This is Charlie. He is eight years old and the most beautiful Golden Retriever you could ever lay eyes on. Except that when you look in his mouth, the whole thing, tongue and all, is dark purply-black. So a Chow daddy or uncle somewhere in his heritage perhaps? Charlie was a rescue off the street at six months of age, so we’ll never know for sure. Not that it matters one iota; except he’s been prone to joint problems since before the age of one—something so unusual that I attribute it genetic combinations that didn’t go together very well. So Charlie’s health and wellness have always been a prime concern.
When I first noticed problems in Charlie’s front left shoulder, I put him on Simplexity Health’s Super Sprouts & Algae, a product I have used successfully for years with my older dogs as well as those of clients who were older or had arthritis. This carried Charlie for years, and even x-rays at age four showed no arthritis build-up in his joints. So imagine my surprise when, about four months ago, we discovered that Charlie had severe arthritis in his hips and even some in his spine.
He had begun groaning and crying in the middle of the night, and one night couldn’t get up. I was terribly alarmed so rushed him into the vet the very next day. Pain, pain, and more pain from arthritis was the verdict. AND about 15-20 lbs. of extra weight. Charlie, who is not unusually tall for his type, weighed in at a rotund 91 lbs.! Not good for his health and wellness, for sure! Boy was I embarrassed. I had realized he was gaining, and noticed that he wasn’t doing any running and also would stop in the shade on the last leg of our morning walk so that he avoided the uphill climb when we turned around to head for home a bit further on. I thought this was pretty funny, but am embarrassed to admit that even then I didn’t take the cues I should have.
After our vet visit, I vowed to get Charlie’s
weight off and to help him deal with his pain in a natural way. I couldn’t imagine that this most precious member of my canine family—the one all the small dogs and cats cuddle up to for security and warmth—could possibly be as compromised as a dog twice his age might be. So I was determined. I was not going to let Charlie go down! Charlie had been on an excellent dog food by Flint River Ranch, and his portions were not large. But I had a strong feeling I needed to take him off all grains and start feeding him homemade food with raw meat and steamed vegetables, and make sure he got adequate exercise every day. So I adapted recipes from books on the subject (see my customized recipe below) and started cooking for Charlie. At first this felt like a huge undertaking, as I have four other dogs and four cats to feed–not to mention the horses and chickens. But after the first couple of preparation rounds, making Charlie’s food was no big deal.
The first two months I really didn’t notice much difference in Charlie’s weight. I think it took a while for his metabolism to change. Plus, he’s a stout dog, never meant to be svelte. BUT, he was definitely pain free and was running again on our rural property with our ginormous Great Pyrenees, Bear, to scout for coyotes and other interlopers. A good sign indeed, so I knew we were making progress!
I am proud to say that now, four months later, our efforts have paid off. Charlie is practically svelte—or as close as he’ll ever come to that adjective. He has lost 16 pounds—17% of his original weight—and now weighs a healthy 75. He’s a very happy dog, and I’m a very happy dog mom. Maybe I went overboard working on Charlie’s health and wellness, but it was worth it. Here’s Charlie’s regimen in case any of you readers are facing a similar challenge and lacking success in getting your dog’s weight down. I did the math on ingredients and figure it costs me about the same to feed Charlie this healthy homemade recipe as it does to feed him the premium dog food he was on before.
Charlie’s Food Recipe (makes enough for 14-20 days for a large dog)(Supplement List at Bottom):
- 3-4 lbs. ground turkey, raw (shop for the best deals, but try to use organic—Jenny-O’s is good and economical if you buy it in 1-lb. casings)
- 2 heads of broccoli, with stem (you can cut off the most woody part of the stem base, but keep most of it for fiber and chewiness)
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 pint low-fat cottage cheese
- 1 T. onion flakes for flavor
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped, for flavor and added health benefits
- Optional: Bone Meal, Wheat Germ, Lecithin (whatever you have in this category—2-3 Tablespoons)
Cut up the broccoli and sweet potato into 1-2” chunks. Steam in a very large pot for about 10 minutes or until tender (put the broccoli stems on the bottom—they take a little longer to get tender). Let cool until room temperature. Drain off the water (and save to add to your dogs’ kibble or make soup out of) and chop up the broccoli and sweet potato until it’s in half-inch chunks.
Add the cottage cheese, onion flakes, chopped garlic, and optional ingredients and mix well.
Add the raw ground turkey and mix all together. Using your hands is easiest and kind of satisfying in a mudpie-making kind of way.
Using your hands or a large spoon, drop 5-6 Oz. chunks of the mixture (serving size varies according to each particular dog’s size and needs) onto long sheets of wax paper, two per row, leaving enough room between rows to roll the pairs over one another with wax paper separating them. Six to eight clumps per wax paper sheet works well. Insert these rolled up packages in large freezer bags and freeze.
Thaw out two at a time and serve one per day. You can add about 1/4th cup of healthy kibble (preferably with no wheat, corn, or soy) to add interest and crunch if you desire (Charlie desires, and I would recommend it).
Oh – Charlie also gets one healthy dog biscuit in the morning, along with the rest of my pack.
Charlie’s Supplements (I just put all this on top of his food)
- 2-3 tsp. Simplexity APA Blend Plus for Animals (this is a powder, so stir it in a bit, and adjust for your dog’s size)
- 2 Simplexity Sprouts & Algae Capsules
- 1 Simplexity Acidophilus
- 1 1000 mg. gel cap of Omega 3 oils for additional antioxidants (I buy a large bottle from Whole Foods)
- DGP chewables (stands for Dog Gone Pain), for pain—amount varies according to weight of dog (my favorite source is HERE)
I am so proud and feel Charlie and I have finally got his health and wellness under control. He’s running all out again, and you can see a big smile on his face!
Recent Comments