Whoa; been a while

Well, Christmas is over, the turkey is gone :( I love turkey and I think that this was the best ever; best gravy, best stuffing, best everything. The dogs had their fare share as well; they had meat and organs and more meat. They sure loved it Christmas day; warm. I have been giving the dogs a great variety of foods; more than even usual. They have had fish; beef, eggs, sardines (I know fish but different), freeze dried raw food, lots of veggies and lots of snacks.

It is difficult to find a good turkey at this time of year here; most have Ham or roast for Christmas dinner so I bought mine at Thanksgiving fresh and froze it. I did see a few at the grocers and will wait to see if they go on sale. If they do it is a great way to cook up a whack of food for the hounds in a very easy way. Throw the bird in the oven and voila.

After Thanksgiving I stocked up on gizzards and giblets; Luke loves these. When all else fails he will eat gizzards. They are awful looking things and tend to smell pretty strong but whatever the difference is in the smell they go over big.

Have a wonderful New Year; see you in January.

Don't sweat it

Switching from the ease of dog food to preparing your dogs food can be intimidating but it doesn't have to be. One of the most important factors in good nutrition both with our own and our dogs is variety. By feeding a variety of foods you have a better chance at complete nutrition. Sure there is a lot of things to learn about it; and if you really want to do it at an optimum level then get researching.

I think the best thing to think about is how you eat yourself. There are few of us that eat a completely balanced meal everyday. Sure we know what we should eat but do we all the time? Nope. In fact many people live on very poor quality food and so do many dogs who get the poor quality dog food. But when you've seen what good nutrition can do first hand there is really no going back.

I have been able to cut down Luke's seizures to almost non existent. And little Jessie grew all her hair back that she had lost over the years. My guys are 9, 12 and 13 and are amazingly healthy. I started out feeding real food with very little knowledge of what their diet should consist of ideally. But even the small change from dog to real made a huge impact. So take that step; decide today to feed your dog "real food." No it is not people food; it's just food. And don't forget in the wild there is no place to buy dog food.

Fresh Mozzarella

I made a great pasta dish the other day with tiny fresh mozzarella balls in it. I normally like the marinated type but couldn't find any so they were just plain. Using these little balls as a source of protein is quick and simple. I had a handful left after making my dish so offered them up to the dogs. Without a marinade they are pretty tasteless; so I wondered if the dogs would like them or not. They are very soft in texture as well.

I offered one to Tilley first; she smelled it and turned her head, she wasn't eating it. "Okay I'll give it to Jessie; she'll eat it." She turned it down; I was stunned. I took the biggest sniff of the little balls I could to see if there was something they were finding wrong with these. I couldn't smell a thing of course. I ripped one apart and offered it to both Tilley and Jessie in even smaller pieces. Jessie ate hers and Tilley took it; tossed it around for a while and finally ate it. Luke wanted nothing to do with these mushy little white balls.

It is always interesting to offer new food to the dogs and watch the results and I am always shocked when Jessie rejects something. I'm assuming this initial rejection was due to lack of smell. Soft white squishy balls with no smell or taste? Mmmmmmmm.

Once the dogs had given the mozzarella a fair taste test they wanted more and seemed to enjoy them. Even Luke; after much coaxing decided to try it. There really isn't anything to dislike except that they are sort of soft; if you have texture issues. Cheese isn't something I use as a regular protein source for the dogs but for a treat; it is wonderful. Below is the info on fresh mozzarella.

Fresh Mozzarella