Discovery Cove

This summer, John and I went to Florida specifically to explore Discovery Cove. Every year we try to make at least a couple of weekend trips to somewhere in the US and I've been dying to check this place out.

Unfortunately, the first couple of days we were in Florida, it rained really hard. We spent our first day visiting the Tampa Bay Aquarium. Side note: We love aquariums. Any time we go anywhere, we visit any nearby aquarium. You may think it’s redundant but who doesn't love staring at sea creatures and animals all day long? This wasn't the biggest or best aquarium I've seen by any means but I did notice one thing about all the aquariums I've been to. Each one has something unique about them as far as the animals they keep. Each one (so far) has at least a couple of animals I've never seen before. So, in that aspect, it was worth it. Plus, it's our little tradition.

The day after was Discovery Cove. We arrived around 8am to check-in. We got our picture IDs and designated dolphin swim times. And before anyone gets upset, I am fully aware of the controversies relating to keeping dolphins and other animals captive, but let’s save that for another day. Discovery Cove is a day resort that offers a few different packages. All packages include breakfast, lunch, snacks, drinks, parking, towels, etc. After breakfast, we had to wait out the thunderstorm that passed through and still had a little bit of time to kill. So we got our wetsuits/vests, visited their aviary to feed birds and stopped by their sea otter enclosure. Afterwards, it was time to play with dolphins! We were lucky enough to play with two and the whole experience was amazing!

Discovery Cove has their own beaches where you can lay out (except it was a rainy, cloudy day), coral reef that is stocked with hundreds of fish and sting rays you can swim with, freshwater “pools”, a lazy river and a few different animals you can get up-close and personal with. Their Grand Reef was a lot of fun. It is crazy how hundreds of large salt water fish are swimming around you. I’ve never been scuba diving or snorkeling but this was damn close. We also took the SeaVenture tour which was an underwater tour of their reef where you wear a dive helmet and walk around the “sea” floor. Sadly, we didn’t spend any time in the freshwater pool or lazy river because there was another storm rolling in after we ate lunch.

The entire resort is full of foliage and decorated very nicely. It’s constantly kept clean and stocked with towels, food and drink. The food was pretty good. Not sure if the menu changes but they had choices for everyone. I definitely want to revisit just because I love the atmosphere. I recommend bringing an underwater camera for sure. I used my brother’s Sony HDR-AS100V/W and was able to capture all the creatures we saw. The only downside is the price for the extras. For example, they have their own photographers and videographers that document your activities throughout the day. You obviously have the option to purchase those pictures but they are pretty expensive. Overall, I highly recommend visiting if you’re in Florida! We had a great time on a cloudy rainy day, I can only imagine how much more fun we would have if it were sunny!

 Entrance

 Lobby

 Breakfast

Marmoset

 Anteater

 Lunch

Posting After Ear Cropping

This topic is always a sensitive and controversial one. I won't go into the different arguments about ear cropping but for those with dobermans who are either considering surgery or are in the healing process and want research different ways of posting, hopefully, this will help. I am no expert so I am speaking from personal experience. After your pup heals from surgery, you'll usually go into the vet to remove the sutures and post the ears for the first time. As all vets are different and will have different methods of posting, posting at home will be a series of trial and error. Personally, we love our vet and how her ears came out. Their method of posting however, didn't last an hour even with her cone on. There are many methods of posting and this is just what we found has worked best for us.

• Ear Cleaner
• Cotton Balls
• Zonas tape (we've only been able to find it online)
• Shop towels
• Scissors
• Lots of treats and hugs!

Shop towels seem to be sturdier than backer rod for us. They're also good for absorbing moisture in the ears.

 Depending on how big your dobe's ears are, you can either fold one sheet in half or cut it in half width wise to make two. Here, I cut one sheet into two pieces. 

 Start by folding one end up about 1".

 Fold the 1" of material in half.

 Fold that half in half again. Doing this helps keep shape while your roll your post. 

 Roll up the rest of the towel. The thickness you get with half of a shop towel works best for our pup. If you find this too small, you can always use a whole sheet, fold it in half and then roll.

 Using the tape, start it at one end at an angle and tape the entire post. This will make it more sturdy.

 We will trim the ends later. 

 With the Zonas tape, this time, you want to wrap the post with the tape STICKY side out. This will help the post stick to the ear and the tape. ONLY do this 3/4 of the way down ( you don't want the sticky tape deep in their ear).

 Trim off the end of the post that does not have the sticky side out tape at an angle. This is the end that goes down into her ear and the angle helps with the fit of the post.

 Prep your tape by pre-ripping your tape. You'll need different sizes from short to long for the tip of the ear to the bottom  of the ear. I don't really measure the exact length. It won't take long to figure out how long of a piece you'll need. Note: I ran out of Zonas tape and had to resort to medical tape you find at the drugstore. It was a bit wider so I split it into two pieces.

 Before posting, clean your pups ears with ear cleaner and cotton balls. Make sure the inside of their ear is dry before posting. An alternative to ear cleaner is rubbing alcohol since it dries quickly. 

Position the post with the angle towards their head. Gently insert the post and wiggle it down into their ear. If you do this gently, it will not hurt them. In fact, it may feel good since your sort of scratching their ear. 

 Once the post is comfortably in, gently pull up on the ear so it's straight. If the post is too long, trim it now. If your pup's ears are a longer cut and the post is too short, play with the width of the shop towel when you roll your posts. Don't forget to use treats!

 Use the shortest piece of tape and wrap tip of the ear. Try getting into the habit of starting the tape on the post wrapping towards the back and around instead of the tape going towards the front (this will make sense in the next step). Make sure to leave the very tip open and don't wrap too tightly. Not too loose and not too tight which is hard to explain but you'll feel it. Press the tape onto the sticky post. When you first start posting, reward after every piece of tape!

 Here, I am showing the natural fold in their ear. As you're wrapping the middle and bottom of the ear, make sure you keep the ear folded like this.  

 Now, we go back to starting the tape on the post and wrapping in the direction of the fold (going towards the back and around). Again, wrap securely  but not too tight.

Here, I am wrapping the bottom of the ear and you can better see the direction the tape is going. 

Some like to make a "bridge" connecting the two ears to keep them erect. We did this once but decided against it since that is not the resting position of the ears. Leaving the ears to fall naturally allows them to learn to use the muscles that stand their ears straight up. This is the best picture I have of Isis when we used a bridge. 

This may not be the prettiest but it withstands her head shaking and playing. It also uses the minimal amount of materials. So I hope this helps in some way. Again, this isn't THE method of posting, just what works for us. 

How to Help Your Teething Puppy

Our 5 month old Doberman has started her teething stage recently. She's lost a few teeth so far and we've also noticed she's having trouble eating solid food along with light blood stains on her toys and carpet. If your puppy is teething and having a hard time, here are a few things we're doing to help our pup.

• If your puppy is on solid food and is hesitant about eating it, mix some hot water with their food to soften it a bit. Let it cool before serving. Isis started eating right away once we did this. As a matter of fact, I think she prefers it, teething or not.

• Give them ice cubes to snack on. Although most people already do this with their dogs regularly.

• Treat them with puppy ice cream!

• Use teething toys and Nylabones. Pop them in the freezer if you need to.

• Avoid rough tugging while playing.

• Also, to save your carpet from blood stains, this stuff is amazing! I'm not sure how it will do with heavy blood stains but it got out light stains no problem. You can find it at Home Depot.

Shopping Smart

Cause let's face it. Fish keeping is expensive. Non hobbyists don't realize that. "They're just fish...they're like $1." Wrong my friend. SO, whether you're a newbie or have 56.2 years of experience, You're going to want to save money. Fish keeping is more than just the fish and the aquarium. Filters, heaters, light fixtures, bulbs, test kits, etc are all more expensive that you would assume. I've got a few tips that you may already be aware of. If so, then I will be restating the "obvious". In no particular order...

• Sign up for membership at pet stores (big chains and your local stores if they offer it). While you may find the daily/weekly emails a nuisance, it's free and they often send specials and coupons. And sometimes, the more money you spend, the more rewards/coupons you receive.
• Craigslist and recycle sites. You wouldn't believe how often people put their tanks curbside. I think most of the tanks I've accumulated throughout the years have all been FREE. You just need a little bit of patience. Or, if you're very impatient, you can find tanks, stands, accessories and fish for very cheap. I would never recommend buying them brand new at stores, even if they come with all the accessories. WAY over-priced. If you NEED to have a brand new one, a particular store offers $1/gallon sales a few times a year. Take advantage of that. And let me be honest, you most likely won't be keeping the tank forever. Fish tanks are constantly being recycled. Also, if you're handy, you could easily look up how to build your own stands. Much cheaper! Just make sure you factor in the weight of water!
• If you're lucky enough to shop at wholesalers, that's probably the best place to get most items including fish. Wholesalers require you to have a business license so you either have one or you know someone. The fish and supplies are sometimes half the retail price everywhere else. You can always order fish wholesale but the shipping is ridiculous.

Meet Isis!

I've always had dogs growing up. More specifically, my family always had Pomeranians. More recently, my family had a Pomeranian and a Shih Tzu. Sadly, both have passed. And since buying my first home, I've wanted a dog. My favorite breed has always been Poms. I've been living with my boyfriend for a year and a half now and he and I definitely have different tastes in breeds (he likes larger breeds). But since I'm allergic to a lot of dogs and all cats, I'm a little picky on what kind of dog I'd like to own. After much discussion and searching, we both agreed on Doberman Pinschers. I looked at all the shelters in my area but we could not find the right dog for our living situation/life style. Fast forward a few months to August 2013. John told me he had found a litter of dobes on craigslist in an area kind of near us. He was sent a handful of pictures and there was no doubt, we wanted to meet the puppies. Later on, he confessed that he was looking for a puppy for my birthday in December but Dobermans are quite rare where we live (not sure why) so once he saw that litter, he knew he had to meet them. We met the puppies when they were 6 weeks old knowing that once we laid our eyes on them, we would fall in love. Out of the 6, there was only 1 black and tan (which we were set on) and thankfully, she was still available. That's another thing, we both agreed it would be better to pick a female since they are smaller (still big, but about 10-20 pounds smaller than males). She was perfect; not too rowdy, independent, calm and loved to be cuddled. Leaving and knowing we had to wait another 2 weeks to pick her up was almost torture so I made sure I took enough pictures and videos to last me. For the first month, she was very shy, weary of people (especially men) and pretty skiddish. She also did not like walking on a leash. John and I were very new to this behavior but we were patient and eventually, she started to become more friendly. She's definitely still cautious but very friendly. She'll be 5 months soon and I'm kind of sad her puppy smell is gone and I can no longer pick her up comfortably. She loves to sit in your lap and touch you whenever and however she can which is just precious. I could go on but I'll just post pictures instead :) I just LOVE the crap outta her.

First time meeting at 6 weeks!

Bringing Isis home!

Loving her panda already.

Already outsmarting us!

  

Meeting my bearded dragon for the first time.

Still loves her panda!

We're Pregnant!

So this past summer, one morning, John came running up the stairs yelping that one of the cichlids was holding. I could barely understand him and I don't think I've ever seen him that excited. I've had pregnant guppies before but never cichlids and neither has he. After a couple of days and a bit of finagling, John was able to fit a 20g long underneath the 125 and transferred her there. Some people strip their holding cichlids but we're going to let her do her thing naturally. As far as any precautions to take, we're not aware of any other than the fact that John has been religiously testing the water parameters. So now we're just anxiously waiting for OB fry! Update: Since that batch of fry, she's been knocked up twice more. We've been stripping her after about 7-10 days. We also have an egg tumbler that we partially used once. Reason being is that every time we strip her, the fry were free swimming so we didn't need to use it. Recently, we set up a 30g upstairs in our bedroom for all the fry and it's been working great compared to the bare 20g. It's easier to maintain now that its not sitting on the floor. I know this is weird but you can totally tell that the fish are loving it and I swear they're growing faster. John notes the dates every time she gets preggo and it seems she does it once a month. I'm not sure how we want to handle that because that's a lot of fry.

The Mother

The Father

The Fry (a couple of different batches)

Close up OB Fry!