The Three Jacks

Yes, The Three Jacks own an Organic Dog Bakery – Three Jacks Dog Bakery.  Of course I write this blog, tweet and have a Facebook page to promote that business.  But that is not the reason for my promotion of Organic and Natural products for dogs.  I have very strong feelings and beliefs that back my promotion of such products.

The Three Jacks, Beanie, Maddie, and Petey are my dogs and I love them with all my heart and I know they love me too.  Because of my love for them I want provide for them the best possible life I can.  I want them to live long, healthy lives!  It’s wonderful that at 11 years old, Maddie still competes in agility and is in wonderful health!

Maddie 11 years old - still competing in agility!

I’m sure most of you were alarmed, as I was, of the pet food recalls in 2007.  Melamine in dog foods and treats.  And why was this chemical in there?  Profit, the all mighty buck!  The pet products industry is a huge market, according to the American Pet Products Association, Inc. in 2009, $45.5 billion dollars were spent on pets in the United States!  This is one of the fastest growing markets in the country.  Sales in 1998 were only $23 billion.  It’s no wonder so many companies are jumping on the bandwagon to get those dollars.  And do they really care what’s in the products our pets eat or play with?

Big companies like Purina, P & G and others spend millions to advertise their products and therefore they have become household names.  But what is really in these treats that they are pushing to our pets with their cute television commercials?  Let’s take a look at the ingredients in just one very popular product: Pup-Peroni – Original Beef  Recipe -

Pup-Peroni Original Beef Recipe
Ingredients: Beef, Meat By-Products, Soy Grits, Sugar, Liver, Salt, Propylene Glycol, Garlic Powder, Caramel Color, Natural Smoke Flavor, Potassium Sorbate (used as a preservative),Sodium Nitrite (for color retention), Red 40, BHA (used as a preservative), Onion Extract.

Now let’s take a closer look at these ingredients: Open the document – What’s in Pup-Peroni PDF

I don’t know about you, but there certainly are quite a few ingredients in there that I will not feed The Three Jacks.  One in four dogs in the U.S. die of cancer.  Our pets are subject to all types of chemicals in flea products, heartworm preventatives, lawn fertilizer, worming agents – why in the world would we want to have them eating chemicals and questionable ingredients?  It’s not just Pup-Peroni that has these chemicals and bad ingredients – it’s many, many treats, and foods that are produced for our pets.  The way I see it, if it’s not fit for human consumption, it’s not fit for my dogs.  Food for humans and animals are supposed to be nutritious and healthy, not just something to fill the stomach!

I urge you to take a look at the labels of the treats and foods you feed your pets.  Just as in humans – healthy food choices lead to less health problems.  The additional amount you may pay for really good food and treats for your pets means less cost at the vets office, and less discomfort for your pet.

Stop shopping at the big pet superstores and visit your locally owned pet specialty stores.  Here you will find wonderful healthy products for your pets and you will also be helping your local economy!

So – Go Organic! Good for your Dog! Good for your Planet!  – at the very least go natural – no artificial preservatives, no artificial additives!  Look for products without added sugar – they don’t need the empty calories!  Your pets will thank you for the great care you give them with added healthy, happy lives!

With the sale of Natura Pet Products to Proctor & Gamble I was left with the chore of finding a new food for The Three Jacks.  For many years they had thrived on EVO, I was devastated with Natura’s sale.  That was then …. Now I think of it as the best thing that ever happened for The Three Jacks!

I spent days researching foods, I even switched them over to a different kibble for a week or so, all the while I was still researching raw.  Finally, because the cost of the new kibble was just too much I decided to switch The Jacks to raw.  It is something I have thought about many times, but thought it was just too much of a hassle.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Now three weeks into their raw diet, I have gotten into a routine and find feeding raw no more of a chore than feeding kibble.  What exactly do I mean when I say raw?  Raw meat and bones, the prey model.  No vegetables, no cooking, just raw meat and bones.

The first raw meal was interesting… We started off with chicken which is what is generally recommended as the first meat you introduce when feeding raw.  The recommendations are 2 – 3% of the dogs ideal body weight in food each day.  I chose to feed this in two meals, since two meals a day is what they were used to.  So here we go, scale to weigh meat, chicken breasts, meat cleaver, cutting board.  Each little pile of meat put onto a paper plate for each dog.  Petey being the hunter of many things and having just enjoyed a freshly killed rabbit meal two days previous ate away at his chicken with gusto.  Maddie, being the little prima donna she is, I thought would look at me like “um, excuse me, what’s this”, Oh, how wrong I was!  She was thrilled and gobbled it up, crunching away through the bones.  It was Beanie who was confused.  He picked up his hunk of chicken and held it in his mouth, like okay mom I killed it, shall I bury it now?  Being 12 years old and a lifetime kibble eater I can understand the confusion.  So with a little help and encouragement, my holding the chicken and him ripping and biting it, he devoured his first raw meal.

Three weeks of raw feeding behind us now, The Three Jacks have been enjoying chicken, chicken liver, chicken gizzards, and this week pork.  I am so am amazed how excited they are to eat their “real food.”  They crunch through the bones like little wolves!   I have noticed some improvements in a few little health issues, Maddie has always had a runny eye, and it’s pretty much cleared up.  Beanie has/had a sinus condition where he would sneeze big boogers – yuck!, well that problem seems to be gone!  I wasn’t one of those that would have believed such claims of disappearing health issues, but I have seen the results for myself.  Another big difference with raw feeding is what I call the “Poo Factor” – so much less poo, and a lot less stinky!  And no more stinky dog breath – I am truly amazed!

Raw Feeding is not for everyone, but if any of you have even given it the slightest thought, let me say Go for it.  I can’t imagine feeding The Three Jacks kibble ever again.  Of course they still enjoy their organic dog biscuits from Three Jacks Dog Bakery.  I feel so good knowing that Beanie, Maddie and Petey are eating totally nutritious meals and treats.

I don’t know why some cat owners think it is okay to just let their cats roam.  There are 2 such cats that invade our property daily!  The Three Jacks seriously dislike cats, and that’s putting it mildly.  One of the cats seems to either be curious about the dogs, or what I truly believe, purposely likes to torment them!  This cat will parade itself on the other side of the fence about a foot away.  Petey goes totally nuts, the cat does not care.  This same cat has also perched itself in the front window to torment the dogs when they are in the house.

One day a couple of summers ago, I was taking Maddie out to the agility field in the back of my property.  We had to go from one fenced area that’s attached to the house, to a separate area a little ways in the back.  Maddie is an extremely good dog and was excited to be going back for some agility practice.  Because I was in my own yard and Maddie just wanted to go play agility, she was off lead and walking with me to the agility field.  Suddenly the bold cat appeared, taunting Maddie to a game of chase.  Maddie just couldn’t resist.  This was her yard and she wasn’t going to tolerate a cat in it.  So, she chased it two yards over to it’s house.  I ran following her.  Upon our arrival to the cats house, the owner appeared.  This woman immediately started yelling at us!  Maddie was barking at the cat, who so (innocently) was hiding behind her human.  The woman continued yelling at me, telling me I had a wild out of control dangerous dog!  After 5 minutes of her ranting and raving I told her how her cat was in my yard and Maddie simply chased it home.  By now Maddie was in my arms, kissing my face.  The woman’s ranting started again – now calling Maddie vicious and that she should call animal control.  At that point I did become a bit angry but held my temper.  I then said that’s a wonderful idea, that I should call animal control whenever I see her cat in my yard!  I then asked her why did she allow her cat the run of the neighborhood?  She informed me that the cat was an outdoors cat, and that’s just the way it is!  Wow, what is the thought process of such people?  I then asked her, if my dog is not welcome in your yard, what makes you think your cat is welcomed in mine?   Her reply was, that even if she had a fence she couldn’t keep the cat in it so there was nothing she could do about it.  Rather than argue with this very clueless person, I reminded her that there were coyotes around and that her cat could become dinner for them.  I also told her that if one of my dogs got hold of her cat in my yard that I could not guarantee they would not kill it.

I do not hate cats by any means.  My sister has a sweet little house cat that I adore.  But my dogs do hate cats!  I don’t appreciate people who seem to think it’s okay for their cats to roam freely.  I do not appreciate cats that torment my dogs.  This seems to be a problem here that there is no solution to – animal control will not come and catch these roaming cats.  They won’t even go speak with their owners.  But I’m sure if my dogs were roaming or even got loose accidentally, animal control would be dealing with us!

Petey said there's a CAT in our yard!

My sweet little Maddie is 11 years old today!  She is such an amazing sweet little dog, who still loves to play agility.  One of the truly great things about Jack Russells is their long life span and excessive energy – so an old gal like Maddie is still healthy and spunky.

Rolling in the grass!

Playing Agility

Agility A Frame

Brutus the Frenchie loves Three Jacks Dog Bakery’s Valentines Sale.  Apples & Oats Hearts and Chicken Pleasers are on Sale for Valentines Day.  Brutus is an agility friend of The Three Jacks – you can visit Brutus’ Blog to see what else this little “Love Bug” is up to – including some of Brutus’ agility video’s!

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