Take Your Dog to Dinner Night

Wow, what a busy month! First it was adding a number of new retail outlets to the Lucky Dog Cuisine family, then some more restaurants and most recently an appearance on the local CBS affiliate WTOC's mid morning live. I did the Hilton Head Pet Expo with Anna from Bistro 17 jumped in the car drove to Orlando for my son Ryan's graduation from Full Sail University with a degree in Film Production. Next week I am in Charleston for a special "Local's Only" demo day at Whole Foods Market and the following week I am in Columbia as a guest speaker and Nutritional Expert for an animal fundraising event. It's a good thing I love what I do.



For those of you who haven't seen it I have tried uploading the WTOC program below but am dealing with a slow internet connection tonight. Instead please take a look at our newly redesigned website. http://www.luckydogcuisine.com/ The video is now on the front page. Please feel free to give us any feedback on the new site as well. It's worth watching the video just to see how the Murphster tries to upstage everyone. I've never seen a dog who is makes himself so at home everywhere he goes. Especially on his boat.

Travelling to Orlando for Ryan's graduation gave me a chance to find an amazingly dog-friendly hotel. The Sheraton in North Orlando is a very nice hotel and they truly deserve four paws up for their canine attitude. No additional fees for dogs, no size limits and no grief. They have a beautiful atrium restaurant and they even allowed the dogs to do a down-stay just on the other side of the railing while we had dinner. Not allowed in the restaurant of course but to the "boys" this was the next best thing. They made quite a few friends but one of the cutest is pictured below.

The usual parade of passerbys stopped patted the dogs and asked all the usual questions but Bugsy and Murphy were on their best behavior. I was a little concerned that Murphy might bark at some of the noises inherent in Hotels, voices in the hallway, doors slamming etc but he acted like a seasoned vet. I was very proud.

I am attaching a pic of Ryan and I taken just after his graduation. He is an amazing child and I am thrilled to see him get out of school and get ready to move on to the next phase of his life. I wish he'd work for Lucky Dog but I think he has grander plans. Look our Hollywood.

One of the most exciting things to happen this month is the addition of a number of new restaurants to our program We now have five locations in the Savannah/Hilton Head area where you can take your dog with you when you go to dinner and have them served with a nice fresh bowl of Lucky Dog. Along with Bistro 17 and Skillets Grille we have added Up the Creek at Broad Creek Marina, Leoci's a new Savannah restaurant opening the end of this month and featuring amazing Italian offerings and long-time Hilton Head favorite Hugo's at Wexford.
Brandon, the owner at Hugo's is working very closely with us on organizing our first annua"Take Your Dog To Dinner Night!" How cool is that? We will be doing it on Oct. 10 and hope to have a number of new restaurants all located in Wexford Center come on board to make it a great doggie event. Plans call for the proceeds to benefits a couple of great canine charities and if you can make it please join us. More info will be available as we get closer both here and on the Lucky Dog website.

Janice

Your dog needs Whole Foods too!

Always Remember Health Comes From the Inside Out!

Pets for Health

I can't believe I haven't blogged since April 9th.

It's not that I don't have anything to say it's just that I never seem to have the time to say it. No wonder Bugsy decided to start his own blog. http://www.bugsythewonderdog.blogspot.com/ althought I don't think he has been blogging as regularly as he planned either.

My biggest challenge, and I'll bet it's true of most people, is time. The economy teeters between recession and disaster, gas prices have been on a rollercoaster, the housing industry is in a record funk and now icons from many of our younger days like MJ and Farrah are dropping dead around us. Who has time for anything other than survival? Sress is at an all time high and few if any of us have any confidence in an immediate solution. Where can we turn? The answer might surprise you.

Snuggle your dog. Cuddle with your cat. Heck, swing from the ceiling with your pet monkey if you have one. Research has shown us that pets are good for our health.

DID YOU KNOW?

• According to a recent study by the University of Minnesota, cat owners are 40% less likely to die from a heart attack than non-cat owners.
• The same study reports that cat owners are also less likely to die from all cardiovascular diseases, including strokes.
• A number of additional studies show that interacting with pets may help protect against allergies, asthma and even cancer.
• Smokers who are told that second hand smoke may affect their pets are more willing to quit than non pet owning smokers.
• A University of Missouri study shows that dogs are more likely to inspire older people to stick with a walking program than human walking partners.
  

All of this may come as a shock to the non pet owners of the world but we dog and cat lovers who can't seem to understand the concept of going through life without a wet nose waking us up every morning have known it for years. When Bugsy signs off on his blogs he always uses the phrase "Always remember your dog loves you unconditionally". It may not be scientific but I think having a pet simply makes the world a better place.

Over the last number of years there has been an increasing humanization of pets. Led by the newly empty nested baby boomers we are starting to treat our pets more like family and less like animals. Dogs now live inside more than ever before and we are the biggest beneficiaries. We always knew that our pets were basically "love bundles", now we are finding thanks to more and more research that they are also our best medicine.

Maybe as an interim phase of Obama's new heatlh care program everyone should be required to snuggle with a pet every day.

I know the day is always brighter when I do. Now if there was only a way to get Bugsy to help me with my blog.

Kiss your pet on the nose for me today.



Janice

"Always remember, Health comes from the inside out."

Out Blogged by my Dog!

Ok, I admit it I'm embarrassed.
I'm being outblogged by my dog.

A couple of days ago my dog Bugsy decided that I wasn't talking enough about him on this blog and that I wasn't updating it enough. He told me in no uncertain terms, (with whining, facial expressions and a couple of well-placed slurps to my face) that he was going to take control of his own marketing and promotion.

Ha! Bugsy the Wonderdog my foot.
I wonder where he got those glasses?

We hadn't heard back from his agent re that movie we had talked about with Jennifer Aniston and I think he was having a little identity crisis. 48 hours ago he launched his own site on Twitter and that same day he started a blog right here on blogger. In less than 24 hours he had over 600 twitter followers and in the last day he has doubled that again.

Who knew that so many people would follow a bloggin Dog. He has even set up his blog to test new products and services for his canine companions. His PACK as he refers to them. What the heck is happening here. Has the world truly gone to the dogs?

I know that he has valuable opinions and I truly value his input in all things Lucky Dog but today he's supposed to talk about Dogs at the Masters. What in the world does he know about golf?
I think I'm just have to start using Murphy pics more in this blog (he's just chillin and hanging around the boat) just to keep Bugsy from getting a swollen head. Although that may be too late when you find out his site names.

Murphy Chillin on the Boat

You can find Bugsy on Twitter using the username BugsyWonderdog and you can access his blog right here at

www.bugsythewonderdog.blogspot.com

If you get a chance take a look and if you are a dog you might want to sign up to follow him on his blogsite as he is giving away the products he tests at the end of each month. Here he is doing all this work outside the home and I just wish I could get him to stop leaving my shoes all over the house and pick up after himself.

Blog to you soon.

You and your dogs both need Whole Foods.

~Remember, Health comes from the Inside Out!~

Janice

www.luckydogcuisine.com

Recipes and Radio

I promised all my friends on Twitter that I would update them re the radio shows this past Saturday so here goes. The first show was a blast. Animal Radio is the largest Animal Radio show in North America. They had received some samples of Lucky Dog Cuisine a while back and I knew they liked the product. What I didn’t know was that they LOVED the product. What a thrill for me. I just love it when people appreciate the effort and love that goes into our food. I feel like we are helping the dog world one dog at a time whenever someone orders Lucky Dog.

They have posted a review on their website and also have us featured on the “New and Notable” section of their site. I have included a link below to the Lucky Dog Site. Click on the “What people are saying” section and check out some of these reviews and interviews.

www.luckydogcuisine.com

My second interview was a bit of a surprise. I had thought it was also a taped interview but turns out it was live. It was also an hour and it was not an “animal specific” show. I was on with Ken Lesser at Advanced Living Radio. It went wonderfully as well and Ken was very gracious and kind to Lucky Dog in his interview. You would think that talking dog food for an hour would be difficult but I just love what I do and really feel I am helping each and every dog that switches to our food so the time went by quickly.

As if all of that Radio time wasn’t enough I also was hard at work researching two new recipes. I have been trying to do a Lamb and Rice formula but have been struggling to source the quality of Lamb I want at a price the consumer can ultimately afford. I will keep working on it and I’m sure that we will have one soon.

I also played with a Beef Stew formula on the weekend. I added a number of somewhat different ingredients to this one. Pumpkin for example because its high in Vitamin A, Fiber and is a great source of Beta Carotene. I used potatoes as my carb source and Acorn Squash as one of my vegetables. The principal reason for all of the changes however is that dogs need variety. You wouldn’t thrive eating the same things every day and neither do they. I am a huge fan of variety in diet.

"You'd think the dog biscuit trim would scare off Hubby and Son"

This recipe is quite a way off with respect to testing and Dept. of Ag approval but that didn’t stop my two chief testers Bugsy and Murphy giving it a “2 tails wagging” seal of approval. My biggest challenge with this recipe is that both my husband and my son who was home from University love it and have a tendency to steal some and eat it over Pasta. Oh well, the joys of using only the best “human grade” ingredients.

That’s all for today. I promise I will update you with the dates of the other radio show interviews well ahead of time. Remember to follow us on Twitter for the Dog Tip of the Day and other updates. Thanks for reading.

You and your dogs both need whole foods.


Janice


~ "Remember, Health comes from the inside out!" ~

From my kitchen to yours!

www.luckydogcuisine.com

Radio, Radio and more Radio

Yes I know Halloween is over but I couldn't resist adding this photo of Bugsy today and besides, I know it drives my husband crazy when I dress up the dogs.

I did another radio show yesterday.

No fuss, no muss just a full hour on Wendy's Animal Talk that airs out of the wonderful state of California and is broadcast worldwide on that www thingy.

Wendy was great. I can't say enough about how comfortable she made me feel and how fantastic she was throughout the show. By the way her producer, Ruthie Bentley also did an amazing job in getting the show to air. As a matter of fact the whole staff was wonderful so thanks everybody (you too Jay) for making me feel so welcome. If anyone is interested in hearing the show you can use the link below. It should be available in archived form in a few days or so. Hopefully we will eventually get to post it on http://www.luckydogcuisine.com/ as well.

http://healthylife.net/RadioShow/archiveWAT.htm

I will have to rest my voice as I have two more shows to do this Saturday. I believe these two are taped so I will update you as to air times when I have more info.

In the meantime I have to get back to the kitchen. I am experimenting with a couple of new recipes. I am really enthusiastic about coming up with a Lamb formula but in a perfect world as you know I would like all of my ingredients to remain solely Products of USA. It makes it tough for me to compete with those companies importing frozen lamb from New Zealand. Hang in there though Lucky Dog Fans, I am working on it.

As you can see by the pic below being a Lucky Dog "TEST DOG" is not always just fun and games. Here you see Bugsy and Murphy so full after their 16 test batch of the day that they can no longer stand up.

Just Kidding of Course

Well, thanks for following. I have to get back to the recipes and I also have to find a way to avoid my husband. He has a video camera in his hand and I think he wants me to add video to future blogs. Stay well, eat well and kiss your pets on their noses for me.

You and your dogs both need whole foods.

Janice

~ "Remember, Health comes from the inside out!" ~

From my kitchen to yours!
www.luckydogcuisine.com

Lucky Dog Movie Dogs?

How feel you?

Do or do not,

There is no try!

Ok it's been a week or so since I last blogged and I'm sure everyone thinks it's because I needed to recover from my radio interview. Well surprise, surprise it went fine thank you very much. The hosts were wonderfully receptive and supportive towards Lucky Dog Cuisine and they seemed to be much in favor of Home Cooked Meals for your dog.

I have had an amazing week. I am getting ready for another radio show. This one airs on March 24 in "Drive Time" 5 pm in California. That should translate to 2 pm here on the east coast and you people in London will just have to figure it out for yourself.

I will be on with Wendy Nan Rees who is an amazing woman and I encourage all of my dog loving friends to check out Wendy's website at http://www.petlifestyleadvisor.com/ . Wendy is a big fan of Lucky Dog and a great resource for anything dog or dog related. I am on for an hour so if any of you have any questions re Lucky Dog, Organic Dog Food, Home Cooked Dog Food, All Natural Dog Food, etc. please call in. You can listen to the show Wendy's Animal Talk worldwide over the internet at http://www.healthylife.net/

We also had a couple of amazing developments this week that have got all of us in the Lucky Dog Cuisine family buzzing. There is an amazing review of our food online at http://www.ipetscene.com/petfinds/index.php/my-lucky-dog-gets-some-yummy-food/ It is times like this that makes me extremely grateful that I have decided to share Lucky Dog with everyone and apparently, with even the humans trying it, I do mean everyone. When people appreciate the product it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (Think new puppy)

We also had some fabulous feedback from the largest Animal Radio Show in the world. They loved the food as well, want us on the show and would love to support and recommend our food. Again, very gratifying to see so many experts climbing onboard the Lucky Dog train.

On a much more private note we also had a call from Bugsy's agent. Yes, that's right, Bugsy has an agent. She wanted to know if he or perhaps Murphy (our other Goldendoodle) would be available to do a movie with Jennifer Aniston. We don't know if they will accept him for the part or not yet but it's nice to be considered. Hopefully that's what the boys will say when they are giving their Academy Award speech as best supporting dog. And people wonder why we call them Lucky Dogs.

Stunt Doubles perhaps?

What in the world is going to happen next? Every time I turn around something new and wonderful is happening.

You and your dogs both need whole foods.


Janice


~ "Remember, Health comes from the inside out!" ~

From my kitchen to yours!
www.luckydogcuisine.com

The Comfort Zone

Why is it that something we do every day can be much more frightening when a minor variable is introduced? Simple things become complicated, frustrating and even terrifying when in reality they are still the same simple things. Exactly the same on the difficulty meter but able to spark fear, terror and panic into people who wouldn’t think twice about it with only small changes. Don’t believe me, let’s try an experiment. Let’s get a nice sturdy 2X8 board about 10 feet long at the local Home Depot. Now throw it on the grass and walk from one end to the other on top of the board without touching the grass or falling off. Easy isn’t it. Now lets put the board on top of a couple of chairs two feet off the grass. Still easy I bet. Okay lets run the board from one building to another about fifty stories above the ground. How about now? I bet we could make the board twice as wide and it would still cause you a lot more stress than the board on the grass.

Okay Janice where is this going? Well, I talk about dog food every day. I can address the benefits of Home Cooked Dog Food as opposed to Commercial Dog Food. I can get as scientific as you like and speak with complete confidence on why complex carbohydrates are important to get the most out of many incomplete proteins. I can speak to why dogs are not nearly as closely genetically linked to wolves as we, and especially our Raw Dog Food diet proponents would so romantically like to believe. Did you know that dogs DNA is much closer to Coyotes or Jackals than Wolves? But let’s leave that for a future blog. Yes beloved blog follower I can talk dog nutrition and dog food as easily as I can walk along that 2X8 in the grass. Why then am I nervous about doing exactly that on Sunday night on Animal Talk Radio. At precisely 7:15 I will be leaning my 2X8 across my two buildings and appearing live with Jamie, Donna and Dr. Brad and doing exactly what I do for most every hour of most every day. Talking dog food and nutrition.

Now, please understand. I have no rational reason to be nervous. I have been interviewed many times before for magazines, radio and even television. I am totally committed to the product that we manufacture and I believe so strongly in whole foods and natural nutrition for both humans and animals that nothing can make me waver or doubt the long-term benefit. On the other hand the comfort zone is a wonderful thing. It may be part of the reason people will continue to exclusively serve their dog commercial dog food even though I can show them a zillion reasons why they shouldn’t. It’s why chicken soup has attained folklore status and why a plate of lasagna or spaghetti and meatballs for some people can brighten even the darkest day. (Ever notice how I always seem to talk about food? No wonder I have to spend so much time exercising.)

With our new auto-ship launch, the reworking of our web site and demand for Lucky Dog Food increasing every day I suppose I had best get used to working without a net, so to speak as interview demands are mounting. We already have another show booked for later in the month where I will be spending a full hour with Lifestyle Pet Advisor Wendy Nan Rees on Wendy’s Animal Talk Radio. I can best deal with all of these appearances though, knowing I have my core group of supporters out there cheering for me. If you get a chance please tune in and listen on Sunday night. Animal Talk Radio is broadcast on a number of stations from Atlanta to St. Louis but is probably most easily found online on GCN Radio at http://www.gcnlive.com/ . They are going to have a call-in section so if any of you have any questions I will be happy to answer them from atop my 2X8. Most of the times when I fret about things like this it turns out they are just wonderfully fun. I’m sure this will too.

Thanks for all your love and support.

You and your dogs both need whole foods.


Janice



~ "Remember, Health comes from the inside out!" ~

http://www.luckydogcuisine.com/

Dog Friendly in Hilton Head

One of the joys in my life is that I live in a place that most people only visit on vacation. Great beaches, warm weather, (this past winter notwithstanding) lots of great restaurants and a lifestyle primarily focused on the outdoors with an emphasis on assorted water sports. As an expatriate Canadian you would think the primary influence that drove my move to the Hilton Head area was the weather. Well, let’s face it Sweater golf weather in the winter beats shoveling snow any day but we could have made the move to Florida and had even warmer winters. No, the number one influence on both my husband and I deciding we had to live here was the dog-friendly aspect.

I guess founding a company like Lucky Dog Cuisine dedicated to enhancing all dog’s nutritional lives is enough of a clue to allow most people to figure out that I am animal crazy. To make a lifestyle decision based on dog friendly may border on the pathological so I will state in advance. It certainly wasn’t the only reason. Plenty of people choose to live right here in paradise every year and, though I can’t understand this, they don’t even have dogs. It was definitely the combo platter that gave us the impetus to move here but the fact that it is one of the most dog oriented places I have ever been certainly helped.

Did you know that dogs are allowed on the beach all year? Yes, there are a couple of restrictions during the daytime hours in midsummer but with temps in the 90’s or higher who wants to take the dog to the beach at mid-afternoon anyway. It gets better. For most of the year dogs do not have to be leashed on the beach as long as they are under voice control. Eat your heart out all you dog owners in Florida. (Yes, I know there are isolated dog friendly beaches but I don’t count those).

I went to Shelter Cove mall the other day. It is the largest indoor mall on the island and the first thing I saw when I went in the front door is a sign saying PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE YOUR DOGS IN THE CAR. As I read further it stated that their policy is that dogs WERE WELCOME IN THE MALL. I repeat how cool is that. I can shop at Banana Republic and my dog can come in with me.

Ok, so far we’ve got beach and shopping. Only one more staple required for me to be happy all the time. Food! This entire area is filled with restaurants with outdoor dining. In many cases dogs are welcome to come up onto the deck or patio as long as they are well behaved. We have enjoyed many meals at restaurants in the Hilton Head, Bluffton and even Beaufort area. I have attached a brief list below. See, I told you in my first blog that I was going to provide a list of dog friendly places as we go. If you have any additional places that should be featured please send them along to my email address Janice@luckydogcuisine.com for inclusion in future blogs.

I am going to briefly highlight two of my favorite places. “Skillets” is a restaurant on the South End of the island in Coligny Plaza and it is a wonderful spot. With a large wraparound patio with a choice of shade or sun, a great staff that always welcomes the puppies like the family members they are and a diverse menu serving breakfast, lunch and dinner it is a great choice for vacationers and locals alike. Amy the owner always has time to stop by and make sure everyone is taken care of especially the four-legged customers. We usually make a point to leave time for a walk on the beach, which is only a half block away after our meal. If you are there in the morning, try the breakfast burrito, the whole-wheat pancakes or the breakfast parfait. Our dogs particularly love the biscuits and that’s fortunate because I would eat all of them if they didn’t help. Wow, you get to read a dog blog and get human food reviews as well.

A little further north nestled in the beautiful Shelter Cove Marina is another great choice for the dog and its owner. Bistro 17, one of the few French restaurants on the island is a phenomenal find for its food alone. Open for lunch and dinner this restaurant overlooks the marina and has an expansive outdoor dining section that welcomes all dogs with open arms. Owner Anna Buckingham even has a large dog friendly sign predominantly displayed on the patio. The staff wears shirts with the words “A Dog Gone Friendly Café” emblazoned on the back. Bistro 17 is much more than a café; it is a culinary treat for the senses. They have a Sea Bass dish that my husband Jeff, definitely not a fish eater, thinks may be one of the best meals he has ever had. I on the other hand love everything on the menu. I don’t even need to order, just bring me anything and I will be in heaven.

Great views, great food, wonderful service and my dogs curled up at my feet. Oh yeah, let’s not forget about the dogs. When you walk in with the dogs the staff are quick to bring water bowls and a food bowl filled with dog cookies. If Rover is hungry don’t worry, when they bring you your menu they will also bring you a dog menu as well. Your dog can choose from Pierre’s, Fifi’s, or Françoise’s favorites with a special of Bugsy’s available as well. Don’t worry about either taste or quality these are all home cooked meals for your dog. Hmm, four recipes, home cooked meals for your dog? OK I’ll admit it the names are different but Bistro 17 is smart enough to serve Lucky Dog Cuisine to their discriminating canine clientele. Anna is such a sweetie that all the proceeds from all of the dog meals go to Best Friends Animal Society in Utah as seen on Animal Planets Dogtown.

http://www.bestfriends.org/

All in all Hilton Head is a great place for dog lovers. Oh yeah, the people are nice too.




Remember, you and your dogs need whole foods.


Janice



~ "Remember, Health comes from the inside out!" ~

http://www.luckydogcuisine.com/

I have had a number of people contact me requesting more information on how Lucky Dog Cuisine got started so I am attaching a page from our website that gives you the W5 (Who, what, when, where, why) on Lucky Dog Cuisine.

When you read about my background you will know why I am so committed to the concept that, Health comes from the inside out.

Dear Fellow Dog Lover

Twenty years as a Doctor of Chiropractic, four years of nutrition training, more than fifteen years adjusting animals from dogs, to horses, and a lifetime as both a dog owner and animal lover has left me with an interesting perspective about pet nutrition. Despite years of having home cooked for my pets, I allowed myself to be persuaded by vets and breeders, to feed commercial pet food. I thought with all the research available to the large companies, that I could find a quality food, that was better for them than what I had been feeding. When you find products labeled "Organic" or "Natural", and you are paying premium prices for them you think you are giving your pet the best. Wrong!

The bottom line is that there are few, if any dog foods on the market that do not contain either by-products or meal. If you don't mind discovering the shocking and somewhat gory truth please follow the link to Scary but True. Pay special attention to the information on "meal" and "rendered products."

When is a dog food not a dog food? When it is made with nothing but the finest ingredients. Lucky dog came to be as an act of love for my own dogs. I believe in eating wholesome, natural, unprocessed food. My dogs are part of my family so I feed them the same quality foods I eat myself.

I am passionate about my dogs! They are a wonderful part of our family. I also love to cook (and to eat!). So as a labor of love, I chose to cook for my dogs. Being a chiropractor, I have always believed that we should live as naturally as possible. In addition I understand the need for good, balanced nutrition.

In 1995 I had a two year old standard poodle named Storm, diagnosed with Addison's disease. At the time, in addition to conventional veterinarian therapies I was looking for any additional help I could give her. I researched what was in dog food and had an eye opening experience. I would not want myself nor my family to live on processed food, so why would I have my dogs live that way? I once again started to experiment with home cooked recipes looking for that canine balance of protein and carbohydrates. Storm became my personal study. Within months of changing her to my home cooked recipe I noticed a number of changes in her as she seemed to regain her pre-diagnosis energy and vitality.

The ultimate watershed moment occurred about six months after we started the home cooking program. My beautiful black Standard had turned very grey after the onset of her disease. I sent her to the groomer one day and she returned with her coat a dark beautiful black again. All of the grey had grown out and she looked great. I actually cried I was so excited at her return to health. Stormy lasted 10 more great years before she passed away. A wonderful full life for an Addisonian dog.

Research, research and more research has gone into formulating Lucky Dog. I have been feeding my own dogs some variation or other of Lucky Dog for the past twelve years. The correct balance of protein and carbohydrates is a great start but in addition I also incorporated a proper mixture of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Lucky Dog is also low in fat. It is made only with wholesome ingredients that you could find at your local grocery. At least you could if you shopped at a really good grocery store.

Brown rice, lean ground beef, ricotta cheese, pureed mixed vegetables, tomatoes, wheat germ, organic flax seed meal, sea salt and garlic all made with filtered water and plenty of love. Sounds like a great dinner for the people of the house but formulated in perfect balance for your dog. As you can tell, my dogs are family members. I refuse to feed my dogs anything that I would not eat myself.
Just to illustrate that point, a couple of years ago my daughter, one of my other passions in life, came home from University for Thanksgiving dinner. Like most moms I love to send food back with her while she is away from home. I made her up a large Tupperware container full of Turkey, Dressing and all the trimmings. That was great except for the fact that she grabbed the wrong container out of the refrigerator and jumped on her plane back to school with about ten pounds of dog food.

I was disappointed because I had to make another batch of food for the dogs and also because I had wanted Meghan to have the turkey for her and her friends. She, on the other hand was delighted. When she opened the container and saw what she had done she immediately invited all her friends over and they ate all the dog food. They put it in tacos, mixed it into spaghetti sauce and even ate it straight out of the container. Oh well, at least I knew they were getting their vitamins and omega fatty 3 acids.

The idea of making Lucky Dog available to the general public was long in coming. My butcher, Jeff Scott at Scotts Meats in Old Bluffton was adamant that other people around here really needed this product. He was so impressed with it that he is even offering Lucky Dog for sale at his store. Next time you go in you can pick up a nice juicy steak for you and some Lucky Dog for your best friend. The name, by the way, came naturally. Every time someone asked me about what I feed my dogs and I told them what was in it the response was always, "Wow, what Lucky Dogs!"

Watching Stormy recover and live a quality life was one indication that I was on the right track with my home cooked food. Another was when Storm's vet asked if she could buy food from me for her own dogs. I provided her with food until about five years ago when my I relocated to the Low Country of South Carolina.

A third indication of the power of my food was when a local vet gave me a sample of a product designed for "Hot Spots". I had to tell her that I didn't even know what they were and she was absolutely amazed. "Don't you know you are in the South now she asked? We have all kinds of allergies, skin infections and hot spots down here." "Sorry Ms. Vet. Not my dogs." Hmm, I guess they are Lucky Dogs indeed.

I am honored to be able to share "Lucky Dog" with you and I wish you long life and much love with your best friends.

Sincerely,

Dr. Janice Elenbaas & Bugsy

President, CEO and Dog Lover

Don't forget to check out our page on
Why Feed Lucky Dog

~ "Remember, Health comes from the inside out!" ~

The Well Trained Dog

Will you train my dog? My husband Jeff and I get that at least once a week. Usually after our dogs have been lying outside a restaurant patiently waiting for us to finish breakfast or lunch. While we smile and joke about being too busy to take on another child the truth is that we have time to train the dog we just don't have enough time to train the owner.

When are you finished dog training? Hmmm. Tough question. Is it after the dog is housebroken? No, I don't think that's quite enough. Is it after they come when called. Nope. What if they don't stay where you leave them? Ok then is it after they stay? Hmm again, I don't think so.

I think you get where this is going. You are never really finished training your dog. At least not if you want to get the most enjoyment out of your best friend.

In our household we start all of our dogs training with basic obedience as soon as they are old enough to come home. Some pick up the basics faster than others and some are a little tougher. When we brought Bugsy, our first Goldendoodle home George our Standard Poodle was in a "movie tricks" program. While I worked with George and was very proud of his progress my husband Jeff was sneaking off into another room and working with 8 week old Bugsy.

By the time he was 10 weeks old Bugsy could, sit, come, stay, down, and even do some of the movie tricks like crawl, roll on your side and hit a mark. Two weeks later by the time he was 12 weeks old we could take him almost anywhere and he would just lie where we left him until we released him with a verbal or visual command.

Pretty awesome for such a little pup. Recently I asked Bugsy, who is now 6 years old, to "hit his mark" after not having worked on that for a while and he just looked at me like I was crazy. Which in this particular case I probably was. Imagine trying to do some of you high school calculus after not having seen or used it for the past 20 years.

Dogs are great. Dogs are smart. Owners on the other hand are, well, human.

Work with youg dog. They don't have to do "movie tricks' but they need to sit and stay, come when called and down quickly in an emergency. You don't need 2 hour training sessions. 2 minutes at a time at frequent intervals can make it much more fun and keep your dog on their toes.

Feeding my dogs whole foods means they typically have more energy than they would on commercial foods. With this comes a responsibility on my part to make sure they get enough exercise, both for the body and the mind. Lots of training sessions may not make your dog the next Lassie or Benjie but it will allow you to enjoy taking them even more places than you do now.

Work with your dog. Discipline your dog and love your dog. They will love you all the more for it.

Have to go now. Murphy and George need to train me again.

Janice

Welcome to My Blog

Thank you for your interest and welcome to my blog. I promise that we will attempt to keep you current on the latest and best in the world of home cooked meals for your dog. In addition we will be updating you on hopefully interesting topics from the world of all things dog. Whether it's tips on training, nutrition, health or just ways to enjoy your four-footed best friend more we will try to pass along all the info we can. One of the things we hope to share with you are places that have proven themselves to be extremely dog friendly. If you have found a restaurant, hotel, resort or anything else that has given you paws (pun intended) to rate them super dog friendly we would love to hear about them in our comment section so we can pass them along.

We will also be posting lots of dog pics. You will be seeing lots of both Murphy and Bugsy my two Goldendoodles who are now the chief tasters for Lucky Dog Cuisine. I'm sure you will also see a few pics of George our Standard Poodle who recently passed away and we still miss him every day.

If you have some pics you would like to see posted please don't hesitate to forward them along with some information about your dogs.

Thanks again for reading. I will talk to you soon.

Janice