Going raw.

On Thursday, I took Logan to have his teeth cleaned, as they were badly in need. His breath smelled like poop and fish, and his teeth were quite tartar-laden.

Logan's had two dental cleanings before, and he loves having his teeth brushed, but he has not-so-great teeth.

In the previous two cleanings, Logan didn't slow down in the least after returning home after being under anesthesia. This time... well, I was honestly afraid I wouldn't be able to get him out of my car by myself, as The Architect was still on his way home from work at the time.


Logan's just not as young as he used to be...


Logan is since doing great, and his teeth are pearly white, and his breath no longer causes small children to run crying to their mothers.

However, Akitas are large dogs, and are therefore not very long-lived (11-12 years), and become "seniors" at a younger age than most other breeds. Between Logan's age (he's 6), and the fact that I don't like putting an animal under anesthesia if I don't have to, I've decided to switch the dogs from a kibble diet to a raw/BARF (biologically appropriate raw foods) diet. Chewing on raw bones scrapes their teeth and helps keep them clean.

I've tried it with Logan when he was much younger, but I didn't research it well, and though Logan did well on the raw diet, I don't think I ever truly got the hang of it.

Blaze and Logan both occasionally get raw beef bones or hamburger as a treat, but I think they'd do much better on a mostly-raw food diet.

Aside from it being better for them, in the case of SHTF, the only thing available for dogs to eat will be raw meat and anything else that can be scavenged.

So, I ordered


to better prepare myself to try the BARF diet again and to make sure I do it properly.