Lately Nala’s taken on the role of Fierce House Guardian, faithfully alerting us to all kinds of potential intruders – squirrels, birds, the occasional neighbourhood dog that’s escaped from its’ house and wanders through our yard. That kind of thing. She doe sthe job very effectively, and stands guard at the back door looking out for the little menaces.
First it starts with a huffing noise, which might turn into growling if she thinks she sees something. If she actually sees something (usually a squirrel), then she lets out a surprisingly deep bark or two.
A couple of times the last few weeks some of the neighbours’ dogs have become escape artists, and for some reason they always end up wandering through our back yard. Once Nala spots them, she lets out a bunch of growls and barks, but when they come close she’s all about playing and can’t wait to get out there to join them.
Then there are the stray dogs who come out of the woods every now and then. She definitely doesn’t like those intruder dogs, so they always get the fierce ‘Go away’ growls and barks.
So now we can rest safely at night knowing that Nala will keep us safe from the squirrels and birds. People on the other hand, she’d probably open the door for if she could.
Heading out of puppyhood
Nala turned a year old a couple of days ago, and looking back, it’s pretty amazing how she’s affected our lives the past 9 months we’ve had her. It’s hard to imagine not having her around now.
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| Here’s Nala at 11 weeks, a few days after we brought her home. She came about half-way up to our knees, and weighed in at 22 pounds. | Here she is at a year old. Now she comes up to about mid-thigh and weighs in at 75 pounds. |
Happy Birthday Nala!
Nala turns 1 year old today! Yay! Since we’re not at home, she can’t celebrate with her other dog buddies at the park today, but we’ll probably take her out tomorrow so she can have a good romp. In the meantime, it’s been lots of fetch and running around at the in-laws place today, which I think she likes just as much.
Diamond Pet Food problem
Just found out about this over at the Lab Retriever forum.
This is from the Diamond Pet Food media release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 20, 2005
Diamond Pet Food has discovered aflatoxin in a product manufactured at our facility in Gaston, South Carolina. Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring toxic chemical by-product from the growth of the fungus Aspergillus flavus, on corn and other crops.
Out of an abundance of caution, we have notified our distributors and recommended they hold the sale of all Diamond Pet Food products formulated with corn that were produced out of our Gaston facility (see complete list below). Please note that products manufactured at our facilities in Meta, Missouri and Lathrop, California are not affected. The Gaston facility date codes are unique from other Diamond facility codes in that either the eleventh or twelfth character in the date code will be a capital “G” (in reference to Gaston). The range of date codes being reviewed are “Best By 01-March-07” through Best By “11-June-07”. Diamond’s quantitative analysis records substantiate that Diamond’s corn shipments were definitively clear of aflatoxin after December 10. As such, “Best By 11-June-07” date codes or later are not affected by this notice.
States serviced by our Gaston facility include Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky (eastern), Main, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Vermont, and Virginia.
We are rapidly analyzing retained samples of all products produced in Gaston so we can isolate specific lot numbers impacted and provide this information to our distributors, retailers and customers as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, if your pet is showing any symptoms of illness, including sluggishness or lethargy combined with a reluctance to eat, yellowish tint to the eyes and/or gums, and severe or bloody diarrhea, please consult your veterinarian immediately.
Product quality and customer satisfaction are important to us. We pledge to keep you updated as new developments occur.
Additional updates are also available on their main page.
Doggie helper
The wife decided to have a bit of fun with Nala while we were wrapping presents.
