Today 1/30/13

Breakfast-Pork heart chunks.




The snow has melted, it rained a bunch last night. This is what I face when I let the dogs into the mud room right before I left for work.






Bruce had enough sense not to go wading in a giant mud puddle. At first I was mad, but then I realized how much fun it was for them, and had to laugh.

I get to work, and one of my awesome coworkers brought me some meat!!



Two large round steaks, two packages beef liver, and a package of split chicken breasts! How nice!

I received a Facebook message that Neeko was "Wolfer of the Day" on the In the Company of Wolves: Wolfer Love Facebook page! My pretty princess.



I spaced out while setting out food this morning for doggie dinner tonight, having forgotten they had bone-in for dinner last night. Oops. They had a little more bone tonight, in the form of large pork rib roasts.



They were happily consumed. Hopefully there's minimal dust poop/constipation. Only from the mouth of a raw feeder would one hear that. :-)

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Neeko's New Collar

I just love receiving mail, particularly if it's for the dogs.  Rachel at Our Life + Dogs makes some gorgeous collars. I recently ordered one from her Etsy shop.  She was very nice in our interactions, explaining in nice detail how to measure Neeko's neck.  I also ordered a matching leash.

They arrived today!

It's a beautiful 1.5 inch martingale collar in a green leafy pattern, with a matching leash. Absolutely lovely.

The princess, modeling her new gear.

How **I** Feed Raw

This is for informational purposes. I am of the opinion that big dogs are easier to feed raw than smaller dogs, because you have more wiggle room, especially in regards to bone-in content.

I feed each of my three twice daily, for a total of 2-2.5 lbs daily, or 32-40 oz. PMR (prey model raw) guidelines are for roughly 80% meaty meat, 10% edible bone, 5% organ, 5% other secreting organ (kidney, spleen, testes, brain, thymus, etc.)

Meaty meat includes meat, fat, tendons and sinew.

Daily, this breaks down to 25.6-32 oz meaty meat, 3.2-4 oz edible bone, 1.6-2 oz liver, and 1.6-2 oz other organ. Balance occurs over time, and everyday doesn't have to be balanced.

Bone
Not all bone is considered edible, or safe to eat. My main sources of bone are chicken leg quarters, turkey necks, duck quarters and bone-in pork cuts.

The chicken leg quarters I regularly buy also have a back portion, so the bone content of them is approximately 37%. These are large quarters, weighing approximately 16 oz. At 16 oz, the amount of bone is approximately 6 oz. My dogs eat about 64 oz every 2 days. Feeding a chicken leg quarter every other day provides them with their approximately 10% bone. The other 10 or so ounces goes toward their meaty meat intake.

Organs
I regularly buy beef and pork liver and kidney from a local ethnic grocery. I sometimes get other species and organs from my coOp, favorite farmer, or My Pet Carnivore.

I cut the liver and kidney into 3-5 oz chunks, usually using a scale, and place the chunks onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. I place the sheet into the freezer, individually freezing the organ chunks. Once frozen, they go into a Ziploc and back into the freezer. I feed organs frozen, as my girl has texture issues.

Over a two day period, my dogs need 3-4 oz of liver and 3-4 oz other organ. One night at dinner they get a chunk of liver weighing 3-5 oz, the next night a chunk of kidney weighing 3-5 oz. Repeat.

Meaty Meat
I feed as much red meat, with as much cut and species variety as possible. Breakfasts are smaller meals, typically 6-12 oz, and always boneless. Dinners are larger meals, 20-30 oz. Every other dinner includes a chicken leg quarter (or other bone-in item) to account for bone content, and a chunk of organ. Thus every other dinner is meaty meat and a chunk of organ.

I feed a variety of meaty meats. Beef heart, pork heart, goat heart, lamb heart, sheep heart, turkey heart. Beef lung, lamb lung, pork lung. Beef and lamb trim. Turkey breast chunks. Venison. Fish. Pork butt and shoulder. Basically any unenhanced meat I can get my hands on.

This is how I feed raw. It's not difficult once you get the swing of it.

Road Trip/Photo Session

Today, Faolan, my sister and myself made a road trip to the Dayton, Ohio area to meet up with the wonderful Rachel Lauren.  She took some amazing pictures of Neeko over the summer.  She is a canine photographer, and also owns a rescued wolfdog, Lucian.

It was quite cold today, about 16 degrees when we met at 1 PM.  My sister shot some pictures of Faolan with my (crappy) camera.

Streching before starting our walk

 

Durr face

 

I think this was right before, or right after I fell

 

 

Sniffing something

 

At a trot

 

Exploring

 

Tired boy on our way home

 

 

Once again, it was pleasure meeting up with Rachel, and I cannot wait to see some of her amazing photographs!

 

January 2013 BarkBox Review and a **Giveaway**

Prior to leaving on our road trip this morning, mail was delivered.  My BarkBox came!  I had to hold myself back from opening it, as Faolan and I were walking out the door when it was delivered.  We returned safely from our adventure this evening, and of course I immediately tore right in.

 

 

The Goods

 

 Jax and Bones Octopus Toy.  Approximate retail value of $12.10.  This is a very cute toy, and appears quite durable.  I might give this one to them.  The company that makes these donates a portion of their earning to a group called Rescue Train, dedicated to saving animal lives.

Barkworthies Bully Stick.  Guesstimate on retail value of $5.00, based on the cost of ordering one via the BarkBox iPhone app.  This is approximately 14" long.  Bully sticks are ALWAYS a huge hit in this house.  I am quite pleased with this.

Superior Farms Lamb Lung Treats.  Approximate retail value of $7.99.  While the trio hasn't tried these, I am sure they will be a huge hit.  I received some dehydrated llama lung treats as part of my DFC Secret Santa Gift, and they were very well received.  Neeko and Bruce have had Merrick's Lamb Lung treats in the past, and quite enjoyed them.

Yumzies Peanut Butter Treats.  Approximate retail value of $6.99.  These are made in the US (good), grain-free (good), but contain brewer's yeast (bad).  Truthfully, its only bad for Bruce.  It only takes a minute amount for his ear to become inflamed, so he will not be receiving any of these.  I have offered a couple to Neeko and Faolan, and they were quickly devoured.  Of course, Faolan had to sniff and make funny faces at the initial treat prior to eating and consuming it.  I need to get a photo of him doing that.

 

All in all, I was impressed with the BarkBox.  Not quite as much as the Spoiled Rotten Dog Box, but I am going to continue this subscription for at least one more month.

 

Now for the giveaway!  I have reviewed three different dog subscription boxes in the last couple weeks.  I am going to give a one month gift subscription to one of these boxes, winner's choice.  To enter, comment on this post with your choice of box, dog size, and how you found my blog.  There must be at least 15 entries for this giveaway to take place, and winner will be randomly selected.  Entries must be submitted by Sunday, January 27, at 5 PM, eastern time.

 

January Spoiled Rotten Dog Box Review

Upon arriving home this afternoon, I discovered a package waiting on the porch for me.  It was my first Petflow Spoiled Rotten Dog Box!!

 

 

The Goods

 

John Paul healthy paws Pet-Full Body & Paw Wipes.  Approximate retail value of $11.99.  This is a full size container.  Each wipe is decent size, and they smell nice.  This is something I will definitely use, particularly for paws and ears.

 Old Mother Hubbard P-Nuttier mini dog biscuits.  Approximate retail value of $6.49.  I actually purchase these same biscuits on occasion, just the extra large ones, at Pet Supplies Plus in the bulk section.  I like them because they are yeast free, with ok ingredients (except the wheat).  They are a hit with my crew, all of whom enjoy the much larger versions.

Go Dog Triceratops dog toy with Chew Guard. Approximate retail value of $8.99. This is actually a pretty nice toy. Unfortunately, my dogs are not allowed to have stuffed toys. Apparently its made of some sort of kevlar-type chew proof material. I'm debating on whether to allow them to have it, with the risk of destruction and dissection, or to give it to a friend or family member with a smaller dog.









Pet Naturals of Vermont Breath Bites. Approximate retail value of $8.42. Not something I would typically purchase. First ingredient is brewer's yeast, so Bruce cannot have any of these. I offered one to Faolan, who immediately dropped it and scent rolled all over it. These are worth the entertainment he will provide me with because of them.

Two Natural Balance Duck & Potato treat rolls.  Approximate retail value of $1.29 each. I have purchased these in the past, and cut into small pieces to use as treats.  They were a hit with my crew.  The ingredients could be better, but this formula actually has better ingredients than others in this line.

Luther's Body Biscuits.  Approximate retail value of $5.99.  I feel like I have seen these somewhere, and contemplated purchasing them.  The ingredients are quite good for a cookie/biscuit type treat.  All the ingredients are US sourced, and its made by a small company.  I have not yet offered these to the dogs.

While nothing in this box stood out as particularly unique, overall I was quite impressed with it. I am definitely going to continue this subscription.

 

 



 

 

 

 

Thievery

This morning, while unattended, some puppy helped itself to a nearly full bag of treats.



The evidence was found in Bruce's crate. I'm guessing Faolan initially stole it and helped himself, then Bruce got it and was hoarding the bag.

Yesterday for breakfast, the crew had boneless pork chops.



For dinner, they had boneless turkey chunks, beef kidney, and an egg.



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Destruction and Breakdown

Tonight and tomorrow are supposed to be bitterly cold. Temperatures below zero. So at 8:30 on a Sunday night, Bruce decided it would be a good idea to break a window in our house.
Because of a possum in the backyard.



Granted, it's an old, single pane window, but geez!! There's a storm window outside, but lots of cold air was coming through. Les did a quick fix with plastic weather shield material for tonight. Oh, Bruce.




For breakfast, they had turkey chunks.




My awesome neighbors are fostering and bottle feeding a two week old Golden Retriever puppy, whom I got to snuggle and feed today.



Ignore my pajama pants. They've named him Winston. He was dumped at animal control by a backyard breeder because he was born without a tail. Otherwise he's healthy.

I portioned out the 30 lbs of turkey hearts today, once again in the bathroom.




Yesterday, I hit up Marsh, because they had pork shoulders on sale for $1.29 per lb, and bought two of them.


I placed a large pork roast from a recent score in the sink last night to thaw.



This roast was huge!!



I cut it and the shoulders from Marsh into appropriate portion sizes, and bagged them up.


For dinner, the doggies had boneless pork, turkey breast chunks, and beef kidney.




I'm still trying to wrap my head around the broken window. In the words of Les, which he speaks with affection, "Damn dogs."

:-)
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Today 1/18/13

I did, in fact, get up an hour early this morning with the intention of breaking down the 40 lbs of boneless turkey chunks that sat in our back bathroom bathtub overnight.  I was up at 4:30 a.m., started a pot of coffee, let the dogs out, drank a cup of coffee, then headed to the back bathroom with scale, Ziplocs, and pen in hand.  The turkey was still frozen fairly solid.  I dropped the 30 lb case of turkey necks in the tub next to it, and thought about what to do next. At this point I had already been up for about 20 minutes, and had a cup of coffee, so going back to bed was out of the question.  I used my spare time to sit down and watch the news.

The view of my tub this morning.

 

 

The trio had a breakfast of boneless pork chops and eggs for breakfast.

Off to work I went.  Mid morning I checked my phone.  I had a Facebook notification of a new message received.  Faolan was "Wolfer of the Day" on the In the Company of Wolves: Wolfer Magic page, a recently started project by Howling Woods Farm in New Jersey.  I was honored.

Screenshot from my phone

Finished my day at work, came home, and set about breaking down those turkey chunks.  Once started, I realized the meat was in fact pink, and I believe red dye was put on top of the case as a denaturant, to mark as not for humans.  It was a tedious process, as the chunks were still frozen in the middle.  It took me over an hour, and at one point, my hands and forearms were cramping from prying meat apart. 

Pink visible under the red after starting

40 lbs of turkey, divided up. 











I did all the work in the bathroom, and transported it to the freezer.

 

Dinner-beef heart, turkey chunks, beef kidney.

They all ate the turkey with no issues, which pleases me.  I was actually slightly worried that the princess would not.

 

Speaking of the princess (Neeko), just a shot of her on the back porch, licking her frozen water.