I added two Schipperke puppies to my home eight years ago. Shortly after they arrived, they became sick with a parasite known as coccidia. From that moment on, I lived a wretched existence comprised of constant cleaning (both the dogs and anything they came near), dog antibiotics, vet bills, emergency room visits, more vet bills, on and on. By the time they were two years of age, they were down to eating only rice mixed with turkey baby food (per vet instructions) and my bank account was depleted by thousands of dollars. Yet still they suffered from diarrhea and occasional bouts of vomiting. One day I found this food on the internet, and thought, "what the hell I've tried everything else." When the food arrived, I mixed the "dust" (reminded me of fish chum we used as kids) with cooked turkey, water, and olive oil. I fed it to the dogs. They loved it, but I expected after a year of rice and Gerber's, they'd have loved anything. By day three, their diarrhea had stopped, and the only time it has returned in the past six years is when I have run out of this food and fed them something different. Truly. Day THREE! After a two-year ordeal! This food saved my dogs' lives. I notice that the formula has changed a bit over the years, and now the package directions suggest adding an egg and fish oil and not to use olive oil. I just keep making it the way I always have. They still love it.
There are downsides to using this food: it's soft, so plaque and tartar build up much faster than if the dogs were eating crunchy food. Also, I have to make a "batch" of food for them. I usually buy 2-1/2 lbs. of ground turkey, cook it up, grind it in the food processor, add it to 2 cups of dust, 2-1/2 cups of water, 1/4 cup olive oil, then mix it all together. Then, using a small ice cream scoop (1/4 cup), I put the food into those small disposable plastic containers made by Glad. This usually gives me 56 containers (two weeks' worth of breakfast and dinner for both dogs). I freeze the containers, putting them into the refrigerator the night before as necessary. In the morning, I dump the containers in their bowls, and microwave for 20 seconds. I guess this is a long way of saying it's more labor intensive than throwing a handful of kibble into a bowl. But, it has definitely been worth it for me and my dogs.
I would enthusiastically recommend this food to any pet owner.
My dog started having seizures around the age of four. I kept track of them, on the calender, and noticed that the seizures happened about every 30 days. The vet told me that it was probably a brain tumor, since epileptic seizures usually start at a younger age. This did not make sense to me, since the seizures were consistent in their timing. I decided to switch him to a grain free diet and found Urban Wolf. My dog has been seizure-free for quite some time now,(he just turned 11.) I do recommend that you give your dog a vitamin supplement, such as Pet Tabs. (By the way, he gets a double-dose of the Pet Tabs and it has greatly reduced his itching to the point where he's no longer on steroids.) I have also tried the doggie burgers from the pet store. They gave the poor little guy really hard stools. This stuff is worth the time and trouble to make, he's much healthier now.
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When I opened the bag initially, I was horrified to see some sort of brown powder-ish fluff, instead of little freeze-dried chunks of vegetables, as I was expecting. Well, I made some anyway according to the package directions, and my dogs absolutely LOVE it.
I have 12 dogs, including one 18-yr-old and one 15-yr-old who are VERY finicky (probably cats in their former lives) and even those two absolutely loved it, so suffice to say it tastes VERY good to them, even though to be frank it smelled kind of iffy to me. Definitely not a bad smell, just an unusual smell of some sort of herbs, and I was worried that no one would eat it-Wrong!)
To clarify, this is NOT "8 lb of food for $100"; this is a mix of freeze-dried vegetables that you combine with meat (raw or cooked) and an egg and maybe some fish oil for good measure. Even with 12 dogs this will take us forever to get through. In the meanwhile I'm storing the powder in wide-mouthed jars to keep the moisture out. You can go to the Urban Wolf website (google for it) to get estimates of how long a bag will last. Also check out the nutritional information while you are there.
I don't plan on using this when lots of vegetables are in season, but for the times of year when choices are fewer, this is a great way to ensure a diversity of vitamins.
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this is the best leash I've bought. the length is adjustable, and it has a nice padded handle. Pretty, too!
