Read about the world’s tallest dog here!

He is  7ft long, afraid of chihuahuas and water, and sleeps on his own queen-sized mattress!

I have been noticeably absent from the blog lately, so instead of prolonging the silence I wanted to report that I will be taking somewhat of a blog staycation. I will still post, but with less frequency than previously and my posts will be smaller (quick little snippets of design, pet, products I love, etc…). So things may look and feel a little different!

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I love cookbooks. I have more than I need; and I also score pretty food blogs for even more recipes. Between the cookbooks I have, the recipes I have printed and bookmarked I have way more recipes than I could possibly hope to make in my lifetime. However, that doesn’t stop me from finding more cookbooks and recipes and food blogs.

I just got Alicia Silverstone’s cookbook, The Kind Diet, which is Alicia’s approach to a vegan lifestyle. I am not a vegan, but I can appreciate the healthy recipes in Alicia’s book nonetheless. Some of the recipes I marked in the book are Barley Casserole, Hearty Pinto Bean Stew, Peach Crumble, Clean, Mean Burritos, and Quinoa with Basil and Pine Nuts. Alicia uses brown rice syrup as the sweetener in many of her recipes, and as I am trying to diversify from agave (I will still use it, but I want to vary my healthy sweeteners more) I am looking forward to trying brow rice syrup. Most recently, I have been using dates, date sugar, and stevia as switch ups  for agave; I like all three of these sweeteners so far, but am willing to add yet another.

On Saturday, John was jonesing for chocolate, so I decided to whip up some chocolate cupcakes for him. I used Elana’s recipe for chocolate cupcakes that are make from coconut flour, and since I had just received and finished reviewing The Kid Diet, I made the chocolate frosting from the book – Fudge Frosting is what Alicia calls it. The cupcakes turned out absolutely delicious! Here is the recipe for the Fudge Frosting so you can make it yourself:

1/2 cup Earth Balance (I use the soy-free one)
1/2 cup agave
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup soy milk powder (I didn’t have any so I just left this out)

Use a mixer to cream the butter together with the agave in a mixing bowl until very smooth.  Add the vanilla and half the cocoa, mix on a low speed to combine. Then add remaining cocoa powder and beat on a medium-high setting until fluffy. If it is runny, refrigerate the frosting until it sets up.

Alicia also has a website companion for the book, thekindlife.com, which is basically Alicia’s blog that covers food, health, house, style, and environment in relation to her lifestyle philosophy. I have not checked out he website in detail yet, so I cannot tell you much more.

I mentioned dog food in the title of this post because Alicia dog address it in her book! She points out the fact that “Conventional pet food is basically junk food, only worse: It’s chockfull of animal byproducts (intestines, bones, brains, and other lovelies), preservatives, chemicals, and fillers. Is it any wonder pets these days routinely die of nasty conditions like cancer and kidney failure?” (Silverstone 118) Sound familiar?

Alicia’s solution is to feed her pack Dr. Harvey’s organic dog food, along with L-carnitine and taurine supplements (because Dr. Harvey’s food doesn’t have them) and she also feeds her pack her leftovers. With Dr. Harvey’s dog food and the leftovers, her pups get a plant-based diet filled with healthy, organic grains, beans, and vegetables. Now I will admit that Alicia’s approach may not work for everyone; but I for one plan to try to incorporate my leftovers into Mocha’s diet more often: not all the time, mind you, just occasionally.

By the way, you can find all of Alicia’s posts on the kindlife.com regarding animals here.

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I always love hearing from you all …. What is your favorite cookbook? Do you have The Kind Diet book? How do you like it? Where are you at with your dog’s diet and how/what you feed them?

Today’s that day – Take Your Dog to Work Day …

Zuke’s did a get blog post about the do’s & don’ts of bringing your dog into the office. Instead of me reinventing (or in this case, rewriting) the wheel, I suggest you check out their post.

Did you bring your pup to work with you today?

This Friday is June 24th is Take Your Dog to Work Day. For information on the day, tips for taking your dog to work, and some fun galleries visit the Take Your Dog to Work Day site sponsored by Pet Sitters International.

As evidenced by the take-home bag above with Mocha’s {very silly} photo on it, Mocha had her teeth cleaned today.  She had never had her teeth “professionally” cleaned before; and although it is not an inexpensive trip to the vet, it is a very important one.  The American Veterinary Dental Society reports that 80 percent of dogs show signs of oral disease by age three.  Yikes!  Dental problems are quickly becoming dogs #1 health issue.  Plaque builds up which can lead to gingivitis. Furthermore, tartar buildup can lead to periodontal disease, which in turn may lead to infections of the heart, kidneys and liver.

Regular brushing at-home is key to good doggie dental health, as well as the occasional assessment of whether a more thorough cleaning at the vet is needed.  Your vet should be more than happy to give you a little demonstration on the how-tos of dog teeth brushing, if you aren’t sure what that looks like.  Or here is a {slightly goofy} good video on how it’s done:

Hard kibble is also known to better for dogs’ teeth over soft food because it has been shown to help scrub the teeth as the dog eats.  There are also numerous dog teeth cleaning chew toys and treats out there, my advice on those is to use caution … remember my post about healthy dog food?  Check the labels and see what is in that dental chew.

My opinion on the best plan of action: healthy hard kibble and regular home-brushing with the occasional cleaning at the vet.  No other fancy treats, chews, etc. should be needed.

Source

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How sweet does this little kangaroo look?

A feel-good story my Mom snipped from the newspaper for me:

Read the full AP story here.

Some dog breeds and mixes are considered hypoallergenic because they are more compatible with allergic persons than others.  Allergens from dogs are usually proteins in the saliva and dander.  Not surprisingly, breeds shed a considerable amount are usually not hypoallergenic.  According to some speculation, the size of the dog may play a role as well, along the lines of, the larger the dog, the more allergens he/she might give off.

According to Wikipedia, here is some information about dog breeds and their hypoallergenic qualities:

My sister found this video on Valley of the Sun Dog Rescue and shared it with me. Too cute! I love the main little guy with clipped ears (although I do NOT like the fact that he has clipped ears.) I know plenty of pit-lovers out there who will appreciate this video. Just like kids, it has a lot to do with how they’re raised.

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As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about the bad stuff that can be in dog food, I wanted share some of my recommendations for the good stuff.  Yesterday’s post mentioned organic specifically, but that is not the most important thing about the dog food you choose.  The main thing I am stressing is looking at the ingredients and doing a little homework about what you see on that list.  I buy my Mocha Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream formula.

Taste of the Wild does not contain any of the ingredients that specifically alarm me that you may find in some dog foods.  And, as you can see the first ingredients listed, and therefor the majority of pre-cooked weight, is salmon, fish, sweet potatoes, salmon meal, potato fiber, and canola oil.  That doesn’t sound ad, right?  In fact, it sounds like stuff I would actually eat.  This food contains healthy fats (essential fatty acids), high-quality protein sources, fruits and vegetables, and live cultures.

Taste of the Wild also comes in a bison/venison formula, a lamb formula, and a duck/quail formula.

Chicken formulas are among the most widely available, and there are plenty of good ones out there.

Newman’s Own Organic Premium Adult Dog food is good.

Natural Balance Organic Formula contains a chicken, lamb, salmon and veggie combination.

My sister feeds her pups Canidae All Life Stages Formula Dry Dog Food.

Those are just a couple of suggestions of foods that you can feel great about feeding your pup.  Of course, there are many more that are good, too.  Here are some sites to find more (and order from, if you want):

Pet Flow (great shipping rate of $4.95 – can’t beat that on big, heavy bags of dog food!)

PetFoodDirect.com

I would love to hear from you about your decisions on dog food.  What brand/kind do you feed to your dog?  Has this article changed the way you think about dog food at all?