How I Feed my Senior Pug with Special Needs | Raw Dog Food Diet

💌 Subscribe to my free weekly Substack newsletter, The Morning Grumble, to stay connected in-between videos: grumblefarm.su...
☕️ Fuel my travels & freedom-inspired musings by buying me a coffee or two on Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/grum...
:: About this Video ::
Jonas, Fern, and Ivy have been eating raw food for the last 12 years of their lives.
While I could go on forever about the benefits of feeding raw, I thought I would start by sharing our nightly raw feeding & supplementation routine for all three pugs, specifically focusing on Jonas and how we feed him safely due to his narrowed airway and chronic bronchial coughing episodes.
In his senior years, Jonas has developed a chronic cough that we are constantly monitoring, managing, and trying to figure out. We have seen multiple veterinarians about his cough over the years, have "coughed up" a pretty penny for various testing and diagnostic imaging procedures, and continue to try just about everything under the sun to keep him comfortable and happy.
One of the biggest challenges we've come across with Jonas' narrowed airway is figuring out a way to feed him that is both safe and effective. If his raw meals aren't prepared and spoon-fed to him by hand the way I'm going to show you in this video, there is a 110% chance he will choke and slowly asphyxiate (the only reason we've come up with this unique feeding routine for Jonas is because we've had to go through the horror of clearing his throat and bringing him back to consciousness - I'll speak more about this in future videos!)
We get a TON of questions about which supplements we use. I'll be creating another video in the future focused specifically on the various supplements we use, but for now, feel free to browse the links included below to check out some of the products we are currently incorporating into Jonas, Fern and Ivy's diets.
If you have any questions or requests, please leave them in the comments - I read every single one of them ❤️
:: Our Fav Dog Supplements ::
Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil (EPA/DHA): amzn.to/3Ivl0vA
New Roots Herbal Multi-Max IMMUNE 50-Ingredient Formula With Colostrum & Green Tea - IRON FREE (Canada): amzn.to/3IAaB1K
Genestra Brands Maxum Multi Vite Vitamin-Mineral Supplement (Canada): amzn.to/3XcmoHC
Xiao Chai Hu Jia Yu Jin Tang formulated by Natural Path Herb Company (Canada): www.nphc.ca/
Rx Vitamins Professional Veterinary Formulas Liquid Hepato for Liver Support (Milk Thistle Extract + Vitamin B1/B2/B6/B12 - use if on Prednisone corticosteroids): amzn.to/3It0sDI
NaturPet Lung Care Herbal Tincture (Canada): amzn.to/3X9XqbF
Pet Wellbeing Lung Gold for Dogs - Natural Breathing Support & Immunity Boost in The Lungs: amzn.to/3WQFEdX
:: Our Favourite Raised Pet Food Bowl for Flat-Faced and Brachycephalic Breeds ::
Fluff Trough: www.flufftroug...
:: Mailing Address ::
Cards, photos, stories, small gifts and other tokens of gratitude & appreciation can be sent to the pugs & I below 💞
Grumble Farm
ATTN: Brandy & the Pugs
P.O. Box 492
Kaslo, B.C. V0G 1M0
:: Other Ways to Support, Reciprocate & Generate Good Karma ::
💞 Paypal: paypal.me/grum...
📦 Amazon wishlist: www.amazon.ca/...
#JonasForever

[@grumblefarm]

Hey! Remember to subscribe to my free weekly Substack newsletter, The Morning Grumble, to stay connected in-between videos: grumblefarm.substack.com

[@jenniferdavis2671]

If you live streamed this, no music, just the quiet tick tick of the rocking swing, I’d pay per view it! It’s SO CHILL!!!

[@grumblefarm]

WE LITERALLY FILMED THIS TODAY 😂 We could only get 10 minutes of Jonas in the swing but Jesse looped it to play for an entire HOUR with Jonas swinging in front of the wood stove fireplace - it's too much! You'll LOVE IT JEN HAHA

[@cliffhouser9138]

Brandy, you are such a great resource for Pug parents with senior Pugs. Sending love and respect from Texas ❤️

[@grumblefarm]

Just replying to old comments and am loving see you pop up so often 💙

[@guitarlixx]

Yes Raw all the way!!! I'll never go back to kibble!

[@grumblefarm]

Sometimes I wish I had the balls to just scream this at the top of my lungs rather than beating around the bush all of the time 😂

[@skyy-morning-starr]

Absolutely love this video! Waiting to get paid to get fluff troughs! Hope to hear more about the supplements and maybe even Jonas' humidifier! 🥰

[@grumblefarm]

Ohhhh!!! You'll LOVE the Troughs!! I don't know what we would do without ours. We have both the regular silicone inserts as well as the binge blocker inserts, the water trough AND the little feet risers. We're huge fans over here lol. I still have to get my shiiiiit together for a supplement video (I'm literally so bad at talking about this stuff haha) and I've been wanting to touch on the humidifier for some time now! Thanks for the suggestions!

[@thebonitalife294]

Try honey with water for Jonas when my pug has some coughing/dry coughing it helps tremendously and even helps it go away. Keeping pugs at a good weight helps keep the trachea from collapsing. Thank you for the cute video, they’re all so adorable!!!! I love their bowls. Thank you for showing us how you feed them ☺️ I’m looking for the best way to feed my pugs raw

[@grumblefarm]

Hi! We did do honey water for Jonie for several months, along with everything else under the sun - unfortunately, Jonie went to the bridge on April 28th after a long few months undergoing advanced diagnostics and testing. As it turns out, he had a rare condition called GOLPP or "Geriatric Onset Laryngeal Paralysis and Polyneuropathy" along with kidney disease and CT, although much further down. If you're ever interested in the experience we went through with the Grumble Farm community I've documented it all on Grumble Farm's blog (grumble farm.ca/blog) - Fern and Ivy, his sisters, are still very happy little raw-fed puggos! It's the BEST! 💙

[@nathie27]

You are such a good pug mum !! I will follow your tips and try salmon oil for Pistache. I didn't know the Fluff Trough but it seems so great for the posture ! I will try to find some in France. Have a nice day and so good to watch all this videos !!

[@grumblefarm]

The Fluff Troughs are AMAZING Nathalie! I hope they can deliver one to France for you - I think it might be possible although the shipping might also be outrageous (worth it though, I PROMISE). They are EXCELLENT for puggy posture and digestion! I think you'll love the salmon oil for Pistache's fur and coat, too - literally everyone will start asking you why his fur is so soft, so be prepared 😂

[@piggybloom]

Love how excited Jonas is!

[@grumblefarm]

Omg he can BARELY contain himself at breakfast and dinner, it’s so over the top haha

[@karenkenney6021]

You are a great mom Brandy! We also feed raw. I use the freeze dried version and just add warm water, with the supplements. It's great for traveling, no fridge or cooler needed. We use the binge blocker inserts in our Fluff Troughs. My puggle Daisy that passed in 2021 also had trachea issues and would cough when she got excited. I can hardly wait to see your video on the supplements!

[@grumblefarm]

I think if I only had one dog, I would feed the freeze-dried version a lot more regularly! Buying frozen raw in bulk (to fill up the ENTIRE freezer haha) has been the most affordable option to keep these three little bellies happy on a raw food diet, although I totally agree with the convenience of being able to store freeze-dried or dehydrated, especially for travel. I sometimes can't believe I travel back-and-forth 8+ hours multiple times a month with frozen pucks of raw for three pugs - am I a crazy woman or what?! The Binge Blocker inserts from Fluff Trough are so great, too! I really wish we could get confirmation that Jonas' coughing issues are treachea-related, but no matter how often I bring it up, absolutely no veterinarian seems to think that's what it is. We've done diagnostic imaging and tests and soooo many exams with multiple veterinarians, but so far, no official diagnoses. His cough is definitely triggered whenever he gets excited though! Looking forward to making some videos about our supplements as well!

[@karenkenney6021]

@@grumblefarm Have the vets check his heart. My friends dog had heart issues and coughed like she had a collapsing trachea especially when she walked, and she got tired easily.

[@AnimalWorld_OfficialUSA]

So 😍 😊 😚

[@grumblefarm]

❤️🧡💙

[@AnimalWorld_OfficialUSA]

@@grumblefarm +1 😊

[@lisasmith1836]

I love how much of a loving mom you are to those three precious puggies. 😊Ivy’s grumbles and rumbles while Jonas is eating is hilarious.

[@grumblefarm]

hahaha we laugh at this too!

[@BigHesh81]

Some observations: - If Jonas had his way that dish towel would need to be traded in for a full blown Rain Poncho hahaha. - I like the whole "he never gets to sit at the table" in the awkward Will-the-youtube-masses-think-Im-a-weird-dog-mom-for-this Voice, meanwhile he has his own place setting, with monogrammed placemat 🤣 - I love the appearance of the Zombie-apocalypse stashpile quantity of Liver Treats 😁♥ - Jonas has diabolically figured out how to train you into believing his food has medical benefit, and thus has you programmed in a Pavlovian manner that he can start "coughing" when his tummy gets _grumblin'_ and his prescription calls for Medicinal food, as prescribed by one Dr. Aye Knead SnaQz ( who, oddly has never been seen in the same room at the same time as Jonas, and *IF* he does, in fact, exist and isn't Jonas in a children's halloween costume resembling a medical practitioner, he is *most definitely* on Jonas' payroll 🤣🤣🤣) Oh Jonas, you live the good life, and deserve every fuckin' second of it. Thanks for sharing him and the girls with us, and the joy, calamity and welcomed chaos they add to your every day. ♥

[@lisasmith1836]

🤣🤣🤣🤣☠️☠️🤣🤣🤣

[@grumblefarm]

ALL OF THIS HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@samanthaannett]

I feed my pug Frank very similarly to Jonas. We have the slow feeder insert for the Fluff Trough (Santa brought it this year) and it's helped so much with him not scarfing it down and throwing in back up. I water it down a lot too, sometimes with fermented goat's milk, sometimes with warm water - I alternate for breakfast and dinner. Very interested in seeing exactly what you add into their food!

[@grumblefarm]

Frank got a binge blocker for Christmas this year! That's so exciting!! I had Jonas eating out of his for a little while, but I think he got too good at even that & would still eat too fast and choke which resulted in the introduction of the baby spoon and appetizing sludge I make now, because I am a helicopter parent. Haha. Fermented goats milk is sooooo good and so is pet-friendly broth of all kinds for thinning it out - those things are a little bit tricker to source out here in the Kootenays now BUT whenever I do grab them, I do the same thing - I'm like, goats milk for BREAKFAST and broth for DIN DINS! ...because I feel like that's the way it should be?? I don't know, we're crazy people 😂 I feel like it was such a cop out in this video to be like "I'm not going to explain or describe any of these supplements i'm going to add to Jonas' bowl" but that's because I trip over my own words whenever I try to share details and specifics about these kinds of things, and so I think I'm going to do a scripted & narrated version of the supplements so I don't sound like a total tool (I've done enough of that already HAHA) ❤️

[@SM-yd8hq]

Brandy, you’re such a good pug mum. I feed Hemingway and lily raw from a company in Australia, so happy with it but since they are 13 and 10, I’d love some ideas on supplements. It comes fortified with salmon oil and turmeric but what else can I add. They both have arthritis. Jonas’ panting, adorable.

[@grumblefarm]

That's one of my favourite compliments ever 🥰 10 & 13 are great senior ages to start adding in various supplements! I'm definitely going to be creating a separate video about our experience with supplementation over the years, especially in regards to bone & joint health and mobility. Until Jesse and I put that video together, I would absolutely look into green lipped mussel powder though for arthritis specifically! 💚 I'll go into more detail soon!

[@RaglanRach]

Patton (named after singer Mike Patton) has glucosamine, hemp seed oil and probiotics at the mo…it’s a pugs life 🤩

[@grumblefarm]

Liquid glucosamine is a favourite of ours, too! Sounds like the pug life to me - loved and cared for to the max 🥰

[@michellemybelle1231]

All I want to do now is feed Bear with a baby spoon 😊❤

[@grumblefarm]

DOOOOO ITTTTT hahaha

[@denisebarragan9993]

Is the fluff trough the regular size or the XL?

[@grumblefarm]

Ours are regular! I use a couple of the little black boosters/risers on the legs for added height, which they have on their website too (I can’t remember if I had them in this video or not haha)

[@littledogadventures757]

Any suggestions about how to ensure that the raw food is not spoiled? We’ve tried two brands from the pet store and have had a couple of bad batches, which made me nervous to continue feeding raw. But I know it’s the healthiest option!

[@grumblefarm]

I JUST had a really bad experience with this where Ivy actually got food poisoning from it! It was horrific! We were travelling so it wasn't our usual brand, but it's the first time it's happened to us in 15+ years of feeding raw which is crazy. I've definitely become A LOT more conscious of how I'm thawing everything (I'll only leave pucks out on the countertop to thaw for a couple of hours before putting them in the fridge to thaw entirely) and have been thoroughly cleaning their dishes, bowls, and countertops before and after each meal to avoid cross-contamination of any kind. I can't be entirely sure what happened but after caring for Ivy all night in the state she was in, I threw out the rest of the raw from this particular brand and definitely won't be using them again regardless. That's so shitty you've had bad experiences with multiple brands - I might try chatting with the pet store owner about it or seeing if there are any raw food groups (Facebook maybe) in your area or the extended area that those particular brands are stocked in, just to see if anyone else has had a similar negative experience. I don't think I would give up on it quite yet though - that is definitely not the norm, the pros absolutely outweigh the cons (even this unfortunate one) - but with all that said, I can absolutely relate to how awful the experience is when it does happen! ❤️

[@mcckelly1]

@@grumblefarm Oh wow!! Poor Ivy! 😫 Yes, that happened with my pug Junebug a couple of times. Then we switched to freeze dried (but so expensive!) Now they’re on a kibble. I’m like you in that I don’t want the responsibility of making my own dog food. It was the summer time when she got the food poisoning, and it gets HOT here in Virginia! So I might give it a go again now that it’s better temps for raw food transport. Thank you for your time in responding! 😘