Cooking for Canines April 27, 2009

I just made a new T.O.P. of the morning (Turkey & Oat Porridge) for Bruiser, the doxie,  as I’ve been cooking for him for about a year now. His meals consist of mainly turkey, chx livers, brown rice, salmon oil, green beans or carrots and a number of other supplements like bone meal for calcium. I remembered that I took a Cooking for Canine Class about six months ago with the founder of Dog Stew . I’ve waited forever to try the recipes so this afternoon I had some time.

Rick Woodford is the chef and brilliant mind behind Dog Stew.

I want everyone to try this recipe as it’s fabulous and Bruiser ate his dinner in seconds… since I’m cooking for one of the dogs I’m very concerned about nutrition and what’s great about Rick’s recipes is he has done extensive research on  the nutritional needs of canines.  Bruiser is well — very finicky about his food and has been for years. He isn’t at all interested in the California Natural I give the other two dogs (with lots of stuff mixed in) and even the turkey meal I mention in the first sentence he’ll pick at so I try to mix things up for the little guy! It’s super easy to prepare and takes 20 minutes. Try it and let me know what you think!

• 5 cups of water – bring water to a simmer

• 2 lbs of ground turkey and 1/4 lb of chicken liver, chopped – add ground turkey and liver to simmering water and simmer for ten minutes

• 1 lb frozen green beans, 1 tsp fresh sage, 5 tsp bonemeal powder, 5 tbs nutritional yeast – add all these ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes

• 2 1/2 cups of oatmeal, 2 tbs safflower oil – add oatmeal and oil, remove from heat and allow oatmeal to absorb water!

It will take on a consistency of porridge — this makes 3600 calories and Bruiser gets about 600 a day so I made six portions for the next three days!  Please refer to nutrition books on how many calories are appropriate for your dog each day.

More later this week as I’m taking a dog massage class with Rubi from Heal NW!

Nina Ottosson Puzzle Games: brilliant April 24, 2009

I promised I would post about the Nina Ottosson games I bought for my senior dog (but for all three dogs of course) and I’m a HUGE FAN. I bought the cheaper plastic versions off of Amazon. The first game is simply – a round circle with places for you to hide treats under plastic pieces that look like *bones* with small holes that the dog has to remove in order to find the treat… we had SO much fun. Attached is a photo.

Mystery game - my favorite Nina Ottosson game

There are a lot of cool things about these games but I’ve read many articles over the past year that say these interactive games are great for senior dogs… you really should only play for about 15 minutes but the challenge in finding the treats is a great way for them to interact with you if a walk or exercise just isn’t an option. Nina calls her games *brain gymnastics* which I would totally agree with. It’s SO fun to watch your dog try and find the treats and then remove the plastic bones. IF they get frustrated you can move the plastic bone horizontally over the hole to help them out at first. Our Beagle/Bassett mix Shermie needed a little help at first   but the other two nailed it.  It was a great way to spend an hour  last night with the furry kids while the rain started up again.

http://www.thebark.com/content/puzzles-dogs – this is the article I’m referring to if you haven’t seen it. Enjoy!

“Observations of her own and other dogs and reading scientific investigations into canine cognitive behavior helped Ottosson identify the benefits of toys that require the dog to use his or her capacity to solve problems.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082900491.html – this is unreal if you haven’t read about it…

“A Place To Bark” – best practice for rescues April 21, 2009

A friend of mine sent me a link to A Place to Bark and after reading Bernie’s blog and what she does in TN I had to share more about her. I recently befriended her on facebook and follow her posts as well -she’s doing a really good thing for all dogs… A Place to Bark was established in 2001, and they mainly work with Animal Control Agencies, rescuing animals from high kill shelters and fostering them until they are healthy. This provides an ideal situation for the animals. They are then placed for adoption through Humane Societies in various parts of the country.

My three dogs are all adopted and come from three separate rescue groups.  One is from Indigo Rescue which actually has a  similar mission to A Place to Bark.  The other is from Animal Aid, another rescue group and the third sweet four legged friend is from the Oregon Humane Society – a no kill shelter. I want to spend some time talking about organizations like Indigo Rescue and  A Place to Bark because they are unique when it comes to rescue groups… they are truly saving the unnecessary killing of dogs.

Bruiser, the doxie I’m so lucky to share my life with – he was at the Washington County shelter before Indigo rescued him from euthanasia… he was difficult with other dogs and supposedly hated women so on the short list. He has a scar on his forehead from we think a frying pan. He trembles when around children and guards his toys. So – I’m so lucky an organization like Indigo picked him up, found a foster and months later we adopted him. He needed a forever home and a family that would help him work through his issues.

Have you ever watched Dog Town on Animal Planet? Another GREAT rescue organization in Utah profiled – they took in all of Michael Vick’s dogs after he was arrested. This is yet another example and the list is really growing.

All dogs should have a second chance.  The chances the dogs will find new homes is very very likely. We need more of all of these organizations!

I will start talking a lot about Indigo Rescue’s upcoming benefit concert – the Laugh Away Recession Depression with comedians Elayne Boosler and Dennis Blair June 20 at the Roseland Theater in Portland. There will be a silent auction and we’re in need of sponsors as well.  If you’re interested in getting tickets to the show or would like to contribute an item for the auction please post a comment or send me an email at: christycaplan@gmail.com.

FYI: I just ordered the Nina Ottosson puzzle toys for our dogs so will give a full review in a later post… I have three and they look like a lot of fun…

Game reviews later this week!!