Product | Dogsbar

Which one doesn’t belong?

Learning to Read Dog Food Labels

Image: NYTimes.com

I read this article in the NYTimes last week about the growing number of overweight pets and the correlation to human obesity in the US.  About half of all dogs and cats are overweight or obese!  If your dog doesn’t have a hip (a concave curve right above the buttocks), it is overweight.

The article caused quite a stir among pet owners about the rights and wrongs of feeding, and while I won’t judge one way or another, I figured it would be helpful to demystify some of the confusion around dog nutrition from the perspective of reading food labels.  Note:  this is all from secondary research, so consult your vet if you have any questions.

When deciding on your dog’s food, look at both the front and back labels for key information regulated by the AAFCO (The Association of American Feed Control Officials).  I used three brands of foods I currently feed or have fed Bailey to see the differences between the dog foods and how they are labeled.

Product | Zoe’s Premium Dog Food

Photo: Erin

A few weeks ago, my BIL sent me an article about Nancy, a woman in Brooklyn who started Zoe’s Premium, a human-grade dog food brand. She, like Jen, has an inspiring story of quitting her corporate job and following her entrepreneurial instincts.  I can relate to Nancy on many levels: she, too, was a former architecture student, has a dog who suffers from skin allergies, and is into whole foods and nutrition.  Things like “farm to table” and “preservative-free” get me excited.

Express Yourself

Since we’re on the topic of grooming, I recently found out that some people express their dog’s anal glands at home! Needless to say, I was shocked (and a little grossed out).

If you’ve ever seen your dog scooting it’s rear end across the floor, it’s likely because your dog’s glands are full. Sometimes, your dog may sit suddenly and with force on the butt. This is natural and happens because your dog’s stool is too soft and liquid collects in the anal sac. Most people have their vets take care of this for them for a small fee, but my groomer includes this procedure in every appointment.

There are MANY YouTube tutorials on how to express your dog’s glands, and there seems to be two ways of doing it. Squeezing at 4 and 8 o’clock and pushing up, or sticking a finger in your dog’s rectum and squeezing up and out over the glands (be sure to wear a latex glove and use KY for lubrication). If you’re not hurling yet from this description, below is a visual tutorial.

Bathing Basics That You Didn’t Know

Photo: Favim.com

The three chores I dread the most are: taking out the trash, laundry, and giving Bailey a bath.  When it comes to bathing Bailey, I’ve always adhered to the convention of washing her once every 2-3 weeks.  Somewhere along the way, I learned that dogs, especially schnauzers, shouldn’t be bathed more than that because it can cause dandruff and skin irritation.

And when it comes to how you bathe a dog, I just figured you just rinse, soap, rinse.  Right?  I learned this weekend that there is more to it than just that.

Incontinence, or Just Daylight Savings?

Photo: Erin

Something weird happened last week that left me really frustrated with Bailey.  She had three accidents in the house!

It’s been awhile since she’s had a full-on accident so we were surprised by the sudden onset. When we met with her vet a few weeks ago, we discussed the possibility that Bailey might be incontinent.  Incontinence usually occurs in older dogs, but is common among spayed females, too.  Bailey hasn’t had too many accidents in the house, but we started noticing small wet spots on her bed.  Also, she still pees when she gets excited, which most puppies outgrow when they have more control over their bladder.  Dr. Kahn suggested two options: either she could prescribe Bailey hormones that would stop her from leaking, or we could take care of her mess as they happened.  I guess the third option is to use doggie diapers or belly belts.  However, the diapers didn’t stay on Bailey for too long (confirmed by reviews on Amazon).

I don’t like over medicating, so we decided to forgo treatment.  But after last week’s incidences, we began to wonder whether we should reconsider, until I learned something new about dogs…

Recipe | Doggie Cupcakes

Photo: Erin

I’m bummed that I’m out of town on Macaron Day in NYC. But if you’re a New Yorker reading this, you should definitely go and get your free macaron and even support a good cause at the same time. And you can yell maaa-ca-roooons! like on SNL.

Macaron Day’s logo, “macaron, the new cupcake” had me thinking, has the macaron really overtaken the cupcake? While I’ve probably eaten more macarons than cupcakes so far this year, I’m not sure that the macaron is the new cupcake–yet. Think about it: for birthdays, the go-to dessert is the cupcake, not the macaron. I haven’t asked any school-age children, but I’m guessing that parents still bring cupcakes, not macarons, to class for birthday parties. If you’re in the mood for cupcakes on the UWS, you have to choose from Baked by Melissa, Crumbs, and Magnolia Bakery, all dedicated to the cupcake. But for the macaron, nada. (If I’m wrong, somebody please enlighten me.)

So when Erin told me that Bailey’s friend was having a birthday this weekend, of course both of us thought of making doggie cupcakes for the occasion. Continue for the recipe.

In Remembrance of Noli

Photo: Noli's mom

We like to keep things upbeat and happy around here at uptownpuppy, mostly because dogs make us laugh and bring us so much joy.  But this is a more reflective post.

Noli, one of Bailey’s neighborhood playmates, passed away three and a half weeks ago from a series of medical complications.  I had a chance to talk with his adoptive mom last week and learned how heroic and cherished Noli had been.  I thought it was only right to remember Noli forever, here on the world wide web.

My friend adopted Noli (short for Cannoli) almost two and a half years ago — she was his fourth owner.  At the time, he had heart murmurs and was prone to sudden seizures.  But he never seemed to complain.  He just carried on.  I remember how Noli would always try to sneak a sip of water from someone’s cup lying around unattended, and once he snatched a bite of S’s pizza right out of his hands!  He was one of our eager tasters of our homemade goodies.  S and I used to joke that Noli was Bailey’s boyfriend because they shared an indiscriminate appetite.  But actually, no.  He couldn’t have been Bailey’s boyfriend because his mom thought he was more interested in male dogs than female dogs.  I suppose dogs have their preferences too (wink, wink).

Pooch-ini

It’s amazing how the weather can transform the city.  Yesterday was so beautiful, and it seemed like everybody was outside.  We even ran into this fashion celebrity at the UWS Shake Shack!

Shake Shack is one of our favorite eateries in NYC.  S and I bonded over many Shack burgers years ago during our first summer in the city, and now every time we go, he says that we need to get the Pooch-ini for Bailey.  What is a Pooch-ini?  Or rather, what’s in it?

Read here:

Photo: Erin

Maybe it was the weather, but I decided that we could bring Bailey with us to indulge her just this once.

Biscuits are old news for Bailey.  She went straight for the peanut butter sauce and ice cream.  I love how it’s all over her face.

The remains:

Bailey devoured her pre-dinner treat, but I’m pretty sure she was a little more sluggish than usual on the way home.  Don’t get too used this, kiddo!

The Cost of Dog Ownership

Photo: Erin

We had a dear friend over for dinner this weekend, and we talked about a statistic she recently came across.   Apparently, the average cost of owning a medium-sized dog over the dog’s lifetime is $17,000.  We both thought that this was way below what we expected to spend on our own dogs.  So of course, I had to do the math.

I dug up old records, looked through all my transactions (thank you, Mint.com!), and parsed through line items on receipts.  I calculated how much I spent in the past 5 years and estimated how much we’ll end up spending if Bailey lives to be 15 (the average life expectancy of a schnauzer).  Here’s where we stand: