Saturday morning, 7:30 a.m. … quiet house, quiet neighborhood, and one spunky pup on my heels as I stroll through different rooms because he senses, “Mommy is going somewhere…”, watching me swiftly gather items needed for a morning run,…pony tail holder, tennis shoes, iPod.. good to go. I smear on some chap stick, take a swig of water, and head toward the foyer only to be stopped by a 20 pound Jheri curl mop head blocking the door, wagging his cotton tail, tongue sticking out almost smiley-like, staring at me! “Oh, you want to go too?” He cocks his head. “Is that a yes?” He dances a bit with his paws shifting weight from one side to the other expressing an eagerness to go on whatever adventure is about to take place.. because anything is better than being left home alone sitting in the window anxiously awaiting his humans return.
“Ok, Mason … get your ball!” He runs into the living room, whaps his spikey green ball with his paw, picks it up in his mouth, and gives it a little squeak while running back to the door. “Wait, we have to put your leash on…” He drops the ball. I pat my thigh, “Up!” He stands up on his back paws and stretches his front legs up onto my thigh, takes that moment to stretch his whole body while leaning on me flexing his paws, and reaching to my hip bone. Then gently relaxes his stance and just waits. He knows to tilt his head to the side so I can find the metal loop on his collar. He hears the “click” and knows he’s tied in, as that is the signal to “Go!”. He drops back down to the floor, picks his ball up in his mouth, takes a few steps over to the door, stands in front of it, stops, stares up at the door handle, and just waits. (lol) It always makes me laugh to watch him go through this routine, because you see, he was trained this way, just as he was trained that when that door opens, (and he’s all geared up with a leash and ball implying it’s time for doggie fun) not to walk through it (or dart out into the street) until Mommy says, “Go ahead…”. See how polite he is? He waits for the lady to go first. Good boy. ha ha!
AAaaannnnndddd we’re off! 40 minutes of early morning fresh air, sunshine, birds chirping, gentle breeze, all the ground he can sniff, and aaaalllll of the neighborhood doggies out in their yards barking at him as we walk by! It reminds me of the movie 101 Dalmations! The various personalities of each dog we come by is so evident and animated and just …. cool. We get a run on, heart rates up, sweat for me, panting for him, and a good chuckle every time he tries to chase a squirrel, a cat, or Mr. Rabbit hopping across our path.
Needless to say we worked up a real appetite for a good hearty breakfast! I had eggs, oatmeal with berries, and a Nutriblast smoothie. Sir Mason on the other hand, got a nutrient dense breakfast with the main ingredient driving him wild with excitement: Chicken LIVER. mmmmmm yummie! I personally find it gross, but Mason goes bonkers for liver.
In the wild, when a dog kills prey for food, the first items of the carcass they will go for ARE the tender organs of the animal! Heart, liver, gizzards, guts etc. These will always be eaten first as they are the most lively, abundant, nutrient rich meat a dog (or any carnivore) can have. When organs are devoured, they will move on to other parts of the carcass for meat, like what we would consider white meat and dark meat…. breast, thighs, wings, rump, etc.
So, while I consider Mason a cute cuddly doggie, best buddy-companion-highly intelligent-part of the family-adorably funny, animated stuffed animal …. he IS, at his core, a hunting, gathering, meat eating killer who at the faintest scent of liver in the air, will salivate over it with every cell of DNA in his body. ***gggrrrooooooowwwwwwwlllllll*** 🙂
If you have read this far, I’m sure you’ve gathered that I cook for my dog and all of his meals are home made, planned, and prepped from scratch. In my house, we do not feed our dogs (in this case one dog) commercial dog food. After careful consideration over in depth research personally done on the commercial dog food industry, cooking for my pets became a priority when I realized how nutritionally deficient, chemically packed, and flat out dangerous commercial dog food is, not to mention highly processed and not even close to resembling “real food”. THIS is a picture of real food:
So, on a Saturday morning, after a good run and the enjoyment of nature, what kind of meal can you expect to see prepared for Mason to replenish his little body? This morning he got a nutrient dense organ meat breakfast:
Liverocc Yolkmeal: (<~ I made that name up, clever huh?!)
Liver
Egg Yolk
Broccoli
Oatmeal
1 Vitamin Pill
Liver was sauteed in the pan gently, using Extra Virgin Olive oil, on low heat. Do not cook too fast or burn the meat. It’s quite a tender spongy organ. What I do is lightly brown each side, and cook gently most of the way through, leaving a pink middle to seal in the juices. The egg yolks were left over from my breakfast, I ate the whites and a half yolk, giving him the rest. Broccoli was steamed, oatmeal is gluten free and warmed (not cooked) just enough to let the warm water expand the oats. Vitamin pill broken up into pieces and stirred in to the dish. Bon Appetit!
Mason feasted with a quick inhale (it always takes longer to prepare a bowl of food then it does for him to ingest it!), gave a good loud belch, laid in the living room to lick his paws and clean his face …. and then PASSED OUT! He is snoring away right now as I write this post. 🙂 Happy dog!
Vitamin TIP:
Always add vitamin supplement to room temperate dish, as adding it to warm/hot food destroys vitamin/mineral properties.
Health TIP:
Be careful feeding egg yolks, highly dense organ meat, and oily pan drippings on a regular basis to your dog if they are prone to pancreatitis. This is not a meal that we feed on a regular basis week after week, might only be once a month if that, and preferably when feeding eggs to dogs, use egg whites. I only included a yolk here because it was left over from my meal and he does not get it alot.
Cleaning TIP:
Expect to have left over meat residue in your pan from the livers and EVOO. Can be messy to clean and you probably don’t want to put it down your drain to gunk up the pipes. My tip? Let your dog lick it clean for you! Consider it like pre-treating the pan … he licks it spit-clean, then soak it in warm soapy water and use dish brush to scrub the rest before hand washing it or placing it in the dishwasher. (This is a once in a while treat**) When not allowing dog to lick clean, wipe out with a paper towel and store in empty coffee can for trash later.
Dirty pan: Liver & EVOO residue
Run through first dish cycle: Dogwasher
TA-DAAAAAAA! :)~ Clean as a whistle! (Well, almost.)
So there ya have it… a snapshot into a Swanky Saturday morning & a home made recipe to try for yourself! Oh, and the last thing I’ll add is all ingredients are organic! YES, I know, I kknnnooowwwww….. you are probably rolling your eyes right now saying, “Really??! You buy organic food for your dog AND cook it for him? It’s just a dog! And that’s a lot of work!” HEY, I’m used to it, people think it’s over the top and I get that reaction all the time. My response to that is this: Some people have KIDS. I have a DOG. And one day I will have more than one dog. I see them as family. And since he relies on me for his well being, I want to make sure his well being is the best I can give. :))
Enjoy, enjoy!
~Leanne ♥
English
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