Not one to give up or give in, I went in search of a dog that be my dog (and no one else's). I found a beautiful Doberman puppy right before Christmas that year. As I headed home in the car with her in my lap, I called my fiancé to ask what he thought about getting another puppy.
The "better to ask forgiveness than permission" cliché applies particularly well to the purchase of puppies, I have found. I say puppies because I had actually spent the evening picking up two puppies: A Doberman and a Great Pyrenees. An "heir and a spare," I explained to my flabbergasted fiancé, "Just in case you decide to steal another one from me." "We are going to need more dog food," he said. That was more true than we knew.
Feeding three hungry puppies became a real issue. It didn't take long to realize that no one liked what was on the menu. They left the puppy chow in the bowl and chased chickens or followed us around waiting for us to drop food, which we occasionally did because we could see that they just weren't eating the dog food.
The dry dog food comparison fiasco began.
The Search For High Quality Natural Dog Food Begins
Luckily, I was close to a family-owned business that specialized in dog food, dog training, and rehabilitation. Rows and rows of large breed dog food were all neatly stacked on shelving just waiting for me to choose from. Holistic dog food, organic dog food, gluten-free dog food: there were just too many choices. So I asked the owner, "What's the best dog food for picky eaters?"
She was more than happy to help me and guided me through a series of questions:
- How old are your dogs?
- How big are your dogs?
- How active are your dogs?
- What are feeding them now?
My "puppies" ranged in age from 6 months to two years old and they were all extremely active. In fact, all they wanted to do was run! She quickly redirected me down the "large dog aisle" as I explained that I just wanted the best and healthiest dog food, and one that they would all eat.
As we passed the bags, she ran me through the merits of a couple of great choices, Acana and Fromm. These were both beautifully packaged, and wildly expensive dog foods. I gracefully backtracked, mentioning that I wanted a reasonably priced dog food as well because I had three large dog breeds to feed (and a mortgage).
Natural Dry Dog Food For Adults & Puppies
Results of the Great Canine Dry Dog Food Review
The new natural dog food went over a lot better than the last brand, but they weren't going back for seconds and they were still following us around like a flock of velociraptors waiting for the proverbial hot dog to drop.
Back I went to the pet food store. "They like it, but they're not really blown away by it," I told the owner, begging her not to take me back down super expensive "Chomps Elysees" dog food aisle. After careful consideration, she handed me a bag of "Stella and Chewy" freeze dried dog food. She saw me eye the price tag, but explained to me how to use it without it costing me a fortune. She also sent me home with a "free sample" bags of Acana, trying to sell me on that brand again.
I went home, opened a new bag of Canidae and poured about a quarter into the dog food container. Crumbling a few cakes of the freeze dried dog food into the dry dog food mix, I repeated the process. The container was full, and the mixture looked appetizing to even the most demanding princess dog.
The puppies loved it! The puppies ate it all, twice even!
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The Golden Retriever was not sold. He tried the "free sample" of Acana and didn't like that either. I breathed a sigh of relief, but I needed all the dogs to eat their food.
Back To The Dog Food Store For The Secret Ingredient
By this time, the dog food issue had become a sad and ridiculous joke. "I was spoiling them," I was told. "No one worries that much about their dog's diet," I was told. But I knew that raising a healthy, happy dog that wasn't a beggar meant feeding that dog a healthy, organic dog food that he would like.
I went back once more.
The owner was now my Facebook friend.
"I'm just going to ""putter around," I replied when asked if I needed help locating something. I combed the aisles once more, dismissing the dog foods one by one and resolving not to give into the wet dog foods (which I was sure they would all prefer).
The owner was now my Facebook friend.
"I'm just going to ""putter around," I replied when asked if I needed help locating something. I combed the aisles once more, dismissing the dog foods one by one and resolving not to give into the wet dog foods (which I was sure they would all prefer).
Something caught my eye. It was a small bottle, tucked away, looking suspiciously inconspicuous. It was a "seasoning" for dog food. "Bazinga!" I hollered to myself. That's got to be the answer.
It was.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I sprinkled a little bit of the "seasoning" on each bowl of dog food. It smelt good and the ingredient label promised enough lamb and venison and sea salt to make even a chef happy. The Golden loved it; he wouldn't even finish a bowl before, and now he was nosing his bowl all the way across the porch to get the last chunk of dog food out.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I sprinkled a little bit of the "seasoning" on each bowl of dog food. It smelt good and the ingredient label promised enough lamb and venison and sea salt to make even a chef happy. The Golden loved it; he wouldn't even finish a bowl before, and now he was nosing his bowl all the way across the porch to get the last chunk of dog food out.
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