Raw, baby.

Crystal here.

Nothing super-snazzy new to report. The only big change in our pup's lives right now is their diet. We have gone 100% full-time RAW.

Yep, raw.

As in, naked, uncooked, bone-in, meat. Oh, and organs. And eggs. And fish. Yummy.

Without getting into too much detail, as you know we did a fair bit of research on dog food/nutrition this year. Frankly we ended up pretty much horrified by what we've been taught to feed our dogs, via clever marketing and misinformation. This led to a switch from common commercial kibbles (prescription vet diets, Iams, Purina, etc. etc.) to grain-free, meat-based holistic kibble. We settled on Orijen, an absolutely marvelous Canadian product. The dogs did really well. This was a good first step. More research ensued, leading us to dip our toes in the waters of raw.

Lo and behold, Jaida ate her food. Not only wilingly, but RAVENOUSLY. Like she ENJOYED eating. This is the same dog we've been more or less bribing to eat since day one. This was a pretty good indication that there was something to this "raw" business. More research, some diet planning, some seeking out resources like local butchers, fish markets and neighbours with unwanted food in their freezers, more diet tweaking, and voila. Full-time raw.

The girls had chicken thighs, chunks of pork, some liver, some whitefish and some green tripe for breakfast this morning. Nummy.

Anyhoo, they're thriving on this food. I'll probably post more on the diet later, as we're starting to learn about some implications of kibble-feeding (high carbohydrates) for carnivores on gut and overall health. It's an interesting subject, and deserves some discussion.

In the meantime, please enjoy some wintry pics of the lovely ladies in question....

The cuteness. Honestly. And some bendiness.

Crystal here.

Can you stand it? Can you really? It's just too much.

I'm grateful that Charlotte's Mom#1 lets me post these pics. Like me, she became a google addict when this little bendy entered her life, and found frustratingly little information, let alone PICTURES for goodness' sake, of other dogs with leg deformities.

Charlotte's bendiness is different from Jaida's. In my humble opinion, it's pretty neat-o (but then I'm a geek that way, y'all know that). She seems to have a bit of bone protruding in the upper arm, near her armpit (do dogs have armpits?) The vet is planning to xray when she's 6 months, and in for her spay, and they'll figure out what best to do for the arm, if anything, at that time.

(Is it just me, or am I crazy for wanting to smoochie-smooch that bellie???)



Charlotte's Mom#1 is in that lovely limbo-land I remember so well: what on EARTH is going to happen with this pup's arm, and when? The waiting and wondering can be oh-so-frustrating. Sometimes you just want all the questions to be answered RIGHT NOW so you get just get on with gettin' on.

Call the paramedics!!!

Crystal, intrepid reporter, reporting live:

Mr. Dino is down, I repeat, Mr. Dino is down!!! All units report!!!

Jaida takes full advantage of the weakness in her nemesis..."quick, get him while he's down!!" (stuffing flying everywhere)

"Here, let me help, we'll tag-team him!!!"


"Victory is ours, bwah-ha-ha!!!!"

Update: Although the attack on Mr. Dino can only be described as opportunistic and malicious, he has survived the encounter. He thanks the hoomans for their quick response and, although his arm will never recover, he is thankful to be alive...

A face only a mother could love.

Crystal here.

Heidi. Upright: cute. Squishy, but cute.


Upsidedown: not so cute.

BAY-BEE bendy Charlotte is growing up!

Jaida here.

We had to share more cuteness (we're all about cuteness around here). The BAY-BEE bendy is getting bigger! Look like she has some TUFF-ness as well as cuteness! Mom Crystal says that Charlotte has a new mom and dad who is waiting for her to come live with them when she's bigger...yay!

A Bendy BAY-BEE!

Jaida here.

I just wanted to share some pictures of BAY-BEE bendy cuteness...mom Crystal got an email from a nice lady whose momma dog just had puppies...and one little girl has a fabulously bendy foot! The BAY-BEE is strong and wriggly but not bunny-hopping yet on account of her teeniness and BAY-BEE-ness. Mom Crystal says it's important not to be sucky and wimpy with BAY-BEE bendyfoots, and that their moms (even if they're very nice) should not carry them around because bendies are very strong and capable and crafty and independent and do NOT need to be carried (how rude!!!)

Mom Crystal also thinks it's important to show pictures of other bendyfooted dogs, so that other moms and dads out there don't think they're all alone.

So here is the little bendy...she is kinda pink and not ready to open her eyes yet, but still has much cuteness.

Well I'll be dipped.

Crystal here.

Huh. So word on the street is there's nothing particularly wrong with Jaida's hips.

The specialist said that she shows no sign of hip pain, her well-muscled legs and xrays don't show signs of hip displasia, and that Jaida's likely dealing with either back/leg muscle pain or else a problem with her spine.

We're probably going to be looking at some follow-up xrays or possibly an MRI of her back, and then if that turns up nothing, we'll be heading off to the physiotherapist to see if there's anything we can do.

So, the good news is, there's nothing wrong with her hips. The bad news is, there's nothing wrong with her hips so now we have to figure out what the real issue is.

Weird.