Ground Beef Breakfast 3-24-09

Lean ground beef

Whole wheat bread

Oatmeal cooked in milk

Baked sweet potato, with skin

Cheddar cheese

Sunflower oil

Playing Fetch In The Snow

Gracie had fun playing in the snow this past week. She's definitely a cool-weather dog. She loves playing outside when there's snow on the ground. Here she's offering me her tennis ball to start a game of fetch.

Oops! Where did the ball go after I threw it? Gracie's nose knows. It's always amazing to watch her find her ball with her nose --- even when it's under several inches of snow.

Gracie is very persistent. When the snow is deep she'll spend several minutes sniffing and digging until she finds her ball.

                                                               

She's found it and she's ready to keep playing!

Nail Clippers

It's important to keep a dog's nails trimmed but it's really hard to do it right if your dog has black nails, like Gracie does.

On dog's with white nails it's easy to see "the quick;" the soft, interior tissue of the nail that bleeds and hurts like holy heck if you cut it.

Think how much it hurts if you cut your own nails too short. If you have a lot of trouble cutting your dog's nails without hurting him (or her) it's best to let the vet or a dog groomer do it.

I cut Gracie's nails myself. I take my time and try to be super careful. I cut a nail too short only once; the first year I adopted Gracie, when I was new at nail-cutting. She yelped and it bled and the styptic powder I had on hand didn't help at all. I tried using a styptic pencil but that seemed to hurt her.

Gracie never was comfortable getting her nails cut, even before I accidentally cut that one nail too short. To make nail trimming easier on her I give Gracie a small biscuit treat before I start and after each cut. To avoid overly stressing her, I try to cut a maximum of three nails at one time. If more need clipping, I leave them for another day. I make sure the room is brightly lit so I can see her nails clearly and spot "the quick" under each nail.

I find the clippers shown above work best on Gracie's thick nails. In the past I tried a different kind of nail clipper; the kind that has a sort of hole-opening into which you position each nail before cutting it. I think that type is called a guillotine style clipper. It did not work well for Gracie, as it crushed and split her nails. The clipper shown above works much better. The brand is Millers Forge and the case is marked, "Italy."

Easing Up On The Supplements

Happy New Year! --- almost, anyway.

Gracie turns 10 this coming year. It's a good time for a dietary review. Like any good Doggie Chef  I periodically take some time to think about what I feed my dog and why.

I've decided to gradually stop feeding Gracie vitamin supplements and nutritional yeast. I'll continue essential fatty acid and calcium supplements (corn oil, sunflower oil, ground flax seed, bone meal powder) but I'll phase out using the Doctors Foster and Smith Lifestage Select Premium Multivitamin and Mineral Supplement For Adult Dogs, and the Red Star Nutritional Yeast.

I think supplements can help if a deficiency or nutrient absorption problem exists. Yet I'm beginning to wonder if they're necessary when a dog is healthy and eats a balanced, high nutrient diet.
Gracie has thrived on homemade meals for almost six years. I've given her multivitamins for only a year. She seems to be just as healthy taking the multivitamins as she was without them. I don't think she actually need these multivitamins at this point in her life.

"Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide To Natural Health For Dogs and Cats," by Richard H. Pitcairn (click here for my review of that book), gave me the confidence to make my dog's food myself. The author recommends feeding dogs nutritional yeast regularly, in small amounts. So ever since I started making Gracie's food I've sprinkled Red Star Nutritional Yeast on her meals periodically. Nutritional yeast contains B-complex vitamins which promote skin, coat and general health. However, I believe Gracie's good health and healthy coat are mostly the result of the nutritious foods she eats and the regular grooming she receives. For now I think she'll be just as healthy without the nutritional yeast supplement.

There's definitely some trial and error involved in being a Doggie Chef! I think it's okay as long as dietary changes are made carefully and gradually; with close watch kept on the dog to monitor the results.

Egg Breakfast 11-12-08

Scrambled egg, cooked in corn oil

Whole wheat bread

Black beans

Red Star Nutritional Yeast flakes

Gracie, age 9

PLAYTIME!