Stupid Freakin’ WordPress

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If you noticed all my comments seemed to be closed, it’s because I made the mistake of actually upgrading my version of WordPress. This is the second time now that running a WP upgrade has set all my comments to ‘off’ – and no, setting them ‘on’ under the discussions panel does not fix the issue. Your only options are to either:

a) hand set each one back to ‘on’

or

b) run this command line via phpMyAdmin:

UPDATE wp_posts SET comment_status=”open”

Either option is a pain in the ass, but I imagine ‘b’ is even more so for anyone for whom running phpMyAdmin is not an option.

I really wish WP would get this glitch in order, because I am getting tired of dealing with it.

So, while I dick around with this, why not enjoy some lovely photos of Bunny’s puppies, enjoying the great outdoors.

Barring that, enjoy this recipe for red beans and rice, which is what I currently have simmering upstairs in the crock pot, to be served alongside some fresh baked crusty bread.

* 2 cups dried red beans
* 7 cups water
* 1 smoked pork hock
* 3 celery ribs, finely chopped
* 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
* 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped 2 bay leaves ( we skip the green pepper, because Sean thinks it’s the devil’s vegetable)
* 3 fresh thyme sprigs
* 3 oregano sprigs
* 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
* 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
* 1/2 tablespoon Tabasco sauce or to taste
* 1 lb smoked dry sausage – andouille or similar. I used smoked chipotle turkey sausage.
* 6 cups cooked white rice

Directions

1. soak beans overnight in water to cover. Put beans in crock pot then cover with water.
2. Add all remaining ingredients (except rice) to slow cooker and cook 6-8 hours until beans are very tender.
3. Mash some red beans against the side of the pan, to thicken the gravy. Add sausage to pan, cook on low one more hour.
4. Remove and discard bay leaves, oregano and thyme. Taste, adjust seasoning if needed.
5. Divide rice among shallow bowls, spoon beans and rice over rice and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Delilah Pup Video Debut – and attack of the killer Pickle!

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Delilah’s puppies, in their very first video appearance.

See it after the cut, or on YouTube.

btw, music is “Elle Panique“, by Olivia Ruiz.

ps: added secret bonus video!

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French Bulldog Movie Time!

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It’s time for a Frenchie movie – here are Bunny’s puppies, enjoying some floor time. Make sure to keep an eye out for Hugo discovering how to climb into the crinkly cat tunnel.

Movie after the break.

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Pickle is Possibly Just Picky

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Pretty Pretty Pickle Puppy

I found an interesting article on ‘forced weaning’. It seems to sum up all of Pickle’s symptoms quite perfectly, and would suggest that, in many cases, this is a psychological or behavioral issue, rather than physiological.

It goes something like this…

Puppy isn’t eating well.
Owner feeds puppy.
Puppy resists, owner force feeds puppy.
Puppy resists more strenuously, owner force feeds more often and more vigorously.

Puppy comes to associate eating with unpleasantness, and balks at any suggestion of food, causing owner to continue force feeding, with escalation of puppy’s behavior.

It does seem to make sense, doesn’t it?

One of the suggestions on how to break the cycle is to introduce a new food puppy has never tried before, and then feed that food with a strict ‘hands off’ approach. No hand feeding, no coaxing – just put it down, and leave it. Since I’ve hand fed Pickle all of the foods I normally would feed a puppy (raw, pablum with baby food, hamburger, etc), I decided to try some kibble.

I soaked some Pro Plan Selects puppy in goats milk, mushed it up with a fork, and put it down in a bowl. All of the other puppies rushed for the dish, as usual. Pickle seemed about to, but then noticed me at the side of the whelping box, and wandered over to see what I was up to. Since I was obviously a distraction, I left the room, steeling myself to just leave them alone for a good five minutes.

When I returned, I found Pickle ankle deep in the food bowl, along with the rest of her siblings. She might not have eaten as much as they did, but the fact that she ate anything, willingly and without being hand fed or force fed from a syringe, is a phenomenal start.

It would be ironic if all of this stress has been caused by the simple fact that Pickle is picky. Ironic isn’t really the word I’m looking for here, either – tragic, perhaps. Or seriocomedic.

New pictures of the puppies on Flickr, or below the cut in a slide show.

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Pickle is Still Baffling Us

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So, Pickle saw the vet yesterday, and basically all we got were a list of things that are NOT wrong with her, after an examination, ultrasound and full blood panel.

It’s not…

a heart defect
pyloric stenosis
pneumonia
a cleft palate
a liver shunt (as best we can tell, with the tools available and her age, and her lack of specific symptoms)

Her blood levels are all normal, although she is underweight, lacking muscle tone and her protein levels are a bit low.

So, looks like she’s just anorexic… or else it really is a mystery condition.

She got a shot of Convenia, on the basis that:

a) it can’t hurt
b) her lungs were a little bit raspy…

So, now we wait and see. She’s on a/d, along with some balls of ground hamburger, which she eats willingly in tiny portions (but even that is a start).

Thanks SO much to everyone who has phoned or emailed with suggestions. We appreciate them all – ok, maybe not the veterinarian. I’m not sure he was prepared for a client who pulled out a list of questions, suggestions, and print outs from the internet.

After a moment of baffled silence, I said to him “This must be every vet’s worst nightmare – a pushy dog breeder with access to google and a mailing list with 600 other breeders on it”. He coughed politely, but did NOT disagree. Then we spent ten minutes debating if Convenia was still off label for respiratory conditions, with him swearing it wasn’t, and me swearing it WAS. He coughed politely once again when a look at the packaging materials proved I was right, and then said “I think from now on I’ll be better prepared when you breeders come in for appointments”.

He was very nice about, considering I’d never met him before. Well, until I mentioned that we feed raw food, but that’s another story. Let’s just say we agreed to disagree.

Pickle gained almost 20 grams overnight, so yay for that, even though a/d is not my go to food of choice. Apparently, though, if I feed her raw the vet is convinced aliens will explode from her chest.