When Can I Run My Puppy?
Often people wonder when they can run their new puppy. Basically you can run a healthy puppy when their growth plates have closed. No forced exercise (which includes biking, jumping, jogging, or roadworking) until the puppy’s growth plates have been fully formed and developed. A quick visit to your veterinary doctor for x-rays will be able to tell you when that time is for your particular dog. In general, the rule of thumb in large breeds for growth plates to be fully closed is around 18 months to 2 years of age. Until the growth plates are fully in place and the dog is developed and structurally sound, please do not engage your puppy in forced exercise activities, such as jumping, biking, jogging, etc. as you could injure your pet. Meanwhile, feel free to let your puppy self exercise on appropriate surfaces/places, take nice walks, and play with other animals and toys. It is important puppies get plenty of both physical and mental safe exercise daily. Don’t worry about lost time; you and your dog will have plenty of years to run together ahead of you as he grows.
- © Wisedogblog.com

Wise Kongs 101

There are many varieties of Kong toys. The rubber toys that are hollow in the middle can be used to make special treats for hours of enjoyment as a reward or just as something fun to chew on for dogs and puppies. Make sure the Kong is properly sized for your dog before stuffing the Kong with any treats so they don’t get their mouth stuck and so they don’t accidently swallow the toy. With puppies make sure the Kong is softer as long as your puppy doesn’t tear up the Kongs. Supervise the first times your dog has a filled Kong so you know how they will react. Build up to the harder levels gradually. Start easy so they know the point of a filled Kong. Most food-motivated dogs catch on fast. Easy level stuffing of the Kong dog toy involves simply placing some large or small dog treats in there and then giving it to the dog or maybe smearing some peanut butter, squirt cheese, or cream cheese, on the side of the Kong.

Sometimes dogs can easily get out the treats in a few seconds and need something a bit more challenging. Do you know you can freeze and microwave Kongs? Here are some of the ways I prepare them. Feel free to experiment on your own, the possibilities and combinations for filled flavorful Kong dog toys are numerous.

First start with ingredients:
Banana, nut butters, squirt cheese, low or no sodium broths and stocks, cream cheese, other cheeses, yogurt, meats, hot dog pieces, small amounts of cooked liver, wheat germ, dog safe vegetables and fruits (no onions or grapes), cooked pasta, canned pumpkin without spices, eggs, dried cereals like cheerios, healthy kibbles and canned food, healthy and bland human leftovers, dog treats homemade and store bought, and other things you can think of that are safe for your dog and agree with their system work well.

From there start making combinations. For instance, on hot days I will fill Kongs with low sodium chicken broth for some outside fun. To do this I plug the bottom of the Kong with some peanut butter or yogurt then freeze. Then once frozen I pour in the chicken broth in the Kong then freeze and serve when frozen. An easy frozen treat is to take bigger dog bone cookies and drizzle with yogurt, stuff the Kong toy with these, freeze, then serve. With leftover homemade vegetable pizza I will stuff the Kong with the pizza then melt a slice of cheese over the top in the microwave then serve when cooled. Cheese slices make great binders when microwaving. Make sure you let the Kong cool before serving to your dog when you have micro waved the Kong. Another microwave recipe is to take an egg and mix it with shredded cheese and a slice of cheese on top then microwave for about 25 seconds then let cool and serve.
I will take meats (no spices or marinades) and mix an egg with some wheat germ and stuff the Kong with the mixture and freeze and serve. Yogurt, broths, and nut butters make great binders when freezing. Mixing and mashing a banana, yogurt, and peanut butter together make a great treat as well. You can always layer your Kong for extra fun, for instance, take the Kong and plug the bottom with yogurt, freeze, then take the Kong when frozen and fill with a layer of squirt cheese, then top that with a layer of chicken chunks, then top that with a layer of baby carrots topping those with peanut butter and freeze and serve for frozen for layers of fun. After reading this, you get the idea. There are no right or wrong answers for a Kong treat as long as everything put into them is safe for your dog.

If you have a dog with allergies you will have to be more conservative when it comes to preparing the Kong. With allergy dogs fed dry kibble type dog food you can get their kibbles and soak them in broth or plain water until soft then you can mold the parts with a spoon and smash them down into the Kong. Let the kibbles soak up the water; otherwise it will be more like an ice block. Freeze the Kong for an extra challenging time of getting the food out. If your dog tolerates it, you can mix in flavors in the kibble mixture such as plug the bottom of the Kong with a tiny bit of yogurt and brush some on top and freeze or mix in a small amount of canned pumpkin or nut butter. 100% canned pumpkin without spices helps many dogs with loose stools or constipation when given in small amounts (1TBS per 60 lbs of weight works best on my dogs). If you dog eats canned food then combine that with some dry of the same brand in small amounts and you can mix some of that in the Kong as well and freeze. If you dog eats kibble, try the canned brand of the same variety to add a little special flavor if tolerated.

If you feed a raw food diet, simply place meats and any added mixtures (like pureed vegetables) into the Kong, freeze, then serve. You can add a binding agent such as a banana, canned pumpkin, peanut butter, yogurt, squirt cheese, raw egg, chicken broth, etc. or stuff the meat in there by itself.

Hope this gave you some more ideas for you dogs. Enjoy!
- ©Wisedogblog.com