leonbergerlife

That’s a question I’m asked often when we’re out with Rutger & Dutch.  It’s not an easy question to answer, however, because they don’t eat commercially prepared dog food.  We feed a 100% raw diet, and their food is measured in pounds…not cups!  So, intead of answering how much they eat we typically launch into a conversation around what they eat.

We’ve been feeding a raw diet for over twelve years!  Our early education on the raw diet came from the book “Give Your Dog A Bone” by Ian Billinghurst.  Over the years, as we’ve gained more experience and read more articles and books, we’ve adapted and modified the raw diet to best suit our dogs.  Rutger and Dutch eat a variety of protein sources…chicken, beef, rabbit, duck, lamb, goat, turkey and fish…and much of it is locally sourced and grass fed.

There are so many benefits to the raw diet – sparkling teeth, shiny coats, increased energy and clean ears just to name a few.  But, to me, one of the greatest benefits is that I don’t need to be concerned with all of the kibble recalls that seem to be occuring with greater frequency.  If you’re fed up with the recalls of high quality kibble (and even if you’re not) I encourage you to research raw feeding.  There are wonderful articles available on the internet, and there are more and more books on the topic.  If you’re interested in some suggested reading, email me at paleo4us@yahoo.com, introduce yourself and I’ll share my recommendations with you.

Rutger and Dutch love to spend time outside – exploring, chasing each other on the trails, playing keep away with sticks.  Here are a few pictures from this afternoon’s outdoor play session.  You’ll notice that Dutch has grown up a little over the last few weeks! 

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One of my great passions is volunteering for the Leonberger Health Foundation (LHF).  If you’ve never heard of the LHF, or aren’t familiar with what we’re about, I urge you to check out our website.  In February of 2009 Dale and I lost our Leonberger, Okemo, to osteosarcoma – bone cancer.  This disease is evil, and I will never understand why a dog must endure this level of pain.

Fast forward to late Summer of 2009 when we starting looking for a new Leonberger puppy.  This was also when the President of the LHF, Teresa, put out a call for volunteers.  I answered her call.  How could I not?  We had lost a wonderful companion, and we were preparing to have a new Leo puppy enter our lives.  Of course I had to consider that puppy’s future health and what I could do to help the LHF in their mission.  I now know that Okemo’s death was not for nothing…it was responsible for me finding a passion in raising money for the LHF.

August through January is the busiest time for LHF fundraising.  It’s during this time that we do our annual on-line auction, calendar photo contest, and calendar sale.  I feel as though I’ve completely fallen off the radar since early October which also coincides with my last blog entry.  Sorry about that!  On top of my LHF responsibilities I also have a full-time job (that seemed to require a lot of overtime in October, of course), and I make sure that I carve out time to spend with Dale and Rutger.  Juggling priorities can definitely cause some stress!  But today I’m coming up for air after kicking off the auction yesterday and getting the calendar to the printer last week.  Sure there’s a lot more work ahead, but for today I’m just going to enjoy a small break.

And now I’d like to ask for you to support the LHF by purchasing a calendar(s) and/or bidding in our auction.  The auction will be up for another 6 days, and calendars will be on sale until we sell out…so order early to ensure you get one (calendars make great gifts!).  Click here to be taken to the LHF auction.  Calendar ordering instructions can be found here.  You can also find details by liking our Facebook page, and you’ll also find a preview of the winning calendar photos there.

Our local ski resort has terrific hiking and mountain biking trails, and it’s one of our favorite places to go for a challenging hike.  Rutger loves the fresh air, the smells and the unlimited places to leave pee mail.  At the end of our hike we can hit the cafe at the lodge for a burger, fries and beer.  How can you beat that?

Dale and Rutger

In the pictures you’ll see that Rutger is wearing his flourescent orange – it’s deer season here in Pennsylvania, and we want hunters to see the orange. Leos can be mistaken for deer so we take no chances.  Rutger loves to go hiking with us.  We started him out on the trails near our house as a puppy; he learned early on to stick close and listen for his name.  Being under voice control is the key to Rutger being allowed off lead when we feel it is safe for him and the mountain bikers.  It just happened that on this day the trails weren’t crowded so Rutger could explore to his heart’s content!

A Leo always finds the water!

Headed to the summit.

Taking a rest before starting down.

Rutger traversing the slope.

This evening’s walk with Rutger was much more than just putting one food in front of the other…we’re in training (cue dramatic music).

Back in June we finished our Rally Novice title in style with a score of 97 and a first place finish!  This is quite an accomplishment when one half of the team is slightly uncoordinated and the other half of the team is a male Leonberger that is still learning that he has a rear end and two back legs. Why do they only recognize their rear end when they need to clean their bits and pieces? I digress. Our next goal is to earn our Rally Advanced title.

True confession time - we’ve taken some of the summer off.  It’s been hot.  Surface of the sun hot.  And it’s been raining. We’ve already exceeded a normal year’s rainfall.  So we’ve slacked off the teensiest bit.  Slackers no more – tonight we incorporated rally training into our walk – 360 left, 360 right, side step right, about turn, left about turn, call front, sit, stand, etc.   I can only imagine what the neighbors thought if they caught a glimpse of us from their window!  Then again, I find people who talk on their cell while they walk their dog in a straight line down the road to be amusing.  How bored is that dog?  How much destruction is that dog doing in the house?

I much prefer the interactive walks Rutger and I enjoy together.  A Leonberger that has been mentally and physically challenged is a happy and content member of the family.  Just ask Rutger…