Feeding big raw items and whole prey.

I feed raw diet and I like to vary it when I can I love to feed her big items because it provides much more of a work out then feeding ground meat or daily portions of boneless..

I do feed ground and daily portion of boneless meat, but I do provide her with big meals like whole roasting chicken, lamb leg, pork shoulder or bison roast... The bison roast coarse rare I only gotten it one time..

Yesterday she got a semi boneless leg of lamb Saya ate 13.37oz of it. usually she gets 5oz to 7oz a day so it was bit more then she usually gets.

13oz seems to be her limit on how much she eats in big meals she once eaten a 16oz turkey drumstick though.

Since Saya seems know where her limit on how much to eat is I let her eat what she wants on big items.

Not all dogs are like that sadly so know your dog don't let it gorge too much..

Whole roaster.

Pork shoulder roast once 9lb now 3 or 4lbs

 Feeding such a fatty item like pork shoulder roast may seem like I'm on the road to pancreatic diet, but Saya doesn't just eat fat she also eats bit of the meat, fat, skin so it's not pure fat.

I don't believe amount she eats each day will hurt her since she has been slowly introduced to it and tolerates it well.

Fat is important in a dog's diet too coarse when the dog is new to raw it's important to take skin off chicken, trim the fat on beef or pork, but once used to it it's good stuff.

Coarse I wouldn't be feeding pure fat as meals I don't think that would be healthy.

whole prey quail

I also consider whole prey quail as a big item even though they're just 8oz or so compared to her 9lb pork shoulder roast it still more work compared to 5 or 8oz piece of meat.

I hope to order whole prey rabbit eventually once I got my own freezer for more variety also more quail since I'm out of it.

A young rabbit Saya caught

Saya did caught her self a young rabbit she is good about leaving things alone when asked so I washed the rabbit and froze it for month in case of parasites. Sad she killed it, but rabbits do cause damage to my veggies so one less bunny to eat my plants..

Coarse I'm not off telling Saya to kill every bunny in the fields or yard it just happened. I was weeding the garden and she was laying by me she walked off and got the bunny I thought at first she was going to our outdoor cat to play with him, but nope it was a bunny a young one at that.

She killed it very quickly so I don't think it suffered. I fed it to her after it was done freezing for month. Bunny didn't go to waste coarse a wandering coyote probably would ate it if I threw it into the field, but I wanted to give it to Saya since it was her prize..

Saya pulling the rabbi's stomach out

One thing with feeding this bun bun I learned she didn't like it's stomach she pulled it out and the intestines and didn't want to eat any of the rabbit till I took it completely out of the bunny..


I haven't had chance to feed her another whole rabbit so it'd be interesting to see how she does when I get some.

Saya ate the bunny back end first..

When I first gave it to her she wasn't thrilled to eat it, but once I took some the fur off she saw there was meat under it and ate it up.

Pacific saury

While saury isn't big like pork shoulder or leg of lamb I still consider it a good big meal plus it still has head and organs in it yummy.

I feed mostly bone in items, boneless, organs, but I love giving whole prey because it has everything in one package, meat, bone, muscle meat organs, liver, and other secreting organs also has blood.

I hope to incorporate whole prey items more into her diet once I get my own freezer.

Quail, rabbit, whole sardines, herring, and pacific saury is kinds I'm able to get from either hare today or Asian market nearby.

Does feeding whole prey make your dog more apt to kill a furry animal or be aggressive?

I don't think it does, but could depend on the dog if you feed it a guinea pig fur on and the dog sees a live pet one it might think it's food, but most dogs think pets like rabbits, guinea pigs, or quail is something to chase or play with.

Saya eats quail and she leaves birds like doves, robins, and red wing black birds alone..

Coarse with rabbits they're on ground so easier to chase then birds.

Saya is reactive to strange dogs she never met before, but I don't think it's due to raw she had good puppy class, good socialization and everything and good temperament too.

She did get attacked by a mixed breed the mix was on leash the owner said he was friendly so we met, but her dog went for Saya.  Sai greeted the mix just fine she wasn't rude in the way so I dunno why it happened, but after that is when her reactiveness to strange dogs happen..

I'm fine with it she gets along well with Lily the pug, and our neighbor's lab/mastiff mix.

She seems get better not as defensive after meeting the dogs for few times. Lilly would get snarked at when she got near Saya, but by fourth meeting they did good Lily knows what her limits are and she doesn't bother Saya by being too in her face.

It's a on going process she does fine walking on leash where dogs are she isn't reactive where she lunges and barks at any dog in her sight she just gets defensive when the dog gets too much in her face.

Saya with 5month Marley she is bout size of Bella!

Animals still in radiation zone in Japan

Bella awaiting orders

Been a year and so weeks since the earthquake in Japan and there are still animals in the evacuation zone. so sad.

Lot owners lost their homes and can't come back and are in bad situations either house doesn't allow pets or they can't get them. I dunno..

Chernobyl disaster what comes to mind on this issue. No one is allowed in the Exclusion zone in Japan. Thankfully animal rescuers are now allowed to go in to feed and rescue animals.

Animals seem to benefited by the Chernobyl incident wolves, pigs, horses and other wildlife live there now. Coarse dogs and cat's aren't wild animals, but eventually any intact dogs and cats will breed and will first scavenge and then hunt some..

Saya caught a young rabbit and vole once and I believe shiba and other breeds are good at surviving if need be. Still dogs do depend on humans and these aren't hunting and can't scavenge enough food.

Here's a article on naoto matsumara a man staying on his homeland in the forbidden zone.
http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2012/03/21/from-the-fukushima-forbidden-zone-i-intend-to-stay-until-i-die/

Here's blog on him too
http://wildrescue.blogspot.com/2012/01/naoto-matsumara.html

Just so sad events like this happens and sadder owners can't keep their pets due to building restrictions, unable to get them or afford to care for them now. :(

I been through some hurricanes and even with Katrina we didn't leave our three dogs we would bring them with us.

Coarse things are different in us. In city in Japan it might not be good place for big dog. I dunno since I never lived there.
Here's some links on chernobyl
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/02/chernobyl-25-years-after-_n_816902.html#s233577

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/04/pictures/110426-chernobyl-25th-anniversary-wildlife/#/chernobyl-wildlife-chickens-cat_34167_600x450.jpg

Yesterday was spring cleaning

I cleaned out all the dead grass few days ago..

Yesterday was spring cleaning we got the front garden cleaned out, put some soil, sand, and stuff at side yard to help stop darn erosion on it. I got grass seeds planted which are growing nicely.

Saya and Bella had fun time enjoying the warm weather coarse Saya gets so hot out there due to her winter coat, but she is starting to shed a bit on her neck so that's good I can't wait for her to blow it so she doesn't get as hot outside.

I also compost our dead leaves, grass, food waste and so on saves on trash since it doesn't go in it.
Ticks seem to like them must be the moisture.. Yuck! I see them on it I'm always careful to not mess with them.. Luckily we don't go down to it much except to put stuff in it.

I'm hoping to get another square compost so I can do more and make it faster for the garden.

 

This what compost looks like before it composts and get nice and well done.

Here's compost in the turning composter it's almost done, but still needs more time to cook.

Here's it's done nice and earthy.

 

Close up picture

.Saya after I brushed her made her hair stand up. hehe.

She wearing no collar not running off. :D

She behaves pretty well.

I do have her on 30ft light long leash on times when I'm working hard in the yard because I can't keep my eye on her all the time when I'm working.

She stays in the yard pretty good though and comes when called.

spot on her tongue and eighth day on raw

Hope it shows OK it's in back of her tongue so hard get clean picture of her spot.

Shiba inu I think are known to have black spots on their tongue I don't think it's common though.

I remember looking up spots on tongue, labs, shiba and few other breeds are listed one picture was of a shiba..

I thought it was neat. I just noticed it few days ago she was resting on arm of the recliner panting from her time outside. I saw black spot and thought hmm. got the camera to take a pic and here it is!

I first thought maybe it's because I gave her some my smoothie(strawberries, apple, banana, blueberries, and plain greek yogurt. and bit of orange juice) which had blueberries, but I don't think that would put a spot there and it's been a few days so..

I never look in her mouth much so that's new one. hehe

Bella enjoying the weather

Been eight days since they been on that bug off garlic stuff so far no issues and so far it seems to be working it's warm and ticks should be out some. I haven't been walking the dogs each day in trails like I usually do.

I been doing a lot of yard work to fix things up for spring. Need cut some dead dried grass and so on.

Saya still has her winter coat, but that should change with the warm weather we are having. I been brushing her on and off some under coat is coming off a bit.

been so warm she gets hot easily I bet she'll be happy once her spring/summer coat is in.

I been having the dogs hang out while I do yard stuff.

Saya hangs out by bird feeder she is trying to get this one rodent or something that has a home there.

There's few holes so my guess a mouse or something like that.

Hole Saya dug by the bird feeder. I stopped her before she got too nuts.. I'm glad she is having fun, but she should know better her digging spot is at the camp ground.. lol

I actually told her to dig there, but had her stop didn't want it too deep or anything.

Birds are everywhere! hehe they're all getting ready for their babies and stuff. :)

Just wanted to do a small update.

I still dunno if ticks are being repeled by this so we'll see. I guess once gnats and stuff get bad in summer will be main test since they bug the dogs during those times.

Who knows we might be lucky and ticks didn't get on the dogs. I did a thorough check after walk and before bed and during time on couch before bed. Bella is coarse easiest to check Saya she takes a lot of time. First I give her a once over in looking then check between her toes, then armpits, neck, ears, butt, belly and then another check..

She doesn't like them, but she tolerates tick checks she always gets a yummy treat so she behaves for that.

Sixth days on the garlic chewables

Saya on the back deck

Saya and Bella has been on the garlic chewables for about six days and so far no adverse reaction to their health yet.

We been going on walks in the trails and it's been warm so far no ticks on the dogs. Coarse could just be luck right now or ticks just not too bad right now. I guess we'll see as weeks go on.

So far Saya is on her full dose of the chewables I've been giving her two a day one in am and one pm.

Bella still working up to full dose of it, but so far both doing good no tummy upsets or lethargy and stuff.

Bella loves the taste of them she takes them no problem.

Saya on other hand she sometimes will take it fine and eat it and sometimes she spits it out. Luckily it can be broken into small pieces easily. I crush it into powder in her dog bowl with my finger and mix it with either a egg, plain Greek yogurt, caned salmon, sardines, clams, or oysters and she'll get the garlic up right away with that..

I don't mind mixing it up on times she doesn't want to eat it.

I guess next time I'll get the powder then I'd just need to scoop correct amount and mix it with some stuff.. Ah well chewable tablets were at decent price and should last us a good long time.

I can't say for sure if this really repels or not so we'll see in some more weeks especially once it heats up more and ticks come out more.

Happy Raw Anniversary!

Where is the beef!

Today is Saya's anniversary switching to raw full time! Hurray!

As a pup she ate chicken soup for puppy's lover soul and then switched to wellness puppy food and then at 6months she was switched to wellness core ocean.

During times she ate puppy kibble and adult kibble she also got things like caned sardines, salmon, mackerel, and once in blue moon caned tuna not often due to the mercury thing. She also got cooked veggies, fruits, and meat every so often as a treat and cooked egg too.

She got solid gold seameal and grizzly salmon oil with her kibble each meal.

I gotten a 6lb semi boneless leg of lamb and two lamb shanks both items were on a decent sale and since lamb is her favorite I thought I'd get them.

The leg of lamb was for her 3 year anniversary meal and the shank is for her birthday the other shank is for Bella to enjoy too.

All for me?! Thank you!

Saya has had lamb before, but recently only lamb meals she has been having is lamb kidney, lamb liver, and lamb rocky mountain oysters.. I haven't gotten lamb ribs since she has plenty of bone in items. I'm sure she'll do fine with it.

I offered her yummy meal this morning, but she didn't want it at all so I put it in fridge for later.

After a nice walk and a cool down I tried again to see if she was hungry and fed her at 12pm and she ate 11.88oz of it. I gave her a chicken foot and then at 4pm she got an egg.

She really loved the fat side she chowed down on the meaty part then she didn't want anymore I flipped it and she at a bit of the fat part. Yummy. She didn't eat too much just enough.

I think this was the second most pricey item I've gotten Saya first was a bison roast it was grass fed coarse most bison is, but she loved it.

Buying good food is worth it especially with how well behave she is.

Must been delicious! Big shiba tongue!

I hope to get her own freezer about a 7.5Cu foot kind like this 7.0 cu. ft. chest freezer.

My mom has talked about getting another freezer and splitting the costs with this type freezer it'd be 114$ for me to pay maybe bit more with tax and stuff.

Part of me says just pay for it full so then whenever I get on my feet and move I can bring it with me and half says take it $114 is better then paying full $229.. Then if I move and want to bring it or let parent's have it maybe they can give me my half on it..

I talked with mom on how a lot of bad kibble companies don't use good ingredients by products, corn and gluten so on.  She asked if we should switch Bella to raw full time?

I told her kibble she is on now is good and she does get raw once to four times a week as dinner instead of kibble. plus cooked meat sometimes in her kibble.

I'd love to get her on full raw, but I don't want my parent's doing it if they don't want to.. If we do it I'd be handling the switch.  once she is transitioned and does good on her food then it'd be easy for them since there won't be so much issue with tummy upsets or loose poop.

Coarse it could happen since Saya sometimes have loose poop, but it usually clear up and it doesn't happen much since she been on it for while.

I might get a few books and sites lined up for mom to read so if she decides she wants to try it she'll be ready. I'll coarse be at home and be able to tell her how much to give at first and monitor her and up or decrease if she gains or looses weight.

I think feeding both Saya and Bella can be managed especially if they got their own freezer so hard to stock up on deals with people food in the way. lol

The local meat processor near me sells beef scraps for 1$ which is a good deal I know it comes with heart, tongue, liver, scrap meat I'll inquire if they can hold things like kidneys, lungs, trachea, and gullet too.

I can usually find chicken for decent deal and pork goes on sale on and off so I think it can be manage plus with farmer market coming soon I'll be able to get heart, tongue and meat of lamb, beef, and pork pretty easily.

Hunk of grass fed beef tongue

Coarse when you see me feed things like tongue, liver, heart, kidney, thymus, pancreas, lung, gullet, and gizzards it can be confusing huh?

I don't like lower end kibble due to their ingredients of byproducts, corn, gluten, and various items.

Keyword here is BYPRODUCTS most time they just put chicken byproducts or beef byproducts or so on.. What kind of by products? Is it just kidneys, chicken heads, just the chicken frames, intestines, feet etc.

I want to know what it is. Some dogs are allergic to certain proteins thankfully Saya hasn't shown any food allergies yet.

So some unknown ingredient is not good if the dog is allergic who knows maybe if it's labeled as animal by product it could be beef one batch then pork the next then chicken etc.

I of coarse don't know much of how kibble works especially with the lower quality kind..

Beef gullet from hare-today

If you feed kibble be sure the kind you feed the ingredients are good and work for your dog.

I know raw isn't for everyone it's lot of work and nutrition of your dog is put in your hand and can be tricky if you live somewhere where ethnic markets, farmer markets and butchers are hard to come by.

Sadly some people are catching on to the raw feeding trend butchers selling organ mixes for $ where used to be free.

Meat processor near me sells for $1 lb, but even so still good deal seeing as beef heart, tongue and liver is usually 2$ lb at places. Once I get my own dog freezer I plan to make an inquiry to see what all comes with the beef scraps. I'd love to get hands on trachea, gullet and lung.. Trachea and gullet is good for dog's joints and lungs well I figure if I try to feed close to a prey item as I can a wolf does eventually eat the lungs..

I guess one con of more people doing raw is people will start to charge for items that used to be free since such items are usually thrown away or taken somewhere..

Saya eating a Pacific Saury

I don't mind paying for scrap as long as it's priced right. If people are buying stuff for their dogs that's great variety is great for humans and dogs.

Our past dogs always ate same kibble once in a blue moon we'd switch brand dunno why maybe due to lower price? They'd also once in a while get caned dog food and a cooked egg.

I guess they did get some variety coarse the family was bad about giving them table scraps at the Table~! lol  so they begged a lot.

I just dunno it seems boring to get same kibble sure it has all nutrition a dog needs, meat, veggies, fruits, and vitamins and minerals, but still.

That's what I been doing with Bella she gets caned sardines, salmon, mackerel, cooked turkey and cooked egg sometimes. Coarse she gets raw treat once or four times a week it depends she also gets plain greek yogurt when I have it on hand she likes the stuff.

eating boneless goose breast meat

Coarse if your dog doesn't do well on variety due to medical reason, allergy and so on I understand.
It can be hard on the dog if it upsets their tummy due to it.

I'm not anti kibble either and I hope I never come off as it.

Raw works best for me and I feel it is what works for Saya and her health has turned out for the better thanks to it. Coarse raw isn't a miracle cure all ailment type of thing.

For some if your having issues with it might be due to few things usually starting with chicken at first is recommended, but if dog is allergic to chicken it might be an issue and you might want to try pork as starting meat. pork ribs are pretty edible I'd recommend trimming fat till dog is used to raw then slowly introduce it in.

Some dogs allergic to chicken are allergic to cooked kind, but do fine with raw, but sometimes they're allergic to both cooked and raw there's a few that are like it so it happens.

Some dogs need a bit help to get the gut used to raw and giving a probiotic or prebiotic can help with it some can't, but worth try just in case.

I'd probably do a probiotic not yogurt though different kind I know someone who used Ark naturals Gentle digest and it helped with the transition.

I finally found a place that sells the stuff so that will be good in case I need it for Bella or for my second dog.

Saya as a puppy!

Anyways I'm enjoy having Saya with me and she's taught me a lot with dog nutrition and has helped me through hard times. She's worth spending a bit of money to keep her happy. :)

Ticked off is here

Ticked off came yesterday. I ordered the three pack one and they gave me one free which is nice!

I dunno if these work, but worth a try I guess. Coarse I'm not going to search for a tick and let it latch on gross!

I always do good tick checks after walks before bed and stuff and so far I catch them before they become engorged, but still.. scares me I might miss one for a few days. Saya's winter coat is really thick this year can't wait till she blows it now that weather is warming up she gets hot sooner.

Here's the thing at different angles.

I'm hoping this will work and I'm worried it might not work with small ticks only with big kind or engorged ones only.. Videos of demonstrations on these products always show an engorged tick.. Which sooner removed the better I don't want to wait till it's fat with blood to remove it..

I never used thise type thing before, but people on lots forums says it works so we will see.

I got the three pack since if it works it'll be great to have one in car, home and another in case other is lost. If this works good I'll give the fourth to a friend nearby..

Cute fox toy I found at a store.

Bug off garlic has come part 1 review

The package have Yesterday which was one heavy box! It came with four containers of bug off garlic plus bonus item for spending over $75 or something like that.  I picked joint health chewables to try.

The joint health chewables I got has 90 chewable tablets which according to Saya size she gets one a day. I plan to give these a trial once her current ones are used up. 90 tablets are $24 so getting it free isn't too bad though price wise I dunno I don't buy these types items often.

Package is here!

I got these for $117.30 my mom payed for her's and mine so it wasn't that much like $60 each or so I forgot.

If this works it'll be worth it. Buy one 1,000 tablet jar and get a 1,000 tablet jar free so each dog gets 2,000 tablets.

Here's the ingredients.

Here's the instructions on how much to give.

Also it says to slowly introduce it to them over period of 5-10 day period.

 So far taste wise Saya took to it right away and so far hasn't had issue with eating the bits when I give it to her plain with no food or anything.

Lots of tablets! Smells like garlic too!

Bella my parent's boxer she spit the little piece out at first she is always leary of new treats, but I picked it up gave it to her again and she ate it with no fuss so I guess she likes it.

Her second time taking it I tossed it into her kibble and third I just put it in her dog bowl she seems to have hard time picking it up if it gets on the ground and the bowl helps her get it easier..

The tablets are easily broken into half piece or four small pieces for transitioning on it.

According to guide Saya needs two tablets a day and Bella four. Also says if tick, fleas, mosquitoes, gnats and flies are heavy to double it.

I'll probably stick with normal amounts and up it if bugs get bad.

This how I got it set up so all I gotta do it take a piece and give to her with no issue of having to break a piece put back into the jar and then later on find the broken piece..

While she is being transitioned to the full dose I'll do it like that.

I did same with Bella too her's is upstairs so mom can give the morning dose and I or her gives pm dose.

Saya's jars in my room of coarse.

Saya is kitty size!

I don't know if these work I read people's input from various forums and stuff and sounds like it works good, but never know.

For some dogs maybe it doesn't work so well compared to others.. I dunno.

Once the dogs are fully on it I'll give another impression on it.

So far dogs don't smell like garlic so we'll see..

Saya has gotten cooked ground garlic that has been cooked and grounded with veggies and fruits.

I don't think garlic is as dangerous as onions and if given in small amounts shouldn't harm the dog.

Link to the bug off garlic chewables page.

Coarse I'm not saying to go out and buy this stuff now if you feel garlic isn't safe for dogs then that's fine. I don't want to force things onto people just thought I'd post this on my blog and who knows maybe in a month or so I'll have my opinions formed on this.


From the site "*Please allow time to “build up” in the system. It may take Bug Off Garlic two to four weeks to permeate all tissues."

I live in the country so we do have ticks mainly in the field not so much in the backyard. I think the morning birds eat any that are in the yard because I always see them picking up worms, grubs, and various things could also be we keep lawn mowed and there's never leaf piles and so on.

We also have gnats, mosquitoes, horse/deer flies, and even fleas. Though for some reason the dogs haven't had any issues with fleas. Our cat gotten them once which we took care of right away so it didn't spread..

Ticks, gnats, mosquitoes and deer/horse flies are main issue. Saya does fine with gnats they can't get to her with her thick coat, but Bella the boxer gets eaten up by gnats and horse/deer flies most times she has to go in the house because it's so bad.

We don't leave her out 24/7 or anything we only bring her out when we do yard work, walks and training and stuff. She loves to sun herself and check what we are doing.

So it's sad when she has to go into the house due to the flies and gnats.

We keep the yard clean of coarse always pick up poop two to three times a week and keep any trash well put away and stuff..

So I hope the bug off garlic helps with the fly and gnat issues.

I'd like to add few links too on garlic.

Many say it's bad many says it's good. So hard to decide! Grr!

Anyways..

Natural health remidies

why shouldnt you feed your dog-garlic

Book has info on garlic uses Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats  

http://www.amazon.com/Pitcairns-Complete-Guide-Natural-Health/dp/157954973X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331181112&sr=8-1

Coarse they're going to have garlic is good on their site since they sell product with garlic in it..
Springtime's website

Sojos pet mythbusters

Most links I posted seem more for garlic.. I know there is a article on garlic against it right now I'm tired and need sleep.

Many vets say garlic is bad holistic ok..

I think it should be fine as long I don't over do it. I don't plan to double dose on it or anything.

Be sure to do your research on this before trying it.