The big turkey controversy

Recently there has been a lot of talk about how dogs should not eat turkey, I even heard it at the vets the other day.  Curious, I did a great deal of looking around.  What I have discovered is that the problem is not the turkey but the trimmings so to speak.  Often the dogs that have issues are the ones that have a regular diet of commercial dog food, who's owner decides to give them a treat for the Holidays.  Well, turkey with gravy and maybe some skin is enough to send anyone who eats dry food all the time into an intestinal war zone.  Dogs can eat turkey.  If you regularly feed them dry dog food, leave it at a few pieces of just the white meat.  My guys will eat it all because they are accustom to a widely varied diet of cooked and raw.  

Having got two turkeys at the grocery store yesterday for a quarter of the regular price; I cooked them both today. I barbequed up the liver early this morning and got the turkeys into the oven. The dogs had liver this morning and a huge turkey dinner tonight.

After cooling the turkey I picked the meat off both and prepared their dinner. They had brown basmati rice, yellow pepper, chopped dried cranberries, turkey and liver, ground egg shell and probiotic powder. As you can see from the image above; they were more than anxiously awaiting their turkey dinner.

I was surprised and very happy to see Luke so into turkey. Often I will give Luke and the girls an appetizer to get (Luke) them prepared for dinner. Often if Luke has a few bites before dinner he will actually eat better. He ate all of his dinner but a few pieces of pepper and a tiny bit of rice.

The big secret with Luke is to mix well; the easier it is to pick out pieces the less chance Luke will eat it all.

Recently I was also asked about Mayonaise for dogs; someone with a sick dogs just needs them to eat. Just like several weeks ago when Luke wouldn't eat anything; I tried everything. Like us when we are sick; whatever goes down, works. Mayo is fine; you have to watch the fat content, fat is the worst culprit for diarrhea so take care when giving high fat foods. Consider where you will be the day after. ;)

Turkey eating myth

Great Old English Sheepdog site

MOVING

Cook'n just for dogs with "me" is moving. I'm crazy busy right now and I cannot keep up with both blogs so I am merging. I will start blogging about feeding and nutrition over at my original blog www.JustdogswithSherri.blogspot.com

I hope you come over and follow all the dog talk over there. See ya soon. ;)

Wow; it's been a while

Wow; I have been busy. How has a month and a half gone by so quickly; well let's just say that I have alot of my plate ;)

The dogs have had a huge variety of food lately. This morning was sardines............mmmmmmmmmmmmm you know how I feel about those slimy suckers. And then tonight they had Rock Cod which I'd never even heard of. I found it at the bottom of the big freezer when I was looking for some ribs I'd lost. It sure smelled good and they seemed to like it; even Mr. Fussy pants. I added a bit of Quinoa, some chopped arugula, egg shell, flaxseed oil and some crushed peas.

Now if that's not a good dinner; I don't know what is. I've been cooking up a storm lately; so I'll have alot of food out in front of me, nice. The dogs have also been eating quite a bit of raw; tomorrow will be the missing bones I found in the freezer today.

Don't be afraid to experiment as far as your dogs likes and dislikes; you'll never know if you don't try. ;)

What's for breakfast?

Well; this morning it was chicken, liver, wild rice, apple, carrots, and flaxseed oil. I warmed the chicken; this makes it much more appealing for all. Afterall everyone enjoys a nice warm meal right? I know I do. So breakfast was a hit with the girls; as is typically the case. Luke on the other hand had already displayed his "I'm not eating" body language. He likes to go outside and wait to be called in; then he has to be tempted to eat or you have to toss his food around to get the prey drive going in him. I knew that he would want this breakfast; he loves liver. So I gave him a few pokes and away he went.

Yesterday Luke had two whole silk balls; wonderful. I us Betty Lewis' recipe but omit the eggs. And believe it or not I do think that he has a tiny bit of sponge on those ribs of his. We've really been rolling; he is getting lots of treats first thing in the morning. Sharp cheddar seems to be a big favorite in bed with Mom and Dad first thing; and then of course he loves his buttered toast. It is work but we are seeing the smallest bit of progress; and progress is progress right?

its been a while

Gosh I haven't blogged on here for a while. Not much new in the way of "food." We did have a good bone teeth cleaning a while back and will have another this week. The little one Jessie has teeth that go far back and there is no way that I can get to them; so that's a bones job. I got great meaty rib bones for the job and not only do they clean teeth but they are just about a whole meal. At least for the small gal Jessie they are.

I'm planning on making some cookies for the dogs this week; going to try some new recipes and tweak them up for my liking. I'd like to give Biscotti a try; although Liver Biscotti are a bigtime fav around here they are expensive. So I'll give that a try and let you know how it goes.

If anyone out there has any really great cookie recipes for dogs; pass them on and we can do a taste test and review on them.

Have a great week ahead all.

Tilapia

Yesterday I bought some Tilapia for the dogs. It cost just under 5.00 to feed my three guys. Tilapia is a fish; and although I have not eaten it myself (not a big fish fan) it smells great when I make it for the dogs. I has an almost fresh sweet smell to it and I have never found it to have a smelly fish scent. It is one of the fish that Luke will eat; he doesn't love it but he'll chow it down. Here is a link for everything you ever wanted to know about Tilapia and more.

This morning I cooked it in the oven in tinfoil. I cut up shredded carrots; brocolli, a small bit of left over rice and wheat grass. The girls ate it with gusto; Luke not so much. I then added some butter and a mouthful of leftover meatloaf to his bowl; so he ate. As you know I like to switch it up for the pooches; but Luke is definitely a beef boy.

raw'n easy

I've been crazy busy today and wanted something quick and easy for the hounds. I scored bigtime when I stopped in at the grocers and got round steak for 1.77/lb. Sweet. That is a great deal and four whopp'n sized pieces was only 18.00. I decided to give them a nice big meal tonight; Luke wasn't big on his turkey this morning. So I cut up the beef; added some flax and some egg shell and sat down to feed.

I wasn't sure how well Tilley would do with her Vestibular issue but she did great. I always like to use feeding time as a training time so that the dogs work for their food. As you can see the first exercise was "leave it" which even amazes me when they succeed this well. Then it is manner time; no grabbing, no fighting, the occasional sit or down and then it's gone.

Quick easy and as healthy as it gets.

preparing for your absence

I was away for several days; it was sort of a last minute deal but I had prepared food for the dogs just in case. I had two batches of food mixed up; one was beef the other turkey. They each had different veggies; one had some rice the other a bit of oatmeal. Both had egg shell crushed into them and some berries. I placed a good amount into the refridgerator and some in the freezer in large freezer bags. I love when I have food made ahead; makes life really easy.

Most of the time I make food on a daily basis but when I have thought ahead and bought a big whack of meat to prepare food for down the road it is a nice change. Making food for when you are away does not have to be a big ordeal. If you cook their food just prepare more than their normal portions for several days until you have enough and extra for your absence.

My dogs eat a huge variety of food; both cooked and raw, eggs, meat, fish etc. So when I'm preparing for my absence I like to try to prepare some different foods as well and give whoever is caring for my dogs several options for feeding. It is a good idea to always have some extra food in the freezer for the "just in case" times you have to leave town in a hurry and don't have time to prepare food.

I also have my dogs eating "kibble" type food about once a week so that if there is ever a time I need to leave town in a flash and don't have time to make food, they can eat dog food. Even though I feel horribly guilty about it; it is a good alternative and when that happens it is only Orijen.

cookies

Cookies; who doesn't love cookies? Dogs are the same; most of them love cookies. And believe me not all cookies are made the same; there are cookies that are delicious and some after smelling them, have to taste like a great piece of cardboard. When I make cookies for my dogs I go for healthy and for taste. I taste all of the cookies that I make for dogs and my three guys give them a well rounded taste test as well.

For years I was known as the cookie lady back home in Canada. Not the dog cookie lady; the human cookie lady, so cookies are sort of my specialty. I still make the humans in my life cookies but I'm focusing on the dogs right now. I have made several types that I've been very happy with but I'm still fussing with the ingredients. Luke loves shortbread and I have to admit there isn't much that can touch my authentic Scottish shortbread as far as taste and texture; so I'm trying to think up something that tastes just about as good for the dogs.

So I will keep you up to date with each new batch and let you know how close to yum that I'm getting. So many cookies to make; so many cookies to taste. ;)

Civilized dogs

I thought this morning that I would discuss feeding raw a bit with you. Often when I feed raw I skip the whole "bowl" thing completely and utilize this highly valued food as a training time. I demand that everyone acts civilized and mannerly. There is no arguing or fighting over food. Not too long ago I was at a breeders house when food was being handed out or I should say tossed out. It was basically a free for all and a very dangerous situation. All the dogs were allowed to jump, grab and slam into the breeder; there was no rule once so ever. She was throwing food around and whoever caught it; it was theirs.

So I took some photos this morning of my three practicing our manners. All three dogs must sit; and of course we eat with a fork ;) Each dog waits until the food is coming to them and if there is any confusion about who's turn it is I make sure to use names. So there you have it; a pack of very civilized beasts (not including me of course).

Enough to gag over

There seems to be one thing that bothers my otherwise iron stomach; I can clean up, cook up and work with just about anything without gagging. So when I say something just about makes me gag; it's bad, bad for me that is. I wanted the dogs to have a really great dinner tonight so with their ground beef, green beans, pumpkin, smidge of oatmeal and green pepper I opted for Sardines. Yes I've discussed sardines before; told you how wonderful they are, and they are. They are amazingly good for our dogs and I would imagine us as well.

It happens when the can is only partially open; it doesn't even need to be open the whole way. I could gag; I have to say I have yet to actually gag but I'm sure if I let my mind run away with the whole "sardines" thing I could easily. The entire time I am trying to pull those disgusting little whole body fish out of the can without getting it on me I'm yacking about how gross it is. It doesn't matter if there is anyone around other than the dogs to hear about it either.

Sardines are a very good source of protein and omega fatty acids. So they are indeed good for our dogs and a good value for your money as well. It just so happens that I'm not a big fish lover so these little smelly whole body guys in a can gross me out completely. But; I will do anything for my dogs, even open cans of sardines.......................

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

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.