Getting Geekier

It's time for a long-overdue update! A lot has changed for the Dog Geek crew. We now live and work full time on a sheep ranch! Zip and Godzilla are both quite accomplished at competitive herding, and Puff is coming along nicely. The ranch dogs are now part of our crew, or more accurately, we are now a part of theirs.

I've also changed my stance on...almost everything. Grain-free and high-end dog foods, ecollars and prong collars, puppy socialization...a lot. A lot of that has to do with experience, broadening my world view, and stepping outside my comfort zone.

Almost five years ago I started this blog under the name Brisbane's Bark Blog, about my dog Brisbane and the products, foods, and places we experienced together. He was my heart dog, and I made the mistake of thinking that the choices that were right for Brisbane were right for all of my dogs. I was wrong.

So here I am, working with my dogs for a living, using ecollars every day, and feeding Purina because they actually do feeding trials to find out what their foods do to the dogs that eat them. I am no longer a devoted pet owner with a lot of free time, but I am older, wiser, and still ridiculously obsessed with dog food and dog gear. I'm just more scientific about it now.

CHIP BAGS OF DEATH!!!

Is that an eye-catching title or what? It's true though, and worth catching eyes for. Last spring I posted a picture of Brisbane with his head in an empty SunChips bag. For most people, it's just a cute picture. For some, it is downright horrific.

NOT SAFE!

You see, a dog can suffocate in a chip bag. I had actually heard of this happening before, in a news article some years before I got Brisbane. For this reason I've always kept an eye on him when he has something he could suffocate in. The reason I was able to take this picture was because I was monitoring his chip bag enjoyment.

My dogs go for shredding stuff rather than burrowing their noses into bags normally, so I hope that reduces their risk of undignified death somewhat. Still, I will be reconsidering what I give them to shred after visiting the Prevent Pet Suffocation Facebook page.

Aside from keeping the garbage locked up tight and assuming your pets will happily suffocate themselves in anything that once contained food, there's a simple thing you can do to help prevent this kind of tragedy. All you have to do is cut or rip the sides of your food bags open before you toss them. A chip bag with the sides open is just a strip of plastic or foil. Not nearly as dangerous.