Peaches, 2019

Peaches is the record holder for our longest-lived basset hound.  In June, she’ll be 16 years old.  We are amazed!  That’s very rare for a basset.  The only other one we had that lived beyond 12 years was Bubba Gump, who was 14.  Ten to twelve years is the average lifespan for this breed.  Peaches has kidney issues now and makes piddle mistakes in the house, something she has never done her whole life.  However, she’s on a special renal diet and seems to be doing well thus far.  That, plus plenty of fresh water on hand at all times.  I feed her the Royal Canin renal canned and dry with a bit of Just Food for Dogs renal on top which she loves.  It is all fresh and just slightly cooked (I would never feed my dog raw because of Salmonella and other contamination risks).  JFFD is rather costly at $7.99 a package, so I supplement her other food with it.  Peachy’s always been a picky eater, but she really likes her new special diet. I also give her an herbal supplement for her kidney problems. She looks really good for her age and still likes to take her walks, though not as far as she used to.  We just let our old girl do what she wants, which is mostly sitting out on the front lawn watching other dogs and barking at them as they pass.  Her favorite is a big, black lab named Ocean.  She always does a little dance whenever he visits.  He leaves her a pee mail, and she answers with her own.  She sleeps a lot, like most old dogs (and people) do.  I just hope she decides to stay with us a good while longer and her quality of life continues to be good.  Her presence is precious to me and always a comfort. I am so glad she was still with me for my long-awaited Maxwell Award win because my bassets have been my inspiration for writing the Beanie and Cruiser mysteries all these years.  They have helped me fulfill my doggy destiny.  I’m also glad that Peaches and my sweet Beau grace the book cover of “Ears for Murder.”  This one is for them.

Peaches has been with us 10 years today.  She was 3 1/2 years old when I adopted her.  She's still going strong at age 13 1/2.  It seems like a long time ago, and she's seen me through a lot: the loss of my dear father and two beloved male dogs.  I remember the day Peaches and I met three days after Christmas in 2006. I had signed up for the pet request program at our local SPCA.  I'd already passed up a couple of dogs, which didn't seem like a good fit for one reason or another. After I saw her in the kennel, I was told to wait in the get acquainted room while they brought her to me.  In a few minutes the door opened and in charged a terrified little black and white basset girl. She shot across the room straight for me and promptly sat on my left foot. I had been chosen, claimed. She would be mine and I would be hers from that day onward to this.

She was a beautiful little dog, but what impressed me most was the unusual white marking running the length of her back that looked like one of those Jesus fishes you see on car bumpers. I made up my mind then and there to adopt her.  She was already spayed, so I took her home the same day.  She had been bounced from pillar to post, from the puppy mill she surely came from to a high-kill shelter in Stockton to the Sacramento SPCA. I remember she was so upset on the way to she knew not where that she pooped in the back of my new SUV.  Poor girl was such a nervous, fearful dog.  She still is, though she has mellowed quite a lot from those days when she crab-walked through life, pressing herself as close to the ground as she could.  That and the stripe up her back made her look more like a badger than a dog.

This morning, she came into my bedroom like she always does for pets and to sit on my foot as I get out of bed.  I fed her a special breakfast, and then we took her for a walk at the college Arboretum, where in years past we used to walk her and our sweet Beau, who will be forever missed.  Peaches seems to be doing very well for nearly 14 years of age.  She's been our healthiest dog so far.  Perhaps she'll outlive all our other bassets.  I hope so!

PURINA DOG FOOD RECALL

Purina has recalled its Beneful and Pro Plan brands for vitamin deficiencies.  Since Nestle Corporation took control of the Purina brand, I personally would never buy their pet food. 

ALERT!

Long time, no blog, but if you were planning on keeping your dog distracted from your sumptuous Thanksgiving feast with a chewie, better skip giving him/her Blue Buffalo Wilderness Wild chews.  They are, like so much of the food we assume is safe to feed our pets, tainted with Salmonella.  What's a pet parent to do?  

Personally, I'd never give my dogs anything like these chews, which look an awful lot like bones to me.  Like any bones, including the ones from the Thanksgiving turkey, they can splinter in the dog's intestines and cause serious or even life-threatening problems.

Here's wishing you and your pets a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

RAW FOOD ALERT

As a survivor of Salmonella poisoning, I have a hard time understanding why anyone would feed their dog raw chicken or raw anything in meats, but if you do, you'll be interested in this latest alert about Raw Dog.

PET FOOD RECALL ALERT

Carnivore Meat Company of Green Bay, Wisconsin has recalled its Vital Essentials raw frozen dog food due to possible contamination from Listeria bacteria.  Personally, I don't eat raw meat, and I won't feed it to my dogs, either.  It's like playing Russian Roulette with their health.  There's just too much deadly food contamination out there these days, and not only meat.

DOG FOOD ALERT!

On July 2, 2015, The Boulder Dog Food Company of Boulder, Colorado, announced it is now expanding it recall to include one lot of its Turkey Sprinkles Food Enhancer because it also has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria.