Thursday, April 21, 2016

Chow-Ciao!



After my dog turned 12, we noticed a lot of signs of aging. His energy level was low, his eyes were becoming hazy and his black fur was turning gray. My heart was aching to see him like that. I did a serious googling on if dogs would go to heaven. I also searched the internet for solutions and found out that changing a dog's diet would boost up their immune system. Hence, I had decided to give my dog nothing but fresh food. We used to give him what we eat along with his dog chow, but now it would be cooking for him, that's a whole new level of doggie love. A bit extreme but there is nothing ashamed of being a "dog lady".

I made a long list of food that dogs could eat and stick it on the fridge. When going for grocery shopping, things on that list would also be what we as human eat for the following week. I also found out that dog should eat things that resemble what their ancestors would eat in the wild; therefore organs and bones are essentials as well. We don't eat a lot of organs (as Chinese), but my mom started to look for recipes of making a liver dish. I was surprised when eating it for the first time in a long time, my mom said, "they came in a large package, Heihei could not eat everything, hence we are eating the rest." My mom would also buy pork bones and slow cook them for hours. Toward the end, the bones were as soft as calcium pills. Some of the pieces were too big for him to swallow, hence I would chew them on my dog's behalf. Again, nothing to be ashamed of.

Several months after, you would not believe the difference. His fur became black again and his eyes started to shine. He looked like a puppy. He even started to look for toys to play. He'd hop onto my fluffy sleeper and drag it off my foot. I was completely defenseless with my gimpy feet. After kidnapping the left one, he'd come right back to grab the right one. He also began to mind other people's business again. Whenever someone walked across our door, he would make his presence heard not knowing that he's an illegal resident in this pet-free building.The ultimate sign of his rejuvenation was being bitchy again.When his vet attempted to check his teeth during his annual checkup, Heihei bit him really really hard and would not let go of his hand. NOT sure if bad dogs could go to heaven. To my dog's defense, unlike our first vet, this new vet is not a dog whisper. "Not bad for a dog turning 13, all are well, what are you feeding him?"

When I saw my friend and told him about this, I was quite emotional, "I should have fed my dog nothing but fresh food all his life. Why would they tell us that we could not give dogs anything but dog chow? Is it all about the money?" He's one of the best people I have met. He always sees the best in every person. He replied, "I think it's because a lot of people have a very unhealthy diet. If they feed their dog with whatever that they eat, they might give their dog pizza, ice-cream and other junks. " Makes sense. 

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