We Are Going Grain Free

[Guest avadogner]

Hi everyone,

Ava is eating better but still small portions and my giant boy Augie is having retching (atleast to my nose) gas and loose stools. I've had Ava and Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach for 8 yrs so after extensive research, I figured out that switching her to Blue Buffalo Grain Free Salmon Taste of Wilderness, I could get more calories in her in smaller portions. I'm still trying to figure out what is causing Augies Big D (recently dewormed, recently boarded, severe SA, recent tornado activity, downed trees and men with chainsaws scaring my dogs all day). If Augies tummy doesn't settle soon, we may have to change him too. I've been doing the ground beef, rice, broth, yogurt added to his kibble. My DH reminded me that we have a freezer full of venison that would could try adding to their meals. It was prepared by a pro butcher and we have eaten some of it without any problems. Does anyone have any tips on how to cook venison that the houndies might like?

Thanks in advance for the tips!

-ava and augie's mum

[OwnedBySummer]

No advice on venison cooking. I would probably grind it and simmer it, resulting in cooking meat and a broth. Re the Blue Buffalo: I had started Summer on that. She was good with the first smaller bag, so I bought the next size up for the next bag. She turned her nose up at it pretty lose to the start. So I've now switched her to Taste of the Wild (Bison & Venison flavor). Wow! -- gobble dog! She sure prefer it! Just thought I'd mention that in case you find your dogs get turned off the BB.

Edited October 29, 2010 by OwnedBySummer

[Hubcitypam]

Blue Buffalo Grain Free Salmon Taste of Wilderness

When I worked for Blue Buffalo my boss admitted they were all about making up marketing names like "indoor cat". Gosh do you think "Taste of the Wilderness could be a marketing ploy to get some of the Diamond "Taste of The Wild" people lured in????

Edited October 29, 2010 by Hubcitypam

[Guest avadogner]

Hubcitypam,

Very perceptive notice of the name! I didn't notice it until you mentioned it. The add on subtitle of Taste of Wilderness in the name does sound like stealing from Taste of the Wild. They (Blue Buffalo) have it on the label to seperate the Grain Free Salmon from the flavor that is made of Salmon and Sweet Potato. Very sneaky of the BB folks. Ava had about 1/8 of it mixed with her normal kibble/ground beef mix and seemd to like it. She is a food snob who won't eat any kibble unless it smells like fish. i swear she's a cat trapped in a greyhound's body. She refuses to even touch Augies Chicken flavored food. She literally pushes it away with her nose. She actually has two bleeding sores on her nose from her hunger strike while we were away. She'll push the bowl away like she can't even to bear to look at it. She made me a really happy mummy tonight by eating her entire dinner!!!!

-ava and augie's mum

[Guest cwholsin]

Hubcitypam,

Very perceptive notice of the name! I didn't notice it until you mentioned it. The add on subtitle of Taste of Wilderness in the name does sound like stealing from Taste of the Wild. They (Blue Buffalo) have it on the label to seperate the Grain Free Salmon from the flavor that is made of Salmon and Sweet Potato. Very sneaky of the BB folks. Ava had about 1/8 of it mixed with her normal kibble/ground beef mix and seemd to like it. She is a food snob who won't eat any kibble unless it smells like fish. i swear she's a cat trapped in a greyhound's body. She refuses to even touch Augies Chicken flavored food. She literally pushes it away with her nose. She actually has two bleeding sores on her nose from her hunger strike while we were away. She'll push the bowl away like she can't even to bear to look at it. She made me a really happy mummy tonight by eating her entire dinner!!!!

-ava and augie's mum

 

Good job, Ava! Not sure we'll ever have that problem with the Herm. He'll eat anything with gusto!

[Guest KennelMom]

The dogs will probalby eat the venison no matter how you cook it!

 

I'd take the yogurt and broth out of the dog's diet that has the belly issues. Broth tends to be high in sodium and yogurt can be problematic because it's dairy.

[Guest TBSFlame]

Because I have been doing so well on a grain free diet I am thinking it makes sense for the hounds to be grain free. I have a test dog (Star) on TOTW right now. Star has never been a picky eater, so far so good. Star is the one that has the snot nose. She still has the snot.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

I cook venison and add it to Jayne's food. I use the scraps from butchering (the bits with too much connective tissure for humans to like) which I do myself.

 

I boiled the first batch. I needed to get it cooked and put away and was short on time. My husband dubbed it "Fart meat" because that's about how it smelled. Jayne didn't mind a bit and ate it with gusto.

 

Now, I like to cube the meat into bite sized bits and put it in a roasting pan. The only thing is some water, I put enough in to come about 3/4 the way up the meat, but not covering it, and roast it in a 300 degree oven for a couple hours. The result smells lovely and comes with a rich meaty broth (wich is also sodium free). I add 1/2 cup to her TOTW kibble once a day.

Edited October 29, 2010 by Jayne

[Guest avadogner]

Thanks for the tips Greytalk friends! I'll try doing the roasting thing. We have tons of venison from my DH hunting trips so the pups should be in heaven. I don't like that the DH hunts and refuse to eat the kills. He also has to keep the trophy heads in his office where I don't have to look at them. I think Bucky (his 12 point buck head) looks too much like our babies and it upsets me. I made the DH promise that he wouldn't kill any animal without the intention of eating the meat. Killing for sport is stupid. Luckily he's now into kayacking/canoeing so his hunting trips have drastically decreased. We still have 40 lbs of venison and several pounds of turkey in the freezer.

 

Ava seems to like the new food (she's only had a small amount mixed in. The broth is reduced sodium mixed with 5 cups water. I mix one can (1 cup broth) to 5 cups water and put in a bottle in the fridge. I'm awaiting a kidney transplant so nothing has full sodium in our pantry. I can our veggies in the summer to reduce the need for sodium. Ava's teeth seem to hurt her (vet says they are OK though) so the broth helps soften the kibble and entices my girl with a smell. I warm it in the microwave so it's smells yummy. i have to limit my sodium, potasium and protein intake. I will try removing the yogurt from Augie's meal and see how he does. I've got a enzyme supplement on order that is supposed to increase the amount of nutrition she absorbs from her meals. We'll see how that goes. I've got to get some weight on my girl. She has been losing about 3 lbs a year for the last 3 yrs and now she's too thin with the recent hunger strike. I'll keep y'all posted on how my houndies do.

-ava and augie's mum

[Guest KennelMom]

I wish my hubby would bag a few deer...free meat for the dogs!!! Alas, he doesn't hunt.

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

I'd encourage the hubby to keep hunting, awesome meat source for the dogs! Try feeding some of the venison to them raw; they will probably love it.

 

ETA; venison also grinds nicely into burger. Last time we had a deer, we made burger from all of the pieces tot small to use as steaks or stew meat. We ended up with about 30 lbs. of the nicest, most lean burger ever. We ended up eating most of it in spaghetti sauces and chili; but the dogs would have loved it either raw or browned up and served with some kibble.

Edited November 1, 2010 by FullMetalFrank