Doggie Online

Let me tell you why we make only natural homemade dog food for our dogs.

Our dog, Fletcher, had been our beloved pet for over eight years before he suddenly went into cardiac arrest.  We rushed him to the vet and discovered that his stomach was filled with tumors.  He died in our arms on the vet’s examination table.  Needless to say, it was a heart-wrenching experience and one of the worst days of our lives.

Later, we began to question why such a young, seemingly healthy dog would die so unexpectedly.  We thought we were taking good care of him.  We fed him what we considered to be, and what was advertised as, a well-balanced, nutritious diet.  We exercised him regularly, socialized him, groomed him.  What did we do wrong?

The doctor believed his tumors were probably caused by toxins in the commercial dog food we were feeding him.  This was the typical over-the-counter dog food sold at your typical grocery store or discount store.  How could it have done this to our precious family pet?

Since my husband Kent and I started blogging about our dogs, and dogs in general, we have heard from many people who have suffered through similar sad stories.  Dogs that normally lived to be 15-20 years were dying at eight, nine, or ten years of age —  riddled with cancerous tumors.

Something was seriously wrong with this picture.

It got us to examining what is in these commercial dog foods.  Not all of them are created equal and it’s up to us as our pets’ caretakers to know what is in the foods we are feeding our dogs.  What we discovered in our research was shocking.  It’s no wonder people are looking for alternatives!

One of the best alternatives we found for mealtimes is to make our own natural homemade dog food.  In fact, Kent and I have been advising people on how to do this now for a couple of years.  It’s really very simple.

Before you decide that we are some sort of “animal rights whackos” or are using scare tactics just to sell you a product, please understand.  We could care less whether you buy anything from us.  In fact, there are very few blogs on here that even offer a product for sale.  Occasionally, I’ll mention something in a blog that has struck  me as a good idea, or something about which I have heard good things.  But we are all about happy — and HEALTHY — dogs.

Our pets deserve the best that we as their providers and caretakers can give them.  They depend on us for eveyrthing –  their food, shelter and safety.  And most of us as dog owners want to give them all of that and more:  companionship, support and plenty of exercise and entertainment!

But, after our experience and conversation with our veterinarian, we decided we  wanted  know more about what was in our dog’s food.  So we did some investigating and what we found out was appalling.  Believe it or not, most commercial dog food formulas contain a lot of toxins and other dangerous chemicals.  We knew we had to either find a safer brand of dog food (and there are some out there, although they’re generally pretty expensive) — or start making the food ourselves.

When we started making our own dog food and we discovered a few things:

1. It’s much healthier for our dogs to eat only the food we prepare.
2. Making dog food at home is much cheaper than buying those cans or bags of commercial dog food.
3. Our kids loved to help.  It gave them a sense of pride and accomplishment to know they were doing something good for their pet.  And it teaches them that owning a pet is a big responsibility.

So remember, when you prepare your natural homemade dog food recipes, get your kids involved too.  They’ll love it and it’s a great way to spend quality time as a family.

It wasn’t long before we ran across other people online who were making dog food at home and so we started sharing healthy recipes.  You will find many recipes on the blog of our good friends, Beth & Jaime McKittrin at:  naturalhomemadedogfood.com.  (And, yes, we sometimes swap more than recipes — like artwork, as you’ll notice when you go to their website.  But who doesn’t love  this darling shaggy dog illustration?)     —->

But if you want to make it even easier, you might want to check out this link — Sojourner Farms — for a nice nutritional mix designed to simplify your homemade dog food making chores. Just add meat and water, and Voila’ — Ready for Rover, and he’s gonna love it!

I fervently hope no one has to go t hrough the pain and sorrow of losing their family dog at so early age as we did with Fletcher.  And I hope you never have to feel that you are somehow responsible.   But now we feel good as we watch our dogs eat their dinner each night because we know they’re eating a healthy diet of natural homemade dog food.

We highly recommend this method for feeding your dogs as well.   You’ll be glad you did.

In Memoriam