Week 1, Day 3: My saving graces

always use an e-collar!

Look at the gunky scabby stuff in her incision. And compare this to the staple shot a few entries below. :( The good news is, its still healing nicely. The top part closest to her knee is nearly healed. A staple has already popped out on its own.

I try not to use the e-collar as much as possible when I'm home. But I can't babysit Maeby all day -- I have dishes to wash! Carpets to vaccuum! Blogs to update! So I dedicate this entry to the things that have made my life and Maeby's bearable, while she still has these darn staples in her leg.

I don't want her to become a fatty lumpkins by the end of this, so I've been trying to feed her digestible, healthy, and low fat snacks. Here are some of the things I've found to be particularly useful and succesful at keeping Maeby preoccupied for a few hours.



A: BULLY STICKS Yeah yeah yeah, they're bull penises. But dogs LOVE THEM. They are 100% digestible, unlike rawhide, and they can chew for hours and hours. The downside is they're pretty expensive -- I've been getting them for $3.99 on sale. Someone on the orthodogs list told me they're cheaper on ebay.

B: BEEF TENDON Again, another 100% digestible treat. The only problem I found with this one, is that it gets soft REALLY fast. You really have to keep an eye on your dog with this one, because the soft bits can hang all the way down their throat while they try to get to the dry end. I saw Maeby do this and my jaw fell to the ground! The other problem with this is that it stays soggy for a long, long time. I ended up finally throwing one in the oven until it dried up again. It's cheaper than Bully Sticks though.

C: BUSY BUDDY TWIST N TREAT: I just bought this for her today, and it's the best $10 I've spent on her so far!!! I originally went to the pet store to buy her a Buster Cube, but I read they're really hard to use. I literally sat on the floor with the instructions trying to figure out how to get out the cylinder in the middle for cleaning. And I couldn't do it!! The Twist N Treat screws open and closed, and you can control how big the hole for the treats to fall out is. I filled it with Maeby's kibble and she had such a blast with it. (See video below) This is SOOOO MUCH BETTER than the Buster Cube, and CHEAPER.

D: CHARLEE BEAR TREATS: These are all natural, and very inexpensive doggie treats. The best part is, they're smaller than kibble bits. So they're great for training (Maeby has learned a few new tricks in her ex-pen with these!) and you can alo use them in the Twist N Treat. And each bit is only 3 calories so you don't have to worry about your dog getting too many calories.

E: KONG If you don't own a Kong toy by now, I highly recommend you leave your house right now and get one. I LOVE THESE THINGS. I've been filling mine lately with a GOOD QUALITY, plain, nonfat yogurt mixed with a tad of peanut butter (3:1 ratio of yogurt: peanut butter, because PB is very fattening) and also squishing in half a dog biscuit inside. It takes her forever to eat through one of these. But I've also added frozen can food, frozen 100% pumpkin, etc. The great thing about Charlee Bears is you can use just one to cover the hole at the bottom of the Kong, so you don't have to worry about melting stuff getting everywhere.

I forgot to include marrow bones in the photo. But they're great too. Keeps Maeby occupied for hours, and gets all the tartar off her teeth. I give them frozen, just one a week because the marrow inside has a ton of fat and calories. Just make sure you get them in a size that's appropriate for your pup.


maeby the pig