Antler Upgrade

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Hi everyone.  I suppose this is the place to post this.  I typically buy deer or elk antlers for Lola to chew on.  She doesn't have much food drive, however, and loses interest in a new antler after a few hours.  As I'm sure many of you know, antlers can be pretty expensive (although you can also get them in bulk online).  So I came up with a way to get more life out of them.  I made a mixture of boiling water, beef bullion, unsalted butter, garlic power, cayenne pepper and honey.  I let the "used" antler soak in it overnight. I used enough butter so that it would harden on the antler.  I was hoping the mixture would also seep into the marrow of the antler and harden there as well.  In any case it seems to have been a success, because I wiped off the excess mixture, gave the antler to Lola and she seems to love it again - maybe even more than when it was new.  There is some salt and sugar in this recipe, but I don't think too much makes it to the final product.  Also I will need to tinker with the recipe a bit - for example, I think lard might be better than butter - but I did not have any on hand.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Actually it just occurred to me - I think bacon fat might be the thing to use.

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Lard, butter, and bacon fat seems so unhealthy and too much grease no? I read on DK before to boil the antler in beef broth and let dry so I tried it before and they loved it.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Ha - so maybe I didn't invent this after all.  It was a little greasy but I wiped it off with a paper towel before giving it to her - I wanted it to be flavorful but not too messy or unhealthy.  I did think about boiling, but I was afraid I might cook it and cause it to splinter when she chewed on it.  Obviously that would be a concern with a bone, but I don't know about with an antler.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And garlic, like all members of the allium family, can cause Heinz-body anemia to dogs, which can be very serious and even fatal. It usually takes a pretty large amount, but garlic powder is very concentrated. 

I don't think a dog needs all that fat and all those spices.

We have a lot of discussions in The Food Group about antlers and how to "revive" the flavor. Most people just boil them for a few minutes in plain old hot water or a little broth. Keep in mind that most canned broths are very high in sodium and also contain a small amount of onion.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Thanks Karen.  I thought about that as well, with the garlic.  From what I understand it would take way more than the amount I used, though.  I will check the posts in the Food Group.  I was worried about cooking the antler and causing it to splinter, but if other people have done that without problems I'm sure it will work for us, too. 

Oh, and yes, I generally find a way to make things more complicated and "over the top" than whatever is normal.  I can't imagine that has anything to do with Lola being a picky eater.  :) 

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Jay! Zoe used to be a picky eater for the first year of her life... Now she is such a pig! We call her fat-Zo

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Fats can also bring on an attack of pancreatitis in dogs who are susceptible to it. Do check the FG, there's a discussion there I posted asking for feedback on antlers that got pages of responses, and I'm pretty sure several people mentioned boiling them.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

The reason I started thinking about fats was because I heard that putting fat on the outside of the kibble is something that is done with "junk" and grocery store dog food to enhance the taste.  I'm not sure if that is true or not, but it got me thinking about the idea.  Normally Lola just eats Orijen with a RMB from time to time - but in this case I wanted something that would be a treat and really keep her attention.  In any case, I believe I found the antler posts - thanks for the tip.

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

No pun intended.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

What you heard about the junk kibble being sprayed with fat is true...and it's rancid fat. :( 

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Mmm ... rancid fat ...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL!

It's really galling, isn't it, that they turn up their noses at all the expensive, high quality foods we provide for them and go crazy over garbage.