My Dog Digs Del Ray

My husband and I, along with our two dogs and two cats live in a magical place called Del Ray – at least the dogs think it’s magical.  My husband and I think it’s a wonderful place to live and the cats are very happy with the urban wildlife they watch from their various indoor perches.

Del Ray is a front porch neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia – a couple miles from historic Old Town, a couple of miles from the Pentagon and about 6 miles from the U.S. Capitol.  Our inside the beltway oasis, “Where Main Street Still Exists”, features tree lined streets, pocket parks and is home to some of the area’s best restaurants, shops, and dog friendly stops. 

 Our neighborhood was once home to a race track (our 1920 Bungalow is built on one of the turns). Gambling, drinking and the various nefarious activities that come with gambling and drinking were once the order of the day for Del Ray.  The majority of Del Ray's inhabitants worked at the Potomac Yard rail yard -- the rail yard's carpenter built and lived in the house across from ours.  His granddaughter owned it and ultimately sold it in the mid-1990s. 
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2012/aug/23/hidden-history-st-asaph-racetrack/

A century later -- the President  frequently stops by for pizza, a burger, or frozen custard.  And our little neighborhood is often featured on HGTV’s House Hunters.   https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=del+ray+alexandria+va+house+hunters

With every season there is a celebration in Del Ray.  In the spring we have the House Tour, the summer brings A Taste of Del Ray and First Thursdays.  The first First Thursday of the summer season honors our canines -- Dog Days of Del Ray.  Local businesses lure dogs and owners with agility courses, first aid for dogs, treats, toys and demonstrations. Area rescue groups line the streets with adoptable dogs and cats -- for the rare family that has neither, or more than likely, needs another!
In the fall, it’s Art on the Avenue, a Halloween parade and the annual Turkey Trot 5 mile run.  Winter and the holidays bring a tree lighting and our main street lined with luminaries.  Our farmer’s market operates year round and serves as the Saturday morning gathering place.  

 

Lest you think these celebrations are small neighborhood gatherings, the First Thursday festivals are typically enjoyed by over 1,000 people, the Turkey Trot boasts 5,000 runners, the Halloween parade has upwards of 8,000 attendees, and I am told that Art on the Avenue draws as many as 30,000 people to our neighborhood.  They are also dog friendly, because everyone in Del Ray has a dog!

Art on the Avenue

Walk down Mt Vernon Avenue, or The Avenue, as well call it and your dog will pull you into the bank,  dry cleaner, hardware store, garden shop, pharmacy, boutique, bike shop, car dealer, coffee shop, or duh – the natural pet food or dog accessory store, because they all have TREATS!

The Greener Cleaner

Our Neighborhood Hardware Store and the Purple Goose, a children's clothing store

Boomer at United Bank, politely making a withdrawal

 

We typically begin our mornings at St Elmo’s Coffee Pub, where  dogs await their reward for, well, waiting while humans get their lattes.   Owners pay it forward by ensuring the free treat jar is always filled for not only the next day, but the next dog and owner that stop in.

St Elmo's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Del Ray is also home to the area’s first dog park.  A group of frequent users are working with the City of Alexandria  to raise money and make improvements to the park.  From lemonade and coffee sales to t-shirts and a mobile boutique called The Thread Truck (https://www.facebook.com/TheThreadTruck) – Del Ray dog lovers and business owners are working together to ensure the dog park is safe, healthy and fun!

T-Shirts to support the dog park are being sold at  Nature's Nibbles

If you’re hungry for Ethiopian, Thai, French, Mexican, pizza, sushi, barbeque, Italian, burgers, subs , a salad or just a glass of wine and some cheese --  you can find it in Del Ray.  And for the most part – your dog can join you on the patio.  

Del Ray Pizzeria

 

The Del Ray Café, a delicious French restaurant which unfortunately doesn’t have a patio to accommodate dogs, has more than made up for its architectural snafu by creating addictive dog treats.  Created by a classically trained French chef, the Del Ray Café’s dog treats are baked in house and contain chicken liver and bacon (I am told they are delicious).  The friendly staff will see a dog walking outside (sometimes before the restaurant opens) and happily bring them a treat, just another example of the magic of Del Ray.

Del Ray Cafe

To learn more about Del Ray, restaurants, events,  and all our neighborhood has to offer go to www.visitdelray.com.  Bring your dog and spend the day!

 

Dog Friendly Del Ray

Dogs are welcome and/or treats are provided

 

Del Ray Cafe

Nature's Nibbles

The Caboose Café

Cheesetique

Taqueria Poblano

Los Tios

Pork Barrel Barbeque

Holy Cow

St Elmo's Coffee Pub

Del Ray Pizzeria

The Greener Cleaner

The Neighborhood Pharmacy

Kiskadee

Meat on the Avenue

United Bank

Thai Peppers

The Front Porch

Evening Star

The Hardware Store

Bon Vivant Market and Cafe

The Dog Store

The Dog Store

The Del Ray Café

Kaizen Tavern

Velocity Bikes

Walgreen's

Nature's Nibbles

Rosemarino d'Italian

BB&T

Burke and Herbert Bank

Alexandria Hyundai

Greenstreet Gardens of Del Ray

Arlandria Floors

Greenstreet Gardens of Del Ray

Swet Ride

Stomping Ground

Emma's


The Del Ray Famer's Market

(Saturday's 8 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., treats are sold but dogs must be kept outside the market.  Most people safely tie their dogs up around the market's perimeter.  Nearby vendors and neighbors are happy to keep an eye on dogs.)

These market bags are available at the Neighborhood Pharmacy and great for a day of dog friendly shopping.
Dog Friendly Events in Del Ray (check www.visitdelray.com or Visit Del Ray on facebook, for dates and times)

First Thursdays (the first Thursday of every month, May - September 6-9 p.m.)

Art on the Avenue

The Halloween Parade

The Turkey Trot (separate start and registration for runners with dogs)

The Holiday Tree Lighting

Boomer, Kacey and Delta Burke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What else is in your Dog’s Water? Is it safe?

What else is in your Dog’s Water? Is it safe?

 

Our water contains many toxic elements as waste products from chemical, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries. But the issue we do not consider is the toxicity created by our municipal water systems that add fluoride to our drinking water.

 

Fluoride in its natural state is quite harmless, but the fluoride that is added to prevent tooth decay is synthetic. It is a by-product of fluoride gas, which is found commonly used in the aluminum and nuclear industries. It is a waste product of these industries and contains dangerous heavy metals.

 

Most European countries have banned the addition of fluoride to the water supply due to research that shows that fluoride ingestion causes a myriad of diseases. Here is a list of known effects:

•  Bone cancer and osteosarcoma

• Weakening of bones and degenerative conditions like arthritis

• Kidney disease

• Disruption of the endocrine system – effecting the thyroid, adrenals, pancreas, pineal gland and the pituitary gland

• Distortion of brain cells, early dementia and decreased IQ in children

• Increase in free radical production in the brain

Water naturally, makes its way into our food supply.  The effects of fluoride are cumulative and irreversible.  The EPA found significant levels of fluoride in 8 major brands of dog food. The major source of contamination is found in bone meal and in animal by-products.

 

An average 10 pound puppy eating about 1 cup of dog food a day would consume 5 times the safe levels set by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

 

How do you prevent both you and your dog having less exposure to fluoride? Use distilled water or a reverse osmosis system.  Apple pectin, turmeric, parsley and cilantro are some of the natural ways to detoxify and remove fluoride from the body. At Lucky Dog Cuisine, we use only filtered water to make our foods and add herbs and apples to encourage a healthy internal environment and reduce the risk of fluoride exposure.

 

All municipal water treatment facilities post water quality reports and levels of chemicals and additives.  Check with your local plant to see if your area participates in the addition of fluoride to your family’s water.

 

For more information visit The Fluoride Action Network -  www.fluoridealert.org and www.luckydogcuisine.com

 

 

With four years of nutritional training and twenty years as a Doctor of Chiropractic for both humans and animals Dr. Janice Elenbaas is the founder and owner of Lucky Dog Cuisine, and a guest blogger for PawsGo.  

Healthy Natural Dog Food - How to read a label

 

 

These are the scary little things that appear on the back of pet food bags.  Most of the time we want to avoid them since we really don’t want to know what is in most dog foods. And yes, they are written in English, but, unless you have a chemistry degree, you won’t understand half of what is written anyway.  However, be brave and realize that taking the time to figure it out,  may be the key to saving your dog’s life.

Pet food manufacturers list ingredients on the label starting with the highest concentrations first.  That means we want to see things like beef, chicken  salmon etc as the number one  ingredient.  The protein sources should be the number one listing for dog food.  Stay away from foods that are high in by-products.  These are also protein sources, but are of inferior quality to actual ’meat’.  You will see a phrase called “crude protein“.  This does not refer to the type of protein used. It refers to the method used to analyze the total protein.  The percentage of  nitrogen content is measured in a lab.  It is then multiplied by 6.5 to give the percentage of crude protein.

 The two most important factors are not measured. These are the biological value  and the digestibility.  Biological value refers to the amino acid composition.  Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and need to be in correct balance to be useful to the body.  Digestibility determines how well the GI tract can absorb the protein.  It is very hard for the gut to break down the protein in meat by-products.   By-products are things like hair, feathers, feet, tendons - I’m sure you get the picture.

Meat and bone meal are other forms of protein listed on labels.  This is ground bone, gristle, tendons and anything not fit for human consumption that has been through the rendering process.  We discussed the wonders of rendering in the last article.  Anything on a label that says any kind of meal be it lamb, chicken, beef or fish is the cheapest and least nutritious form of protein. So we can see that the source of the proteins are not readily available on most labels.

Grains are other ingredients listed.  They are not all bad for dogs.  Some vegetarian forms of dog food contain lots of grains.  But overall, we would like to see these are secondary ingredients in most dog foods.  The grains used need to also be of good quality since the availability of nutrients is dependent on the digestibility of the grain itself.  We want to see whole grains not pet grade, inferior quality products containing mold and endotoxins.  Pet food manufacturers will also use a variety of ‘spent’ grains as fillers containing very little nutritional value  Spent grains include:

Ÿ  Rice flour- the end process of the milling of rice

Ÿ  Corn gluten meal- left overs from corn processing after the removal of the nutritious layers

Ÿ  Brewer’s rice- discarded rice from the manufacturing of beer

Additives are used to make commercial dog foods to extend shelf life and to make them attractive to the human consumer.  They can be added by the supplier and then again by the manufacturer.  The law does require investigation on the direct effects of additives and preservatives, but what about the combined effects?  We know very little about the synergistic effects of all these chemicals.

 

With four years of nutritional training and twenty years as a Doctor of Chiropractic for both humans and animals Dr. Janice Elenbaas is the founder and owner of Lucky Dog Cuisine.

PawsGo Wine Tasting in Delaplane and Middleburg, Virginia



About an hour's drive from Washington, D.C. is Middleburg, Virginia.  This well-heeled community of horse farms, stone fences, rolling hills, and red-fox memorabilia is also home to numerous inviting and dog-friendly wineries. 

On a sunny Sunday, I convinced my husband, a good friend and our two dogs to join me on a road trip to Middleburg and Delaplane,Virginia.  The dogs (Boomer and Kacey) were easy, I usually have them at "ride."

My husband and our friend proved equally easy -- I had them at "wine."
Not that they are wine snobs, but my husband is from Oregon and Washington and our friend lives in Northern California.  Both have visited their share of wineries and sampled plenty of vintages.  I reminded them both that Virginia has been cultivating grapes for more than 400 years and at least two of our nation's founding fathers (Jefferson and Washington) were vintner-wannabes.  With nearly 200 wineries throughout the Commonwealth, Virginia ranks 5th among the 50 states in wine production.  (can you guess the other 4?)

Rather than determine our stops by type of grape, I chose our wineries based on "pet friendly."  The Virginia Wine website was great.  It broke wineries down by regions and amenities.

 

Our first stop was Aspen Dale in Delaplane. 

This winery has a very charming tasting room (which is a 200 year old barn) and a lovely outdoor area complete with horses and mini-ponies.  The 5 of us were greeted warmly and we began our tasting and pairing.  A very nice touch at Aspen Dale is the pairing.  Just a "taste" to experience how food enhances the wine.  Our tastes included a few bites of cheese, two dried fruits, two pieces of sausage and a chocolate chip -- YUM!  Boomer and Kacey were each given a dog biscuit.  Our final wine was a splash of Sangria.  We promptly purchased 3 glasses of Sangria to drink in the garden as the dogs watched the ponies. 

From Delaplane, we took a two lane road to Middleburg and Cana winery.  Like a modern farm house, the Cana tasting room has multiple levels and outdoor tasting patios -- perfect for dogs.  It's a very new winery and isn't producing grapes.  The wines we sampled were just opened and created from grapes purchased from Virginia and California (there is a consulting winemaker from California).

While at Cana a couple from Northern Virginia suggested we try Boxwood Winery.  They suggested it was "Napa-esque" Boxwood is NOT dog friendly (hence, not on my list), but it is in Middleburg, so we made a stop.  With the a/c on in our Jeep, my husband checked email, the dogs relaxed and our friend and I "tasted." 

Boxwood is very modern with touches of stone and a small tasting area.  It has a much larger outdoor drinking and snacking area (which I thought looked perfect for dogs).  The wine was good and we bought two bottles of their Trellis red blend.

Needing food, we headed to Upperville and the Hunter's Head Tavern -- a pub for pups.  A friend recommended it as having good food and dog-friendly.  It didn't disappoint in either case.  It is warm and welcoming.  Boomer and Kacey received their water before we did!  Dogless diners came over to say hi and those with dogs were just as excited to see ours.  Dogs are welcome on a large patio where seating is first come.  We arrived just after 5:00 p.m. and were quickly seated -- but the place was full.

 Indoors The Hunter's Head has a real pub feel.  The food is locally sourced and organic.  They have a nice selection of beer and wine.  On our trip Boomer and Kacey each enjoyed the Furry Foodie dog meal and locally sourced tap water.  Our human fare consisted of a wedge salad (yum), a burger, fish and chips and chicken fried steak.  A couple of beers and a glass of Malbec completed our meal. 

There are lots of wineries that welcome dogs.  For instance, Barrel Oak Winery hosts rescue groups and has a Bow Wow Red, the proceeds of which go to animal welfare organizations.  At Barrel Oak, dogs are welcome in the tasting rooms -- that's not the case with all wineries.  In addition to looking at the Virginia wine website, I emailed the "pet friendly" wineries to determine exactly where dogs can go.  A day of wine tasting in Virginia was a great way to spend time with human and canine friends, I think all 5 of us would highly recommend it!

 

Boomer was exhausted after this big day, and slept the 50 minutes home.

The Patio at the Hunter's Head Tavern

 

Kacey enjoying her Furry Foodie meal at the Hunter's Head Tavern

 

 

 

 



PawsGo HERDING -- We've Got Our Sheep Together

What happens when a dozen city/suburban dogs try their "paws" at herding sheep?  We found out on a cold Sunday this spring when our Australian Shepherd Meet Up group took our pampered pups to Keepstone Farm in Berryville, Virginia for a herding evaluation. www.keepstonefarm.com

To further illustrate how out of their element our dogs were -- this was a "barkday party" for one of the group.  To put it bluntly, our dogs spend their time herding cats and toddlers -- sheep are something they've only seen in the movie Babe (which by the way they love). http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=8441502

As we gathered around Susan, the owner and trainer, she stated that she would evaluate the dogs for a strong herding instinct and prey drive.  My hand immediately shot up -- "if that prey drive was suddenly awakened, could it be turned on the cats?"  She explained that sheep would be seen as prey -- cats, toddlers etc. are family and therefore part of the pack.  Whew! :)

Three sheep "volunteered" to be herded.  These sheep were, as Susan said, "meat" sheep not "wool" sheep.  These meat sheep had been granted clemency in exchange for being chased by dogs -- seems like a fair trade, although one of them looked like he would have chosen death if given the choice!

By the time Susan had reviewed the rules and stepped in the pen -- instincts kicked in and our dogs knew this was not a movie.  When the barkday dog entered to show her stuff -- her pals were cheering her with a chorus of wimpers and low barks.

Susan kept each dog on a long tether and guided the dog with a variety of voice and movement commands.  She also had "plastic shaky thing on a long stick" that she said she'd use if the dog got out of control -- we didn't have that problem.

As the dogs herded the sheep in all their instinctive glory -- the owner's instincts kicked in as well, we took photos!

The dogs were great.  They clearly loved it.  And we loved seeing how incredibly happy and satisfied they were.  Susan said it was the best group of dogs she had EVER had and that they all passed the evaluation.  We beamed with pride.

 

Afterwards, the dogs got an additional treat, they were invited to run and romp in a HUGE field.  It was a great way to burn off all that sheep fueled adrenalin.

  On April 12 and 13th, Keepstone Farms will host its annual Dog Days.  A fun opportunity to unleash your dog's inner herder!

 

 

 

 

Want to show your love of Aussies?  Purchase this great shirt from PawsGo -- www.pawsgo.com.  Shirts are $20 and half goes directly to Aussie rescue!  Adult sizes.

 

 

 

 

 



PawsGo 5,000 Steps Through First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach, VA

BRRRRR! It's hard to believe it's almost April!  Akira and I took a break from March Madness and took a 5000 step walk through First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach.

First Landing got it's name because (wait for it ...) it is the site of the first landing of the English in 1607 before they made their way up the James River and established the Jamestown Colony.  The park has 19 miles of trails that cover some pretty diverse habitats like salt marshes, maritime forests, bay shores, cypress swamps and dunes.

Akira and I decided the walk the part of the Cape Henry trail toward the Narrows.

 

So here we are at the 1000 steps mark.  With all the forest creatures it's hard to keep focused ...

But we made it to 2000, which is a great spot on Linkhorn Bay with a bench. On warmer days this is a pretty popular beach for Goldens and Labs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are on the bridge.  I've read that hordes of water snakes live below this bridge, YIKES!!  Once it gets warm we'll find other trails to explore!

 

 

 

 

The trail continues to hug the coast line and in warmer weather it's a great place to see Osprey.

And we made it to 2500 steps, the half way mark!

A diversion ... come on Akira, we need to make our way home before the UNC game!

 

4,000 steps, not too much further...

 

 

 

Wendy Johnson & Akira

 

 

 

 

My Journey On Expanding My Dog's Diet by Sarah Mahrle-Thomas

If you are like me you are a dog lover that wants to give your dogs the very best you can.  Finding a healthy diet that is cost effective can be quite the task.  Reading ingredients, checking out the dogfoodadivsor.com site along with keeping up to date with pet food recalls can be very time consuming.  Let’s just say if I was paid for the amount of time I've dedicated to finding the best food for my dogs I would be on vacation rather than living through the coldest winter in Wisconsin!  I don't have all the answers but I'm here to say I completely understand.  I was taught from a young age that you feed your dogs name brand kibble because the dog food companies know how to create a balanced diet that will keep your dog happy and healthy.  Not feeding dog food could result in your dog becoming diseased, obese or dying prematurely.  This teaching was fed to me through other dog lovers, commercials, pet stores and shows about dogs.  Just look at the bag, it shows you all the wonderful things that you are feeding your dogs AND it says it's a balanced diet!  The more money you spend the better the ingredients.  Chicken by product or Duck.  Hmmm...???  Plus when you feed your dog this bag of food they'll bounce around like a puppy and have a beautiful coat.  It's so easy, just open the bag and feed your dog the required amount.  It's how they sell the food.  Images, words and convenience.  Add a smidge of guilt in there since only people that love their dogs feed them the very best.  Kind of makes you feel empty now right?  Yeah, me too. 

Wonderful Rosie

I'm a mother of 4 young children.  My husband and I also have 3 dogs.  Zeus - 13 year old Australian Shepherd, Rosie - 13 year old Labrador Retriever and Bruce - 11 month old Boxer/Mt. Cur mix.  Our Rosie-girl was recently diagnosed with chronic renal failure.  It wasn't a surprise because we noticed she has really shown her age in the past year and having had cats with renal failure I knew the increased water intake was not a great sign.  There is no cure and the only thing a vet can recommend is that we put her on a vet prescribed diet.  I'm not going to knock that advice.  That's what they have in their tool box and they read the packaging that says this is a specifically balanced diet to feed dogs with this certain conditions.  Can you tell I'm a tad cynical when it comes to advertising?  It must be all my years in sales.  ;)  I get it though, this is a product they can offer the average person to feed their pet that is ill.  I let the vet know that I appreciate the offer but I would not be going the route of prescribed diet. 

My sister has fed raw for some time.  I honestly used to listen to the meals she was preparing for her dog and be totally grossed out.  Plus, how realistic is it to prepare these meals when you have a house full of kids?  She didn't even have one child at that time.  Since then she's had a child and even added another dog to her group and she's still feeding raw.  After getting the news about my Rosie-girl I needed to find out more on what kind of diet I need to feed her.  I had a support system, my sister.  I had a way of researching the diet, the internet and books.  Now I had to implement the change. 

 

I feed what I call an enhanced diet.  Basically I still feed kibble, just in smaller amounts.  Then I enhance it with dog friendly foods.  I use the term raw feeding because I don't cook most of the food they eat.  It's also a term most people immediately recognize.  Whereas if I said I feed my dogs a natural diet there would be some question as to what I meant.  I don't doubt that I will feed entirely raw at some point but for now this is what works for my family.   Since I have senior dogs I don't feed raw bones because I don't want any potentially cracked teeth.  Also I have to be very aware of the protein intake for Rosie because of her renal failure.  Since I do feed partial kibble I don't really have to add much protein at all.  Raw beef liver diced up is a favorite in my house.  Rosie also like plain greek yogurt as a midday snack.  Mostly the enhancements that I add are:  boiled rice, diced baked potatoes (sweet potatoes are awesome), shredded lettuce (skip the iceberg), diced apples, sliced bananas, steamed veggies (broccoli, green beans, carrots, etc.), strawberries, pumpkin puree (not pie filling), blueberries.  I use a lot of frozen veggies because I can buy those in bulk and it's more cost effective.

Really just keep it fun.  Familiarize yourself with foods that are dangerous for your dogs to eat so you avoid them all together.  I keep those types of lists handy on my smartphone and laptop.  Incorporate the family.  My kids often ask me for some of the foods like apples, carrots and berries when they see me getting them ready for the dogs.  I much rather my kids be interested in these things than grabbing a pop tart.  Plus my kids get to help pick out these foods when we go to the store.  Make shopping an adventure.  Next time there's a farmers market bring your dog along to go pick out some locally grown fresh produce. 



 

 

Feeding raw can be a scary thing for people.  Plus even my husband can agree that it's gross to watch someone prepare raw meat for future feedings.  You do have to do some work preparing things so the convenience factor is out.  I make it easier for our household by taking some time every few days to prepare the foods and put them in separate containers to keep them in the fridge.  That way each time I go to feed them I take out the containers and scoop out the servings.  Apples or bananas I dice fresh any time I feed them.  The key is remembering that when you feed raw it's balance over time.  It's fun to diversify my dog’s diets and they absolutely love it.  I think that is the thing that really made me stick with it.  They are so happy and loving their food.  They eat all of it and then come over for some hand licking as I pat them.  Even my seniors have great looking coats and are still very active.

 

I'm not knocking people that feed kibble and I'm not saying I'm a dietician.  I just wanted to share my experience with raw feeding.  It seems people either are raw or not.  I just would like to encourage people to learn about raw feeding and how cool it is.  If you need recipes to start from there's plenty available online.  Plus if you want to start small you can even find dog friendly treat recipes too.  Or if you are having a banana and can't quite finish it, don't hesitate to share it with your dog.  :) 

Sarah Mahrle-Thomas lives in Oshkosh, Wisconsin with her husband, four children and three well-fed and happy dogs.  Do you have a blog entry you'd like to share with pawsgo? Email us at mypawsgo@gmail.com, like us on facebook @pawsgo, send us a tweet @mypawsgo, or leave us a comment here!  We'd love to hear from you!