I remember the first time I really read the ingredients of my dog’s bag of kibble. Oh, the horror! Fillers, meat by-products and waste, corn and wheat, food coloring and chemical additives…the list goes on. It gets worse, though. This is the dog food my vet’s office suggested when I first brought my shelter dog home. Further internet research revealed that nutrition is generally NOT covered in-depth at veterinary schools. In fact, many vets receive nutritional “education” from the pet food makers–an obvious conflict of interest. Dr. Karen Becker states it well, “Unfortunately, veterinary students don’t learn much about nutrition in their coursework. They graduate, go into practice, and become easy targets for pet food companies eager to fill their reception areas and storage closets with inferior quality ‘prescription’ diets for dogs and cats.”
Fortunately, since then I’ve discovered a great website, www.dogfoodadvisor.com which gives a very informative breakdown of commercially available wet and dry dog food. I’m very glad that I made the switch from a 2 star kibble to a great 5 star kibble: Orijen.
Since Orijen, I’ve noticed my dogs have shinier coats, and it is a great comfort to know that I’m feeding them something made of human-grade ingredients. I’ve even had a few adventurous friends taste test a kibble pellet when I told them this. Now that’s confidence in a product!
Fortunately, this Canadian dog food brand is available in Korea if you know where to look. I always purchase the huge 13.5 kg (30lb) bag online through Gmarket, and it lasts about 2.5-3 months for my two dogs. I’m also usually very good about reordering before I run out….but this time I forgot~~
Of course, I put in my order right away, but I knew I’d have two days without any kibble…LUCKY DOGS! Why? Because in the meantime, my dogs are getting some home-cooked loving in the form of chicken and sweet potato stew!
I basically boiled chicken and sweet potato (ratio of 2:1) with some brown rice. I also added two hard-boiled eggs. Other times I’ll mix in some some shredded raw zucchini or radish at the very end. My dogs were practically pacing back-and-forth in the kitchen with anticipation! The worst part was waiting for it to cool enough to feed them—the suspense was killing them 😉
As you can see in the picture above, they were both very happy campers! Of course, I don’t intend for this to be a long-term meal replacement (which I do not recommend without supplemental vitamins and minerals added in), but it is a wonderful opportunity to turn my forgetfulness into a rare treat!
Bon appetit, girls!
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