Is This the Calm Before the Storm?

Wait … can you hear that? No? Me either! It’s quiet. Could it be that we’re actually entering into a quiet phase of puppyhood? 

When I say quiet, I mean uneventful. It’s been a relatively humdrum week. And in puppyland, no news is good news! Or is it the calm before another storm? Only time will tell ...

I did come up with a few hacks I hope you’ll find useful in your own furry family, so let’s dive right in ...

Potty pads: The key is layers. When my little guys go potty at 2am on their pee pads (just outside their sleep crate), they yell at me until I clean it up. In the beginning, I’d remove the soiled pads and replace them with new ones. Easier said than done a) in the dark, b) with puppies jumping all over your arms, and c) as you try not to wake your hubby.

Now I put down two layers of pads before bedtime. That way when my munchkins wake me to clean up, all I have to do is remove the top layer and they’re good to go for the rest of the night.

Raw meal prep: The key is to do it in bulk. In the beginning, I’d thaw one or two pounds of protein and I’d prep six meals for the day (two pups x three meals a day). I’d add the rest of the mix (recipe below) into each of the six containers and I’d be good to go for the day.

Now I thaw 12 lbs (or more) of protein at a time, separate it out into small freezer bags (two meals per bag - one for each dog), add the rest of the mix and refreeze. 

YES -- you can refreeze raw meat for dogs. Once or twice is OK, but not more than three times. 

Now all I have to do for a week or more is pull out 3 bags of food the night before and I’m good to go for the next morning, afternoon and evening. Just separate the bag of food into two portions (one slightly larger than the other because Chance is larger than Roxy) and feed. 

Raw food diet portions

Puppies at 12 weeks old should eat approximately 6% of their body weight per day. Here’s how that breaks down for my little nuggets:

Roxy

Current body weight = 7.4lbs x 6% = 0.444lbs of food per day. 

Multiply that by 16 = 7.104oz of food per day. 

Divide that by 3 meals = 2.37oz per meal.

Chance

Current body weight = 9.8lbs x 6% = 0.552lbs of food per day. 

Multiply that by 16 = 8.832oz of food per day. 

Divide that by 3 meals = 2.94oz per meal.

Keep in mind that those numbers are just ballpark. I actually feed a bit more and both pups are growing at the ideal rate. 

Use your own judgement as to whether or not you need to add a little or take away a little based on your puppies’ lifestyle. Obviously, the more active you all are, the more calories they’ll need -- and vice versa.

So here’s how I prep each meal ...

Raw Feeding Recipe

We feed a variety of proteins direct from our butcher. Each ground up mixture contains 80% muscle meat, 10% organ meat, 10% bone. We rotate through turkey, duck, beef and pork. 

Per freezer bag:

• 6oz protein
• 2 tbsp cooked brown rice (or cooked whole oats)
• 1 tbsp broccoli/cauliflower
• 1 tbsp mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
• ¼ tspn PureForm Development
• ½ tspn PureForm Omega3
• ¼ tspn PureForm Restore (Roxy only, just for a few weeks following her respiratory infection)

That’s it, that’s all! 

Between meals, our lucky buggs get different treats delivered different ways:

• Chicken heart (freeze-dried)
• Chicken breast (freeze-dried)
• Beef liver (freeze-dried)
• Lamb liver (freeze-dried)
• Salmon (freeze-dried)
• Pumpkin chews
• Home-made liverwurst
• All-natural peanut butter
• Goat’s milk (frozen)

No, they don’t get all those treats every day!

But when they do get one or two, we deliver them by way of:

• Kong (frozen or regular)
• Lick mat
• Food dispensing ball
• Brain games & training
• Snuffle mat 

I just made their first snuffle mat -- I’ll share how I did it (along with some video of how much they love it) in the next post!

Out of the mouths of buggs

I’m 12 weeks and 3 days old and mom says I was the piggy this week. I gained almost an entire pound. On Tuesday I weighed 7.4lbs. 

I love food. And I love treats ...and play ... and sleep ... and running ... and chasing my brother ... and barking at new sounds.

I still have no idea what it means when mom says ‘lie down.’ Wut da hekkens she wants from me?

I’m 12 weeks old, too, and now I weigh 9.8lbs. 

I love to find new sticks to carry with me on my walks. Sometimes my sis helps me carry them. At least, I let her think she’s helping. 

I only bark when my sister does, or when mom won’t give me what I want. My favourite saying is bow-wow-ow.