On His A-Game

Time to take me outside! Okay?

When we take Barry for a walk we are in-tuned to our surroundings more than before we had Barry. I can spot a squirrel pretty quickly and then let Husband know so we can change direction or turn Barry around before Barry sees it (sometimes). I notice the thawing poop on the sidewalk, shards of glass along the fence, fried foods haphazardly splayed along the street. Barry isn't necessarily interested in the glass, but we don't want him stepping on it. He's not wearing hard soled shoes like we are. He's only got his thick pads to protect him which as we know can still get punctured.

Something was here at some point today...

As for the poop and half eaten foods we find? He's more interested in them. He takes note of the poop and if we allow (or just aren't paying attention) he'll go over to the poop and sniff at it, maybe take a lick. YUCK! We typically move him away and he doesn't usually seem overly interested in the poop thank goodness. He is however, pretty interested in the food. If it's something really special he'll pull towards it hard. Not all food. Just some food. The special stuff.

There were a few pieces of fried chicken hanging out along our path this last weekend on an evening walk. Barry dove at it and before we knew it he was chowing down on a fist sized piece of fried chicken. He ate the whole piece, or at least it appeared that way in the dark. Guess what happened the day after? Diarrhea. He simply just can't handle greasy, fatty foods. Grains don't seem to bother him (though, we don't usually give him anything with grain in it). It's the greasy and fatty meat. A lot of meat tends to be greasy and fatty. Whenever we choose a meat to give him it's always as lean as possible. Occasionally he gets the special treat from someone or finds a yummy piece of fried chicken laying around. He just can't handle it, though.

At this point I'm not sure that Husband and I can be more aware of all of the things we encounter. We try to always be on our A-game because we know that Barry is most definitely on his. As in-tuned as we think we are Barry is always one step ahead of us (literally). It will just be impossible to catch every little thing every single time.

I'm pickin up da scent...

Until the day we acquire super human powers we will keep pumpkin at the ready in our cupboards.
Seriously, though. If you have a dog that has a rather sensitive stomach like Barry, pumpkin. It works. We like to add rice in (and lean protein so it tastes good) as well but the rice alone doesn't help diarrhea. The rice is a filler and easily digestible. The rice helps keep him satiated so he doesn't feel starved since we are giving him less of his normal food (to cut back on the fat and other more difficult to digest ingredients). The rice gives his digestive system a break and keeps him full (full = happy). The pumpkin does the bulking. Enough about dog poo.

Here's to super human powers!