Fresh New Attitude

So Theo has been on his new Deli Fresh diet for 3 weeks now, and the change has been unreal. We buy the slice and serve logs (we've tried both the turkey and chicken flavors, which are actually very similar, and Theo of course loves both), slice up about 1/3 of a pound twice a day, cut it into pieces, throw it in his bowl, and that's it! No cooking chicken, no cooking rice, no chopping vegetables, no shopping for multivitamins online because the pet stores for some reason never seem to carry anything that's not for joint health. It's fast, it's easy, and the price isn't that bad. Our local Petco sells it for $15/6lb log. We feed Theo ~2/3 lb per day, so it lasts about a week. $15 a week on food, while definitely not as cheap as kibble, by no means breaks my bank. Especially after seeing his reaction to it.

What I like about this food is that it's the closest thing to real whole food I've found (minus real whole food, of course). When you slice into it you see the bits of carrots and rice. It's the color of chicken, it smells like chicken, it feels like chicken, though processed. It's plainly clear that this is real food that's been cooked and then tightly packed into the log form, rather than torched and compressed like charcoal, a la kibble. I feel like I'm feeding my dog real food which makes me feel good.

Then there was Theo's reaction to the food. I wish I could somehow convey how dramatic the change was. Husband, Mr. I don't want to pay that much for food we can make ourselves, was 100% convinced after observing Theo on this diet for a week. No complaints. No hesitation about going back and buying more. Phew! It wasn't just the extra energy. And Theo had a ton of extra energy. (For about a week there our nightly walks turned into nightly runs. He had so much extra energy to burn that he would just run run run! Good thing I'm in shape!) It was his attitude. He was happy. He was cuddling with us, something he never does. He'd let me pet him whenever I wanted, something he never ever ever does! He was playing by himself, something he never does. And his facial expressions always held a smile.

He's since calmed down a bit. He's back to walking on our walks. And he only cuddles when we're eating. But that pep in his step is still there. There's no doubt it was the switch in food. So, of course, I would recommend Deli Fresh to anyone, and I'm heartily grateful it was recommended to me! (Thanks Philip's owner!)

As random aside: apparently Theo loves Golden Spoon frozen yogurt as much as I do. They have a pumpkin pie flavor this month that is so fantastic Husband and I got a quart of it on Halloween (they were having a special for $5, ooooh yeah!). Theo was eying my bowl big time when I was having some last night, so when I was finished, I put the bowl on the floor to let him have the melty bits. Now, if you'll recall, Theo is a big fat chicken who is scared of dishware. Usually when we try this, he backs away and looks longingly but warily at it. This time after his usual initial hesitation, he went for it! That's how badly he wanted some. I can't say I blame him. That pumpkin pie flavor is darn good! Too good, in fact! I've never eaten this much frozen yogurt in my life!

And in other Theo's exciting life news, we actually made it to the dog park, yeesh, two weekends ago. Man, it's been awhile since I updated, huh? In my defense, I was in St. Louis last week. Anyway, it had been forever since we had seen our other Corgi friends and Theo was very excited. I tried taking him to the dog park a few weeks ago, and he had none of it. He just laid there and looked bored. But with his Corgi friends around, he actually played a little bit! It's crazy, I know.

Of course, the picture here is not Theo playing. That's Theo bullying Philip. As I've said before, Theo is usually sweet and submissive with other dogs, but when he encounters a more submissive dog, sometimes he becomes a real bully. Philip is one such pup. It doesn't help that he's so people friendly. Every time I tried to take his picture, Philip would run up and wedge his head between my face and the camera as if to say "Nevermind pictures when you could be petting me!" I am more in love with that dog every time I see him. Yeah, that could be why Theo doesn't let him get anywhere near me. Heh. Fortunately, Philip has the most easy going personality of any living creature I've ever seen. So he's totally unphased make these kinds of faces at him. I wouldn't be so unphased. That's for sure. You can view the rest of the mini meetup photos here. I haven't had a chance to upload them all, but that's most of 'em.

Have you heard about the new dog flu virus that's going around: H3N8? Apparently it's serious enough that my doggy daycare is requiring Theo to be vaccinated by next week. That was fast! I don't even get myself vaccinated for flus. Yet another way in which Theo is better treated than his owners. Hehe. Is anyone else getting their little ones vaccinated?