Worry Some Pet Owner..

My very best friend OLMO was not in shape the other day. It is sometimes difficult to take the time , stop and listen ( with your eyes ) what the pet is communicating to you. 

His eyes where dull and sad. 

He did not have appetite, but with him it is not a clear sign as he is a fussy buddy. 

Most of all , he did not wag his tail. 

I felt him warmer than normal and could see him selecting a fresh corner rather than the normal radiator.  So, a slight increase in temperature is fever.

I am not overly fussy and like to hold on, and watch what is wrong before I rush over to the vet.  A good way to lower fever is to cover them in cold (wet) towels. 

I finally found what was wrong. Simply a broken toe nail. Not life threatening but painful.  

 Off we went to the veterinary and it was all taken care off. It is important to keep the nail clean to avoid infection.

Both happier and calmer by now, 

G

My best friend !

Olmo,


 my best friend or at least my four legged best friend. He is a half lab of 5 years. He is always on my side, protecting , controlling. He is cute, loves to "steal" a  shoe in the morning and forget it easily in the garden. ( it's part of the game). He follows me to the bathroom, dressing room, sits by me at breakfast and checking IF he can come along in the car. He loves the car. And can wait by the car in the morning for hours, ready to leave. He is with me in restaurants, in the shop, pretty much every where.  Well I can call him my best friend ! 
Found this poem on the web. Sorry there was no information on who wrote it. It made me think of Olmo. I just modified the wagging tail bit.


You're...

My Friend,
my companion,
through good times and bad
my friend, my buddy,
through happy and sad,
beside me you stand,
beside me you walk,
you're there to listen,
you're there to talk,
with happiness, with a wagging tail,
I know you'll be there,
throughout the years!

Cute....

G

Happy dogs

A relaxed and playful dog has a nice turned up tail in a U form.

But it does not always mean they are friendly, says Cesar Millen. My dogs are always happy  with a strong wagging tails, when asking for play or for their meal .

A wagging tail can also mean excitement or agitation, to warn another dog or person to stay back. It is also important to read his position of the ears. Moving forward is friendly and going backwards is attention. 

Dogs talk and can learn many words. I am always teaching them many new words and connecting my body language to it.   When I lay down on the grass. That is playing. When i raise my finger they will sit. When I point my finger down and say "terra" they will lay down. When I say "mangiare" they run for the kitchen.  And we have many more situations like that. 

The only thing I do not manage to teach them is to jump all over me when I get home.They are stubborn ( I guess they learned that from me as well ) and want's to do it their own way.

 But most of all they wants to share their happiness with me.

"No animal should ever jump up on the dining room furniture unless absolutely certain that he can hold his own in the conversation." -Fran Lebowitz, author

In the most fundamental way, dogs are great communicators. We understand that a beeline for the front door means he's happy to see you. We know that a lethargic walk means he's feeling under the weather. We know a pooch is craving a snack when we catch him staring at the treat jar. Our dogs read us with ease—the average pooch understands up to 165 words, signs, and signals, says Dr. Stanley Coren, best-selling author of books such as What Do Dogs Know? and professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia. And some breeds—Labradors, Border Collies, Poodles, German Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, Shetland Sheepdogs, and Golden Retrievers—can comprehend up to 250 words, signals, and sounds.

I wish i had taken this fantastic photo. It is from Beneful.com

Gunn

A special gift

A nice little gifted friend in Hong Kong, gave me this precious present. It is a portrait of Pepe and his mummy Tati. Can you see the collage with tiny pieces ( click for a bigger image ) of black paper creating a nice carachter. My friend is a very young girl and  is very lucky to have a smart mother, who one day said that Barbie had to leave. Tears for a moment and then lots of creativity started to bloom. I wish every little girl could have a kind mother who is thinking ahead.

Gunn

Poor little thing....

I completely forgot to put her to bed, blogging away....


Tati is funny, she will wait up and is now curled up , exhausted  in the chair and snoring away in an uncomfortable position.


Time for both of us to say Good night,
Gunn

Not following the rules

BUT having lots of fun !

We have a freak problem at our house. 

The doggies are just waiting for the perfect moment to run away. Not far,  just to the old lady on the other hill, who served them cookies since they where puppies. ( to our despair )

So...the safest and most practical way we have come up with is to let them into the car as we pass the open gate. 

They love this play.

And we are in control...cool and assertive

Gunn

Our biggest thief

Today, Sunday is as always my favorite day. Just not doing anything ... but always ending up doing a lot !

In this wonderful quiet afternoon I decided it would be nice with some lavender shortbread for the tea so I pulled out a package of Danish butter, Lurpack, as I never got used to the Italian butter.   250 gr.  Placed in a large bowl on the table as it has to get a bit softer before working it into the dough for cookies. I walked into the storage to get flour and the other ingredients needed and was away for maximum 5 seconds. 

The butter was gone, and just for a flash second i thought I might have lost my mind... 

all the dogs where relaxing on the floor ... 1.2.3 and 4 ! One is missing. 

PEPE !! PEPE !!  nowhere to be found. 

He can probably fool everyone but ME.....he was hiding under the giant leaves of the fig tree munching on 250 gr butter bar . PEPE !

You all know Pepe as Valentino in my earlier posts. But it did not work to call out Valentino, Valentino...Bravo Valentino all day , so he got a new name Pepe, pepper in English. It is more suitable to him. He is a charmer as a Valentino but he also has that Crazy energy.

So PEPE ! Pepe ! Pepino ! works better.

If he lived in Sweden his name would have been Emil , Eeemiiil !!!

Ear cleaning

We.........are not very happy about this. But we have to go through it together. I am testing a product i am developing for cleaning the dog's ear. 


This time it is Sacchi , who has to be the one to help me. 
It is a light spray of a mix of good organic oils. I spray it into the ear , massage well and dry the ear with a cotton pad ( what we normally use for tonic water ) using the pinkie finger. I am very careful.


You can not see her after this session but i insure you that she is happy and clean.


Moving on with " naturnara for happy dogs",
Gunn

Shampoo for happy dogs

We are not the only ones getting showers after a day in the garden...........

Valentino is taking his bath in the one hour sunshine we had today. It is a good way to get used to each other and i praise him during this moment.

I simply use a large bowl that i normally use for flowers. He fits perfectly.

It is important to first rinse the coat with finger-warm water before you add 2 tablespoons of shampoo on his back.

His coat is carefully massaged and heartily rinsed until the foam is gone.

He is very calm and stands perfectly still, i think he is actually enjoying it.

Something i noticed using my natural pet-care shampoo is that the dogs are more relaxed and are not desperately trying to get out of the sink. I am convinced that it depends on the natural scent instead of the chemical one.

It is very important to towel-dry carefully. My dogs do not like the hairdryer, so i always have to select a sunny day. It is smart to start early with puppies so they get used to this treatment.

Puppies get easily cold, so I wrap them in the best thing i have, for example this wonderful Agnona cashmere plaid.

The product I use is my own " naturnara shampoo for happy dogs " and it contains only natural and organic plant extracts and oils. It is wonderfully therapeutic for dogs and puppies and kind to their coat and skin.

You can find it in my shop Un Momento Nordico in Biella


We both enjoyed it,
G

Food for puppies

Feeding the puppies !

Mommy is starting to get a bit tired of feeding her 8 puppies.

I don't blame , poor thing. So it is time for me to take over. That means we are going over to solid food , teaching them to eat from a flat dish. I promise, it's not an easy story, they scream , they stress, they make a lot of noise.

No table manner here.( I need advise from Mrs Ribbing in Stockholm)

This is my receipt for a healthy first meal.

Quinoa, grated carrots and lean minced meat cooked together to a soft creme.

I also add a spoon with miso-paste, it will prepare their digestion.

That is yummy and should keep them happy for a couple of hours.

G

Gromming Tati

Tati !

Sunday should be a perfect day for grooming Tati.

Here she is in the bathtub getting her bath with Naturnara dog shampoo. She is actually very calm and relaxed and is not trying desperately to get out of the tub when i use my natural products for dogs.

More to come,

Gunn

Did they miss me at all ?

I do miss them !

How about them ? I guess they do not even notice that i am away. But i have this idea that they are sitting by the gate looking and silently waiting for all the goodies i am bringing back with me.

A bright pink collar for Tati , as she deserves to get a nice bath and looking pretty again after all the hard work of feeding 8 puppies. Some cute toys for the small ones.

I am also looking foreward to a nice walk with them.

Actually i do have the proofs that they miss me......normally when i am back from a trip they all make a point of beeing noticed ( all in their own way ) and insists to sit in my lap, sleeping next to the bed. Or to warm my feet under the desk.

I admit when you are a passionate dog owner , you becomes a bit silly at times,

Gunn

Food for puppies

Food for all !

Feeding 8 hungry puppies at the same time is not an easy task.

It is a big race who gets to the finishing line first. I tried with two large bowls and it was a giant fight, pushing into the bowl and trying to get most of it.

But then i read in my Natural Dog guide that each puppy should have their own little dish.

The row is to wide to fit into the photo........

So now it is still a competition on who licks their dish clean first and then can move on to the next .

And they leave a big mess behind, happily content with a full belly.

I am enjoying this moment,

Gunn

Valentino

Valentino !

Born on this special day of celebrating lovers, i think the best name for him is just Valentino.

He was the first of the total 8 and is now a month and a day. His weight is not more than a bowl of pasta.

Valentino's teeth are slowly showing up and he has an insisting bark, when asking for food.

Our favorite dog whisperer Cesar Millan is keeping me advised and helping me stay calm and assertive,

G

Puppies

Puppies !

Our labrador bitch TATI had 8 wonderful healthy puppies on the 14th of February. It is also the birthday of a dear friend, so i could not give her a better present.

Here they are ! happy, content, always hungry and starting to make some funny barks, playing and growing fast right before your eyes. Tati is a chocolate brown labrador of 5 years and the proud father OLMO is half labrador and his dad a German shepard from somewhere around the neighbouring hills. All the puppies turned out black.

It is a pleasure to watch these creatures grow every day.

I call it my meditation time,

G