DCS: Dexter Containment Systems

We have a 3 board fence on part of our road frontage to keep the canine vermin contained when vehicles come through.  It provides a psychological barrier.  As a physical barrier, it can be stepped through or squeezed under by motivated pups.  We used to have electrical wire that worked quite well.  But electrical fencing is a problem with vegetation, etc.

We've had Dexter on a long lead outdoors under our supervision for the last 3 months.  This umbilical cord was an important part of his training to keep him tethered to us physically and emotionally.  Because of his enthusiasm in attacking the girls, we also needed a way to get this 'trained' out of him.  That training evolved into the old yank and crank method.  A method of last resort I suppose.  But let's be clear, Dexter is a dog of last resort.  I would have NEVER chosen a dog with his habits.  But fate threw us together, and Mark and I are committed to him.

It has taken 3 very long months.  He has curbed his enthusiasm greatly, but now he is just in 'normal' all-out puppy mode. We want to give him more freedom, but in a mode that is safe for him, us and others.  Mark went to Tractor supply and bought some galvanized wire to provide an effective barrier underneath and between the fence boards.  It is wonderful to let Dexter out for bathroom and play without his dragging his lead (or us).

He has made progress in so many ways since we picked him up three months ago.  Unfortunately, since returning from vacation and dealing with eldercare issues, his 'formal training' has slid.  But his informal training has been a rich experience.  That includes allowing him sit on the sofa and socialize while inside (v. going to his puppy lair which is still in the family area).  Having a 'pacifier' something for him to chew on, is critical.  Otherwise he will find it.  I have a bone bucket where he goes to and picks up bones.

Dexter is, without question, the most destructive, exuberant dog we have ever owned.  He's like a Sawzall, grabbing and chewing on everything in site.  He literally cannot be left up to his own devices for a minute, unless he is in his puppy lair, which is mostly Dexter-proofed once I put a dog gate in front of my window to keep him from further chewing the window sill.

His biting is still a problem.  It is so habitual.  While the behavior has lessened, it is still present and still unacceptable.  I'm determined to keep our trajectory on obliterating this behavior which was so ingrained in him prior to our finding him.  At least we believe we can prevail.  Giving him more yard freedom and free play will greatly help in channeling his energies.  I need to ensure that I still walk with him, because that has been great for my physical conditioning.


RAW: My Personal Q&A on how to avoid a RAW Recipe for Disaster

 My motivation to move to raw was founded on the following objectives: (1) I want to control the allergies in my allergic dog, Angel; (2) provide the balance of the dogs with wholesome food where I control the ingredients; (3) optimize ingredients for price and nutritional value; (4) optimize my time; (5) control weight; (6) minimize vet bills.

The pet food recalls are scary.  One of my friends lost a dog recently to contaminated pet food.  That's close to home, and it got my attention. Like many, I bought kibble and supplemented with canned food to make it more exciting.  However, their teeth did not look so good (despite various specious claims that kibble cleans teeth).  Providing them some real bones (supervised) to chew on was my first venture.  They loved them AND each of them had gleaming teeth without undergoing anesthesia and having their teeth cleaned.

Also, treating a dog with allergies can get expensive quickly.  When we got Angel, she had a staff infection and smelled like an old sponge.  With four dogs, having different foods for different dogs is not optimum.  Switching to RAW has made every meal exciting to them.  Our switch was easy.  None had gastric upset or any untoward effects. All appear to be thriving.  (I do have one holdout, Daisey, who vacillates between liking it and not!)

As I took the plunge into RAW, I had this panel of questions that I had to answer for myself prior to beginning my odyssey into RAW feeding (and certainly into the odyssey). I want to avoid the 'ahem' Recipe for Disaster--and truthfully, I was close to having a disaster.

  • Can I do this? With the wealth of information available in books and on the web, and with a decent ability to separate the good from the bad and the truly bad, I concluded yes.  Dog diets are like people diets:  there's lots of fact and opinion out there (to include moving to RAW from commercial diets), and I was prepared steep myself in understanding the facts, weighing opinions of others, and trusting my own homework. All bodies (dog bodies, human bodies, cat bodies, horse bodies) require some biological imperatives in terms of nutrition. Undertaking this effort meant that I needed to understand those biological imperatives (just as I had to do with my children, husbando and myself all these years).  It isn't rocket science; but it is a science, and one would do well to understand the basic principles.
  • What are the risks to my dogs, and can I overcome them?  I believe the main risks are these--and I believe that these are not remote risks:
    • Failing to provide nutritional completeness.  Risk mitigation includes
      • vigilance in assuring maintenance of  calcium:phosphorus ratios; 
        • mitigated by providing appropriate bone/meat ratios (see below).
      • use of appropriate supplementation to ensure no gaps  
        • Understand the vitamins/minerals needed and the ratios needed. These are published, and I've included links to these on my Pet Nutrition page.  I highly recommend Steve Brown's work in Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet which you can find on Amazon here.
    • Making my dogs ill from poorly handled raw materials 
      • This was easy.  I've never made my family sick in 3 decades of cooking for them.  It was unlikely I was going to make my dog sick, particularly given that I'm feeding them food for human consumption AND in the event of existing salmonella, my dogs' systems could handle this.  
        • keeping dog bowls clean and processing equipment clean ensures no cross contamination. 
After concluding that I could overcome the risks, then, I had to determine how I was going to manage the processing of the food..

Do I need a grinder?  I concluded a resounding yes. I have 4 dogs, so my usage profile is going to be much different than someone with small dogs or just one large dog.  

Bone=calcium | meat=phosphorus.  regular bone appears to have about a 2:1 ratio (I found it in a study, and also here at RetrieverPro),   Failing to maintain appropriate ratios or amounts over time may cause all manner of problems.  NRC recommends 1:.75 for adults and 3:2.5 for puppies (each per 1000 cal).  So getting both the ratio and the amount correct is important.

The Merck Manual describes these disorders here. Well meaning people who cook/prepare their pup's food without calcium supplementation have a recipe for disaster.  (And it is downright scary to read in various places what some well-meaning people feed their animals.)  Ultimately, over time, we cannot fool biological imperatives, and there is no arguing with the body's functional response to wrong inputs.   Peteducation.com also has a great article that you can find here.

It is also worth noting that a diet HEAVY in raw meaty bones oversupplements for Calcium and Phosphorus both on a ratio and absolute basis.  It was important for me to understand these requirements and how they translated into the food that I was preparing for my dogs.  Frankly, I started with a ratio that was high and amounts that were too high because I was using what I thought to be sound recipes--my RMB's were too high a % even though I was using chicken leg quarters.

Steve Brown's work helped me immensely in understanding these requirements along with my other research.  Balance really is key.  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting Steve Brown's Book  Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet.  I wished I had found it sooner, though I do not believe any harm was done.
    • Why did I buy a $511 grinder?
      Sure, I could just toss them chicken/turkey necks etc  but I'm unwilling to deal with gulping/choking risks and mess
        •  Angel, an American Bulldog, cannot eat these well due to the mechanics of having a squished face and underbite characteristic of brachycephalic dogs.
        • if they are eating in the house, or the dragging of the edible part in the dirt outside, grinding it gives them and me a safe, mess-free and eating experience.
      Well, if I was going to go through the trouble to grind poultry bone, then I wanted to be sure that I had a machine worthy of the task. (Plus, whole meats have less salmonella risk than ground meats so long as the surface of the meat is not contaminated). I elected to go with a #22 sized grinder by Weston.  Other manufacturers make this size.  And Avantco has a #22 with a 1.5 HP motor (v. the 1hp that Weston has).   No sense in taking a labor intensive undertaking and making it more labor intensive + adding additional measures frustrating.  And, the math (of course!) made the payback period quite short:  just 11 weeks on a machine that will last the balance of my lifetime.
      • Supplements:  To balance a cooked diet (which of course can include no bone), BalanceIT has a supplement that costs about $1.89 per day for one dog.  For four dogs, that number is $5.80 in addition to the cost of the food. That is $174 per month, or $2,088 per year.  Nope!  I do supplement with NUPRO, but 20lbs costs $99 shipped free from Chewy.com.  That is at least a 6 mos supply, or 1/10th the cost.  Nupro is not a full supplementation, but it goes a long way toward helping my pickster, Daisey, transition.  I do supplement with oils. A grinder gets paid for pretty quickly (3.5 months) using that math.
    • Commercial RAW (to rehydrate):  Yes it is convenient--just add water.  For my crew, the weekly feeding cost of a one supplier of dehydrated would be $81 (v. the $35 per week it costs now) or $4,200 per year. Nope!  So in 11.1 weeks I have achieved payback on my grinder investment (511/$46 weekly savings = 11.1 weeks) which I can also use to make good stuff for the family to eat!  But wait, wait, there is more....
    • Commercial RAW (ground):  At $15 per lb from at least 2 suppliers (and that is a delivered cost if I purchase $86 worth), that computes to $75 per day (@ 5ish lbs per day).    That's $525 per week.  That's a 1 week payback on the grinder. I don't pay $15/lb for my own food.  I sure as heck will not do that for my dogs.  There are other less expensive options, but one has to go through a RAW feeder group, and that is still at a premium per lb price than I am paying on my own sourcing.  And my own sourcing for my dogs is linked to my food sourcing.  The amount of time that I would spend putting in a large order, breaking it down etc, is likely more than I would be spending sourcing as I have.
    • Isn't my time worth something?  Actually, my time is worth quite a bit--but lets' evaluate by doing some math:  My last 'grind' took 45 minutes start to finish (to include cleaning up) and I made 22lbs of food at a total cost of $1 per lb. (Chicken legs, livers, gizzards and vegetables).  The price differential is $14 per lb ($15-$1=$14); accordingly, my savings (using this $15/lb model) are $308 for 45 minutes of work.  I'll take that! In fairness. that's a bit of hyperbole, because I would never buy something that expensive.  Nevertheless, even paying another $2 per lb, means that I'm saving $10 per day. That adds up to $3,650 per year.  
    Ultimately, it is not rocket science, but it is a science worth understanding, particularly with respect to proteins, fats, and calcium/phosphorus ratios.  
     

    Conversions and Calorie Counting for Canines

    Daisey has managed to be converted to RAW food as of the last two days--after having none of it when we started 1 month ago.  In defrosting some ground chuck tenders that had cooked slightly from the process, I elected to give this to Daisey.  I mixed in her Nupro, some no-salt green beans, and she ate with gusto.  The second meal was the raw  ground with the same accoutrements.  She ate it with no problem.  The last meal was ground chicken, bone-in, with liver/giblets and ground in snaps.  She ate it all. (Update:  this a.m. she refused the ground chicken)

    Happy Dance!   (tempered with a minor stamp of the foot).

    There is no question about it, this RAW feeding is a commitment...and a responsibility.  I would be lying if I didn't say that I had some concerns about missing something important their diet.  I've addressed this with supplementation, both with Nupro, Vitamin E and fish oil.  Most importantly, I'm using their poop and body condition as a guide.

    The chicken at Restaurant Supply comes from Mountaire Farms. The chicken is minimally processed, and these are "jumbo" leg quarters.  They are packed in a 40lb case with heavy duty blue liner to keep the juiciness in.  However, these are not sealed bags, so if they tip....   The ground yield on 40lbs of leg quarters (to include the back) is just about 34ish lbs.  Taking the skin/fat off of most of the quarters  (I leave it on about 4 complete quarters) yields waste of 4ish lbs of fat/skin on the quarters.  Further, there is an additional 2ish lb of  retained water.  I save the juice and use it to make the NUPRO slurry.  I used to mix it in with the meat, but it really does make it very soupy. 

    I'm channeling Adam Smith in trying to be more efficient in my production of this food.  Measuring the production yield against raw ingredients, determines storage, amount of other additives needed (organ meat).  I have added a page to this blog to consolidate some of the references that I have found that I want to easily share as well as find for myself.

    After processing, the mix has to be stored properly.  Though I bought 1 qt containers, I have quickly realized that as I'm going through 4 lbs a day, this is not effective.  I purchased some Cambro one-third storage containers and tops. One 40lb box of legs (with their reduced yield) fills 3 of these plus a portion.  Each holds 10lbs of food.  They are easy to fill, cover easily, and freeze.  I can defrost in the fridge while I use my non frozen stash as current food.

    Now for rubber hitting the road, and doing things that make my head hurt.  If you are going to feed RAW, then it is worth noting what your pet is getting nutrition-wise and calorie wise.

    Angel is acting a bit hungry on this diet.  I'll use this space to share some resources with you and to do some calculations.  I have been feeding her 12-14 oz of food for her 72 lbs at each feeding (2x per day)  using a rule of thumb of 2% of her body weight.  (or 23 oz).   She's an older, sedentary dog.

    According to Ohio State University's website, a pet's caloric need is based on the pet's resting energy requirements (RER) multiplied by activity level.  The following is what they say about RER and the calculation:

    Pets’ energy (Calorie) needs to maintain a healthy weight for their life stage depends upon several factors.  First, the energy to perform essential body functions like digestion, respiration, heart functions, brain functions, etc. (Resting Energy Requirements or RER), which can be calculated by multiplying the animal’s body weight in kilograms raised to the ¾ power by 70, for example, a 10kg (22lb) adult neutered dog of healthy weight needs RER = 70(10kg)3/4 ≈ 400 Calories/day. (My note:  this is actually 393 calories) One also can use the charts below to estimate resting calorie needs. Source:http://vet.osu.edu/vmc/basic-calorie-calculator

    Let's Do Math!

    . . . . . and see how this equation can be used to guide our evaluation of Angel's situation. Remember, you cannot improve what you cannot measure.  Doing THIS math gives us empiricism for calories per feeding.  It does nothing to tell us of the quality of the feeding.  Remember, I'm showing you MY process for feeding my dogs and evaluating what I'm doing and what resources I am using.  Please ensure that you do your own due diligence on any feeding regimen that you do for your dog.

    Step 1:  Firs, let's figure out Angel's Resting Energy Requirements (RER) using the Ohio State University basic calorie counter linked above.(You have no idea how happy I am to find this resources)

    We start by solving the equation for Resting Energy Requirements.  We will need to do some conversions along the way, but we are intrepid!!

    Equation  [ RER = 70(dog's weight in KG)3/4 ≈ ????? ] 

    Angel weighs 72 lbs.  That's not in kilograms, so let's convert.

    Step 2:  Convert lbs to kg.  Now, I have had a Microsoft calculator which I keep pinned to my sidebar.  I've used this for years for simple stuff.  Until recently, I had no idea of the power of this tool.  No longer will I go to websites to get conversion factors....it is all right there in the calculator!!! Just select the "view" to do use scientific, statistical, conversion calculations. How did I now know this!!???  We will need to do a little of both here!  Let's convert to grams:


    Okay, Angel weighs 32.7 Kilograms.

    Step 3:  complete the equation.  (Use the calculator!) 32.7 kilograms to the .75(3/4) power = 13.67.  Multiply this result by 70, and we get Angel's resting caloric needs of 957.

    RER= 32.7kg (.75) x 70 = 957

    As a dogs' resting caloric needs, I presume, are evaluated similarly to our own relative to keeping basic processes going at the baseline and then adding energy for other expenditure, then, anything less means that vital functions of the body are not fueled. (Bad!)  Accordingly, we then have to multiply our activity factors to determine what we need to maintain our weight at our current activity level. For those of us who are not active, then we are simply programing weight loss. Never should your diet contain less calories than needed to maintain your body processes on a sustained basis. (Don't even get me started on how Jenny Craig had my stepmom on less than 900 calories).

    Calories are calories no matter what the species.  And for those living on the edge, these base measurements matter.  Let's see what Angel needs to keep going--she's not living on the edge, but she has lost weight on this diet (not excessive) and she is grunting like a pig to tell me she is hungry.  (IN fact as I review this post at 4:14 p.m.  she is in her 'feed me' grunting mode.) This behavior is new.  She is mostly inactive due to her age, so we will use the following formula that OSU gives us as the  link from above:  Inactive/obese prone | 1.2-1.4 x RER

    Step 4:  Apply factor for the dog's activity level.  Let's split it in the middle and use 1.3  Angel needs 957 calories to stay alive in a full state of rest, and another 30% to fuel activity.  957 x 1.3 = 1,244 calories.

    Step 5:  Evaluate the dog's current caloric intake:

    According to this USDA Website (see my pet nutrition page for links), raw, skinless chicken quarters have 34 calories per ounce v 61 calories per ounce if I were to leave the skin on. She gets some other things, but not that much, but let's just say that she is just getting the following:  34 calories x 23 to 28 ounces or 952 top end calories. No wonder that girl is vocalizing.  Shame on me.  She has lost weight which is to be expected (and RER x 1 is the weight loss computation). She now has very good body definition. Her energy level has been higher than ever this past month. That's good! However, this girl is vocalizing her hunger despite that I have been feeding  2% of her body weight which is what is recommended. That's bad!  However, I have been taking the skin and fat off of the chicken, so there is a large calorie loss in that--as skin and fat comprise 44% of the calories of skin on chicken leg parts. 

    Step 6:  Make Adjustments as needed. Now that I have found reputable resources (USDA) that have very good information that I can use, I'll recalibrate the amount of fat that I'm pulling off the chickens that I'm processing.  Note that if I were feeding her 23 ounces of skin on meat, I would be feeding her at 1395 calories at the low end, which is too much. I presume too that includes the normal fat accoutrements.

    Conclusion:  DO YOUR HOMEWORK.  The above shows why few things (feed 2% of bodyweight RAW).  Always do your own due diligence and never be afraid to do your own math!   To be clear, though, even if I had NOT gone through the math, her behavior and her observed weight loss were cues that she was getting suboptimal calories.  However, my preference is to work with known quantities.  I'm glad to have done this exercise on the blog.

    Angel is going to be happy that I did the math!

    P. S.  I'm pretty happy too at doing this math.  With a detailed nutrient profile of the foods that I'm feeding my dogs, I feel that I can monitor their calorie intake and calorie composition to ensure that they are getting what they need.  I also understand that I'm predisposed to being a geek about this, and I would not expect most to do this level of analysis.  

      







    Backpedaling and Introducing you to the NRA (National Renderers Association)

    I wrote a post referencing a RAW food supplier, and then I back pedaled and removed the reference.  Why? I'm going to be vague about the 'who' because the 'what' is not a confirmation, and I have no wish to cast aspersions another's way.

    Nevertheless, my one true talent (and it is how I make my living in consulting) is reconciling the dissonant stuff in business.  I've learned long ago to trust my reactions to dissonant stuff, and then give my brain and analytical abilities a chance to both discover and correct the problem.  (I'm good at that too).

    As I'm an intuitive person, I pay attention to what is on my mind in the morning.  In this particular instance I was wondering how 'pure ground beef' was being sold at less than 1/2 of what I could buy it for (but not chicken, turkey, etc).  I did a little extra nosing around, and found some conversations about this supplier that pointed to the fact that the  RAW food business being connected to the rendering business.

    I have no real exposure to the rendering business other than tangentially.  At the CPA firm where I started my career (many years ago), there was a rendering client.  I was never assigned to them, and I remember being glad for that! 

    I'm straying off my point.  My point is that I came to believe, reasonably, that the provider of the '100%, locally sourced, beef' was in fact providing fresh, rendered product that otherwise would be unfit for human consumption.  I don't know that it is a bad thing, but there is a bit of obliqueness in how the product is described. Rendering is not so much different than my Weston#22.  Into the hopper all things must go and then it is all ground together to get its 'start' in the process. I merely start with food fit for human consumption.

    I am still in the process of processing this information and more importantly, processing my reaction to it.  On an emotional level, I am adverse to using this 'locally sourced beef' as the source may be the on-site renderer which sources cattle from nearby operations who rely on renderers to take unusable product of their hands.  However, on an objective level, if it were safe, and I don't know how to fully evaluate that answer other than I see no negative reactions to the product by any on the internet, then such a product is useful to my pet and to the environment. As it currently stands, I'm not ready to commit to this product.

    While not ready to conclude on my feelings about any of this, it did get my fingers to do the internet walking.  I found some interesting stuff.  First, there is a lesser-known, NRA, The National Renderers Association.  You can visit them here.  There's lots of interesting statistics and resources.  One such resources is an on-line pdf book called Essential Rendering.

    One-third to one-half of each animal produced for meat, milk, eggs, and fiber is not consumed by humans.  These raw materials are subjected to rendering processes resulting in many useful products.   Meat and bone meal, meat meal, poultry meal, hydrolyzed feather meal, blood meal, fish meal, and animal fats are the primary products resulting from the rendering process.  The most important and valuable  use  for  these  animal  by-products  is  as  feed  ingredients  for  livestock, poultry, aquaculture, and companion animals.
    If you are interested in learning about about the pet food industry and rendered products, you can find a very informative paper here.

    A popular aphorism is 'waste not want not'.  Rendering surely provides a solution for following that prudent advice. Anything not used fully and completely is a shameful act.  However, things used inappropriately are shameful too.  I believe that rendering is a useful means of re-purposing animal parts for other purposes.  But heretofore I was blissfully unaware that rendering is the destination for euthanized animals of all sorts, to include shelter animals as well as single source animals such as beef and poultry, etc. Further, I have seen allegations of all manner of stuff thrown into the hopper and then passed off as consumable.  I have not, nor do I plan to, research this further. However, if you are bold and with stout stomach you can venture out.  The Last Chance for Animals website has some summary statistics.  There is a video there, but I have not/will not watch it.I get the point without having my face rubbed in it.

    There, is though, a "DOH!" factor in my self-professed ignorance:  "Just where did you think that it went?" is the correct retort.  I'm not going to express any indignation about any of this--to do so would be a little hypocritical.  We humans are enterprising, and rendering is a logical and even beneficial means of transforming waste into something useful.  (Soylent Green was too).  And any time we choose the better animals and/or the better parts of animals, we are still contributing to all of the excesses along the food change from inhumane raising, feeding and handling of protein sources for our or our pet's consumption to the waste products that are the fuel of the  rendering hopper feeder--and then go back in as a source.

    So long as we and our pets are eating animal-based proteins--we "feed" the cycle.

    I am culpable.

    Sigh.


    Pumpkin for the Pooches!

    My title is cynically enthusiastic.  There are many headlines about how good pumpkin is for your dog; however, until I read this article at Cesar's Way, I did not have any idea that too much pumpkin could lead to Vitamin A toxicity in dogs.  Herein lies my approach to evaluating the hype behind the hype regarding 'miracle foods' for my pet.

    Let's Do Math: Calculating Toxic Levels of Pumpkin in Dogs:

    RDA for dogs of Vitamin A:                                    2,272/lb of food or 50/lb of dog (1)
    Amount of IU in 1 cup of canned pumpkin:            12,231 IU (2)
    Amount of RDA for a 50 lb dog:                              2,500 (math: 50 IU x 50lbs)
    Maximum amount of canned pumpkin to add to your dog's food absent other supplementation: (2500/12231) x 1 or 1/5th of a cup.

    (1) source: http://www.vetinfo.com/vitamin-a-toxicity-in-dogs.html)
    (2) source:  http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2601/2 

    I purposely added the qualifier of 'without additional supplementation' as my NUPRO supplement that I give my dogs provides 2,365 IU per scoop (3TBLS).

    Conclusion:  giving my dogs pumpkin regularly on top of their current supplementation would expose them to over supplementation for Vitamin A.  As you think about supplementation for yourself or your animals, research the risks of oversupplementation.

    Coprophagy

    Since I have been focused on RAW diets for my dogs, I have done quite a bit of research on all manner of dog issues.  Coprophagy, or 'poop eating', is one that I see referenced quite a bit as a malady experienced by many dog owners.  I'm not adding to the conversation, other than to say, that I have never owned a dog that ate their poop or other dog poop.

    Now, the cat snicker bars a la cat box are a different story.  I've never attributed a dog eating that particular delicacy, universally shared by most dogs, as true poop eating. And, most of my dogs will find and roll in any type of scat (other than their own or their fur family's) that they find in the woods.  Ugh.

    We've been lucky to not have to deal with any skunk encounters other than the faintest whiff from Daisey.    Others that I know, not so lucky.  Dawn and hydrogen peroxide are good to to keep on hand in COPIOUS amounts.  Great for skunks and red wine hazards in the household.




    More Grind Notes

    I went to the Restaurant Depot to pick up more chicken.  With 3 dogs on RAW, we go through just over 4 lbs of food RAW food a day.  In addition to the chicken leg quarters that I was seeking,  I also found some chuck tender roasts on sale for 2.89/lb.  I have only been feeding poultry to my dogs this past month, and I wanted to add some other protein.  I also thought that I would use this to make hamburger for our own consumption.

    I don't have too many misfires in the kitchen, but this one was a giant failure (though Mark and Reade did not label it so much as this).  This meat choice grind made a lousy hamburger to my taste.  Not enough fat (even though I added cream soaked bread), and the flavor was just blech!  I'll use this to feed the canines.  RD had frozen vegetable packages at a good price, so I bought 5lbs of mixed vegetables to grind up with the chicken. I chose a cauliflower, bean and broccoli blend along with a corn, peas and carrot blend.  I might have made a mistake on the corn mix.  We'll see if any has a problem.  Overall it is not that much added.  Because I did not include any organ meat in this batch, I will have to supplement.

    Processing alert:  The Weston did seize up with the frozen vegetables. As the metal auger, knife and extruder absorbs the cold, they ended up freezing between the blade and the extruder.  When the vegetables were mixed evenly with the meat, this was not a problem. GTK!  This was not a shortcoming of the grinder.

    To make storage of food a bit easier, I used Arrow freezer containers.  These are high quality, and because they are square (footprint), they store easily in the freezer.  I had 3 that I've had for probably 10+ years, and they still work well.  But I needed a bit more with this foray. I did not get the larger 1/2 gal container as larger containers take longer to thaw (though I'm secretly wishing I had!).

    Each will hold 2 lbs if using a tamper to pack down the contents..  The perfect tamper is the plunger that came with the Weston.   They can be defrosted in the microwave, and are dishwasher (top rack) safe.   I see lots of 'warnings' about defrosting RAW in the microwave as enzymes are destroyed.  I'm not sure if it is opinion or fact.  Where possible, I will thaw in fridge.  My dogs do not require any warming of their food.  They just inhale it, even if there is some frozen chunks in it. As I was putting the beef into these containers, I offered some to my cats.  They enjoyed the beef quite a bit.  They turn their noses up at the ground chicken.  Geez.....they must imagine themselves great bison hunters!

    I use my Brother P-Touch label maker to mark the containers.  I use this for my canning goods as well as for file labels and all manner of other things that could benefit from being marked.



    Regarding sausage. . .  My first batch had ginger in it.  It did not sit well to our tastes.  Nixing the ginger and adding a bit more cayenne AND some ground hot peppers from the garden, kicked everything up a notch WITHOUT overpowering the heat buds.

    I do love my grinder.









    The Grind

    The nice thing about a blog is that it serves as badly needed life documenation.  Our RAW'ish diet for the dogs is going well.  We have finished three weeks (date calculation courtesy of being able to look back at the blog!). We are 75/25 RAW/Kibble for 3 out of 4 dogs.  Daisey is on 100% kibble as that is all that she will eat.  All the dogs get Nupro gold to ensure appropriate supplementation.  They love the Nupro, even pickster, Daisey.  She eats all of her kibble when mixed with the gravy.

    The Weston grinder (#22) is a workhorse.  It makes short order out of the anything that I grind in it.  I did jalepenos--with the Kitchen Aid, I had to work for 25 minutes to grind 9 lbs of yield.  I had to push every pepper through.  The Weston?  6 minutes, and just a few pushes of multiple peppers.  Time and energy saver.

    We have  Restaurant Depot in Richmond, VA.  I shopped there with another's card.  As I have a business license, I was able to secure my own.  They have all manner of things.   AS with anything, you have to know your prices.  Ten pounds of leg quarters at the Food Lion are 79 cents per lb.  I bought 40 lbs of leg quarters for 59 52cents per lb.  (or FL leg quarters cost 52% more).

    I did my grinding of the chicken and chicken parts yesterday.  I had Wyatt and Minnah (cats) and Ella and Angel (dogs) keeping me company.  A slipper quarter fell the the floor.  Angel was on it.  That dog--she's a lumbering old thing unless food is involved.  Food transforms her to Flash Gordon!  With the Weston, grinding 40 lbs of meat is nothing.  I also had picked up some gizzards and hearts marked down and bought a container of chicken livers. Overall, I had 9% (v. 10% preferred) organ meat to non-organ bone/meat.

    I have to admit, that it is a little bit daunting to tackle this project. But there is lots of good information and lots of specious information out there.  Always find the former and eschew the latter!   I DO NOT buy that dogs are obligate carnivores.  However, in battling the allergies of Angel Marie, I do know that grains can be a problem, and it is unlikely that dogs ate grains (except corn which I've witnessed with my own eyes).  But anything in the garden is up for grabs, to include fruits/berries.  So, I'll stick with what I have observed.  The Nupro is may insurance for any errors that I make in feeding.  I'm particularly mindful of Dexter as he is under a year.  He still gets puppy food with his RAW. 

    Next year when the garden is inundated with squash, you know what I'll be grinding up in the dog food.  Both Ella and Angel are squash lovers.  I have been grinding up green beans and carrots in their dog food.  I will be adding pumpkin as well.  I'm sure that I should have other protein sources.  For now, I'm want to get everyone's system used to the chicken and the accoutrements that I've added. 

    So far, all is well. However, Angel had a severe bout with diarrhea over the last couple of days.  I think it was from her eating the cat's food.  All the other dogs were fine and they are all eating the same food.  No RAW food get left out, and it is frozen in advance, or eaten fresh within a couple of days of grinding.  I am meticulous on the grinder, pan and counter hygiene.  So, I don't think that anything untoward happened from the RAW stuff.  Dexter's poop is very well formed.  I've been having trouble with him since we got him.  ONce going to RAW his stool's are very firm and well formed.

    In addition to the 40 lbs of chicken, I bought 20lbs of Boston Butt (bone in).  I plan to make breakfast sausage.  The yield was 17.5 lbs of ground pork.  It will save a trip to Nahunta--a 5 hour trip one way.  I'm intrepid in the kitchen, and I'm confident that I can make a sausage recipe that we will like just as much.  Plus, their Italian sausage is not very good (to our tastes).  I have found several sausage recipes on line.  I'll give a report on the turn out of this project.

    However, with making this sausage, I have to replace my FoodSaver which I killed in a misguided attempt to marinate in an inappropriate way.  That FoodSaver was the best I had owned...outlived several others with a spotty record.  I have missed this machine mightily.  Though this FoodSaver I killed fair and square, but I cannot find one that I think is as good.  I'm making the switch to the Weston.

    As soon as I wrote this, I snagged a damaged box deal at Amazon and saved 20%.  I don't mind paying for good equipment because it saves me time and money.  We don't go out to eat often, I fix nice meals for my family, so why not enjoy the convenience using quality equipment in the home?  Plus, vacuum sealing preserves expensive cheeses and gives worry-free freezer storage (think sausage!). 





    Life Stuff

    The day before we were to return from vacation, we received a call that my FIL had to be rushed to the hospital.  We quickly prepared for an early departure if needed; however, he stabilized, and our coming back a day early was not necessary.  Other family members were there.

    Fortunately, my FIL is recovering.  He is in his early 80's, active, healthy in every way.  However, his illness (sepsis/pneumonia) hit him quickly.  As he described how poorly he felt, and how he was crawling up the stairs, crawling across the upstairs floor--his destination 'his chair'.  He never made it to his chair.  Rather, he was a 911 call as my MIL, who has health issues of her own, found him slumped against the sliding glass door.

    As he recounted his ordeal to me while I was visiting with him in the hospital,  I stopped him and asked humorously, "At what point in time in your crawling did it occur to you that you might want to call someone?"

    The silver lining in this cloud, which is quickly dissipating with his recovery, is that we have had a chance to enter the lives of my in laws.  I'm a daughter, so I'm always aware of what is going on with my stepmom and dad.  These sons, not so much with their parents.  Thankfully, my schedule was flexible enough to help out when my FIL was released.  Some in our family felt that he was released too soon due to the home situation.  I said frankly, "The hospital doesn't keep you for those reasons."

    My in-laws have been very independent.  This sudden onset showed the vulnerability that every person entering advancing years faces, the small chipping away of his/her health that makes  independent living more difficult.  I spent the first few days trying to explain to my MIL, after she told me repeatedly that I should not have to help them that Medicare would provide them with all of the help that they needed, that such a tooth-fairy did not exist.  Thankfully the physical therapist could explain that.

    My MIL helped me so much when I was a young mother.  If my son/daughter woke up with a fever and I had to go to work (which I always did!), she kept them without hesitation.  (My mother did as well, but she was diagnosed with lung cancer when Hannah was not quite a year old, and my mother did not care for her for another 6 months before that because she thought she had a cold from her constant coughing.  She died when Hannah was just 18 months old).  Helping my MIL understand the importance of this help, and what it meant to me, went a long way.  Further, I also wanted to reinforce that their their two sons, two DIL's and two adult grandchildren are part of their family support unit.  We help out because that is what we do for our loved ones; it is not a chore, but it is caring for loved ones. Not allowing us to help causes us worry and robs of our our selfish desire to contribute to their health and well being. 

    Over the course of the last couple of weeks, we have entered their lives and have suggested, negotiated and occasionally cajoled on ways to improve their living situation for greater comfort and safety.  For them, reducing some clutter, dusting, cleaning, rearranging, installing some support rails and storage are small things to do.  All in all, their living circumstance was not deteriorated, and in fact, they have less clutter than I have (As I look at my own home circumstance, I could get a headstart on a few things myself!).

    While I regret that my FIL had to go through this, we have used his health circumstance to demonstrate how easy it is for us to help them. We are not taking away their independence, but rather, we are supporting their continued independence.  And with more face time, we are better able to gage their health and home situation.  We are practicing love and respect, and walking that fine line of when we have to take a firmer stand.  As with corporate life, ideas have to take root and change has to come when the corporation, or in this case, the individual is ready OR when there are extenuating circumstances that prompt quicker action.  We want to avoid getting to extenuating circumstances.