HRI Dogs

Caramel Popcorn's Story

Poppi

Caramel Popcorn is his name and for 2 ½ years, he was a breeding dog in a southern puppy mill. Another rescue took him, but they placed him right away in a new home in Maine. Big mistake! This dog had lived in a crate without affection, socialization, training, walks outside, or much of anything else. The new owners had no experience with a dog, much less a mill dog. They couldn’t handle it and called the rescue, demanding to have the dog picked up ASAP. The rescue had no volunteers in Maine and called HRI. So one night, rather late, Pat Casson, a Maine HRI Volunteer, picked up Caramel Popcorn and began introducing him to life. Pat was an experienced foster and knew it would take time, patience, and lots of skill. Her dogs helped to ‘show him the ropes’, and gradually, very gradually, the dog, now called Poppi, began to learn about and enjoy being a dog. After several months Pat decided to adopt Poppi since he was happy with her dogs and always will have lots of issues that need an experienced owner. He is 13 now and has had many expensive genetic health problems in addition to a long adjustment to life. Pat says “ He had two operations on his back legs due to malformed joints. The vet tried to reshape some of his joints and also did work on his muscles.” That improved, but his front leg joints still don't lock in place, so he does limp, but he can still get around. “He could be the poster boy for the evil of puppy mills and what poor breeding can do to the health of a dog!” Remember, in spite of his poor physical construction, he was used for years as breeding stock! Pat says that although the trips to specialty vets are long and expensive, “you do what you have to do for your dogs.”

HRI Volunteer

State Contact

It is a pleasure to introduce Pat Casson

Pat with Effie, Blossom, and Poppi

It is such a pleasure to introduce Pat to you as she is one of the most helpful, delightful, and active of our volunteers. Pat taught 5^th grade for 35 years and, when she retired, did Therapy work with a Havanese until her dog tired of it. Then, she joined HRI to do fostering. Pat also joined the Quilt committee, which each year makes a fabulous quilt that is sold as one of our major fundraisers. Pat does beautiful squares to contribute to the quilt and also assembles the 25+ squares to be quilted and backed. A gifted artist, in addition, she makes unique and treasured Christmas ornaments and various other items for sale in our online auction. Pat lives in Maine and has three Havanese.

HRI'S FALL AUCTION RUNS UNTIL

10/8 WITH BIDDING CLOSING AT 12:00 PM EDT

HRI Information

What do you feed your Havanese?

What do the Havanese Club of America and

Havanese Rescue Inc. members feed their dogs?

This is a small snapshot of those 30 people who generously answered my queries. I have tried to accurately compile the many pages they sent. Most have multiple dogs and often have more than one menu for them.

Kibble

Purina Varieties (14)

2- Purina Pro Plan (not specified),

2- Purina Proplan Chicken,

3- Purina Bright Minds

Purina ProPlan Sport 30/20 chicken & rice

Purina Pro Plan Salmon &rice

Purina Urinary SO,

Purina Pro Plan Salmon for Sensitive Skin

Purina Pro Plan small breed chicken and rice moderate calorie

Purina One

Pro Plan Sensitive Skin formula small breed

Fromm Varieties (4)

Fromm grain free

Fromm Beef Kibble

Fromm Trout and Whitefish

Fromm’s 4-Star

Royal Canin Varieties (3)

Royal Canin PW moderate calorie

Royal Canin GI Low-Fat

Royal Canin Puppy Starter

Canidae All Life Stages

Diamond adult lamb & rice+ Diamond & small breed lamb & rice-mixed

Farmina N&D Ancestral Grain Lamb & Blueberry Kibble -nothing added

Holistic Select Kibble

Honest Kitchen

Open Farm Grass Fed Beef Kibble

Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream, Taste of the Wild Wetlands

Royal Canin GI lo Fat-all Mixed

Wellness small breed puppy food

Virbec urology

(Loved but rarely available) Natural Balance On The Move Chicken & Barley Formula High Protein.

Canned or other Food added to kibble

·     Fresh Pet (7)

·     Red Barn (2)

·     Purina Bella (2)

·     Canidae Chicken & rice canned, Canidae all Life Stages canned

·     Royal Canin wet food pouches

·     Open Farm Grass Fed Beef and Open Farm Surf and Turf

Raw, Frozen, or Homemade Food

·     Homemade using Dr. Harvey’s base and adding protein

·     Homemade human-grade diet including pork, blueberries, and carrots

·     Stella & Chewys freeze-dried raw patties – 2

·     NW Naturals raw frozen

·     Raw meat from butcher

·     Primal freeze-dried raw

What Do You Add?

Vegetables: green beans, carrots, spinach, yams, broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, pumpkin powder for loose stools

Fruit: blueberries, apples, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries

Brown rice, red rice, whole grain black barley,

Yogurt

Meat/Fish: pork, beef, lamb, chicken, salmon, codfish, tilapia

Probiotics

·     Purina Forti Flora -5

·     Probiotics (not named) -3

·     Instinct Raw Boost

·     Salmon oil

·     Omega3-6-9 oil

·     Missing Link

·     Proviable probiotic

·     Omega 6

·     Solid Gold Seameal

Where do you go for advice? Not everyone answered this.

·     Vet -7

·     Hav Friends -7

·     Internet/research -6

·     Gail Czarnecki - 2

·     Jean Dodds-2

·     Whole Dog Journal Magazine

·     Dr Karen Becker’s Blog

·     Dr Judy Morgan

FYI

How To Choose The Best Dog Food

from AKC

By Anna Burke

Product Name

The product name alone tells you a lot about what’s inside the can or bag. The term “beef” means that beef must make up at least 70 percent of the entire product. The terms “beef dinner,” “beef entrée,” or “beef platter,” on the other hand, only require that beef makes up at least 10 percent of the entire product. “With beef” only requires that 3 percent of the total product be beef, and “beef flavor” simply implies that there is enough beef in the product to flavor it (less than 3 percent). The same holds true for other named ingredients like “chicken.”

“Complete and Balanced” Dog Foods

One of the first things you should look for on a dog food label is the statement “(Name of product) is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.” This isn’t just an advertising slogan. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) has strict requirements to make sure that a product is, in fact, complete and balanced for dogs (or cats). Complete and balanced diets must contain the minimum amount of all of the nutrients necessary for dogs, which is also indicated in the “guaranteed analysis.” This analysis gives the minimum amount of crude protein and fat, along with the maximum amounts of water and crude fiber. The analysis does not, however, give the exact amount of these components, which means there is room for considerable variation. The manufacturer’s average nutrient profile is often a better tool for evaluating a product.

You can always contact the dog food company directly to get more information about its product. A reputable company that has your dog’s interests at heart should be happy to answer your questions and, in many cases, will give you more information than what is available on the website or product label. The World Small Animal Veterinary Association has a helpful sheet with questions you can ask a company representative.