Happy, Healthy Hoover!

Well Monday was Doctor checkup day for all three of the dogs. Corky who was diagnosed with a heart murmur 2 years ago is doing well for his age, his murmur even seems to have gotten a little better. Clearly this country living is doing him well. He has gained a little weight, but not to much for the doc to be to concerned, just not gonna let him gain more. All in all he is doing very well for the old man that he is. Pebbles has also gained a little bit of weight, she really needed it though, she has always been very thin and is in very good shape at the present time. She as well got a clean bill of health, and I was told she is in excellent condition.

Hoover, well the little porker, already weighs in at 16 lbs just a shave under Corkys current weight. He is very healthy and happy! She said that he appears to also be in excellent health. I am so glad. They all got their needles so Hoover got his second set, only a month to go till he is fully immunized and we can start taking him to town for walks to meet and greet other people and dogs. He is fitting in so well already. He still surprises me everyday with how smart he is, especially with how easily he can manipulate my 2 boys. He is quite a vocal little guy, and makes sure that everyone knows that he is here. The doc advised me though that some recent research has told that dogs on the barf diet are usually lacking in Calcium, and Phosphorus, so that I should up one meal of kibble and take away one meal of meat so he now only gets meat for breakfast, then kibble the other 3 meals each day. She also let me know that too much protein at this young age could cause him to grow too fast and have his bones not as strong as they should be as an adult. So that's another reason. He doesn't seem to miss the extra meat meal, although, breakfast is definitely he favourite meal of the day.

Being as he had his second set of shots, we took him out for a walk in the back yard yesterday. We had a nice set of fresh moose tracks, only about 300 feet from the house. We pointed them out, very visible to us in the sand on the road to our back yard. Hoover never even thought twice about them, he gave them a quick sniff, and away he went, clearly not in tune with his nose yet! But given time he will follow them, knowing the importance they have. Pebbles, knew that they came from an animal, and sniffed and dug at them but having no clue of the animal that made them, she gave up and walked away. Oscar however, would have went crazy for a fresh set like that, he could even follow squirrel prints in the right direction. We would have wound up in the bush still following them today I am sure, following until he found his prize!! He also would have most likely rolled on them, so he could brag about the moose that he saw!!! Hoovers nose will get better with age, and as he learns how to focus on just one thing he will begin to track all on his own. I am sure with out a doubt that he will make a fine tracker like all his ancestors before him. It rained last night, so chances are the prints are all gone today so I wont be able to get a pic. A sunny day today though, and maybe our friend the moose will return again in a few days or even weeks. They were some large tracks though, I definitely only want to see him from the window of the house!!!!