How H&N Homestead Began

Hello, hello! As we expand this business we thought it necessary to give you a better understanding of how we started. Nolan and I grew up in small towns in southeast Wisconsin. We are now living in North Dakota with plans to do more adventuring and exploring before finding a place to settle down.

The day we brought “Crema” home.

Our First Dog Together: A Learning Journey

In the early months of 2020, before Covid really hit, we decided to adopt a dog. A yellow shepherd-like dog caught our eye a few hours from home and the next day we were driving to meet her.

To make a long story shorter, we arrived at the shelter just in time to save “Crema” from a well-meaning elderly lady that never would’ve been able to give her the daily attention and exercise she needs. After quickly finding out about her male aggression, due to past abuse, there’s no question Crema would’ve been returned to the shelter if that small, sweet, elderly woman took her home. The dog was over half her size and dragging her around on the leash.

We changed Crema’s name to Ellie and we have had a long successful journey with her over the past few years, but it didn’t start out quite as smooth.

Putting up fence line with Ellie.

Allergies and Interesting Vet Visits

While discovering Ellie’s male aggression and realizing it was going to take a lot of effort to make her “public worthy”, we were also navigating her allergies, a world entirely new to us.

Ellie itched all day and all night no matter what kibble we tried. I spent months researching dog diets and nutrition surrounding allergies. Eventually, she itched so much that she ended up giving herself a hematoma in her ear.

This was the beginning of our vet adventures. We took Ellie to the vet to hopefully get some answers, and figure out what to do about the hematoma. Trouble was, I wanted to figure out what was causing the allergies so I could reverse them and heal her gut (where allergies start) and the vet wanted to prescribe things to cover and stop the allergic reactions. This didn’t make sense to me. Why cover the reaction when she would still be suffering internally?

The vet also told me it would be upwards of $4,000 for the surgery to open up the hematoma and explained they would “pop” it and clean it, but not stitch it back up, for various reasons. I may be a bit on the crazy side, but I’ve taken care of abscesses in livestock before, opening them up and keeping them free of infection so they could heal. I was confident I could heal her hematoma at home, and I did, with a sharp scalpel and antibacterial products.

Ellie’s ear healed folded after her hematoma.

Figuring Out Raw Feeding

Now that her ear was taken care of I could go back to focusing on the root cause of her allergies. Throughout researching dog nutrition I stumbled upon raw diets and nearly filled an entire notebook with information concerning feeding dogs raw. I joined many groups to gain varying perspectives and even created a diet specifically for Eliie with every single micronutrient balanced. Raw feeding is NOT something you can just jump into unless you’re feeding a premade food which tends to be expensive.

I started Ellie on an elimination diet and figured out what she was allergic to. Rice, chicken, and chicken eggs. Luckily she’s not allergic to venison or rabbit, the two proteins I have the most access to.

Over the next couple of months, Ellie’s gut was healed. NO more itching! And I figured it out on my own, learning an incredible amount throughout the process, which was the most satisfying.

Adventures with Ellie.

Another Vet Visit

Once I had Ellie all fixed up I wanted to take her to a different vet to have her looked over and get some tests done to ensure my feeding was working the way I intended. This vet asked about her ear, as it was just finishing the healing process. A bit embarrassed, knowing the vet I worked with prior also worked in this office, I explained the hematoma situation.

The vet commended me on my work and said I made the best decision for us and did a very good job doing it. After looking Ellie over she asked me what I was feeding her. Embarrassed, again, knowing the vast majority of vets are highly against raw feeding, I told her about Ellie’s diet. I also brought the diet plan I created for her. She had many positive questions, which I was happy to answer to my best knowledge.

I was surprised, impressed, and proud leaving this vet visit. My confidence in my actions was restored after the last vet tore down all of my ideas and gave me demeaning answers to my questions.

More adventures.

Finalizing A Raw Diet

Once I was 100% sure about my feeding plan the game was on to make it as cost-efficient as possible. After all, Ellie was young and God-willing we have many years ahead of us with her. Cutting costs included raising more of our own animals and making use of roadkill deer that were salvageable.

I was already passionate about raising our own food so it was easy to add more for Ellie. Plus, Ellie can eat a lot of the parts that are not human edible like bones and scraps full of connective tissue. A large portion of the “compost pile” was now usable for dog food, which made me very happy.

We were already raising rabbits, and rabbits reproduce quickly, so it was simple to expand. But, what to do with all of these rabbit hides? There’s no way one dog can eat all of these pelts, and I can only tan and make crafts with so many.

Some of the first rabbit hides that were dried for treats.

The Beginning of H&N Homestead

Having so many rabbit hides, I needed a way to preserve them in smaller portions, so I started drying them. I quickly discovered how much Ellie and other dogs love these furry, crunchy, little treats.

Soon after, I started looking into the health benefits and thought others would also enjoy knowing their dogs were getting healthy single-ingredient treats. This would also mean I had a use for all of my rabbit hides, and so began H&N Homestead!

Conclusion

Ellie has been such a blessing in our lives. Adopting her came with a long learning curve and a different view of life. We came home with a very male-aggressive and internally suffering dog. Today, we have an extremely well-behaved, healthy, happy dog that gets to go on new adventures every single day. In the process of learning and growing with Ellie, we have also created a business with the goal of helping others and their furry best friends. We are happy you’re here to enjoy this journey with us!