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| "Be a Witch" by Angel Stitchin' |
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| "Bluebonnet Blooms" by Redbird Designs |
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| Bandana fabric used for back. |
DH got up way too early to go hunting this morning. Normally, I would go back to sleep, but my sinuses are driving me crazy so I got up, too. Annie is always happy to get up and greet her humans before taking care of her morning chore of running around the yard for two to three hours on rabbit, deer, and squirrel patrol.
She comes in the house on occasion to check on her humans (thus tracking dirt/mud into the house) before resuming patrol. She also checks to see if her humans have set out her breakfast. If one of us has, she pauses to scarf it down and then goes back out on patrol. Around mid-morning, she ceases her labors and comes in for a long nap.
Speaking of dog food, DH and I have been feeding Annie a raw dog food diet that we make ourselves. Our previous dog, Emma, had health problems for the last several years of her life. She was on an expensive prescription diet dog food, but still experienced problems. The dog we had before her, a pit bull named Bailey, was plagued with severe skin problems his whole life. He, too, was on a special diet, took prescription medication for itching, and was bathed frequently in special shampoos to help his skin, all to no avail.
When we rescued Annie, I began researching healthy dog food on the internet. I spent several weeks researching and finally settled on a specific recipe I found here. If your dog is itchy, scratchy, and/or licks his paws, here is information on why and what to do about it by using this raw food recipe.
This recipe takes DH and I about 45 minutes to make from start to finish. We mix it in my turkey roasting pan and use a kitchen scale to form the recipe into half-cup meat balls for freezing. (We measured out a half-cup on the scale and took note of how much it weighed.) One recipe lasts us about 45 days. For her weight, Annie eats one cup a day, one-half in the morning, and one-half at dinner.
The LickOchops and Dinovite for Dogs can be ordered online directly from Dinovite.
Annie is thriving on this diet. Her coat is healthier, she has toned up (although that may be partially due to her dedicated yard patrolling), and her teeth are healthy. Your mileage may vary. If you do use the diet, follow the recipe EXACTLY and make no substitutions. Also, follow the guidelines for introducing this new food to your dog EXACTLY to prevent digestive issues.
I am firmly convinced that if I had known of this diet when we had Bailey, that he would have been spared a lifetime of itchy, scratchy, bumpy, irritated skin. He wouldn't have been plagued with lick granulomas. He wouldn't have licked and chewed his feet constantly. He wouldn't have endured endless vet visits and medication along with frequent baths in special shampoos. I wouldn't have felt like I was beating my head on a wall in frustration as nothing we did seemed to really help in the long run.
In my research, I found the history of commercial dog food in the USA to be very interesting. Most of what comprises commercial dog food is food waste not deemed fit for human consumption and food manufacturers were looking for a way to get rid of it, and the dog food industry was born.
As I learned more about a dog's digestive system, I realized that store-bought dog food was not "natural" or in my dog's best interest. It's kind of like how so many of the foods Americans eat today are not in our best interest - it's no coincidence that the acronym for the Standard American Diet is SAD. But I'll not get on my eating healthy soapbox as I could spend days there. ;-)
My Halloween cat and pumpkin are coming along. I need some sunshine to come out today so I can get a WIP picture. I hope to get it finished before Halloween so I can finish it into the pillow the design calls for.
And I really hope DH gets another deer this morning on his hunt. It's supposed to rain the rest of the weekend, so no more hunting. A deer this morning would greatly curtail the "it's raining/grumpy hunter" syndrome that would otherwise afflict DH.
LoneStar
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