Wednesday, September 3, 2014

About Food and Feeding! (or the open wallet post)

Well, a little time out to discuss feeding.  Most people that come want to know what we feed...we stick close to Eukanuba but use Iams, EVO and sometimes California Natural.  I am not against any other feed but I'm in  program from the makers of Eukanuba and get free food after so many purchases.  You can get in too if you enter my # in the BREEDsmart program web page here:  411660775420116 and then follow the prompts.  Plus they will send you monthly milestones for your puppy or dog and coupons too.  

Brace yourself...we have also been a RAW feeder too.  We bought a big grinder and ground chicken quarters, chicken, beef, beef heart & liver, whole fish and pork.  Bones of chicken included in the quarters.  We of course mixed essential minerals and omega-3's, calcium and small amounts of vegetables too.  Loved the results but it just got so involved with 9 dogs.  We didn't have a great way to do it all at one time and store it but we fed raw exclusively for almost 4 months.  I will definitely do it this winter in combo with dry (always soaked in warm water) food.  I do believe in using grain free foods when ever possible.  I love EVO for this quality.  Its pricey though.  28lb bag is about $60-$65 and it won't last long with 9 dogs.  This weekend I bought a bag of EVO Chicken and Turkey and one California Natural Salmon and Herring, both bags about 25-28lb and spent over $120 for them together.  I see now on Wednesday that they will probably last until next week, about 10 days.  I had a 33lb bag of Eukanuba Puppy already that came from WAG.com, bought with Eukanuba "points" so I'm feeding that too and that's how the other two will stretch until next week! 

Just doing the right thing with my dog's nutrition is important to me.  I try to keep learning from others and try to understand what is best for them at all stages of life.  I don't want to feed for mere existence, I want them to thrive and have life lived to the fullest without disease and health issues that can be caused by poor nutrition or wrong feeding practices.  Its kind of like the difference between meals always from fast food or pure home grown fruits, veggies, and meat.  We have changed the outside of the dog...the sizes and shapes but very little if any has changed on the inside!   What they could catch and find as a wild animal is probably the best for them (but balanced of course) possibly more abundantly but with measure always.  They probably never came upon corn,wheat, or other grains to eat in any large quantity other than as stomach contents of rabbits, etc. so I like them out of my feed if possible.  But the reality is some grains will not be the end of your dog but each dog may or may not have problems with them...just be informed and do what you can to get as close to your own ideal program that you can.  k

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