Feeding the big and hungry!

I fully plan on giving you a detailed account of all the dry foods (good and bad) I've tried for Ares (pre-Onyx) and both dogs. But, in the mean time, he's my tried and true mixture.

Dry food:

Nature's Recipe Lamb and Rice
About $40 for a 30 pound bag at PetSmart

All the goodies I put in:

• I buy a big pack of chicken thighs each week (about $7). 
• I boil the chicken thighs for about an hour, twenty minutes.
• Once boiled, I save the broth (sometimes I add my apple cider vinegar here, but typically I put it in their water bowl daily).
• I put the cooked chicken thighs in a tupperwear container in my fridge.
• Cottage Cheese
• Flax Seed Oil
• Coconut Oil

Ares - 105 pound, male German Shepherd

Both meals:

• I pour the chicken broth in his bowl (about 1/4 cup) and add in a teaspoon of Coconut Oil, a table spoon of Cottage Cheese and a cap full of Flax Seed Oil. Depending on the glucosamine vitamins he's on, depends on what I do next (for tubed, I squeeze the dosage in - for the chewy kind I put in 3 and for pills, I hide two in cream cheese).
• Next, I take one chicken thigh and pull off the meat and put it in the bowl.
• I add 2 cups of the dry food and mix.

Onyx - 78 pound, female GSD/Lab/Border Collie.

Onyx has the same thing recipe but rather than 2 cups of dry, she gets 1 each feeding.

Many people ask why the cottage cheese and flax seed oil. Have you heard of the Budwig diet? Flaxseed oil and cottage cheese are a great preventative way to prevent cancer! All in all, I do a lot of reading on holistic pet care and am a big advocate of tried and true methods. While I 100% side with raw feeding (I've done it, it is amazing), I don't have enough freezer space to feed 2 dogs raw.


Add-ons:

• I usually split 1 raw egg in their food once a week (it works wonders for their skin and coat)
• If I cook, they benefit. Cutting the fat off of your chicken? Boil it and save it. Trimming a steak? Give them the fat from the steak raw. No cooking needed.
• Raw Tripe is a great add-on. It is very affordable. If they have it at the grocery store, I buy it and share it with them.

Awkward Family Photo?!

If you've never given a friend an awkward family photo birthday card, you're not a very good friend. I took this photo last year around Christmas time and think it makes the perfect Awkward Dog Family Photo!

A little history on my two. In the back is Ares, he is a full-bred German Shepherd. I got him for my now husband as a Valentine's Day present. I sought out Shepherd breeders online and took my hubby (then boyfriend) over to the breeder's house as a surprise (he always wanted a German Shepherd) and Ares picked him! Ares turns 5 on December 4! We brought him home when he was just 10 pounds and he was a breeze. He was potty trained (I mean held it for 8 hours while I was at work) at 12 weeks old. He can do tons of tricks and, although he started as a Daddy's boy, he is definitely a Momma's Boy now.

And then there is Onyx...the smaller dog in the front. I was never a big dog owner but Ares was such an amazing animal we decided to expand our mini-family. We wanted to do a good deed so we sought a GSD in need at a rescue (this was before all the GSD-specific rescues existed on Facebook and such). We went out and met Onyx - her name at the time was Libby. She was about 8 months old and pulled from a kill shelter with her brother (who, oddly enough is a blonde color). She weighed 30 pounds and had a severe cut around her neck because her puppy collar had stayed on too long.

Onyx came home with us (positive story: I convinced a good friend of mine to adopt her brother). Onyx was not potty trained (as we were told) and had probably all of the worst habits an animal can have...many of them we have worked on. Turns out, Onyx is German Shepherd/Lab/Bordie Collie...she now weighs 78 pounds (she has a big appetite). Almost 4 years later and boy oh boy has Onyx kept our hands full.

Onyx stories to be continued...

A blog so shiny and sparkly

It's new. I decided to come back to the world of blogging. It's been a few years but it's not my first rodeo. I don't have any kids just yet but I do have two large dogs. One, a german shepherd named Ares that I got when he was 8 weeks old. He's loving, protective, silly and the biggest cuddler in the whole world.

And the other dog, Onyx, a shepherd/lab/border collie mix we rescued when she was 9 months old. We wanted another shepherd and her rescue predates all of the great full-bred adoption resources that flood Facebook. We found her on Craigslist and she has turned out to be the good deed that should somehow result in life-long good karma. She chews, digs, runs away, protects her food with all her will and has good and bad months. She is almost 4.

All in all, I am a jack of all trades. I'm told I'm a great writer but mostly I know I was meant to do something with medicine. I love naturalistic resources and have found great ways to keep my dogs happy, healthy and well adjusted (despite the hand I was dealt with Onyx).

I know a lot about cooking, I love watching terrible TV series, I have spent more money on make-up than I care to share, I love hockey and know more about it than most men and I was raised to only buy American cars (for better or worse). I am partially psychic (though without consistency), I can learn most anything (except sing or draw) and I often have great opinions and poor delivery.

If you want to know about the trials and tribulations of being a Dog Mother like myself, are seeking good advice about make up or are amused by the ramblings of a writer then you, my friend, have found the right blog.