I have a yappy and adorable 5-year-old cockapoo named Scooby Doo. He is a chaser of squirrels, a barker at cats and a stealer of table food but we love him just the same.

From the time he was a puppy we fed him a high-quality kibble and he seemed to do just fine. Mind you he had red and itchy ears a few times a year, he licked and bit his feet until they were red and raw every fall for no apparent reason and he would occasionally have a bout of the runs. The vet chalked it up to seasonal allergies and prescribed medicated baths and ear drops and I didn’t think too much about it.

About 2 years ago after chatting with a friend I started to question his diet and decided to try raw food. I take full responsibility for the horrifying aftermath of this experiment that began with me too quickly changing his diet, his stomach rejecting the new food, weeks of living with a sick and weak dog and $4000 in vet bills only to have a surgeon tell us he had Irritable Bowel Syndrome and would have to be on medication for the rest of his life.

I am happy to report that today Scooby is the healthiest he has ever been and he hasn’t taken one single drop of medication since he recovered from that surgery. What has changed? Well Scooby now eats real, unprocessed, cooked food homemade especially for him. No it’s not vegan (although I hear Alicia Silverstone’s dogs eat all veggies) but it is real food with no garbage ingredients often found in commercial dog foods like salt, sugar, soy, yeast, corn and wheat and no fillers like ground animal by-products and other yuckiness.

Now I’m not as good as my Aunt Jan who makes volumes of homemade food for her 2 large dogs once a month but I have found a healthy and reasonably priced solution from the wonderful women at The Skye’s The Limit. These amazing ladies prepare muffins of goodness for my little dog using 100% human grade and organic ingredients that I simply store in the freezer and defrost as needed. Scooby’s muffins contain chicken (but there are many other protein sources), green veggies, orange veggies, red apple, oil, water, egg and a pre-mixed formula made of organic milled whole brown rice, whole oats, whole barley, calcium, carob, 100% pure alfalfa, Acadian sea kelp, oregano, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, ginger and garlic. They will even cater to animal dietary and special needs including gluten-free, cancer, liver problems and diabetes.

As for Scooby his coat is shiny, his eyes are clear and best of all he has had no ear itchiness or redness, no foot problems and his poop is perfect and regular. So this Scooby Doo mystery is solved. Whether human or animal- garbage in equals garbage out.  It’s a good reminder that the food you put in your mouth has a direct link to your overall health (and they would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for this meddling mom ; )