My friend of over 40 years commented the other day (as I was dishing out Simon’s specially prepared doggy meatloaf) that she could not believe that I actually cook Simon’s food rather than feed him dog food. This made me stop for a moment to reflect.
Yes, I love Simon and he is a member of my family, but he is a dog. And until a few months ago, we did feed him regular dog food — albeit premium, all-natural dog food and avoiding anything with chicken (allergic) and focusing on non-allergic ingredients such as lamb, rice and venison. However, starting about 1 year ago, we had to change his dog food multiple times since he continually developed a reaction to the food after about 3 months.
I finally decided — enough was enough — after having to treat “really nasty” hot spots that developed over multiple parts of his body. I started cooking his food following recipes out of Eco Dog by Corbett Marshall and Jim Deskevich. Well, his hot spots went away, and now I make his food weekly and his food looks like our “human” family dinner food.
So, yes I am cooking for my dog, and no, I did not think I would be cooking for my husband, kids and dog. I am still looking for a dog food that will not give Simon hot spots since having to figure out what to cook for family everyday is hard enough without having to do so for Simon. I would love to go back to just buying his dog food and scooping it out everyday, but until I can find something that will not give him hot spots, I am cooking for him. Taking care of my dog and giving him medicine everyday is harder than taking care of my kids.
So, yes Gina, I make doggy meatloaf and what other recipes I find to cook for Simon… at least until I find something that he can stomach.