Sharing

Yesterday morning I went to work early to share about 20 lbs of beef and venison from my score with another raw feeding nurse at my hospital who currently works nights. She has a gorgeous working-line GSD. She messaged me today, asking if she could share with me. I drove to work after dinner tonight. This is what she gave me!




A bunch of goodies from My Pet Carnivore! A bag of lamb trotters, six beef tracheae, a container of Tripe SuperMix (an all time favorite in my house) and a container of ground whole chicken! I was not expecting such generosity. From previous experience, I know that Neeko doesn't like the ground chicken (picky brat), but Bruce does, and I'm sure Faolan will too.
This morning's breakfast-beef stew cubes.




Tonight's dinner-chicken back, venison, beef lung, bison liver, Seameal meatball.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meals and a Mini-Score

For breakfast, Bruce had round steak.



That isn't bone at the top. I popped the little round bone out, and then popped the soft marrow out of it.

Neeko and Faolan both had beef stew cubes.




For dinner, Neeko had venison neck, lamb trim, turkey hearts, and bison liver.




The boys both had turkey feet, turkey hearts, beef lung, lamb trim and bison liver.




When it rains, it pours! I picked up some more free meat from a nice lady via Facebook this evening. Three venison roasts, each weighing 2.5-3.5 lbs.




It's quite difficult to get a photo of all three of them looking at me, but I managed to do so tonight. Not the greatest pic, but I still have to share.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Score!!! And Other Stuff

I got an email Wednesday regarding a Craigslist ad I placed a couple weeks ago, and met up with the gentleman today. I came with about 80 lbs of beautiful meat!




Approximately 30 lbs of venison. All loin, roasts, backstrap and one heart. Hello free range, organic goodness.




Approximately 45 lbs beef. All steaks, roasts, and a couple packages stew meat. I'm guessing he purchased half a steer, or something similar, and didn't eat it all. It's dated last year.




One package fish.




Two rabbits. Neeko and Bruce have refused to eat rabbit on four occasions, so I will offer these to Faolan. Tomorrow evening is a bone-in meal, so he will get one then.




For breakfast, they all had beef heart.




For dinner, they had turkey hearts, goat trachea/esophagus, and goat testicle.




An interesting shot of one of Neeko's pieces. Yes, that is goat fur on it. I believe this is a trachea, and those are the vocal cords.




"No, I haven't been digging. Why do you ask?" She was so busted.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

You're Not a Cat, Bruce

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Secret Santa

I'm participating in a Secret Santa through one of the dog forums I'm a member of. I mailed my package today. I don't think my recipient has ever read my blog.

I ordered this tug leash online, because she specifically asked for it.



I went to a very cute local shop, and bought a cute Lupine collar today.



While there, I found an adorable handmade card, so I got that as well.






Then off to Pet Supplies Plus, where I bought a rope/tennis ball toy, because she asked for tug toys.



She lives in Austrailia, and the lady at the post office said it should arrive to her in 6-10 days.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thanksgiving Meals

For breakfast, they had a small amount of beef lung.



For dinner they enjoyed venison neck, lamb hanging tender, a small amount of venison roast and a goat testicle.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thanksgiving

I'm thankful to have brought home Neeko at about 7-8 weeks old as the first dog who was truly mine. We experienced a puppy who has grown into an amazing dog. I swear sometimes she knows what I want of her before I ask her. I trust her. She listens, yet has an independent/stubborn streak that showcases how intelligent she is. She is rock solid and calm in almost all situations. I'm thankful for her full body wag and the way she sings to greet me.




Oh Bruce. I'm thankful for how far this boy has come. I'm thankful to him for teaching me how to love, forgive, and be patient. He has also taught me how kindness and consistency are important to dogs. I'm thankful for his siren howl, his happy howl, and how he talks. I love that he just wants to be near us. I'm thankful the rescue allowed us to adopt him, because I feel very few other owners would have put forth the effort necessary to make him the wonderful boy he is at home.





I'm thankful for how Faolan makes me laugh, every day. His expressions, antics, and fearlessness are hilarious. I'm thankful for being able to rescue him. He has also taught me patience, but in a different way than Bruce. He is incredibly sweet, and very human submissive. He's just a little wild. I'm thankful for his cuteness, and how quickly he learns.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

11/21/12 Dinner and Disappointment

Tonight's dinner-goat trachea, beef heart.




Neeko enjoying her meal.



Faolan working on his.



Bruce pretty much inhales his food. I didn't get a picture of him eating. Instead, he's just sitting in his crate waiting for me to release him.



Disappointment. I received a message from a lady who had some venison for me. She lives around the corner from my work, so I picked it up this afternoon. When I got home, I realized I received approximately 35 lbs of venison sausage.



Fortunately, there was also about 4 lbs of venison roast that will be put to good use.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bones

Tonight's dinner-boneless pork and chicken back.



I don't typically feed backs, but I bought these over the weekend due to the diarrhea issues in my house. The were only $0.39 per lb. I typically only feed bone every fourth meal, but have been feeding it every other the last few days. I will attempt boneless all day tomorrow. I'm hoping to resume organs (no more ostrich liver!) and fish oil this weekend. There has been no ill-effects from the turkey heart breakfast this morning.

On a side note, my freezers are packed!

Shots of my dedicated dog food freezer.






And a couple shots of the freezer from our second side-by-side. We purchased it for human overflow, but it now houses and thaws dog food. :-)






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Just Because He's Cute

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Today's Agenda

We have had no accidents in the house in over 48 hours, and no urgent pleas to go outside in almost as long. Saturday night all three had pumpkin and yogurt for dinner, with the same for breakfast yesterday morning. They all had chicken quarters only for dinner last night. I will give chicken quarters for dinner tonight. This morning, they each had a small amount of beef heart.




Later this morning, I'm meeting up with a friend of mine, to share some deer neck. She started as a Facebook friend, but has become a real life friend. She lives in my town, is around my age, and owns Wolfdogs. We met via Facebook Wolfdog groups. She owns a high content and three low contents. Hoping to get some pictures to share.

This afternoon, OH and I might be looking at a house with a realtor. We looked at it on our own (it's vacant), and the first things I thought of was the dogs. It's nearly six acres, with a two acre pond. Hoping to get pictures of it as well.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Poop!!!

I have three dogs with the runs. Faolan started first, on Wednesday. OH came home to it. He woke me up about every hour Wednesday night, to go outside. He is crated at night. OH came home to more Faolan diarrhea on Thursday. This time required a bath. He only woke me once to go out Thursday night. OH came home to Neeko diarrhea Friday. She also required a bath. This morning, I woke up to a puddle of poop in the back room, where the dogs all sleep. Neeko and Bruce are not crated at night. I blame this on Bruce.

All three are acting fine, with no abdominal tenderness or guarding. If they seemed lethargic or sick, I would have them at the vet.

I gave all three a chicken quarter this morning, which tends to produce fossil poops. No accidents today.

Tonight, all three had some plain yogurt and canned pumpkin for dinner. Not raw, and some would argue not species-appropriate.




On a happier note, I picked up 80 lbs of meat from my favorite farmer this morning.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meat order

I was having a bit of a panic attack because I had not heard from my favorite farmer, who is my best source. I got ahold of him. He is not delivering to Indy this month, but is willing to meet me halfway. I will absolutely drive an hour and 20 minutes one way to meet him. He is even giving me a 20% discount to meet him.

The venison necks are more than I like to pay for bone-in meat, but supposedly they're very meaty, and it's venison.

Today

It was a beautiful Indian Summer day in Central Indiana.  High of 71 degrees, with lots of sunshine.  Spent plenty of time outside with the pups, and snapped a few pictures.

My boys, Faolan and Bruce.  This photo isn't the clearest, but it shows the difference in size between the two of them.  Bruce is three years old, almost 30" at the shoulder, and weighs about 100 lbs.  Faolan is one year old, about 27.5" at the shoulder, and weighs about 65 lbs.



 

Some pictures of my princess.  Neeko is 2.5 years old, almost 31" at the shoulder, and weighs about 86 lbs.

 

 

 

Bruce sniffing something.

Pretty teeth of a raw fed dog!

A couple of shots of Faolan demonstrating single tracking.  Single tracking is a wolf trait, but also found in some dog breeds.

 

 

We took Neeko to the Indy Pet Expo this afternoon.  I was disappointed this year.  Last year was pretty great.  I snapped one (dark) photo of one of the aisles.  Plenty of visitors were there, but the vendors and demonstrators for the most part weren't as good as last year.

 On a bright note, I bought a beautiful new collar for Faolan.  It was being sold by a Great Dane Rescue group, but they did not make it.  It was made by another lady here in Indianapolis, whose business card they provided me with.  Her website is here.

 I set some Ostrich liver to thaw in the sink this morning, and portioned it out to individually freeze on a parchment lined cookie sheet this evening.  I feed all organs frozen, as Neeko has some texture issues.  Once the chunks are frozen, I will place them in a bag, and store in the dogfood side-by-side, for easier access.





The ostrich liver seemed less bloody, paler, and of a different texture/consistency than beef or pork liver, for comparison.

And finally, for dinner tonight they all had turkey hearts, beef liver, and a Seameal meatball.