I would say the main difference is that I am very careful about what, how, and when I feed her.
What: Big chunks of food that she can easily swallow. Most of her food is 1.5 - 2.5 inch cubes of Fresh Pet. I used to squeeze it into round meatballs, but now I leave it in whatever shape I cut it in. She eats 1 pound per day. And in place of chicken backs, I feed several Instinct medallions. In the beginning, I split the medallions in half, but now that her throat is healed, I feed the whole medallions. Riley also gets 2 leafy green egg frittata muffins. I break those into 3 or 4 chunks.
No kibble. No tiny treats. No crumbs. No dusty supplements. I generally use her food chunks as her treats, but also will do 1 inch cubes of cheese.
How: I hand feed (spoon feed raw Instinct medallions) each chunk, one at a time. No more gulping down her food from a bowl. I also feed each meal over time. I might give her 3 chunks, prep food for other dogs, feed her 3 more chunks, continue preparation, 3 more chunks, feed another dog, feed Riley a chunk, feed another dog, feed another chunk, feed last dog, feed another chunk. Then I put everything away and give her another couple of chunks. So her meal might take 10 minutes instead of 30 seconds.
When: I probably feed Riley 1/3 of her food for breakfast, 1/3 for dinner, and the remaining 1/3 throughout the day. If she gets a treat for going in her crate, for example, she gets several chunks. If we go hiking, I bring egg muffins or some food chunks for her recall treats. I try to use up some food during her strength exercises. I also have her do our stairs 3 times in a row each day for chunks. She usually gets the last couple of chunks before bed.
I do not feed her anything significant an hour before or after she runs and plays with a toy. I have noticed it upsets her stomach and she will sometimes get hiccups for an entire evening.
Everything else is back to normal! We could not be happier.
What: Big chunks of food that she can easily swallow. Most of her food is 1.5 - 2.5 inch cubes of Fresh Pet. I used to squeeze it into round meatballs, but now I leave it in whatever shape I cut it in. She eats 1 pound per day. And in place of chicken backs, I feed several Instinct medallions. In the beginning, I split the medallions in half, but now that her throat is healed, I feed the whole medallions. Riley also gets 2 leafy green egg frittata muffins. I break those into 3 or 4 chunks.
No kibble. No tiny treats. No crumbs. No dusty supplements. I generally use her food chunks as her treats, but also will do 1 inch cubes of cheese.
How: I hand feed (spoon feed raw Instinct medallions) each chunk, one at a time. No more gulping down her food from a bowl. I also feed each meal over time. I might give her 3 chunks, prep food for other dogs, feed her 3 more chunks, continue preparation, 3 more chunks, feed another dog, feed Riley a chunk, feed another dog, feed another chunk, feed last dog, feed another chunk. Then I put everything away and give her another couple of chunks. So her meal might take 10 minutes instead of 30 seconds.
When: I probably feed Riley 1/3 of her food for breakfast, 1/3 for dinner, and the remaining 1/3 throughout the day. If she gets a treat for going in her crate, for example, she gets several chunks. If we go hiking, I bring egg muffins or some food chunks for her recall treats. I try to use up some food during her strength exercises. I also have her do our stairs 3 times in a row each day for chunks. She usually gets the last couple of chunks before bed.
I do not feed her anything significant an hour before or after she runs and plays with a toy. I have noticed it upsets her stomach and she will sometimes get hiccups for an entire evening.
