Sunday Funday

It was a pretty normal Sunday in our house. I slept in way late, so the dogs had a late breakfast of beef heart.




We took down our Christmas decorations, and Neeko had to help/investigate our work.




I gave Bruce the giant Greenie we got for free today. What isn't visible in the photo is the puddle of drool under his chin.




I hit up Pet Supplies Plus with a gift card I received for Christmas.




I picked up some Bil-Jac treats, Old Mother Hubbard biscuits, and some calming tabs I will try out when Bruce goes to the vet in February. PSP sells bulk treats. Bruce loves biscuits, but it's hard to find decent quality ones that don't contain a yeast, which he is allergic to. These fit the bill!
I did some grocery shopping today, and picked up the last two bags of the chicken leg quarters we use. These will last about two weeks.








Neeko has acted like her hips bothered her in the past, and I have supplemented with glucosamine. She is once again acting sore. I choose not to use glucosamine supplements marketed for dogs, as I feel they're not as well regulated. Instead, I bought a human supplement.




This one contains glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM. I meatballs for her. I used 60 tablets and two lbs of ground beef. The thought of using a pill crusher on 60 tabs made me feel nauseous, so I busted out a secret weapon.




It worked out decent. It was loud, and a bit of dust escaped. It was not perfectly powdered, there was some pill chunks. I mixed well with my hands, then made a month's worth of meatballs. Onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and into the freezer they went.




For dinner, they had chicken leg quarters, chicken liver, and a Seameal meatball. Bruce actually got the entire back half of a chicken, as that's how it came in the bag.




My boys eating.




Now, we are unwinding, watching TV in the back room. Faolan, looking all skeptical.



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Spoiled Dogs (Pet subcription boxes)

I just signed up for TWO (!!) monthly subscription box services targeted towards dogs. BarkBox and Pawalla.  I should receive both boxes during the second half of January.  I have chosen to pay month by month, as opposed to paying 3 or more months in advance.  One can cancel at any time. I plan on only keeping the box that I like best after the first month. 

I learned of these on one of my Facebook wolfdog groups.  Odds are, I will probably stick with BarkBox, as it is mostly treats, toys, and care items, whereas Pawalla is more food centric, sending out premium canned/wet foods.  My raw food snobs have recently been turning up their noses on the random occasions that I offer them canned food.

I am very excited to see what we get.  With three large dogs, it will make a small dent in my treat/toy buying, but I hope to learn of new treats/products that I would otherwise not know of.

I will obviously post pictures/reviews of both boxes once they arrive.

Snow!!!

We had our first significant snowfall of the season today!!

Pictures!



































And, obligatory meal photos.

Breakfast-beef lung.



Dinner-chicken leg quarter, venison, bison liver, Seameal meatball.



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Christmas!!

Last night (Christmas Eve) we had our annual dinner at my mom and stepdad's house. As always, we had a lovely time, laughing, celebrating, eating and exchanging gifts. I brought gifts for the family dogs.

My sister's rotten dogs (all rescues)
Harley-an American Bulldog mix.




Chopper-a Boxer mix.




Rocky-a Cocker Spaniel.




My brother's rotten dog (also a rescue)
Sully-a Beagle/Dachshund mix.




For breakfast yesterday, my crew had lamb heart.



For dinner, Neeko had a chicken leg quarter, chunk of pork heart, chicken liver.




The boys had venison leg bones, pork heart chunks and chicken liver.




Today, my pups each got a 12" bully stick as a Christmas treat.

They had their favorite foods today as well.
For breakfast, they had Green Tripe SuperMix from My Pet Carnivore.







For dinner, they each received a portion of a large venison roast...



...lamb trim, lamb kidney and a Seameal meatball.




Central Indiana is under a blizzard warning tomorrow. Different media outlets are forecasting anywhere from 8-15"+ of snow, with heavy winds.

Unfortunately, I have to work, but I hope to spend some time outside playing in it with my pups over the next few days.
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Just Another Sunday

Except its Christmas Eve Eve, and Christmas is my favorite!

For breakfast, the trio had goat trachea and esophagus.



We were doing our normal Sunday morning routine of drinking coffee and watching Sunday Morning when there was a knock on the door. It was our awesome neighbors from across the street, and they brought presents, for humans and dogs!

Homemade dog cookies in a cute tin.



One of the human gifts was an assortment of K-cups in a glass jar.



While out running errands, I hit up Pet Supplies Plus. They issued an email coupon for free Blue Buffalo treats with a BB dog or cat food purchase, no minimum specified. I bought a can of BB Wilderness, and scored a free $7 bag of treats.



While I feed raw, I don't have a problem giving non raw treats.

While there, I remembered I had a couple other PSP coupons I had received at the Indy Dog Expo. I used them and got a free Jumbo Greenie, which I will give to Bruce, and a free large tennis ball.



I spent $2.50 for $15 worth of goods.

Being a weekend, I spent time prepping dog food. I had bought a 10 lb bag of chicken leg quarters earlier this week. I regularly buy these, as they are a staple bone-in item, and cheap at $5.90 per bag. If these are the only bone-in item I feed, a bag will last about a week.



This bag conveniently contained nine quarters, which I divided up three to a bag, then placed in the freezer.

I made up a batch of Seameal meatballs today. I used some ground turkey that had been purchased for humans, that I thawed, did not use that night, and refroze for the dogs.



I put 10 tbsp Seameal in a bowl with the ground meat, add a bit of water, and then mix the heck out of it with my hands to evenly distribute it. Onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and into the freezer they go.




This morning, I pulled one of the dear legs I was given out of the freezer. I wanted to investigate it, look at the bone density, and decide what the plan is with the four of them. This afternoon, I pulled some beef hearts out to take care of in the morning.





The venison leg, thawed and unwrapped.


I cut as much meat off the bones as I could, netting nearly three lbs of meat. It broke down into three bones.



The back two bones I feel safe feeding. With the other legs, I will leave the meat on, and disjoint them. I will give Neeko the portion with the denser bone, as I have no problems taking food away from her.

She eats slowly, and is the only one who has since if I make their food around them. I suspect it's because we've had her since she was a puppy, and she has never been hungry. Both boys have some food issues. I realize not all rescues do.

Once the Seameal meatballs had frozen, I bagged them. I then reused to parchment lined cookie sheet to individually freeze some chicken livers. I've never fed chicken livers, and I honestly don't know why.



I was at the grocery today, so I bought two tubs of them. I will do the other tub tomorrow. I will probably go to Saraga, a nearby ethnic market, for some "other" organ as well.

For dinner tonight, they all had beef heart, lamb kidney, an egg, and some cottage cheese that expired two days ago.



I just snapped this of my sleeping beauties. The snow from the other day melted some, so there's mud on the couch and floor.



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