Goat’s milk.

It’s something I never really thought about before.

Probably because I don’t know much about goats and I don’t have goats.

My sister has goats and all I ever see them do is poop, and sometimes they walk up to me and rub their head on my leg which freaks me out a little……………………because their goats, and their usually pooping on my shoe as their rubbing their head on me.

So I’ve never really thought much about them, except for their poop, but recently I’ve been seeing a lot of things about goats milk.

Raw goat’s milk.

I’ve read about it in articles and I saw a poster about it hanging on the wall at the vet’s office when I took Sherman for his laser treatment last month. I asked the vet about it and he said it was perfectly safe and nutritious for dogs.

Then I got a sample of dehydrated goat’s milk from The Honest Kitchen when I was at the blogging conference.

I was intrigued so I looked into what all they hype was about raw goat’s milk. I quickly learned that it’s used a lot for the rearing of puppies in large litters and is very tolerable for adult dogs since it is said to be very easily digested, so easy that it is said that the body can digest goat’s milk in 20 minutes. It’s more digestible because the fat molecules are one-fifth the size of those from cow milk, making it easily tolerated by those with compromised digestive systems It’s also said that there are several benefits to raw goat’s milk such as cancer fighting properties, treating ulcers, helping to increase the PH of the bloodstream and it is believed to cure many diseases.

Interesting.

Not interesting enough that I was going to go out and milk a goat and pour it into my dog’s water bowl, but interesting enough that I was going to try some of The Honest Kitchen’s Pro Bloom dehydrated goat’s milk and make up some cute little frozen treats for the dogs.

Pro Bloom is a shelf-stable instant goat’s milk with digestive enzymes & probiotics.

It’s The Honest Kitchen’s very own formulation of natural goat’s milk plus probiotics and digestive enzymes, designed to nourish and nurture cats and dogs. It’s ideal for growing puppies and general immune support at the gut level.

Pro Bloom is human-grade and made in the USA from pasture-raised, free-ranging goat’s milk in the Pacific Northwest. It’s naturally free of pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones and antibiotics.

Serve alone as a nourishing drink, pour on kibble for added moisture, or use to hydrate Honest Kitchen food, or freeze it up for a nice summer treat! (I added that last part myself)

I haven’t heard of anyone that I know giving goats milk to their dogs so I asked around on our Facebook page to see what the thought was on this.

I got mixed reactions, from no way-why would I give my dog milk from a goat? to yeah-I’ve given it in the past.

I personally wouldn’t give it everyday, but the boys really seemed to like it so I would give to them like I did, as a special frozen treat here and there.

What about you? Have you ever given your dog raw goats milk? Would you ever?

*Disclosure-I was given  free samples of The Honest Kitchen’s Pro Bloom in my swag bag at BlogPaws. I was not asked to write about this product. I was intrigued, so I did. 

**Disclosure #2-I contacted The Honest Kitchen to make sure I could freeze this product since it is not stated on the package that you can. Obviously,  I was informed that it is ok to freeze this product and that I’m a genius for thinking of it. 

***Disclosure #3 I added that part about me being a genius in Disclosure #2

The post What’s Up With Goat’s Milk? appeared first on mybrownnewfies.com.

My husband is a wonderful Dad to Bobby and Gracie and I couldn’t ask for any better.

He’s also a wonderful Dad to the dogs, he just doesn’t know it.

He would never consider himself a dog Dad or even a pet parent. It’s just not the way he is.

I mean this is a man that when the first time he came over to my house, he wouldn’t come inside until I put my big, huge, drooly dog out onto the back porch.

This is the man that I promised things to that I can’t even tell you about if he would let me get Sherman…………..and I still haven’t paid up, yet.

But I’m ok with the fact that he doesn’t consider himself a dog Dad, because I know he is The Dog Father in the making.

The man who use to gag when slobber would be flung upon him, no longer gags.

The man who use to curse the hair he found on his dinner plate, curses no more.

The man who never wiped a muddy paw in his life, wipes away now.

The man who would never go near dog poop, has found himself in deep shit on more than one occasion.

The man who never use to talk to dogs, talks to dogs while laying on the floor next to them.

The man who thought dog shows were stupid, now knows more than me about them.

The man who use to tell me to stop spending so much money on the dogs, keeps silent now.

The man who use to know nothing about the Newfoundland breed, now answers questions readily to anyone who inquires.

The man who use to hate to go for walks. Now walks 2 dogs almost every night.

The man who use to walk away from me in stores when I gawked at crazy things for the dogs, now stands by my side and gawks with me.

He’s come along way in the 15 years that I have known him and I think he has earned The Most Improved Dog Father title.

How about you? Is their a Dog Father in your life? Tell me about them.

(p.s. we haven’t quite gotten to that place where I’ve been given permission to display his Dog Father face all over the blog, maybe next year.)

The Monday Mischief Pet Bloghop

Welcome to Monday Mischief – The pet blog hop that wraps up the weekend! This Blog Hop is brought to you by Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, and My Brown Newfies

The post The Most Improved Dog Father appeared first on mybrownnewfies.com.

Since yesterday was flag day and the US Army”s birthday I thought today would be a great day to share a super fun and exciting contest that’s coming up in a few weeks.

The What’s Essential Rescue Pet Photo Contest.

We’re sharing this contest with you because while my dogs are not rescue dogs I do support many rescue organizations through this blog and behind the scenes. Many people seem to think that you can’t have a purebred dog from a breeder and still care or support rescue dogs and shelter organizations. That could not be farther from the truth. This blog and my dogs have allowed me to help and support many organizations financially and through donations of goods, that without them, I would never be able to do.

And……..I know that many of you have totally awesome rescue dogs that would be perfect for this contest!

So here’s the low down on the contest created by Nordic Naturals:

If you have opened your heart to a rescue dog or cat, you can enter Nordic Naturals What’s Essential Rescue Pet Photo Contest by uploading a special photo on the company’s Facebook page. Two grand prize winners will be chosen on August 1^st and will receive a prize pack that includes:

A 3-month supply of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 pet products and human products – you choose from a list of qualifying Nordic Naturals’ products

• Dog and cat goodies including collapsible water bowl, chew toy, doggie bags and a plush fish toy
• The Dog Bible: Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know and The Cat Bible: Everything Your Cat Expects You to Know books by Tracie Hotchner
• A custom canvas painting of your pet by beccavision.com
• Mr. or Ms. Omega-3 Pet Award Certificate
• Profile featured on the Facebook app

The contest supports the nonprofit Paws for Veterans and voting for your favorite pet photo on Facebook earns dollars for this important organization. This is a win-win for everybody — rescue dogs are given a purpose in a loving, forever home, service members experience the healing power of their new canine partners, and Facebook Fans enjoy the satisfaction of knowing their vote in the contest sends $1 to Paws for Veterans (up to $5000).

To enter on Facebook:

• Upload your pet’s photo between 6/28 and 7/18. Please note the dates!
• Vote for one of the finalists from 7/19 to 7/31  then see the winners on 8/1

Paws for Veterans, Inc. is a community-based organization that provides service dogs, training, supplies, and therapeutic group sessions to Veteran and Active Duty men and women struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Physical Disabilities. As a 501 C 3 nonprofit, this organization rescues, rehabilitates, trains, and rehomes dogs as service dogs for injured Veterans.

Based in Watsonville, CA, Nordic Naturals is committed to delivering the world’s safest, most effective omega oils to help provide the essentials of an extraordinary life. Distributing to more than 35 countries, Nordic Naturals offers more than 150 products in a variety of flavors and formulations, all in line with leading standards for safety, efficacy and sustainability. By providing omega oil supplements for adults, kids, athletes and pets, Nordic Naturals helps everyone do more of what they love.

Further information is available at http://www.nordicnaturals.com. Nordic Naturals is on Facebook and people can follow the company on Twitter at @NordicNaturals.

***Disclosure. This is a sponsored post and I will be receiving compensation for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine and mine only. I have used Nordic Natural pet products with my dogs and myself before and fully support Paws For Veterans. 

The post Supporting Paws For Veterans And Animal Shelter Dogs appeared first on mybrownnewfies.com.

Or maybe we do say them but not with enough sincerity and not when we should.

I try to say thank you as much as I can, but I know I don’t do it enough and I certainly know I wouldn’t mind hearing it a little more than I do.

Which is why I have two things to tell you today.

1. THANK YOU.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for all the kind words and condolences on the loss of Plunger. You don’t know how much it means to me to read all the heartfelt comments that you left. I’ve been a huge Debbie Downer the last few days and reading all those comments just warmed my heart and made me cry. So again I say THANK YOU.

Since we’re on the subject of Thank You I wanted to tell you about my secret page.

2. The Thank You Page.

Some of you have seen this and some of you have not. If you’ve been leaving comments on this blog for longer than 9 months than you have never seen this page, but if you have left a brand new comment on this blog in the past 9 months than you probably have seen it, or at least you have been directed to it and might not have realized it.

Let me explain.

I have a secret page, well it’s really not a secret page, some may call it a squeeze page, but I like to call it a secret page because you can’t see it with your naked eye. I know it’s there but you do not. You only know it’s there if it’s your first time commenting.

(click on picture to view larger version)

I absolutely love my secret page and it’s a great way for me thank someone for leaving a comment because I appreciate each and every comment that I get on the blog and want you to know that.

So how does it work?

It’s quite simple.

1. Create your thank your page in your WordPress dashboard. (does not work on blogger blogs) Do it the same way you created your other pages, then save it.

2. Install the Comment Redirect by Yoast plugin.

3. Activate the Plugin

4. Choose the page you want redirected from the drop down menu.

And that’s it!

When creating your Thank You Page include a personal message. Keep it short and sweet and include some other places where people can find you.

Some people may not realize they are being redirected to a different page after leaving a comment for the first time. You type a comment and the comment goes in and you leave without noticing a different page is up. That’s fine. I know it’s working because I see the views that it gets each day and one can only view it if they have been redirected!

Go ahead and give it a try! 

If you’ve never commented on My Brown Newfies before go ahead! Tell me hello, tell me my dogs look like bears, or just type in AWESOME. I’ll go ahead and approve these silly comments this time, just be cool about it.

The post Because We Just Don’t Say Thank You Enough appeared first on mybrownnewfies.com.

Yesterday we said good-bye to Plunger and helped him cross over the Rainbow Bridge.

Plunger was 15 and he had been struggling with some health issues for the last few months and the time had come to let him be at peace.

Instead of going into a big long story that makes me cry I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures of Plunger.

He was a little dog compared to Sherman and Leroy but he could certainly hold his own and out run them any day of the week.

He had no fear of their size and had no problem telling them to back off.

Plunger knew the Newfs were gentle giants and would never harm him and he took full advantage of that.

A few times he may of been afraid of being suffocated by one of them, but he always found a magical way out.

Plunger is the first dog that we have lost together as a family. I have lost dogs in my past but this is a first for my husband, the kids and the dogs and my heart hurts for them.

The kids are dealing with it as best as they can.

I made clay pawprints for each of them to keep in remembrance of Plunger and today we will plant some wildflowers in the garden as a memorial and last night we went out for ice cream, courtesy of Plunger.

Sherman and Leroy are dealing with the loss too and have been looking for Plunger every since I left with him yesterday morning. Last night Sherman looked in every room for Plunger and cried, and this morning he went outside and was howling.

Time will heal all wounds and today we will all share in some extra hugs.

The post Yesterday We Said Good Bye To Our Little Beagle Butt appeared first on mybrownnewfies.com.

Mostly it’s the sweet innocent one, Sherman, who has the problem, so after past issues I’ve just decided to do the best thing possible and just avoid the whole situation all together and not give them manly dog bones.

However, when I was at BlogPaws I got to meet the friendly people from Jones Natural Chews and they gave me some serious manly treats to take home for Sherman and Leroy and they let me hold this teeny, tiny, feathery chic.

Of which I told Flea, the official blogger for the Jones Natural Chews blog, that I should not do because I have “hot hands” when it comes to holding anything with feathers.

I really do.

My hands get all hot and sweaty when I hold birds. I have no idea why and they nicknamed me “hot hands” at work and told me I couldn’t hold birds anymore.  So I told Flea this and she told me not worry that the chic will like the warmth and then she plopped it in my hands.

Good news is, my hot hands did not kill the chic. Bad news is, the little chic flew or leaped out of my hands and onto the table. Good news is, it didn’t get hurt.

Anyway, back to the manly bone.

Among other treats like pork screws and beef trachea, they also gave me two HUGE Dino Bones. The Dino Bone is a whole USA beef arm bone from the front leg and is about 12-14″ long.

That’s Leroy’s leg and that’s one big bone!

I’ve been staring at these manly bones ever since I got home from the conference but still haven’t given one to either of the dogs. I’m waiting for that perfect moment, and whenever that moment comes I’m sure they are going to be in love.

A little bit about Jones Natural Chews:

• All JNC products are made in the USA
• All JNC products are made of 100% USA meat products

Straight from the JNC website:

We test all of our bones for splintering. We conduct pressure tests and moisture tests to ensure the best bone strength. Because of the all-natural process we put our bones through, they will not splinter any easier than a raw bone. As with any food or treat, supervision is always recommended, all dogs have different chewing habits.

Disclosure-I was given free product from Jones Natural Chews at the BlogPaws conference. I was NOT asked to post about them which is why I did. I think it’s pretty cool when a company gives you a product with no strings attached. 

The post A Manly Bone Fit For A Manly Dog appeared first on mybrownnewfies.com.

The kids are now officially on summer break and I couldn’t be happier for them. They had a crappy school year with the 8 week teachers strike and they deserve to have a summer filled with fun so I was super excited to see their faces gleaming when they got off of the bus for the last time this school year.

Now the hard part begins for me. Planning fun things to do.

They’re at different stages in their life. Bobby’s all about hanging out with his friends as much as he can and Gracie has friends but is more about hanging out with Mom. So there’s going to be a lot of Gracie and Mom time, which is fine with me, but I still have to find a happy medium for things we can all enjoy together.

I have a small list of things that I think will work and one of them is geocaching.

I first learned about geocaching from our blogging friend Gizmo’s Mom over at Terrier Torrient. At first I really didn’t understand it but as I became more familiar with it from Gizmo’s blog I was intrigued and it seems like a really fun thing thing to do with the kids and even something that I could bring Sherman or Leroy along to do with us.

I did a little bit of research and found that there is places right in my town where we can start but I still have a little bit more to learn about it so hopefully we will be ready to do this in a few weeks.

I promise to post about it when we do it!

Meanwhile, Gracie’s already made her list of things she wants us do:

1. Go to the beach
2. Walk the dogs
3. Give the dogs a bath
4. Help mom with the blog
5. Eat ice cream
6. Swim in the pool
7. Brush the dogs
8. Sell lemonade
9. Play soccer
10. Shop for school supplies (wtf?)

Pretty good list if you ask me. Except for the school supply thing, we don’t do that until the day before school starts silly girl!

The Monday Mischief Pet Bloghop

Welcome to Monday Mischief – The pet blog hop that wraps up the weekend! This Blog Hop is brought to you by Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, and My Brown Newfies

The post Schools Out For Summer! appeared first on mybrownnewfies.com.

I don’t know about you but I seem to always encounter issues when I’m out walking Sherman and Leroy. Most days all I want is a nice and relaxing walk with my boys, but more often than not I find myself just waiting for the next curious motorist to scare the living daylights out of me and make our walk anything but relaxing.

So the other day, while I was out walking the boys, I came up with a list of 6 ways motorists can assist me in having that nice and relaxing walk with my dogs that I crave.

1. Don’t beep. I have almost peed my pants more times than I care to admit when a motorist drives by and blows his horn and poor Sherman has jumped several feet off the ground on numerous occasions. A very slight, low key beep is acceptable but if you can’t control yourself,  please don’t lay it on, and it is never, ever acceptable for a trucker to beep. 
2. No screaming. Geesh. Do you not see that I’m walking two very large dogs and that they may get spooked at you screaming, “Whoa! Look at those bears!” or “Woof-woof!” at the top of your lungs. Teenagers are especially good at this and a few of my friends who get a kick out of envisioning me peeing my pants beep and yell. They usually will see me flipping them the bird in their rear view mirror.
3. Keep moving. We walk on a very busy street that is four lanes and several times people have stopped their cars in the middle of the road to ask questions. This is not safe for me, my dogs, my children or the motorist. This really makes me nervous because when Gracie was little and I was out for a walk with her and Sherman a car stopped on the road and another car crashed into it. Debris from the cars went flying and just missed hitting Gracie. I have no problem asking questions, but not in the middle of the road. I feel much more comfortable dog chatting if motorists pull off onto the side of the road, or in nearby driveway, and many people have. Safer is better.
4. Yield. I’m a pedestrian with a dog. On our walks we walk past a busy gas station. We have to cross over three entrances to that gas station. At every entrance we stop and check out the traffic. We only walk when no one is coming and going and I have worked very long on getting the dogs to wait until I say it is safe to cross, however some people forget to use their turn signals and are not paying attention and we have had a handful of close calls. We’re not hard to miss.
5. Littering. So many people throw food out of their cars and it always lands right in the middle of the sidewalk. This is called LITTERING and you can face a fine for this in most areas. I am very happy that you’re eating healthy but please keep your apple core in your car. Thank you.
6. Specify who you are talking too. Are you talking to me or my dogs? The other day I was walking Leroy and some guy drove by in a red car, beeped and yelled, “Nice ass!” At first I was flattered and then I looked around to see if he may of been talking to someone else but it was just me and Leroy and I blushed a little. Then I realized that the guy was driving towards me and if my ass is that big that you can see it when you’re approaching me than I need to know. So in that case, was he talking about my ass or Leroy’s ass or did he mistake Leroy for a donkey? I’m confused.

So tell me, do you ever encountered any issues with motorists when out walking your dogs?

The post 6 Ways Motorists Can Assist Me In Enjoying A Nice Walk With My Dog appeared first on mybrownnewfies.com.

The post Big Dog Noses In Small Places appeared first on mybrownnewfies.com.

I give Sherman and Leroy treats a few times a day.

They expect treats at certain times of the time and so they get them.

The treats really have no purpose other than to keep them happy.

They’re not bad treats, they’re healthy veggie treats, but that’s it.

So when I was contacted by Cloudstar to try out their Dynamo Dog Functional Dog Treats I was interested to see what they were all about.

Dynamo Dog Treats come with everything that I’m looking for in a dog treat.

• Grain Free
• Gluten Free
• All Natural
• Family Owned
• Made in the USA

They are formulated for a dog’s specific needs and infused with specially-selected vitamins, minerals, fruits, and herbs to support joint function, digestive health, or skin and coat health and come in the following flavors: 

• Hip & Joint. Bacon and Cheese
• Hip & Joint. Chicken
• Tummy. Pumpkin and Ginger
• Skin & Coat.  Salmon

I was sent all of the above treats for Sherman and Leroy to try along with a box of Buddy Biscuits. The boys loved the treats and they were definitely slobber worthy, although I did not give the Salmon treats to Leroy because of his suspected food allergy to fish. 

So the boys loved the  Dynamo Dog Functional Treats but what did I think?

I really liked the added glucosamine HCl and chondroitin in the Hip & Joint treats, however, according to the simple yet detailed “Feeding Table” on the back of the package that details how many treats should be given per day based on a dog’s weight, I would have to give Sherman and Leroy about 5 of these treats a day and since we already have a joint supplement that we are giving once once a day, I look at this as giving them extra calories that they don’t need, and a bag would only last us a few days.

All in all a great functional, healthy treat, but maybe more economical and less calorie filled for the average sized dog.

Disclosure-I was sent all of the above listed Dynamo Dog Treats from Cloudstar in return for my honest review of their product. All opinions expressed here are mine and mine only.

We’ve hooked up with the Tasty Tuesday bloghop today hosted by Kol’s Notes and Sugar the Golden Retriever. You should check them out and see what they’ve found tasty!

The post Dog Treats With A Purpose. Dynamo Dog Functional Treats. appeared first on mybrownnewfies.com.