Thursday, June 4, 2009

Dog food


I've never been a fan of paying out tons of cash to feed my dogs. Yes I'm stingy, but it's not just when it comes to dog food.

I do however want my dogs healthy. I've always ended up feeding them a mix of medium priced kibble/cooked meals and some raw thrown in here and there.

I wasn't sure where I was going this time around. I'll probably end up going mostly raw after this hunting season is over, but what to feed until then. I was self-employed for 6 years until September last year. I've always had as much time as I wanted for my dogs. I'm working full time now, so I figured picking up a high grade kibble for Haru would work out best.

Of course when actually getting smacked upside the head with a \12000 (roughly $120) bill for a 7kg (15lb) bag of kibble, I did a bit of a double take. I did the math, and it just comes out MUCH easier on my wallet to buy food at the grocery store and cook for Haru.

So last week I added some bulk food for Haru into our shopping trip. I talked to the wife about it, explaining why it was a better idea and so forth. She agreed, and the next morning surprised me by getting up before me and cooking a bulk batch of home made dog chow! Dang I love my wife.

Well Haru loves her too, and loves her new food. It's a mix of sweet potato, some carrot, a few types of organ meats, and chicken. She also gets a bit of fish oil every day. I'll probably be mixing up the mix every now and again, but the main thing I'm trying to watch right now is her weight. Gotta figure out the optimal amount.

This new diet for Haru coincides with the wife trying to bulk me up. I've got one of those body types that lose weight when I don't work out. I've started working out again, and the wife's pulling out all the stops in the kitchen, hopefully that'll equal weight gain. Well it will. It always works, and I look great for awhile, then I get lazy. I've got the protein shakes going and everything. I'll hit the big 3-0 this year, so maybe I'm trying to prove to myself that I can still do this.

I've started teaching some kids how to play basketball, and yesterday was the first time in over a year and a half that I actually shot some baskets and ran around a bit. I've lost a bit of speed, and I'm not dangling all over the rim like I used to, but I seem to be in better shape than I thought I was.

Maybe it's time to start playing again.

3 comments:

  1. Right arm! Gourmet food for doggie & husband? Sounds like wifey can do no wrong. Can't you make extra large batches & freezem' for Haru?

    Good luck w/ the B-ball, dunking B4 U know it I'm sure.

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  2. Hey - I hear you on the home prepared vs. kibble thing! We figured it out that we'd pay approximately $2.35/lb of Acana Grain Free fish based kibble vs. max $1.99/lb of raw meats and vegetation for our two shibas.

    Incredible.

    If you want any nutrient level info, check out
    http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/nutri.htm

    Also, check out B-Naturals and dogaware for great information. The owners of those sites have been at this a long time and both have books on dog nutrition out or coming out. '
    Dogwise also has reading lists for raw, cooking, natural health, etc..

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  3. Haru eats better than I do *sulk*

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