Fat Balls

Earlier this year, we decided to not do any more shows until the fall, giving Ref and Jackson time to mature and develop.  Funny, how quickly plans change!
  One morning, I looked at Ref and he had seemingly changed overnight from a gangly, leggy boy to a male with more muscle and mature body.  I looked over at Jackson and his coat was blooming and he was standing with a nice arch to his neck and a beautiful expression on his face.  Hmmmm...should we reconsider our decision?  I barely broached the subject to David, who interrupted me to say, "have you noticed that Ref has put on weight"?  We decided to plan on entering a cluster of shows the first weekend of July, but on the caveat that Ref needed a bit more weight before the entry was due.
  I researched the internet to see if there was a better way to put pounds on a dog instead of just adding more food to his bowl.  That method usually leads to diarrhea, which seems to defeat the purpose of adding the food!  To my surprise, there are actual recipes for "Satin Balls" or "Fat Balls" to help in this situation.
  There were several variations, many involving cereal, which I didn't want Ref to have.  I chose this recipe:

10 pounds of uncooked, ground beef
10 ounces uncooked oatmeal
6 raw egg yolks
10 ounces wheat germ
10 ounces molasses

Mix well, roll into balls (I make meatball size), refrigerate enough for a few days and freeze the rest.

  I've been mixing one to two balls into Ref's dry food at each meal.  He loves it, of course!  Within a few days, he had put on the extra weight we wanted and I mailed in the entries.
  Jackson has some sixth sense about dog shows and started his old trick of not eating all of his meals once the entry had left the mailbox.  It's hard to maintain a good weight on him anyway, so now Jackson is on "fat balls".  I'm giving him more meatballs at each meal, using two to three, to basically coat his dry food so he eats it all.  I have a week, we'll have to see what happens!