If it looks like chicken......

If it looks like chicken and smells like chicken it might be..... bocca chik'n patties. These are great tasting soy protein patties. They really are yummy- but not so good for dogs. When they eat one out of the garbarge you will need to induce vomiting or else deal with it when it tries to exit on it's own accord.

Bad food choices so far:

Lily's chocolate birthday cake
Acorns
Bocca chik'n
antibiotics that last more than a week or so

update- Sam was also on an antibiotic for his ears. He was on it too long and it caused stomach issues as well. This meant another unplanned vet visit on Saturday. The actual visit was only $37, but we went ahead and picked up his heartwarm meds ($37) and dog food ($85) since our vet is 20 miles away. Total cost of the visit was about $165. This is why you are all getting socks and candy from us for Christmas. All the rest of our money has gone to the dog.....

We'll keep you posted

The Secret to Learning

Today I discovered the secret to learning and remembering what you learn. Charging learners for not knowing information. I was able to discover this today when I paid (about) $50 to learn that dogs simply can not eat acorns. Eating acorns is particularly bad if the dog chews the acorns before he eats them. Indulging in the behavior causes a dog to have many gastrointestinal problems. More often than not these problems will require the dog to be seen by the vet-and put on a special diet as well as antinausea meds as well. All of this is a bargain at $50- Especially when you consider that his special diet dog food is $85 per bag. (And, no the new cheaper dog food is NOT normally okay for his diet...sigh.

Anyway, here is some of what i learned today. hopefully it will be of worth to you...especially if you have a dog.

*Dogs can not eat acorns for the same reason they can not eat grapes. The acid in both can be deadly to dogs. Especially if they are chewed.

* If your dog won't eat or drink try ice cubes. Dogs love ice cubes and they will often stay hydrated from the ice cubes. If they won't even eat ice cubes, call your vet ASAP

* The dog antinausea med is the same as reglan- a drug that 2 of my children were on as infants for reflux. Reglan is no longer used in anyone under 18 as it can cause major organ issues.

* it also knocks the dog out- for HOURS

* Sick dogs are as bad as sick babies. They can be lethargic and whimper the same as a baby. And it's almost as frustrating to not know what they need.

*There are some scary meds out there. While Iwas waiting for Sam's meds, one of the vet tech's was on the phone to a sales rep to ask some questions about a medication from the horse. This medication looked like a caulk gun. It was at least that big and actually looked a little bigger. What was so scary about this medication is: one that it was a supository and two: that the tech was calling to find out if this medication was safe to give to horses. Apparently it was meant for a different animal. All I can think of is maybe it was meant for a cow, but the gun looked like it was meant for a clydesdale. It's still scary to wonder who normally took that medication!

Anyway, Sam is on the mend and even tried to eat several more acorns today. So, we'll have our hands full here for awhile as our neighbor's oak tree drops tens of thousands of acorns each year (Seriously, I think he filled 50 5 gallon buckets last year.) So learn from us and keep acorns away from your dogs- otherwise these too might be facts you never forget......

The Fair

We spent a couple of days at our local county fair. We took the girls Friday night and did a lot of our traditional favorites. The girls road rides, eat their favorite foods, played games and saw tons of animals. We also saw something new to our fair- Cannonball Smith was shot out of his cannon, over the ferris wheel and then landed safely in his net. It was a sight to behold. Besides all the fun we had as a family, Shawn and I are getting ready to go back tonight where we will watch the conbine derby. It will be one of our most interesting dates ever!

a crazy weekend

We had a super busy and crazy weekend last week. We spent Friday night with friends doing a family movie night. We chatted so long that we didn't start any of the movies until after 9, which meant it was so hard to get up and head to our cook out the next morning. The kids all had fun at the cook out. (Charlie now wants a Harley of her own...) and then we headed to the zoo. We dragged ourselves home just in time to head out for the Relay for Life. We finished up on Sunday with church, followed by a cookout/birthday party and then another cookout and game night with friends. We were all so wiped out and did a lot less this weekend, but we still managed to squeeze in a sleep over (the girls), scrapbooking with a friend (just Mer), going to the movies (Shawn) and a trip to the pool. I have to admit I LOVE summertime!

Kids College

While many kids look forward to summer as a break from school, Charlie and Emily always look forward to going back to school the end of each July, when they attend Kids College. Over the years the girls have built and launched rockets, ridden in police cars and used the police sim labs to shoot the bad guys, taken acting classes and done animation. This year, much to our surprise they both took the same 2 classes, Harry Potter and scrapbooking. Both girls had a blast. They were sorted into houses (both in Gryffindor), made potions, wands, and the Daily Prophet (complete with moving pictures), created potions books full of real Harry Potter recipes, (They LOVED the butterbeer), and made their own owls and of course hunted for the golden snitch. They then followed up every class at Hogwarts with scrapbooking. They scrapbooked numerous pages for each season as well as their birthdays and made a mini scrapbook as well. They had so much fun and can't wait to go again next year. Lily, who is way to young to attend, had to content her self with several visits (it's a nice perk when you know the teachers) and swimming lessons. As with both of her big sisters, Lily has no fear of the water. So last week was a fabulous week. The weekend was just as much fun and just as busy, but I'm too tired to blog about it tonight, so it will have to wait until next time.

The House of Bounce

We had a great family night last Monday. We took a trip tp Rochester to the House of Bounce. Tucked away behind one of our TV stations is a fabulous place for people to let off a little energy. A huge room full of blown up "jumpy things" You can climb Jacob's ladder, hang from rings before you plunge down the "cliff" or just jump inside Walle. It was a ton of fun and full of people of all ages. (We were greatly out numbered by teenagers on this night) Hof B has a great family night special on Monday nights that includes a slice of pizza per person and soda with free refills. All of their consessions were really reasonable (though we just stuck with the free pizza) and for our whole family to spend 2 hours bouncing around it was less than $25. So, if your in our area try it out, it's really worth it. Our only complaint is that Em, Lily, and I all got burns from where our bare skin touched the plastic as we were sliding down. The cliff hanger is REALLY fast ! (You can see Em in her red pants, belly down after she just released from the rings) and is the only one with a height requirement, and you can see Lily climbing up the raging river in her pink shorts- which is almost as high as the cliff hanger.