Ox Tails and Eggs (and Adorable Puppy Pics)

Ox tails may be my new favorite natural tooth cleaner. Turkey necks are great, but this little beefy by product is pretty darn nice too. This was from the grass fed baby beef we bought a while back. The fat is so yellow.



Grym likes raw meaty bones.



Ike likes it.



Beebe likes it. She can sit so pretty.




Puppy's first raw meaty bone. She has had raw snippets here
and there, but this was a great puppy size big snack for
her. She did regurg it as soon as she came inside however,
and Beebe ate the regurg in a nano-second. Oh well.

 

Ike likes the fresh eggs, the yolks are almost orange from
eating grass and bugs.




Beebe gets an egg also.

How I keep 5 dogs from stealing each others raw stuff.
We call this the dog trot, the covered walkway between
the house and garage. It is super easy to gate off portions
of it. Ike is in the Keyhole, or the outside puppy safety pen
where they can see, smell and hear outside things without
getting lost or injured while I do chores. It's also very easy to
bleach and clean.

  

The natural order of things. Shiba wins in post raw playtime.





Excited for our cow to arrive!

I relocated some of the items I don't use much to make room in my

freezer until she gets here. I didn't want to toss all the kibble nor the meaty bones.

You gotta be careful giving these kind of thick meaty bones or they can chip teeth.

Did you know quail eggs freeze really well?

Eh, was that a cow you say? Indeed it was, but she will be dead. I upgraded and bought a freezer chest last week for a song, and what better to fill it with than food for the dogs? Yesterday little Bessie the beef cow went to heaven in a humane way on her farm, and she dressed out at about 350 lbs of prime grass fed free range, antibiotic and hormone free, home grown beef. My parents are taking some of the ground and choice cuts (she came from a friend my mom works with) but I specifically requested organs, tongue, heart and tail, along with some prime cuts, no ground. She should fill the locker nicely. I can't wait till she gets here, I've been waiting for ever.

Smart Shopping for Raw food

I had no idea beef kidneys looked like this until I bought some. Eh, what can you do?

I recently finished reading a book entitled "Pet Food Nation." I strongly do NOT recommend anybody to read this. It looked exciting, but the blurb about feeding raw and why it's bad was so off the mark and largely untrue of anybody feeding a carefully prepared, researched raw diet, it completely lacked credibility. Key points that were discussed which may deter many from feeding raw is the expense, risk of contamination, and nutritional imbalance. Oh, also the ick factor.

The expense-If I were to shop for only the raw items I specifically wanted on a certain day, like human grade grass fed beef tongue ($25 over here at my butcher-4 meals about) or a pre cut rabbit ($21, about 2 individual meals), I guarantee the cost will be astronomical. If instead, I mostly buy human grade items in quantity as they become available or go on sale, which are not precut, preground, or gutted, are not from a chain boutique advertising as pet quality (the patties), or listed as a specialty unique item (sweat breads), I can cut the cost to under a dollar per meal.

Contamination-avoid buying pre ground food, buy human grade, and buy from local sources where you know or can see how the animal was reared and prepared. Handle with care. Better yet, grow your own-it's like the circle of life in my backyard and I love it.

Nutritional imbalance-do the research before diving in and be a conscientious feeder (I have had to heed my own advice recently, so it is very important). Plan meals ahead of time. Dogs can and often do experience nutritional deficiencies on kibble, as well as a host of other ailments that have become killers to the modern kibble fed canine. Dogs have eaten raw and scraps almost exclusively up until kibble became a trend in the 20th century. Yet, this is when many of the major canine diseases have cropped up. That's right, kibble is a trend, raw was here first.

The ick factor-in order to save money and reduce contamination, I will have to do some of the dirty work myself when preparing their food, because I love them and I value a total body approach to their health. If that means touching raw meat, so be it. It builds character when one comes to literal grips with the food we eat in it's most basic form and not ground or formed to beyond recognition. If people can't get over this little part, pretty soon we will be eating kibbles too. Soylent green anyone?

So, today our purchases at the butcher shop were 3 packs of grass fed locally reared and slaughtered beef kidney for all of $2 apiece. 4 beef hearts, same source, $2.50 apiece. A 5lb bag of raw meaty bones for $4. I also ordered a box of chicken feet for $2/lb, and some spleen/green tripe for a similar price. Meat, bone, and organ, all human grade and neatly wrapped in butcher paper, which will stretch for months when combined with my existing supplies of whole birds, eggs, and meat pieces. A bag of high quality kibble to last as long can't beat it. We are happy campers over here :)

The Shibas "Enjoy" a Fast

After an initial enthusiastic dive into their raw meals in the beginning, Ike is now starting to leave about 1/2 of his meals uneaten. It's possible the dogs were getting a little bound up and they may have been getting too much bone in their diet. I feel this may be the case, as I am noticing more white chalky material in some stools and I when I feed meals like tripe, I am picking up the pungent remains often 3 days later, so things aren't moving along as nicely as they were on the grain diets. I have re-evaluated and gone thru all that they eat and made some good changes, and one big change is the addition of a fasting day to allow the gut time to move things thru. Also, more whole meat pieces/meaty quarters and less necks.

Anyways, I felt like a real dirtbag when I sat down for a nice toasted crumpet with lemon curd and the dogs were looking at me like, "Feed us, you giant ape!" So, in the future, we will be fasting together with some small snacks to keep the wolves away. Good news is this morning following the fast, the dogs ate their entire meal (a chicken quarter each with the bits) and they had several good poos over the last 24 hours, so it seems they are all caught up and ready to begin their "work" week.

The Shibas Enjoy Raw Meat

First raw organ meal (beef liver)-check

First by product meal (bison heart)-check

First whole prey item (smelt)-check

Growing my own quail eggs to throw in every day or so-check

No more kibble-check

Amazing coats-check

Next step-whole quail

We went to the butcher shop and selected a most unusual array of locally raised meat products including bison tongue and hearts, flash frozen smelts and whole rabbits. We weren't brave enough to take home the sweet breads or spleens, but next visit I would like to buy some chicken feet, sardines, whole pheasant for variety, and some venison for red meat-but I'm not sure what cuts to get.

If anyone is ever interested in that old-timey butcher shop feel, seriously go check out Green Valley Meats in Auburn, WA on Black Diamond Road. They don't have a web page, but they have an amazing selection of locally raised and hand butchered meats. They also process wild game (like quail!)

Consequences of Growing My Own

Well, I was attempting to sex/segregate the birds as the juvenile batch is getting older, and some of the males are starting to fight over the few females of reproductive age. As I was doing this, one of the big guys flew right up passed me and out of the coop. After a thrilling little chase with the bird net, he was recaptured (I wasn't going to hold a little thing like that against him, I would have done the same), and returned to the hutch...where he immediately began attacking the other birds. That wasn't going to do at all. So, to make a short story even shorter, I now have a nice big fat Quail decorating the inside of my freezer. In a week or two, he will belong to the dogs.

Don't worry, I'm an old hand at this and it was fast. Seriously though, isn't this all apart of growing your own foodstuffs and getting back in touch with the Urban Farmer in all of us? Is it any better to blindly walk into a supermarket, be completely disassociated from the veg, egg, milk, meat or kibble you have purchased, and take that home to feed your pets instead not knowing what went into the animal or how it was treated before and after death?


I still felt bad, and I have decided firmly that I won't be eating the birds I grow or the eggs, they are for the dogs or perhaps to barter down the road with someone else for a foodstuff the dogs can use in their raw diet. I have also decided that a goal in feeding raw, aside from the primary health benefits to my dogs, will be to attain home grown products from small family farms and to support small, local business thru barter or trade. I won't be supporting companies like Tyson or ConAgra, and I accept the fact that although it may be more inconvenient, I will need to seek out those elusive old timey butcher shops from time to time and do what people did before there was kibbles.


Some exciting news, a family relation is raising a herd Kobe beef and my mom has some hearts, livers and kidneys waiting for me in her freezer, for free. I think the dogs are liking this Japanese themed raw diet!

On the Road Again, Ike has a Brag

Back home at last from a quick overnight in Port Angeles for another dog show. Ike earned his very first point ever! There was a suprisingly good entry for Shiba at this location, and a really good experience. This was my first time hauling all of my show gear with me and multiple dogs for an overnight stay away from home, vs just a leash and some dog food like in the old days. After cramming all my "necessary" junk into my compact eco friendly commuter, I am definately sensing the need for a larger vehicle.

The show grounds were sweltering, but at least there was a good breeze and lots of shade. It was really beautiful and sunny. Ike began dropping some coat from the heat, and also probably because he knew I signed a $250 pet damages fee should-they-occur paper when checking in. He's sneaky like that.

While at the show, I made yet another dog related impulse purchase and bought an extra long flirt pole with a tassle (get your minds out of the gutter, it's for stimulating prey drive). http://hubpages.com/hub/Dog-Play-Fun-Games-to-Play-with-Your-Dog-or-Puppy

Dogs did a few turns around the yard and little cousin Alona is still looking for it. Hopefully it will help in bringing out her confidence a little more and help her to realize that being in strange situations can be fun. Using lazer lights and feather duster type toys to chase has made a huge impact on my other dogs in bringing out their desire to work while keeping it amusing. Fingers crossed!

Lastly, I need to make a few trips tomorrow to the garden store for sand, gravel and plants, and then off to Lowes to help in some dog proofing for an extra cool project. Beebe will really be over the moon for this when it's finished. She's doing remarkably since I started her on raw again (that's her gnawing on a duck). It's been several weeks, her coat seems very nice suddenly, and although her temperment has gotten a little "sharper", that is a small thing relative to the improvement in her overall health. By the way, Jen http://theyarewhattheyeat.blogspot.com/, Green Tripe does so smell. The dogs love it though, thanks!