How I feed Indie's kibble

As I have mentioned before, Indie eats a kibble diet due to health conditions. He is currently eating a mix of I and Love and You Poultry Palooza and Acana Lamb and Okanagan Apple. Below is the Acana kibble. I decided randomly to show you how I feed Indie's food. He eats 1 cup of kibble twice a day.

I add in his three medications: gabapentin, soloxine and novox. I then add his dasuquin and *Extend (*only in the evenings). I then put on one scoop of Nupro Gold. I will write a review on the Nupro later. Nupro is a powdered vitamin.

I then add 1.5-2 cups of water to the food for multiple reasons:

• Indie has laryngeal paralysis & since the Nupro is a powder, there is a high risk of aspiration, the water lowers the risk immensely 
• It helps keep him hydrated
• Helps him lap up his medications
• Creates a gravy along with the canned food and makes the food more enjoyable
• Slows down his eating! It actually works!

While the food doesn't look appetizing, Indie does love it. I also change proteins in kibbles every time we buy a new bag.  he does get 1/4 can of wet food and I switch the protein source every two days. This keeps his food interesting and new. 

Indie once weighed an astronomical 111lbs. He ripped his CCL at five and we worked on getting him down to a healthy weight.  (Yes, that is baby Mac in the photo). He was placed on the weight loss medication, Slentrol and got down to 85lbs. He was unfortunately eating Hills Prescription R/D. We took him off of the Slentrol and within 8 months, he was back up to 105lbs while ONLY eating R/D. The food was disgusting. I knew something was wrong. I dragged my mom to Petco, to their healthy section and went through the kibbles. We found Wellness Healthy Weight and placed both Gwen & Indie on it.  Indie's weight began to go down. Then we found Wellness Core Reduced Fat and placed all three dogs on it and the change in Indie was amazing. Indie went down to 80lbs within several months and has stayed between 74-80lbs for over 8 years now. 

 Here is a photo of Indie after getting a bath on our deck last summer. He has been a healthy weight ever since and we are so proud! Yes, I am neurotic about everything my dogs eat and for good reason.  Indie does not do well on a kibble with grain. He seems to gain weight immediately and still feel hunger pains. On raw (for a year and a half) and on high quality grain free kibbles, he doesn't act hungry and stays a healthy weight. Always base what you feed on the individual dog. Mac did not do well on any kibbles, but Gwen & indie did. Mac thrives on a raw diet. I will tell his story another time.



Please take your time to compare the ingredients and guaranteed analyses for in the three foods mentioned above.

Hill's Prescription R/D Ingredients





Hill's Prescription R/D Guaranteed Analysis










Wellness Complete Health Healthy Weight Ingredients

Wellness Complete Health Healthy Weight Guaranteed Analysis

Wellness Core Reduced Fat Ingredients

Wellness Core Reduced Fat Guaranteed Analysis

Journey to Health

I have started working on losing weight again and getting my health back in order.  I am eating healthy, tracking on weight watchers, beginning workouts and drinking lots of water. I watching everything I do.  Thanksgiving will be difficult, but worth the effort and work.  

We also had a snow storm and received around 11" of snow. =)

  Took the boys on a lovely 2.5 mile walk and it was 25 degrees out. I am beginning a workout regime, starting with walking my boys at least 2-3 miles a few days a week and going to the gym other days for strength building.

Fried eggs, bison burger and sauteed mushrooms and onions for dinner that night.

Baked chicken in chicken broth and mushroom and onion teriyaki cauliflower rice. Yes, I love my veggies!!

Trader joes salmon patties with sumac and teriyaki cauliflower rice.

Cleaning the Kombucha

My kombucha has been left alone for a while ever since Gwen became ill.  While I did remove most of the vinegar and added fresh sweet tea, but this caused the yeast to build up.  I figured it was time to completely clean 2/4 of the containers and let it rebrew.  Below is my scoby hotel before cleaning.

While cleaning my scoby hotel.  I have quite a few scobies!

Completely cleaned and in fresh sweet tea.

 Below is my 2 gallon "mothership" kombucha continuous brew container after I removed my mothership scoby and scrubbed out the container.

 My mothership scoby after being cleaned and placed in fresh sweet tea.  This scoby is my largest and pride and joy.  I will be checking this brew in a week to see if it is ready for 2nd fermentation.  When you have such a large scoby, your kombucha brews much faster. 

Here is my mothership scoby below.  This scoby has been growing continuously for about 8 months.  

Below is my current kombucha set up.  From left to right: oolong tea kombucha, rooibos/black tea kombucha and my basic black tea kombucha.  My scoby hotel is on the second level.

And I am currently growing a few more smaller scobies to sell in my Etsy shop to help towards Lincs service dog equipment.

Canine Arthritis Supplements & Solutions

Green Lipped Mussels (Fresh)

Canine Arthritis Supplements & Solutions

Let's talk about canine arthritis.

Arthritis is caused by multiple difference things, obesity, too much activity when young (jumping high jumps), injuries, such as a torn Cranial Cruciate Ligament, various joint surgeries or genetic problems such as hip dysplasia.  

Here are some commonly used supplements and fun treats for arthritis:

Arthritis is caused by multiple difference things, obesity, too much activity when young (jumping high jumps), various joint surgeries or genetic problems such as hip dysplasia.

Here are some commonly used supplements for arthritis:

Bone broth - This is a natural source of glucosamine and chondroitin. Homemade with chicken feet, cows feet, turkey necks and other poultry bones (recipe)

Green Lipped Mussels - Fresh or dried and powdered. GLM are a rich source of omega fatty acids and minerals. They are also natural anti-inflammatory due to them being an excellent source of glucosamine and chondroitin. 

Cow/Poultry/Pigs Feet - Another natural source of glucosamine and chondroitin.  They are also fun chews for your dogs. 

Tracheas dried/fresh - Another natural source of glucosamine and chondroitin.  They are also fun chews for your dogs. Try stuffing these with some ground meat and freeze.  They are natures kong.

Lamb/Cow/Pig ears - Another natural source of glucosamine and chondroitin.  They are also fun chews for your dogs. 

Glucosamine and chondroitin pills - There are multiple different brands on the market.  Do your research before purchasing one.  Higher quality brands such as Dasuquin & Cosequin have studies behind them.  Always do your research.

Conventional interventions:

NSAIDs - Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, these drugs are over the counter for humans, but are only prescription based for dogs.  The most commonly used NSAID is Rimadyl.  These kinds of drugs are hard on the stomach and should only be used in moderate-severe situations. Always give with food or goats milk (coats the stomach and helps prevent ulcers). You can also give a NSAID with a raw or cooked egg. DO NOT GIVE YOUR DOGS HUMAN GRADE NSAIDS!! ONE ALEVE CAN KILL A DOG!!! 

Surgery - This is based on the situation.  At times, surgery helps lessen the bone on bone friction that happens when the cartilage and synovial membrane are gone.  This is also considered a last resort for arthritis. 

Dog Bone Broth for Arthritis

Bone Broth for Arthritis

Ingredients
5-7 chicken feet
1 package of beef feet (makes it more of a gelatin than liquid)
1 package sliced beef neck bones
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Water (as much needed to fill the crock pot)

Place the bones into your crock pot. Add your vinegar and fill the crock pot up to the top with fresh water. Place the pot on high and cook for two hours. Then place on low and cook for 20 hours. When done, remove and discard the bones. Allow the broth to cool and scoop into ice cube trays. Freeze and give a cube as needed.

Bone Broth for Arthritis

I decided to try and make some bone broth for my female Gwen.  She has arthritis in her hips and it's getting worse as she ages.  She will be 12 on the 21st of this month.  We purchase Dasuquin for the dogs, but Gwen won't take hers.  The Dasuquin has helped Indie immensely. We are also starting pain shots for their arthritis.

I based my bone broth on Rebecca's post . I added beef marrow bones and chicken feet.  The chicken feet are know for their cartilage content, which should help with the glucosamine amount in the broth.

The broth is currently starting to cook and will be left overnight.  I will then put it in ice cube trays to portion it.  I'll take photos tomorrow when it's done. =)

Finally Spring

Spring has finally arrived here in Northern Illinois.  We had quite a long winter, which wasn't surprising. Luckily it was a very wet winter with lots of snow.  Now the yard is thriving and showing so much color! The dogs are enjoying the change in weather and have been sunbathing whenever they could.

This is one of the beauties of the yard in the spring, my parents red bud tree.  It is so beautiful, wish it kept this color all spring and summer. 

And one of my favorite features of the backyard, the pond.  We have 7 colorful koi in the pond along with some frogs.  The backyard would be dull without it.  The pond makes the backyard a complete ecosystem.  In this photo you can see where the red bud is in the yard.

Here are some of Macs recent meals. Here is Mac waiting for his turkey hearts and massive rabbit hind leg.  I try really hard to use rabbit or duck instead of the constant chicken.  

For today's dinner Mac enjoyed some bone in chicken mince (homemade) and 2 turkey gizzards.  I don't feed gizzards very often because they tend to be expensive, but I thought it would be a nice change.

Here is Macs weekly organ meal.  In this meal there is beef or lamb liver and beef kidney.  I usually give an organ meal with some bone content to help prevent diarrhea issues.

As you can probably tell from previous posts, tongue is not a common meal around here.  i haven't had a chance to go to Seward and pick up some beef tongues for a few months.  They are cheap, but massive

Here is Mac waiting to get a hold of his organ meal.  Mac will eat anything enthusiastically, which is a good thing when feeding raw.

Here is one of his typical breakfast meals, frozen turkey hearts with salmon oil and his daily Dasuquin join supplement.

And last, but not least, a dinner of a very freezer burned lamb heart with some frozen turkey hearts.

Lovely Spring Day

It was a pleasant 72 degrees in Northern Illinois today. Mac and I spent a little time outside, enjoying the weather. Last week it rained almost every day and having a muddy aussie sucks. Mac loves exploring in the wooded backyard.

Enjoying the grass

Looking for something to chase

Here are a few raw meals Mac has been enjoying lately:

This morning was a boney meal of two duck wings, one frozen, one thawed:

For dinner he enjoyed turkey hearts and a duck head.

Yesterday Mac had a massive 8oz lamb heart and coconut oil for dinner. He loves his heart meat.

Over ordering eep!

I over ordered from rawpaws this month.  Most of the order fit into the dog freezer, but some trickled over into the human upright freezer.  Looks like I'll have to use that stuff first and am not going to be ordering food for a while. Yep, it is full!

Here is what is in the human freezer.

Yesterday, Macs new salmon oil came. This time around I am trying Grizzly Salmon oil. I have been told that it is really good and it doesn't have any additives, which is a huge plus.

I also ordered 2 packs of bully sticks from Hare-Today. They also arrived yesterday. They are thinner than the ones you buy in pet stores, but I believe she makes them herself or they are locally made near her. The dogs enjoyed them either way.