The Rest of The Story.....

(my mother, Jerri)

I posted this as my status update on Facebook earlier this evening~

Feeding time once again at the C. house, organ night ~YUCK! Not my favorite meal of this raw feeding diet, I HATE liver, but the dogs love it & they need it sooo...

Followed with this comment~

if you hear gagging, that would be me, the smell is disgusting! EEEWWW

Now since then, I've had a number of comments about what others feed their dogs and a few emails telling me they LOVE liver or asking me why don't I like liver? Any self-respecting southern girl loves liver and onions. Well, let me tell you, yes I was born in the south and I do live in the south now, and I do consider myself a southern girl BUT, I was raised in the DC area, not quite far enough north to qualify as a Yankee, but far enough to have grown up in a different culture than the culture here in my beloved Tennessee hills. So I guess you could call me a transplanted, somewhat northern, southern girl with a few northern habits and even more southern *traditions*

Now, my reason for this post? Well like the title says, I'm going to give you The Rest of The Story "Why I can't stand liver" The answer is really pretty simple, it makes me sick to my stomach, literally. There are no amount of onions in this state to cover up that horrible smell or taste, it's. still. liver. I don't care what you cover it with, and trust me, I've tried it all.


My wonderful mother was always a southern woman at heart. She raised my sister and I by herself, yet still managed to work a full-time job as a Deli Manager, keep a roof over our heads, keep clothes on our back and food in our belly. She managed to cook supper for us most nights. She managed to give us wonderful holiday memories and she instilled alot of those "southern traditions" into both of us.

(circa 1979, L-R~my sister, Mom, me & my baby brother in the back)

One of those "southern traditions" she stuck to for as long as I can remember.....liver and onions every Friday night!!! I HATED it!! I hated to see Friday come. I thought of all kinds of ways to be out of the house or eat at a friend's house, or be sick or whatever, so long as I could get out of eating that blasted liver! Most times, it didn't work. I cried, I begged, I pleaded, I sat there refusing to eat, (which I found out VERY quickly was the worst thing to do, I still had to eat it, only by then it was cold!) *insert gag* I covered it with ketchup, I covered it with A-1 Sauce, Worcester sauce, Soy sauce, I think one time I even tried to make a sandwich out of it complete with the mayo on 2 slices of bread (don't try it, that was pretty awful) Mom wouldn't budge, I was eating that liver one way or another and if I made it worse by adding all that junk to it, then so be it. I would throw up every time I ate the stuff, every single time! It literally made me sick to my stomach!

Finally it got to the point that Mom would say "Eat it or take a whipping" well, you guessed it, I took the whipping. For the longest time, can't even remember how long to be honest, maybe 6-8 months, I took a whipping every Friday night rather than eat that liver!

I'll give y'all a minute to quit giggling........

ok, finished??

One day, many years later I brought Jake to Mom's and we were going to stay the weekend with her, we got there on Friday afternoon. Guess what was for supper?? Yep, liver. I smelled it the minute I opened the front door! I remember I started gagging as soon as I smelled it and I told her I would just go back home, let Jake stay the night and come back in the morning, I can't stand that smell. She rolled her eyes and said "Oh fer cryin out loud, yer gonna stand there and tell me yer gonna get sick on yer stomach if you stay? You ain't no kid anymore, yer 28 years old and I promise I ain't gonna whip you if you don't eat it"

She rolled her eyes and muttered something else I couldn't understand, but I told her "Mom I really can't stand the smell, it really does make me sick, my stomach is churning just smelling it. Now if you want it that's fine, if Jake wants some that's fine, but I can't eat it!"

I will never forget the look on her face when I said that and I will never forget what she said next..... "You mean to tell me I whipped you all those Friday nights and you were tellin the truth? It really WAS makin you sick on yer stomach??"

I told her yes, I wasn't faking it, I wasn't just being a bratty kid, I really did get sick eating it. Her answer..... "well I swan, I'm sorry I whipped you, but you shoulda told me you really was gettin sick" Then she busted out laughing! Probably because my mouth was hanging open with my lower lip somewhere down around my knees!

Telling that story now makes me smile, remembering the look on her face and that sly little grin she would give, makes me smile. I miss my mother horribly, more today than ever, but I don't miss that Friday night liver!

Now I leave you with a picture of what brought all this up to begin with, the bowls, filled with liver on a previous liver night at the C. house. Yes, I was gagging as I fixed it and my stomach was churning while I was standing over it smelling it, but I made it through once again.

For those wondering, my sister hates liver as much as I do, but she would eat hers, sometimes she would cry about it, just like I did, but she ate her liver and never *took the whipping*

My brother who was raised by my uncle, loves liver, go figure.

Fostering Chico, the Bull Terrier

We own and show Bull Terriers, you know, the "Target" dog, or if you are a little older, "Spuds MacKenzie" or perhaps a little older still, the "General Patton" dog. Those are just 3 famous Bullies, there are quite a few more listed here that you may not even know are Bull Terriers! I've posted about their antics a few times, the main one that stands out at this moment, the time they went on "An Adventure" through the neighborhood at the butt crack of dawn! Oh yes, they can be trying, they can be stubborn, they are bossy, they are bratty, they are funny, they are clowns, they are loving and we are absolutely devoted to this breed! I can't imagine my life ever being without one. They bring me laughter and lift my spirits each and every day. (See what I mean?)

My Pappy rolling around in the bed. LOL

That being said, I am a member of the Bull Terrier Club of America and being a part of that club, I feel I should do my part in rescuing Bull Terriers in need. When I can't foster a dog, I try to donate funds to our rescue committee. The BTCA and it's members try their best to help any Bullie that needs rescuing.

Last Friday, I get an email telling me of a Bull Terrier in the Johnson City Animal Shelter and since I am the closest to him and he's slated to be euthanized in 2 days, could I go get him? Of course I can, even in the middle of moving things to the new house, how could I live with myself if I didnt help this poor boy. He was an "owner surrender" a little thin, but not emaciated, scars and scabs all over his face from fighting and all he wants to do is play and be loved on.

"commando crawl" Bullies LOVE to do this

can you see him smiling?

He walks on lead fairly well and will "Sit", we are working on "Down" right now, and "Kennel Up" for when he needs to be crated. He loves his raw food and looks at me like I am Greek Goddess of Food or something. He will make someone an awesome pet and I hope he will find his very own forever home. He hasn't offered to fight with or try to hurt any dogs here, but I haven't had them out together yet. I want to make sure he is not contagious from being in the shelter. He also has ignored the chickens next door, could care less about our birds and seems to like men and women both. He's very playful and his eyes show a typical Bullie glint of mischievousness.

I will keep everyone updated on his progress. Right now, he is at 48 pounds and as soon as I can give him a bath (he has stitches from being neutered) I'll be able to better tell the condition of his skin and coat.

enjoying his first turkey drumstick

So, here we are, 2 people trying to move from one house to another, caring for our own brood of 15 dogs, 6 birds and a Bearded Dragon, both of us running our own businesses and we figure what's one more? Neither of us could bear the thought of a wonderful dog being put down because some jerk of an owner decided either he didn't want it anymore, or just didn't want to deal with the responsibility of taking care of one. At any rate, Chico is here until he can find a forever home.

playing with Hubby

Bullies live for "good times" they relish in life and all it has to offer, getting everything out of it they can, I hope I can take lessons from my Bullies and remember to "Live Life to the Fullest, enjoy every minute of it!"

Bullie hugs and kisses,

Angie (and the Tennessee Tribe + one)

6 pounds of Chicken Livers

Most of you know we feed our dogs a Raw Diet, meaning, they get no kibble or any other kind of dog food at all, they get meat and only natural treats. All of their food comes from the grocery or the meat packing plant that serves food for us humans. Everything that goes into their little bodies could just as well be going into ours.

They get chicken, beef, Jack Mackrel, venison, turkey, rabbit, quail, and more. They also get cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, deer legs (in season), beef ribs, bananas and more. When feeding a raw diet, there are some guidelines to follow, they have to have organ meals, (liver, kidney etc), they have to have supplements, they have to have bone. It sounds daunting, but it really isn't. Just takes some practice and some learning and the internet is filled with all kinds of sites to get that learning. It is also filled with sites that will give you wrong information, the trick is finding the right place and the right people. I found just those people on a Yahoo group called Raw4Bullies.

My adventure into the raw food diet began when Feather, my 3.5 year old Bull Terrier was diagnosed with Demodectic Mange and secondary skin infections, among other things when she was just a baby. Nothing was helping her and going to the vet once a week was doing nothing but making my vet bills grow trying to treat her and get her better. I started searching online and found that wonderful group and the rest is history, as they say. I started her on this diet and within a month, I could see a HUGE change! No more problems with mange, no more skin infections and for a girl who started her life off being at the vet's office at least once a week, she hasn't been to the vet for anything other than a rabies vaccination in over 2 years!

(Feather in her Santa hat "talking" to me)

So, I will tell anyone who will listen about this diet, how my dogs are healthier now than they EVER were, how Dr. Steve (our vet) will see us in the store or elsewhere and ask us to bring the Bullies to visit with him since he never gets to see them. Anyone with ANY questions about it, please leave a comment or email me and I will help you give your dog the best it's ever had, I promise, you won't regret it.

Now, the idea behind this blog post.....Last night was organ meal night, chicken livers to be exact, and Robert was working late, so I had the honors. I HATE liver, I mean I really HATE liver, (used to take a whipping every Friday night while I was growing up over it, Mom would say "You eat it, or you get a whipping" I would take the whipping) it gags me, turns my stomach and generally gives me a "sick in my stomach" feeling just looking at it, never mind handling it or smelling it. If anyone were here watching me dish it out, I'm sure they would be laughing at me with tears in their eyes, watching me wretch every few seconds, mumbling about how much I hate liver and having to take me teeth out to keep from gagging even worse! HA! Robert gets a big kick out of it, me, not so much. So last night, while I was going through this horrible ordeal all by myself, with no one to laugh at me except the dogs, I thought, "I'm going to post this on my blog for all the world to see, pictures and all"

Here you go, pictures of all the bowls before adding the supplements. One of my dear friends, Janice (Mom to TraceyBelle, Pappy's half sister, also raw fed from birth) tells me feeding at our house reminds her of an Army Mess Hall, with everything lined up and weighed out. (please excuse the mess behind the bowls, we are in the midst of moving and things are all in an uproar around here)

You will notice there is one bowl that doesn't have food in it, that would be Pappy's bowl. Our baby Bullie. Pappy is 10 months old, weighs nearly 60 pounds and is the picture of health and beauty! Pappy is 4th generation raw fed, meaning, his mother, his father, his grandmother, etc are ALL raw fed as well. I have had dogs all my life, and he is, by far, the healthiest puppy I have EVER had! I attribute it to his diet and the fact that he has NEVER had any dog food or kibble of any kind since birth. Anyway, Pappy will not eat chicken livers, I don't care how I serve them, cold, warm, hot, seared, mixed with cottage cheese, with a dollop of yogurt, nothing, it doesn't matter, he will not eat a chicken liver!! So, Mr Papoose gets beef liver instead. Let me tell you, beef liver gags me worse than chicken livers, I can smell that stinkin stuff across the room. I fixed his bowl first so I could get that wretched smell out of the house before going on to the rest of the kids.

(Pappy (L) with his littermate Bama, also raw fed in October at the Nationals. Bama's Mama tells me, he won't eat chicken livers either)

So, like I said, if you want to know more, learn about how much better this diet is for your dog or cat, please, please leave me a comment or email me. I will help you the best I can. There are lots of places that sell raw food already mixed and ready to go. With 15 dogs, around here, it's more feasible for us to buy it ourselves and go from there, but if you only had one or 2 dogs, feeding the pre-mix would work for you.

Hope you found this post interesting and didn't gag too much looking at "6 pounds of chicken livers" :)

Blessings everyone!

Angie