# Summer in Dublin



## MaxB (Mar 11, 2019)

Maggie will be 7 months old on the 13th. This pup is unbelievably spoiled. 😁. 

This weekend, I took a half day from work on Friday as the weather was glorious....we went to the beach. The photo of Maggie with ears flying, was from that day.  Big waves, so she was reticent about paddling. Saturday she went to puppy party, and played for an hour, then off to the pet store, then to a little bit of Dublin Pride in her bandana, then her sitter arrived and she had fun with her for the rest of the evening. Yesterday she had a walk in our park and woods beside the house, and then to another beach, where we did a cliff walk before a paddle in the sea. Back home to paddle in her paddling pool in the garden. She is so completely and utterly spoiled. 

We also switched her to raw now that the Giardia has cleared up. We already see a huge difference in her coat, her eyes have less 'boogies' in the morning, and she has stopped grazing at her food. We are using pre prepared by an Irish raw food company....so far, she is loving it, and for the first time since we got her, we have not had any diarrhoea at all in a week. A lot more energy, which we're not entirely sure about 😂....but she also seems to sleep better. Some photos from the weekend attached, I hope!


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

how could you not spoil someone this pretty


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## MaxB (Mar 11, 2019)

funny, when we were in talking to the raw food expert in the local pet store, he said exactly the same thing.....'Oh, she's very pretty isn't she? She's going to be so much trouble being that pretty." She is forgiven so much for her cuteness.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Dublin looks perfect for Vizslas.


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## Becka.lorna (Dec 1, 2018)

Can i ask what sort of raw food Maggie on? Do you mix it? My pup has just got over Giardia and have been thinking about raw but not sure where to start, any advice would be great. Thanks

Beautiful pictures


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## MaxB (Mar 11, 2019)

@Becka.Iorna, I'm not an expert and we are new to raw. we use an Irish brand called Willow Run, and have now also included a UK/Irish brand called Paleo Ridge. Both are sustainable, locally sourced meats, paleo Ridge in particular follow an ethical philosophy using only organic and both use recyclable materials to package in. We have also found a Dublin based delivery company who use sheep wool for insulation to cut down on polystyrene. 

However, here is how we started. I researched it for quite a while. We fed Orijen puppy kibble, against our vets advice who was pushing for hills Science Plan. Maggie did not like science plan, and she gradually went off the Orijen. We tried mixing orijen with chicken breast, cheese, warm water, chicken stock, toppers made from only cooked lamb or chicken, but she was just not interested. She never finished a meal. 

when we moved to raw we decided to go with pre packaged to begin, and we will probably stick with that for a while. We were advised to mix it, one spoon at the first meal, then gradually increase until there was more raw than kibble in the bowl. 

Meal 1. a spoon of raw and the usual amount of Orijen. Ate the majority of it. 
Meal 2. Morning. 2 spoons of raw and reduced amount of Orijen. Ate half, the other half went with her to doggy daycare. It came home again. 
Meal 3. Slightly more raw, slightly less kibble. She ate it all, but hadn't finished her b'fast. 
Meal 4. As meal 3. She didn't eat it all, Maggie was not a great morning eater. 
Meal 5. I decided to go all the way. We gave her a full raw meal, no kibble. Scarfed it down. 
Meal 6. B'fast. We normally had to encourage eating this meal. Gave a full raw meal, all eaten. 

As we have progressed we have been able to set her b'fast times to suit us. We used to have to give her B'fast at 08.00 or so, and hope she ate most of it by 10. Now we feed her at 08/09.00, and it's gone before we do anything else for the day. 

We started with our pre packed meal, beef and veg, no bone. We added once or twice some minced turkey breast. We stayed on this for the first week. We introduced Beef, chicken, chicken carcass and legs with veg on week 2. Since doing this we now see a difference in the poos. They are now more solid, less dark, and dare I say it, more pleasurable to pick up. We have now started to add in the occasional raw egg, with shells, (LOVES that). 

Our pet food store guy advised that we give her some frozen, so we did that this morning. His reasoning being that eventually you are going to forget to take the pre packs out of the freezer, and it is better that she is used to having frozen now and then, at this point, than when you are in a hurry and it's all you have. We made that meal half and half....half defrosted, the other half frozen. She initially looked at the frozen suspiciously, then took it out to the garden in a chunk and ate it. 

We have in our freezer, Duck, lamb, pheasant, tripe and turkey mixes to use next. We will introduce those after a week on chicken, beef and bone. 

Eventually we hope to be able to do it all ourselves and not buy pre packed. However, both Willow Run and Paleo Ridge are balanced with the correct amount of offal and bone, (which I am not that comfortable handling just yet), and the WR line also includes some Irish Sea weed. 

we are also supplementing her with Beef Tripe treats, (freeze dried), and with a recommended marrow bone. We often freeze the beef tripe in a kong with yoghurt, (Maggie was not chewing down on kongs with kibble mixed in with yoghurt/Peanut butter etc. ) 

Like I say, I am not an expert, we are only doing this for 2 weeks now. We feed her 3.5% of her body weight...soon to move to 2.5%. We moved very fast on it. Once we started, we realised that she preferred the raw to the kibble, so we decided to bite the bullet and transition fully. I expected some diarrhoea, but we didn't really get any. I have also worked out that it is 50% of the cost buying the pre packed raw. 
I find also that I am not having to hose down where she has poo'ed any longer. We never managed to get it all up in the scoop when she was only eating kibble. 

For me, the biggest advantage is a puppy that eats her b'fast and dinner when it is served. tonight I gave her some carrot and broccoli as a treat, and she ate it. two weeks ago, she'd have sniffed and left it. 

I realise that maybe this is all because she is feeling better now that the Giardia is treated. However, we have had this puppy now for nearly 6 months, and we have struggled with food and regular diarrhoea throughout. Since switching to raw, nothing. No diarrhoea, and she eats her meals. We have gone from 6 - 8 poos a day to 2 or 3. When she hears the meal being prepared she is there waiting.....when she was on kibble, my husband could often be found on all fours on the floor trying to convince her to eat. 

I will say that my husband was not convinced by the idea of raw, but he is now. Once I explained that we need to treat her raw food as we would our own, (he was surprisingly ignorant of how to handle raw chicken!), he was less worried about salmonella poisoning. The pre packed meals make it so easy for us newbies. Scoop it out, weigh it and put the rest back in the fridge. Hubby was also worried about blood thirst. As our pet store advisor said...the dog doesn't know where the meat comes from...the meat just arrives. Like our kids. they don't really know where it comes from, it just arrives. 

As I say, we're newbies. Maybe we might change our minds. But I have been pleasantly surprised by the cost savings, the reaction of Maggie, her apparent health improvements, and we, as flexitarians, are finding it is less time consuming than convincing a picky puppy to eat. 

I also know that this is a major debate subject......but for us Raw is working right now, but more importantly, it is working for Maggie. 

I don't know where you are based, but if in Ireland let me know and I'll send you a link to our pet store guy. I wish I had moved to raw months ago. It's not for everyone, and I respect that, but for us, it has been a game changer. MB


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## Hisnameisarchie (Jul 7, 2019)

Hi Max!
I live in Dublin too and we just (like just this week!) adopted a Vizsla. So far, so crazy lol. 
Where locally do you bring Maggie to allow her have sufficient running space/interesting smells etc?
Archie's previous owners didn't really train him to be off lead (I'm not joking, he's actually fully insane!) but once we have him trained to recall we want to bring him somewhere quiet enough that he can run free.
Thanks!


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## MaxB (Mar 11, 2019)

Hi, Hisnameisarchie! Where abouts are you? We're in Stillorgan. I can recommend an amazing dog training facility in Sandyford, including some of their trainers who will come to your home. if you're near by, we can do a V meet up, there are another few in the Stillorgan/Sandyford area, all of whom also go to the Sandyford training centre/doggy daycare. 

We currently take Maggie to our park, right beside our house which has a large field, and two small wooded trails for off lead. Lots of other dogs around too, all well socialised. Sandyford Strand when the tide is out is amazing for them...see attached photos from yesterday. Brittas Bay is good when it's not madly sunny and therefore busy. The cove at Bray head is good for off lead, Killiney Hill is completely off lead and has loads of fields, woods, cliff walks. There are also two dog parks. Deerpark, (though currently on shut down for dogs as there is something toxic in the area and there has been a death and a couple of illnesses). Marley, which has two dog runs, one for smallies and one for the bigger ones. Marley also has a couple of fields where you can go off lead. 

Congratulations on adopting Archie...he sounds like he is going to be fun!


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## Hisnameisarchie (Jul 7, 2019)

Thanks for the information! All very helpful.

We're based in Rathfarnham so right next to Marlay/Bushy which will be ideal in future. Brittas Bay will definitely be on the list too. 
Our only difficulty right now is that his previous owner hadn't trained him off lead and right now he is just SO **** CRAZY and energetic that there is no way I would trust him off lead. So the predicament is - how can I effectively burn energy if I can't leave him run off lead?! Nothing in the house destroyed yet though, thankfully!

What is the doggy daycare in Sandyford? My boyfriend works there so that could be handy


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## MaxB (Mar 11, 2019)

Hi there.....positive dog training run the training and the doggy day care....https://www.positivedogtrainingdublin.com

They do a master recall class which might be useful. They will also come to your home and do a private session. 
Liz is the owner, she's there most days. Tell her I sent you. The daycare burns off a fair bit of energy between play, training reinforcement and mental stimulation, but Liz will want to assess Archie to see if he's able for daycare. 

We started off leash training with a long lead. PDT will also start with a long lead. Eamon who is one of their top trainers will be able to help you figure out a plan. I also have the name of a really good dog walker/sitter if you need it, she is used to our menace to society, so private message me if you want her number. Liz is also recommending her to people now, so she also has the number. 

Best to email PDT/Liz as they are often too busy to answer the phone. Or just call up with Archie to say hi and book in for an assessment. But if they have a recall, or training course starting, I'd book in. The training is as much for us as it is for the dogs. Hope that helps. Maybe we might see you up there, or around Bushy/Marlay.


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## Hisnameisarchie (Jul 7, 2019)

Thanks so much! I booked a training session with them. So here's to better manners in the very near future hopefully!!


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