Sunday, February 9, 2014

Umm Umm Good

My dogs love meal times. Tsar was the only picky eater I've ever had, the current pack looks forward to that magic time of day when the bowls come off the shelf. My rule is that unless you're sick or very old like Morgan, breakfast is just plain kibble. I am not a morning person. It's about all I can do to measure kibble into a bowl before my first cup of coffee. Even the dogs know I can't be expected to come up with a tasty topper in the morning. Syd is disappointed about this rule. She'd like something special on her breakfast, but she eats it anyway. Morgan gets  some special canned food to help her choke down that dry garbage we call food.

Dinner is a different story. That's when Good Old Mom  gets creative with tasty tidbits from the kitchen to liven up a dog's outlook on life.

The Whole Dog Journal had a short piece on human foods that were good to add to a dog's food and here's their very short list.
1 Eggs for protein..  I do occasionally scramble eggs for my kids but generally when one is sick and needs pampering.

2.Yogurt for the probiotics....My dogs get yogurt every night before bed. It helps them sleep thru the night. Porties are known to vomit bile during the early morning hours if they don't have a late night snack and we find that yogurt works well.
3. Sardines for the omega 3 fatty acids.... Now you're talking! Sardines are the natural food of Porties. They used to eat them when they worked on the fishing boats before they became household companions. My dogs get sardines weekly and absolutely love them. I try to give them the night before our trash pickup so the empty cans don't hang around. We don't call them 'stinky fish' for nothing.
4. Fruit and Vegetables. They mention blueberries, apples, bananas and melons. Those are covered in yesterday's post. Our dogs get fruit and veggies almost daily. Besides the ones already discussed, my dogs like oranges. I have an orange almost every evening and the dogs each get a section. Tsar used to set his on the floor and roll on it before eating it. It was a bit disgusting but gave his coat a nice smell.

5.  Healthy leftovers but they don't explain what they think is a healthy leftover. I'm guessing it's not pepperoni pizza. We give our dogs shrimp tails and sometimes I'll cook an extra chicken breast to cut up for them.

Our vet has suggested blueberries for their brain health and Brazil nuts because they're a great source of selenium, an antioxidant. He also recommends sweet potatoes for digestive health and when we discussed the soup that I make for them he suggested I alternate between rice and barley. Apparently barley is quite nutritious.
Green beans are a staple if I don't have anything else planned or haven't had time to put something together for them. So with all these healthy food for dinner, we can splurge on a cupcake for birthdays without feeling guilty.

14 comments:

rottrover said...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE yogurt! Sometimes, if I have a gurgley tummy at breakfast time and don't want to eat (cuz mom made us wait too long) I get yogurt mixed in my kibbles. YUMM!!!

-Otto

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Do you need three more dogs by any chance? We just get a bone shaped biscuit in the morning, and grain-free kibble for dinner. However, we get sardines over it about once a week, and rice or pasta with carrots and beans.

Sometimes when SHE's lazy, we get pureed baby food...fruit or vegies mixed with kibble. But we like the sound of your menu.

XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

Dexter said...

Just the opposite here. Dexter gets his extras in the morning. Most often green beans. I do check to see whatever other fruits or vegetables I have around. He loves bananas, apples, and blueberries. I keep some starter baby food around too (the kind that is just vegetables and water) for when I'm feeling a bit too sleepy to prepare anything else.

Mango Momma

Anonymous said...

Bites says we are buying some boxes and shipping ourselves Fed Ex to you, what great dinners. We get special dinners sometimes, but not like that!

The Mad Scots

SissySees said...

Mine eat all of that - minus the chicken and any other non-Sis-friendly products - except the sardines and brazil nuts. I think we'll add them into the rotation.

(And my girls have convinced me that the yogurt comes over dry kibble in the morning, while dinner is pot luck. I am a morning person!)

Taffy said...

That all sounds yummy! I get carrots everyday instead of treats. I gotta watch this girlish figure! I think I need to talk to mom and dad about adding in some of the other things you mentioned!

Jo's World said...

Stella's idea of the yummiest thing there is, is
Liverwurst or Braunschweiger. She thinks that's a winner day and night. She loves a veggie soup, but says NO to fruit, even apples, except in your cookies!

Such sweet pups!

Jo

Molly the Airedale said...

We have never had sardines. We're sneaking that item on mom's grocery list this week!

Love ya lots♥
Mitch and Molly

Two French Bulldogs said...

Your making mom hungry, BOL
Lily

Matilda the Boxer said...

WOW! I need to get you to talk to my momma. We only EVER get dry kibble and doggy treats. Well, and cheese for our medicine. And I get peanut butter in my Kong. But otherwise we are HORRIBLY mistreated!

ElleC said...

Do your guys know how lucky they are? I am not telling my dogs about your house. All of ours eat a premium limited ingredient grain free kibble. Ratings are checked at:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

Although most days they get a little something in the way of fruits and veggies, and every now and then they get a bit of yogurt. They prefer the organic high fat Greek style with probiotics. No, I'm not kidding. Sick ones also get scrambled eggs, like at your house.

We have to be a little careful with the little ones, when you only weigh 6 pounds, even a small bit of fruit can have some unpleasant consequences. For those that have to clean it up, that is. 8-D

Marjie said...

Our estate planning lawyer recently adopted a rescue mastiff who was downright bony. When she got to be a bit pudgy, the lawyer started giving her a can of green beans with her dinner every night. Marty says "She drools me a river when she smells her green beans!" Thor loved whatever his people were eating, other than peas. Kibble? Blah. Who wants to eat little round brown things, anyway? And we are not morning people here, either. Some things just can't be helped.

Soggibottom said...

Laughed :-) Ah, well, what are we gonna do with you mom ;-) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lapdog Creations said...

Sophie's new fascination is strawberries. She'd never eat them before - she'd take it, spat it out and play with it or leave it for another dog. NOW she's begging for them and actually EATING them... so funny.