Parker can't eat that, either

Continuing in the theme of yesterday's "Food Issues, I Got 'Em", tonight we're going to talk about my dog's dietary needs.

"Wait, what?" you say. "It's a dog. It eats dog food. It begs for treats and then you give it rawhides and occasionally a shoe or two might be turned into doggy art."

Not quite. But first, please meet my dog. This is Parker.

He loves to run.

His favorite place in the whole wide world is a field in Vermont.

He has been known to steal things on occasion. Mostly snuggles.

He is BFF with his Auntie Michelle.

Parker is a 10 year old field spaniel, who does not deal with high stress situations well. He's fairly clingy, which apparently typical of spaniels as they bond closely with one person. He knows who Mom is and he's not afraid to let you know that Mom is pretty much his world. He is afraid of most everything else, though. Adjectives that have been used to describe Parker include "special," "ridiculous," and "pathetic." Clearly, he is part of a loving family: only people "related" to him would be so blunt and still let him crawl onto their laps on a regular basis.

His world consists most of Mom (me), Aunties Michelle and Heather, and Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Lynda (but don't let her overhear the G-word). He previously had a Grandpa Dave, but when Step-Dad John left, we didn't see the point of continuing with those visitation rights. Occasionally we go home and hang out with Grandma Lucy, and he gets along really with his cousin, Abby the Coon Hound. For my Facebook friends, you may have seen the pictures posted in my Mobile album of the two of them curled up together on the couch. It sent Auntie Michelle into diabetic shock from the sweetness.

Seeing as he's getting older, and some pretty traumatic shit went down in the last 6 months for a dog, Parker gets his food made for him. All of it. Every week. Made by yours truly. First there was the move from State St. to Pleasant, and new people to live with, and then it was sort of the August from hell. Then John and I started fighting more. This constant high stress level made him stop eating. To get him to start back up again, I started supplementing the dog food with some rice and sweet potatoes.

Eventually, between the not eating and the constant diarrhea and the weight loss, we went to the vet. We tried a special super special doggies with sensitive tummies food, and it worked OK. When I called to reorder, I asked if there was something similar but with a higher fiber content that we could try. But I apparently have an ass for a vet because several phone calls in and no returned phone calls later, he was on an all-Erin prepared meal system. (He will be completing his annual check up and rabies shot at a different vet this summer.)

The general theory is that because of his age, he's more sensitive to stress. The prolonged levels of stress (moving, new place, super friggin' humid, etc.) caused him to stop eating, which then affected the pH levels in his stomach in addition to losing 3 pounds. When you're only 32 lbs to begins with, losing 10% of your body weigh is sort of a big deal. In addition to the new food, he also had probiotics for two weeks to help him adjust to foods that weren't as pH neutral as I had been giving him (chicken and rice is pretty level). It worked: he stopped pooping liquids and started gaining weight. Panicked Mom Crisis Averted!

However, during the distinct lack of communication from my vet about high fiber diets, I had to feed him SOMETHING, so back towards the easy, homecooked meals we went. I also learned that I never want to be a doctor or a parent, because in addition to my terrible science skills, I've completely had my fill of looking at and talking about a child-figure's poop. Apparently both jobs do a lot of that, and I'm really OK with avoiding them.

I cook him massive amounts of food about every 6 days. We've played with portion size and supplements. Currently I'm looking at what veggies we can use: carrots, beans, other green things. Rice and meat (80/20 ground beef or boneless, skinless chicken breasts) is a staple, and sweet potatoes are pretty frequently eaten, too. Yogurt is given once a day (yay probiotics!) and he gets anti-histamine and herbal anti-arthritis pills at dinner time. He'll also get pieces of apples as treats, and will chase cranberries, of all things.

I've learned a few things through the dietary whirlwind.

1. Find a good stain/odor remover and keep it on hand at all times. Getting low? Go buy more. NOW. (We use Nature's Miracle Advanced Stain & Odor Remover. It's awesome and I love it.)
   
2. ONIONS ARE REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY BAD FOR DOGS. And no one ever told me about it. You hear about chocolate all the time (which is actually an allergy that most dogs possess, but not all. Parker gets into it at least 2x a year and I have yet to call a vet about it.)
   
   In short, there's an enzyme in onions that attacks the dog's red blood cells. a) They vomit and poop everywhere to get it out of their system and b) they will poop red stool and c) you will freak out about everything. Don't overly panic - keep them hydrated (Gatorade and water at a 1:1 ratio is good), pay attention when they poop and keep your vet informed and updated. Lethargy from a pained tummy is normal; passing out is not and should be addressed immediately. Luckily we didn't have any passing out.
   
   
3. Sweet potatoes are like crack for dogs.

Is it a nuisance to cook like this for my dog? Well, it's not convenient, like pouring kibble out of a bag is. But it's not expensive. I think I probably paid more for Iams brand food than I do his homecooked meals, and I know that it's cheaper than the vet Rx food. I bought a 25 lbs bag of rice from Costco, which comes down to pennies per cup. It gets  a little interesting when I leave him with friends for a few days if I'm traveling, but so far I haven't had a problem with getting people to make food if needed (it probably helps that I provide detailed instructions AND all of the raw ingredients).

But really, honestly? It's probably better than most dog foods out there on the market. I know exactly what goes into his body. I know that it's not contaminated, that there's no weird cuts of even weirder meats, and that he's getting a balanced diet of carbs, proteins and lipids. He's still a little underweight, but we're not trying to rush that. He's happy, and eats his homemade food with far more gusto than he ever did dry kibble, so clearly it tastes better.

And what else could a Dog Mommy want than for her puppy to be happy, healthy and pooping normally?