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Valu-pak 30/20 or 28/20 and homemade raw. Will be switching to Redpaw 32k when those bags are gone. I like the Valu-pak (especially the price) but it's harder to get around here than Redpaw.

The raw consists mainly of whole ground up squirrel, chicken quarters, ground beef, pork, or venison, whole turkey, various beef and pork organs, eggs, and sunfish.

Dogblr reblog/respond to this and tell me what you’re currently feeding

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I don't feed the dogs turkey very often since it's almost always got injected broth (high sodium), so they tend to only get it during the holidays if it's cheap enough. I bought a big ol bird, cut off the breasts for me, and hacked the rest up for the dogs. They will get turkey a couple times a week until I run out.

The Bitches got big turkey thighs, gizzard/heart, eggs, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry, and half a roll.

Conker can't handle bones or chunks anymore so he got Inukshuk and a little bit of turkey, egg, potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry.

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Today's doggy dinner

Valu-pak 28-20 black, squirrel grind and feet, chicken hearts and eggs, pumpkin, fish oil, probiotic.

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Clockwise from top

Torch: Inukshuk 30/25, probiotic, psyllium powder, ever root tabs.

Ember: Victor High Energy, squirrel head, egg, ground beef, gizzard, pumpkin, fish oil.

Conker: Victor High Energy, squirrel head, ground beef, gizzard, pumpkin, fish oil.

Cinder: Valu-Pak 30/20 Purple, squirrel head, egg, ground beef, gizzard, pumpkin.

Flint: Valu-Pak 30/20 Purple, chicken leg, squirrel head, egg, ground beef, gizzard, pork and chicken heart, pumpkin, fish oil.

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While I was picking up The Criminal I got some Valu-Pak from a distributor that carried the two formulas I wanted to try. I'm mainly interested in the purple since my dogs do really good on formulas similar to that one, but I also got a couple of the black. I'm starting with the purple since it's higher calorie and the dogs are still pretty active. I will try the black when it's hotter and we aren't doing as much.

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This has lower protein than I prefer but I got it for $16 so I’m not going to complain too much. If I don’t like it I just won’t buy another bag. So far the dogs are doing decent on it. Will update when I've finished the bag.

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude Protein24.0% min

Crude Fat20.0% min

Crude Fiber3.8% max

Moisture9.0% max

412 kcal/cup

Ingredients:

Beef Meal, Grain Sorghum, Whole Grain Millet, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Chicken Meal, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Yeast Culture, Blood Meal Conventionally Dried, Natural Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Carrot Powder, Tomato Pomace, Salt, Organic Dried Seaweed Meal, Taurine, Choline Chloride, Calcium Stearate, Zinc Methionine Complex, Vitamin E Supplement, DL-Methionine, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Hydrolyzed Yeast, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Silicon Dioxide, L-Carnitine, Selenium Yeast, Brewers Dried Yeast, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Trichoderma Longibrachiatum Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Copper Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Calcium Carbonate, Riboflavin Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate, Vegetable Oil, Rosemary Extract, Green Tea Extract, Spearmint Extract, Inulin, Lecithin, Folic Acid.

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Pro Plan Sport Beef and Bison Like most of the other sport formulas, I generally liked this and didn’t have much to complain about except the price. I did not feed this to Cinder as she seems to get acid reflux on the sport formulas from this brand. Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein30.0% min Crude Fat20.0% min Crude Fiber3.0% max Moisture12.0% max 489 kcal/cup Ingredients: Beef, Rice, Poultry By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Corn, Beef Fat Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols, Dried Egg Product, Corn Germ Meal, Bison, Fish Meal, Natural Flavor, Fish Oil, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, VITAMINS [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Biotin (Vitamin B-7)], Mono And Dicalcium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, MINERALS [Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], Magnesium Sulfate, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Taurine, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Dried Bacillus Coagulans Fermentation Product, Garlic Oil.

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Pro Plan Sport Salmon and Cod Generally ok with this food, nothing spectacular about it. Unfortunately the price means I will likely not use it again. Guaranteed Analysis: Crude Protein30.0% min Crude Fat20.0% min Crude Fiber3.0% max Moisture12.0% max 473 kcal/cup Ingredients: Salmon, Rice, Poultry By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Corn, Beef Fat Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols, Dried Egg Product, Corn Germ Meal, Cod, Fish Meal, Natural Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Fish Oil, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Mono And Dicalcium Phosphate, VITAMINS [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Biotin (Vitamin B-7)], MINERALS [Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], Choline Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Taurine, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Dried Bacillus Coagulans Fermentation Product, Garlic Oil.

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Pro Plan Sport Turkey, Duck, Quail

Wow I did not like this formula. I fed it to the pups while they were here and I struggled with near constant soft shit. Even the adults didn't handle it well. Everyone needed probiotics and pumpkin just to have semi normal shit. That should never be a necessity. I disliked this formula so much I switched my dogs off it before I'd finished the bag and will not feed it again.

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude Protein30.0% min

Crude Fat20.0% min

Crude Fiber3.0% max

Moisture12.0% max

518 kcal/cup

Ingredients:

Turkey, Rice, Poultry By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Corn, Beef Fat Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols, Dried Egg Product, Corn Germ Meal, Duck, Quail , Fish Meal, Natural Flavor, Fish Oil, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Mono And Dicalcium Phosphate, VITAMINS [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Biotin (Vitamin B-7)], Choline Chloride, MINERALS [Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Magnesium Sulfate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Dried Bacillus Coagulans Fermentation Product, Garlic Oil.

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Redpaw PowerEdge 32k

I really like this food, the dogs do excellent on it. Great coats, great condition, energy, and stamina, nice poops. But at $80 for a 40lb bag, Flint is the only one who gets it because I’m not fucking with the Cancer Man’s digestive system. I doubt the price will drop so unless I suddenly start making a lot of money this will be an occasional buy.

Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude protein: 32% min

Crude fat: 20% min

Crude fiber: 3.5% max

Moisture: 10% max

Kcals/cup: 525

Ingredients:

Menhaden Fish Meal, Ground Corn, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Chicken Meal, Pork Meat and Bone Meal, Pearled Barley, Pork Blood Meal, Beet Pulp, Chicken Liver, White Rice, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Brewer’s Dried Yeast, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins [Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, d-Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid], Salt, Minerals [Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Ferrous Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Magnesium Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate], Sodium Selenite, Sorbic Acid, Probiotics [Dried Pediococcus acidilactici fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, Dried Bifidobacterium longum fermentation product].

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"vets aren't nutritionists" is a fair statement that has been said to me by many people who are also not animal nutritionists

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Another cooked batch of food for Flint. This one took less time since I used a different method and only did one meal type. Still a huge pain in the ass though, I can't wait until he can be on raw again (November 🙃).

Ground beef and liver, pork kidney and spleen, chicken hearts, brown rice, kale, and blueberries. Boiled eggs will be added daily, as well as his supplements and meds. Each container is 1lb, he gets about 1/2lb mixed into his kibble a day.

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The people who think you can't feed your dog non commercial food without working with a certified nutritionist crack me up. What do you think people did for thousands of years before such a thing existed? Yes there were dogs with nutritional problems and dogs who died from improper feeding. But there were plenty who survived, and thrived, being fed without science telling people what to do. Dogs wouldn't exist if they had an absolute requirement for diets forulated by vetrinary nutritionists. It's a good idea, but not in any way a guarantee you will harm or kill your dog if you don't work with one.

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The first batch of Flint's cooked food has been completed. This took significantly longer than the raw does, it doesn't help that I did it in a really inefficient way since I had no clue what I was doing.

I made two types. Beef and chicken, and turkey and squirrel. Both have slightly different additional ingredients to add nutrients here and there. I ended up with 8 containers of beef and chicken and 6 of turkey and squirrel. I have some extra beef, chicken, and liver, but ran out of the other ingredients so that will be saved for next time.

Each container is 1-2 days depending on how active Flint is and if he needs to gain or lose weight. I also feed roughly half kibble, currently that is Redpaw 32k.

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I've been feeding raw for almost 12 years, I have several "recipes" I've perfected over the years. Unfortunately chemo can zap the white blood cells leaving a dog open to infection, and raw foods are a big source of that when doing cancer treatments. Yes kibble can have bacteria too, but it's not as common as in raw diets. So, I will be switching Flint's raw portion of his diet to cooked. I just don't know how to do that specifically for a cancer diet, so I've got some reading to do. Once he is done with chemo and everything checks out he can get switched back to raw, but that's not going to be for 5-6 months.

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Meant to post from this account and reblog but whatever.

The insanity over nutritional dilated cardiomyopathy is wild in facebook dog food groups. There is this guideline by the WSAVA (which is good info) that the people have begun to worship. The ONLY good brands follow WSAVA guidelines, you can ONLY feed those or you are GOING to give your dog NDCM. No exceptions. There’s only 5 brands that comply with the guidelines: Hills, Purina, Eukanuba, Iams, and Royal Canin. At least two of those brands have had cases of reported NDCM, but lets just forget that, because WSAVA is the end all be all of dog food now. Know what brands haven’t had any reported cases of NCDM? Inukshuk and Redpaw. And if those brands were killing dogs, we would know about it since sleddogs would be dropping dead by the thousands. You cannot be an athlete at the level those dogs are with a bad heart. That alone is proof enough for me that those two companies know what they are doing. I’m not going to give my dogs heart disease by feeding them one or two bags Inukshuk or Redpaw a year. Up until this point, the majority of their kibble diet as been Pro Plan Sport. And right now, I have other more important things to deal with. Like Flint’s lymphoma. The particular type which has a link to environmental pollutants, glyphosate being a big one, which is used heavily in corn production. If a food was going to have given my dogs health problems, it’s the fucking Purina with it’s corn. So lay off on the bullshit fearmongering. If you do not have absolutely solid proof that Inukshuk and Redpaw are absolutely without a doubt going to kill my dogs, keep your idiotic opinion to yourself. Thanks.

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I mean the vets have very little nutritional training in school and the training they DO have is literally from the kibble companies. So of course they're going to be told "Our food is the best anything else is bad and will make your dog sick and die to death"

Scientists are as easily bought as politicians.

Tell me you are easily swayed by propaganda without telling me you are easily swayed by propaganda. Anti-vet people have been spewing that same exact line since the beginning of this entire trend. It doesn't mean it is true and it tells me that you don't have any vets in your life that you would trust, nor speak to about their education on nutrition, that's pretty sad for you. Have you ever talked to a vet about what they receive from food companies? Doubtful.

Distrust of scientists for our own, often poor, research because scientists are "bought" is an illness that breeds climate deniers, anti-vaxxers and yes, less dramatically, anti-kibble people.

There is no conclusive evidence that raw food is better than kibble nor that kibble is better than raw. They are two diets and can be equally nutritional when formulated PROPERLY. The problem being unless you go to a veterinary nutritionist to help formulate your diet for you fresh/raw has a HUGE likelihood of being unbalanced nutritionally, while kibbles that meet WSAVA guidelines already had nutritionists on staff to formulate them properly before they were ever produced and placed in a bag.

Your message and the black and white thinking you present say a LOT about how you misread my post about dog trainers and pet store employees claiming they know more about animal nutrition than the medical professionals that see their clients. Because even if vets only ever had one, small "bought" class about nutrition this is still vastly more education on nutrition than pet store employees and dog trainers unless they are an ACVN themselves (which is unlikely).