We had a collie mix dog before we adopted Kash, who is a Border Collie mix puppy.  Our dog Kozmo, who was paralyzed in her rear legs, (she had a wheelchair to get around) loved to pick strawberries.  In fact, you better be quick because she could pick pretty fast and get the best ones.

Anyway, I thought I would take Kash out to the wild strawberry patch after finding a couple near the barn.  Sure enough the berries were starting to ripen real well.  I picked a couple for Kash.  He loved them.  So I showed him some growing and like by instinct, he started picking them with his front teeth.  His lips would wrinkle and pull up, his pretty white front teeth would nip off the strawberry and he would move on to the next.

While he was picking and eating, I found a happy little toad and took a couple pictures of it.  I could see Kash was picking his way towards the toad.  So I waited with my camera ready.  Kash was so focused on picking that when the toad jumped, he about came out of his fur!  I took the picture as he was on his way down.

Yikes! Toad in the patch!

Kash the Dog

Now I think strawberries are ok for a dog to eat.  I know blueberries and apples are good to put in homemade dog food.  You just absolutely do not want to feed your dog onions.  It can have a bad effect on the liver and/or kidneys of your dog if it eats too many.

There is a really top notch homemade dog food recipe ebook that I have been recommending for a couple years now.  It has some fantastic recipes you can make for your dog, and they are healthy as well.  It even has recipes for healthy dog snacks and a lot of miscellaneous recipes to help around the house, pet related.  For a little more information on Dr. Miller’s Tested Homemade Recipes be sure to click the highlighted link.

On another Border Collie mix blog that I ran across, it had some really good Lyme Disease information.  Now Lyme Disease is a very real danger for your dog.  I recently pulled off 22 ticks from Kash in a 48 hour period.  I know there are a lot of ticks in my area, so I do a “tick check” almost every time I take him outside, especially if he runs through the field or takes the wooded trail. (most of the ticks are common wood ticks or “dog ticks”)

How do you remove a tick? I have a pointed tweezers called Silver Gripper Tweezers that work fantastic for tick removal.  They get right down close with the precision ground tip. Grab the tick with the tweezers as close to the dog’s skin as possible, pull firmly and steady so as not to leave the tick head embedded in the skin.  If the head stays in the skin, try to remove it gently with the tweezers.  If you can’t get it out, put a dab of antibiotic ointment on the area and let it heal.  A small bump may form for a couple weeks.

Sliver Gripper Tweezers

Most likely the tick will still be alive, so flush it down the toilet or smash it between hard objects.

If you are not already protecting your dog with a heartworm medication that contains a flea and “tick killer”, I suggest asking your local vet what they recommend.  The vet may even recommend a Lyme Disease prevention vaccination.  I had Kash vaccinated after finding so many ticks this year.

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I removed a deer tick from my right chest area a couple years ago.  When removed, it swelled up like a 1/2 softball sized lump within minutes.  I went to the ER with the tick in a bottle.  The doc put it under a computer microscope and compared it to a known deer tick photo for confirmation.  Yep, a deer tick.  So I had to take a potent antibiotic right there, and then another later that day.  That was it.  I was lucky.  I have known people that have had Lyme Disease and it’s not pleasant.

So treat your dog to good old fashioned homemade dog food, healthy dog treats, and check and protect your pooch from ticks and Lyme Disease.

Thomas

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