Established: He's Big. In order to get big, he has to eat. And not exercise a lot. Not unlike Sumo Wrestlers' plan, I imagine. He's still got some puppy in him, so he moves quite a bit, but in short bursts and then....done. It is also not unusual for him to lay down, flop on his side and remain there while we are "on a walk". In quotes because it is really more a meandering than an organized walk. LOTS of sniffing and lollygagging.
The third most often made comment: "How much does he EAT?!?!" (First: "What kind of dog is that?" Second: "Is that a dog or a horse/pony/bear cub/calf?" This is not a lie.) He eats. He eat a lot more than a Pomeranian.
I make most of his food. Two reasons: Firstly, the larger the breed (Mastiffs belong in the Giant Breed category) the shorter the life span. 5-7 years, 10 if we are really lucky. So, I make his food so I can have hope that we will see the longer, rather than the shorter, end of the lifespan range.
Secondly, the cost. IF the first reason is most important above, then we are not going to get Cheapo Dog Food. The specialty brands for Giant Breeds are few, but they do exist. We still give him commercial kibble and have found that Holistic Select fit well for us. They had a Giant breed puppy formula that we started with and then just transitioned into the adult formula.
It ain't cheap....50 bucks or so for a 30 pound bag. If he is eating 4 cups of kibble TWICE a day, that bag is not lasting very long. It was 5 cups when he was growing. Christ. That is a lot of money. Worth it, to be sure, as the Wee one is pretty important to us. So, we try this.
This makes enough for a week's worth of wet food. To a serving of this we add a cup of kibble at each meal. The cast of the show: chicken, barley, rice, veggies, pasta. That's it.
Chicken: It is the cheapest and often whole chickens are the cheapest....but if I can get it on sale at least cut up a little---maybe some split chicken breast, I snap those up. I need about 4.5 pounds of meat, so I look for a 5 pound chicken.
Barley: Bought in bulk. Whatever is on sale at the co-op. 2 Cups.
Rice: bought in bulk, 25 pound bags....my mother-in-law has been sweet enough to get this for us at Sam's Club. 4 cups, sometimes I add a little more.
Pasta: Barilla doesn't get as gummy as Creamette which is generally cheaper than Barilla. But when my grocery store has a stock up sale, I stock up. And by stock up, I mean 20 boxes for 20 bucks. I go through a box of pasta maybe every 2-3 weeks making food, so I can usually bridge from sale to sale this way. 2 cups.
Veggies: Almost anything....typically, Sweet Potatoes when they are on sale. A good size one is more than enough for one batch. I have also just used frozen mixed vegetables, green beans, apples, spinach, carrots make a frequent appearance....really, whatever is cheapest or on sale at the grocer's. 4 cups are needed.
If I have a whole chicken, I will remove the skin, take off the thigh/drumstick portion and then split the breasts.
I have to make it in two pots, so this makes dividing the amount of meat equally between the two pots.
Each pot, with all ingredients added gets 14 cups of water. I have the humongoid Pyrex measuring cup that can double as a mixing bowl to measure this.
I had a pretty good size sweet potato that was just under 4 cups, so I added in an apple that was sitting out. I leave the seeds out as I think I read somewhere they have toxic dealies for dogs.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 45-50 minutes, stirring occasionally so the stuff on the bottom doesn't burn to the pan.
When all is done, I remove the meat and put it in my Pyrex measuring bowl to cool a little and give the rest of the mixture a little more cooking time to get rid of some of the liquid if needed. It can still have some liquid that will firm up the finished product once cooled. That makes it easier, and cleaner, to eat.
I have also boiled or roasted the chicken ahead of time and let it cool completely to ease the meat removal.
Once I have removed the meat, I add it back to its pot and stir.
I have a bunch of Tupperware stuff that is stack-able for the fridge. If we had a smaller dog that didn't eat through all this in a week, we would freeze it. It does freeze well; you also have to remember to thaw it out in time or face the wrath of a hungry dog trying to eat a Popsicle....which we have done in the summer
.........outside.
All told, I get enough for 7 days worth of food for him. Each container holds 3-4 cups. Sometimes I have 12 containers, sometimes I have 15 containers. Meh. I don't worry about it too much as it will all even out in the end.
That's it. I love the Wee One and he loves this food.
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