We've been on diets. We've tried super foods. We've spent all of our money at Whole Foods on one trip. Overall, we've been on health kicks. For the most part, that's a really, really good thing. Personally, I'm majorly into healthy, organic eating (I'm pretty much hooked on Chia seeds) and I really enjoy cooking for myself and others.

In April of 2012, I became vegetarian. I have always loved vegetables and for a more recent part of my life, eating healthily has even become a passion. My other main passions include running, hiking and dogs. On April 1st of 2006, my family and I had adopted our first dog, a Beagle/Sheltie mix named Krypto. He was already four years old and shaped my love for animals throughout my whole life.

Later on, in July of 2011, we adopted a second dog, a sweet, but previously abused, terrier mix. He had the head and legs of a Jack Russell, but the body and the spirit of a Pitbull-type dog. I have bonded especially close with Bigby and he inspired me to take up running and to do many other things. Mid-2014, I become interested in home cooking for dogs. I found lists of good-for-dogs foods and started my own concoctions to use with his kibble (Natural Balance Fish & Sweet Potato Mixture).

My first recipe

My first recipe was basically just carrots, brown rice and green beans. I knew that this wasn't a very balanced diet for him, so I just put small amounts of the mixture along with mostly kibble in his meals. Since then, I have done much more research about this topic. I've also found that different people have different opinions on the diets of dogs and how much of their meals should be made up meat.

As a vegetarian, I sort of wished that meat wasn't important in a dog's diet and that he could live as I did. I knew that it wasn't fair to not give Bigby the proper nutrition for him to thrive on and it was just sort of selfish. Instead of eliminating meat from his diet, I researched the terms, "Cage-Free" and "Free-Range" to see if this was the kind of meat that was raised humanely (the main reason I became vegetarian). I was surprised to see that these terms were terribly misleading. Instead, I've educated myself on humanely-certified meat and have even gotten to the point of reading the instructions for farmers to become certified. I felt fairly satisfied with the regulations and restrictions, so I decided that this meat was appropriate to be used for Bigby's food.

Bigby landing a perfect hurdle jump.

Every dog deserves good food. Bigby is very active and whenever I run, I always make sure he tags along (my own personal teammate!) His diet is fueling his needs and giving him the strength and energy he needs to lead an active, happy and healthy life with me. Dog food has grown from table scraps to cheap kibble, to misleading kibble standards and finally to homemade, well-balanced recipes. I hope to one day write a book on feeding your dog homemade food. From there, I began
"Conscious Living - Dog Style!"

Please follow my journeys as I seek out sustainable dog-related products and recipes that keep your dog in tip-top shape and eat as well as we do.