Vegan Dog: Is it Possible?

Holiday time is a time when I think about food. A lot. I think about baking, I think about eating, and, inevitably, I think about what I will not be eating.

My life over the past decade has been a bit of a revolving door when it comes to the food choices that I have made. When I was 19, I decided I wanted to be a vegan; however, I didn't have the know how to make good food choices and lived mostly on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Oreo cookies. Yes, you can technically be a vegan and eat no veggies. The extreme weight loss and lack of energy that this brought on influenced me to return to my old ways as a meat eater. And then began the back and forth from meat eater to vegetarian and back again with short bursts of veganism when I was feeling extra inspired.

Flash forward to the summer of 2012 (when we adopted McGee) when I felt a shift that made me
desire a vegan way of living more than ever before. The connection that I felt with McGee brought up so many questions for me. I remember watching her play in her new backyard and thinking how can I eat another being when I am witness to how much joy this little dog is capable of experiencing? Surely a cow or pig isn't that much different?

I have since educated myself about factory farming and plant based cooking to the point that I feel confident about both my reasons for choosing vegan and my ability to provide myself with a healthy diet. When I'm paying attention and eating with awareness, a vegan diet makes me feel healthier and happier, in body and in mind, then I ever have before.

Sitting for salad.

I don't claim perfection. Being vegan 100% of the time can be super challenging- I've definitely eaten cheese on occasion (the absolute hardest thing for this Wisconsin girl to give up) and I've had a few doughnuts too. Dog Dad is a great support system for me and the food we keep in our home is all completely vegan. We even had a vegan meal for the reception at our wedding this summer which was fun to plan and was received very well by our family and friends.

What's the point of this spiel? Well, one of the challenges I didn't expect when I made this decision about my lifestyle is that I feel super weird about the fact that I feed McGee dog food made out of other animals. I mean, I love her so much and here I am watching her eat other creatures. It just seems bizarre to me. I cringe when I see pictures of dogs happily chomping on bully sticks (bull penises), I was super freaked out when we decided to use dog food with lamb in it as a training reward, and I know my dog has lusty feelings about bacon, but that pig may very well have been smarter than McGee!

The challenge is that, while I can adopt a vegan diet and then analyze how I feel and make changes to meet my nutritional needs, McGee can't tell me if an all veggie diet is making her feel crappy or happy. And have you ever tried Googling "can my dog be a healthy vegetarian"? You will get every result from people telling you that their dog lived a freakish 25 years as a vegetarian to those who say you will kill your dog by not letting them eat meat. I'm not sure how to provide McGee with everything she needs on a cruelty free diet. I don't want to hurt her, but I also don't want to hurt all those chickens that are ground up in her dog food. I seriously feel like it would require me to go back to school and get a degree in dog nutrition to know what's best. What's a girl to do?



I feel you VeganPolice. I really do.

For now, McGee enjoys her Blue Buffalo chicken and rice food and all of her treats are vegan: sweet potato dog biscuits, peanut butter in her Kong, broccoli or green beans for something extra special. The fact that she's reactive and needs extra special treats in order to focus adds to the challenge. I gave in and let her have pizza, lamb, hot dogs and an array of other items that gross me out during her 8 week training course.

I know that there's the argument that a wild dog would be out there eating meat to survive, but the reality of the situation is that McGee just isn't a wild dog. She's my dog and it's up to me to provide her with food and make sure she's healthy and well cared for. And I want what's best for her, it's just really hard to come to terms with the fact that she's living at the expense of other creatures.

Are you a vegetarian or vegan who feeds your dog meat? Do you believe a dog can live a healthy life as a vegetarian?

McGee's Holiday Gift Giving Guide: Part II

In this installation, we will focus on gifts that McGee would like to have for herself. Don't worry, she's not going to get everything on her list. She'll have to narrow it down and be good...

For Dogs Who Like to Pull

McGee might disagree with me on this one, but we just got a Snoot Loop for her and so far, we (the humans), love it. Although she was already used to her Gentle Leader, it's still taking McGee a bit of time to grow accustomed to the extra structure that's built into her Snoot Loop, namely the piece that comes down between her eyes. It seems to me that, as she gets more and more comfortable, we are noticing less pulling and more paying attention from her. We've even stopped double leashing her to her harness and head halter in favor of using only the Snoot Loop on walks.

Ma, stop staring at my Snoot!

 

For Dogs Who Like to Chew

McGee's favorite chew toy in the house is an antler. It also happens to be my favorite chew to in the house because A. nothing had to die for her to have it and B. it was free because Dog Dad found it in the woods. Now that it's starting to wear down, I've been wondering: where can I find her a new antler if I can't find another in the woods? The answer: Grateful Shed Antler Chews. I will definitely be checking these guys out. Especially since they offer Moose and Elk chews (what are the odds that I'll find one of those just sitting around in Maryland?) and their prices are way more reasonable than anything I've on the shelf.

Bonus: Grateful Shed draws a client's name each month and plants a tree in their dog's name. How cool is that? That is something we can totally get behind.

For Dogs Who Like to Walk (In the Dark)

We need to get a replacement for our the light that McGee wears on her collar when we go for night walks. Especially since she is a black dog, we find a light on her collar makes us feel much safer when we walk her in the dark. We also practice extra safety (and dorkiness) by wearing headlamps and reflective vests of our own. These PetLit LED collar lights by Nite Ize are a fun addition to your dog's collar and keep them safe and easy to see in the dark.

For Dogs Who Like to Shiver

Stop it. Just stop. A dog pig?!?! Now your dog can be warm and embarrassed adorable at the same time! You'll have to check out Courtanai's other cute creations for yourself over at her Etsy shop.

Perfect for dogs who oink. This just solidifies the fact that I cannot eat a pig.

For Dogs Who Like to Minimize Their Intake of Animal Products

Dog Dad and I do our best to stick to a vegan diet. We know it's not for everyone, but it makes us feel good to remember the welfare of all creatures when we make choices about our daily food intake. We have thought about transitioning McGee to a fully vegetarian diet, but haven't yet found a vegetarian dog food that we feel would meet all her nutritional needs. For now, we stick to vegan treats and chews. We are intrigued by this new little vegan bakery called The Kind Puppy. The treats sound almost good enough for us to eat!


Sweet Potato Christmas Mix anyone? Yes please!

For Dogs Who Like to Help the Earth

Earthdog is the first company I ever bought a dog collar from. 10% of their profits go to Kody's Fund, a non-profit which funds spay and neuter programs. The products they make are earth friendly and they also take in foster dogs and get them ready for adoption. They even name their different collars after dogs they love. We give them five out of five stars for sure!

For McGee

Shhhhh! Don't tell her!!! I think McGee is getting a new tag from Purely Personalized this Christmas. They are just too cute to bear.

 

For Dogs Without a Home

A foster home, a bag of treats, a Kong, a jar of peanut butter... it doesn't take much to make the season brighter. Many dog treats and toys are on sale at this time of year. Please remember your local shelter dogs this holiday season when you consider deserving charities to give to.

For those of you who missed it, Dog Dad had a fun gig this weekend dressing up as Santa and getting his picture taken with local dogs to raise money for the Humane Society of Calvert County. The weather was yucky and the roads icy, but quite a few families still braved the snow and rain to have their dogs (and one cat) meet Santa. Molly Humphrey of Artistic Imagez donated her time and talents to the event and snapped some super photos of Santa and this sweet dog, who is currently available at HSCC. Special thanks to HSCC board member Jill Lee of Custom Dog Jackets for organizing a great event!

Such a sweet boy- his tail never stopped wagging even though he was feeling a little shy!

Does your dog get holiday gifts? Do you wrap them? Do you give gifts to dogs that aren't your own?