Who Is This Dog Anyway?

Vida's Dogster page

Travel Food

A road trip with raw food is tricky. Ease depends on your willingness to cut corners - nothing my dog can survive, I say. If you have some raw, some dehydrated, and a little dry and canned, it's no problem.

Now that even modest motels often have fridges in the rooms, you can do almost anything.

I bring a couple servings of raw food and cocoon them in a cooler. Anyone can feed at least a day and a half that way.

I have a little bit of Holistique kibble in a ziplock, and some small pop-top cans of merrick stew (yes, dog food). These are for those quick and late dinners.

If I can warm up some water I have Honest Kitchen.

I'm foregoing Oils on the drive, only bringing along my Wholistic Pet all-in-one pouch for supplementation. Once I get to my vacation destination I'll share my flax oil with her. Figure a month off of coconut oil is a good switch. We'll see, since I've been feeding it consistently since November (when I get back I'll switch off the wholistic pet for awhile).

Should only take 4 days from CA to NH.

Once I get there I should be able to get some prepared raw food. It's a bit of a drive, so I also have Honest Kitchen and some flaked grains, so I'm good to go.

It's odd trying to figure out how much one's dog eats in a month. Who really calculates that?

Of course I can't forget the chewies! Fish skins and bully stix!

Never Run Out Of Dog Food Again!

Great title, eh?

No tricks, nothing up my sleeve.

Got plain oatmeal and eggs? Then you've got dog food.

No need to rush to the store or feed Fido a haul of treats, just raid your kitchen.

Plain bread, eggs, plain meat, plain cereal, veggies, cottage cheese, yogurt - these all make great meal fixin's.

Now I wouldn't say that this alone would be the best longterm diet, but there's no reason a healthy dog can't eat an odd meal.

Of course you can always use it as a chance to fast your pup too! Skipping a meal a week is a good thing for dogs.

Examining Philosophies of Feeding - grains in summer

There are a lot of theories on feeding dogs out there, even among fresh food advocates. I think it's good for people to examine them on a regular basis, and not take them for granted.

One that I was thinking about this morning (as I fed my dog some flaked grains with veggies and oils) was the idea from Levi of grain meals. I especially remember the anecdote she writes about Salukis eating mainly grains in the summer. She says this is because of the heat, to rest their digestion from the protein. Is this an example of interpretation to fit an idea?

This morning I wondered if it wasn't simpler, and not based on nutritional ideas but simple circumstance. First, dogs eat less when it's hot. Certainly summer in North Africa qualifies. They also exercise less. If there is less hunting being done, then there is less meat - for human and dog alike. If there is less meat, it's certainly the human that will get it. Is feeding less meat in summer simply based on their being less meat to share?

This is just one example of the kind of thing one should examine. Or maybe I'm just a wannabe academic.

Miss Thing Doesn't Do Rabbit

I admit, I find it very strange. A dog that will eat almost anything won't eat rabbit. Here's what I offered this morning:

• 8 ounces Nature's Variety Rabbit
• Scoop of Honest Kitchen Preference
• 1.5 tsp Wholistic Pet Canine Complete
• A few drops of Kyolic Garlic
• A squirt of Aloe Juice
• A squirt of Animal Essentials Omega 3 oil (fish oil with Vit E, Borage)
• A spoon of Coconut Oil

Alright, first the backstory.

2 years ago I got some whole ground rabbit from the raw food co-op I was buying from at the time (short-lived arrangement due to crappy people). I thought, "hey, cool, they should totally go for this!" Hesher, my other dog (since deceased) ate his. Vida went eagerly to her bowl, picked up one mouthful, and immediately tried to get it back out of her mouth! She tipped her head down and held her mouth wide open, tossing her head downward trying to dislodge it from her body. The chunk dropped to the floor and she gave me a dirty look before walking away in disgust. I'd never seen a dog more grossed out.

So this morning I thought I'd try it again. What could be so bad? I purposely left the one ounce chunks intact, though they were coated in the supplement/veggie sluce. She ate a little, then she picked up a really naked chunk, and started to eat, then dropped it on the floor. She gave me a grossed out look. She tried to eat another bite, same thing. I picked up the bowl and mashed all the meat into the supplement, hoping to flavor it enough to get her to eat the rest. She proceed to go slowly through the bowl, eating a bit, dropping a lot on the floor. I left the room for a bit. When I came back she'd eaten about half, and the rest was divided between the bowl and the floor.

I promise I will not serve rabbit again.

I still don't understand the problem. She eats raw green tripe, for god's sake! She's not crazy about quail. Eats every other meat: fish (ok, not whole fish, only ground), beef, venison, turkey, buffalo, lamb, duck... What is it with the rabbit??

Still Hot, Now Muggy

I know, every place else in the U.S.A. has it worse than anything we can complain about here in coastal So Cal. Keep in mind, though, that our homes aren't well equipped for this sort of thing either. I don't have central air, air conditioning, or heat, and the insulation is a joke. I do have a fan though, which has been on all the time lately.

Today was fish day. Hey! It's Friday - how funny! Catholic meals for dogs! Fish is nice and cooling. Used Western Supreme - ground Tilapia with veggies, just add calcium (forgot in the morning).

The heat is fading a tiny bit, but in it's place is humidity. This means itchier dogs. This also means dogs exercising less. Sluggish digestion (from lack of exercise) adds to any lopsidedness in the system, bringing the itchies.

Luckily Vida is not too itchy this year due to, I believe, coconut oil in her diet.

She has had a gunky eye since yesterday - the day after her home alone day - she probably did some vigorous backyard hunting and shoved her face where it didn't belong. It's clearing up with some herbal eye drops.

I've got the fan swiveling so I can get some sitting at the computer. Vida's laying on the concrete floor right where she can get both passes as it turns.