Gracie at 10

Gracie Playing Catch

Below is a video (silent) of Gracie playing catch this past week.

Even at 10 years old, she's energetic and always ready to play.

I'm sure it's because she eats real food every day!

Chicken Organ Meats

Whenever I cook a whole chicken I save and cook the organ meats for Gracie (heart, liver, gizzard), along with the neck. I remove the meat from the neck bone after cooking and discard the bone. Most of the time Gracie eats the kind of meat I usually eat: poultry thigh, breast or drumstick meat; beef muscle meat, ground beef; canned or fresh fish, etc....

Yet organ meat contains healthful vitamins and nutrients too, so I cook it for Gracie when I have it. I don't go out of my way to buy it regularly for Gracie's meals because I find it unpleasant to handle and prepare.

Some dog care enthusiasts are in favor of feeding organ meats regularly because, "in the wild," dogs devoured the organ meats of the prey they brought down. I suppose that's true but I'm guessing Gracie is many generations from living, "in the wild." I don't feel like she's missing out by not eating organ meats all the time.

Can Dogs Smile?

Can dogs smile? Google that question and you'll see an ongoing debate. Some say the "smiles" we see on our dogs' faces are just expressions that form when our dogs pant and stick out their tongues. If a dog's owner sees it, the dog usually gets a lot of positive attention so the behavior is repeated again in the future.

I don't believe it. I think Gracie smiles whenever she's very happy, like when we're playing fetch in the yard (see photo above).