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How to help your large dog live to Age 16 like Rocko

Dave Asprey on Instagram said the life expectancy of dogs has decreased by about 30 percent due to the lack of nutrition in kibble. I commented how I make my own dog food and my dog is happy and healthy at 16. My comment has over 650 likes so far!

How to help your large dog live to Age 16 like Rocko
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    1. I rescued ‘Beans’ from The Spca in 2007 and renamed him Rocko.

    I stopped at The Pet Smart to buy him a bed, a crate and some kibble on the way home after I adopted him and took him into the store with me. He had diarrhea in the middle of the floor. Once at home, he threw up what looked like spaghetti noodles, and when I took him to the vet, she said they were worms.

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    2. He had a terrible case of separation anxiety

    He would howl whenever I would leave the room, and would only sleep in his crate like he did at the pound, so I slept on the living room carpet beside his crate where he could see me for the first four nights to get him used to his new home.

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    3. He had puncture wounds from the puppy mill he was rescued from

    Also he had been neutered at 9 weeks old, when it is recommended to wait 6 to 12 months. His puncture wounds were from fighting for food at the puppy mill he was rescued from, and you could pick the skin up on his back, he was so underweight.

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    4. My research showed his breeds of greyhound and husky live to be around 10 to 12 yrs

    At home he kept throwing up the kibble.

    He had a urinalysis and a blood panel done and he had a urinary infection. The vet said he likely had digestion problems and could be put on something if it continued.

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    5. When I hugged him I could hear his belly rumbling due to his poor digestion

    I called a friend who worked at a vet’s office and she recommended another brand of kibble, so I switched to that brand. It was a Canadian brand, and it worked well for about a year,

    One day I went to the pet store and the packaging was different and the clerk said a new company bought the dog food company, and all of a sudden he started throwing up and eating grass in the yard or chewing on bark mulch as if he had some type of vitamin deficiency.

    6. When you switch kibble brands it takes a while to ease your dog into the change

    By adding a few pieces of the new kibble to the old at first, then building up to half and half until you finally transition to the new kibble entirely.

    This process of switching kibble brands went on for 8 years, until he tried five different brands, two workes fine for a few years, then he wouldn’t tolerate them any more after a new company took over the dog food brand, and he would get sick again.

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    7. After thousands spent at the vet, he is still not satisfied with his food

    One day I was dog sitting a friend’s dog for 3 weeks while she went to Europe, and she brought home made food for her dog “I made some for Rocko too, he will like it,” she said.

    Like it? It was like an MMA match when I brought that food out. The dachshund and greyhound were duking it out to see who could get to the food the fastest. Normally, his kibble would sit there for hours until he got super hungry before he ate it, but now he was racing to his dish and excited about the home cooked meal. But I could only give him a little bit to start, as a complete change over would lead to more problems.

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    8. I started experimenting with cooking my own dog food

    I tried chicken breast, chicken thighs and turkey. These were tolerated for a few days then he would throw up, until I finally tried ground beef and he has been thriving on it for the past 8 years.

    I boil the lean ground beef in water and strain the fat off about three times and add more water and continue to boil. Then I boil brown rice and organic carrots and strain the starch off those around 3 times, and mix them all together with about half rice, half beef, and a few carrots. If his bowels get too loose, I cut down on the carrots, and if his bowels are straining I up the carrots. Incidentally, his stools are odorless on this pure food.

    He made friends with a shetland pony named Clyde and they had the same coats.

    9. He is finally happy with his food

    He is approximately 6 years beyond his life expectancy. Home cooked food takes longer to prepare and may be about 20 percent more expensive, but you avoid going to the vet and recoup the money and stress you spend that way. Rocko is worth it. (Costco sells a 2 foot long tube of lean hamburger for $45.00 which lasts a long time, and I freeze the food into storage containers so it will keep,)

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    10. He also gets daily exercise, fresh water and hugs

    He also sleeps with a little electric heating pad on his bed to fend off any arthritis in the winter, and gets lots of dental treats to brush his teeth. He also lets me brush his teeth with a toddler toothbrush that I put a half teaspoon of coconut oil on.

    Woof Woof Rocko

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