Big toys for big boys

We were out on a walk in the lovely Trent park when Balou came across a rope swing. He loves these things and has had much fun woofing and playing with swing in the past. This time there was no seat attached and he decided it was perfect for some tugging and chasing...

 If you look carefully in the photo above you can just see Bouche the Shih Tzu looking on bemusedly. The tinies were slightly perplexed as to what Balou was doing and clearly thought that he had lost his mind. Silly puppy...

Food glorious food...

Recently we have switched to feeding a complete raw food to the dogs called Natural Instinct. It makes raw feeding easy as it comes completely prepared and there is no need to worry about finding the right nutritional balance. I was excited but apprehensive when our first order arrived as I wasn't sure how the dogs would take to eating raw. Needless to say I needn't have worried. The delivery man came while I was washing off the mud from Scrap the Pap so I signed for the parcel, brought it inside and then dashed back to the bathroom. I must have left the package for just a couple of minutes and this was what greeted me...

Obviously the food smelt so good that the dogs couldn't wait to sample it. We've now completed two weeks switching over to BARF and the dogs have had chicken, duck and turkey meals. The little ones wolfed down everything but Balou was suspicious of the duck and turkey so took more time eating it than the chicken. At the moment we are still trying to calculate the amount he needs to eat. He is currently 48kgs - a little on the light side for a 16 month old Leo boy but the vet is very happy that he is sufficiently nourished and always points out that it is better for his joints and muscles to put on weight slowly and be on the lighter side. Needless to say there seems to be a trend with giant breed owners, especially of males, to want to have the BIGGEST and heaviest boy going - probably some weird machismo!?! So I do worry when people say how much heavier their Leo is, but then I remind myself that the are the boys who will suffer with hip and elbow problems later! The feeding guide for most dogs says 2-3% of bodyweight and more when growing but we're sticking to the lower end and seeing how Balou does.

As well as the food changeover we also had a doggy tea party the other day. I made cakes and sandwiches for the humans and a doggy birthday cake for the pups. Even some of the fussiest canines were soon munching away and a certain Leo would have eaten the whole cake (1kg of cooked ground beef, tuna and cheese filling, mashed potato icing and bacon frosting) by himself.

After all this yummy food it's little wonder that Balou has had so much energy recently!

Happy New Year!

Whew - it's almost the end of January so we feel as though 2013 is well under way. Since my last post Bouche the exiled Shih Tzu has returned to the fold and he and Balou have developed an entente cordiale. After their problems of last year and following their separation for almost three months they were reintroduced at my parents house, where Bouche had been staying, over the Christmas period. There were a few growly moments and one kerfuffle near food but fingers crossed we have now spent a month back in our London home with everyone getting along. As a precautionary measure they are not left alone together (Bouche goes in a crate) and we have very strict separation at feeding times but otherwise they seem to be getting along fine which is wonderful!

Christmas was spent in the countryside where the dogs enjoyed my parents huge house, gardens and paddocks as well as lots of tasty Christmas treats. Balou got a variety of different presents but his favourite is his bed. Now that he is mostly grown it was time for him to get his own bed. He has some doggy duvets but is much happier with an actual bed with sides - tricky to find in XXXXXL! Finally after much searching I did manage to find him one which measures a whopping 44 inches and which he happily fits in. Needless to say this has proved to be popular with the smaller dogs as well so there is a lot of competition for who gets to sleep there.

Balou seems much more mellow and I think the effects of his neutering are really visible. Our vet said that the testosterone levels reduce fairly quickly but it takes about three months for the levels to completely drop. Balou is back to being the mellow, friendly baby that he was before he became a bit uppity - which is great. He is still bouncy and babyish but as I've experienced with my other adolescent boys neutering has just taken away that confrontational edge.

We have been lucky to have had a few snowy days here in London which Balou has absolutely loved. He adores snow and will happily play in it for hours which is a joy to watch. The only problem is once it melts we have even more muddy puddles - perfect for mudbathing, not so much fun for cleaning!

This bed feels about the right size.