Winterize Your Dog!

We change the way we feed our dogs in the winter months. Why? For the most part, because our very active dogs become a lot less active in the winter. For some of our dogs, that means cutting food in half, for some, we cut it a little less, and for some we might not cut it all all. And as always, with all of our dogs, we watch their weight and make adjustments on a weekly or even daily basis, if necessary. I try to encourage people who come into our store to make adjustments based on the way their dog looks and feels weight-wise, rather than going by what any food manufacturer says to do. They all metabolize differently, just like we do.

I also change what they eat and what I supplement with. Our dogs are on a raw diet, and throughout the summer months, we supplement their diet with lots of fresh seasonal fruits and veggies. We are members of a local CSA which provides us and our dogs with lots of great stuff. In the winter though, when it's hard to find good local produce, we use The Honest Kitchen's Preference for every meal (we use it supplementally in the summer). Even in the dead of winter, you can serve up a green bowl of goodness for you dogs everyday by using Preference. We also start adding a good antioxidant blend at this time of year on a daily basis. In the summer months, we use an antioxidant before and while we are traveling (not very often these days). At this time of year, we start using it everyday. We switch back and forth between Animal Essential's Organic Green Alternative and The Honest Kitchen's Invigor. We like both of these products, and like everything else with a raw diet, feel the rotation is good.

Also, if you don't in the summer months, make sure to add a good oil in the winter months to combat dry, flaky skin. We use a good, cold-pressed, wild-caught salmon oil by Lakse Kronch all year round, but it's especially important as we head into the winter months.

These are just a few of the ways we winterize our dogs. Hope you find some of this information useful!