After Marshall got a little settled on Sunday, we tried to feed him. E made the Petsmart run and came back with a giant bag of dog food that purports to be Natural (we haven't yet researched this claim...and probably won't until it's time to buy more). We offered it to Marshall and he wasn't very interested. I chalked it up to transition jitters. He was drinking water, so I figured he was ok.
The second time I offered it, he ate a few kibbles, but that was it. Weird. The dog is *bound* to be hungry... He won't leave us alone and gets *very* excited every time I head for the kitchen.
When he hadn't eaten anything the next morning, I knew something was up. I got on the website but couldn't find any information about what he was accustomed to eating at the ranch. Then I remembered that this is a nonprofit...and they *love* donations. Sure enough, they request cans of dogfood. No wonder he wasn't interested in the dry food! A quick run to Giant solved the immediate problem.
We've been mixing his dry with canned and that seems to be going well (i.e. he's eating!), but now I'm having a crisis of conscience. Between the expense of the canned food, the fact that there's no telling what's really IN the canned food, and the waste (2-3 cans daily!), I'm having trouble justifying it. We can probably work him up to dry only...but that will take time and I don't know him well enough to know what the likelihood of success is.
Meanwhile, I've been doing a little research on making the stews to mix with his kibbles. Seems pretty easy, actually: a 40-30-30 ratio of protein, vegetables and grains...a few things to avoid (onions = bad! corn = worse!), cook and cool. Voila! I'm thinking benefits include less waste and fewer ingredients that sound like chemical formulas. The down side is obvious: this will require time and energy, both of which may be in short supply with the adjustment to a new schedule with the furry guy.
So I don't know... Is it crazy to contemplate cooking for the dog the same way I do for the rest of the household?
Incidentally, I told E what I was pondering and he laughed (out loud) and said "I actually gave you another day or two before you started toying with that idea..."
Aww....and doh!
5 comments:
Gosh, I don't know...it's work, but it seems like it could be kind of fun, and I bet you could get well acquainted with some friendly butchers. Or maybe that only happens in the imaginary villages in my head. But I don't think it's a totally unreasonable idea.
Yay.. a dog! He's beautiful! It's kind of hard to cook for dogs because of the different phosphorus and calcium requirements. It can be done, don't get me wrong, but it's totally different than human food. It's probably easier just to go the raw meat route. That's what they eat "in the wild". He'll make the transition to dry kibble eventually if you just gradually back off on the "wet" food.
Are there any local orphans or neighborhood hooligans he could eat? Seems like it would solve two problems at once.
A dog! Awwww. He is so freaking cute! I wish our new dog was that well behaved. Oh well, at least he has a job. That is more than I can say for Kiley. She's just been sitting around here eating and sleeping for the past ten years. Useless.
i do know you well sweetheart and you know me
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