Eating Healthy

I've been trying, when possible, to make some healthy meals. I'm a horrible cook and I usually end up eating something that doesn't taste very good as a result of my attempt to cook something healthy.

I love veggies and I was a vegetarian until about a year and a half ago. So veggies are a good easy and healthy thing for me to eat. I mostly eat them raw because I don't know how to cook them.

I got this recipe from Chris but I improvised. I didn't add any peppers and I added portabello mushrooms and yellow squash and carrots and tomatoes. Oh and some whole garlic cloves too. The recipe called for salt and pepper but I don't like pepper much and I am trying to cut down on sodium so I used garlic powder instead. My house stinks but it tasted yummy so it's worth it.

Oh, and D&M always eat healthy. It's sooo easy for me to deny them the yummy treats that people offer. Yet I can't turn them down when yummy treats are offered to me. I wish someone made all my decisions on what I could eat. It really isn't difficult to keep a dog at a decent weight if you just make wise choices for them. Healthy food and small but healthful treats for training and reward is all it really takes. Exercise is good too!!

I really love raw feeding these two. It's good for them and my vet insists on it. They get some healthy kibble too since I work for a pet food company. They usually eat it in the morning for breakfast though. It's about time I start feeding some chicken now that it is cooling down. That will be nice since it's a bit cheaper than beef. My friend got some raw green tripe and she said her dogs love it. I may have to buy some one of these days but I can't handle feeding it.

Glad we all had a healthy and yummy dinner. Tomorrow is a weigh in day and I haven't had a great week so hopefully the low calorie dinner tonight will help a bit.

Lamb Chops! Yum!

I'm not a fan of lamb chops but my dogs are!! They had a special Birthday and Gotcha day dinner! Leon got some too since he is here for the night.

I love raw feeding almost as much as my dogs love it. I know it's so healthy for my dogs and they do great on it! It's not often they get Raw Organic Lamb Chops but today is a special day and deserving of a special treat! Plus they were on sale (but still pretty dang expensive!)

Marley actually chews her food like a lady when she eats Raw! Well maybe not so ladylike but at least she doesn't inhale it as if she were a vacuum. When she eats kibble her entire meal is gone in about 3 seconds. She still gets a good high quality kibble for her breakfast meal. I try to do raw most nights but it works out nicely to have kibble on hand in case I forget to defrost some raw food for dinner!

Dylan already thinks he is king of the world! You should see his proud face when he tears into the raw flesh of an animal! I really like feeding whole chickens because Dylan seems to get such satisfaction out of tearing the meat off the bone! We are off Chicken for summer but when winter comes, I am sure there will be plenty of whole chickens around this place!

Leon is our special guest tonight since his Daddy is working graveyards. We have been enjoying having him over sometimes to stay the night. He sleeps by my bed and keeps me safe. :) He wasn't quite sure what to think of lamb chops. He's a lot pickier than my two food hogs! He's also a bit newer to raw feeding but once he started chomping he didn't stop until he was finished!

All in all, it was a successful raw fed meal. Glad to know all the dogs like their lamb chops. I also got them some pork back rib bones. I think I will save them for another day!!

Not sure what to do with a rawhide?

I'm sad to admit that Dylan and Marley can't seem to figure out what a rawhide is for. I haven't given them any in years because I hate not knowing if they are full of chemicals or what. I finally found some by Merrick a few weeks ago and bought my dogs each a few treats. I trust Merrick isn't adding a bunch of unnecessary chemicals to their treats.

I opened each dog a rawhide roll this morning. They have shown no interest in them whatsoever. This is highly unusual for my dogs who usually think all food items are the greatest thing ever! I think they don't realize that the rawhides can be chewed on? Wonder what they will do with the Merrick brand pigs ears when I get them out?

My dogs are not deprived of chewing. They get raw bones and raw meat pretty regularly. I also occasionally give them Merrick Bully sticks. They just haven't had rawhide in quite a while. I think they must be really confused about what to do with it.

Raw food on a budget.

I loved feeding my dogs a raw diet. Well, it was a modified raw diet (part kibble, veggies, raw meat, organs, and bones). I got a little out of control though and was spending WAY too much to feed my dogs. I ended up going back to kibble almost a year ago just because of the expense.

After discussion with my vet today, I decided I really need to be giving my dogs some meat! She recommended mostly beef in the summer. She says Chicken is a warming meat so it's best not to feed it during the warm months of summer. She really recommends a "mostly" moist food diet.

So the plan is, a little meat, some veggies, raw eggs, a bone here and there (or meat on the bone when I can afford it!) and some kibble of course. I gotta be careful about meat. I need to make sure I am budgeting for it and weighing it so I am not feeding too much and keeping within my budget. I need to look into feeding ground game meats because I know I can get them really cheap. I forgot to ask my vet when I was there today but I will definitely be asking her next time I am there.

I feel silly working for a pet food company and feeling like I still need to supplement but I don't buy into the idea that a single kibble can give your dog everything they need for life. I just have to stay focused at work that the people that switch to my food - are making a HUGE step up from what they are feeding. The company I work for makes a great product and I don't mind telling people that.

I bought some beef this evening for $1.98 a lb. I really would like to make the daily diet less than $2.00 a lb though. I think I am going to try to give Marley 1/4 lb a day and Dylan 1/2 lb. I am not sure I can afford that so I need to sit down and figure out how much meat is affordable once I figure out what I can feed. These rump roasts were on sale and the price is good for a big old hunk of meat.

I know I felt a lot better about the dogs health when they were on raw. I worry a lot about their teeth these days because I don't brush them as much as I should and they are starting to turn yellow. I didn't have those worries with a raw diet. My biggest concern on raw was their weight because I was feeding them way too much. That's why a scale is an absolute must for me!! I wonder if I can get a cheap one on eBay!

I really hate feeding organs. It makes me gag and I can't handle cutting them up either. I'll feed chicken livers and hearts though because they are cheap and I can Stick them with a fork and feed them whole.

I'm excited to get back into the raw feeding. I just need to be more careful about sticking to a budget while feeding it. The kibble I buy will last a lot longer and I think that Dylan could go back to a food with grains in it if I were supplementing with raw food. That would make buying dog food a lot cheaper as well (plus with employee coupons, I'd be set for a cheap kibble budget).

Podcasts!!

I listen to several podcasts each week. It's an unexpected bonus to having an ipod.

A lot of what I listen to is dog related (of course). My favorite dog podcasts hardly ever come out with new episodes but there are a few that I listen to regularly that have more good information than bad.

One of these recently picked up crappy Eukanuba as a sponser. It's really been bugging me the last couple weeks. I wish that more people understood what goes into dog food! Eukanuba's line is HORRIBLE and even their natural line sucks. Some of those crappy dog food companies are starting to come out with a natural line of food. They usually are a bit better than the regular food but cost a lot more and aren't near as good as some of the products on the shelf next to it. People buy things because of the brand name and it's completely ridiculous. When it comes to pet food - read the ingredients and understand what they are for!

I've been trying to decide what to do about my new hatred for the advertisements on this podcasts. I already emailed the woman after they did a podcast on dog food and had a vet giving lots of POOR information about how to pick out a dog food. I even gave her links to information and good points of contact on nutrition. She emailed back with a thanks for the suggestion and that she would look into it. Now she has this huge long advertisement at the beginning of the podcast for Eukanuba? I guess it could be worse, she could be advertising Beneful which is probably one of the most misleading products on the market.

I'm not sure if I will email her again and state my disappointment or if I just stop listening or if I just keep on getting the podcast. I haven't decided what I will do but I can say that I really hate the Eukanuba ad's.

Why don't people care about dog food?

It's always amazing to me how little people seem to think about what they are feeding to their dogs. The crap that goes into a lot of dog foods is really horrendous. I can't beleive it's even legal!

I've gone back and forth feeding Raw and kibble for a while now. I really like the Raw food plan for my dogs that allows me to feed them kibble in the morning and raw in the evening. It's what I would do if I could afford it. Unfortunately, I have been living on a pretty tight budget lately and had to cut most the raw food out. My dogs eat a high quality kibble. Each have their own dietary needs so they eat two different foods.

I really wish that people would do a bit of research about foods before they get a dog or a cat. I spend time whenever I place an animal talking about appropriate diet. I don't want my fosters going to somewhere that will feed them crap for food. I've had good success at finding people who actually will feed a decent diet.

I've been working for a holistic pet food company for a few weeks now. I really think they have a great product which makes it a good part time job for me. I have a hard time dealing with people though because I want to tell them that the food they are feeding sucks! Or that their dog is overweight and needs to be on a controlled diet or that they should take the prong collar off or get their dog fixed or they best not breed. I have so many opinions when it comes to dogs and I really can't express them when I am working. It's become a bit of a challenge for me but I am sure I can handle it.

It's rewarding to know that people are switching from crappy dog food to the food I am selling. I know it will make a difference in their dog's life. I just hope that most of them stick with it. I know so many are concerned about the expense but I really beleive that it works itself out over time with less in vet bills and with feeding less food overall.

If you are in SLC and reading this, I highly recommend taking one of Puppenschnoodles FREE seminars on how to choose a good pet food. You can find the schedule at http://www.puppenschnoodles.com