cooled chicken carcass from fridge and pick off all meat and cartilage, into two separate containers. Then return both to the fridge.
-Break any bones you can and place all the bones in a metal collander or steamer basket in the broth. Boil them again for up to an hour.
-Use this time to take a break, or tidy up your kitchen; laying out enough clean glass freezer containers to make up your daily servings. DON'T DRINK THE TEA. IT'S FOR THE DOG. MAKE YOUR OWN!

-remove the bones from the broth. There should be lots of marrow in the broth by now and any meat or cartilage that was still clinging to the bones should come off easily. Discard the bones where your dog won't find them.
-dip veggies (broc., caul. and gr. beans) briefly in the hot broth to blanch and then set aside and turn the heat off on the broth.
-Add a few ice cubes to the broth to cool it a little (otherwise it will explode in the blender. Oh, didn't I mention there was still blending coming up?)
-Use a blender to puree, in small batches, the tea, broth, egg shells, potatoes, cartilage, blanched veggies, and a couple of the chicken livers.
-Place the chicken and variety meats from from the fridge in the freezer containers to fill the containers at least 3/4 full (it may look full but there will still be plenty of nooks and crannies for the veggie smoothie to fit in).
-Sprinkle any powdered supplements over the meat according to daily amount (Riley takes kelp, fish oil, curcumin, spirulina, a probiotic, and a vitamin-mineral blend)
-pour the veggie smoothie over all. I usually have extra which I freeze and save for next time.

-place lids on top of containers and freeze until needed. Maybe keep 2 out for today and tomorrow. Doesn't the little mister look kind of hungry?

-Thaw containers in fridge for about 24 hours.
-Sometimes I put a piece of unsalted sardine on top for a little extra fish oil.

Riley loves it!

~Riley's mum

equipment failure

$345 initial exam, xray and referral
$4100 weekend at vet hospital: diagnosis, boarding, surgery, cystotomy tube
addition of cone to protect dressing around incision and new cystotomy tube
Finally healed and mood improved
cone replaced with donut
donut doesn't work
gets leg caugt in tube
tube cracked all the way inside!
found out tube used was meant to be feeding tube!
$900 quote for low profile tube: panic, dismay, despair, depression, mistrust
Riley comes home frail and fearful and doesn't seem to trust us any more
$39 Dr Nan at Wellness Path ( http://wellnesspathvet.com/ )  exam, massage, supplements, kindness, gentleness, a new outlook,and  a happy dog who seems like he wants to live and is wagging his tail again...PRICELESS!

despair

Riley was doing a bit better but then this morning his tube came apart while he was outside after breakfast. Don't know what happened. He had his cone on and was just on the grass trying to dribble. Took him to the vet and they have to operate to replace the defective tube but are going to charge us. MBH is livid. I have decided to postpone my trip and send the kids alone. What if something like this had happened at the kennel? Poor Riley was very distressed to be checked into the vet hospital again and then abandoned there. I promised him we would never do that to him again but they gave us no choice.

our daily walk

Writing this little memoir with Riley has been such a learning experience for me. When we first met I didn't understand why we were so out of synch in our daily walk. Since that time I have come to appreciate how intricate this seemingly simple task is from his perspective. For him it is not simply about following the trail around the neighbourhood three times, relieving himself at suitable intervals, and then returning home. From a dog's perspective the landscape is always in flux. Each time around the smells and sounds along the path have changed. To a dog this variation actually changes the nature of space and time and his place in the cosmos. Each new sight, smell, and sound must be noted and responded to in an appropriate manner. It is truly awe inspiring how much these little pooches have to deal with. All we have to worry about is whether to wave at passing neighbours with the leash hand or the poop-bag hand.
~Riley's mum

if a tree falls...

If a tree falls in the forest

pee near the top

nothing says, "Big Dog!" like a high watermark.

Unless, of course, you can manage a bush poop.

~Riley

man! this disease really hits him where it counts...

rock, pee-pee, schnoodle

Riley shared his thoughts with us about this subject way back in 2003, shortly after our last move. After the stress of selling the old house, packing up our belongings, driving across the country, and living in “temporary housing”, we finally took possession of our new home. Few realize that the concept of taking possession is very different when viewed from a human versus canine perspective. Humans transfer funds, sign papers, collect keys, paint walls, remove wallpaper, lay flooring, etc… and then begin to unpack their boxes. Our dog, Riley, simply went upstairs to the master bedroom and pooped on the carpet. When I described Riley’s puzzling behavior to my husband he looked thoughtful for a moment and then said “Maybe the old owners’ dog peed in the same spot. Maybe it’s like ‘rock, paper, scissors’…maybe pee says ‘this is mine’ but poop says ‘nuh-uh, ‘cause poop covers pee”? His logic bore consideration. Still, if we examine the classical triad of rock-paper-scissors we soon realize that a third challenge is required in order to maintain the element of chance in this game of dominance and stake-claiming (thus avoiding stalemate or polarization as so often happens in bilateral power struggles such as tic-tac-toe and two-party politics). So what, I wondered, covers poop? Almost three years later I had my answer. Riley was taking me for a walk down our street when a neighbor’s dog, barking fiercely, charged out of a garage and across the yard towards what we hoped was an invisible fence. The dog’s posture and demeanor were extremely aggressive. It scared the poop out of Riley.

~Riley's Mum

heel thyself

by T. Riley O'Hara, 2002,

Human language is strange. It seems to completely ignore most of the senses, relying primarily on sight and sound. Nevertheless, the average canine can easily learn to speak a dialect that even the dullest of humans can understand; simply by combining yawns, whines, howls, barks, and sneezes to produce actual human words, phrases and sentences. Give the bling on your collar a good shake to grab their attention and try it. In no time at all you will be amazing your humans with your clever and witty banter. Just think how impressed they will be with the speed and ease with which you can acheive fluency in their very own language. They will be touched and impressed by your brilliance. For this and many other reasons canines would do well to study this limited form of communication. It is far less varied than our own language, and relatively simple to pick up. For example, consider the following human "words":

"Heel" Usually this request is made when your human is employing a leash. Humans are not as strong as canines (even the large ones). Get out in front and pull hard. Your human is tired and needs your help.
"Stay" = means stay near (follow you human closely)
"STAY" (louder) combined with outstretched palm faced towards you = means stay where you are, but make a steady whining "mmm" sound to remind your human that they have made a contradictory request. Like this: “mmm STAY? mmm Stay here? mmm Way over here? Far away from mmm you?... and mmm everyone and mmm everything? mmmmmmmm... Are you sure you mean for me to stay here? So far away? Surely not mmm...not mmm...stay here? …stay with you, …right? …stay near you… right?...not mmm all alone… over here?… all by mmm myself?…sad and lonesome?…mmmmmmmm”(Keep it up until they return. If necessary chew or dig through whatever separates you from your human).
"Sit" =place your hind end on the ground briefly, if desired.
"SIT" = (louder, combined with a finger pointing at the ground or a clenched hand thumping their chest) = stand and turn to look at what they are pointing at on the ground, or jump up on them to see if there is a treat in their closed hand. Scratch at their stockings, hump their leg, lick their face if you're tall enough. If they turn the other cheek make sure to give that side equal attention.
"OFF!"= The closest word they have to the canine "RUFF!" They are really getting into this game.
"SIT! STAY!" = place your hind end on the ground again briefy, until your human is no longer watching; then stay with them. The poor dears don't understand that they have given you a contradictory request.
"Come" = there’s something of interest, look around for it.
"COME" (louder, sometimes combined with clapping or smacking of thigh) = when you’re finished investigating the object of your interest, go to your human, and pause there briefly, before returning to show them the object.
"Leave it" = Yes! you have pinpointed the correct object of interest. Quickly, now; display your brilliance by picking it up.
"Drop it!" = If your human approaches you, calling out loudly, this indicates a desire to play "chase". Bite down securely on the item of interest and run joyfully in the opposite direction.

Happy talk!
~Riley