Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Recent Raw Meals

The prey model raw meals from the last week for my three dogs. They weigh 96, 97, and 70 lbs, but all eat roughly the same amount/weight of food.
 
I feed twice daily. The smaller meals are breakfast, the larger meals are dinner. 

Typically all breakfasts are boneless, and every other dinner contains bone.  I usually serve liver with the bone-in dinners, and "other" organs with the boneless dinners.
 
This past week, I fed five different proteins-beef, bison, lamb, goat, and a lot of pork. As with humans, variety, including species, cuts, and organs, is important.


Disgusting pictures of raw meals for dogs after the break.


Wordless Wednesday-Shake



Monday, April 28, 2014

Happy Gotcha Day Bruce!

Three years ago today, we officially adopted Bruce from a local rescue group.  We have had our ups and downs, but for the last year or so it has been mostly ups, for which I am grateful.

The big boy has taught me so much in the last three years.  Patience is the big one.  He truly does make me smile, laugh, and on occasion, sigh. 

Bruce posing.
I love how affectionate he can be when he wants to be.  At those times, he is easily my most affectionate dog.

I love his happy howls, the aroo's that come when he is excited to see us, or knows that he is about to eat.


I love how far he has come.  We are working on putting up more fencing, and had to disconnect the corner of our small fenced area to dig a post hole last weekend.  I had to get all three dogs inside and close off the dog door.  He was too nosy about everything going on, and did not want to come inside.  I grabbed his collar, and he screamed a little, and then bluffed like he was going to bite my arm.  But he DIDN'T.  1.5 years ago, 3 years ago, he would have.  This time he only bluffed, then willingly followed me inside.

My handsome boy.

As terrible as it sounds, there was a time when I was almost afraid of Bruce.  I feel that we now have a mutual respect, admiration, and love for one another, because he is probably the most truly "obedient" of my three dogs, when he wants to be.  He has the best recall when on the long leash, and seems to be the one who just enjoys being near us, doing nothing.

Happy Gotcha Day big boy, and here's to many, many more!


Saturday, April 26, 2014

2014 Indy Mutt Strut-Indy Dog Friendly

Today, for the fourth year in a row, we attended the Indianapolis Mutt Strut, benefiting the Humane Society of Indianapolis. This year, we took both Neeko and Faolan.

It was nearly an hour drive for us, and Faolan did great in the Jeep.  I think having calm Neeko in the car with him was helpful.

Neeko always does well, as long as other dogs do not immediately get in her face.  This is the largest event Faolan has attended, and he did phenomenal.  I couldn't be prouder.  He did exhibit a couple of anxious behaviors three or four times, but they were short-lived, and overall he was a sweet, social, well-behaved boy today.

Once, while walking through a very crowded corridor of vendors and people, he sat down for about 10 seconds, but stood up and began walking without encouragement.  I praised him immensely.  He was willing and eager to greet almost everyone, and most other dogs.

Before we actually started the walk.
This is a yearly event taking place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, always occurring the last weekend in April, as the track is busy the entire month of May, in anticipation and preparation for the Indy 500.

We met up with some friends to walk this year, and I ran into some other friends as well.

Charity and Jeff, with their dogs, Mina and Halo.
The 500 Festival Princesses saw Faolan from a distance, and came running over to see him.  He is such a lady's man.

500 festival princesses with wolfdog

I ran into Bruce's "breeder", and he was actually very nice.  That still doesn't mean I agree with what he does.  He was there with a woofer of his, a handsome, well-behaved boy named Apache.

Bruce's "breeder."
It was a gorgeous day, and I feel bad about leaving Bruce at home, but he does not do well around this many other people and dogs.  Neeko and Faolan are passed out, and tired dogs are good dogs.

Myself, Les and the pups on the track.

Home to the "Greatest spectacle in racing" and the "Greatest spectacle in dog walking"

My pretty princess.  We use a yellow ribbon on her to hopefully keep other dog owners from immediately letting their dogs get in her face. 

Makes me so happy!!

 
Relaxing in the shade, after we completed our lap around the track.

I loved this Great Dane, and he was certainly getting a lot of attention!
This is a yearly event for us, and benefits a good organization.  Indy Humane is NOT affiliated with HSUS, and they do not euthanize for space.  This is their largest fund-raising event each year, and I am glad to be a part of it.

Friday, April 25, 2014

PetBox (Pick Your Own) Review

I am a dog subscription box addict.  I recently came across a PetBox coupon code for half off on Instagram, and having won a PetBox in the past (and being quite impressed with it) I could not resist ordering another.

I did not realize that they had the option to pick your own items.  One is given 6 points, and items are awarded a point value. I am guessing it is based on their retail value.  I decided to choose my own items, which makes it a bit less fun, taking away the element of surprise.  The reasoning for this is that none of the toys offered when looking at them seemed like they would hold up to my dogs if I received one in the surprise box.

I ordered on Wednesday evening, and FedEx just delivered it to my house, which is quite impressive.

PetBox picking treats

The Goods

The Honest Kitchen Pecks review
The Honest Kitchen Pecks.Approximate retail value $8.81.  I love The Honest Kitchen, their quality, philosophy and products.  My dogs have never had these, so I had to select them.  Simple, quality ingredients, none of which are remotely suspicious to me.  In fact, I would eat these.  I am a sucker for cute packaging, and THK gets me there.  These are biscuit type treats that are slightly larger than a typical piece of kibble.  Neeko loves anything blueberry, so I am certain she will really like these.  Bruce loves just about anything, and Faolan, well, he's a weirdo, so I will have to wait and see. The only thing slightly concerning to me is that I have read that if bison is referred to as buffalo, that indicates it is not from a US source.  I may contact THK and ask where they source their "buffalo" from.



Dog is Good Big Mutts Car Magnet.  Approximate retail value $5.49.  I won a refrigerator magnet with the same phrase (thank you, Ann!), and purchased the same shirt at a local store.  I saw this, and had to choose it.  Now to decide which vehicle to put it on...







Green Bark Gummies Hip & Joint Large Bites.Approximate retail value $11.69.  I chose these with Neeko in mind.  There is not a large amount of information given when choosing treats on the PetBox website, and I probably should have researched these a bit further, especially considering they were valued at two points, while everything else I selected was valued at one point.  The ingredients are just ok, and these contain brewers yeast, so I cannot offer them to Bruce at all.  According to the label, one is to feed two treats per 10 pounds of body weight daily.  I would have to feed Neeko 18 or more treats daily, for "therapeutic" benefits I suppose.  But a treat is a treat, and the primary ingredient in these is white fish, and my girl loves fish.  These are semi-soft treats, which she and Faolan both love, so I don't take it as a loss by any means.


My Little Wolf Salmon Dog Treats.Approximate retail value $5.69.  I ordered these with picky Faolan in mind, as they are soft, fish-based treats.  These are made in the US, and grain-free, though the inclusion of "animal" plasma (unspecified species) is of concern.  They are fishy-smelling, but it is not overwhelming.  I am hoping that he likes these, because I will put some in the treat pouch to take to the Indy Mutt Strut with us tomorrow if so.









The Honest Kitchen Smooches review
The Honest Kitchen Smooches.Approximate retail value $7.99.  Finishing out our PetBox with another THK product.  This is one my dogs have yet to try as well.  Cute packaging, quality ingredients (all of which I would eat), and a darling name in a smallish biscuit type treat.  These are sure to be a hit with Neeko and Bruce, and with Faolan I never know.  I feel good offering treats of this quality to my dogs.


I am overall pleased with the PetBox.  I think I will choose to be surprised next month.  If selecting your own, there are plenty of choices of treats, toys, chews and grooming items to choose from.  

Disclaimer-I am a PetBox subscriber.  I am not affiliated with PetBox, nor was I asked to do these reviews.  All opinions are strictly my own.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Recent Raw Meals

The prey model raw meals from the last week for my three dogs. They weigh 96, 97, and 70 lbs, but all eat roughly the same amount/weight of food.
 
I feed twice daily. The smaller meals are breakfast, the larger meals are dinner. 

Typically all breakfasts are boneless, and every other dinner contains bone.  I usually serve liver with the bone-in dinners, and "other" organs with the boneless dinners.
 
This past week, I fed eight different proteins-beef, venison, bison, chicken, sheep/lamb, goat, pork, and turkey. As with humans, variety, including species, cuts, and organs, is important.


I will be feeding pork pretty often the next few weeks, as some farmer friends of mine blessed me with about 60 lbs of pork, including ribs, hearts, livers, roasts, and steaks.

My blog is not cooperating with me today, so the photos are not in the actual order they should be.

feeding bison meat to dog
Bison tripe/lung/gullet grind.

is raw pork safe for dogs
Pork chop.

Chunk of pork loin.

(Frozen) chicken breast.
Pork ribs, pork liver.
Green tripe.
Lamb heart.
Beef heart, goat tails, pork kidney.
Ground venison.
Pork chop, lamb heart, pork kidney.
Turkey hearts.
Chicken leg quarter, pork liver.

Chicken leg quarter, sheep liver.  Shown with kelp, Pollock oil, and turmeric.






Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day 2014!  I celebrated with my dogs by taking them on walks individually, and breathing in the fresh air of a gorgeous Spring day.

The princess swimming.

Miss birdlegs herself.  I am so ready for her to blow her winter coat.

This is about as far as Bruce will go into the water.  Usually it is not even this far.

Contemplating whether or not he wants to get his paws wet again.

Faolan swimming, using all 30 feet of the long leash.

Little boy at the beginning of a shake out.

Nothing terribly exciting going on here, but we enjoyed it.

Did anybody's dogs do anything fun for Earth Day?

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Reunited, and it Feels so Good-Indy Dog Friendly

Sorry for the corny title, I couldn't resist.  On Saturday, I took Faolan to an event, K9's fore Nine, co-hosted by the amazing shelter I adopted him from.  I have mentioned it before, but I truly love them.  Wolfdogs are legal in the state of Indiana, and their is a stigma of sorts surrounding them.  Many shelters will not adopt them out, and I have read horror stories of them being euthanized upon arrival at some shelters.

Anyways, it was a gorgeous Spring day in Indiana.  We saw many of our shelter friends, and he was excited to see them all.

He did surprisingly well in the one hour plus car trip there.  Upon arrival, he did not show any fear, and wanted to greet every dog we saw.  He was a bit hesitant toward a few strangers, but seemed to recognize everyone associated with the shelter and was offering up kisses, tail wags, and happy jumps.

wolfdog at shelter
Faolan and Debbie.  Debbie is incredibly sweet, and cares about all the animals.  I am happy to have her as my friend.

There were a few vendors, exhibitors, and rescue organizations present.  One gentleman runs a reptile/amphibian rescue, and brought a few of his animals out.  Faolan did not know what to think of this tortoise.


A bully breed rescue group was present, and had a kissing booth set up.  I pretty much made out with a pit bull, and loved it!

Pit Bull kisses!!!
Some search and rescue folks were doing a demo, and one of the gals from the shelter's daughter was the person being "found."  Michelle asked me to take some pics for her, and offered to hold Faolan while I did so.


He did great, as long as he could see me.  Debbie held him for me while I ran into the clubhouse at one point to use the restroom.  Because I was out of his sight, I was told that he whined, yawned and cried a bit until I came back out.  Poor guy, he really is a momma's boy.

I am impressed with how much progress he is making on our social outings.  The plan is to take him, and Neeko, to the Mutt Strut next weekend.  This is a HUGE event, and will really be a test of sorts for him.

I cannot say enough about GHAM, and all the work they do for all the animals.  I really do love these folks, and wish I had taken more pictures of Faolan with the other shelter staff members.