Emma, Mascot for PetFriendsOnline.com

Emma has grown over the past 3 weeks, and she has nearly outgrown her bathroom resting place.
“Emma” (AKA: Copper Ridge Rhodesians Hot and Spicy “Emma”) has been selected as the official mascot for the all-encompassing pet website called PetFriendsOnline.com. She will lead visitors through the site and discuss site options.

Emma was named because I really liked the name, and almost named my daughter Emma. I suppose naming a wonderful puppy Emma is second best. Once named, she became the Pet Friends Online mascot, then I began researching the name origin and usage. Backwards, I know, but sometimes I do things like naming my dog, using my heart first instead of my head, which is what I did this time.

I did a Google search for “Emma,” and discovered more than a 1.2 million entries using the simple four-letter name. The most interesting is a listing about EMMA (Extensible Multimodal Annotation Language) Wu Chou, Deborah A. Dahl, Gerry McCobb, Dave Raggett, EMMA: Extensible MultiModal Annotation Markup Language, World Wide Web Consortium, Working Draft ...In light of the website mascot position, I suppose this is the most interesting of coincidences.

There is much written about Emma Goldman, a Russian-born American anarchist (1869-1940). I continued my search by turning to Wiktionary and discovered the following: Etymology: From a Frankish prototheme Ermin- or Irmin- "entire" the first part of given names such as Ermintrude and Irmgard. Emma will be everywhere on www.PetFriendsOnline.com, so I suppose “entire” is a good fit.

Whatever those four simple letters mean elsewhere, at home they represent the most wonderful, gentle, playful, fun-focused, thoughtful, warm and loving new addition to our family. Emma.

Emma Goes Home to Visit

Emma took the hour-long drive back to Copper Ridge Rhodesians Kennel, the place of her birth. She knew the smells of the house the minute we reached the front door. The large metal and glass front door opened and she dashed in to greet her mother and some of her siblings. She was so happy. We were there a couple of hours while Emma and her litter-mates played and drank water, then fell asleep as a nearly seamless mass of puppies, for one more time.

Emma slept soundly the entire drive home. She prefers to sit in the passenger’s front seat. She has become accustomed to that seat, because that is where she has been sitting. I have been taking her on short car rides, just so she is accustomed to car travel. The car rides are part of the socialization process. She hasn’t completed her shot sequence yet, so I don’t take her in public, or where other dogs have been, that will come in another 4 weeks after her last shot.

Raw Food Diet for Emma

I have been reading extensively about the pros and cons of various diets for Emma. She is 12 weeks old and still not eating all Lin, her breeder, recommends for the puppies. There is the conventional, over the counter in the grocery store food, then there are the specialty brands, like those recalled, and finally the raw or part-raw diet like The Honest Kitchen.

Lin feeds her dogs The Honest Kitchen diet of dehydrated raw for one meal then kibble from Dick Van Patton called Natural Balance for the second meal of the day. She is recommending the same diet for Emma, reinforced with Missing Link and Vitamin C. I am following her lead, because her dogs all look healthy and happy, they are long-lived, and there is research to back up the approach. I have been adding raw whole carrots for Emma to chew on and small pieces of fresh apple. When I brush Emma’s teeth, she leans into my finger as if her gums and teeth are bothering her. She is chewing on everything, despite her endless supply of chew bones. I have also been doing TTouch on her gums at night as she is ready to retire for the evening. She is sleeping all night now. (I would too if someone were giving me a relaxing rubdown and foot massage as I lay in bed ready for sleep.)

I would love to hear your opinions about puppy diets for large breeds.