I haven't really written about my constant companion Lucy lately. She turned ten this past fall and can now officially be considered a senior citizen. Her mind is still as sharp as it ever was. She is still very playful and has a lot of heart and wants to go everywhere. While she has the heart she just doesn't have the legs for it anymore.
She is experiencing what many dogs go through in their later years. She has developed a lack of strength in her hindquarters. While we still go for occasional walks, it saddens me not to be able to take her on the big outings that we use to go on together. The trails behind our home are quite steep and rugged. If we do take one of them, it is at a pace that doesn't challenge her physical state. I say that, yet I do find myself helping her with obstacles from time to time. Her wellbeing is always at the forefront of our activities together. This is part of the daily routine when helping an aging friend enjoy life.
Stiffness and discomfort is part of what she is experiencing in the aging process. One of the things I do for her to ease her stiffness and discomfort is massage. This takes place first thing before she goes to bed at night and then again the first thing in the morning to get her up and moving. It seems to help, I just wish I could do more. We've spoken with the Vet about different things that might be done for her condition but there are no real solutions to the problem. The best advice the Vet gave us was "let her do the things she wants, she'll tell you when she not up to it, just pay attention to what she's telling you. It will break your heart, but she'll let you know!"
I guess the next step in the evolution of my aging boxer is a doggy wheel chair. At least this will provide her a means to get bit of quality outdoor time and exercise. The newly designed chairs actually exercise the hind quarters while the dog uses its front legs to propel themselves. I'm a bit apprehensive as to how accepting to the chair Lucy will be. Only time will tell... Stay tune for the new adventures of Lucy the White Boxer Dog with her new wheels. Until next time... Peace be with you and enjoy the time you have with your favorite critter and friend.
Are you looking for natural ways to help your dog live a healthier life? Please click here to try a new way of care.
Why should you follow this blog? What makes it unique? Well that is an excellent set of questions. We try to post some fun stuff on the blog and lots of pictures of Lucy (the title character of the blog) and an occasional video or two. We write about things that matter to dog lovers and especially boxer dog lovers. So, here are the details of who Lucy the White Boxer Dog is...
Want to learn more about Lucy and the things we write about her, follow her blog. Better yet, check out some of the older posts. There is a lot of information on the care of boxers and dogs in general... We look forward to see your comments on some of the posts... Happy blogging to all!
Showing posts with label boxer dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boxer dog. Show all posts
Monday, March 30, 2015
Friday, September 21, 2012
Helping a Boxer with a Sensitive Stomach
Through the years I have written articles about Lucy’s sensitive
stomach issues. I’ve informed you of how Lucy actually eats three meals a day
and how this manages to keep her tummy issues at bay. Some may be thinking that
I’m overfeeding her. The truth is, she rarely gets more than one cup per
serving of her favorite dog food. In addition, she gets no more 1 to 3 treats
on any given day but this is another story to tell later. This method of
multiple feeding works only because of the quality of the food she receives.
Over time her dog food has changed. When we first brought Lucy home we were sold on Science Diet products. She did well with this food as far as the sensitivity goes but she put on weight. So we went exploring and experimenting with different foods. We tried all-natural foods from the health food store and several others as well. Some would cause weight gain, some would cause weight loss and some an excessive need to go poo. Some foods had too much filler and others perhaps not enough. Some so-called sensitive stomach foods actually magnified the sensitivity problem.
One day she got sick and kept getting sick on a regular basis.
We took her to the Vet and had her checked out. She was healthy but had a sensitive stomach issued said the vet. The Vet recommended we feed her nothing
but rice for a few days. The problem remedied itself very quickly. We asked the
Vet to recommend dog food that would help us with our problem. I was
expecting to have to spend a great deal of money on this recommended dog food
but was pleasantly surprised with his recommendation, He recommended Purina
One Rice and Lamb (Sensitive Stomach) dry dog food. Don’t worry, I
don’t own stock in Purina nor am I advertising the product for any type of
profit. I’m simply offering up a solution to a problem many dog owners run
into. Besides, the food has been fantastic for Lucy. No more sensitive
stomach and she possesses abundant energy and displays all the signs of a
healthy dog.
Lucy is eight years old now and has a lean body, strong
bones, and strong muscles. She is rarely ill so her immune system must be strong
as well. Her digestion is excellent and she rarely has a problem of throwing up
like she used to do. I might add that she is quite regular as well. Her
skin coat and eyes are still as stunning as when she was a puppy. And her teeth
are in good shape but like many dogs, she probably could use good teeth cleaning and perhaps something for doggie breath on occasion. With all this
said, I would have to conclude that the food she is on now is a good one.
For those of you who have a boxer with a sensitive stomach, you might want to check this dog food out. Listed below are the ingredients along with the guaranteed analysis that Purina states concerning the product. All I can say is that it has worked for Lucy and it may work for your boxer as well.
Ingredients:
Lamb
(natural source of glucosamine), brewers rice, corn gluten meal, whole grain
corn, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), oatmeal, animal
fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols – a source of vitamin E), lamb meal,
animal digest, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, salt,
caramel color, L-Lysine monochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous
sulfate, ferrous sulfate, vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin,
vitamin A supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic
oil, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione
sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), sodium selenite
Purina’s Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude
protein (min.) 26%, crude fat (min.) 16%, crude fiber (max.) 3%, moisture
(max.) 12%, linoleic acid (min.) 1.4%, calcium (Ca) (min.) 1%, phosphorus (P)
(min.) 0.8%, selenium (Se) (min.) 0.35 mg/kg, vitamin A (min.) 13,000 iu/kg,
vitamin E (min.) 250 iu/kg, glucosamine* (min.) 400 ppm, Omega 6 fatty acids*
(min.) 1.6%. *Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog
Nutrients Profile.
If you know of a
better dog food that works as well as this one does for Lucy, I would
appreciate it if you write a short response to this post for more options in
helping a boxer with a sensitive stomach.
Thanks and Ciao
for now…
Labels:
boxer,
boxer dog,
boxer sensitive stomach,
boxer stomach issues,
lucy the white boxer dog,
white boxer
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Lucy's Leisure Time
Now this is one spoiled critter! Lucy loves her leisure time, this picture depicts the comforts that she has come to expect. I shot this photo with some old black and white film in my Nikon F4. We had such nice, defused light coming through the window in the front living room window. This was a moment in time with a great friend. Her expression is priceless... I wish everyday were like this!
Nikon F4 Kodak 400 B&W film, ISO 400, 1/15sec, f4.5 @70mm
Labels:
boxer,
boxer dog,
dogs socilalizing,
lucy the white boxer dog,
photography,
sharing a picture,
white boxer dog
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Just an update!
Well it's been a while since I last posted to tell everyone how Lucy and the family are doing. The picture you see here was taken this weekend during a snow fall in our back yard here in Colorado. Terri took the picture and it happened quite by accident, or did it? But that's another story and you'll have to wait for just a bit for the rest of that one. To sum it up, Lucy is doing great. She's still funny as ever and very high spirited at times. She loves her new home and has settled into a great routine.
We have Mule Deer here in Colorado Springs that reside in the 800 acre natural park which our property is adjacent. They wander through the yard, cleaning out Terri's bird feeder in the front yard on an almost a daily basis. Lucy loves to watch them roam through the yard. She has a silent bark she uses to let us know that they are around. Checkout the picture of the bird feeder bandits. My sister-in-law suggested we get a deer feeder for the birds! And yes, it was a snowy day when the picture was made!
I don't let Lucy out by herself here. I spotted a mountain lion up on the ridge in the park the other day and also saw him again running through the hillside above our house on another occasion. Mountain lions have been know to attack and kill dogs as prey. I guess mountain lions have to eat too, but I don't want this one enjoying a Lucy steak any time soon, so I monitor her outdoor activity fairly closely. Just one more reason not to have a deer feeder, they attract mountain lions! I don't want the deer hanging around more than they do now.
As for me, I'm doing fine. I managed to lose a little weight. Terri has me on this supplement drink that is helping me out in that department. It's working, I've lost 10 pounds in two weeks. If this continues, I could be back below 200 pounds in a couple weeks, which would make everyone I know and love very happy. If you know someone who's looking to lose weight, drop me a line and I'll let you know what I'm doing. It may help... I'm also very busy these days with work and my hobbies. I would rather talk about my hobbies than work, but that's another story!
Well that's about it for now. Oh yeah, I was going to tell you about the picture of Lucy. The picture was taken with Terri's I-phone! Here's the story... We went and picked up fire wood on Saturday and found a piece of wood with a hole in it. Terri came up with the idea that we should try to take a picture through the whole. We used every digital camera we have to take the picture (photography - one of my hobbies).
If anyone knows anything about photography, there's this little thing called depth of field, that preclude you from having two objects in perfect focus at the same time. You almost have to settled for one object or the other unless you can shoot in a fairly narrow f-stop from the right distance and that is completely experimental. Well, the piece of wood was only about 4 inches wide. I could do it from a distance but when I blew up the photo it would blur. To make a long story short, while Terri and I were conducting
our experiment Lucy just happened to come in view in the background. The picture is the result. Fun stuff! I really like the picture for a couple of reasons technically but yet again that's another story...
Hope you enjoy the pictures and I wish you peace. Thanks for stopping by.
Friday, August 19, 2011
When the day is done...
I just had to post this picture of Lucy at the end of a long day. It's one of a series of pictures that I took. She really loves to lounge by that chair at the end of a long day. She was actually after me to hurry up with what I was doing in order for her to get bed. This dog loves her comforts and sleep, when it's time to do so. Hope you enjoy the picture as much as I did taking it!
I'll post more pictures in the near future, promise. It is supper late here in Colorado and I'm off to bed. Later!
I'll post more pictures in the near future, promise. It is supper late here in Colorado and I'm off to bed. Later!
Labels:
boxer dog,
lucy the white boxer dog,
white boxer dog
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)