Free the Animal

Spoiled & Pampered Animals

Spoiled? Our dogs? Here's "daddy's sweetheart," Nanuka ("Nuke"), a 3-yr-old rat terrier.

Real Raw Dog Food

As I mentioned just recently, I'm interested in trying raw food for my dog-people. So this morning I was out and about and noticed a shiny new store, a pet food express. Turns out they have a few companies supplying various forms of raw food product. Nature's Variety offers both Raw, as well as a grain-free low-carb kibble and canned line they call Instinct that appears comparable to the EVO I feed them now.

I got them some of their raw frozen turkey necks, bone & all. Contrary to popular modern ignorance, dogs are perfectly fine with all manner of poultry and fowl bones, so long as they are raw. However, they should never be given any cooked bones whatsoever, from any species (well, large dinosaur would probably be fine). Cooking makes bones brittle, risking sharp shards of bones becoming lodged and impacted.

Then there's Primal Pet Foods, a local company based in San Mateo, CA. So the dogs have a bag of the lamb nuggets in the freezer, with a few thawing in the fridge to try later. I also have it on excellent authority that they really love both the Buffalo Liver Chunks and Venison Liver Slabs.

Keeping the Animal Free: Pets

How badly some people treat their pets. Some are actually ignorant and arrogant enough to feed dogs a vegetarian diet. I've seen it. It often makes them fat, immobile, flatulent snorting machines. Then they die young, often of heart failure.

Here's our two beasts during a hike behind our cabin in Arnold, CA. American Rat Terriers. Nanuka ("Nuke") in the foreground is a 3-yr-old champion female. Rotor, in the background, a 9-yr-old male in pristine health.

There's three things we do that keeps them as fit as they are.

1. Lots of play.
2. Lots of walks, including off-leash; not so much so they can run as that they can sprint, all out.
3. Ultra-high protein, ultra low carb. No grains or HFCS: EVER!

Now, if you have the time, money and attention, then maybe BARF is for you. But while I'm interested to try it out on the munchkins, I just don't see how it could improve things. Anyway, for better than a year, now, they've been fed exclusively EVO. For snacks, they get the dried chicken and duck meat...ingredients: chicken; duck. The end.

It's pretty easy to obtain, but go to all the stores in your area that carry it. Some have better stock than others. The dry comes in red meat and chicken / turkey. Canned comes in (all 95%) venison, rabbit, duck, beef, and chicken / turkey. I rotate off on the dry, and then get the three more exotic canned meats. Needless to say: they love 'em, especially in the morning when they each get a teaspoon of lard mixed in. 

Curiously, they will often spontaneously fast and let their bowls sit there untouched until the evening. I never worry about it. I've thought of fasting them every now and then in order to simulate natural pressures. But I don't think I could take those perplexed, sad eyes glaring at me. And, since they seem to fast on their own intermittently, it relieves me of the chore.