Arapaho
Gimmie some tail
Originally uploaded by Jackye Chan.
Arapaho was scheduled for three weeks with me when I picked him up near the end of August. He was very happy to be out of the boarding place he stayed at for several months. When I met him he was friendly enough, but the smell-only a boarding kennel could create such a stench! I rubbed him down with apple cider vinegar as I was unsure how he'd react to a bath. Arapaho came with a prescription of liver supplements plus specialty food from his vet called I/D. I read the ingredients and noted two that were definite no-no's in my book: soy and vegetable oil. I gave the dog a bowl of my dog's holistic food instead of feeding him that crap. Arapaho didn't seem to mind since he ate it.
Over the next week and a half, I gradually adjusted the dog's diet to a more natural and holistic one. I gave him raw and cooked bones (from my stocks), green tripe, raw ground beef, whole-milk yogurt, raw chicken livers, and raw food cakes. I also gave him dry, holistic food. For my own dogs, I'm trying to be completely BARF, that is, bones and raw food. But I have dry food as backup for when I run out of raw cakes.
My reasons for not feeding dry is because of the technology that goes into making it. The cereal making process is about the same as making dry dog or cat food. The high-pressures and extreme heat from the machines creating the shapes of the cereals, or dog food, alters the molecular structures of the food itself, and turning oils rancid. Humans shouldn't be eating cereals. The same is true of dogs or cats.
Right before I received Arapaho, he was on TV with Tricia of Paws in the City. A family with a child adopted him after they saw him. Arapaho stayed with me for a little over a week. He received a clean bill of health from the vet soon after the family met him. His liver enzymes were back to normal, and he didn't need to take those two pills every day, anymore.