The Dog Food Test Begins!

Oh Boy! A big box of Pinnacle®Holistic Pet Nutrition arrived today for the big dog food test that will be Francesca's first foodie review.

The big box arrived and we opened it. And.... there were TWO BAGS of food inside! Two bags of Salmon and Potato food. First Francesca looked at the bags and thought the design was beautiful! She loved the dogs on the bags.

Is this all for me?

As soon as she said, "Is this all for me?" I jumped in and offered to help her out. Since I am so gracious and a more delicate eater, I offered to take the smaller of the two bags! See how nice I, Cinnamon, am?

Here I am offering to help Francesca with taste tests.

So watch for our foodie adventure and, Lord willing, watch for Francesca's article!

Love, Cinnamon

Wordless Wednesday: Does Francesca Study Yoga?

Francesca's Sleeping Position: The inside out ear with a twisted torso.
I think she must be a contortionist or maybe she takes yoga!

I've Been Hacked: Francesca is suspended!

I was outside taking a sunbath and came back in to find the blog post below. I was appalled! I was embarrassed so say the least.

My apologies go out to my readers for teenage Francesca's ranting and poor choice of language. As of now, I've changed my password and put Francesca on suspension for one week. She will not be writing until she learns the benefits of proper editing. She can tell her story, eventually, but it will be done CORRRECTLY!

And as far as her slanderous comments about MY behavior, don't I look innocent?

Innocence personified!

Love, Cinnamon, Blog owner, editor and writer

Francesca hacks into Cinnamon's account and tells all!

Hi it's me, Francesca. Cinnamon is out sunbathing so I came in to do some writing. Bwahaha! I am doing MY OWN WRITING! I want to tell you all about that middle aged goody goody, Cinnamon. She's a piece of work, I tell you!

This is what I do when my owner is not in the room!

First of all, she forces me to write in HER STYLE. I like to write with my own voice, as they called it in journalism school. Yeah, I went to college but dropped out to run the streets with my homies. When I write something, Cinnamon's all... "You have to re-write that and correct the grammar!" Screw her. No one wants to read her perfectly composed little blog posts! My friends are like... "Write something cool, Francesca... and we'll read the blog every day!"

Well, I thought I'd tell you how I ended up on a 40 ft. tie out leash in MY OWN BACKYARD! It's all Cinnamon's fault. This is what she did. So there was this squirrel in one of the trees that hang over my back fence. (Actually they are just rats with fuzzy tails) and Cinnamon starts howling like a country coon dog (which she isn't). I was new at the house so I figured that was what we were to do.... act like idiots when a we saw a squirrel. So that's what I did.

Cinnamon would start baying and I would start barking. So then she'd stop, knowing our owner would come out to quiet us down. But I didn't know that so I would keep barking and get in trouble. Meanwhile Cinnamon would just stand there and smirk. What an a_s!

So then it got worse. Cinnamon knew that I was a Treeing Walker Coonhound so she said... "Go get the squirrel, Francesca!" And I did. I looked up in the tree and then summoned my superdog bouncing powers and bounced myself over the 6 ft. back fence. Cinnamon howled and howled so, of course, our owner came out and got all upset.

Here I am summoning my superdog bouncing powers!

I found my self in the neighbor's backyard. It was fully of peanut shells, but no squirrel. I got in trouble. I got leashed up and marched right back home.

The next week Cinnamon did it again. "Francesca... go get the squirrel, she said!" So, again, I got really bouncey and, you guessed it... over the fence! This time Cinnamon barked the alarm and then the wimpy little dog in the neighbor's yard started barking too. He sized me up and threated to call his gang members to get me. My owner came over and apologized to the neighbor with the wimpy gang dog and I was glad to go home. (The wimpy little dog was throwing gang signs)

So, since my owner is afraid to upset the neighbors, she went to Petco and bought me a 40 ft. lead for when I am loose in the yard. Of course she checks on me to make sure I don't get tangled up or anything but I've resigned myself to being a prisoner in my own yard while Cinnamon, the b_t_h, goes free. She's all... "you deserve it Francesca!"

So that's the truth. It's all Cinnamon's fault. She's not all sweet and nice like some people think.

Oh oh, here comes my owner! I'd better get off the computer...

Love, Cool Francesca, who tells it like it is! #realfrancesca #cooldogblogger

Sensitive Francesca writes about a new grain-free healthy food #PinnacleHealthyPets

We all know how important a grain-free diet is to us dogs. We all know that healthy is better. But I lean toward the foods that also taste good! This one sounded like a winner so I am asking Francesca to take over and do HER FIRST EVER FOOD ARTICLE!

This post is sponsored by Pinnacle and the BlogPaws Professional Pet Blogger Network. I, Francesca, am being compensated for helping create awareness about Pinnacle's Newly Formulated Grain Free Dog Food, but Coonhound Tales only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Pinnacle is not responsible for the content of this article.

Hi, It’s me, Francesca. Food is always on my mind.  When I was in the shelter I learned about food. I learned that they would feed me on a regular schedule. But once I arrived to live with Cinnamon, I found out that only certain foods will keep me healthy. 

I’m young now but I want to live to a ripe old age and keep chasing those squirrels and playing at the dog park.

Since I’m new around here, I just found out about Pinnacle®Holistic Pet Nutrition. They’ve been making holistic pet food since 1998, though, with some very healthy ingredients.  But now all their foods are GRAIN FREE! That means that Cinnamon and I will have an easy time of digesting the food. Sometimes our stomachs get sensitive (and our feelings too!).

This is their logo.
Kind of looks like the food triangle for a healthy diet, doesn't it?

Since May this year Pinnacle has made only grain free foods. Here’s all the other healthy goodies they put in and some things they do to make sure I will be a healthy coonhound:

- Quality ingredients like Quinoa, Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Sea kelp, Cottage Cheese

- Natural, healthy recipes that use high quality proteins

- Antioxidants to support healthy immune system

- Fiber to encourage healthy digestion and small stool

- Promotes general joint health and overall muscle tone

The only time I'm not thinking about food is when I'm playing.
I want to keep romping with Cinnamon for many years so we
really are particular about having a well-balanced diet.

This is the food I want to try. The dogs on the package
look like my neighbor, Callie!

I haven’t had the pleasure of trying Pinnacle yet but I sure am going to. It sounds good… especially the trout and sweet potato. 

So how am I going to try it? And how can you? Well, here's where you can buy Pinnacle. And, here's a $5 off coupon to help you pay for your first item.

When I get my bag of food, I'll be letting you know what I think. So far, after doing ALL THIS RESEARCH, I know I'm going to like it. And, if I'm in the mood, I might even share some with Cinnamon.... maybe.

When I try out a new food I always mix my old food and my new food together for the first week or so. Remember, I have a sensitive stomach so a quick change might upset my cute little tummy.

So now I've made myself really hungry. It must be dinner time by now, isn't it?

I'm going to follow Pinnacle on Facebook to keep up with their foods and to look for specials. You can too!

Love, Francesca, the Sensitive Foodie

How Do You Know Your Dog has Tapeworms? And What do You Do?

I know Francesca has cooties.
But this is even WORSE!

What? Tapeworms in MY family? Tapeworms in dogs are not as rare as you might think. However, their life cycle involves fleas and that is why I am so surprised. Both Francesca and I are on systemic flea medication… one pill every 12 weeks.

Warning: This is a graphic discussion of dog poop and tapeworms which may offend some humans.

So this morning my owner became alarmed when she saw a small grain of a rice type organism in Francesca’s poop. I have to say that Francesca had been annoying me a lot lately by licking her behind. Now I know that is another symptom of tapeworms.

I read on the Internet that when you tell your veterinarian there's rice in your dog’s poop, a diagnosis of tapeworm is likely.  They say that Tapeworm is pretty common and that it is a parasite carried by fleas. (We don’t have fleas!).

So here’s what they say about a dog with tapeworms. The dog shed tapeworm segments in her feces. You may find segments on his buttocks and bed.  (YUCK!) The segments are initially white with a rice-like appearance. As the tapeworm segment dries, the color changes to gold. Your dog may frequently lick his anus or scoot his butt across the carpet to relieve irritation caused by tapeworms. Most dogs do not have other symptoms, but acting sick or irritable with mild diarrhea is possible.  Here’s more information.

A process of several steps must take place before your dog is infected. The feces of an infected dog have tapeworm segments that have eggs in them. Flea larvae in the environment eat the eggs. Later they become adult fleas that your dog might ingest. And that is how the tapeworm gets started in your dog’s tummy.

I was appalled that Francesca had this horrible parasite. And, of course, I was really worried that I would “catch it.” So, although I laughed to my self when Francesca had to go to the vet, I wanted some advice for ME too!

When they got back they had two medicine vials. One was for me (2 pills) and one was for Francesca (one pill). Turns out that the medication is prescribed by weight. And I am a bit heavier (it’s all muscle) than Francesca. The vet said that even if Francesca is on flea medication, she may have picked up the parasite when she was running loose on the roads in Yamhill county.

So we got the pills with our breakfast and I feel much better psychologically. I know now that if I had any tapeworms inside me, they will be DEAD, DEAD, DEAD.

So that’s over… one dose and it’s done.

Love, Cinnamon

Wordless Wednesday: Autumn Sunbathing

It's Fall and there is nothing better than an autumn sun bath.