The heart of the matter

I am a lucky person, really. Kip is a GREAT dog. He's easy to train, he has a great temperament, and he has had no health issues to date (knock on wood). Kip has never destroyed anything except his toys, was a breeze to house-train, and loves every person he meets.

For my first-ever dog, Kip is a blessing.

But he will NOT eat his organs. Sigh.

Again, I should really count my blessings. He eats chicken, beef, pork and turkey now, with no problems. But the three things he had either refused or had issues with - beef heart, liver and kidneys - we are still trying to deal with. Heart is a meat, not an organ, so the fact he won't eat it isn't a big issue - but I had a few pounds of it, and didn't want to throw it out. The fact that he refuses kidneys, and doesn't deal well with liver, however, are bigger issues - he needs organ meat as a necessary part of a balanced, healthy diet.

I decided to grind up the heart, kidneys and liver together, freeze in 1 ounce portions, and feed one or two a day as "treats". My thinking was that he will eat liver, and will eat tiny bits of heart as long as they are frozen solid, so this might work.

Yeah.

Day one - ate one in the morning, no problem.

Day two - ate one in the morning with some convincing on my part, ate a second that evening, and promptly vomited. Okay, let's limit it to one a day, until he gets used to them.

Day three - ate one in the morning, no problem.

Day four and five - no way, not eating that.

So, last night, I thawed one, and spread it on the turkey he was getting for supper. That worked - as he had no way of getting the ground-up meat off the turkey meat.

Keep you paws crossed that that continues to work, and hopefully I'll find some chicken organs to try him with next. I really don't want to have to continue to make organ pate for my dog...

Chicken Pot Pie

I should learn not to gloat.

Yep, Kip ate the liver. And then, soon after eating a chicken leg last night, managed to produce copious amounts of vomit. Honestly, I didn't know he had that much capacity.


There was vomit on the floor,
There was vomit on the door,
There was vomit on the rug,
On the couch and on the tug,
There was vomit everywhere.
Even in the poor dog's hair.


Other than the vomit, he was fine. Not lethargic, no fever, so no rushing to the emergency vet. He was fine this morning - he ate breakfast, and his output was fine, and through the normal channel this time.

So, I'm blaming the liver. Possibly too much, too soon. So, we'll try again, with a smaller amount this time. Who knew getting Kip to eat organ meat would be so %*&#@* hard??

You do realize, of course, that this is fate getting back at my for refusing to eat liver, tongue or any other "innard" as a child. Sigh.

Oh, and I won't be eating chicken pot pie anytime soon...

If you can't beat them...

trick 'em!!

I mentioned Kip's first exposure to kidneys recently - it didn't go very well, funny as it was. Tonight, it was liver's turn. So, I thought I would add value to the liver, by turning it into a treat.

Yes, I cut up a few ounces of liver into smaller chunks, then stuffed the chunks into Kip's kong.

By the way, the kong is the purveyor of All Good Things.

Then, I made it even better - by putting the kong on the counter, and working with Kip for a few minutes, heeling around the house and practicing long sits.

It worked a treat, pun intended.

Liver has never disappeared so quickly!

I have to try this with kidneys, to see if it's fail-proof.

Now excuse me - I have to go wash out a kong...