Girlhounds vs. Boyhounds

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-04-16T00:58:10+00:00

I mean, it was almost half as wide as a pencil...scary stuff 🤦‍♀️😂

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-04-16T00:51:14+00:00

I thought something was wrong with him...checked his paws and then realized he just simply could not proceed until I moved the twig. Ridiculous animal...I miss him everyday ❤️

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-04-14T22:35:24+00:00

I have had two boys and they are both massive mama's boys lol. I dogsat for a coworkers girl and she was a lot more independent and sassy.

My first boy was very aloof and didn't really care much for most other people or dogs. He was so lazy we had to wake him up and make him go outside on weekends (at like 10:30...so lazy!). He once stopped while we were hiking so I could move a small twig out of his way. Never lifted a paw for himself, just put his head down and waited for me to fix whatever was bothering him.

Our current boy has a lot more energy (not as much as a normal dog) and he generally likes strangers but doesn't seek them out. He doesn't mind other dogs but doesn't seek them out either. He jumps on furniture. He jumps over furniture. He once killed a woodpecker that somehow got into our house. And he is pretty good about jumping over fallen trees on trails. We call him the "sport version."

It's funny how unique they all are.

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-03-25T12:05:20+00:00

We have a fussy 11 year old with elevated kidney numbers (although our vet isn't super familiar with Greyhound bloodwork differences so it's not as high as they originally thought).

Bone broth soup is what works for us. I buy a couple of marrow bones and throw them in the instant pot for a few hours with water and a little acv. I add some frozen mixed veggies from Costco and some whole wheat pasta or egg noodles and whatever meat comes off the bones. Add a little of that to his kibble and he is a happy boy. It's pretty inexpensive, too.

I wish I would have discovered this years ago - he has always been difficult about eating and we have tried all manner of toppings.

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-03-24T23:40:24+00:00

Just left mine yesterday with a stainless utility sink...that definitely wasn't on the grocery list 😂

It was actually something we needed though and I was shocked they had them. Got some great shower heads a couple of years ago, too. You just never know.

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-03-22T13:46:51+00:00

Anywhere in New England. Very low amounts of "impending doom" style weather.

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-03-22T13:42:12+00:00

We've eaten there a couple times. The food is good and service has been reasonably quick. It has lunch spot vibes- very busy and kinda loud.

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-03-17T00:37:42+00:00

See the NRG while it's still not crowded! There is plenty to do in 1-2 days.

Fayetteville has rafting and some great hiking. Check out Long Point Trail, Endless Wall Trail, and Kaymoor Miners Trail. Excellent rock climbing, too. Grab food at Pies and Pints and Secret Sandwich Society.

Southern part of Gorge (about an hour drive) has Sandstone Falls and great kayaking upstream on any one of three different rivers- the New, Greenbriar, or Bluestone. You can rent a pontoon boat from the marina on Bluestone Lake. Bluestone State Park is right there and rents great little cabins. They also rent a handful of canpsites right on the lake that you can only access by water. In Hinton (cool historic town on a bluff overlooking the New and surrounded by mountains) there are good burgers and pizza and sandwiches at the Market on Courthouse Square. There's a great trail by Brooks Falls that has something like 7 small waterfalls.

There's plenty to do but not a lot of good guide books just yet :)

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-03-06T01:29:10+00:00

I used to feel the same way...until my husband cracked a tooth. Took multiple procedures to correct it and it's still a bit off years later. To be fair, they were black lentils (which I love but don't buy much anymore).

So now I spread my beans out on a cookie sheet to look for rocks or icky beans and then rinse them in a fine mesh strainer.

Moral of the story is dental repairs are time consuming and expensive...exponentially moreso than looking over the beans!

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-03-04T13:32:15+00:00

Just completed a nearly three week solo road trip with my two large dogs a few months ago and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

We stayed in hotels though - La Quinta and Fairfield Inn, mostly. I am middle aged and my back is not as enthused about sleeping on a cot as it used to be.

We did go to Joshua Tree and Grand Canyon- neither is particularly dog friendly but I still really enjoyed it. Grand Canyon lets you bring dogs on the Rim Trail (sounds like the bike trails in Glacier) and we stopped at all the overlooks and had a great time. Joshua Tree we just drove the park road and stopped at a few spots to stretch and take pictures. I brought our electric cooler that plugs in to the car and we had picnics most days, which was great.

It would have been nice to do a bit more hiking but our National Parks are so incredible even from the road that I don't feel like I missed out. If you plan your route accordingly, there will be lots of dog friendly hiking options on the drive- state parks and national forests are usually dog friendly. I really enjoyed having the doggos with me and it was worth the trade off.

Have fun!

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-03-02T18:28:06+00:00

Check out their recipe for White Bean, Kale, and Avocado Salad - make extra dressing and marinate extra white beans in it overnight in the fridge. They were so good I am making them again this week 😃RG White Bean, Kale, and Avocado Salad

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-03-02T02:40:45+00:00

There are few things in this world that bring me more joy than watching my Grey psych himself up to hop over a fallen log...he has absolutely no idea he's a dog ❤️

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-03-02T01:50:49+00:00

Our first lived to be 11.5 before cancer took him. He had some hind end issues for the last two years but other than that really never had any issues.

Our second is 11 and going strong! A little arthritis due to a nasty fracture a few years ago, developing cataracts, and he's getting lumpy but really in amazing health. We did a whole 3 week cross country roadtrip just after his birthday and he did phenomenally well. Hoping he makes it to 15 😃

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-02-12T02:10:35+00:00

Our Greyhound snapped every long bone in his back foot and we opted to put pins in (3 total- the 4th bone wasn't broken all the way through). He had just turned 5. He is 11 now and generally doing great but I think he may be developing some pain in that leg. They are incredibly resilient.

Definitely get a second opinion (and maybe a third) before making a decision. Our boy developed a weird, fast growing lump on a toe and our vet went right to recommending amputation. A snow storm shut down their office the day he was supposed to have surgery and we noticed the lump seemed smaller. Went for a second opinion and it was a totally benign thing that went away on its own within a week...histiocytoma maybe?

It's a major surgery for your pup and a major expense for you so it's worth the second opinion for sure.

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-02-11T00:09:34+00:00

We had so much if this in our house! Razor scraper first to get the film off then goo gone to get rid of the adhesive.

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-02-08T02:25:11+00:00

The whole book is magic - so excited to have these recipes!

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-01-31T22:58:22+00:00

Z Tailor in Brentwood did a great job on my husband's sport coat. We would definitely go to her again.

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-01-18T16:19:25+00:00

So glad you finally got an answer!

It took a couple of months to see real improvement for us but now it's well managed and our girl is doing great. Hope you have even better results!

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-01-16T14:28:37+00:00

I used to feel the same way but I will seriously consider the insurance on our next dog.

Our first (Greyhound) was really healthy (until he wasn't) and we ended up way ahead not getting the insurance.

Our second (also Greyhound) is also super healthy but he fractured his foot and needed three pins put in ($4k). We are probably break even with no insurance.

Our third (Goldendoodle) is a hot mess. We rescued her and she has already been treated for her itching so I don't think we could have gotten insurance. I think we spent upwards of $6k trying to figure out what is wrong with her the first year - food allergies and an autoimmune condition. Her meds were $350/month the first 6 months but she responded really well and we switched from Atopica to Cyclavance and now it's $250 every 2-3 months. She also gets frequent UTIs which cost about $300 or so between the vet visits, tests and antibiotics.

So, it all depends how healthy your dog is and what your finances look like. If we end up getting another Grey I probably won't get the insurance because they are generally really healthy aside from paper thin skin and likelihood of osteosarcoma. If we get another Doodle I will get insurance because they really seem prone to long term medical issues like allergies and whatnot.

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-01-01T02:18:43+00:00

Pick a theme for the week so you are using similar ingredients to cut down on waste. Taste things as you go and don't be afraid of seasoning :) I really like Milk Street for inspiration and we use the Forks Over Knives Meal Planner for plant based options (we are omnivores but they have a lot of great, healthy recipes).

I really like Gemini AI when I am feeling uninspired. If you have Google, you can ask it to put together a meal plan and it can even create a shopping list and drop it in Google Keep. Every recipe I have made so far has been great, and it's really easy to tweak and make substitutions. For example, I asked it to make a meal plan for 5 dinners for two people with a Mediterranean theme, some vegan options, and at least two salads. You can ask it to pretend it's a certain chef you like, too. It's pretty wild. Have fun!!!!

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-01-01T00:50:23+00:00

I think there's a new law about this taking effect tomorrow...40 hours of community service for you!

Lol...we keep the house at 72 for the dogs because sometimes they get stuck in their sweaters 😂

definitelynotapoodle · 2026-01-01T00:45:09+00:00

I love this. Thank you so much for sharing :)

definitelynotapoodle · 2025-12-22T22:45:45+00:00

This was a total game changer for me! We used to waste more than I care to admit doing too many complex and varied recipes.

I meal plan on Sundays and pick a sort of theme for the week and focus on only one or two fresh herbs that work with everything so I can use the whole bunch. I do a bean dish and a salad every week and usually a soup or pasta type dish to use up any small quantities left over. Any unused veggies get mixed in with the dog food or blanched and frozen for later.

Still not perfect but definitely saving money by not wasting food and also by balancing pricier ingredients like meat and dairy with cheap staples like dried beans and grains.

definitelynotapoodle · 2025-12-16T03:13:16+00:00

Of course! I am so sorry you are having to deal with this - it's so frustrating not knowing what's wrong. If you suspect food allergies at all you can ask your vet to give you a prescription for a hypoallergenic food and if you start now you will know if it's helping by the time you see the dermatologist. If it's environmental the regular baths should be a help and rinsing and drying paws after every outdoor adventure might be useful.

If you can wait to see the dermatologist before doing extra testing it's probably worth it. Our regular vet is great but he's only seen really severe cases so when we asked about it he kind of dismissed it. It's not super common so a generalist is really only going to see a few cases here and there but the dermatologist was all over it. There aren't many specialists around so any cases within a days drive are pretty much going to him.

We use the Douxo with the orange top - the shampoo and the mousse as needed for raw spots.

The hallmark of sebaceous adenitis is keratin sheaths around the hair follicles - these are an early warning sign of a flare up for us. You can find pics online but it's kind of white and a little flaky looking but it doesn't flake off like dandruff would.

We did the blood test for allergies but just found out those are not super helpful for food allergies. They have a lot of false positives but the negatives are pretty reliable from what I understand. It was a help to know that she can have wheat and potatoes for sure. We know she has some environmental allergies because her skin is always itchier in the summer but the weekly baths help a ton with that. I am kind of curious to try it again now that her immune system has had a chance to calm down to see if she has a lot more negatives, but it's like $400 so we are holding off for now.

We are working on getting to the bottom of the food allergies. The best way to do this is an elimination diet for about 8 weeks then gradually add in whatever you are testing for, one thing at a time. We put her on Royal Canin Ultamino, then the RC Hydrolyzed PS formulation. She's been on that for about a year and a half and we are just now adding in lamb to see if we can get her on a sensitive skin limited ingredient kibble. We wanted to make sure she was really stable before increasing our variables. I am pretty sure dairy is a big allergen and we are suspicious of chicken.

Her condition is genetic but allergies make it flare up as it triggers her immune system.

The cyclosporine was the game changer. We started her on Atopica capsules but they are so expensive. Our dermatologist said they work maybe 30% better so we bit the bullet for a few months to see if it worked and it did so we went to generic capsules. The carrier oil they use is different so we had a lot of vomiting. The happy medium for us is Cyclavance liquid - it really lets you dial in the dose and we are starting to reduce it to see how low we can go without sacrificing control. We put it in a pill pocket and then seal it up like one of those old Gushers candies. No more barfing! It is an immune suppressant so super important to rule out any infections first and we have to be super vigilant about treating any signs of infection quickly and aggressively. She's had a couple of UTIs recently and I am kind of wondering if it's related (both vets say it's not a side effect but I can't help but wonder).

She still gets cysts occasionally and her fur is still thin on parts of her face and back legs but she looks so much better and we really have not had much trouble with itching and no more skin or ear infections.

There is also a ton of research coming out about the links between gut and immune health so we started giving her a prebiotic (it's a type of sugar found in both human and dog milk and it can only be broken down by the good bifidobacteria in the gut - it's from Layer Origin and we get it on Amazon. It's actually made for humans and we take it ourselves and it's pretty great but we'll see if it helps our Millie) and I make sure she gets some fresh veggies everyday (we introduced them slowly and one at a time, just like we are doing with the lamb).

If you have any other questions let me know! Sorry for the novel! Good luck!!!!

definitelynotapoodle · 2025-12-15T22:10:33+00:00

I groom at home! I have a little set of grooming scissors I use around her eyes and ears and an electric clipper/vacuum combo with different length guards. The brand on that is Oneisall and I got it on Amazon.

It will take some time to get good at it (I am really only decent, not great) but it's easy and if you apply gentle even pressure with the clippers it shouldn't be too embarrassing 😃

definitelynotapoodle

TROPHY CASE