The Toothbrushing Is Going Really Well

This evening a friend stopped by and we were standing in the kitchen and and I saw Isaac's toothbrush on the counter, so I picked it up to show it to my friend. Then I said to Isaac, "Wanna brush your teeth? Do you want your teeth brushed?" in an excited tone of voice.

I did not expect that Isaac actually would want his teeth brushed, but he started getting all excited and acting like he absolutely wanted them brushed. So I brushed them. He looked less happy and excited when I actually started brushing, but he let me brush his teeth.

This whole toothbrushing thing has turned out to be much easier than I thought it would be.

Whiskers still says there is no way I am brushing hers, though!

Toothbrushing

Isaac got his teeth brushed for the first time today, with doggie toothpaste and everything.

He is not wild about this flavor of toothpaste either but he seems to like it a little better than the first kind I bought. However, he was happier to see it on the toothbrush than on my finger (I tried letting him taste it on my finger first). Apparently serving slivers of hot dog on the toothbrush did the trick in terms of getting him interested in the toothbrush and making him think favorably of it!

I think he was disappointed to see there were no hot dogs on the toothbrush this time, but he allowed me to brush his teeth. He did not look thrilled about it, and I only brushed them for about a total of five seconds, but it went a lot better than I imagined it would go.

P.S. Isaac thinks I should also brush the cat's teeth but she says no way!  Actually, I think she says something along the lines of, "Try it and I shall claw you to shreds."

Brushing Isaac's Teeth

A few days ago, I decided I needed to start brushing Isaac's teeth.  I haven't been doing so.  I asked his trainer and the director of the program from which I got Isaac and they both felt that giving him hard bones and dental chews would be sufficient, along with the occasional dental cleaning from the vet.  And until now, his teeth have been beautiful.  White, clean looking, just beautiful.  And no bad breath. 

He gets his teeth examined annually by the vet, plus they were examined by a doggie dentist when he got his eye exam a few months ago.  He's always gotten a good report.

Well, a few days ago, I noticed some yellowish-brown plaque on one of his big canine teeth.  That worried me just a bit.  I want his teeth to stay in good shape.

So I decided to get him a doggie toothbrush and some doggie toothpaste.  Off to Petco we went.

In addition to the toothpaste and two doggie toothbrushes (one that fits over my finger and one that looks more like a human toothbrush), he got a dental treat shaped like a big toothbrush.  He enjoyed the treat very much.

Unfortunately, he did not feel the same about the doggie toothpaste.  My plan was to let him lick some of it off my finger first, then later to let him lick some off the doggie toothbrush that fits over my finger.  Well, he did not even want to smell the toothpaste.  I mean, he must have smelled it and found the smell unappealing, but he was not interested in sniffing it.  He literally turned up his nose.

I'm going to try a different flavor of toothpaste.  A few people also suggested using coconut oil in place of toothpaste, and I know Isaac likes coconut oil (I feed it to him sometimes because it's good for his skin and he eats it off a spoon like it's a treat), so I might try that.  I'm not sure how good it is at removing plaque and stuff, though.  But maybe it's the process of brushing that helps the most, no matter what you brush with.

In the meantime, I am getting Isaac used to the toothbrush.  He showed in interest in that after I tried to give him the toothpaste he didn't like, but later, with a tiny sliver of hot dog on the toothbrush, it suddenly became much more interesting.  So he has been eating tiny bits of hot dog off the toothbrush.  And he has allowed me to lift his lip out of the way and gently rub the toothbrush over his teeth for a few seconds.

When You Clip a Dog's Toenail Too Short

I've done this to Isaac twice.  Once was the first time I used the nail clippers made especially for dogs, which ironically enough are supposed to prevent you from cutting the nail too short.  The second time was yesterday.

The first time I did it, Isaac let out this yelp like I'd chopped off a toe.  The nail bled like crazy.  I mean, there were big red drops of blood all over the carpet and everything.  I felt terrible and was really scared to cut his nails again.  The reason I did cut them again, and later that very same day (I needed to finish the job because I stopped when I cut the nail too short), was because I didn't want Isaac to become scared of having his nails cut.  I thought finishing the job later the same day would help.  I wanted to do it without acting afraid at all (which was not easy for me because I was afraid) and I wanted him to see that he could get his nails cut without it hurting him.

Yesterday when it happened, I still felt bad, but I'm not scared of cutting his nails again.  I didn't panic as much this time.  I knew what to do. 

So here's a handy little trick.  I keep a glass jar (used to hold salsa) with cornstarch in it.  To stop the bleeding, just stick the dog's toes into the cornstarch.  In less than a minute, the bleeding was stopped.  I can't remember who told me that trick.  It might have been Isaac's trainer.  I'm not sure why or how it works, but it does.

Walmart Employee Fired for Advising Customer Not to Leave Dog in Hot Truck?

A recent article reported that a Walmart employee was fired for advising a customer that he should not leave his dog locked in his truck on a hot summer day while he shopped.

And no one should leave a dog (or any pet, or a child, for that matter) locked in a vehicle on a warm day.  If it is 72 degrees outside, the temperature inside a closed car can reach over 100 degrees in just half an hour.  If it's in the mid-80's outside, the temperature inside a closed car (or even a car with the windows down a bit) can reach over 100 degrees in just 15 minutes, and that's hot enough for a dog to have a heat stroke and die. 

Less than 15 minutes.  When have you ever run into Walmart, purchased something, and been back to your car in less than 15 minutes?  Me neither.

I think it was kind of the employee to warn the customer about the danger, because not everyone realizes it can get so hot so quickly inside a car.  If people realized it, they wouldn't leave their dogs in the car.  Good grief, people leave kids inside cars.  Every summer, children die from being left in closed cars.  If people realized it could get so hot so quickly, they wouldn't do that. 

So the employee was being kind to warn the customer.  Let's assume the customer wasn't trying to kill his dog and that he would have been unhappy to return to his truck only to find his dog dead.

In many parts of the U.S., it's illegal to leave a pet in a closed car under dangerous conditions.  This actually took place at a Walmart in Canada, but I bet the laws are similar there.  So the employee could have simply phoned the police and/or animal control, and they would have come to rescue the dog, and animal control might have taken the dog away from its owner, and he might have been fined or even charged with cruelty to animals.  Personally, I'd rather have an employee warn me about leaving my dog in the car than have animal control take my dog away from me and be arrested for cruelty to animals.

But apparently the customer didn't appreciate the employee's advise and complained to the manager.  The manager didn't see it my way, either, and the employee was fired.

I contacted the Walmart corporate office, just to let them know how disappointed I am to hear they would fire an employee for attempting to protect a helpless dog left in a potentially life-threatening situation.  I was told that the employee was not fired for advising the customer not to leave the dog in the truck on a hot day, but for other reasons.  They said they could not share the other reasons with me, however. 

I'm skeptical.  I didn't expect them to admit that an employee was fired for warning a customer about the danger of leaving a dog in the car in the summer.  I'd have been surprised if they did admit that.  What do you think?  If you'd like to share your thoughts with Walmart officials, you can email them from the Walmart website.

Great Idea for Dogs That Don't Like Bath Time

You all probably know Isaac does not like bath time one bit, and he's certainly not the only dog that feels that way.  I bribe him to get into the tub with bits of hot dogs, which he thinks are the greatest food in the world.  He gets a couple bites for getting into the tub, then I wet him down, then give him another bite of hot dog, then soap him up, then give him another bite of hot dog, then rinse him off and let him out of the tub, and reward him with a couple more bites.

Well, today I came across a great idea for doggies that don't like bath time and I can't wait to try it with Isaac.  You know what  Easy Cheese is?  It's that squirt cheese in a can.  Kinda like Cheese Whiz, but you squirt it out of a can.  It's not even real cheese, I don't think; it's some sort of "processed cheese food."  But it tastes good.  It's yummy on Triscuits.

Anyway, here's what you do.  Squirt a little design of Easy Cheese on the bath tub wall and let your doggie lick it off while he's getting his bath.  Isaac loves cheese and I'm sure he would fine that to be a good reward for getting in the tub, plus it would keep him busy for at least part of his bath time.  With the hot dogs, he swallows a piece in about half a second.  But it would take him a little time to lick off all the cheese.

Running in the Summertime

Today I called Isaac's vet to ask about the safety of running in the summertime when it's really hot.  Not for me, silly.  I don't run!  For Isaac.

See, Isaac's current running buddy is one of those nutty running people that will run in any weather.  Hot, cold, pouring rain, whatever, he's up for a rain.  So is Isaac.  So I'm not sure I can trust either of them to make a good judgment about whether or not it's too hot.  And I don't want my doggie to have a heat stroke.  I don't want my dog walker to have a heat stroke, either.

I tried to look up info online about how hot was too hot to safely run and couldn't find what I was looking for.  Apparently it varies a bit depending upon the breed of the dog (really hairy dogs get overheated faster) and where they're running at (obviously if they run in the shade, it's safer).  So I finally just called the vet and asked.

I was told it was safe for Isaac to go for a run up to 85 degrees.  I was advised to make sure he has plenty of fresh, cold water when he gets back from a run, which of course I always do.  It was also suggested that I hose him down before a run on really hot days.  I'm not sure how Isaac would feel about that, and I don't have access to a hose here anyway, so I won't be trying that.  I thought I'd mention it, though, in case anyone else wants to try it with their dogs.

Reminder - Don't Leave Your Dog Alone in the Car!

Now that warm weather is here, I thought it was time for a reminder.  Don't leave your dog alone in the car!  Not even for a few minutes in  hot weather, not even if you park in the shade, not even if you leave the windows cracked.  The inside of a car can become unbearably hot very quickly.  A study conducted at Stanford University found that even when it was just 72 degrees outside, within an hour the temperature inside a car reached 116 degrees, hot enough to cause heatstroke and even death - and cracking the windows had almost no affect on the temperature inside the car.

The temperature inside a car can reach 19 degrees higher than the outdoor temperature in just 15 minutes.  That means if it's 80 degrees outside, it could be 100 degrees in your car in just 15 minutes.  People can have heatstroke when the temperature rises above 104 degrees.  Dogs can also have heatstroke and can die from the condition, just like people can - and you can't call 911 and have your dog rushed to the nearest hospital emergency room if he has a heatstroke.  How far is the closest emergency vet from where you live?  It's about an hour away from my house.  Would your dog survive that long?  He might not.

Even if you think you'll be in and out of the store in just a few minutes, don't take the chance.  Leave your dog at home unless you can take him inside the store with you.

I Almost Hacked off a Toe

Well, OK, it wasn't really quite that bad. 

Sunday I went to the pet store to buy toenail clippers for Isaac.  I'd been using my own toenail clippers to cut his nails, but his  nails are bigger and thicker and stronger than mine, and it was hard to cut them with my clippers.  His nails were pretty long because I'd been putting off cutting them, meaning to buy doggie nail clippers.

I took Isaac to the pet store with me, which I usually do not do, because he acts like a nut in the pet store.  This time, he peed in the store.  I was shocked and embarrassed.  I'm sure another dog had peed there and that's why he did it, but he still knows better.

So I bought the doggie toenail clippers and came home and snipped one of Isaac's toenails.  It was much, much easier than doing it with my own nail clippers.  I snipped the second nail and Isaac yelped and blood started dripping off his food onto my living room carpet.  Isaac lay down with his head on my lap, like he wanted me to protect him, which is kind of cute but also sad since I was the one that hurt him.

I yelled for Mike to come help me, and told him to get me the cornstarch out of the kitchen, which is supposed to stop the bleeding when you cut off too much of the nail and cut the vein inside.  I scooped up some cornstarch in the palm of one hand and with the other hand, stuck the bleeding toe into the cornstarch.  It did stop the bleeding, but by that time his whole foot was soaked with blood and there were red spots all over the carpet.

I felt so terrible.  I fed him some treats and took him out for a walk.  He wasn't limping at all and didn't seem to be in any pain.  I took him for a really long walk and let him play in every puddle we passed, trying to cheer him up, I guess.  Although he already seemed pretty cheery.  I think he got over his injury faster than I did.

Later that night, I clipped two more toenails.  He was all relaxed and sleepy then and didn't seem worried at all.  I was afraid that he would develop a fear of  having his nails cut.  He never has been too fond of it, but I was afraid that now he would be afraid it would hurt.  So I just wanted to cut a couple nails right away so he could see that it didn't hurt.  I think I also wanted to show myself I could cut his nails without amputating a toe.  I didn't want either of us to be scared of the nail clippers.  I'm still nervous about cutting his nails, though.

Cats and Dogs and Pills, Oh My!

Isaac has to have a cracked tooth pulled on Monday and he has to take antibiotics twice a day between now and then and for five days afterward.

Have you seen these instructions on how to give a cat a pill?  If not, go read them now.  Funny, but true.

Compare that to how to give a dog a pill.

Smear some peanut butter on pill.  Give pill to dog, who will gobble it up greedily and then look for more.  The end.

A Visit to the Vet

Isaac had to see the vet today for a vaccine.  I also wanted the vet to look at one of his teeth, which I noticed a couple weeks ago appeared oddly discolored.

There is a donkey that lives next door to Isaac's vet.  Last time I took him to the vet, Isaac barked and barked at that donkey.  Today, he just looked at the donkey like oh, that's no big deal.

Isaac now weighs 75 pounds.  He's gained four pounds since the last time he went to the vet, which was about two months ago.  I think that's partly because he hasn't gotten to go for a run as often as I'd like him to, both because of the weather and because of dog walkers that don't show up regularly, and partly because he talks me into too many treats.  So I guess we need to cut back on the treats a bit.

Isaac does not like it when the vet listens to his heart and lungs with the stethoscope.  He doesn't mind getting shots, but he thinks the stethoscope is rather scary.  He tried to hide behind the vet tech, and then when he realized it was inevitable, the vet was actually going to touch him with that scary stethoscope, he assumed the facial expression and posture he assumes when he's getting his toenails cut.  He looks very, very sad, as if he just can't believe anyone would do something so awful to him.

The vet said his tooth is fractured.  He must have bit down on something and cracked it.  He usually chews on bones and toys and things with the side of his mouth, not his front teeth, but somehow he cracked this one in the front.  I bet it hurts.  He hasn't been acting like it hurts, but I think it must.  Now he has to have it pulled.  They can't do it for two weeks, though.  Poor baby boy.

Isaac's vet, by the way, is the Ashland Road Animal Clinic in Mansfield, Ohio.  If anyone is looking for a good vet, I highly recommend them.

More on When Service Dogs Don't Work Out

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about a woman I know of who made the difficult decision to return her service dog to the program she got him from because he had severe skin allergies.  She had the dog for about a year and spent hundreds of dollars, which she could ill afford, taking him to specialists for treatment.  She was advised by a veterinary specialist at a university veterinary hospital that he should not be a working dog because working exposes him to more allergens and makes his condition worse.  She loves this dog deeply and was heartbroken at having to return him, but felt it was the best thing for him.

The program she got him from promises that if a dog must be retired due to health problems, they will find him a good home where he will be a family pet and will get the medical care he needs.  Last week, she put him on an airplane with a volunteer to deliver him back to this program in another state.  Then she went home to her empty apartment and cried.

She's since heard from someone with the program and he has arrived safely.  However, she is deeply disturbed, as am I at what they are now telling her.  They are now telling her that they will be keeping him in their kennel, where they keep the dogs they are training, for four to six months, then placing him with another person with a disability in need of a service dog.  This is disturbing for a number of reasons.  First, this dog is used to living in a house with people.  Now he's going to be in a kennel for up to six months.  How sad is that for the dog?  Second, a highly qualified veterinary specialist has said he is not healthy enough to work, that it exposes him to additional allergens and makes him sicker.  So his condition will continue to worsen.  Third, another person with a disability will end up struggling to pay for his medical bills and will probably end up having to make the same heartbreaking decision this other woman had to make.

And I feel terrible for this woman, who loved her dog so much she made the decision to let him go because she believed it was what would be best for him, who now learns the program is not going to find him a good home where he can be a much loved pet after all but is planning to have him continue working despite his  health problems.  She's probably questioning her decision and second guessing herself right now, which is sad because she did everything she possibly could for her dog.

I'm not going to name the service dog program here because I am a bit concerned about liability issues, but if anyone is considering getting a service dog and wants to be sure to avoid this program, feel free to email me at poet_kelly at yahoo dot com.  I would definitely want to avoid them and I'll be happy to share the info with you.

When a Service Dog Doesn't Work Out

One of the benefits to getting a service dog through a program is that, generally, you should know when you get the dog that he's going to work out.  See, if you try to train a service dog yourself, you might spend six months or a year training that dog only to realize that he doesn't have the right temperament and isn't going to be able to do the job.  That was something I was afraid of when I was thinking I was going to have to train a dog myself, with the help of a professional trainer.  After spending a year working with a dog, I would have bonded with him.  I'd be very attached to him.  I wouldn't want to rehome him.  But I also couldn't afford to have a pet dog and then get another dog to try again to train as a service dog.

Even when you get a dog from a program, though, occasionally things go wrong.  There's a forum online for people with service dogs where I participate sometimes, and there is a woman there that got a dog from a program and it turned out that he had really severe allergies.  I feel a bit angry at the program, because he had allergies when they placed him with her.  She mentioned it when she first got the dog and they told her it was a simple food allergy and that if she just changed his food, it would clear up.  That hasn't been the case.  A year later, and hundreds and hundreds of dollars in vet bills later, she has had to make the difficult decision to return her dog to the program.  She loves her dog, but she cannot afford his medical expenses any longer, plus he is often unable to work due to severe allergic outbreaks.  I think the program should have never placed a dog with such severe allergies with someone in the first place.  Now she has to go through the heartbreak of returning her dog.

The program guarantees they will find the dog a good home with someone that can provide for all his medical needs, which is nice.  The program I got Isaac from does the same thing; if for any reason I was unable to keep Isaac, they would take him and find him a good home.  If they couldn't find him a home, his trainer or the director of the program would keep him and care for him themselves.  That's nice to know.

But it doesn't take away the grief and guilt that this woman is dealing with as she prepares to say goodbye to her dog.  She has only a couple more days with him before he goes back to the program, and she's trying to soak up all the love she can until then.  She's deciding which of his toys and other belongings to send with him.  She's hoping his new family will keep in touch with her to let her know how he's doing and send her some pictures from time to time, but they aren't required to do that.

When someone loses a service dog, in addition to losing someone they love, they also lose a vital form of assistance.  The emotional aspect is what seems so horrible to me, but the practical aspect is important, too.  Not only will this woman be grieving her dog, but she'll be struggling to cope without the help she's come to rely on.

Of course, dogs don't live forever, including service dogs.  Everyone with a service dog has to deal with this someday.  I just prefer not to think about it right now.

Service Dogs Off Duty

The other day I read an article in which the author commented that she thinks service dogs are "like regular dogs with the spark snuffed out."  She admits she's only had limited exposure to service dogs and that's been when they were in public, working.  I guess she thinks they are on duty all the time.

As I read that article, Isaac was busy tearing around the living room, happily destroying a stuffed frog.  Too bad she couldn't see him.  I think he has plenty of spark!

See, service dogs aren't on duty all the time.  Isaac might work a total of four to six hours a day in a typical day, and that's not all at one stretch, either.  He might work for ten minutes to help me unload the dryer, then take a nap for an hour, then work for ten more minutes to help me get another load of clothes out of the dryer.  We might spend two hours running errands, but he's not working that whole time; he spends part of it lounging in the backseat of the car, looking out the window or napping.  Now, it's true that some service dogs work more hours than Isaac does, but they still get time off duty, as well.

Service dogs off duty are just like any other dog.  They play.  They act silly.  They forage in the garbage can, chase cats and squirrels, dig in the flower beds, roll in smelly stuff, beg for belly rubs, lick themselves, and snooze.  They have fun.  I'll add that most service dogs enjoy working, too, but I'll talk more about that another day.

I'm sure not all service dogs are well cared for, just like not all pets are well cared for, but all the people I know or have spoken to with service dogs make a real effort to ensure all their dogs' needs are met, and that includes a dog's need to play, socialize, and have fun.  They buy their dogs lots of toys.  They take their dogs to dog parks or other places where they can run and play.  They join play groups so their dogs can play with other dogs, dogs they know aren't too aggressive or poorly behaved.  They spend lots of time playing with their dogs.  Those service dogs might have more fun than the average pet does, come to think of it.  They don't seem deprived at all, to me, and they have plenty of spark.

The Downside of Having a Service Dog

Here's a link to an article I wrote about the negatives of having a service dog (yes, it's not all peaches and cream), published on Yahoo Voices.

The Downside of Having a Service Dog

Fruits and Veggies? Not Isaac!

Isaac's trainer told me I could give him fresh fruits and veggies as healthy treats and said that most dogs like things like apples and carrots.  I liked that idea a lot, because he gets a lot of treats as rewards for working and while training, and the calories in doggie treats can really add up. 

Unfortunately, Isaac will not eat carrots or apples.  I gave him a piece of each and he mouthed it, then spit it out.  He said it was not food.  He looked at me like he couldn't figure out why I was giving him that inedible stuff.

Isaac eats almost anything.  In addition to dog food and doggie treats, he likes cat food (wet and dry), shredded cheese, fried cheese sticks (from Arby's), turkey, chicken, hotdogs (I think hotdogs are his favorite), pizza, poptarts, potato chips, tortilla chips, crackers, bread, and peanut butter.  I have also seen him eat bugs, cat poop, and assorted disgusting things he finds buried in the old leaves along the side of the road.  All of these, he considers food. 

But apples?  Carrots?  No way, he can't eat that crap.

Dog Tags

I finally got along to ordering a dog tag for Isaac.  Yes, I was slow about it.  He had a tag from his trainer with her name and numbers on it, so if he got lost before I got his tag, he could have still been returned.  He also has a microchip.

I ended up ordering his tag online from Love Your Pets.  Mostly I ordered it from there because it was cheap.  It arrived yesterday.  It's nice.  It's shaped like a dog bone.  I also like it because I could have six lines of text engraved on it and most other companies I considered ordering from only put four or five lines of text on their tags.    Hey, I have a lot to say!

The tag says:

Isaac
My full name
My city and state
Reward If Found
My phone number
A friend's phone number

The reason for my name and city and state is to make it easier for someone to track down Isaac's owner, especially if he would get lost when I was traveling somewhere.  I put "reward if found" to encourage people to return him.  I thought about putting "service dog" on the tag but I didn't have room, plus he has a second tag on his collar which is his license from the county which says "handicap assistance dog" on it.

I Hired a Dog Walker for Isaac

Well, a dog runner, really.

He needs more exercise than I can easily give him.  Due to my back problems, I cannot run with him.  I can't even walk as fast as he'd really like to walk.  He does use the treadmill at home but I still think he needs more exercise.  He is so energetic and he gets bored and annoying when he isn't able to burn off all the energy.

So I decided to look for someone to take him for a run a couple times a week.

I really got lucky.  I found a woman that loves dogs but isn't able to have one of her own at the moment because pets aren't allowed where she lives.  She jogs regularly.  I don't get why anyone would jog if they didn't have to, but anyway, apparently she enjoys it.  So she thinks it would be fun to take Isaac for a jog.  Isaac thinks it sounds like fun, too.

We decided she will take him for a 45 minutes jog three times a week.  She gave me a really good price.  Actually, the price she named initially seemed so low to me that I told her I wanted to pay a bit more than that.  I'm all for affordable services, but I don't want to feel like I'm paying someone less than what their work is worth.

Isaac gets to go on his first jog later this morning.  I hope it wears him out for a while!

Things I've Learned about Life with a Service Dog

The last two days have been very enlightening.  I've learned all kinds of things about dogs in general, about service dogs in particular, and about my dog Isaac.

In no particular order:

• Labs are kinda big dogs and they poop a lot.  Not a lot as in often, but a lot as in big amounts at a time.
• Male dogs seem to have an endless supply of pee and they feel the need to pee on every bush or tree they walk past.  At least, my male dog does!
• Life with a service dog would be easier if I had three hands.  Or maybe four.  I need a hand to hold the leash, which means I am trying to do everything else with just one hand, like paying for purchases, eating a meal in a restaurant, using the bathroom in a public restroom, carrying things from the car to the house, etc.
• Kids like seeing a service dog in a store or restaurant.
• Strangers have no qualms asking what kind of service dog Isaac is.
• Many people do seem to be aware that they should ask before petting a service dog, and they are polite about it if told not right now, he is working.
• Occasionally someone will pet him as they walk by, without asking.  Isaac doesn't mind.
• Employees at local businesses seem to know service dogs are allowed in.  No access issues so far.
• Dogs drink a lot.  Guess it goes with the endless supply of pee.  I brought a fairly small plastic dish for water for Isaac and I have to refill it about ten times a day.  I need to buy a BIG water bowl.

Shopping for Isaac

Yesterday I went shopping for Isaac.  I bought him three toys and four kinds of treats.  I spent $63!  But I figured it was worth the cost to buy good toys, toys that should last a long time, and toys that he won't be able to chew up and eat.  Emergency intestinal surgery to remove bits of cheap toys from his stomach would likely cost a lot more than a few high quality toys!

Here's what I got.

This is a Kong toy.  It's very durable, good for chewing, and it's hollow in the middle so you can put treats in it.  As the dog carries it around and chews on it, treats will occasionally fall out.

This is a Nylabone.  It's supposed to be bacon flavored but I didn't chew on it to see if it really is.  It's also hollow in the middle so you can stuff it with peanut butter or cheese or other yummy stuff.

This toy feels a lot like a tennis ball but it's shaped like a football, as you can see.  It's a bit bigger than a tennis ball, too, and it's just slightly squishy.  This is for Isaac and me to play fetch with.

And finally, here are Isaac's treats.  The can is some sort of peanut butter flavored stuff to spray in the hollow Nylabone.  Then there are Fruitables apple bacon flavored treats, which are good because they are small and only have three calories per treat, which is important because Isaac needs to be rewarded frequently because he's still in training but I don't want to feed him so many treats that he gets fat.  The Charlee Bear cheese and egg flavored treats are also only three calories per treat.  I couldn't find calorie information on the Nature's Recipe venison treats, but I assume they are higher in calories.  I'm going to cut them in half so the pieces will be smaller and just use them occasionally.  Actually, I think I'm going to mix some of each kind of treat in one container, kind of like a doggie trail mix, so he gets a variety and never knows what type he'll be getting when he follows a command.  Hopefully he likes them all!