Ben Writes

Answering Questions

Hi Everyone, just getting back into the swing of things. My significant other and I are settling into a new house, finishing up some renovations, and finally getting back into a regular routine. I’ll be back with regular updates starting today and Friday I’ll have a new “Will Dexter Eat It”. In the meantime, I want to address some questions I frequently receive:

Q - What kind of dog is Dexter? How old is he? Etc.

A - Dexter is a long-haired miniature Dachshund, though we suspect he may actually be a mix between short and long-haired since his hair length is somewhere in between. He is a year and 8 months old, we have owned him since July of last year.

Q - Is feeding you dog scraps bad for them?

A - I don’t pretend to be a vet or a trained professional but I have done quite a bit of research on Dogs since I have started this to make sure I never feed Dex anything that could be potentially hazardous to his health. What I know is that, unlike our diets, Dogs’ diets needs to relatively consistent. With that said, rewarding them with treats or scraps is fine in moderation. Dexter doesn’t eat scraps or treats everyday, we have him and Gertie (our new dog) on pretty strict diets in terms of brand and quantity of food and what we do show you is a weekly treat. My dogs are my best friends, I would never do anything to hurt them and if I thought I was, I would stop immediately.

Q - What kind of food do you give Dexter?

A - Blue Buffalo, we moved both of our dogs over to it after our new dog had problems when we first got her. Dogs poop a lot but she was going every hour, so we cut her diet down to a measured amount of high quality food. In terms of treats, our dogs like Waggin Train dog treats.

Q - Do you kennel Dexter?

A - Yes -And it was tough, he still doesn’t like staying in his kennel. Now that he is house trained we only leave his kennel open for him to sleep in and if he gets too rowdy with Gertie. He mostly views it as his personal space that he can get away into, when we bring him to my parents for the night he will sleep in it and be protective to the point he growls when you take him out. Gertie is being kennel trained still, she spends any time we aren’t home in the kennel. I highly suggest everyone at least kennel train their dog to start. Then if you find your dog is easy to trust when you aren’t home, ease up on the restrictions but fall back on them if you need. Dexter had issues with house training after we moved, back in the kennel he went until he learned.

Q - Do you breed Dexter? I would like to buy a pup like him.

A - No, Dexter is fixed. He was intensely aggressive with other dogs, when we fixed him he mellowed out. Not only that, but there are so many dogs out there at shelters that breeding dogs seems a little silly. Gertie, our second dog, is a rescue and she is great. After seeing her reaction coming into our home, any dog we get from here on out will likely be one as well.

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Keep questions coming, we love our dogs and are glad to share our experiences.