6 October 2016

Meet Gracie

Here she is! Meet Grace/Gracie, our two month old Scottish Terrier. 







We picked her up from the airport yesterday and she's currently settling into our home and making us smile - a lot.  She's eating and drinking well and pulling Hanno's shoes around by the laces. She slept well last night, only waking once for a little cry. She's in a box she can't escape from right next to our bed and she looks pretty comfy in there with her warm fleeces.

At the moment we're feeding her Black Hawk puppy biscuits, a chicken, rice and vegetables meal I make myself, water and lactose-free milk. If we run out of home cooked food and can't make one up that day, we'll give her a small tin of salmon, tuna or sardines. So far she likes all the food I've given her. I did some research on puppy and dog food while we were waiting for Grace to arrive, and in opinion, much of the commercial biscuits and tinned food isn't fit for a dog. They contain by-products, corn and wheat which aren't good for dogs or puppies.  We're taking Gracie to our vet tomorrow for a check up and I'll discuss her diet with him. I definitely don't want her to eat those vet endorsed meals or biscuits, I don't want her to eat the science meals, I want her to eat good fresh food cooked here in my kitchen so I know what's in her food.

Here is a review of the current dog and puppy foods on sale in Australia. It's very interesting reading. If you have a dog, check what you're feeding your pet, it might surprise you. I'm surprised that well known vets recommend what they do. Of course you need to keep your pet foods within your family budget but buying commercial foods that contain non-specified ingredients or "meat by-products" isn't the best way to do that.  I'll do a post the next time I make Gracie's food and price it up for you. I think home cooked food gives the best value for money and will keep your pet healthy for a long time. You can put it all in a crockpot and cook it overnight, so it doesn't take a long time to produce good pet food.

In the meantime though, we'll be enjoying this joyful little character we have living with us now. I think Gracie will keep us on our toes, and that's not such a bad thing. ;- )
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64 comments

  1. Congratulations Rhonda and Hanno! Grace is just a beautiful Scottie. She looks so tiny in that picture with Hanno (and sitting next to the shoe). She is a lucky girl who will be well fed and healthy. There are a lot of questionable ingredients in commercial dog food. I call the pose in that second picture "frogging out" - Bailey did that a lot, especially when he wanted to cool off. Wish I could stop by and see her in person - enjoy! Beth in MN

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    1. Our schnauzer Stubby lays like that too - "full frogger" we call it! =)

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  2. Hello Gracie, what a sweetie you are. Big hugs from me. xxx

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  3. Gracie is just adorable Rhonda - may you have many happy moments with her. I'm sure she will bring much joy. Margaret

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  4. Oh my goodness, she is just so beautiful! Puppies are just the sweetest! I hope you have a wonderful time with her Rhonda and Hanno. I'm so glad to see her settling in. :) xx

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  5. She is just too cute. Gracie will be great company for you & your extended family.

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  6. Gracie is a little sweetie. You are all going to have so much fun together!

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  7. Lovely to see Gracie on your blog. My family and I are looking forward to regularly checking in on grace and see her progress. We are so happy your happy with her. She's a gorgeous puppy and scotties are the best breed. Thanks for giving her a loving home.
    Alannah aka the breeder

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    1. Hello Alannah (the breeder LOL) We're so happy with Gracie. She's obviously healthy, she's got such a sweet character and just the right amount of mischievousness. And you've socialised her perfectly - she really is a product of your large (in children and puppies) caring family. I couldn't be happier with her. Thank you.

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    2. Well, them and Shelties, of course!

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    3. We're so pleased you and Hanno are happy with her. Gracie and her siblings have been a labor of love for my family.
      Alannah aka the breeder 😜

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  8. What a gorgeous little pup, have fun!

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  9. You know of course,Gracie has won our hearts. We will all be wanting lots of new pictures and will be barely able to wait for the next episode of "Watching Gracie Grow". Thanks for sharing her with us!
    JudieJ

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  10. She is a beautiful girl, wishing you so many happy years of love & fun (mischief too).
    I don't fee my girl commercial food either.

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  11. She is so gorgeous Rhonda & Hanno & she couldn't have found a better home. I agree with you about dog food, I started making our 2 dogs food from your recipe a few years ago & they have never had tinned food since. When I took them to the vets a couple of months ago for their annual checkup the vet asked me what I feed them as the are in such great condition. Home made is definately the best.

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  12. What a darling dog!

    With our last dog, when we started cooking her food from real food (the recipe you posted years ago) Sadie's health improved, she lost her bloated look and her coat and skin looked great!

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  13. Oh my! She's just adorable! I am with you on the homemade food. I've always made my own dog food and it couldn't be easier. Based on my vet's recommendations I mix up a batch every couple of weeks with baked chicken breast, rice, peas, carrots, sweet potato, and just a bit of olive oil. I also add crushed pet vitamins though I'm not convinced of the need for them. My girl is healthy and happy on this homemade diet. Best wishes as you settle in with this little bundle of fun!

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  14. She's very cute. We use Black Hawk dry food for our dog (a Finnish Lapphund) on the advice of our very experienced breeder. Home cooked food can be good and I think this is combination with a nutritious dry dog food, bones to work on and homemade treats works really well.

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  15. What an adorable dog!!!!!! Is there a link to your homemade dog food? Cheers, Kelly in MI, USA

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    1. https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5089828552519076506#editor/target=post;postID=5231795915990374079

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  16. She's adorable! Congratulations!!! We are planning on getting a freezer and as soon as we can do that I will be buying chicks that are intended for meat birds and raise them myself. Then we will be cooking those up for ours dog's food, with rice and veggies we start growing in our garden. I have one dog that has skin problems, and it seems the better the food we give him, the less problems he has with his skin.

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  17. Ack! Too sweet!! Having that puppy energy around is so fun. I did a lot of research on dog food years ago when we first adopted our pups, and I've never fed them commercial food. Here in the US, I know vets are sponsored/get kickbacks for selling and promoting certain commercial pet foods. It was actually a book I read by an Australian author (Ian billinghurst, I think) who convinced me to feed a raw/biologically appropriate diet. So that's what we do (raw meaty bones, eggs, fish oil, some veggies and rice ocassionally) and it's worked wonderfully for our dogs. Our LGD even helps herself to raspberries off the bush in the garden :)
    -Jaime

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    1. I've got that book too Jaime, isn't it excellent? I was feeding our dogs a home cooked diet before I read Dr Billinghurst's book and once I read that I haven't looked back!

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  18. Oh my goodness Rhonda, Gracie is just gorgeous!

    Enjoy your new found love.

    xTania

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  19. She is adorable, just the perfect combination, sweet and a little mischievous, have fun!

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  20. She is very sweet - have your grandsons met her yet - they will be besotted. Our little dog will be ten next month and yet many people think she is still up a puppy when they meet her as she is full of beans She mainly has uncooked grass fed beef and a few dry biscuits, She also gets a bit of cooked chicken and fish and veg at times. Definitely a lot of dubious filler and too much salt in processed dog food.

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  21. A raw diet is really the best way. I feed my cat a raw diet of minced meats bought from my vet and the diced chicken breasts I buy from a good supermarket here in the UK She also gets the occasional raw chicken wing in order for her to crunch the bone which is very good for dental health.

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  22. She looks so cute....she will bring you both years of happiness. Pets are so good for you. Sienna's budgie says "I love you" and "Good Morning" and "Who's a good boy" every day and you can't help but laugh and smile when you hear these words so clearly come from such a tiny little friend. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane

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  23. She is beautiful, I am sure she will bring you all much joy. I have no chance to make homemade animal food I am afraid, but I am sure they do put a lot of junk in commercial animal food. The cats love nothing better than when the boys catch fresh fish for them in the lake. Have fun with sweet Gracie. Pam in Norway

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  24. What a sweetie pie! Enjoy.

    Love & hugs ~ FlowerLady

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  25. Oh, a sweet wee Scottie. That warms the cockles of my Scottish heart. Wishing you all many years together filled with laughter and fun. We´re a cat family but only because I´m not disciplined enough to follow a regime of regular walks - escept when we look after our son´s dogs.
    Love from Sweden
    Ramona

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  26. She's so adorable. I'm sure she'll bring you so much joy and friendship for many years to come. I cook up liver, kidney and heart as a treat for our dog who is a Cairn terrier, once a week, which I mix with vegetables. She just loves it and it's quiet inexpensive, as often people don't like to use these parts of an animal. It's a bit too rich for a young puppy's stomach, but now our dog is an adult, she wolfs it down.

    I'm hoping to get a dehydrator soon, so that I can make her natural dog treats (amongst other things of course), which should be fun.

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  27. Gracie is adorable and I am sure you will enjoy her company so very much. There is nothing like the love of a dog.

    Thank you for the food links. I was a bit upset as I have been feeding our cats a premium food because one of them becomes sick when her diet is changed. It rated 3 stars. Now I am torn. Do I try her on another food and risk her bleeding or stay on the food that she is tolerating well.

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  28. Little Gracie will bring you much joy and company. Terriers are a wonderful breed. Such characters they are. She will keep you laughing for sure. I am a dog lover and I just feel they complete a family. She is a darling. Enjoy her.

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  29. What a cutie, I'm sure Gracie will bring you so much joy. Well done for feeding her home-cooked food. I've read about commercial foods and even the vet recommended ones...not fit for consumption!

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  30. Congratulations! I like the thought of making her food in your own kitchen. This is something I plan to do when we become pet parents again.

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  31. Can you share your chicken - rice recipe with us that you are feeding Gracie?
    She sure is a cute puppy, I don't know much about her breed. I have a Shetland Sheepdog who is very energetic and keeps me in line!

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  32. Congratulations! Gracie looks and sounds adorable; I'm sure she will be a welcome addition to your lives and to the blog. I've always wondered why veterinarians seem to think that humans can't safely feed dogs real food, and that processed formulas are the best and only way to feed them? It's not as if we humans ourselves eat kibble and canned food formulas. I go between commercial food and home cooking for our two big dogs, mostly because I have an older dog with severe food allergies and there is one commercial brand that doesn't bother him.

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  33. I'm in love with Gracie just from her picture! A new baby in the family just brightens every one's life. Carolyn in Florida

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  34. Just beautiful! I love puppies tummies! Thank you for the dog food reviews. Quite an eye opener! We have decided to overhaul our cocker spaniels diet. He gets an itchy mouth after eating his biscuits which we thought were reasonable quality until I saw the list. I couldn't source Black Hawk in NZ so went with K9 after reading it's review. Of course the cat has an upgrade too as it would be unfair. Expensive but worth the long term health. Our dog totally refused to eat 2 brands of vet recommended dry food. Smarter than us I would say!

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  35. What a cutie, I'd love a little puppy like her. Her name is beautiful too.
    Blessing Gail.

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  36. Gracie is such a darling! I think you will all have years of happiness together!

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  37. It is pretty awful what's put into commercial pet foods. We recently lost our dog of 12 years to pancreatic cancer. We tried to give her more time with us by changing her diet, but it was only a few days. Next time we get a dog we're not going to buy any of the commercial foods. Even the most promising new brands seem to go downhill pretty quickly.

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  38. She is adorable! Congratulations. :)

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  39. How adorable!
    I just wanted to send you a thanks Rhonda for the prompt to look at our own dog food buying. We spend a fortune and prided ourselves on feeding our dog what we had been advised by vets as 'top quality' dried food. It turns out that according to the review website link, it only rates 2 stars! As we don't have the time to cook up food for our dog, the next best thing was for me to go through the list to find the 4/5 star rated ones for the future.
    Enjoy puppy snuggles (and that gorgeous puppy smell!!)

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  40. she is absolutely adorable!
    am sure you & Hanno will have many years of pleasurable company & fun times!
    hope you keep us up to date with lots of posts on her, will be fun to watch her grow up too
    i so miss having a dog around
    selina from kilkivan qld

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  41. She is gorgeous. Please keep the news coming. (and photographs !)

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  42. Oh she is so cute, I know she will give you lots of pleasure, and she will be well loved. Yes I think making her food is the best option.

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  43. Darling doggie...keep us informed as to how training goes etc...cause we may get ourselves another doggie one day too...thanks!
    Elizabeth in WA

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  44. What a beauty Gracie is. I'm sure you're having a lot of fun with her. Just like human babies the night time crying snuggles with fur babies are the best thing ever. Thanks for the dog food recipe link I've been wanting to try making my own food for my Zeus and I can't wait to try your recipe. Enjoy that little ball of fluff, I know the 3 of you will have good times together.

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  45. Congratulations on your newest family member. Gracie is so cute. I am a dog person and just love puppies.
    Some time, if you're willing, could you please explain how you chose a Scottie and moved away from your beloved Airedales? SJ in Vancouver BC Canada

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    1. Thanks SJ. Of course I still love Airedales and always will but now we're older, Airedales are too big for us to handle. My step-son and DIL still have their two Airedales and we see them frequently. I know I wouldn't be able to control them on a lead if something were to happen while we're out and about. I love all square dogs and most of the terriers. We wanted a small dog with character, a dog I could pick up and wash in the laundry tub and a dog I could control when we're out. I've always had a soft spot for Scotties so when the time came to make a decision about a small dog, Scotties were the first dog that came to mind. We're lived with Gracie for less than a week and I'm totally in love with her. We made the right choice for us and I'm looking forward to many years with Gracie.

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    2. Thanks so much for your reply. I'm thinking on similar lines. I have had golden retrievers for much of my life. But I think my next dog will have to be smaller for all the reasons you described. It's a reality that as I am getting older, I simply can not do some of the things I used to do. Being able to safely walk and pickup my dog is one thing I have to consider in the future. Cheers, SJ in Vancouver BC

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  46. Ahhhh !!! She is adorable!! I'm so excited for the many happy years to come with Gracie! I'm sure she will be an absolute delightful addition to your family !

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  47. What a cute puppy!!! My husband keeps reminding me that he would love to get a puppy. We have cats so I am not sure about that but it sure a pleasure to look at a sweet puppy!!

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  48. Good luck Rhonda and Hanno with your little Gracie. She looks like she will bring you so much joy and what a lucky little pup to find a home with you two. ps Our lovely Golden Retriever, two next month, is also Gracie. She's a scallywag too!

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  49. Thanks so much for this link. We have a new Schnoodle puppy (Schnauser X Poodle) and this was so helpful.

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