Thursday, August 20, 2009

Meat

Yesterday was meat pick-up day at the local raw co-op. The dogs' freezer is once again stocked with chicken (wings, feet, liver), turkey (necks, liver, hearts), and lots of stinky green tripe.



I had a messy grinding fight with the chicken wings.


But I eventually won. 40 lbs.


Can't forget the veggies -- although I often do as I don't find them very necessary in a raw diet. But they are a great way to fill the dogs up without piling on the calories. Plus, I can get it at a discount.


This is Preference from The Honest Kitchen, straight out of the box. Dehydrated alfalfa, sweet potatoes, cabbage, celery, apples, spinach, organic kelp, coconut, bananas, zucchini, and honey.


Just add water and wait 5-10 minutes. Very similar to the meals I normally prepare for myself. I usually make a large enough batch to feed the dogs for 4-5 days and refrigerate the unused portion.


Breakfast this morning. Ground chicken wings (except for Popeye who got ground turkey necks instead due to possible chicken allergy), green tripe, Preference, and turkey liver. Yum.


By the way, those Durapet slow-feed bowls really do work to slow the dogs down when eating. The key is to get a bowl that is small enough for your dog. If your dog is able to put his entire muzzle in the bowl (and therefore gulp his food), then likely it's too big. I got size small for all 3 dogs. Popeye, being only about 30 lbs and with a narrower muzzle, is still able to get his food faster than Boomer (70lbs) and Phoebe (55lbs). Boomer and Phoebe have to use their tongue more to lift the food out of the bowl, which slows them down. If the bowl came in an XS, I would've gotten that for Popeye.

Pros: does work to slow dog down as long as appropriate size bowl is used; easy to clean; lightweight; stackable

Cons: can be messier, especially with small bits of food like the Preference veggies, since the dogs are flicking their tongues more. (But when it comes to food, the dogs clean up after themselves at our house.); being so lightweight, bowl does shift if the dog pushes against it. If you have a wussy wuss of a dog like Phoebe is, where every strange movement of an inanimate object scares her, then it'll take some time for the dog to get used to it.

"Please sir (spoken in a British accent--didn't you know the dogs were bilingual?), we want some more."

(That's Sugar in the background. She doesn't like to stand too close to Popeye cuz she says he's got cooties.)

"What? No more? Then we shall feast on the pitbull instead!"

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I found a mix of TH and Granddads or a nature meat patty makes them eat super slow. slower than when they ate evo. they lick their bowl. i use really small bowls tho... maybe that's why. grandads is kind of a pain. i don't use the full stick and have to refridgerate for next day. i think i need the co-op...thanks for educating me. i can see they are looking so much beter arlready. coat is shiney. they lost some weight (no grains...tho evo had no grains) and love their food. tho it looks gross to me! :)

Anonymous said...

popeye sooooo doesn't have cooties and sugar totally knows it. she's being a meanie! ;)

Entice said...

A friend of mine has a chocolate lab that used to gulp everything down so fast, it often came up again. She didn't get one of these bowls, but she did get a big, round stone from her garden and put that in his bowl... The concept is the same, he has to slow down and eat around the stone. Plus, it adds some weight! Maybe that'd scare a pup like Pheobe a bit less, since the added weight'd keep the bowl still. =)

Wild Dingo said...

oh i like the stone concept cuz their bowls go all over the kitchen!

havetailwillwag said...

wow!!! you are sooooo amazing!! making your own fresh dog food and all!! :) wonderful!