diet – My Cocker Spaniel

Merrick’s Backcountry

I stopped feeding Hoshi Merrick’s Backcountry because he couldn’t digest it. His stool were too soft. At best they were soft and formed but mostly appeared the consistency of toothpaste. It was really messy to clean up. I got it on my hand! He had been on it for about 1-2 weeks before I decided to stop using it. It made him gassy too. The house started smelling bad.

I started feeding Hoshi Canidae again. He’s done well on it. Again, the dry food is only part of his raw chicken diet. It’s meant to save me time preparing his meals. It makes up ⅓ or ¼ of his daily diet.

Hoshi doing well with dry food

Hoshi’s been taking Canidae’s Pure Ancestral for two weeks now. He gobbles it up right away and has nice firm stools. The only difference I notice is the increased amount of stool. I would say it’s about 3 times as much compared to his raw chicken diet.

Hoshi has gained too much weight. He normally has 3 to 4 chicken thighs a day but I’ve been substituting one with dry food . Lately, it’s been 4 servings so I’m cutting it down to 3.

Gave Hoshi a bath

This was another bad summer for fleas. I’ve been using Frontline and a homemade flea repellent but Hoshi’s belly was still peppered with flea dirt. I gave him a thorough bath, trimmed his essentials. I even coaxed him with cheese into having a few nails trimmed.

Hoshi after bath and groom — All clean and trimmed

Time	Activity
2:15	Bath & blow dry
1:30	Trim
3:45	Total Time

Feeding better quality chicken

I’ve been buying our store’s brand chicken for years until now. Our store began carrying an “all natural” brand. The meat is better quality and not as fat. It also has a healthier pink color. Leaner meat means faster preparation times because there’s less fat to remove.

The all natural brand also uses smaller chickens (smaller bones): Now I can prepare drumsticks since they’re small enough to grind. These all natural drumsticks take half the preparation time compared to thighs since there’s hardly any fat to remove. I end up with smaller portions but supplement with chicken gizzards.

all natural chicken — All natural chicken

Meijer’s brand chicken

Pet food documentary: Pet Fooled

If you’re interested what your pet eats, please watch a documentary about the pet food industry called Pet Fooled. Veterinarian, Dr. Karen Becker, appears in the film. She’s one of the reasons I became interested in raw diets 5 years ago. The film will be released on vimeo, iTunes, vudu, and cable on demand, January 10, 2017.

You have well-meaning loving veterinarians recommending foods not because they have sound nutritional background but because that’s all that they know.

Been cooking for Hoshi

I mentioned last I’ve been cooking Hoshi’s chicken (except for the bone). He loves it! He’s too picky about it when it’s raw. I don’t have time for his finickiness when I’m busy getting ready for work. The only thing I add is a clove of garlic to 3 chicken thighs. He fusses if I don’t add the garlic. No need for oil, there’s enough fat on the chicken. His stools have been good too.