As regular readers will know, I’ve been on a hiking kick lately. I can’t tell you how much fun Brody and I have had exploring the region together, despite my persistent and uneasy fears about mountain lions that my friend who has spent months researching said lions has done nothing to dissuade. Her only input was, “get an airhorn,” and, “you’re not running, are you? Because then you look like prey.”
No matter, it’s worth it. Better to go out in a flame of glory and be eaten by a cougar than be eaten by the couch.
Aside from the physical exercise and the mental stimulation of watching out for predatory cats, we are also enjoying the springtime blossoms and the less frightening forms of wildlife more prevalent in the area. Such as the oodles of lizards.
SO many lizards. Large ones, little ones, basking, scurrying. Despite this reptilian smorgasbord, I was somewhat surprised and not at all distressed that we haven’t come across any snakes. I am OK with this.
You’d think a desert mountain like this would be prime rattler territory- and it is- but they are generally avoidable if you stay to the cleared trails. In fact, the most assertive animal I’ve seen is this one:
Wile E. Coyote couldn’t give two hoots about all the humans around. Behind me, a group of schoolchildren ran amuk in the parking lot. He didn’t care. After spotting this guy I did mention to the woman with the off leash Maltese that she might want to reconsider her plans. (She did.)
My point is, it’s been a real pleasure to get out and commune with nature, especially since our own yards tend to be a little light on the wildlife-side. Except from that bobcat we had, I guess, and the skunk, and the coyotes. Seven years in this house and we’ve only seen a snake twice.
Oh, make that three times.
Today, my daughter opened the front door to go enjoy the afternoon sun, and let out a screech. “There’s a snake out there!” she yelled, slamming the door.
I walked over, thinking it would be another 12 inch gopher snake like the last one. And there, coiled on our welcome mat like the boss that he is, a King snake about 8000000 feet long. Somewhere between 3 feet and 8000000, at least.
He was a Burmese python as far as I’m concerned, a massive beast. It was kind of him to pose directly underneath the front window so we could safely press our faces to the door like a reverse zoo.
He soon realized he had an audience, craning his neck or whatever the heck snakes have to peer up at the five inquisitive primate and canine faces plastered to the glass in front of him. He stuck his tongue out as if to say, “I just came in from the sun for a moment, calm down,” and off he slithered into the front yard, passing right by the statue of St. Joseph huddled headfirst in the dirt like a sad ostrich.
I buried the St. Joseph statue as instructed by the more devout Catholics among you who informed me he is the patron saint of home selling, but maybe my behavior in college is still counting against me since I’m still waiting for him to pull through. So I guess I don’t really need to go far for wildlife, really- I have to find a way to work that to my advantage. I wonder if I should upgrade our MLS to read “Resplendent King Snake viewing from the front porch.” I’m sure that would bring ‘em in.
Have you ever tried Gu when you’re out exercising? It’s like trying to swallow phlegm: pasty, sticky stuff that seals your esophagus shut with something that is supposed to be good for you. I don’t care for it (obviously.)
I think Brody feels the same way about biscuits. They’re fine for home, but if you’re out working up a sweat/pant/whatever, a dried out dessicated crunchy thing may not be the most appetizing choice. He doesn’t care for them. So I decided it was my goal for Be Kind to Animals Week to find a power bar or trail mix recipe that we could share. Pre made mixes won’t work: they’re either too salty, too sugary, or too packed with raisins and chocolate chips. Then, I found this recipe, and voila! a new treat was born.
The ingredients: It looks like a lot, but you don’t use much of any one thing.
1/3 c olive oil
1/4 c light brown sugar (I used sucanat)
1/2 c peanut butter
1 mashed banana
1 egg white
1 c whole wheat flour
1/8 c milled flax seed
1 3/4 c rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 c assorted nuts, seeds, and fruits. I used pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cashews, almonds, peanuts, coconut, mango, and banana chips. Remember to avoid chocolate, raisins, and macadamia nuts!
Directions:
1. Combine olive oil and brown sugar until well combined
2. Stir in peanut butter
3. Add in banana and egg white
4. Combine flour, flax, cinnamon, and baking powder. Add to mix.
5. Stir in oats
6. Stir in trail mix, blending well until dough sticks together.
7. Shape with your hands into flat, round 1-2 inch cookies. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven on greased cookie sheet or Silpat for 8 minutes.
Store in refrigerator for 2 weeks or freezer for up to 4 months! Bet they won’t last that long.
If you want to see the process in action- I filmed at the same time I was photographing it, and boy that gets complex!- here is the video. Added bonus, you get to see whether or not Brody and Koa liked them at the end.
I can’t exercise on a full stomach. I feel gross, unenergized, and dull as all my energy is taken up with trying to digest. But I also can’t go on nothing- I mean, I can, but it’s not the most high energy workout. I’ve spent a lot of time testing out different pre-exercise nutritional choices, from nothing, to just coffee, to smoothies and Power Bars and have finally hit upon the right combination. It has to be either the mango macadamia Honest Bar, or half a banana. Nothing else will do. And it has to be 30 minutes beforehand.
With dogs- especially large breed dogs- the question always comes up, “How should I time diet and exercise?”. The risk factors of bloat are well documented: conformation, with size and a deep chest being big risks; age, genetics, temperament, and diet. Of these, diet is really the only one we have much control over, but it’s a big one.
Brody summiting Climbers Loop trail
The incidence of bloat has increased 1500% in the past thirty years, according to an oft-referenced study out of Purdue, an incidence that also correlates to the increased use of dry kibble. Feeding one large meal a day is also a risk factor. But interestingly enough, the idea that exercise after a meal increases the risk of bloat is not correct. Most cases, as any ER vet will tell you, happen during the night.
If you want to decrease your risk of your dog bloating, you can do several things:
1. Get a small dog, or a dog whose relatives have no history of bloat.
2. Feed multiple small meals, including canned food. Do NOT use an elevated feeder.
3. Any dog with a history of bloat or who is considered high risk may talk to the vet about a gastropexy to prevent future occurences.
So armed with that knowledge, I have no problems giving Brody a morning meal before we hit the trail. Not a big one- he sometimes get carsick- but just enough to keep him energized, and another meal when we get home. I also take an assortment of training treats with me, but I’m still on the hunt for just the right easily packable, non-crumbly Doggie Power Bar to put in our pack.
I’m thinking of trying Zukes Power Bones, which I sampled at Global (you know me!) I just need to get to the local store that has them. I’m also looking up recipes on my own, but if you know of any good ones for a dog trail mix or power bar, send them my way! We’re due for another cooking segment anyway, yes?
For those who spend lots of active time out with the dogs, be it at agility or the park or hiking, what’s your favorite snack? For you or for your dog?
It wasn’t until I almost passed out at the top of a mountain that I really understood how much I underestimated the effects of dehydration. I have the Dalai Lama to thank for this, you know. No, really.
Sure, I knew hydration was important for everyone else, but I figured, meh, I can do without for a bit. When I went out hiking last week, I packed a little water bottle for Brody- he hikes with a fur coat on, after all, and filled my little Camelbak running pack and set it on the counter, where it remained for the rest of the day because I forgot to put it in the car.
By the time I had realized my mistake, we were already on the road. It wasn’t a huge deal. I knew the weather was going to be hot, so I steered towards the coast where the temperature was a little more temperate. Plus, the coastal trail has plenty of water fountains.
But then his Holiness intervened.
I couldn’t figure out why traffic was backed up almost to my freeway onramp. “Is there an accident?” I asked Brody, who had no answer, so I turned on the radio.
No accident. Just, you know, the Dalai Lama talking to 20,000 enthralled admirers at San Diego State, which resulted in what one might delicately describe as a traffic situation. So rather than sit around and wait for all 20,000 of them to find the five available parking spaces on campus, we turned around and went to my alternative trail.
I love this trail, actually. 6 miles of beautiful country, 3 miles up, 3 back down. And when it’s not 85 degrees out, it really is lovely. But when it is 85 out, well, it’s a bit more of a slog.
Especially since there are no water fountains. Perhaps this is a sign, I thought. The Dalai Lama teaches courage, after all. I can do this. I’m tough. Brody trotted alongside gamely, goading me up the mountain. Sure, it was a little slow, but it was a good trot.
Halfway up we came across a tiny creek, where Brody joined a Corgi and rolled around for a bit. I briefly considered joining him but had to content myself with letting him shake off on me. With a nice soggy wet coat to evaporate and cool him off, Brody was good to go, so we soldiered on as the sun beat down on us.
“Let go of worldy anxieties,” the Dalai Lama exhorts. It was with this in mind that I decided I needed to let go of my worries about turning myself into a raisin, shrivelled up like a husk on the hillside. I lapsed into a state that could be either meditative or hallucinative, I’m not really sure which. I felt fine, that’s all I know.
We reached the top, and plopped down on the inexplicably placed mountaintop picnic table for a minute. I took out Brody’s bottle of water. I looked at Brody. “Be compassionate,” his Holiness whispered in my head. So I gave the dog all the water. I felt just fine.
Then I stood up, and the world started to swim.
“If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry,” said the Buddhist in my skull. Despite his advice, I was a little bit worried. We had three miles to go, after all, and I had just given my last bit of water to a dog whose only concern in life was making sure the cat didn’t get all his food.
The hiking series, part 2: Delirious
I don’t even remember taking this picture. Why do I look so happy? I felt like garbage. Anyone looking at my phone for clues as to my untimely passing would have thought Brody pushed me off the top- because surely, this is not the picture of a person in distress.
I’ve heard it said that freezing to death produces a state of euphoria shortly before your actual demise. I don’t know if heat stroke provides a similar experience- though based on what I’ve seen, I’m guessing not. All I know is that I entered a thoughtful state on the way back down, wondering what you all would have made of my sunburned carcass being found on a backwoods trail with Brody nosing through my pockets in search of Powerbars. I’d like to think you all would have known I died giving my last drop of water to the dog, but I think a just as likely assumption would have been: “Dr V saw a mountain lion- or just an Irish setter that she thought was a mountain lion- and died of a heart attack. What a shame.”
But my point is twofold here:
1. Don’t be a dummy like me. Always assume you’re going to be stuck in conditions more extreme than you were planning on. And always have a backup water bottle in the car, if you tend to the absent-minded like I do. Just in case.
2. Never invoke an ascetic Buddhist when heat stroke is on the line. Next time, Brody’s sharing the water bottle.
So yaay everybody, happy Earth Day! In the last year I have been fortunate enough to see the majestic Amazon in Peru, the natural wonder of Ngorongoro Crater, and the jaw dropping Mahale Mountains in Tanzania. And living in California, well, I can’t complain about our natural beauty here as well. We have an amazing, beautiful, really mind-blowing planet to hang out on. And mess up.
I think it’s a fairly natural fit for people who love animals, who are fascinated by wildlife, to also be sensitive to conservation efforts. When burgeoning populations expand ever further into previously uninhabited areas, when forests are razed to make way for agriculture, well, this affects us all. And I’m actually going to see if my colleague who is now at CDC and was once a researcher with the local mountain lion organization will do an interview with me about the concept of human encroachment, because I find it fascinating. But since I don’t know enough on my own to say anything insightful, I want to limit this day’s Earth Day celebration to something I know much more about: suggestions about ways to spend your money if you’re in the market for some pet products that are good for the planet: (more…)
Maybe this rattlesnake aversion stuff does pay off.
To the left is a shed skin just hanging out on the side of the road. Brody sniffed every single bush in that park but refused to show the slightest interest in the skin. NOT that I’m complaining!
We did an aversion training session when he was eight months old, but we are due for a refresher. With spring in full bloom, the snake babies are everywhere and ERs are gearing up for what is looking to be a brisk bite season.
If you live in an area where your dog is at risk for a rattlesnake bite, and you have an inquisitive dog, it’s something I recommend. Has anyone else done rattlesnake aversion training?
You all know I am irrationally petrified of getting eaten by a mountain lion. Every time I start to get close to being OK with the risk, someone comes around and says, “Oh yes, some woman DOWN IN SAN DIEGO had her scalp eaten by a mountain lion, I remember reading that in the papers, and she only lived because some guy rode by on a mountain bike and threw the bike at the mountain lion” and then I get all freaked out again. (Thanks, Susi.)
Yesterday Brody and I checked out a new-to-us area called Mission Trails. We went before the abovementioned lion-scalping conversation, when I was still feeling confident. Yes, they are out in the area, but sightings are rare, and to my knowledge no one has ever been attacked in this particular park. (They very habituated aggressive cougars featured in Cat Attacks live in Cuyamaca, a bit further east, and no I won’t go hiking there.)
Not to say the park officials don’t give you sufficient warning all the same. (more…)
I have a finely tuned ability to talk myself out of anything remotely interesting. It’s very easy to stay with what is comfortable. Making a change, well, that is hard. And I’ve found personally speaking, trying the whole “make little changes every day” with no goal in mind doesn’t ever really cut it. I need to make a big dramatic decision, commit to it, and then figure out what small series of changes need to take place in order to make it happen.
Case in point: I like hiking. I’d like to do it more, especially since we live in such a great area for it. The dogs would love it too. But do I do it? No, because that takes planning and I never get around to it.
And yet I decided, when I’m in Tanzania again in June for a World Vets trip, to tag along with our team leader Dr. Teri as she- and now I- tackle Mt. Meru, Tanzania’s second-highest mountain after Kilimanjaro. (more…)
It may not rival Thanksgiving or Halloween in terms of numbers of ER vet visits generated, but Easter still has its share of pet related dangers, especially when you have a dog or cat who is prone to the occasional counter surfing. If you have a pet who never does this, pat yourself on the back. Good work. Now for the rest of you, the best way to manage the weekend is to make a few simple substitutions so that if Fluffy does manage to grab a bite of something when you’re not looking, the worst you have to deal with is an upset tummy.
Flowers to Avoid: Lilies
Easter Lily by carriejeberhardt on Flickr
Bright and happy lilies are synonymous with Easter. Used as a filler in almost every springtime bouquet out there, lilies are undeniably beautiful. Unfortunately, they are also undeniably toxic- in fact, one of the absolute worst plants a cat can eat. Every part is toxic- the flower, the leaves, the pollen- and it takes only a small amount to induce renal failure in a cat. It’s one of the rare instances in which I’m comfortable making a blanket statement: if you have a cat, you shouldn’t have lilies in the house. (more…)
Ah, the humble egg. Rarely does it figure so prominently in our culinary lexicon as it does at Eastertime. And as I’m working on a post about ways to fit the pets into your Sunday celebration, I decided it was only fitting that we do a little egg recipe in today’s Cooking with Koa segment.
If you’re going to have a bunch of people around who are going to try to be feeding your dog any one of a number of wildly inappropriate traditional Easter foods, it’s always wise to have a super special dog-only treat on hand to convince those wayward guests that you aren’t neglecting your pets and it really is OK to leave the Vienna sausages on the table. So in that vein, today we’re taking on devilled eggs, Koa style.
First, you need to boil your eggs. There are lots of ways to achieve this, some involving voodoo and pressure cookers and complicated heating algorithms, but I try to keep it simple. I do the ‘cover in cool water, bring to boil, and leave for 10 minutes’ approach. (more…)
As you may recall, I spent a good portion of last week curled up in a ball in my bedroom, drowning my sorrows with cough syrup and muddling through a bizarre sequence of subsequent side effects that gave my malarone experience a run for the money. Note to self: I am, apparently, highly sensitive to all medications. That is what I get for trying the Tim Taylor “MOAR POWER” approach to pharmaceuticals and gulping down an extra strength extended release tablet of guafensin and dextromethorphan without thinking, perhaps I should try the regular strength first. My bad.
Well here we are, a week later experiencing what I can only describe as the world’s most perfect weather. It really is. And as much as I would love to be out running and hiking and drinking it all in, my still-sensitized alveoli can muster no more than a quick cruise around the block before starting to protest, so we make do with what we have.
And it’s a real shame, because I’ve had a review item I’ve been super excited about, the Kurgo Wander Pack, sitting on the table for several weeks, just begging to be used. So I relented, and put it on Brody for a test run, even though our adventure for the day was limited to a 100 foot perimeter around the house.
Brody is a big fan of my push to get us outside and moving as much as possible. I am a big fan of a product that allows him to share some of the burden of lugging along some of the things a dog might require on such an adventure. (more…)
Ah, New York. Land of frigid temperatures and, well, that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far. I have only one goal over the next two days, and that is to figure out how to get to Madison Square Garden from my hotel and maybe see some dogs. The rest is just gravy.
Yesterday was fun. I woke up at 6 to take Brody to the Helen Woodward Puppy Love 5K, and about 5 minutes after I left the house it started drizzling. 5 minutes after that, it was pouring. Now, I looked up the weather report that morning and it mentioned nothing about such drenching debauchery, so I had found myself leaving the house with absolutely nothing that would protect me from a long wet run, no hat, no windbreaker. Things were not looking good. (more…)
