Hi there and welcome to our first ever blog. Our human is Charmayne, the founder of Dogwalker & Co and she has asked us to be the resident bloggers. Lucky you! We are way more interesting.
Because of our love of food, we thought we’d start off with a topic close to our hearts.FOOD!
Our mum is vegetarian, and has been for just over three years now. It is her choice and we respect her for it, however that is her personal choice, not ours. If we did have the power to choose, it would not be vegetarianism! Being the mother of two fur kids (us) who quite frankly if we could, would eat meat and only meat given half the chance, we just weren’t seeing eye-to-eye. We could see her struggling with the fact that she was still feeding us meat. She told us that she felt like a hypocrite (and then we reminded her about the leather shoes she wears-which made her feel even worse. Sorry mum). Anyways, we know she is doing her part as much as she can, and choosing not to eat meat is a big part in our eyes.
Much to our concern, in the early days of mums dietary shift towards plants, we could see her looking for vegetarian dog foods on the internet. We were aghast, and quite frankly we couldn’t concentrate on our daily chores like digging up the garden and barking at the birds. That’s how bad it got. After extensive research she could only find alternatives that were all filled with soy. Knowing that mum wouldn’t want us consuming products like that, we were able to breathe a sigh of relief. Phew, close call!
Don’t misunderstand us, we do enjoy vegetables, but we enjoy them as a part of a balanced healthy diet. So we have met in the middle with mum, and agreed to include veggies in our diet, as long as we can still have some meat. We are now as happy as dogs in dirt!!
Vegetables should be served sparingly, so mum always says it best to talk to your vet before adding anything new to your dog’s diet. So what are the vegetables that we can eat and most of all find really tasty?
Carrots: We are crazy for carrots. Not only are they high in fibre, they also contain the antioxidant beta-carotene (Vitamin A). Beta-carotene is great for a healthy coat and is beneficial for our eyes. If we eat them raw it keeps our teeth strong too.
Sweet Potato and Pumpkin: We love these steamed. These are firm favourites when it comes to vegetables. Like carrots, these also contain beta-carotene and are high in fibre, so mum alternates between them.
Broccoli: although we know that broccoli is a really healthy vegetable for humans, it should only be fed in moderation to dogs. Mum only feeds us the stem, as the flowery head contains a chemical that can result in stomach problems if we were to eat too much.
Mum adds the vegetable of choice to a balanced diet consisting of premium grade kibble, cooked brown rice or wholemeal pasta, and some chicken. She adds a small amount of organic flaxseed oil and voila, bon appétit!
There is a great website that mum uses as a reference to see if we can eat a certain food or not, it is www.canigivemydog.com
You should check it out, but remember to always ask your vet.
We can hear mum calling us to dinner, see you next time.
Love Paris and Portia xx
