Dinner Time!

Hey- If you don't like looking at raw meat that may still slightly resemble the animal it came from don't read this post!

First of all- hooray for my new camera!!!!

Second of all- horray for dog food!  It just so happened that on the day I bought my new camera (to replace the stolen one)  I also made dog food.  As you all  know we feed raw.  I call what I feed "prey model plus."  It is 70% muscle meat, 10% bone, 10% organ and 10% veggies.  Not to say that it what is in every meal, but it is what I strive to over time.  Also not saying that we feed the best diet out there or anything- I know lots of doggies thriving on home cooked, BARF and prey model.  With that said I thought I would use this opportunity to share our cooking adventures.  This happens every 2 weeks- because that is how much dog food fits in my freezer at one time!

All the veggies this week were not only local like from Southern Nevada/California and the farmers market- but all local to this very valley.  Horray for being uber local not even on purpose (usually everything is at least regionally local and bought directly from farmers).  We have pea shoots from Boulder City, summer squash from Boulder City, apples from Las Vegas and green beans from North Las Vegas are on the bottom of the pot.  The veggies we feed vary from week to week based on what is available locally.  Apples and squash are two of our favorite bases. 

The picture at the top of this post is Copley's meals.  This one here is Kerri's.  In this meal she has a chicken foot, some gizzards and hearts, a piece of beef kidney and a dalop of veggies.  I add various supplements and coconut oil to the veggies, depending on what dog I am feeding.  This particular meal would also get an egg cracked on it but I do those fresh.  We've always got some local eggs from somebody's chickens in the fridge.

People always ask me why I cook for my dogs.  The simple answer is that I believe whole, fresh foods are healthiest for my animal.   I also do everything in my power to support local farmers and not support feedlot animals.  Honestly it was that second thing that first motivated me to go to raw in the first place.  The commercial meat industry is a horrible thing.  For me those two reasons are enough and now that I see the change in my animals I would never go back.  There are some other surprising advantages though.  I used to buy a bag of kibble that lasted Copley about 3 weeks and cost $30.  Using some magic math I have determined it would cost me $50 to feed that same kibble to the dogs living at my house for 2 weeks (that would be 18lb Foster Dog George, 22lb Copley and 6lb Kerrigan).  On this round of food that is going to last me the same 2 weeks I spent less than $30.  This week didn't even include any free/really cheap meat that I usually get.  Feeding raw has also led me to meet a lot of cool other raw feeders- including my amazing Vet who I never would have looked for if I hadn't been feeding raw in the first place!

Now I must end this post so I can go to the DMV and register the car I wish I never had to buy.  It could take anywhere between 15 minutes and 4 hours- wish me luck.