TBT: Brisbane's Litter

There were seven puppies in Brisbane's litter, he was the third born to a lovely red heeler in an oops litter sired by a dog that looked a lot like a beagle. I went to visit them when they were four weeks old.

Brisbane in my lap, two white puppies and Rebel eating my backpack.

Unfortunately digital cameras were not quite as ubiquitous nine years ago. I only have a few film pictures of Brisbane and his brothers and sisters, and some digital shots from when they were six weeks old. I don't know exactly what they looked like when they grew up, and I was unable to keep in touch with their new owners. I'm still looking for them though, and every time I see a dog of the right age and coat color I have to look at these pictures again to compare markings.

Brisbane and all three white puppies.

There were three white puppies with markings on their faces, two blues and one red. The red-freckled white puppy had a patch over its left eye. The blues each had a spot or seriously freckled spot over their left eyes too. All three white puppies had heavily ticked ears and noses. Purebred heeler puppies are born white with solid markings, and then all their white areas begin to develop ticking right away. These dogs are probably still predominantly white rather than ticked all over.

Rebel at four weeks.

That heavily ticked blue puppy is Rebel, he was given to his breeder's daughter. He had a full black mask, tan points, and a black spot at the base of his tail. Rebel had very heavy, floppy hound ears and a domed skull that made him look very houndy despite his heeler markings.

Savannah was the only solid-colored puppy. She had the same domed skull and floppy ears that made everyone suspect that the father of the litter was a beagle mix.

Savannah at four weeks.

Savannah was a red puppy with white on all four feet, her chest, muzzle, tip of her tail, and a spot on top of her head. The white went further up the right side of her face than the left. She had ticking on her little white feetsies and probably developed freckles on her face and chest. The white on her left front foot went up higher than on her right front foot. Savannah went to a school teacher in Santa Barbara County somewhere.

Savannah and Rebel had much shorter coats than any of the other puppies. The white puppies had the longest and fluffiest coats.

I don't think I ever scanned my only picture of the seventh puppy. She was a lot like Brisbane, same curly medium-length coat, white in the same places, but she was black with tan points rather than sable.

Brisbane had a lot more white on him as a puppy than he has now as an adult. The white streak on his head separated into a white spot and a ticked blotch on the back of his neck. I suspect his brothers and sisters also got a bit more color and a bit less white as they grew up.

I know that Brisbane's breeder and her family moved to Idaho not long after the puppies went to their new homes. Rebel and the tricolored sister probably moved to Idaho as well. Savannah and the three white puppies may still be living in Santa Barbara county. If so, they would be nine years old now, and depending on the care they received they could look as youthful as Briz or much older. I would love to see them.

Product Review: Earthdog Decorative Hemp Adjustable Collar

The Earthdog Decorative Hemp Adjustable Collar is made from hemp webbing with a plastic quick-release buckle and decorative trim overlay. This collar comes in three sizes and 24 different styles. The company makes matching leashes, harnesses, martingale collars, and couplers, as well as solid-colored untrimmed versions of all these products.

Photo by Erin Koski

I love the way Earthdog's collars look, and they are very popular. I see them on dogs everywhere, and the star, crown, and daisy patterns seem to be the most popular. Brisbane's Earthdog collar is a less common pattern, but it is easily one of the most unique and creative. Each of Earthdog's trims is named after a specific dog, and my favorite is called Avery. It is a fabulous twist on the overdone skull and crossbones theme, featuring a dog skull. Totally different, right? I have a coyote skull sitting on my bookshelf right now, and I can confirm that this design is accurate.

Photo by Erin Koski

These collars are very durable, though I did see the leash ring fall off one at work once. The dog in question never had a leash attached to his Earthdog collar, but he did have two extremely heavy tags swinging from is for well over a year before the fabric eventually wore through. I have never seen the trim overlay take any damage, and Brisbane has not clawed his up even with his super-pointy nails.

Pros: Unique and creative designs, machine washable, and made in the USA. These collars also hold their size very well and don't slip wen adjusted.

Cons: Hanging excessively heavy stuff on the leash ring might lead to unnecessary wear and tear, though that could have been a product flaw. I don't believe the owners of that collar ever followed up with the company, though.

Bottom Line: This is Brisbane's default collar. When he's not dressed in My Little Ponies, he's usually wearing his Avery dog skull Earthdog collar.

Allergy Alert! Taste of the Wild Has Changed!

I was discussing dog food with a friend, and mentioned that foster dog Uly was eating Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain kibble because it was egg-free as well as poultry-free. She asked if it contained flaxseed, so I looked up the ingredients on the Taste of the Wild website. I read ingredient labels constantly because poultry and eggs are in pretty much everything, so I was very surprised to find egg listed in the ingredients. All of the Taste of the Wild canned foods have egg in them, so I checked and double-checked that I was looking at the kibble ingredients and not the canned Sierra Mountain label. Finally I went and checked the bag I have here, and there was no mention of egg in the ingredients.

I emailed Taste of the Wild asking if the food had changed. They apparently added egg recently, so I will no longer be able to consider Taste of the Wild in the purple bag to be Briz-safe. Such a disappointment, but I'm glad I caught it now. I have updated my list of Brisbane-safe foods to reflect the change. The Pacific Stream and Pacific Stream Puppy foods are still safe. I do wish that dog food companies would make it a standard practice to inform the public about changes like this.