Dog Food - The Realities of Cheap Crap

Cheap dog food is just that - cheap. Cheap dog food can actually create problems rather than give your dog the proper nutrition it needs to thrive. Imagine if you're a carnivore and yet people kept feeding you vegetables and you became anemic because of deprivation of iron (Ok, totally off topic and incredibly far fetched, but...).

Remember, dogs were once wild. They ate raw meat, which is the best possible diet for your dog, but trust me, feeding anywhere from 2 - 3% of Rusty's body weight per day is NOT going to be cost friendly to my wallet. That's um, well, a few pounds of meat. So he can get an occasional chicken thigh, but that's about it. If you're interested in a raw food diet, I'll post more on that topic later as Rusty gets older and I begin to give him more raw meat. For now, here's a few websites that have a ton more information on raw diets - RawFed.com and Jane Anderson's Raw Learning Site.

Let's start with the basics. Look at the ingredient list. Are the first three products not by products of meat? If so, then you have a winner, if not, don't buy it. Back to the basics of dogs - what did they originally eat? Meat, keep the food as close to their natural diet as possible. I know it's crazy, putting this much time and effort into your dog, but trust me, they'll live longer and have much healthier lives. The better you feed them, exercise and train them, the longer they'll live and the happier you'll be.

What do we feed?

Old Mother Hubbard is the maker of Wellness products. At first I was little leery of purchasing more expensive food. We've always purchased Purina ONE... so why switch?


You'll notice Oatmeal is listed as the third ingredient and why would I purchase this if there isn't more meat? Well, because there's no meat by-products and oatmeal is a good grain if you're unable to feed grain free food which comes to my next point -

Grain free is just that - there's absolutely no grains in the dog food meaning more meat for your animal. Because it's all meat, there's more protein. Dogs under the age of 2, especially large breed dogs should not have a grain free diet. What happens is protein makes them bulk up so much that their bone structure can't keep up with the growth coming from protein. In effect, they'll have bone, joint and cartilage problems later in life. Not so good, eh?

So as you can tell, deciding what to feed your dog can be a conundrum. I suggest trying a variety of better dog foods and seeing which your dog prefers.

TIP: Gas and loose stools mean it's too rich, while you can tell the stench of anal glands and then they probably need to poo... so make sure you pick something that's not too rich to start off with!

ANOTHER TIP: Try dogfoodanalysis.com to compare foods!

February is National Pet Dental Month

Get your pet's teeth cleaned! Or brush their teeth yourself.

Also, take a look at The Recycled Retriever.

A super cute store with super cute stuff.

Want Free Samples?

Me too!

Life's Abundance Pet Food Sample

Greenie's Dental Chew

Register to win a year's supply of Nutro brand dog food

Purina Snack Lover's Club

Purina One food sample

Enjoy!

Tuesday Treats

Free samples tend to end up in our treat bag such as this - Rachael Ray's Nutrish. (There's a link for a free sample too!) Now, you have to understand that we're not FEEDING Rusty this, nope, this is part of his treat bag. I personally don't see better nutritional value in this dog food than what we already feed him - Wellness Super5Mix, which he loves.

This is considered a low value reward (cut up cheese, hot dogs and tennis balls are Rusty's high value rewards), so he gets this for doing basics, like sitting, drop and walking. The command leave it will get a higher value reward - like a toss of a tennis ball!

Free samples of dog food make great low value treats, but try not to get 'Ol Yeller because that has no nutritional value at all. Each of the different pieces of Nutrish looks different and it must taste different too - but since I haven't tried her dog food yet (human grade treats I usually try, but shhhh... don't tell anyone!), I can't tell you what it tastes like!

How's The Training? Week 4

You know, I love that Rusty knows how to sit and drop and leave it, but honestly, if we didn't go to training I don't think that I'd know where to start!

Leave it is hard and well, so is being a rescued dog.

This week's new commands are leave it randomly AND come.

The dog needs to know how to come. And we need to majorly practice. He's not very good at coming when called when there's distractions. That's going to take some work so here's how to teach come.

Be prepared:
High value treats
20 - 30 foot lead
Open space
2+ people
Dog

Step 1: Get a 20 - 30 foot long lead and snap it on to their collar.

Step 2: Find an open spot to train. We prefer the park with distractions.

Step 3: Have high value treats for all those involved whether it be cheese or hot dogs.

Step 4: Standing a ways from each other, but close enough to reach you on the lead, begin with the dog starting at one person.

Step 5: Have the other person say, "Rusty, come!" in an excited manner.

Step 6: Only say it once. No need to say it more.

Step 7: As soon as the dog starts heading to you, jump up and down, act excited, wave your hands in the air, say, "Good dog!!!" over and over until he gets to you.

Step 8: Make sure you put your hands on the dog. Come is not a game, there will be no darting away, no chasing, etc... When your hands are on the dog, reward with the value treat.

Step 9: Go back and forth for awhile and practice. Move around the park to different areas, do it in your backyard, family room, etc... And PRACTICE!!! Come is for safety.


Leave It Randomly

Be prepared:
Treats
Shoes (wear them please)
Random items you don't want your dog to get
Dog

Step 1: Drop quite a few treats on the ground (See? Way different but totally new and exciting!) along with books, etc... Whatever you don't want your dog to get into.

Step 2: Walk along the path of dropped treats and stuff - randomly say "Leave it" if he notices a treat. If he starts to go for it, step on it with your foot. Remember, only say leave it ONCE. As soon as he stops looking at the treat/item, reward with treat FROM YOUR HAND.

Step 3: Walk along the path again, only this time, randomly say, "Take it" for treats or toys that you'd like him to have.

NOTE: Take it is the beginning of something beautiful. Drop your keys? "Take it!" Drop a sweater? "Take it!" Want Rusty to get something for you? "Take it!" This is a fabulous command that will come in handy more times than you think!

Step 4: Practice, practice and practice. Do this in different places with all different treats. Generalize as much as possible so that Rusty will do this in any place, just like any other command.

Good luck and have fun!

The Tug-A-Jug

What happens when your dog gets bored? A lot! Or not a lot! Rusty is known for stealing socks, chewing on the corner of the coffee table and generally being a MONSTER. He gets two walks per day plus playtime and then what most dog people call mental stimulation.

If you're dog does not get enough healthy exercise and mental stimulation, this can lead to many problems down the road! They can learn how to jump up on countertops and eat your dinner, chew on your deck, couch, chairs, mattresses, etc... Mental stimulation helps to curb that, plus it's a great help for when you want your dog to learn - the brain needs stimulating to learn new things.

For example, before we go on a walk we practice sitting, drop, leave it, take it, finding me, etc... to be able to try and identify new smells on the walk. It's like an old person, you'd lose your mind too if you didn't use it!

So give the Premier Busy Buddy Tug-a-Jug a try. Stick about a half cup of food in it at first, then either up the contents or just put in what's needed to feed for the day. This tool (notice I didn't say toy) also helps fast eaters to slow down. They have to work to get their reward. Pretty cool, huh?

We never leave this out if there's more than 1 cup of food in it - we don't want a fat dog!

Tuesday's Treat

Dogswell Happy Hips Chicken Breast Dog Treats (2-lb resealable bag - 2-Pack)

Most large dogs have some sort of hip or joint problem. We're working on having that NOT happen. Larger dogs can get what's called hip dysplaysia and dogs can show signs of it as young as, well, puppies which is unfortunate. Dogs will show signs of pain and discomfort after exercise, long periods of sitting, standing or lying down. Happy Hips includes all the vitamins and minerals that your dog needs to help either with the pain OR to prevent it. And no, I'm NOT paid to advertise it - it's just what happens to work for us!

Make sure you have your dog x-rayed at a young age to determine its joint issues. Some dogs may NEVER have this happen and are happy as a clam until they die. Others have hip issues around 6 or 7, sometimes they don't even start until they're 10 or 11.

Bimmer Man and I had to put the Bimmer Dog to sleep last October because of bone cancer (which I'll get to at a later date, especially the signs and symptoms) so health issues I watch for every single day and anything that happens to enhance Rusty's health, I'll definitely give a try!