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| THE COOKIE JAR We all love to give our Rotten ones treats. Who can resist those big brown eyes? Most all of the treats that find their way into the cookie jar are chocked full of calories not to mention how expensive it is filling the jar every few weeks. I too, fell into this trap and one day those big brown eyes were begging for what was in the jar, and the jar was empty. I couldn’t bare the thought of not giving them something, so I reached into the dog food bag, dropped the kibble into the jar, and gave each Rotten one a piece of kibble telling them it was a cookie. Gullible as Rotties can be, they bought the tall tale, and gobbled up the goodies just as if they were the real thing. As I got to thinking about my little deception, I realized how inexpensive it would be to just fill the jar with dog food instead of the high priced “cookies”. Not only that, but I wasn’t changing their food which can cause upset stomachs. An even better treat is carrots. We usually have salads with our dinner, and I add in those little sweet baby carrots. As I’m making the salads, the dogs crowd around begging for a carrot. The dogs just love them, are good for them, help clean their teeth and are low in calories. I’ve tried celery, but only about 1/2 of my dogs will eat it. Now when I’m daunted by big brown eyes, I reach in the vegetable bin in the fridge or for a piece of dog food in the cookie jar. COMPOST PILE AND CRITTER CONTROL Most people set up a compost pile in neat containers, but I have my compost pile in a large hole down in the woods. Stirring a compost pile using a pitch fork once a week helps break up the material thus helping the decomposition prossess go faster. I have a better idea that takes less work on my part. I take my dogs down to the pile and tell them “GET THE MUNK!!!” (chipmunk) and point to the compost pile. They start digging and digging. Leaves, dirt and green plant material start flying everywhere. If another area needs turned, I simply point to the other area and tell them “Get um”. This happens to be excellent exercise for the dogs. I have to tell you there are some drawbacks. First, the incredably dirty faces and paws, but a hose can take care of that. The other is the imense holes the dogs dig on their own when they actually do see a chipmunk or mole go down a hole. If the dogs are digging in a sandy area, I’ve seen them dig a hole so big, they are burried past their shoulders. Buckwheat was the best “killer” I ever had. There was no need at all to trap or otherwise try to keep the varmits out of my garden. She sure did keep them in check. Buckwheat would stand up on a big rock scanning over the valley below for critters. If a squirrell dared to come down out of a tree, she’d charge down the hill and chase him back up where he belonged. If she caught it, the sqirrell was history. She’d do the same thing for any other critter she saw move in “her” valley. She’s gone to the bridge, and the chipmunk, mole, squirrell and vole population have trippled in size since her passing. I sure do miss Buckwheat. She was 100 times better than any of our cats ever hoped to be. Our cat, Beauford Catfish Quackenbush (“Ferd” for short) gave it his best try, but just never got the knack of it. He finally gave up and left the hunting to Buckwheat.
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Cookie Jar | Compost n Critters | Fencing | Erosion | Puppy ID | Dog Safety | Cool Dogs |
