Tuesday Recipe... Dog Food

Raw Dog Food
I know this might sound crazy on a health and fitness blog, but if we take care of ourselves, shouldn't we also take great care of our dogs, or pets in general? I think so. So, I strive to take great care of our two dogs, Mungo and Otto, along with the rest of the zoo. But today, we are going to talk about the Boys. I tell people all the time, my two dogs eat better than most people do. They also get more exercise than most people! They all have to agree.

Here is what I make to feed them, for the most part. Mungo, our Scottie, eats a full raw diet. Otto, our Weim, eats a partial raw diet. He needs about three pounds of food a day when he eats raw due to his size and activity level. Otto is the energizer bunny on steroids! I do partial raw for him.

What you need:
5 lbs of ground beef
4 slices of liver, just how it comes in the package I buy
Other organ meat if I kind find it and it is not too expensive
1-2 cups of pumpkin or other squash
10-12 whole eggs, shell and all. I break the shells up small
freshly ground chia, flax and pumpkin seeds. I dumped some into my grinder, you should all know by now, I do not measure!
Sea weed, maybe about 1/4 cup. Hublet and I picked up a bunch of washed up sea weed when we were at the beach one year, so I use that, has great vitamins and minerals in it. If you do not have sea weed, use sea salt with added iodine. Make sure you are supporting their thyroid gland.

Method:
Mix the nasty, gooey mess all together, mix well. From here, I take out my kitchen scale, the only scale we own and the only reason I bought it was for the dogs, and make 2 pound blabs. Put them in saran wrap and freeze them. I take some out of the freezer as needed. 2 pounds will feed Mungo several meals, he gets about half a pound a day between two meals and about one to two supplements for Otto, depending on how much I feed him. They LOVE it!!!!!!

Both of their coats are shiny and soft. Both breeds usually have coarse fur, but not with this raw diet. They glisten in the sun. They are both happy and healthy.

Mungo has had some problems with yeast over growth. At his worst, he lost 90% of his hair. His skin was flaming red and he had no energy. This was a puppy who did not think he needed to sleep as a puppy, there was WAY to much playing to be accomplished in a day. He would wake up early with Daddy and play until about three in the afternoon. Take a short nap and then was back up ready to play when Daddy got home. He would play until we went to bed, no matter the time. When he had no energy and only wanted to sleep, you could understand my alarm and concern. With this raw diet, he is doing very well. Hair is all coming back in thick and shinny and all of his energy is coming back! I have taken him off of the raw diet and in time, he goes right back to scratching, nibbling on himself and losing his hair, so I will be keeping him on this diet.

For their treats, they get some coconut oil daily, code liver oil and when it is warm, raw meaty bones to chew. From the raw bones, they have very white clean teeth, Mungo is five and Otto is three. For their teeth to look as good as they do for their ages proves how important it is for them to chew raw bones. And it keeps them occupied, for a time.

This is in part how I strive to keep my two babies happy and healthy!

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time!
In the blessing of Christ,
Jenn