![]() He acts like he is being given a treat every single time we fill his bowl. He gets genuinely EXCITED about his food. We began the transition (which we spread out over about a month because we didn’t want this new high-protein food that is so much easier to digest to upset his stomach… you know…because they are going to have a LOT of stomach acid left over) in late February and we started seeing a noticeably different dog. I ended up doing the research (don’t take my word for ANYTHING, this is your dog … do your own research) and Vital Essentials kept coming up. ![]() What wolf have you ever seen eating sweet potatoes? Their teeth are proof enough that they aren’t meant to be eating vegetables. They may have stubbed noses, long fur, short hair, 10 or 100 pounds…but they all look the same as far as stomachs and intestines. Your dog shares the exact same digestive tract of all other dogs and wild canines. Do you know all the things that go into your most common of dog foods? Do you know the temperatures at which they cook this “mash” of ingredients in order to get those hard little pieces? Do you know how taxing it is for the tiny wolves you let sleep on your couch to digest and get ANY nutrition out of their meals? It was astonishing to me. I was embarrassed by how much I did NOT know about the product that I had been feeding to my dog. I met a carnivore nutritionist and we began telling your typical “dog-owner stories.” Then the topic of dog nutrition came up. Recently (February 2016) I traveled to Daytona Beach, Florida for work. I can’t imagine a wolf in the wild eating sweet potatoes …but I trusted my vet. Wait, his food has sweet potatoes in it? That’s weird. “He’s probably allergic to sweet potatoes.” We thought maybe it was nervous energy, so his daily walks were extended from 30 minutes to at least an hour. He never acted TOO excited about his kibble, but he ate it nonetheless. We mashed it up to make it easier for his little puppy teeth and…yes…we inspected his poop to make sure everything was being processed properly. We started off with the same thing every new-dog owner starts with. So, it comes as no surprise that we obsess over what kind of food we are allowing him to eat. It’s weird, sometimes, when we think about it. We check our high-tech life-feed camera during the day to make sure his routine of naps and barking at the door is going undisturbed. Of course, he’s the background image for both of our phones. Every picture of my wife that I carry around with me…she’s holding Indy. Yeah…we’re “those people.” I have more pictures on my desk at work of Indy than I do my friends and family. We love him the way people typically make fun of other people for loving their animals. We care for this dog like he IS our child. We ended up with the cutest little fur ball anyone could hope for. Then, one day, we decided to “go look at puppies.” We had no idea how our lives were about to change. It’s what everyone does, right? But, for whatever reason, it just didn’t appeal to us. We have a “fur-baby.” We have a dog.īack when we were newly-weds in a brand new city, we considered having children. Not because we think kids aren’t adorable and amazing, but we’ve found something else to fill that void in our married life. Aren’t really interested in that prospect. ![]() The most common question my wife and I hear from friends and co-workers isn’t “How are you?” or “Did you see ‘The Walking Dead’ last night?”, it’s “When are you guys going to have kids?” We’re both approaching 30, we’ve been married for 5 years and we don’t have any children. With Gretel's disease, Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI), she has VERY limited dietary choices, especially with treats, actually, they're an absolute no-no with an EPI dog, however, all EPI dogs & their daily maintenance are different and I've found a daily dietary schedule that works for my Gretel and fortunately I can give Gretel "Vital ESSENTIALS Tripe Nibblets Freeze-Dried Dog Treats" as an in-between meal snack & also as training treats with absolutely no repercussions PLUS she LOVES them, not to mention she's VERY picky and has NO food drive! We use an auto-ship program & receive a 1-lb. ![]() I'm also very proud to mention that Gretel also earned her AKC CGC (Canine Good Citizen) Title. My beautiful girl LOVES the snow, hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail, playing Frisbee and also with her Jolly Balls. Some days we struggle with her lifelong disease maintenance, but try very hard to keep her life as normal as possible. ![]() At the young age of one, Gretel was diagnosed with Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI). Please meet Gretel, my 3-year old "special needs" GSD. ![]()
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