Snow Day Take 2

We got another bout of snow last night and a bit this morning (all melted now) so like I did last time, I got up early and went hiking. I was stupid and wore the old black boots I haven't worn since last August and now have a big painful sore on my right Achilles tendon. Yep, not doing that again.
I took the Girls along this time. It was somewhat chaotic.

There was lots of derp.

Lots of running around off-trail.

 Conker being last on recall every time.

And a bit of cool scenery.

More pictures will be posted once I have a working computer with photoshop installed. Until then, this is all you get.

Funny that the furnace goes out the week it decides to snow. It's freezing in this house.


It took a hour to download the pictures onto my harddrive (it's external so all my files are safe) and more than TWO HOURS to rotate about 100 pictures on this damn computer. That is very agitating, and I wasn't even running any sort of editing program! All that took maybe 10 minutes on my currently dead piece-of-shit that ironically, was much more efficient than this one.

More Computer Trouble

So, uh, the computer has finally had it. It caught a virus that attached itself to some root files (that I was not aware of) and when I ran the spyware stuff and deleted it, it deleted the files as well. It's stuck in a loop when I try to boot it and will get to the "Windows loading" page but will restart at the beginning again after that. It will not boot in safe or any other mode (freezes up) so it's actually dead this time.
Updates will still occur, but will be less frequent and with shittastical pictures, if I even put them up. Photoshop is not present on the computer I will use which is why pictures will suck.

Anywho, I am waiting for my brother to send me the installation cd's, dunno if they are for mine or his, so I can fix one of the computers and use it.

This is so much fun.  </sarcasm>

Using Nutritiondata.com to balance home-made dog food

In this post I will explain how I use Nutritiondata (hereby shortened to ND) to balance a home-made diet for my dog.

*WARNING*
If you mess up your dog from following information in this post, it's entirely your fault. Not mine, even if you follow my information to the dot. It's your decision to make your dog's food instead of feed commercial, and with that choice comes the risk of not feeding the right nutrients and creating deficiencies because you followed information on some random person's blog.
I am not a vet, I am not a nutritionist.
Keep that in mind if you decide to do what I do in the post below.

Another disclaimer:
First thing you will need to do before you even get started is RESEARCH! That might not be what you want to hear, but it's a very good thing to get into the jist of doing. You should know the proper calcium-phosphorus ratios for starters, and many other "basic" things before you dive into feeding your dog a home-made diet to prevent creating a problem that never should have existed in the first place.
When I first began feeding raw and home-made foods, I just used websites written by random people on the internet (like me!) but as time progressed, I used sites written by vets (most are anti home-made/raw, be warned), then on to actual scientific studies. (There is a "resources" section at the bottom where you can acquire things like these.)
It can be time consuming to sort through the nonsense, hatred, and woo, surrounding feeding your dog a home-made, and especially raw diet. But in doing that, you learn how to recognize those things, and can get a better idea of what is real, usable information and what is not.


Onto the actual post!


You need one of these: 1985 NRC numbers or 2006 NRC numbers spreadsheet
I use the spreadsheet (I did not make it) since it uses the 2006 numbers and is more customizable to my dog and his activity level. Before that I used the 1985 numbers. They are relatively the same, so it's up to you which one you use.
You can use the AAFCO nubers instead of NRC but I do not know how to convert those into actual usable numbers, and I prefer the NRC ones anyways since the AAFCO are based off them in the first place.*

Now go to ND and make yourself a profile. It's free and easy. Once you've done that, on the grey toolbar, go to My ND, and in the drop-down click on My Preferences, and scroll down to the Individualized Daily Values section. In the Custom Entry Default thing at the bottom, click on Advanced Entry.


1985 numbers.

You need to figure out your dog's weight in kilograms and multiply that times the number for each nutrient. Make a note of which column is for adults and which for growth. If your dog isn't growing anymore, use the adult maintenance column on the NRC number page. Take note of the form of measurement the nutrients use, some of them are different on ND (grams, mg, IU, ug, mcg...) Familiarize yourself with how they convert over and use an online converter if you have to.
Note: If you are feeding a puppy, I recommend you use the 1985 growth numbers.

Conker's numbers in ND

Now punch in the numbers for each nutrient into it's respective box.
Hit Save All Preferences.

2006 spreadsheet numbers.

If using the 2006 spreadsheet, open it up and type in your dog's ideal weight in the yellow box. (I outlined it in red). You can also put in their name if you wish in the blue box to the right and save it under a different name if you have multiple dogs. You will need to have a separate ND profile for each dog if you want to input and calculate out meals for them individually.

Now scroll down and over to "Box 1" (the big arrow is pointing to it) and get the number for your pet's activity level. Type that into the box on the left of the large arrow (also outlined in red, says 140 in it, ignore that) and hit enter.

Conker's 2006 numbers

A bunch of numbers in the yellow columns below and to the left of the arrow will pop up. These are the numbers for the nutrients your dog needs. You want the numbers from the left column, the one with red text. (outlined in red)

Some of the values are different on ND and the sheet so pay attention to what they are on both and use an online converter if you need to.

Some of the Vitamins will be a little tricky.
Vitamin A will be low. Multiply it by 3.33 to get the correct number or use the 1985 value.
Vitamin D will also be low. I instead used the 1985 number for it as well.
Pyridoxine is B6
And since dogs don't have a true need for Vitamin K you can leave that one out of you want.
No need to convert Folate, just use the spreadsheet number.

Hit Save All Preferences.

Now you are ready to formulate a recipe!


If you are feeding your dog raw foods, you will need to know the daily percentage of body weight he or she gets in every meal. For example:
Conker gets 2.5% of his body weight in raw foods, or 10 ounces, every day. He also gets 3.5 ounces of cooked foods. In total, he eats 13.5 ounces of food a day. This is what he needs, your dog's food intake will vary depending on their age, activity level, and what you are feeding them.
These numbers are in the 2006 spreadsheet below where you input your dog's weight.
Also in the 2006 spreadsheet is the general 80/10/10 guideline that goes along with the "Prey Model" diet. It will give you a rough idea of how much meat/bone/organ to use for your dog.
Note: I do not know if the body weight thing applies to entirely cooked meals or if it's just raw foods.

Blank recipe ready for planning

Go to My ND, and click on My Recipes in the drop-down. Click on the orange "Create Recipe" button.

Search for the ingredients you want to use and input amounts according to how many ounces of whatever your dog needs. Take note of what "type" of ingredient you select. There's a ton of different "chicken thighs" and if you are using it raw, or baked, or whatever you do, you need to select that. There's also a "without skin" option, so be sure you select the correct one.
Tip: Before I made recipes, I searched through ND and found all the foods I commonly use. I added them to "My Foods" so they were all in one place and I didn't have to sort through a million things before I found what I wanted for a recipe.

Recipe for "Chicken Tight"

When you are satisfied with the recipe, hit Save. NOT Save & Analyze. It will take you to a page that uses general human numbers, not your dog's numbers, and will confuzzle the shiznit out of you.
Note: Chicken Tight actually uses .3 ounces of oyster, not 1 oyster. My mistake.

Go to My Tracking in the My ND drop down.

Hit Add to Tracking, then select the My Recipes button thing and put in the recipe you just made. Use the whole thing, unless for some reason you selected to make it worth several servings (don't do that until you get the hang of using this)
Now hit Save & Analyze.

The next page has a ton of stuff on it. I skip all that and go straight down to the nutrient information.

Nutrient profile of "Chicken Tight"

Notice how this recipe does not cover all the bases. That is because it is incomplete. Sure, I am using chicken in this recipe, which is not exactly the best meat to use due to low mineral content, and if I used pork or beef the minerals would be boosted. I do use some pork and beef but often "cut" it with chicken due to costs. If I could afford it, mainly beef would be better, but still lacking in a lot of nutrients. 
So I add in another recipe I call "Oat Mash"  It is my basic grain meal that hardly ever needs to be changed.

Note: I cannot source a lot of things other rawfeeders can. If I could get some of these, I may be able to feed a "complete and balanced" version of it without things like mollusks and oats. But I can't, and according to some research I have done, most raw diets are lacking in some nutrients even if they have other items like lung and kidney anyways.*

Nutrient profile for "Chicken Tight" and "Oat Mash"

See how that looks a lot better?

Note: I have mentioned this before, but the B's are fine to have in pretty high amounts. They are water soluble and any excess will just get pissed out. You do want to make sure that all of them meet the minimums though, don't want to have a deficiency happen.
Second note: Calcium... If you feed entirely cooked foods with no raw bone, you will need to supplement it in. I will not give you the number for that, look it up on your own, there are several good sites to find it on, and the amount to use varies widely with what your source of calcium is. It's very important that you get it right when supplementing it in, even when using raw bone.
Third Note: I  try not to make the fat go way over protein and vice versa. You can monitor them more closely though, and formulate recipes out to certain ratios if you really want to.


I do not stick to just one set of recipes. What I give Conker depends on what I can get, is on sale, or has Y amount of X nutrient.
Speaking of nutrients...

If you find that no matter what you do, you can't get a certain vitamin or mineral up to acceptable levels (which for me, tend to fall at least in the 110% - 135%range), ND has a very useful tool to solve this problem. In the grey toolbar, go to Tools, then to Nutrient Search Tool in the drop-down.

I only search for foods that are highest in X nutrient, since that is usually the only thing that is relevant. If your recipes tend to be really high on a nutrient, you can also select for things that are low in that one to prevent adding more of it to the recipe. You can select a couple other nutrients as well.

Searching for Iron

When I searched for Iron, I was given a whole plethora of potential ingredients. I scoured through them to find one that would work in a relatively small amount that was easy to find and not too expensive. I ended up narrowing it down to one food category at a time (that I would actually use) and looked through what there was to pick from.
For me, this ingredient turned out to be canned clams.

Reformulate your recipe with this new ingredient, and if it doesn't work, cut it out and try again. You'll eventually find something that works.


Now if you can't find the profile for something like bone, you will have to find an alternate source. I found a couple sites with the breakdown of the calcium content in a couple different types of bone and have input them into ND as a Custom Ingredient.

To do this, go to My ND, My Foods. In the section where you can narrow the visible foods down to type, click on Custom Foods, Add New Food, "enter your own food".

Part of the Custo Food thing

You will be given a nutrient profile to fill. You don't have to add everything, just what your custom food uses. Anything left blank won't register in your recipe. This is basically the same as inputting your dog's numbers into ND. Watch out for measurement differences, and try to get as full of a profile as you can.
Note: In the picture, Advanced Entry is selected. It's friggin huge and unnecessary so use Basic Entry instead.
Fun Fact: I have punched in several different kibbles and commercial foods as Custom Foods and guess what? My home-made food is more "complete and balanced" than all of them! Go figure.

Once you are done putting in your custom food, add it to your recipe and see how everything comes out. And when you are finally done with a recipe, make the darned thing and feed it to your dog!


It can take me hours to make a recipe I am satisfied with, but again, that is because I am OCD about this and research everything I possibly can. It gets easier the more you do it and I find it to be a load of fun.
When people find out how much work you put into feeding your dog this way, they will call you crazy.

I think of that as a compliment. It shows how dedicated I am to getting this right.


If you have a question, feel free to ask! Or if it seems like I left something out, or it's not very clear, let me know and I will go back and edit/add it in.

*The NRC numbers are not the law on canine nutrition, but they are the best out there and are backed by scientific research. They are also guidelines, not rules, it's okay to go over a bit on some things, but try not to go under, and try to keep the nutrient ratios as close as possible to "normal". Meaning, don't go way over in Zinc, or Copper, or whatever. That'll mess up the other minerals and create problems.
This is actually a good thing to know. Add it to your list of things to research. How certain nutrients can affect each other is also important, and what the signs of deficiency and excess are.
Also, these numbers depend on plant foods and/or grain to be included. These can contain anti-nutrients (I forget the real name) that can alter the proper balance needed. This may or may not apply to raw-only foods. I don't know the answer to this, so I take a precautionary approach to it and try to cover all the bases as best as possible, even if it means feeding the eeevil grains every now and then.



Resources.

1985 NRC Nutrient Requirements of Dogs
The entire 1985 book on canine and feline nutrition is available online. It is quite extensive and can take a long, long time to read. Full of good stuff, but you don't have to read the whole thing if you don't want to. (The link starts on page 44 which has the nutrient requirement tables on it.)

Doctors Foster and Smith Pet Education
This site has some good stuff on it. Things like mineral and vitamin requirements and the basic signs of deficiencies.

Dr. Strombeck's Home-Prepared Diets For Dogs and Cats
Pretty good site for some home-cooked meals, and has some for dogs with medical problems as well. They do tend to include things that I personally would not feed, but are a good starting point regardless of that.

Doctors Foster and Smith Pet Education
This site has some things like mineral and vitamin requirements and the basic signs of deficiencies, and some general dog nutrition stuff.

Dog Aware
I do not know how reputable this site actually is. Has information on raw and home-made diets, as well as links to many other sources.

Canine Feeding and Nutrition
General information on feeding dogs.

Micronutrient Information Center
Very good place for learning about all sorts of nutrients and their function, signs of deficiencies and excesses, and interactions are. For humans, but the information is still good for dogs.

The Journal of Nutrition 
Great site for looking up nutritional studies.

Nutrition Journal
Another great site for nutritional studies.

Vitamin Converter
Useful if you don't now hot to convert vitamin measurements, which are different for every one of them.

Recipe Cost Calculator
Handy thing for determining how much each meal costs you.

Weight Conversions
Online tool for converting weights.

Conker's Food Prep: Supplements!

 Last post was about grain meals and how I plot and prepare one.

Today's subject is supplements.
An often debated topic in the canine nutrition world is supplements; what to use, how often, how many, or even at all. For a dog eating kibble, unless they show signs of a problem, they usually don't need a supplement. (If they do have a problem, they probably shouldn't be eating that kibble anyways.)

Conker gets a couple supplements for various reasons. Some of them are because I think they will help in the future, and others are for current conditions.
Right now Conker gets:

Salmon/fish oil: Supplies omega-3's which are basically non-existent in factory farmed meats. Also act as an anti-inflammatory and has been shown to promote heart health, amongst other things (Dunno how true those claims are, though. I have yet to read enough studies on it.) Conker gets one 1,000mg capsule a day. That seems to work well for keeping his skin and coat nice.
I have actually run out of these and ordered a ton from this place. They should get here relatively soon.

Vitamin E: If you supplement fish oils and there isn't Vitamin E in it, you need to add it. Omegas deplete the Vitamin E in the body and can cause problems if the two are not given together. I use low-dose capsules (around 100 IU) since I don't like to over-do stuff. Vitamin E is also an antioxidant.

Chicory Root: I saw an experiment on DesertWindHounds about chicory (contains inulin, a type of prebiotic) and did a little reading on it. I liked what I saw, so I gave it a shot myself. The results were spiffy; increased digestion with smaller and less smelly poop! I don't talk about it much but I really like this addition to Conker's diet.
Note: I tried two different kinds of chicory. Raw ground and roasted ground. There was very little change in digestion with the raw, so I tried roasted, and digestion improved greatly. It's cheap, and works best when grains are included.

Lithe Tea: I currently give Conker this stuff to see if it helps with his joints. It's an herb mixture, and honestly, I have no idea if it works or not. I still have more than half of the tin left, so a long time to continue the experiment before I make a decision. It smells nice though, and Conker doesn't think it's nasty so I make his oats with it.

Sardines/mackerel: I consider the canned fish a supplement since I include it for only one reason: Vitamin D. This vitamin is important for proper bone growth and regulates calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood. It's not something you should leave out. Conker needs about 1.25 ounces of canned fish a day to meet his Vitamin D requirements.

Coconut Oil: I use this when I feed The Honest Kitchen or a meal with little fat. It contains Omega-6 (not O-3) and I use it to boost fat content in a meal. Conker needs a lot of fat, and just 1 teaspoon adds enough.

Heavy whipping cream: Also a fat-booster. I add this to grain meals, or to THK, or to something Conker isn't quite fond of eating. I usually give him about 1 tablespoon or slightly less.

K-9 Glucosamine: I used this for some months last year as an experiment in how well it protected Conker's joints. I liked it and will probably use it again. You can see the review I did on it here.

Probiotics: When I switched Conker to raw foods I gave him one of these. I used one called Gentle Digest and it worked nicely to help get Conker's digestive system under control. I do not use one anymore since he is doing fine, but I keep some on hand for those just-in-case moments. You can read the review I did on this product here.

PlaqueOff: I didn't actually use this with Conker, it was for the Girls, but it worked in softening up the nasty tartar buildup on their teeth.

Apple Cider Vinegar: Not exactly a supplement, but I used this when Conker magically got two fleas from another dog as an experiment in prevention. I killed them before they could make more fleas though, so it's not exactly got a purpose anymore. I still use it, to see if it can actually do anything to repel them or not, but I am doubtful that it actually works.

And those are the supplements I use.


Tune in tomorrow for a post detailing how to use Nutritiondata to balance home-made dog food.

Conker's Food Prep: Making a Grain Meal

The previous post was about making meat meals for Conker. This time it's about the grain meals.

I go about making grain-based meals for Conker in a different fashion that meat meals. These are made fresh every day, which drives Conker crazy because he has to wait an additional 10-15 minutes for his food to be fully ready.
If you have not read the previous post about the meat meals, you won't understand the next part, so go read it now.

The grain meal recipe is somewhat short compared to a meat meal

This is what a typical grain meal looks like. It includes things like sardines, egg, and supplements. The oats are not a "filler" to carry the other stuff, they are actually a required part of the diet.

Note: I use "dry" oats in the recipe. This is technically wrong, since the nutrient profiles of dry and cooked oats are somewhat different. I have already compared them in the past and I know the slight differences. I use dry oats in the recipe so I know exactly how much I need to use. "1/3rd cup cooked oats" is a very vague term, and the nutrients it contains depends on a lot of factors like how much water, how long it was cooked, how long they've sat for, etc. so it's not exactly accurate enough for me. Who is, as you might have figured out by now, a bit neurotic about this.

When determining how I am going to make a grain meal for Conker, I need to know what else he is being fed. So while I am calculating up Conker's meat meal on Nutritiondata, I also punch in what I plan on using as a grain meal (two separate recipes) to make sure everything levels out alright.

Nutrient profile for "Oat Mash"

See how it fills in the gaps in the meat meal? It supplies Vitamins D and E, tops off the B's and boosts the manganese and magnesium up to acceptable levels, as well as adds a couple other things like iron, phosphorus, potassium, and a bit of zinc and copper.


After I know what I need for a meal, I go ahead and make it. This is something I actually enjoy doing every day seconds after I get out of bed. (Seriously. I don't even get dressed first. I stick the pot of oats on the stove and light it before changing to day clothes.)

I start by measuring out the oats and water.*
I use 3 parts water to 1 part oats. If I were using 1/3rd cup of oats (which is about how much I actually do use) I would use about 1 cup water.  I put them into the pot at the same time instead of waiting for the water to boil (makes a much creamier, and in my opinion, quite nicely cooked pot of oats) then putter around the kitchen for a bit, or make myself some breakfast.

Cooked oats

After the oats have begun to bubble I stay near the pot to be sure they don't stick. I stir them frequently so they get cooked evenly and break up a bit. After they are hot enough, I turn the heat down and simmer for something like 5-8 minutes, stirring every minute or so.
About now is when Conker gets impatient and savages one of the Girls' faces.

Unmixed oats with stuff added

When the oats are done the water has coked down quite a bit and they are pretty busted up. They are nice and creamy and look fabulous, that's how I know they are actually done. So I dump them into one of Conker's bowls for cooling and thickening and either clean the pot or let the gremlin lick it.
After they have thickened a bit (about 3-5 minutes) I add in the sardine, egg, and supplements. I chop up the sardine good (with a spoon!) and mix everything together so you can't really tell one thing from another.

Finished oats

I let it cool for another minute or so, then grab the thawed meat meal, dump it into a bowl (or let Conker just eat out of the plastic thing) and head to my room. Conker eats in my room with the door closed since he's very defensive of his food and it's better for him to not have to be stressed with thinking one of the Girls (who know to leave him the fuck alone when he's eating) will try to steal from him.


And that's it! Cooking for Conker is quite easy once the hang of it has been gotten. And since I cook breakfast for myself every day anyways, it's pretty simple to throw a pot of oats on for the dog as well. I could just make a huge batch and stash it in the freezer/fridge but I prefer to do it fresh every day.


Next up on Conker's Food Prep: Supplements!


* Sometimes I use pre-made Lithe Tea instead of "regular" water.

Conker's Food Prep: Making the Meat Meals

Last time I posted about how I stock up. Today's post is how I go about making a meat meal for Conker.

The first step is to survey what you've got (animal products only, in this case) and make sure you have enough for X number of meals. What I have on hand is: Two (dissected)  pork shoulders, a whole chicken, a cut-up chicken, several turkey necks, beef scrap, other pork meat, beef and chicken liver, chicken and turkey gizzards and hearts, beef hearts, frozen and canned clams and oysters, ground beef, and a couple other items like beef ribs (not part of meals, those are "snacks").

Today I used: The cut-up chicken, beef scraps, livers, beef heart, poultry gizzards and hearts, other pork meat, frozen and canned mollusks.
I try to use the stuff I've had longer first so none of it gets too freezer burnt. Frozen meat keeps for a very long time if it's wrapped correctly. I tend to wrap mine loosely and sometimes air is still in the package. When I do that I need to use those items sooner rather than later or they will get burnt.

Once I know what I am going to use, I go online to Nutritiondata.com* and make up a recipe based off those items. I calculate out how much of what gives me X nutrients and if I need to add any extras (canned mollusks, in this case) or not. I do not calculate out every single meal but rather make a generalization of what I am going to use and go from there.
For example:

I always give them stupid names

I punch in the items and about how much I am going to use of each one into the recipe. Remember that this is generalizing. I won't make a separate recipe for a meal that used a wing instead of a leg unless the amounts are way different. I do make different ones for every protein, and if I mix two together (I almost always do). I save it, then to go "My Tracking" to see if it needs further tweaking.

The nutrient profile for "Chicky-Moo"

I enter the recipe (Add to tracking, My Recipes, pick the one I just made) in tracking and hit the "Save & Analyze" button. The next page is a breakdown of the nutrients and stuff. There's a lot of information there, but I usually skip down to the nutrition information section.
I try to get all the nutrients into the 110%-125% range, excluding a couple things like Vitamin A and some of the B's. Excess B's get pissed out and unless it's like, 50 times the amount they should get, they aren't much of a problem.
Once the meat recipe is where generally I want it, I stick in the grain meal as well and see how it comes out. If it's still messed up I will tweak it further.

Note: Thiamin, riboflavin, magnesium, manganese, and Vitamins D and E are low. These are taken care of with the grain meal, which is not entered in the picture above, and will be written about later.
Also, calcium is basically non-existent since Nutritiondata doesn't count bones. I use a couple online sources for determining calcium content of a given bone-in item and punch that into a "custom food" and add it when everything else is good.
Another Note: I do not normally feed beef, so the iron and zinc is a bit higher than "usual" in this example. That is adjusted by tweaking the clam and oyster content.

Once I am satisfied with the nutrient profile I grab the things I'm gonna use and stick them into a plastic box in the fridge. I partly thaw them overnight, then I get my big cutting board, scale, a bowl, knife, and meats out so I can make up some meals.

This makes roughly 9 meals with some leftovers here and there

Again I survey what I've got and grab any missing items. Then I set to work cutting and weighing out the bits and pieces I need for an individual meal.
Note: I have done this so many times I know how much of what I need to grab for X number of meals just by looking at it. I can also grab a pinch of clams or slice of liver without weighing and get it accurate almost every time. I still weigh them though, because I am OCD about that.

A 10 ounce can of clams is actually just 5.6 ounces

If I need to, I drain the canned mollusks and see how many I get. Each can, and brand, varies in how many ounces of mollusks you actually get.
Note:  The way I have these recipes set up, I need those mollusks. They contain important iron, zinc, and copper. I cannot leave them out, especially if I am using chicken since it's pretty devoid of those minerals.

Clam juice

I use the juice as a thinner for grain meals, or I rehydrate The Honest Kitchen with it. Sometimes I just give it as a fun drink. Don't throw it out, it's got good stuff in it.

Weighing the "vitals"

I've got a group of items I have dubbed "vitals", meaning I cannot leave them out. They are:
Liver: I mainly use beef liver. It supplies vitamin A, copper and some B's.
Heart: Not exactly vital, but good for taurine, some B's, and a bit of iron.
Canned oysters: Zinc, and a bit of copper.  .3 ounces of oyster is usually enough to top those off.
Canned clams: IRON! and B-12. Just .2 ounces of clams rounds out the iron needs nicely.
I used to use kidney as well, but I have not been able to get it for some months now.

Hacking

I only keep what is going into the current meal or two on the cutting board. This reduces clutter and accidentally putting something I'm not supposed to into a meal. Pictures is: Hacked chicken, beef scrap, beef liver and heart, and in the far upper right corner, the scale and some clams.
Once the proper amounts are weighed (give or take an ounce or so for meat, .1 ounce for other items) I dump them into a tupperware but don't stick them into the fridge just yet. When I am done with all the meals I look them over again to make sure they've got everything in them.

Meals with lids have been approved. No lids are being surveyed

Once I am satisfied that each tupperware had the right stuff in it, I stick on the lids and pack them into the freezer. I usually make 7-9 meals at a time, and sometimes they don't all go into a tupperware. I prefer to use tupperwares since they are reusable. Bags can only get 2-3 good uses out of them before they spring holes or get nasty.

Finished meals ready for the freezer

Anything that was not used is re-bagged and stuck back into the freezer. It's perfectly fine to thaw and re-freeze dog stuff a couple times. I don't completely thaw out pre-prepared meal stuff. I keep it in a semi-solid state so it's easier to cut up and doesn't take as long to thaw or re-freeze.

After that, I clean the cutting board, knife, and whatever else I used, and sanitize the entire counter for about three feet in every direction. This is partly due to Mom spazzing about raw chicken juice everywhere, and also because I don't want to leave a mess behind and annoy other people who want to use the kitchen.

If nobody is home during the meal construction, I will blare classical music quite loudly from my room (which is about 5 feet away from the kitchen). It makes a nice setting for hacking up dead animal parts.

Next time, on Conker's Food Prep: Making a Grain Meal.


* I have already entered in Conker's NRC numbers  into My Preferences on Nutritiondata. If you have not done that, you'll get general human numbers and your tracking won't be accurate for your dog. If you want me to write up how to do this, let me know, and I will.

Conker's Food Prep: Stocking up

When searching for items for Conker's food, the first thing I look at is price. I try to buy as cheaply as possible. This means scouring weekly ads and online, going to the stores to look for "manager's bin" or discounted items, using coupons if necessary, and comparing the price from store A to store B to see if traveling an extra couple miles for item K is worth it or not.

Overtime, I buy supplies and stock up on the items I need. This can be meats, bone-in items, liver, canned items, oats, etc. Anything. I tend to buy meats in large packages (averaging from 5-10 pounds) and hack them up when I get home into smaller chunks, then into the freezer they go.
For example:

Two pack shoulder roasts, larger than I normally get

I just bought this ginormous package of pork. That is way too big to stick into the freezer whole, and it would take several days to thaw if I did that anyways. So I hack it to bits and stash in smaller bags in the freezer that I can easily move around if I need to.

That is my favorite meat-hacking knife

The two big bones are also kept and used as recreational chews. Conker can easily crunch through the whole bone, so it's usually given a couple days in a row.

Pork shoulders and a whole chicken

This is about 1/4 of my freezer, there is still room in this section for other stuffs. I normally only commandeer the right half (where the plastic box is), a small portion of the left and some of the door shelves, but when I buy a large item I rearrange things so they all fit with plenty of room on the bottom.
Note: I do not have a separate freezer for dog meat. If I did, I could easily hoard three times as much as shown in the picture and more, and save more money in the process than I already do by buying bulk.

Sometimes I'll cut off a choice piece for myself, but for the most part, what I buy is for the dogs.

I don't usually buy this brand

As mentioned in previous posts, I use a couple canned items. Oysters and clams are regulars and I rotate between sardines and mackerel. I will not buy sardines for more than $1 a tin, and mackerel for more than $2.30 a can. Oysters and clams... Depends, but I try to keep them to about $2.50 a can, give or take a couple cents.
Lately the canned sardines have been on sale, so I have bought a lot of them. Like mentioned above, I try not to pay a lot for sardines since you only get 3.75 ounces per tin. I usually will buy another round of cans once my current stock begins to get low. I try not to run out before I get more.
Note: Don't waste the juice! That juice is packed with good stuffs and can help a picky dog eat better.

Oats

This 5 pound bag of oats cost $2.50 (2 for $5) and lasts a LONG time. Conker only gets about 1/4 cup (dry) a day, or three tablespoons, or 1.25 ounces. I also eat the oats.

The key here is to buy when things are on sale, and buy a lot. That is why it would be nice if I had a separate chest freezer since I'd be able to get more when the sale was going on.  But since I only have one (and he's small) full-time raw/home-made fed dog that isn't much of an issue. Yet.
Another thing to keep in mind: Know how much your freezer can hold! Don't go out and buy a ton of meat only to find that you don't have enough room for it all.


Tune in tomorrow for Conker's Food Prep: Making the Meat Meals.

Zuke's Z-Fillets

While I was in Arizona I was given a bag of venison Z-Fillets by Taro's owner. I was excited since I hadn't tried any of these and they are made by my favorite treat brand, Zuke's!

Venison, yumm

Ingredeints:
Venison, Rice Flour, Maple Syrup, Garlic Powder, Salt, Phosphoric Acid, Sorbic Acid (a preservative), Mixed Tocopherols. 

Guaranteed Analysis:

Protein	not less than 25%
Fat	not less than 5%
Fiber	not more than 3%
Moisture	not more than 20%

The ingredients look good. The maple syrup... Dunno about that one or the garlic stuff, but I think it's a small enough amount that it can't hurt to give.

Conker really likes these.

This is darker than the real thing.

A couple weeks ago I found a bag of beef Z-Fillets for $2.50! I grabbed it since they normally retail around $6 or more.

Ingredients:
Beef, Rice Flour, Maple Syrup, Salt, Garlic Powder, Phosphoric Acid, Sorbic Acid (a preservative), Mixed Tocopherol.

 Guaranteed Analysis:

	Protein not less than 30% Fat not less than 5% Fiber not more than 3% Moisture not more than 20%
	Again the ingredients look alright. Keep in mind that all of these do contain a grain, rice, so if you don't give grains then don't buy them.
	Like the venison type, Conker loves these. The Girls do too. I probably won't buy them too often due to the price unless I find them for $2.50 again. They are simple to carry around and can easily be busted up into smaller pieces for training.  They don't crumble very much so it won't leave a ton of crumbs in your pocket. They kinda smell good too, but then again they don't, so you might want to put them in a treat pouch instead of your pocket if you don't want your clothes smelling like it.

Blog Plugs

I've added quite a few blogs to the lists and since I have never done this before, I figured I'd "introduce" a couple of them, since some of them are pretty new.


Eat Play Love
A blog with a long-haired Shiba inu! This blog is about Maya, her diet and a couple things like Agility class.

Carnivore Cafè
As you can probably tell, this blog is about carnivorous-type home-made dog food. Has a couple interesting posts here and there, has been around for about five months.


Dobermann Daze
Written by a Dobermann owner. This blog isn't as much of a pet blog as it is a dog blog. Touches on subjects such as dog laws and breeding.

Exercise Finished
An entertaining blog (that's been around for a couple years) with things pertaining to Obedience, a bit of Agility, and some training here and there. And random things like raccoons and "The Farmer" shooting them.

Just Another Dog Blog
Lots of agility, photos, and some other things.

K9 instinct
A new blog about raw feeding, natural... whatever it's called, and some training.

Lehrhund
A good training blog that focuses on positive-reinforcement and the "why's" of training.

Maddie the Coonhound
High-res pictures of Maddie the Coonhound on top of things. Pretty interesting photos here.

Musings of a Biologist and Dog Lover
One of my favorite blogs. This one talks about canine genetics, breeding, interesting plants, biology stuff, and is generally very fun to read. Been around for a while.

Paleo_Pup Chronicles
A new blog about raw-feeding and natural canine health with some gear stuff thrown in.


I have also added a "Vet Blogs" and "Other Blogs" sections. Go check them out if you haven't already!

This dog...

I am glad he is not any bigger than he is when it comes to him "sharing" my bed.

Ruff Wear: TurnUp

The other toy I got when I ordered some stuff from Altrec was a Ruff Wear TurnUp!

 I ordered the older discontinued kind in green for $7.49. They normally retail for around $10.

Juneau instantly decided the TurnUp was hers. She took it and carried it around with her and refused to let Conker touch it, much to his great annoyance.

The TurnUp is made from the same durable rubber that Ruff Wear uses with it's other toys. It's hollow in the middle and can be used like a Kong or similar toy that you can put kibbles or treats into. I wouldn't put wet food or stuff like that in it though, the openings are kinda small.

This toy is really easy to use. It's easy to grip and throw and it's odd shape and rubber material makes it bounce allover the place. It can get some pretty good air if it hits the ground right. And bounce over the fence into the neighbor's blackberry bushes.

 It's pretty durable too. Juneau has chewed on it quite a bit (I try not to let her do that) and so far she hasn't ruined any part of it yet.

Juneau loves playing with this toy. Since it bounces all over and sometimes pretty high, she can get it before Conker does who is a tyrant when it comes to playing with the same toy as another dog.

Something I find really fun is that the TurnUp can fit into a standard ChuckIt! This means I can give this thing a good heave and watch as Juneau really has to race to get it. That makes this one of my favorite dog toys when it comes to versatility.

Overall the TurnUp is a good toy. Durable, fun, able to be used in more than one way. If you can find it for a good price, I recommend you buy it. It's well worth what I paid for it.

RMB Day

I was nice and gave all dogs some raw stuff today.

Conker was a pest while I was making oats for me and the Girls (his was made yesterday).

Bruh, bruh bruh, BRUH!

Finally got the oats done, mixed and cooled, added raw ingredients then carried the bowls outside.

BRUH BRUH BRUH BRUH BRUH BRUH!

Sasha's chicken is mutilated, Juneau's cut up to keep her in one spot

Juneau is always the best. Sits without being told, doesn't crowd me, and waits to eat until I tell her to.
Sasha always sits RIGHT IN FRONT of me and scoots forwards every half second. She leaves no room to put a bowl. She tries to eat before I give her the okay.
Conker attempts to commandeer each bowl until he is given his. He must perform sits, downs, and waits so he calms down a bit or he'll kill himself eating, even if other dogs aren't present.

This would have been a disaster when I first moved back in

All dogs thoroughly enjoyed their meals, and finished every last bit. When other dogs are around Conker doesn't bother being picky, it's enough incentive to get him to finish his whole meal. I only do a "group feeding" once a week or less, or whenever Conker is in a picky mood.

Juneau munching her chicken

Juneau's teeth (and extraction spot) are doing good. She can still chew a bit on the left side but mostly chews with the right now. Chicken bones are no problem for her. I'll probably stick with them to avoid causing too much chewing on the left side and possibly aggravating the extraction spot.


My computer is being a piece of shit right now.

The Morning

I hate mornings. They are so boring, there's nothing to do in the morning.
I took the dogs for a walk.

It was boring.

So I made food.

Yes, Conker gets two bowls

Not boring.

I made Conker up something I call Oat Mash. It consists of 3 tablespoons (uncooked) oats, 1 ounce sardine, about 1 tablespoon cream and about half an egg. (And supplements chicory root, salmon oil and Vitamin E.) I made twice as much so there's some for tomorrow.
The rest is a regular raw meal consisting of: chicken with bone and gizzard, pork, beef liver and heart, canned mollusks.

Now I need to figure out what to do with the rest of the day, since I've already done all my "routine" internet crap. Ugh, I hate getting up early, there's too much time when you do that.

Nighttime Pack Walk

Normally we go for a walk around 10-12 at night, but tonight around 8ish was relatively warm (48 degrees) with little if any rain. I decided to take advantage of that and harnessed and packed up the dogs for our 2 mile walk.

Each dog has a certain leash-hookup and walking position.

Conker gets the full-length of his leash and is allowed to pull (not hard) out front. He also has a bungee attached to the leash, which is hooked to my pack's belt strap.
Conker carried two empty mini Nalgine bottles. (Getting him used to the bulk)
 

Sasha is to my right and slightly in front, just behind Conker. She gets almost the full length of her leash which is looped around my pack's belt strap and clipped to the floating ring on her leash.
Sasha carried a home-made dog first-aid kit, some rope and a couple toys.

Juneau is on my left, either right beside or slightly in front. She gets half her leash length, one clip attached to the metal thing on her harness, the other on the tow loop. A carabiner is attached to the floating ring and my belt strap.
Juneau carried about 3 liters, or roughly just over 6 pounds.




This setup enables me to walk hands free and have better control over the dogs if I need it.