Balancing it all out

This morning my guys had a late breakfast; it was a lazy day so we spent a long while in bed before heading out for our walk. If it is going to be a later meal day I make sure that everyone gets a snack early. This morning it was peanut butter cookies from Trader Joe's. Then before we head out I shared some cheese and some turkey with them all and then leashed everyone up.

After their walk I always wait about an hour before feeding them. Or at least until everyone is nicely cooled down; this is for the same reason that I do not feed my dogs a meal before walking. And that reason is bloat and gastric torsion; both of which my poodles are prone to. Although I do consider the risk much lower when they are eating "real" food versus "kibble" food. Knowing that my breed is more likely to have a torsion I take great care to avoid the causes.

Drinking large amounts of water after exercise can cause big problems; especially if you feed kibble. Kibble swells when soaked down; thus causing the problem. Dogs who eat kibble drink more water naturally so feeding several small meals a day helps to keep the amount down in the stomach. Another great reason to feed "real" food. So once we got back from our walk and everyone was chill they had ground beef, egg shell, sweet potato, cranberries and mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm fish oil.

Now some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

chewing

Well; I tried the whole giant chunks of meat once again. This time the meat was frozen; not rock solid but definitely hard. I wanted the dogs to work for their meal which then works on their teeth; the poodles did great. They grabbed their giant pieces of raw beef and headed for a place in the yard to lay and chew. The one I was worried about was my Jack Russell; she is the dog that convinced me NOT to do the whole bones thing. She does not chew food; ever, but I thought with the size of piece I was handing out she would have no choice.

I cut her a huge whack of meat; an amount for a really good meal. The piece was probably 4-5" long, 3 wide and 2 thick. This would be more than she normally eats but I wanted some chewing going on. Well; there was no chewing and at the last moment before the piece commenced in choking her I grabbed it out of her. I cannot believe this little dog; so once I had ownership and she was left frantically searching for her meat I cut it and gave her tiny pieces again.

It was an experiment; one that I was monitoring very carefully and had full control of. She had been so completely involved with swallowing that she didn't even notice me grabbing the end and hauling it out. I gotta say this little critter does not lack gusto; especially when it involves eating.

Steak and eggs and speaking of deals

Good morning all; The dogs had a glorious breakfast yesterday morning. Luke of course took a while to get into it but once he did he enjoyed it. I had raw beef but needed a bit more protein so I scrambled up some eggs and through the beef in at the end to warm it. I added squash and apple, bonemeal, and their individual supplements. Hmmmmm steak and eggs for breakfast, not bad.

I just wanted to give those who feed "real" food a heads up. Last year my daughter made a visit to the grocers the day after the American Thanksgiving; being that we are in SoCal. We scored on turkey's; each was only $5.00 and we stocked up. Had a freezer full for the pups; just like with the turkey it is always a great idea to get in there after the storm so to speak.

Also watch your local flyers; there are always specials on and if you don't have one a small freezer might be a good gift to yourself this holiday season. Mine is always stocked; it's a small sized chest freezer. In fact I'm going to need to go through it and get rid of any empty boxes etc in there for the coming season.

Deals

The best way to score great deals on meat for your dogs is to frequent the grocers. On the weekend I headed over to Albertson's to get some meat for dinner; for the dogs. Once there I scored on beef roasts @ 1.77/lb; nice. I probably bought 9 and as usual I get a couple of looks going through the cash. I bought 9 packages of beef and 2 packages of chicken thighs at .99/lb; even nicer.

So get out there and shop; clip coupons and watch the flyers for deals.

Okay onto pumpkin; this is the best time of year to stock up on pumpkins. You can get them very cheap, cook them up and freeze. Today I cooked up a small one and I am freezing it into portion sizes. I place waxed paper on a plate and put spoonfuls of pumpkin spread out. Place it into the freezer and then once it's done, put them in a freezer bag or container. Way to pinch a penny. :)

Sole food

I'm cooking up sole for the dogs this morning. After doing some research about the fish it is a low fat high protein source. Although because it is a bottom feeder I feel that it should only be given every so often. I've never eaten it myself and from the sounds of it; if I caught one I would not be eating it. They produce copius quantities of slime over their body which makes them hard to grab and completely gross I would imagine.

I bought wild caught dover sole; taking it out of the package it was a little fishy smelling to me. That said I have a fishy smell radar so I might be exaggerating a tiny bit. The pieces were very thin and in fact I should run down and get them out of the oven now. Back in a second.

Okay; I took the sole out of the oven and put it on the counter to cool.

Nutritional values for Dover sole

For a change it is good to add different protein sources to your dogs diet. This was inexpensive at 4.99/lb although much more than beef or chicken that I get. I have cooked up some sweet potatoe, will add spinach and cranberries and their appropriate supplements.

Bone meal

Adding bonemeal as a calcium source to your dogs homemade meals is important. If they are not eating raw bones with their meal then they need a calcium source. I buy all natural human grade bonemeal which consists of 1620 mg calcium, 540 mg Phosphorus and 18 mg Magnesium in each tsp.

Egg shells are a great source of calcium as well and is there anything cheaper than an egg shell? I typically toss mine down the garbage disposal which helps get rid of crud but I am going to dry and ground them now. They must be ground down very fine for your dog to digest them properly. And we've all seen foxes, coyotes and wolves munching down on eggs on a documentary or two right? I also only buy organic free range eggs so I know the shell is good.

This article is a wealth of info for anyone interested in taking the leap to real food.

The amazing pumpkin

If you've ever had a dog with diarrhea and couldn't seem to get it turned around; then you need to know about pumpkin. I don't know how many people I've shared this with but once you try it; you'll be hooked. Pumpkin is a very good binder when you need binding for your pooch. But; if you need loosening it works well for that too. With it's water absorption qualities it can quickly firm up loose stool and help to loosen up a dog that is having problems with constipation.

Pumpkin nutritional facts

more pumpkin info

Who knew? good for kidney stones and parasites

From everything that I have researched; dogs can eat seeds as well as the meat of a pumpkin. I know that when we carve our pumpkins the dogs are in there looking for tidbits to grab. If you are feeding raw, grate the pumpkin very well and use a small amount. For the pumpkin in a can (not pie filling) use a couple of teaspoons for an med-large dog. Pumpkin can cure diarrhea within hours; how great is that?