On Hershey’s menu…

Ziwipeak Air-dried lamb! Expensive stuff, but cheaper if you get it from the pet shops around Serangoon North. Yes, even cheaper than online. My favourite place for now!

I chose lamb over venison because lamb is higher in fat and provides more energy. However if your pet has had pancreas troubles and/or is prone to getting pudge, venison is a much better choice.

And of course, I don’t feed fish as a staple. No, no! Here’s why!

Ingredients here…

Lamb – Meat (includes up to 3% finely ground bone) min. 56% Lamb – Liver, Lung, Tripe, Heart and Kidney min. 34% New Zealand Green-Lipped Mussel min. 3% Lecithin, Chicory Inulin, Dried Kelp, Parsley, Naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols (Vitamin E)   Vitamins: Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Hydrochloride   Chelated Minerals: Iron amino acid complex, Copper amino acid complex, Manganese amino acid complex, Zinc amino acid complex, Selenium Yeast, Potassium Bicarbonate, Calcium Carbonate

I like that it has lamb offal, including tripe–oh please let it be green tripe! Also, it contains green-lipped mussel, which is great for joint protection. You don’t get these often!

It still annoys me that companies put ‘naturally preserved with vitamin E/C’ because that, plus the additional vitamin E supplement that most foods continue to add, could mean overdosing on long-term consumption (thus yet another reason to rotate foods!)

Comes with a little scoop! So cute!

Now although I’m all for freshly prepared raw or home-cooked food, I do keep a bag of freeze-dried raw for the mornings that I wake up late or the nights where I get home really late! Throw into bowl, feed and dash!

Air-dried/dehydrated/freeze-dried raw is a very good place to start for people who are iffy about feeding raw. You can change your kibble-fed pooch to freeze dried raw, then to commercially prepared raw, to premixes for DIY, and finally, if you can be bothered or trust yourself to, DIY raw/home-made!  Just remember to convert slowly!

Unlike many other freeze-dried raw, Ziwipeak retains its moistness (and oil in this case) as you can see from my oily fingertips.

Although Ziwipeak tells us there is no need to rehydrate when Oreo’s Mama emailed them, I still try to rehydrate anyway…

Silly me, it never works. The pieces remain as flat as ever and do not take up any moisture, probably because of the oiliness of the stuff. I still do it anyway!

As fibre only accounts for 1.5% of the dog food, most of this stuff is meat (yay, less fillers!). That said, dogs aren’t obligate carnivores, so I do add some other yummies to their food to increase fibre intake.

Do note that some people believe dogs are like cats and should eat only meat. No, dogs are not obligate carnivores, they do need and can take nutrients from vegetables and carbs, just not too much. Your dog cannot and should not be put on a vegetarian diet!

Onward to my beautiful pear for this post!

A golden pear, as some of you will remember seeing being posted on FB eons ago. Yes, this post is that backdated *hangs head in shame*

Pears are full of fibre and their crunchiness make them a good alternative to biscuits, if you have a fat dog 😛

Chopped up a slice…

and add to soaked Ziwipeak! It’s that simple!

Tada! Lamb and golden pear! 😉

Hershey is not too fond of pears. He prefers apples. Unfortunately the 3 huge golden pears that I’d bought him lasted way longer than he would have liked, poor soul. Oh he likes the sugar pears all right, but those are too sweet for my liking. I’ll eat it no problem–I just won’t give it to him! (Owner double standards! heehee)

And this is yet another combination that you may want to try…

Cranberries–this is a tricky one. Most kibble-fed pets will benefit from cranberries because of the acidifying nature of this berry. Kibble fed pets very often suffer from Urinary Tract Infections that are caused by overly alkaline urine, which causes struvite crystals (of course this isn’t the only cause of UTI) and cranberry is a good supplement to give if your pet is on kibble, since it does help to balance out P.H levels in your pet’s system.

HOWEVER. If your pet is already raw fed OR on  dry high-protein diets (such as kibble that boast over 50% protein), overly acidic urine can also cause UTI…through the creation of oxalate crystals.

So my take is : use sparingly. Everything in moderation, please!

Cranberries are yummy! And pumpkin helps digestion and hairballs (so this is a multi-purpose product!)…and of course, Hershey likes apples.

(more about the butt-fur saving properties of apples next time!)

Mix! 

TADAAAAA 🙂 

You can also use other baby fruit purees, but do remember that some fruits, like banana, have high sugar content.

Introducing Hershey to a bit of raw pork rib… He took a few nibbles, which is good enough for now 🙂

And along comes a certain black kitty to show the pup how it should be done…

Yum!

More pictures of the boy!

His handsome best buddy! Now if I can call this boy off Hugo, I probably can recall him anywhere anytime. Hopefully. heehee! Now there’s a goal!

Chilling out at cafes, watching the world go by. I really wish there were more dog-friendly cafes in Singapore! They don’t have to be dedicated to dogs, but it would be great if there were dog-designated areas outside the cafe so that owners can  easily have a cuppa with their pooches.

Chillin’ out at home. Ever since he bumped his leg silly, he’s been chillin’ out a lot more at home. Get well soon baby!

Categories: Freeze-dried Raw, The Raw Explorer