Dear Friend of the Gentle Hound,
We dogs are switching up our culinary pursuits to foods for health and finishing well. Yes, that's what we said. Crossing the finish line of this excellent life.
Guthrie, you see, the humblest handsome hound in all of the land has passed on from this world to the next. I, Elias, have been in a mode of grief. I thought he was lost in the woods, after all, as our Girl (Susanna) did not let me see my brother was gone. She didn't know better. (Now she does.) A dog should get to know what has happened. Especially if he is a little bit blind and mostly deaf, which thwarts my usual ease in life and general perceptions of things around me. I called and called for him, night after night. And I stared at her, demanding she go out to find him. I sequestered myself from the family for a full week or more. I would not lay on their feet or sleep on the floor in the middle of their gatherings. No, I kept to my room - our room. And I languished for the loss of my brother. Who now would I rule over? Who would I argue with and steal from? Who, who would I keep in his place? I felt his loss quite keenly.
As time passed, I saw that our girl doted on me extra because of the loss of The Gute. We have grown very close since it is just the two of us. It was always meant to be this way - all of the attention for me - so I have reconciled myself that my brother is better in heaven (where all dogs go - and rescue dogs and forlorn dogs get the higher places of honor). I have learnt that our grievous loss is The Gute's pure joy. Every day we miss him and I have watched the girl plant flowers a-plenty atop the spot where his Earth body lay. But he, Guthrie, is running with new legs over hill and vale of heavenly places. And, as all dogs know, Heaven is a place of extraordinary smells, which dogs can enjoy the most because of our superior olfactories.
I will not debate Heaven with you, like I will not debate the existence of Rabbit or the deliciousness of someone else's kibble as compared to your own. These are things dogs just Know. The Gute is in the best of all possible places.
Our girl thought I was to give way to Heaven first, before Guthrie, because I was exhibiting all sorts of pain in my joints and some general confusion. It was to her great surprise that Guthrie was destined to go before me. So after he left us, she focused on alleviating some of my pain and my health improved immediately and dramatically. Why, I started climbing the stairs again, of my own volition, to sniff around in young Eric's room. Teenaged boys are at the top of the list for Interesting Smelling rooms. Whether smelly socks or old snack wrappers. There's always a reward for me when I investigate his room.
On to the delicious food that has helped my joints and general well-being. Our Girl found an (anti) Cancer Diet for dogs (based on but divergent from DR. DEMIAN DRESSLER's recipe online).
(Note: I have not been proved to be cancerous, but my innards are filled with tumerous lumps and I was Losing Weight so as to look boney. The vet said, you could do Tests which are expensive, or you could Assume he has an ailment and simply keep him comfortable in this final season. She said let him eat however much he wants so as to gain weight. (!! It was glee for me) I improved straightaway and did not expire as Our Girl thought I might.)
Here is the food that has brought me joy:
Eli's Happy Meals - serves 4 days (8 meals)
3 lb cooked meat (simmered on low), from whole chicken or lean beef or wild meats from hunters
12 oz gizzard and heart
1 lb. liver (beef or chicken)
2 chicken necks (she usually can't find these, so she cooks the Whole chicken, which has 1 neck)
12 oz vegetables such as carrot, squash, peas, broccoli stems, what-have-you
2 cups uncooked rice
1 to 1-1/2 c. yogurt / keifer (cottage cheese if nothing else)
6 boiled, baked, ground organic eggshells (see instructions)
4 tsp Golden Paste (see recipe) (start with 1 tsp per recipe, doubling with each iteration up to 5 tsp.)
1 Tb coconut oil
(a few Tb coconut flour to help absorb bone broth )
Bone broth to bring recipe weight to 8 lb.
4 tsp diatomaceous earth (optional - kills parasites, detoxifier, digestive aid, colon cleanser - use for recipe for 30 days, several times per year)
splash of Braggs Liquid Aminos
4 Tb. ACV
18,000 mg omega-3 fatty acids of Fish Oil* (We are weaning off of this in favor of sardines instead) - add this now or when serving
When feeding, add (per meal unless otherwise noted):
4 oz sardines (if chicken based recipe) / 1 oz. sardines (if beef based recipe)
1/16 tsp phytoplankton OR 250mg spirulina
Also optional additions:
1 clove garlic
1 tsp ginger
1 Tb fresh berries
(*Check the fine print on your fish oil bottle. Choose fish oil from tiny fishes (mackerel, anchovy, sardine, krill) Our brand is 2400mg fish oil providing 720mg fatty acids per serving. So we use 15 servings per recipe - 30 capsules.)
1. When planning to prepare dog food, save the egg shells from your own breakfast and cooking. Boil 5 minutes in water and/or bake at 250 degrees for 10 minutes. Then crush fine with mortar and pestle. Keep airtight and use within two days.
2. One day ahead, simmer whole chicken (if using) til cooked. When cool, separate meat from bone. Measure 3 lb of cooked meat. Reserve remaining meat for another use. Put skin and bones back into pot (or best is to use small slow-cooker), cover with water and simmer til 1-2 cups broth remains. Pour off first broth (Delicious for human consumption, if desired. Skim off and discard fat, which harbors toxins.) Cover bones with another quart or more of water. Pour off broth when it reaches 1-2 cups. Continue process until bones disintegrate in broth - about 24 hours. Save bone broth for use at the end of the recipe.
3. Day of recipe: Simmer chicken necks, and organs together on low til cooked through. (Sometimes we include this in chicken pot, when cooking the chicken the day-of recipe. )
4. Simmer rice and raw vegetables with appropriate amount of water on low til cooked.
5. When meat and rice have cooled to room temperature, add other ingredients - cottage cheese, eggshells, golden paste, fish oil (cut open capsules), coconut oil, DE, Braggs aminos, in enormous bowl.
6. Add bone broth and its solids to bring weight of recipe to 8 lb. or more. Divide into 4 containers for 4 days of food. (It usually works to 1 lb per meal/serving)
If you must make a double recipe and freeze meals, do not add fish oil until feeding. It will be unstable and oxidize (get rancid) causing free radicals and inflammation.
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