Mixing the canine cocktail

This is a typical array of the range of dog food
that goes into my canine cocktail.

When I talk to people about rescue work generally or about an individual foster dog, one of the questions that always comes up is "what kind of food do you feed?"  The short answer is "whatever I have," but here is a slightly longer explanation.

Food gets donated to me all the time, from individuals, organizations, and businesses, and I really appreciate it.  I feed 8-10 foster dogs at any given time and they consume about 40 pounds a week.  Shown here are the bags of food that went into the canine cocktail that I mixed up this morning.  Donated food varies widely in quality but I mix it together and come out with something pretty middle of the road and usable by most of the fosters.  I don't like to feed food with a lot of dyes in it because I once had a scare when I saw a very red pile of dog poop and thought someone was bleeding.  I can't feed a diet of strictly high-end, super nutritious, grain-free food, because not all dogs can tolerate it.  I get specialty food for seniors and overweight dogs, and puppy food too.  I can't depend on having a steady stream of a particular food so I don't want dogs getting used to that.  What I can depend on is constant supply of a mixed diet, so that's what we use.



I bought this at Tractor Supply.
It holds about 200 pounds of mixed food.

This was a great find on Craigslist.
Waterproof and rodent-proof are essential.

The mix is usually pretty consistent in quality
because of the variety that goes into it.  I save
some from the bottom of the barrel to mix in on
top of each new batch to make an easy transition.

Storing several hundred pounds of dog food was always a problem.  It needs to be accessible, which means being outside near the kennels, but kept dry and out of reach of rodents.  A couple years ago I found this big metal job box on Craigslist.  They are used for storing tools on construction sites.  It can hold 8 - 10 big bags of dry food and my supply of canned food.  For making and using the actual mix, I use a big, hard plastic bin with a securely fitting lid. 



This metal locker is the best thing I ever
brought home from the dump. It resides in the
shed and holds the three different dry foods
 fed to our own dogs.  It's dog-proof!

I do buy food for dogs with specific dietary problems and requirements, such as Hercules, in order to keep them on a constant and controlled diet.  That's usually just an issue with the occasional shepherd.  For most of the fosters, their only dietary preference is "more."  They happily consume my canine cocktail and ask for seconds.