Better Than Alpo

I wrote an earlier post on the dangers of commercial dog food and how I'm convinced I unknowingly gave my former pug Carlisle liver cancer.  I won't go into all that again, but if you are interested and haven't read that entry, you can look in the archives at 6/13. 

Above is a picture of what Sherman the Boxer and CJ the new Pug get to eat!  Included is free range lamb from a neighbor who raises them - no antibiotics or hormones and they were raised on good, open space.  The veggies are all organic and we get a lot of them when we go to the farmer's market and ask vendors if we can have their "slightly used" produce they can't sell and they are going to throw away.  You'd be surprised how much you can get!  They look at you a little strange, but who cares, huh?  The look of gratitude and excitement in the dogs' eyes quickly makes up for that!  ha ha.  Also, they get organic brown rice added and in the morning they get two eggs. (soon to be from my own chickens!). 

Yes, it costs a bit more than Purina or Alpo, but it's not that expensive and it doesn't really take that much time.  We just cook up a few days worth of meat and rice and the veggies we now give raw. 

I'm convinced even further of its health benefits now that I've seen how my Boxer Sherman has responded these last 6 months or so.  He had to be taken into the vet a couple years ago because he was wincing and having trouble getting around - especially in the morning.  You couldn't even give his hind end the slightest touch in the morning without him wincing.  The vet gave him pain reliever and said to put him on Glucosamine as x rays showed he had arthritis in his lower spine.  I tried taking him off  Glucosamine a couple times but the pain came back rather quickly.  Well, after feeding him homemade organic for several months and pulling him off commercial food, I stopped the Glucosamine and he has been 100%!  I can touch him all over in the morning and he runs and jumps and plays like he's a pup again!  All the poor ingredients and additives in the commercial food causes inflammation and inflammation causes arthritis.  Plus, I have a friend who has a Pug and they were struggling with a skin condition and the vet had prescribed steroids and other medications, but nothing was helping very much.  She put her Pug on a homemade, natural diet and his skin is all cleared!  I'm not saying it's a miracle cure for everything, but I really think it's the foundation for our pet's health just as what we eat is the foundation for ours.  AND... they are SOOO much happier eating it!  Sherman was rescued and for more than 6 years was just not food motivated and didn't like to eat.  He was emaciated when we rescued him and it's a been a fight to keep weight on him.  He would just pick at his food no matter what brand I got him.  Now, he LOVES to eat and clears his bowl every morning.  Lucky dogs...