raw 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

Adding store-bought food to Hoshi’s diet

Hoshi has been on a raw diet for eight years now. He does really well on it. His stools are well formed too. I prepare his food myself but it’s time consuming. I’ve decided to add a little store-bought food to his diet and save some time. I’ve been substituting a chicken thigh with ½ cup of dog food. He tolerates it well although his stools are slightly soft.

I’m using Castor & Pollux’s Organix right now but bought Merrick’s Backcountry and Canidae’s Pure Ancestral to try later. If he does okay, I might add more dry food to his diet to save even more time.

Hoshi’s Thanksgiving meal

I found turkey and chicken gizzards at Whole Foods. They also had turkey necks. I’m hoping the neck bones will pass through the grinder easily. This will be a treat for Hoshi. I don’t think he’s had turkey necks before.

Organic chicken at Whole Foods

I’ve been buying Hoshi’s chicken thighs at Whole Foods because of their quality. I just noticed the packaging now says “organic.” I’ve been looking for organic chicken thighs for a while so it was a pleasant surprise. It costs a dollar more per pound. They also carry the whole chicken (organic) but I don’t know how to cut it.