MONDAY'S WITH MONDAY: Food & Nutrition

Is it Monday already?!  Noooo . . . Where did the weekend go??  Hope you enjoyed yours.  I was busy running errands, house chores and, oh, play time with Monty! But, my to do list is ever-growing and it seems there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done.   And, my work week is going to be super busy with scheduled meetings, presentations, testing and my regular workload.  Okay . . . breathe.  This year I'm going in, full speed, getting a lot of things accomplished, at home and work.  I think I'll be able to come up for air by April (lol).

Let's start with today's post.  What does Monty eat?  I'll share some food and nutritional products I'm currently giving Monty.  My husband will be the first to say Monty eats better than him.  And, I can't argue with him because it's true!  Now that I'm caring for a puppy, I want to make sure he's given the very best.

A product that was recommended to me (by the breeder) is Orijen puppy food (dry).

The Company is based in Canada, where the best and freshest ingredients are prepared in their award winning kitchens.  Orijen puppy food is loaded with richly-nurishing proteins and fats.  Sounds yummy (lol). 

According to our vet, she recommends a puppy to eat three to four times a day. While I think that's a lot, Monty, (for now) does eat three small meals a day.

Both the breeder and the vet recommend introducing your pup with organic foods.  Monty gets organic, free range chicken daily.  I just boil it and shred some pieces for him.  Occasionally, he will get organic brown rice.  I do feed him carrots and he loves parsley. I chop these two, along with his shredded chicken.  Other foods he's allowed to try are: sweet potatoes, peas, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, greek yogurt (which I've read is good to reduce the staining around their eyes) cheerios and crackers (Monty loves Goya crackers).  For fruits, he has tried apples and bananas (not a big fan of bananas). 

Another food product recommended is Tripett canned dog food.

This product contains no preservatives, no additives, no fillers or artificial ingredients.  I don't know if any of you have purchased this but GOOD LORD, this stuff STINKS.  And, when I see Monty chowing down on this stuff, I want to gag!  How could this stuff be so good and smell so bad?!

Some other products recommended are:  Halo Natural Dog food (dry or wet) and come in a variety of flavors.  Another product is by Blue Buffalo.  An all natural, grain free, holistic food (wet or dry).   They also sell treats.  I have yet to try these two companies.  If you have tried the, I'd love to hear some of your comments.

Do you know the 10 most dangerous foods for dogs?  Here the list:

1.   Alcohol
2.   Avocados
3.   Chocolate
4.   Coffee and Caffeine
5.   Fruits with pitts/seeds
6.   Grapes and raisins
7.   Macadamia nuts
8.   Onions and Garlic
9.   Artificial Sweetner
10.  Yeast dough

For treats, Monty currently has all natural dog biscuits by Bocce's Bakery.

Based in NYC, this dog biscuit company has cool names for some of their products.  Like, Chicken Cordon Blue (which Monty likes), Beef Bourguignon, Sunday Chicken (rosemary and chicken) or PBnJ (peanut butter and blueberry).  During Christmas, our neighbor gave him Milk bone puppy biscuits and Monty likes them.

For vitamins, our vet highly recommended vitamins for Monty.  The one he is currently taking is Nutri-cal Veterinary High Caloric Diet Nutritional Supplemental for Cats & Dogs.

Our vet gave him some, during his first parvo/distemper shot.  Monty didn't even flinch and was enjoying his vitamin treat (lol). There's a cod liver smell (one of the ingredients) that reminds me of my childhood and mother giving us that stuff (lol). 

So, there you have it!  Some of my recommendations.  I'd love to hear from you.

Until next week.  In the meantime, enjoy your pets and love the crap out of them, like I do with my Monty!


xo,