Storing sweet potato dog treats in mason jar

Sweet potatoes sliced and either dehydrated in a dehydrator or in the oven can be a good chew treat for your dog.  These treat are easy to make, inexpensive and a healthy alternative to rawhide or dried pig parts.

Sweet potatoes are actually not a potato but they are roots or tubers.  In their raw form they can be very tough to cut so be very careful when you do this recipe.  A sharp knife is required so be careful of cutting on weird angles.

• Wash the sweet potato thoroughly and either slice into 1/4 inch slices (length or cross) or cut into 1/4 sticks for smaller breeds.
• Layer into a dehydrator
• Set on 155 degrees
• Dehydrate for 6 hours for a chewy consistency
• Dehydrate for 8 to 11 hours for a dryer, crunchy consistency

If you are drying in the oven.

• Set the oven on 250 and dry for 4 hours then cut the oven off and let them cool in the oven for a crispy texture or take them out soon to maintain a softer flexible texture.

The dryer the longer the shelf life of these treats.

My dogs, which eat rocks, small trees, etc., were a little reluctant however after tasting them they seemed to like them very much.

I stored the treats in quart or sandwich size storage bags.  Closed they absorbed some moisture and got pliant again.  The treats came out well.  A little chewy seemed to be the preferred texture. A second batch was stored in a mason jar in a cool, dark area.  This was the best way to store.

I made a second batch with the fries, for smaller dog friends, and slicing thinner cross the potato so they would be chips.  The cross cuts were the best.  They were easy to cut the and produced good treats for medium to large dogs.

According to the American Kennel Club the list of sporting dogs are:

• American Water Spaniel
• Boykin Spaniel
• Brittany
• Chesapeake Bay Retriever
• Clumber Spaniel
• Cocker Spaniel
• Curly Coated Retriever
• English Cocker Spaniel
• English Setter
• English Springer Spaniel
• Field Spaniel
• Flat-Coated Retriever
• German Shorthaired Pointer
• German Wirehaired Pointer
• Golden Retriever
• Gordon Setter
• Irish Red and White Setter
• Irish Setter
• Irish Water Spaniel
• Labrador Retriever
• Novia Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
• Pointer
• Spinone Italiano
• Sussex Spaniel
• Vizsla
• Weimaraner
• Welsh Springer Spaniel
• Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Training a sporting dog for hunting is an involved process which trains the dog by vocal and hand signals eventually training the dog to work on his own in the field on in the water.  Training a sporting dog for obedience and other duties to help humans is easier than some breeds.  Their eagerness to work and please make them excellent guide and helper dogs.

History

I find it amazing that some dog breeds can be traced back to their origins through breeding records. The golden was developed at the estate of Sir Dudley Marjoribanks through crossing a yellow-coloured Retriever named Nous with a Tweed Water Spaniel bitch named Belle. The resulting litter contained four pups that were used for the basis of the breeding program. The breeding program included the St. John’s Water Dog, the Bloodhound, the Irish Setter and two black wavy-coated Retrievers. Marjoribanks had a vision of what the ultimate sporting dog would be and the results of his work is a truly great dog, the Golden Retriever.

The breed was known as Flat Coats – Golden to the Kennel Club of England until 1920 when they were reclassified as the Golden Retriever. In 1881 and 1894 respectively the breed was introduced to Canada and America. The breed was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1925.

Appearance

The British Golden retriever has medium length legs similar to the British Labrador retriever, a stocky body and a head that is wide and block like. The American Golden retriever and Canadian Golden retriever are both taller, thinner, with a thinner head and a slightly different coat. The standards of the Golden retriever in the American Kennel Club are based on the American Golden.

The colour of the Golden retriever is as the name suggests different shades of gold. There are dogs with lighter (some to white) and darker (edging towards red or mahogany). The AKC only accepts colours of gold for the standard in the show ring. The British standards accept cream as a colour for judging while the AKC does not.

The coat is a water repellent double coat that is long and can be straight to wavy. The coat differs in the national varieties of the breed.

The nose can be black to pink with black the accepted AKC standard.

Health Issues

Goldens as a breed can develop joint issues especially hip dysplasia. Purchasing from a reputable breeder and keeping the dog at or around ideal weight will help lessen the chances of problems later. Goldens are also prone to cancer, degenerative eye issues, heart conditions and skin allergies.

Golden Retriever as a Pet

Never have I met a golden retriever that was not friendly and willing to please everyone they met. The golden is an incredibly gentle and patient breed. Their patience makes them an excellent hunting breed as does their eagerness to work and please. Goldens are very gentle around children and other animals therefor making them one of the greatest family dog breeds available. The intelligence of the goldens are right up at the top of the list right behind border collie, German shepherds and poodle making them ideal candidates for guide dogs, assistant dogs and therapy dogs.

A varietal of the traditional Labrador or what is known as the “English” or “show” Labrador is the American Labrador retriever.  The American field Labrador is bred to be taller, thinner, more sleek for running through fields and swimming while waterfowl hunting.

While the English Labrador is the standard that the breed is judged against the American Kennel Club is making adjustments to the judging standards to accept Labs of taller stature.  While not judged as a breed on its own the American Labrador excels on field and trial, agility and obedience competitions.  They are, after all, still full blooded Labrador retrievers.

The demeanor of the American Lab tends to be a little more energetic than its English cousin and requires lots of exercise.  The American Labrador can do anything the English Labrador can, and then some (personal opinion).

History of Labradors in America

The breed was first registered with the AKC in 1917 and remained a relatively unknown breed until around 1928 when promoted by an article in the American Kennel Gazette.  The first yellow Labrador was registered in 1929 (Kinclaven Lowesby), the first chocolate lab was registered in 1932 (Diver of Chiltonfoliat).  After World War II is when the Labrador retriever became very popular where they remain to this day.

Personal Note: I have owned five American Field Labradors in the last 21 years and I can attest to the fact that they are a brilliant and beautiful breed that makes the best family pets you could hope for.

Disclaimer: I love dogs in general but the Labrador dog is my breed of choice. So if some of this sounds a little bias it is because it is.  I presently own a chocolate Labrador female and a male yellow Labrador.

General

Labrador Retrievers are the most popular dog breed according to dog club registrations in the United State, Canada and United Kingdom for about two decades now (2011). Labrador retrievers are an incredible breed that can be trained to do almost anything. Originally bred to retrieve fishing nets around the east coast of Canada they have thick coats and web feet to help with these chores. Today Labradors or Labs are used for guide dogs, other assistance work, police work and function well in almost any dog sporting event. A most popular use of these dogs is for hunting and a newer breed of the Labrador has been developed in the US and is known as the American Field Lab. Labs are athletic, full of energy, protective while still being gentle around children making them a great family pet.

History

The Labrador retriever dogs come from Newfoundland an island off the coast of Canada. The Lab was bred from the St. John’s Water Dog a working breed of local origins. The St. John’s Water Dog was brought to England where it was used as a sporting or gun dog used mainly in bird hunting for retrieving. Due to taxation on dogs caused by sheep herders and rabies quarantine in England the breed gradually died out and the last two living specimens (two males) died in the 1980s making the breed extinct. Some of the Canadian Labradors still bear the distinctive white chest markings of the St. John’s Water dog showing the genetics of the breed still being passed through Lab breeding. The St. John’s Water Dog is also the ancestor of the Golden Retriever, Chesapeake Bay retriever, Flat Coated Retriever in addition to the Lab.

Appearance

Labradors are larger dogs that will range from 60 to 90 pounds, maybe more if you don’t watch what they eat, for the males and a good 15 pounds less for females. There are two types of Labradors recognized by the American Kennel Club. The confirmation sometimes referred to as the “English” or “show” breed and the American Field Labrador. The English Labs are shorter and stockier with large broad heads while their Field Lab cousins are slim and taller being bred for hunting birds in the field and marshlands. The “English” standards are the recognized standards for the breed as far as the AKC is concerned and there is work being done to get the American Field Lab accepted as its own breed. The best the AKC has done is to open up the standards to accept taller measurements at the withers.

The coat of the Labrador is short and dense. The coat is slightly oily giving the Lab a water resistant characteristic for keeping them warm in the water and colder climates. Labs do shed as the fur grows to a certain length then a new hair comes in behind it. Normally Labs shed twice a year in cooler climates but in warmer climates they can shed all year round.

The tail is thick and described as “otter” like in order to help with swimming.

The color of the Labrador for show purposes can be one of three colors (black, yellow, and chocolate). The color comes about through genetics and colors of all three can be produced in the same litter. The dam is called factored for the colors and can be single, double or tri-factored. Because multiple genes determine the color characteristics of the dog there may be some color variations. In particular some dogs may have the white chest markings like the St. John’s Water Dog. Other color variations can produce what is called a “Dudley” coloration which is an unpigmented pink nose.

Choosing the Labrador as a Pet or Companion

The Labrador is one great dog for the family or as a helping partner. They love to please their owners no matter what the work type is. They are, in general, friendly and gentle although they can be very energetic and a little clumsy as puppies. A six month old Labrador puppy can already weigh 50 to 60 pounds and can cause some issues when working off some of that energy. Labs can be trained well and are very good protectors of their space.  That’s all the good stuff: here’s the bad.  Labs are a bit on the mischievous side and tend to get into trouble if allowed.  Labrador puppies will eat anything so supervise at playtime.  A Labrador can be very hard headed, stubborn and very intense when it comes to retrieving play.  Of course these ‘bad’ traits are also why we love them so.  That intensity in retrieving play is the same in the field retrieving game.

Most of the everyday collars are called quick release collars which mean that a human can release the buckle quickly and easily. Most of the time this works well. Most of the time is not all of the time. Here’s my quick story on why this difference is very important to the well being of your dog(s).

The pups (11 months and 14 months) and I had just come back from a nice walk as the weather is starting to cool down from a very hot summer. I was getting ready for work and as usual, the pups were play fighting. If you had not witnessed this before you would think they were actually hurting each other but it’s a bunch of noise mostly. I had left their ‘quick-release’ collars on because they had been in the back yard. I don’t know why but I looked in on them to find the younger one had his bottom k9 teeth caught up under the others collar. He was trying to get loose and had twisted it creating a tourniquet which was tightening around her neck to where she could not breathe. To make things worse the pressure he was applying was jamming the ‘quick-release’ buckle and it would not come loose. I finally got it loose and hopefully learned my lesson. The quick release collar did release fine afterwards but not while there was tension on it from a 60 pound Labrador retriever.

I immediately started looking for an alternative to the commonly used quick release dog collar buckle. The breakaway collar I found was surprisingly the only design on the market. The Premier Keepsafe break-away dog collar seems to be the item to get. The design is such that any pressure applied on the collar would pop the buckle. The downside of using these is that grabbing the dog by the collar or trying to restrain by the collar would pop the buckle releasing the dog. Also when it does come off you have to go locate it so I don’t think I would put tags on full time. I am using these as back yard collars so it is a great solution for me. If you want to walk your dog with these collars on there are two o-rings, one on either side that you clip your lead into both of them at the same time which bypasses the buckle.

Premier products are built well and are designed for safety. Do yourself a favor and get a break away collar before you need it.

The older of the two does well on the leash as far as pulling goes but she jumps and jumps and jumps and jumps. I found an occasional session with the Halti, head collar, gives me the control over the jumping I need with her. However, the younger of the two is a shorter stockier dog that pulls like a twenty mule team.

The head collar would work for him but I have always like the design of dog harnesses as a leash-collar alternative. He pulls so hard that he chokes himself and just does not understand that the loose leash is the best.

I got one design that is nice and padded around the straps that fit under the front two legs with padding around other pressure points. The design had the o-ring for the leash on the area that is on the back of the dog. The problem with this is he just wants to pull that much more although it does give some control it does not help with the pulling issue.

Another design has the o-ring up front where the chest strap is. There are some different designs on this and this is the type of harness you want to buy. The other type, that hooks in the back, causes the dog to want to pull more similar to working dogs or sled dogs.

I looked at three different designs before deciding. The first was one is called the Holt Control Harness. It has hooks in front and hooks on the back giving the handler lots of control. I used this type of harness for a while and it gave good control but did nothing for the pulling. In all fairness it is not advertised as a device to control pulling simply gain control of the dog.

The next design I looked at was the Sporn Pull Stop harness. This is a well designed harness that has two lengths of webbing that goes under the front two legs and threads back through the back of the collar at an o-ring where they join the lead. The dog pulls, the two loops tighten and pressure is applied to the dogs sternum area which, evidently, they do not like. The loops are padded or with the one I saw in the store has fleece lining.

The final one I researched and eventually decided to buy is the Premier Easy Walk Harness. A couple things about the design of the Premier Harness appealed to me. The first was there are no loops that go up under the front legs, rather there is a strap that goes across the chest in the front below the head and a buckled strap that goes vertically around the chest behind the front two legs. Also there is a Martingale design to the front chest strap that closes and tightens when the dog pulls creating that discomfort that makes them stop or slow. The lead hooking into the front chest strap pulls the dog off to the side if they insist on continuing to pull.

All three of these harness will help you control you dog in one way or another. I used two of them and was seriously on the fence about the third had I not been presented with an either-or choice in the pet store. Use these harnesses as training devices intermingled with regular leash training and it will help you achieve your goal of walking with your dog, without being pulled down the street, a reality.

I actually liked this design from the beginning.  I have used harnesses on a lot of our dogs and although they give good control the dogs pull like mules.  Researching the different collars and harnesses available to help train to walk on loose lead I read something about an “opposition reflex” which refers to hooking a dog into a harness that the lead buckles on the back.  This creates the same situation with a dog pulling something and may create a situation where the dog will pull harder since that is what they think they should be doing.  So the design of harness should be where it hooks into a ring on the chest area instead of the back.  Makes sense.

I purchased an off brand of harness for our eight month old pup Otis.  The design was such where it hooked into the chest area and does slow him down.  He still pulls and is all over the place unless I shorten up on the lead.

The Premier Easy Walk Harness has a very interesting design which does work.  It has a martingale type design on the strap that goes across the chest.  This way when the dog pulls instead of just pulling the harness off to the side while the dog continues on the Premier harness tightens on the chest while pulling the dog off to the side.  Using this with Ellie (I will need a smaller one for Otis right now) brought immediate results.  I think working several weeks with the head collar with the goal of getting off of it as quickly as possible had done some good.  When she would stop and look back at me she would get praises.  She has continued this with the harness.

The only downside about the harness is it does not control jumping very well.  The head harness does nicely for this and gives the added control if you need quick control for any aggression as you can shut the mouth with the lead.

I find both the head collar and the easy walk harness good designs to help you gain control over a spirited hound.  The head collar will give you the best control but takes longer to get your dog used to it.  Easing into its use is time well spent.  Even though Ellie doesn’t like it she will put it on because it means going for a walk and ultimately that is all that counts.  She tolerates the harness much better which means a good walk for both of us.

The Premier products are top line in design, materials and manufacturing.  I think they are the best on the market.  On the easy walk harness the martingale design on the chest strap makes a big difference and is the best design I have seen.  Also the chest strap goes across the chest instead of going under each of the front legs which could cause some friction rubbing.  These devices are great training aids for us owners and are much better for your dog than a Woodhouse collar, pronged or electronic collar.  Remember any training device is to be used to train you dog and the final goal is walking without these devices as quickly as possible.

So I searched for a possible collar training solution. I am very against any training device that would deliver pain such as a prong collar or electronic devices. There are a couple of training collars that seem to grab the attention of the dog without delivering pain for aversion. One of these is the head collar.

There are several makers / designers of these types of training dog collars. The Halti is the original and was invented by Dr. Mugford, an animal psychologist from England. The design was inspired by the fact that Dr. Mugford is a horseman which utilizes head collars to control animals much larger than him. Having back problems as well, Dr. Mugford experimented with different designs until he came up with the first Halti to allow him to control his Irish wolfhound.

That was over 25 years ago and very little has changed in the initial design. The different makes all have little design changes that make there’s unique but the working design on all are about the same. There is a loop that goes over the dog’s nose that threads through another piece that fits around the back of the dog’s neck in the ear area. The leash connects with the loop at the lower end, under the chin. As you walk and the dog starts to pull the loop gently tightens around the nose and turns the dog’s head to the side. The head turning action is unnatural to a dog and it makes the dog look at you. In order to avoid having their head turned to the side the dog soon learns that walking by your side at an equal pace is the best course of action. The loop around the nose is loose and does not restrict your dog from drinking water, breathing or even carrying a ball.

Note: you will not do corrections with this halter as you would with normal dog leash training.  Never use jerking moves with the head collar, a gentle pull is all that is needed.

You need to put in some collar training before you attempt to walk. A couple of sessions when you put your hand through the loop, as you were going to put the collar on the dog, and have a treat in hand. Continue this until you can drape the loop over their nose and then take it off. I think no matter how long you work on getting them used to this your dog will still try to get this off of their nose. Persistence is the key and I will tell you it does not take long before your dog is responding to the design. Three walking sessions was all it took for Ellie to get used to it. Now she still does not like it but it is a training device and I hope to gradually take her off of it. I read of people using this all the time but I think that any training aid can become a crutch and should be used as intended; for dog collar training.

For us the head training dog collar is a very usable training tool to get a very rowdy dog under control. It is a step in getting to a regular loose, leash walking technique. As long as you persist with using it and not give into your dog acting like it’s the worst thing you’ve ever put on them you will see results quickly. The one downfall of the design is it may not be the best solution for dogs with short snouts. There are similar designs done in a harness form that would be better for these breeds.

The Halti is the one I bought and use. It had some features that I liked which include a padded nose strap and an addition snap lock link that goes between the o-ring you hook the leash into and the regular collar. This later feature gives extra protection in case your dog slips out of the collar. All of the makers are in the fifteen to twenty five dollar range. The head collar gives us owners an easy and gentle way to bring under control those high spirited pups on our walks. Remember to use plenty of positive reinforcement when they are walking as you like them too and you will soon have one of those dogs that people say “how did you train that dog to walk so well on a leash.” I look forward to that time with both of these puppies I have.