SS - Training Opportunity

I love this. I know what Dunbar is on about here, having my Ethel!

Smiley young Ethel, who will be celebrating her 1ST BIRTHDAY TOMORROW! Be sure to pop by again tomorrow and help us celebrate a very special occasion!

We at Earl's World! are delighted to be cohosting the Sepia Saturday Blog Hop alongside Ruckus The Eskie. We send many thanks to our fellow host, and you can join in below.

Varied Fuel

A huge part of keeping your dog fit and well is the food you fuel them with, every single day. Ensuring that your dog eats every one of his meals down, is fed the correct amount of a healthy, nutritional food, is vital for your dog's wellbeing. However, some dogs can turn their noses up at the foods you lay down for them, which can become a problem if your dog is refusing to eat. Of course, not eating can be a medical issue, and should be checked by your vet if this happens to your dog, however, some dogs are just picky with their food! This happened to Earl on a certain brand in the past, and I had no idea why. So, for the pickier dogs, adding some nutritional variety into your dog's normal food can work wonders on his tastebuds. Adding cooked vegetables, such as sliced carrot and broccoli can help make his food tastier. Also, adding some bran to your dog's food can not only make the food taste nicer, but also helps when it comes to your dog's bowel functioning, and helps anal glands to function properly. Alongside your dog's normal food, there is so much more variety you can add to make it tastier, and more nutritional! Because food is a HUGE part of your dog's fitness.

Add some extra nutritional value to your dog's normal meals.

Doing this can help your dog at mealtimes in so many ways. You could even add some leftover vegetables from your cooked meal to your dog's meal, to make it easier to prepare - or, as another easy method, cook your dog's vegetables as you're cooking your own meal. Some vitamins, minerals and fibre can do a whole lot to your dog's normal food bowl!

Some dogs gobble their dinners, while others turn their noses up.

So give some variety a try, for your dog's next meal. However, beware, and never add anything to your dog's normal food that could upset his stomach, such as something he is allergic to, and/or something toxic to dogs. If you are at all worried about anything diet related, speak to your vet, and get any strange behaviours, such as loss of appetite, checked out by your vet first of all. Be sensible, but don't be afraid to try something new, that would be a healthy, safe, tasty and nutritional addition to your dog's normal meals. Because fuelling your dog right is an important part of keeping him fit and well.

We are joining our hosts SlimDoggy, To Dog With Love and My GBGV Life in the FitDog Friday Blog Hop. We send many thanks their way, and you can join in below.

Behind The Scenes Of Our Ribbon Shoots

Earl is always bringing home thousands of cool new ribbons. Those competitions give loads away to him, for obvious reasons. He is just so good! Anyway, there is more to it than just placing the ribbons before him, and taking ONE photo, then uploading it onto here. Oh, no.

Sometimes, you just can't take a sufficient photo. Don't ask me why, I just know it happens! These are the times when you have tens of thousands of photos, all involving the same competition's ribbons, and you have to narrow it down to one. Because sometimes, the photos turn out like this:

But mum! The REALLY impressive subject here is MY FACE!

And although this is a hilariously entertaining photo, it really isn't what I wanted when I said ribbon shoot. You don't shoot them down with your paws, Earl! Come on! You DO have a brain, it's obviously clear to people, including me!

Then, there are ones like this:

Just gimme the damn thing! My mouth awaits!

... Where Earl decides he has had enough of this whole waiting around malarky, and comes straight up to take that treat I am waving in front of the camera at him. Often though, he only looks when the camera is away... and when the camera is on him, he avoids eye contact. It takes a huge, stinky piece of specially cooked sausage for this job!

And then, you also get photos like this:

Actually, I love this photo! I think it has a nice effect, somehow. But again, where's Earl? Where are the other halves of the outside ribbons? There is always something, until you find the perfect (or the closest to perfect) photo. You finally manage to gather your strength, and wipe out all the other millions of photoshoot attempts (and, frankly, fails) from your computer, leaving you with the one smashing shot. If you'd like to see the best shot from our most recent shoot, featured here today, visit our post HERE!

And, there are OTHER photoshoots that go to pot, too:

... ETHEL!!!

What goes on behind the scenes of YOUR pet photoshoots?

We are joining our hosts Ruckus The Eskie, Love is Being Owner by a Husky! and Barking From The Bayou in the Thoughtless Thursday Blog Hop. We send many thanks their way, and you can join in below.

Ethel's New Hairdo

You all know how hairy my young Ethel was. Well, she finally had her first ever hand strip, and looks so different! After being 'blown' (a grooming term for incredibly hairy) for a long while, it must have been a relief for her to finally rid of all that excess coat. She can now proudly parade around, sporting her brand new hairdo!

Full body view

You can just see how lean and muscly she already is. She is one in shape pup!

No less adorable!

She was such a good girl there, too. Well behaved all the way through the procedure, surprising us all with her calmness! Our groomer agreed at how adorable she is! I am once again incredibly proud of my sweet little sausage girl!

And, just for those who have the opinion that hand stripping dogs is painful to them and cruel, please stop. Stripping wire coated dogs, such as terriers, is the only way to remove their excess coat when needed and therefore keep their coat and skin in good condition. Shaving/clipping the coat ruins the natural coat, and this is very hard to get back. Stripping is painless to the dog, and the dogs feel so much better afterwards. This is the equivalent to clipping a Poodle - painless, positive and necessary.

Tongues and Roses (wookie dog posing...)

... A winning combination, for a mischievous snapshot! Ethel poses with her tongue at full length, the roses in the background. Her Mischievousness loves pulling faces at the camera.

Here she is, still a hairy beast as before! Come back tomorrow, and see her NOW, a smooth, newly hand stripped canine! It's still lovely to have photos of her as a wild thing - this was an incredibly adorable look. She almost had the appearance of a wookie, with this hairdo!

Happy #TongueOutTuesday everyone!