I Love Hunting Season!

I use to hate hunting season, I hated listening to people talk about killing animals. I have no problem with people hunting if they're going to eat as much as what they kill as possible. If they're just hunting for the sake of killing a living creature, that's just sick. I don't support that. Anyway, I'm getting beyond the point... I use to hate hunting season, as an animal advocate, now as a raw feeder I love it!

Everything in the plastic bin is the dogs food, the brown
packaged items are from our beef order we just got!
I'm excited!

Hunting season means people are cleaning out their freezers to make room for the new season. Every now and then I post on my Facebook page, and group Dog Gone Good Training or on my sisters Facebook group Naturally Living in Fort St. James that I am looking for meat. I try to explain bones are okay, any type of meat I will take including organs and freezer burnt or refrozen meat. I will even take it if it's SLIGHTLY past the expiration date (and not frozen), as long as it's not too ripe. Dogs are capable of handling bacterias a lot better than we are and will often eat rotting carcases they come across, the scavengers they are. I've never had a problem feeding them slightly past the expiration date on the packaging.

The last couple weeks I've had a few people contact me, cleaning out their freezers and wondering if I wanted the meat. Most just honestly do not want to see the animal they killed (or the money they spent) to go to waste and knowing it will go to feed my doggies another day makes them feel good too! So not only do I get a few free meals for the dogs but the people giving me the meat are getting something from it too! It's a win/win/win situation if you ask me (the other win being the dogs benefit of course!).

Anyway, I've gotten some interesting types of meats for the dogs, and have had to be careful not to overfeed on the more rich foods like wild game. I left a couple goat heads and a package of goat stew on the counter earlier this afternoon.

Usually I will soak the frozen package in warm water or just let it sit in the sink to thaw. Today I was trying to catch up on dishes I'd gotten behind on so the goat got put on the counter. I'd been puttering around the house all day, doing chores, laundry, up-potted my African Violets (lets hope they don't die!), etc. so the goat on the counter got kind of forgotten. I was finally catching up on the chores and thought awesome, I'll finally get a chance to work on a trick with Unit I'd planned (see my Facebook group posted above for more info), and then I saw it. It looked like something straight out of a horror film. Blood and water had crept across the kitchen counter from the goat as it thawed. Well, the trick would have to be put off again and I would spend the next 20 minutes disinfecting my counter tops and all the items that were on it (including some large jars, my kettle and toaster).

The dogs seemed to really enjoy their goat and coconut oil though!







I've been working on "wait" with Unit for a week now. It may seem kind of cruel, but it's actually an important part of a behavior program for her. Unit is very dog aggressive and has managed to attack 3 dogs since we've had her for just barely a year now. So while it may seem mean to make her wait, it is important for her training and the safety of the dogs in our neighborhood!

This video doesn't work for me! Click HERE to see the original!