Sunday, October 5, 2008

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

There are going to be some ch-ch-changes around here (and by here I mean my home) with the dogs over the next few weeks.

1. I've decided to stop feeding Mollie raw as she did not do well on it, at all. Not in the least. So last night I took a crash course on home-cooked pet food as I knew I didn't want to go back to feeding her kibble. I also decided that I'm going to try Izzy on this for a bit as well, just to see if I can't get her stool to firm up a bit. So I searched the internet, talked to some people on a dog forum I belong to, and went to the grocery store last night at 9 o' clock at night. Here's what I'm trying first...

2.5 lb hamburger
.5 lb plain yogurt
12 oz pureed sweet potato

The recipe also called for 4 oz of liver, but I'm going to hold off on the liver until my next batch, mainly because it will almost certainly cause loose stools. It also called for calcium, which the dogs will be getting through raw chicken wings at least once a week to keep their teeth clean, though I'm not sure how may they will be getting yet. Instead of the recommended fish oil capsules they will be getting a squirt of the Grizzly Salmon oil I have for their Omega 3s.

The biggest thing I'm really going to try and work towards is variety, both because it's good for the dogs and because Mollie gets sick of food very quickly. The amount of food that I made with the above recipe I'm thinking may last around 3 to 4 days or so, depending on how much Mollie and Izzy need to have per day.

I am also going to need a meat grinder. Turkey alone here is $5/lb when it's ground O.o I can't afford that! It'll be so much cheaper to grind my own food. They'll be getting stuff like squirrel, deer, etc too. Everything I feed raw that I can get off bone. I found last night at the store that they sell a lamb/veal/beef ground blend, it's only like $3/lb, so they will be getting that for sure too. I also looked at some of the fish they had set out (the actual fish counter was closed), and there was nothing under $8/lb sitting out! Again, O.o I'm hoping they sell cheaper fish at the actual counter.

I really do not think that dogs need vegetables and dairy products, but if they will eat it and are healthy and feel good on it, then so be it.

2. Frodo is driving me insane. He has started to be a real jerk towards Izzy and Mollie. Pushing Mollie around and starting scuffles with Izzy. So Mr. Jerkface is back on a stricter NILIF program, will be on a leash that's attached to my belt when he's awake, and sleeping in his crate at night.

Okay, so that's really all the ch-ch-changes that I have planned for now, but you never know when more will pop up and I will have to add them to tehlistofdoom!

No comments: