Friday Favorites | Duke and Trixie with a Dog Food Recipe.

Hey Hey Friday! I hope everyone had a great week and ready for a FUN weekend!! I am sharing all about Duke and Trixie today plus how I make their dog food! 

It is no secret how much we love our dogs! They really are our family. They keep me company during the day when the kids are at school and I'm working in the craft room. 

If you look through all the pictures on my phone, I have just as many pictures of the dogs as I do my kids. Actually I have more pictures of Trixie because I swear Duke runs from the camera. 

They both go in carpool line with me just about every afternoon and they know when it's time to leave. 

Let me tell you about each one. 

Duke is for sure the Alpha and lets everyone know it. He is our 8 year old long haired blue merle Chihuahua and the blue merle is how he has one blue eye and one brown eye. With his coloring and markings, people often ask if he is a Papillion or an Australian Shepherd. 

If he sees someone walking outside, he will bark and bark until they are long out of sight. He will sit on the end table and just look outside and "guard" the house. 

His Birthday is January 11th and he gets to go through the CFA drive through. 

and we sing Happy Birthday and he has to share his nuggets with his sister. 

More nuggets for Valentine's Day. 

A rare moment when he actually snuggled up in my lap. He is NOT a cuddler. 

Duke loves to go for walks but hates his harness. He acts like I put a brick on his back! HA 

He lets his human sister dress him up and carry him around like a baby. 

Most days you can find him like this in my craft room. 

Occasionally, he will let you sneak in a snuggle or two! 

He follows me everywhere I go including photographing stuff for the blog. Can you spot him below?? 

He loves his squeaky duck and his "chewy" bones.  

In carpool, he always sits in the back. 

He is my sweet sweet boy. But he sure can be a grumpy old man! He is so smart and very protective of his people.  We are so thankful he "adopted" us. He started off as our neighbors dog and when he wasn't working for their family, they asked if we wanted to take him in and it was a no brainer. He was meant to be with us! 

He will get the Chihuahua "shakes" anytime it rains hard, a thunderstorm, or fireworks.  Here he is in his thunder jacket! It takes him a few minutes to get use to the jacket but then it really does help him. I bought it at PetSmart. 

Now let's move onto our Trixie girl. 

Trixie is the most chill dog EVER. She is so laid back, go with the flow....until it comes to food and then she will snap at her brother and she gets in big trouble. 

I always say that if she was a human she would walk about with two blonde pigtails flapping in the wind! HA 

The closer Trixie can get to you the better off she will be. 

She will find the tiniest spot of sunshine to lay in. 

She will take all the snuggles. 

The closer she can get to her daddy and she is a happy pup. 

If she sees pull out my blanket, she is ready to lay in between my legs. 

She sleeps every night with Ella. 

Like I said before, she loves to sun. 

Always up for a car ride. 

But loves to NAP!! 

But give her all the "chewy" bones! 

She loves her fur brother as much as she loves her humans. 

She always has to be touching someone. 

She gets the front seat in carpool line!! 

This is about the most exercise she gets!! 

This picture sums up Trixie's life. She is ROTTEN and doesn't know that she is a dog. 

We love our Trixie girl. She came into our lives when we needed her the most. When Ella asked for a pug puppy for Christmas, I wasn't sure if I was ready for another pug but when we found Trixie. I knew I was ready!! 

I get asked all the time how I make their dog food and why I make their food. It all started because Trixie use to have major black under her eyes. 

Like this... Can you see how her undereye is just dark?? 

That lead me to start researching. I know you can't believe everything you read on the internet but I found over and over again with a google search that besides seasonal allergies food allergies are dogs second common allergies. Which lead me to start researching dog food and that lead me to Just Food for Dogs. 

I have a DISCLAIMER. I am not advising you to make your dog food this way, I am just telling you what works for my two dogs. I do not make use the same chicken that the DIY Chicken and Rice recipe calls for. I only use boneless skinless chicken breast then I follow the rest of the recipe with carrots, apples, spinach, and rice. 

Another DISCLAIMER- I cook it in my crockpot on high for 5 hours. I have been making this dog food this way for 2 years now and both dogs get a great report at our vet and she knows the food I feed them. You need to check with your vet before you switch dog food. 

Last DISCLAIMER- Just Food for Dogs is NOT affiliated with this post and all opinions are my own. 

SO let me show you how I make their dog food. I make it weekly. Duke gets a 1/2 cup in the morning and at night, Trixie gets a cup in the morning and a cup at night. 

This is what it looks like when it starts in the crockpot... 

a bag of whole carrots, 6 boneless skinless chicken breast, 3 apples sliced (no core or seeds), and a bag of spinach.

After it has cooked on high for 5 hours. I use my meat masher to grind it all together. 

I then add the DIY Chicken Blend and the Omega Plus add 3.5 cups of instant rice stir it all together and unplug crockpot. As it cools, it cooks the rice. (all of the above ingredients make their own juice) 

After it completely cools, I divided it into these large Rubbermaid containers. I keep one in the fridge and freeze the other. 

 

Both of my dogs INHALE it. Trixie even wakes me up at 6am to eat. She never did that with her other dog food. 😉

If you have any questions, please ask in the comments. Again, I make it my own way and DO NOT follow the recipe.