a healthy dog is a happy dog

Anyone who knows me knows how important my animals are to me, especially my rescue pit bull, Olive Oil. I try not to have favorites, but Olive really is kind of helpless in a cute way compared to my 4 lb. cat Vivienne, if you can believe it. Viv is resilient, wild, full of life and fire. She climbs trees, chases chickens and even kind of bullies Olive. I mean, the little girl kills birds and mice, and doesn’t even flinch. She’s a tough one. Olive, on the other hand, is sensitive to any yelling, hates the slightest sign of water and cuddles better than any human I’ve ever met. She’ll literally give her favorite people hugs with both arms out and then lick them to death. She’s sitting in my lap right now as I type this, still thinking she’s 15 lbs. She’s 55, but I’ll let her sit here as long as she wants.

I understand that some people don’t think that paying $$$ for dog food is worth it — but I’m willing you fight you on this one. Your animals health is worth the extra money for quality food. If you’re going to invest the time in raising an animal, you should be willing to care for it the right way. Your animal deserves it. An animal is like having a kid, be ready to care for them like one. Plus, I have found that raising healthy animals has always meant less vet bills, and any pet owner knows how hefty those bills can be.

Ok, so let’s get real. Commercial pet food is CRAP. It’s heavily processed, and typically made from SCARY “ingredients” like animal by-products, chicken bones, ROADKILL, and legally euthanized cats and dogs (WTF?), who are often times very sick or diseased. Um, excuse me, what? Disturbing. Read about the scary dangers of commercial dog food here, here, and here. Did you throw up in your mouth a little? Yeah, me too. I hope I don’t need to do anymore convincing. If I do, well then honey, you’re reading the wrong blog.

If you’re seriously overwhelmed by the idea of finding the best food for your canine, check out Dog Food Advisor for reviews, ratings, recalls, etc.

So what do we feed Olive? Olive is on a poultry-free, grain-free diet. She used to have bad rashes and would sometimes scratch herself until she would bleed. It wasn’t pretty. Nixing poultry helped her skin (chickens are usually fed corn and grains), but taking grains out of her diet brought down the inflammation in her body completely and even her digestion could win awards (if that sort of thing existed). She is super healthy, everyone at the dog park comments on how shiny her coat is, and she hasn’t had an emergency vet visit since we switched her food to Castor and Pollux Ultramix Grain-Free Dry Dog Food. She had some health issues early on, and since she is a rescue, we had little knowledge of her history or parent’s health. All is just peachy now.

But that’s not it! I just discovered Sojo’s All Natural Raw Pet Food. It’s homemade with no fillers, no preservatives, no additives, and no artificial junk. Olive loves it, and I love it. We mix the fruit & veggie mix with her dry food to help her digest her food (she has a sensitive tummy) and give her plenty of whole food nutrition. It’s pretty much a dog owner’s dream come true.

Olive eats: 1. Sojo’s Grain-Free Fruit & Veggie Mix | 2. Sojo’s 100% Grain-Free Beef Complete Dog Food | 3. Castor & Pollux Grain-Free & Poultry-Free Adult Dog Food | 4. Brad’s Raw 4 Paws Dog Treats …plus some veggies she finds in the garden.

Yeeeessss, I totally just blogged about what my dog eats. I’m that girl. And this post was not sponsored or endorsed by any of these brands mentioned.. I just really want your canine to be healthy, too. Now, if someone could make dog food that is homemade, organic, grain-free and poultry-free all in one shot I would be really happy. Until then, I’ll just have to get into making my own dog food! Any pointers?

Just spreadin’ the health one dog treat at a time…