u/Different-Wallaby-10

My JRT weighs 25 lbs. He needs to weigh 22 lbs.

Calculated RER is 400 kcal/day
Calculated MER is 640 kcal/day

I feed him Purina One Healthy Weight (325 kcal/cup) half cup twice daily. Breakfast is around 0700. By noon/early afternoon he is whining for food. I give him 1-1.5 cups of green beans at that time.

By 4:00 he’s whining for food. I feed him dinner at that time.

I walk him 4 miles/day.

When I say he whines for food between meals, I mean he GROANS for food. He searches the house for food. He mouths his food bowl.

I do ignore him. But I promise, I can ignore him until the cows come home and his whining/searching does not relent.

He, like many dogs, does not like my lawn sprinkler. He woke me up at 0400 this morning. Annoyed but proud he alerted me he needed to go potty, I took him out. The sprinklers were on. He didn’t care. He stood midst the sprinklers EATING THE LEAVES OFF A PLANT at 0400 today.

He is hypothyroid, but his T4 is normal on meds.

I’m about to leave now to go read at a coffee shop just to get away from him until dinner time. Either that or let him get obese and be happy.

I cannot feed him less. I worry he’s going to become deficient in something because I’m having to underfeed him.

Please help.

I consider you guys experts in this area. I have two questions. 1) are those carpet freshener powder products bad for carpets? Vacuum cleaners? 2) any advice on buying new carpet for dog owners? I’m considering new carpet and a new Sebo Felix.

I’m looking for one of those old fashioned, southern fried seafood buffets — fried catfish, frog legs, shrimp, stuffed crab, the works. This was a Friday night tradition growing up. Anything like this in central AR?

Zone 8a
Arkansas

I want a couple interesting, unique conifers that can handle our heat and humidity. Any southerners here with success?

I’m in the USA. Two dogs —

1. Billie mix. I’ve had her for almost 9 years. Not sure how old she is. I’ve considered getting one of those dna tests for age determination, but I don’t know their accuracy. No food allergies. She weighs about 48 pounds with a body composition score of 4-5. She is on Librela and Galliprant for arthritis. Also takes Cosequin. I walk her 2-3 miles per day. She gets around ok but does have her slow days.

2. JRT mix is 6 years old. He has a pin in a front leg because of a fracture when a young puppy. He’s also hypothyroid on Thyro-tabs with normal thyroid blood tests. He is around 24.5 pounds. BCS 5-6. He is hungry all the time. Ideally he should be about 22-23 pounds. He, too, is on Librela and Galliprant for arthritis. He is slow on walks but it’s hard to determine if it’s because of pain or just his leg length discrepancy.

Their overall care currently runs me about $600/month for the two of them. I used to feed the a HS perfect weight kibble but stopped because of the expense. For the past year or two I’ve had them on Kirkland weight management kibble for cost and it’s the lowest calorie kibble I could find.

They each get low sodium green beans as a snack mid afternoon to hold them over until dinner time because they are looking for food starting around 1:00 pm.

I’m wondering if I should switch them to a higher quality kibble. Though I am fearful of weight gain and cost if I do so. Any advice is appreciated.

Do any of those tablets work? I need to clean out the dog hair. I know I need to hand scrub some areas, but just curious if those enzymatic tablets are legit.

I currently have a Bissell Powerforce Helix. I want to upgrade to a better vacuum. I have two dogs that shed, so I thought about a Sebo upright, whichever one is recommended for pet owners.

Looks like it will be around $799. If I take the plunge, will my socks be blown off by the difference?

*Sebo

I’ve been looking online at vacuum cleaners like Sebo and Miele. They are $$$. I prefer buying local. Are there any vacuum cleaner sales operations in central Arkansas?

This afternoon I ate at Loca Luna. I ordered a glass of Seghesio Zinfandel with my burger. It was superb. Just the right temp (yes, it matters). Now, I about froze my nads off in the bar, so it could have been room temp. But it was perfect , and it opened up as I drank it.

What other restaurants in LR do you know for a fact serve cellar temp red wines?

I’m curious to know your opinion. Do you believe that creatine helps with actual muscle fiber proliferation? Or are most of its effects due to muscle hydration? Even if it is both, I’m curious to know which is the strongest driver of muscle growth?

I’m curious to know your opinion. Do you believe that creatine helps with actual muscle fiber proliferation? Or are most of its effects due to muscle hydration? Even if it is both, I’m curious to know which is the strongest driver of muscle growth?

O posted about this earlier. Water closet in main bathroom has sewer gas smell. I replaced the wax ring which did not fix the issue. I called a local plumber about just installing a new toilet.

He said that may or may not resolve the issue. He suggested hiring someone to do a “smoke test” to determine is this is the cause. He suggested American Leak Detection.

Is this solid advice? The plumber I called is a highly reputable small company. He genuinely said that this is beyond his capability to detect. So, I appreciated that honestly.

But I did want to run this by you guys.

I’m about to buy new carpet. My den gets really dirty from two dogs and traffic, particularly where the feet hit the floor while on the sofa.

I saw several pet vacuums in Costco today. I saw Shark, Bissell and Dyson.

What would you suggest? In my research online I’ve run across the expensive Miele models. Are they worth it?

I don’t have a lot of real estate to vacuum — just a den and one bedroom.

I’m about to buy new carpet. My den gets really dirty from two dogs and traffic, particularly where the feet hit the floor while on the sofa.

I saw several pet vacuums in Costco today. I saw Shark, Bissell and Dyson.

What would you suggest? In my research online I’ve run across the expensive Miele models. Are they worth it?

I don’t have a lot of real estate to vacuum — just a den and one bedroom.

Are there any fitness clinics or gyms who do DEXA scans? I’d like to follow my body biometrics.

My church is offering this. Apparently it’s many months long. Have any of you done this program?

I got my pit mix eight years ago when she was an adult. She will not poop at the house in the back yard. Only away from the house on walks.

There’s a green space next to my house that I wish she would use. This would be particularly helpful on 100 degree days like today. This would allow me to postpone her afternoon walk to an evening walk when it’s a bit cooler.

What can I do to train her to poop in the green space?

I have a 5.5’x2.5’ rug (I think it’s wool) that I need cleaned. Any recs for where?