Derp.

City Walk

Andy and I took a stroll around the neighborhood the other day. There's a small park located right across the street from us. It's not the cleanest park, and it's kind of isolated in spots, so I tend not to linger there for very long. We basically high-tailed it through the park and when we made it out the other end we took a side street through the neighborhood to get back to our apartment complex. As you can see Andy's wearing his new Easy Walk Harness. We had a tough time getting it to fit right in the beginning and the first couple of times we actually tried it out were kind of disastrous, but, I think we're starting to hit our stride with it. I'll write about the harness more in the weeks to come.

Review | Merrick Classic Real Lamb with Brown Rice & Apple Dry Dog Food

Andy's been on a steady diet of Merrick Classic Real Lamb with Brown Rice & Apple Dry Dog Food for about 2 months now. So far we're happy with this product and Andy can't seem to get enough of it...although that sort of describes his relationship with food in general. This is my first experience with Merrick products (they also produce the Castor & Pollux brand). I was drawn to them because: 

* All of their ingredients are grown in the U.S. (no ingredients from China)
* Their products contain no artificial additives, sweeteners, colorings or preservatives
* They have a strong commitment to food-safety performance and quality management
* They use higher quality proteins - deboned meat is the first ingredient.
* Their foods include high levels of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids for healthy skin and shiny coat, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfates to support healthy bones and joints, and highly digestible meat proteins, peas, apples and blueberries to support and improve digestive function.

Dog food and treat reviews are kind of goofy. Having never tasted the products myself I can't speak to things like palatability or texture, and really Andy will eat anything, so my opinions are based more on things like ingredients lists, where the products are manufactured, and whether or not my dog has a negative reaction to it (i.e. he doesn't want to eat it or it makes him sick). When it comes to dog food there are a number of brands that I would highly recommend (Merrick, Wellness, Blue Buffalo, just to name a few) and really as long as your pup is getting a high-quality diet that's all that matters. What's great about the brands I mentioned is that they all hit the five points I talk about above, and in addition, offer lines that meet special dietary needs: limited ingredients or grain free (which I need for my cat Diego).

All Rain and No Play Makes Andy a Stir-Crazy Boy

It's been raining steadily since the wee hours of the morning. Andy had no interest in lingering outside and once again refused to go poop in the rain. It's been more than 12 hours since his last bowel movement. I wonder if that's why he's been acting like a holy terror all morning. All that pent up energy and poop! He's been harassing his brothers to no end. He just spent the last hour sitting on the back of the couch, looking out the windows, barking, and basically minding everyone's business but his own. I was planning on taking him on a walk this afternoon but at the rate the rain is currently falling it doesn't look like that's going to happen. At least he'll get to blow off some steam at doggy day care tomorrow. 

Double Loop

Some pictures from our weekly Sunday stroll at the park. We did the "double loop," which takes about an hour and 15 minutes. The plan was to take Andy on a nice long walk and tire him out so that we could safely escape to a movie and the grocery store afterwards. Happy to report that Andy managed to stay out of trouble for a whole 5 hours. He's been doing much better during his "alone time"...knock on wood! I think the combination of going to Camp Bow Wow once a week, the long walks, not having access to anything to tear up, and simply growing up are all helping.

The Power of Kawaii

According to researchers in Hiroshima looking at pictures of cute puppies and kittens may improve workplace performance and productivity. (Uh yeah, I could have told you that!) The study, titled The Power of Kawaii, (kawaii can be roughly translated as "cute") found that "cute objects may be used as an emotion elicitor to induce careful behavioral tendencies in specific situations, such as driving and office work." One of the study's authors explains why this is: "The perception of something as cute activates the idea of something delicate and breakable...valuable and worth caring for." When we look at images of cute puppies and kittens that feeling of value and something worth caring for apparently translates into work tasks performed immediately after. So when you catch me at work looking at cuteoverload.com or icanhas.cheezburger.com it's because I strive to be as productive an employee as I can be. I swear I'm not just goofing off.