Home Zookeeper

Today in the Pacific Northwest it is in the 90s. It’s a “dry” heat, which means absolutely nothing to me except that I know humidity is just more miserable. We’re not used to this kind of weather though. Summer has been slow in coming, and while I was getting tired of clouds, this heat is no fun for me or the dogs.

Animals can so easily overheat in this kind of weather. I was sick to my stomach yesterday as I drove home. I saw two different trucks with their dogs in the back beds. The dogs looked absolutely miserable - completely out in the open with no shelter (not to mention no security…but that’s another topic altogether) and I presume no water. Their tongues hanging out, panting so heavily I just wanted to roll down my window and yell at the drivers. It was worse because it was stop and go traffic on the freeway - it just seems hotter surrounded by all that pavement.

I was thinking about those dogs this afternoon when I took Quinn with me to the Post Office. I’m sure someone thought I was being abusive to her - taking her out in this heat. What they don’t know is that Quinn LOVES heat. Seriously LOVES it. She will lay out on our deck even in the hottest weather and won’t come in unless we force her. She was born in a hotter climate (Spokane, WA has much hotter summers) but she’s still a black and white dog. She will come in panting like mad but she just loves it. I wonder if the heat feels good on her old bones.

Anyway, my point is that I know my dogs and I knew that she could handle the short trip to the Post Office. I left all the windows down (it wasn’t too busy so I felt safe doing that) and could see her from the post office as I waited in line. I watched her carefully and was prepared to go back out if she looked distressed. She didn’t even pant for the first few minutes. And she purposely stayed in the sun with her head hanging out the window. She’s so cute. By the time I got out to my car (no more than 10 minutes) she was panting (not heavily) but still in the sun with head hanging out. I offered her a drink of water from my water bottle and she wasn’t that interested.

I know how my dogs react to heat. I could never have taken Trooper or Kodiak on that short trip. Both would have been absolutely miserable. I also know Quinn’s limits and if I’d left her much longer she would not have been comfortable. All animals have different tolerances.

We can’t even walk the dogs in this weather. In 70 degree heat they get so hot that after we’re done they go immediately to their kiddie pool. Trooper and Kodiak spar to see who can get in and dig around the fastest. It’s hilarious.

Quinn rarely gets in the pool.

So now, in this heat, we have our small air conditioner (window unit in the bedroom) going full blast with the fan blowing on high and the dogs are still inside panting. Our house gets full on sun until around 4 p.m. so it heats up very hot. I need to get curtains to keep the sun out and keep the house cooler. The only reason we got the AC unit was for Trooper. Before we got it the house would get to over 100 degrees. With all his extra fur he’d probably get heat stroke.

While the dogs are miserable, my cats are in heaven. They love to sun bathe and at their new house with grandma I hear they are enjoying laying by the sliding glass door in the sun even in this hot weather. But even cats can get overheated.

Stay cool everyone!

I get paid to write on this blog (not a lot but something is better than nothing right?). It’s one of the reasons I decided to join 451 Press but I also wanted a dedicated blog to write about animals and especially my dogs.

I am thinking that I want to donate all the earnings from writing here to Saving Shelter Pets - a non profit organization that tries SO hard to rescue dogs from kill shelters and place them in loving homes.

I earned a little over $7 last month (I know…big bucks!) so I’ll round up and donate $10 to their latest group of rescues in desperate need of funding.

Can you help???

SSP still needs over $700 to save this group of dogs who, through no fault of their own, are trapped in a bad situation and desperately want a loving home of their own. Every little bit helps - even just $5.

And all donations are tax deductible. I guess I should be keeping track every time I send a few dollars. Oops. I’m so bad at tracking those kind of things.

Every time you visit me here at Home Zookeepers I earn a few more cents that will go to save the special animals that wind up in shelters. If you have time, please visit every day. I will do my best to have something interesting to say.

I don’t know how “real” parents (that is, parents of human children) do it. Leaving your humanoid kids home must be 1,000 times worse but I tell you what, seeing that sweet doggy face staring at you as you drive away is beyond difficult.

Photo of an amazing Siberian Assistance Dog in Training - I never would have thought of a Husky Assistance Dog!!!

Hubby is traveling this week (again…I’m getting tired of this) so my MIL has been coming over to doggy-sit. It’s either that or all three go to daycare all week and I think that might kill Kodiak and Quinn. Not to mention eat through our package and I’m not keen on shelling out another $300 anytime soon.

When I got home last night my MIL was laughing and said that Trooper laid on the love seat looking out the window for the last couple of hours before I got home. The other day hubby told me that Trooper now knows my car. The sound of it coming and when it pulls in. Which doesn’t surprise me because all 3 dogs know the sound of daddy’s patrol car coming home.

Trooper and I have always had a special relationship. When he was a tiny little ball of fluff (well, tiny relative to his size now!) hubby got very very sick. So sick that he couldn’t even take the dogs out to relieve themselves during the day - making potty training a very messy event. And made my time with Trooper nearly uninterupted and daddy’s time very minimal. Hubby now jokes that Trooper is “my” dog, but I know he loves his daddy.

But our relationship is different and has only gotten stronger since we started agility training. He listens better for one thing. At least to me! His hearing is still very selective when daddy is talking.

Driving away this morning my heart just tugged … I wanted to drive back and cuddle on the couch with my baby boy. I have photos of him all over my desk at work now. He is such a special dog and he brightens the lives of everyone who meets him.

Is it weird to want to be a stay at home Doggy mom? =)

My mother in law told me that she saw a news report about a woman in Seattle fighting off an attacker as she took her dog for a walk. The dog - a beautiful red and white Siberian Husky - was the target of the attempted robbery. Seriously. The guy was trying to steal her dog!

Who the heck mugs someone for their dog? Apparently stealing dogs isn’t a new thing but it still boggles my mind.

The news story mentioned that the purpose of trying to get the dog was to then resell it for $500. Which is insane. Dogs aren’t commodities. They aren’t televisions (though I admit an unhealthy affinity for my TV).

A radio talk show host I used to listen to had his new purebred bulldog stolen right out of his front yard when he was home. (One of the drawbacks of having an electric fence in the yard is that it doesn’t keep the bag people out.) He received a call a few days later saying that he would get his dog back if he paid money. They were after drug money. Thankfully the people involved weren’t *that* bright because they agreed to meet him and he brought the police and got his dog back.

I know that hubby and I are extremely paranoid about our dogs. All three are microchipped and we don’t even like to leave them home alone in their outdoor kennel. We are seriously that concerned about someone entering our fully fenced back yard and stealing our dogs. There are some seriously unstable people out there.

I couldn’t find either story I reference above online (I am not good at searching for things like that) so if anyone can find it let me know. MIL saw the husky mugging on the nightly news a couple of days ago.

Oh…the woman above fought back. =) As well she should have! No one is taking my dog from me without a very furious fight. She is injured but alive and she still has her dog. Thank God!!!

Hang on to your babies!

Gather Little by Little is one of my daily stops on the blog-o-sphere and today’s article addresses the budget pitfalls of owning a pet (or pets!). Apparently those of us with pets have spent a record amount this year on our pooches and kitties and are predicted to spend even more in 2008…5.6% more. We’re talking over $40 BILLION dollars…B…Billion.

I think if I told my grandfather this news he would shake his head in disgust. He was raised in a different time. Animals were never allowed inside. He never took an animal to the vet -even neutering was done on the farm (they used a boot apparently to neuter the male cats…*shudder*). Some of the stories I won’t even share here because they are slightly disturbing…but it was a different time.

Today he’s much more inclined to treat a pet like a member of the family. Mostly because he’s lonely. But I still doubt he’d spend the amount of money on a pet that we do on ours. We buy expensive food, organic treats, lots of toys, and special beds.

Then again, we don’t have kids. Our dogs are our babies. But when does the spending become excessive and are there things we can do to lower our pet bills?

If I had to estimate the total we spend on our dogs in a year I’m sure I would feel sick.

Grooming and Brushing for three dogs = $150-$175 Every 6-8 weeks
Yes, we could do it ourselves but Huskies and Malamutes have thick undercoats that require a lot of drying and brushing. It just isn’t worth it to me in terms of time to do it myself. Trooper requires brushing at least once a week and it’s super convenient to have the groomer at Daycare do it when he’s already there.

High Quality Dog Food = $175-$250 Every 4-5 Weeks
I know…it’s ridiculous right? However I’ve done a lot of reading and experimenting. Trooper has the world’s most sensitive stomach. Quinn is very low activity and too fat. Kodiak is injured and while he’d love to run a sled race he can’t even take walks on a regular basis. The more weight he gains the worse it is for his back legs. So I buy human grade quality food from The Honest Kitchen (Rachel Lucas has had a discount code for a month or so…it helps cover shipping which is expensive). It smells kind of funny but all three dogs LOVE it. I don’t rely on it alone because it is incredibly expensive. I also buy high quality kibble - Solid Gold. Quinn and Kodiak get the special “Holistique” kind for lower activity dogs and Trooper gets his own kind for active dogs.

I know that it is a lot of money. There are some families who don’t spend this much on their own food. But we are very blessed to be able to afford high quality food for our dogs. I think they eat better than we do! And it is worth it to me when it comes to the long term benefits to the dogs health. If we were to hit rocky times I know that we would have to cut this down from our budget. I would still try to get the best food we could afford, but of course quality will always cost more.

Treats and Toys - $50-$100 Every 2 Months
We actually haven’t been buying as many treats or toys as we used to. Trooper doesn’t need them as much since he’s getting so much more exercise with Agility and Daycare. Quinn isn’t interested in most toys - though there is a ball she loves to chew on. And Kodiak is only once in awhile interested in a light game of tug of war. Which consists of him sitting on the floor and me dangling the toy in front of him until he grabs it. Then he lets go and we start again. Poor guy.

Treats aren’t too expensive. We can get a huge bag of chicken strips at Costco for $10. They last quite awhile. The higher end treats we still get but not as often. I’ve had to put my foot down on the treat giving since Kodiak and Quinn’s weight has swelled. Unfortunately they have daddy wrapped around their little paws…he’s a softy. I’m the mean one!

Agility Training - $100 Every 3 Weeks
This is a new expensive but it is SO worth it! It gives me and Trooper exercise, bonding, and education. We both have to use our brains in totally different and new ways that we’ve never done before. Someday I hope we’ll be good enough to compete. I will do anything I can to keep this expense available to us. Plus we have permission to bring Kodiak and Quinn along to play in the next door field for free. Believe me, just letting them run around an empty field is more exercise than they normally get.

Daycare - $300 Every 6 Months or so
This one varies depending on how often the doggies go to daycare. Trooper goes at least once a week and sometimes twice. I buy the largest package available to get a 10% discount for him. Kodiak and Quinn can only go once in awhile. When Kodiak gets to go he comes home so sore and tired that he can barely walk. Last time he didn’t even stand up to eat!!! So we limit their daycare time.

It’s hugely worth it to me to pay for daycare. Trooper gets special socialization with other dogs and gets a lot of excess energy out of his system. When hubby works during the day on a weekday it means that Trooper has one less day to spend at home in the kennel. Since I work away from home 4 days a week, home on Thursdays, and hubby will always have at least one weekday off, we can limit kennel time to two days or less. I hate leaving them alone for more than 10 hours a day so for us this expense is worth it.

We could feasibly cut this expense if needed. It would be a shame to lose the interaction and exercise but I’d rather cut daycare than agility.

Pet Insurance - $43 a Month for three dogs
We decided that this expense was worth it at the time we set it up but I’m beginning to rethink this. It’s over $500 a year and if I put that same amount in an ING Direct savings account I could earn interest and build an emergency fund just for the dogs. If we were to cut our expenses anywhere it would be here first.

Now, that’s not to say that having the insurance didn’t come in handy for Kodiak’s second surgery. They covered over $700 of the $1600 bill. We covered the rest using Care Credit and paid it off in pieces (interest free). Care Credit is a wonderful service and I think we’d use it again if we needed to spread an emergency payment out over 12 months with no interest. I see insurance as a hedge against a MAJOR event like a car accident or cancer. We haven’t canceled yet but it’s on our radar.

Veterinary Expenses - Varies
I disagree with GLbL when he suggests using local low cost clinics. I’ve had some bad experiences and have heard some scary stories from some of these low cost places - including out of date vaccines being used. Our vet is not cheap. Just walking in the door usually results in an office visit fee of $35. We rarely walk out for less than $100 for yearly exams and vaccines.

But that is okay. We LOVE our Vet. He knows all of our dogs and has been invaluable when treating some of the odd issues with our dogs. I would not trade the value of paying for good service just to save a few dollars. Especially when it comes to peace of mind and my babies’ health.

So how much is too much? I didn’t really think about just how much we spent until I wrote it all out. It is a big number, no doubt. I think there are a few things we could cut down on but for the most part this is set unless something life changing altered our financial outlook.

What are your biggest (indoor/family) pet expenses (I’m not including expenses for horses, etc. because I know how expensive they can be too)? If you had to cut back on your budget would you cut from the pet budget? Or your own?

Bible Money Matters asks the question. In our house there is no limit. And I am not kidding. When we first got Kodiak he was a tiny little bundle of fluff - as cute as can be. We fell in love with him so fast our heads spun.

One day around the age of 9 months he was outside playing. All of a sudden we heard a high pitched yelp and Kodiak ran into the living room hopping on three legs with his 4th held up. He would not put any weight on it and did not want us to touch it.

Turns out he’d torn a ligament. We started at our local vet, where we spent several hundred on X-Rays and anesthesia (to take the x-rays) and pain medication. Not to mention the leg wrap and supplies to keep him bound up.

Next we met with the surgeon who lived 50 miles away. The surgery would cost over $4,000. We were only dating at the time but were planning to get married eventually. He rented a small duplex and I had an apartment. I also was going to school full time while working full time. Money was tight. My mom joked that it would be cheaper to amputate his leg but hubby would have none of that.

We charged it. And didn’t think twice. It cost more than $5,000 when all was said and done.

Nearly 4 years later when Kodiak was around 5 years old we noticed that he was limping again and fairly severely in the same leg. So we head back to our local vet who again shaved his leg and took more x-rays.

Yup, you guessed it. He’d injured himself again. It wasn’t the same injury - it was a new one. He’d torn his meniscus.

Off to another surgeon. This time the price tag was slightly less expensive. Only $1,700 and we could apply for assistance to pay it off interest free over 12 months with Care Credit (a program I highly recommend - it is for people and pets). Since we had him insured after his first injury, insurance covered a portion of the surgery (it was the same leg but a totally different injury so it was covered). But we still had to pay over $1,000 out of pocket.

The recovery was much more painful this time and I sobbed his first night home. I slept on the couch so he could have extra room in the living room. He had to be corralled to keep the other dogs off of him. I got no sleep that night.

Less than one year later I noticed him limping again…this time on his other leg. Hubby didn’t believe me and said it was just his original limp (which is constant now). Sure enough, back to the vet - another torn meniscus - and another surgery.

Thankfully the surgeon gave us a reduced rate…sort of the buy one get one half off deal. Not that we cared. If he hadn’t we’d still have paid for the surgery. Even if we needed to use the credit card again.

Kodiak is our “first born” and there’s no way that I could NOT get him treatment. I realize that there are people with money issues who would never be able to provide this level of care. Though there are a programs like Care Credit out there to help finance emergency procedures for animals (and people).

When an animal is part of the family what do you do with a horrible and expensive injury? Do you go for the lowest price even though it may mean not fixing the problem entirely? If it is not a life threatening injury do you get it fixed?

I don’t know what I would do if any of my dogs were so badly injured or sick that the vet could not guarantee recovery. Would we be able to put any of them down? Even the thought of this makes me sick to my stomach and brings tears to my eyes.

Kodiak is now 7 years old and has had three surgeries on his back legs. We know he will (already does) have severe arthritis as he grows older and we are working to do everything we can to make him comfortable, healthy, and happy. And we don’t regret a dime we’ve spent on his injuries.

Home Zookeeper has a new author…and it’s me. I hope everyone who enjoyed Lynn’s posts will stick around and give me a chance as I learn my way around this new blog home. I’ve never used Word Press before (but have always wanted to try). I’m super excited to have a single location to talk (and talk and talk) about my love for animals.

A little about moi…

I have three dogs who are the light of our lives.

Kodiak is our red and white pure bred Siberian Husky. He turned 7 years old in March. He’s had three leg surgeries and is our delicate boy. As much as he wants to run, run, run, we have to restrict his activity because he so easily injures his back legs. The older he gets the more concerned I am about arthritis and pain management.

Quinn is our rescue Siberian Husky. We’re not sure if she’s a purebred because she has some funny quirks that don’t seem exactly like the Husky breed. She was rescued from a kill shelter where they kept her twice as long as normal because she was just too sweet to put to sleep. Her owners refused to pick her up after her third time escaping (she’s an escape artist!). She finally found a spot at the Husky Rescue and we found her on Pet Findier.

We also don’t know exactly how old she is but she’s getting up there. She’s our “old lady” and Queen. We try to treat her right and make her comfy. It’s getting harder and harder for her to get up on the couch. We’re trying to prepare ourselves for the inevitable but it’s very difficult to think about.

Last but not least is our “puppy” Trooper Bear who is coming up on his second birthday in June (or July I can never remember which). He is a full blood Malamute and the love of my life. *grin* He is energetic, fun, happy, cuddly, and a treat to have in our lives. We just started Agility Training together and I’ll have a lot of photos and posts about that experience. He thinks that he is a lap dog and has no sense of other people’s space…it all belongs to him! Oh, and he’s a woolly malamute so he looks much bigger looking than he actually is. He’s around 85 pounds, though down to around 82 because of all the wonderful activities we’ve been doing.

So these are my doggy children. I don’t have any human kids though we’ve started talking about it. We also have two kitty children who are more like Flowers in the Attic. *sigh* Trooper is a little too fond so they either live in the garage or they get killed. They will soon be moving to a happy new home with my mother in law. I’ll post more about them here too.

My original blog started off as a way to advertise and share my jewelry with others and sort of morphed into an animal blog at least 75% of the time. Ha! I’m just obsessed with my animals and animal welfare. I will be maintaining my other blog as well as this one but the focus there will turn more to Indie businesses, arts, and crafts. Which is sort of where I wanted it to focus in the first place.

If you’ve followed me from that blog please take a moment to look around. There are some great, cute, funny, and informative posts here already. And I hope to add more great content in the future.

This is kind of a long introduction. I’ll stop babbling now and start thinking about my next posts. And keep trying to figure out how to use WP. =)

Happy Wednesday!

Here is a cute video of a little girl and a French bulldog. I think she likes him. If you need a laugh, then here’s one.

Last year I bought a beautiful, pre-lit, 7 foot Christmas tree. It was on sale and at a good price. I was so pleased with it because it was one of the nicest artificial trees we have ever had.

I wasn’t the only one impressed with the tree. Our cats really liked the tree, too. Every day it seems I would catch at least one in the tree. Fade seemed to enjoy lounging in it while Calisto found it quite tasty.

By the time Christmas was over, my poor tree had been through it. The tree was beyond repair and just didn’t look the same. I donated it to the local thrift store and decided just to get another one this year. At least with the cats now staying outside, this tree might survive the holiday season.

Seriously, isn’t he the cutest thing? I would love a Siberian husky but will probably have to settle for this cutie pie for right now. I think it’ll be a lot of fun to have this little Nintendog guy around especially since he responds to touch, etc. I loved my Furby. Remember those?

Those who love stuffed animals and Nintendogs will surely love this little guy. I know I would. They have such cute toys these days. I can’t wait for my second childhood to buy some for me.

Today at work we were discussing pets, one of our favorite subjects, when someone mentioned the pet of the week. She talked about how cute he was and how she really wish she could adopt him. There’s no doubt the cute animals are more adoptable than other ones. But also beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What is cute to me may just be OK to someone else.

I think all puppies are cute. They are like babies in that there it just is nearly impossible for them not to be cute at such a young age. It’s hard not to bond with a puppy and become attached really fast. It’s actually a good thing since puppies can be a handful sometimes.

It’s amazing what attracts us to our pets and why we ultimately decide to make them ours. With our cats I had always wanted a calico, so the choice was easy with Calisto. With Fade, she was the last one left of the litter, but we simply loved her black fur and cuddly disposition.

How did you pick our your pet? Were they friendly or did they really pick you? Share by adding your comments.

When I was a teenager, I had a pet guinea pig that looked much like the one pictured above. I named him Hokie after the Saints football player Hokie Gajan.

It was fun to have a guinea pig as a pet. He stayed in a cage in my room. Mostly he hung out in his little box since guinea pigs seem to like covered dwellings. I would take Hokie out of his cage and pet him. He was very good to sit and watch TV with me.

I had bought a book on guinea pigs that really helped me to know how to take care of him, which I would recommend anyone who gets a small pet to learn all they can to probably take care of it. I bought the small book at the same place that I got the guinea pig.

Since you use cedar shavings to line their cage, place their cage in half-cardboard box to keep the shavings from hitting the floor. Guinea pigs can die from common colds so place their cage in a part of the house that isn’t drafty or directly under the air conditioner.

Guinea pigs are fun indoor pets. I really enjoyed having one and would love to have another one sometime in the future as I think it would be a good pet choice to have with a small child.

When I was a young kid, we had several chickens. We always had fresh eggs and never a mosquito in sight. Even though we’re not big egg eaters, I do like that chickens eat mosquitoes since spray is not a deterrent to the pesky insects.

My co-worker has chickens as a hobby. Well, I get the impression that it’s more her husband’s hobby than hers. Apparently he has a favorite one who lets him pet her and is very docile. He has become quite attached to them.

I would like a few to help with the mosquito population. Plus I remember it being kind of fun having chickens, collecting eggs and everything. Sadly though I’m not sure we’ll get any just because of the neighborhood dogs and wild animals that might get after them.

It might still be a pet idea I will do some research on and see what kind of structure we can build to keep them safe.

Lately we’ve been planning Raegan’s Halloween costume. I was browsing the website Halloween Express when I ran across pet costumes. This one is my favorite. He’s a watch dog. Too cute.

I’m not sure a pet costume would work with our cats. They barely leave on their flea collar let alone a costume. Still it would be fun to dress them up this Halloween even if they didn’t leave the costume on. Anyone have plans to dress up their pet this Halloween? Share with us.

We are very lucky when it comes to our pets. Our cats are very laid back and mild tempered. It’s a good thing since Raegan loves to be where they are and play with them. She has never been bad to pull their hair or to be rough with them, and they have returned the favor. They are very gentle with her. When Rae was younger, she would love to lay on the cats. I think she was hugging them.

She loves her cats, so it’s wonderful that they are so understanding to her ways of affection.