Canine Health and Nutrition 101 For Beginners

Tigger started back to college on Monday, and I thought that I would take inspiration and teach a college class my self.  Therefore, I, one of the world's leading authorities in Canine Nutrition, have undertaken to debunk some of the most popular myths concerning this interesting vital field of paramount importance.

The first myth I will explain deals with making sure your dog doesn't become over weight.
Myth #1) Dogs need lots of exercise.  The reasoning goes- if dogs don't get enough exercise, they won't burn a lot of energy  and (according to my family) dogs who don't burn enough energy can't have  a lot of treats or they will become pudgy.
 Reality) No one else in my family has a P.H.D. (Pretty Hungry Dog) degree in Canine Nutrition from Misz Nabby's Skule of Helth Syence. If they did, they would know the truth.  As I learned in Logic in Exercise and Nutrition Studies and Research 101, their reasoning is faulty reasoning. You see, actually, if I exercise too much, I'll burn Kilocalories (Tigger, did your heart just swell with pride at my scientific accuracy, or what?!), and burning Kilocalories makes me hungry, which makes me eat, which will make me pudgy.

That's all for today's lecture, folks! Stay tuned for our next class, and study hard.  You never know when I'll give a pop quiz or a test!:o
Love & Schloops, Prof. Rosie


Roo's note: Nabby is Tigger's bear.  She has a sparkling, lively, and somewhat eccentric personality.  A self proclaimed genius of the first rank, she may write some guest posts for My Life as a Rose.

                                                                      NABBY!!!!

Nabby and me at my PHD graduation from her Skule of Helth Syences

Warning: These opinions are solely those of Professor Rosie Zidane (last name) and do not embody the advice of any licensed vet I've ever met, or whose dog care advice I've read (and I've read a fair amount).  Please be advised that your family vet should be your main resource for dog care advice. We are most definitely not responsible if anything bad happens to your precious pooch as a result of following Rosie's advice. :)

Recovering From Hurricane Irene

Well, I started this post yesterday, but was interrupted by the power going out which cause the internet to go out too. So, how did I fare in the storm? Well, I stayed over at Grandma's house, which was fun except that I had to stay in Granddad's old office.

It was a good thing that we were there as Grandma sprung a leak in her roof. I supervised the putting of plastic sheeting all over the house. I slept right at Tigger's feet all night long.
 

The next morning I dined on kibble and then we went home, where we still had power. Actually Grandma had power too come to think of it . At about 11 am, we lost power and didn’t get it back until 2 pm today. This meant that I had to eat kibble again for dinner on Sunday and breakfast today. The next big excitement was not a good piece of excitement. A tree fell on the neighbor’s house at about 1 ish… 

 All in all, it was something of a wild, wet, and crazy weekend. Today was spent in recovering, as you can see below.

It was also a sort of sad day for me as Tigger went back to school. She commutes, but it still means that I get very sad. Fortunately, I had Kanga and Roo with me to cheer me up!

Just Waiting For The Storm To Come

The title pretty much says it all! The picture is  for your daily cuteness quota. Do you like my hat? (p.s. Please ignore the pieces of pipe behind me. They are the remnants of a plumbing project that Owl did.)

Updates:

12:54 PM: The rain has started coming down gently and the trees are stirring restlessly. The birds are going crazy at the bird feeder and I am sort of out of sorts.


3:21 PM The rain is now steady and I would call conditions fairly breezy, wind wise. The forecast is now calling for 40-50 mph sustained winds and 65 mph gusts tonight. Ick!!! I had a photo shoot with my pal Buffy, who is Pooh's bear this afternoon.(By the way, that's one of my favorite places to snooze, under the kitchen table.)

7:17 PM: The rain has been fairly steady, with some heavier times. The wind has certainly picked up, although the forecasts have thankfully changed to slightly lower projected wind speeds. Pooh, Lake Superior has already started to fill up. We're getting ready to go over to Grandma's house. I love Grandma and can not wait to spend the night at her house.

Rosie's Emergency Preparedness Tips

I thought that with Hurricane Irene approaching, it might be a nice idea for me to list some of my favorite emergency preparedness tips.  BMDs are from Switzerland, which is  of course home to St. Bernards, those famed rescue dogs. We BMDs have picked up several useful disaster/emergency hints from our Alpine pals.

1. Make sure that you have plenty of food for your dog. Dogs like to eat, and we especially like to eat when there's a crisis. It takes a lot of energy to keep the house from floating away or blowing away.

2. Make sure that you have extra treats on hand. See #1 for the reasoning.

3. Have an umbrella that will cover your dog when she needs to go out for, umm, business purposes. This is especially important if you are my humans as I dislike getting wet.

4.  Flashlights are handy things to have. It may not be well known, but some canines are afraid of the dark. Whether or not I am is a state secret.

5. A collar with tags. On your dog. In case something horrible happens that causes the doggy to get separated from her loving humans. (Makes me howl thinking of it!) In emergencies such as being separated from our humans (the worst emergency a dog can face!!!!)  we become sad and stoic and not inclined to talking. Thus, it is vitally important that there be a way for a joyful reunion to occur.

Well folks, stay safe in the storm!!!!!

 This is not a recent picture, but rather from a couple of years ago when I had a small growth removed. I thought it seemed sort of natural disasterish.

All About Me!

Tonight, my darling Mother had a fantastic Idea. Yes, Idea, not idea. "Rosie," she said. My name is Rosie, so that's why she said Rosie. "Rosie, you should start a blog." And being an outgoing sort of dog -yes, I'm a dog- I thought it seemed like a fantastic Idea. So, here are the pertinent facts about me.

Name: Rosie Zidane [Last Name]

Age: 5 years in Human Years (My Birthday is May 2, 2006)

Breed: Bernese Mountain Dog, a.k.a T.B.B.I.T.W*

*The Best Breed In The World

No, I'm not at all very proud of myself for being born a BMD. Why do you ask?

Weight: Hey! That's getting a little personal, but people always ask. 80 pounds. Most people think 120 since I have so much fur. 

Location: Somewhere in some state in the US that is in the Northern half of the US and the Eastern half, and that gets about 7 feet of snow less than I would like every winter.

Favorite Things: My family (meet them below), breakfast, dinner, snack time, the park, other dogs, my buddies the cats, eating, snoozing, playing, eating, barking, visiting my children friends, eating, belly rubs, and in case I forgot to mention it, eating.

Why Am I Blogging?: I have a lot to say, and I think that the world will benefit from the musing of a BMD without a mountain.

Meet My Family


My family is not as outgoing as I am, hence, they asked to be referred to by fake names.

Kanga: My wonderful, amazing Mama, who feeds me and loves me lots.

Owl: My charming distinguished Daddy who is the best stick and soccer player* and loves me lots too!
*Best besides me, of course.

Pooh: Sister #1. Lives far, far away. Is married. Needs to come home more often. Much loved and missed by me and the whole family.

Pooh's Husband: Needs a better name than that, but it's accurate. I'm very fond of him, and think that he and Pooh need to live with us.

Tigger: Sister #2.  Feeds me, loves me etc. The only bad things she does are groom me and helps baff me. In college. Helps me type  this blog.

The Roo: Sister #3. Is homeschooled and so spends much of her time with me. She is an awesome sister, and I think that she is pretty cool. She's very knowledgeable about canines.

Now, I know what you all have been waiting for....