Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving; I have alot to be thankful for. First; my family, my dogs and a great home. I'm also thankful that I get to write my blog and very thankful that I have two out of three dogs that eat whatever I put in front of them. This morning I made a quickie; goodie but quickie. They had raw eggs and sardines; mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Doesn't that sound delish? Well my Jack Russell thought so and scarfed it down; Tilley thought it was okay, edible. Luke? Are you kidding? I didn't even try.

He had leftover turkey dinner and barely got through that. If you have a dog or dogs that eat whatever you put in front of them then you definitely have to be thankful for that. Because after having a fussy pants; I'm good with one in a lifetime.

I am wishing that everyone have a wonderful Holiday Season; see ya soon.

Pre/Pro biotics ????

Like I said several posts ago I wanted to know what the difference between prebiotics and probiotics is. Iams boasts to have healthy prebiotics in it. So what is the difference? Here is a link. The difference between prebiotics and probiotics. It is a thorough article explaining each fully. The difference is much more vast than I had anticipated; interesting.

This is another good source about pre and probiotics. Nutra Legacy

I won't go on and on; these are enough to get you started on the subject if you are interested. Grab a cup of java and dig in.

:)

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. :)