Thursday, August 27, 2009

Tid bits

Tid bits are about all I can get into Luke somedays. Although every morning and evening I try my best to offer him up yummy meals he often simply refuses to eat. Well; that is all I can do as far as meals go. What I have been doing now is letting him snack; even on the days that he does eat really well like this morning; he has had several snacks.

If you follow the regime that wolves follow as far as eating goes it is a hit and miss. There are days you eat and days you don't and if he simply doesn't feel like eating then I'm not going to sweat it; I know he won't starve. The bottom line for Luke is that he really doesn't give a hoot about food. Even though the otherday he gave Jessie a very good impersonation of a grizzle bear as she approached his bowl.

If it is a choice between food or affection? He'll take the affection almost everytime. And I'm okay with feeding all over the place; I think it is a more natural way to feed a dog vs. feeding at the same hour everyday and in the same spot. My guys have their own spots in the kitchen where they eat; but more than position they follow the delivery hierarchy. I never have any confusion as to who's food is being put down on the floor. And when I hand feed I use names; this is very important. This reduces the chance of grab eating which can be detrimental to ones fingers.

They also eat outside often; and then I put the bowls wherever the shade is. I love the S&C for this reason as well. It makes for wonderful snack food. I feed the freezedried raw and seeing Luke chomp back a couple of sawdust patties makes me feel better when he has not been eating well.

I'm trying very hard not to sweat the small things; in this big old world there are lots of biggies to sweat about.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Good day

Yesterday was a good eating day and a day that is a good example of feeding different things. I have long heard from the average vet "don't feed anything but dog food." Well if that is how you feed your dog then you are in for a surprise when they happen to eat something other than their dogfood. You are going to have a dog with diarrhea and perhaps vomiting.

Yesterday morning my guys had dog food (Orijen) and cooked ground turkey with the dripping. They all ate like champions; even Luke..............yes I said Luke. Then in the evening they had raw beef trim mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I cut it into bite size pieces and out we go; I sit on the lounge outside and they sit infront of me, all very mannerly. I use a fork to feed them; I dish the pieces out from right to left Jessie, Tilley and Luke.

They are all very well behaved for this feeding and seem to enjoy the break from routine. I too enjoy the break; sitting in the backyard watching the sunset feeding the dogs is pretty nice.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Fish

My poodles have not been big fish fans over the years although with Tilley now in her senior years she is tending to eat anything. She even eats Sardines with Jessie; and they are about as fishy as you can get. Luke does not like fish but if I make really yummy halibut it sometimes will fly. And there has been the rare ocassion that I've made Salmon on the bar-b and he has eaten it.

Lastnight we had Halibut for dinner; about the most delicious recipe I've ever had. So I took a big portion of halibut out of the freezer for the dogs as well. I usually save the big thick pieces for them because they can get dry trying to cook them all the way through. They had organic baby greens, cranberries, a few almond slivers and some beef on the side, it was a big hit.

I think I'll cook up a bunch of salmon and sweet potato today, at least the girls will eat it.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

On the edge

Whoa; sometimes I find myself teetering on the edge of a major gross out. I take hold and talk myself down using reason and dedication. I want to feed my dogs to the best of my ability; if at times that means giving them things that can cause my stomach to turn and my brain to consider a gag reflex then so be it. No I would not like a big bowl of organs and parts to eat but the dogs love it and it is very good for them. I can see how much they love it because Luke eats it. (No picture today; I'm sure you can imagine what ground liver, kidney, cheeks and tongue look like in a bowl.)

Along with this lovely mixture of protein was chopped and shredded carrots, chopped organic red pepper, roasted garlic quinoa and sardines which is another delightful and lovely thing I do for my dogs. Let's face it people; dogs eat lots of things that we would never consider eating. Even my perfect princess Tilley finds rabbit droppings a treat; and she really loves coyote poop. She doesn't eat alot of other disgusting things but these two are her favorites. My eating machine Jessie has picked up the worst of things, dried worms are on the top of her list. She also loves rotting fish she finds on the beach.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger?"

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Feeding the hounds

Well we seem to be on a roll; of course I don't even want to say that because the minute I do, it'll all come to a screeching halt. The girls have been of course loving their food; they are such good eaters. And the longer I go with fussy pants the more I appreciate the girls. Having a dog that is as fussy as Luke sucks; that's the truth. It can become very trying as I go through meal after meal trying to find food that the boy likes and that is good for him. Luke's favorite things to eat are double quarter pounders from the McDs, whipped cream, butter (probably my fault on this one) and shortbread.

So with these foods as his favorites it is tough to find meat and veggies that he likes. He does like his Stella and Chewies but even that has been turned down on several occasions now. I bought a big box of organ meat for the dogs (what I don't do) and nearly gagged cooking it up for them. I made it into a stew and Luke does like that. It has cheeks, tongue, liver and kidney etc in it.........mmmmmmmmm sounds good doesn't it?

He does love his raw beef but he cannot live on that alone; and my poor forearms are taking a beating cutting up so much meat. But I will continue; I feel great feeding the variety of great foods to them and I know they are very healthy because of it. But that does not mean I'm not going to complain about Mr. Fussy pants.