In the Meantime...

Adoption Update: Not much going on. Will and I attended an information seminar last night in Raleigh, NC for CAS. Allie is the coordinator who does all the Haiti adoptions through CAS. There were three other couples there. Will and I were the only couple that knew we wanted to adopt from Haiti. All the other couples were not sure and just there to hear about the agency.

After the seminar, we still feel really good about going through CAS:) They are an accredited agency and have a really good reputation. The next week or two I will try and contact some of their families that they have used as references.  The one thing that scares me with the Haiti adoption, is that we have no choice in the child that we bring home. We can specify age, gender, and any special needs, but thats all. Everything else will won't know until we receive the child's information.

In the meantime, I have found a fun hobby of making my fur baby homemade doggie treats!! One night a few weeks ago, I found myself on a pet forum and I saw a thread about not feeding you dogs chicken jerky treats.  Low and behold I had some chicken jerky treats downstairs in my pantry for Rocco. Seeing this made me click and read. Apparently 95% of all dog jerky treats and many others are made in China. In the process of making these treats there is a chemical that had caused renal failure and death in several thousand dogs across the US. The FDA has done extensive research on this but has refused to take any of these products off the shelves in stores. After reading this, it scared the crap out of me. I immediately took those jerky treats and threw them away!  The next day I was in the grocery store and just started reading some of the ingredients on several of the most popular dog treats: Puperoni, Beggin' Strips, Milkbone, Etc. Surprisingly Puperoni has a chemical that is also found in antifreeze!!  I have been feeding my dog those treats for years. He is pretty healthy, but I have nooo idea what the long term affects could be. I decided to take his treats into my own hands, lol. At least I know what I'm feeding him!!

I went to a few websites that posted recipes for homeade dog treats and came across this one:

CESAR'S WAY

http://www.cesarsway.com/dogcare/nutrition/Recipe-Ideas-for-Quick-and-Healthy-Homemade-Dog-Treats

I decided to make the healthy pumpkin balls. I did tweak the recipe a little by adding peanut butter and a little honey. My dog LOVED them. Below are the pics I took. If you have a dog, you must try these!!

Canned pumpkin, molasses, peanut butter, water

Added whole wheat flour and cinnamon

Added honey

Rolled into balls then pressed with a fork

Rocco ready to eat!

Finished product