Raw Dog Food Diet

Ok, so here is one thing I feel strongly about: the raw food diet for dogs. (I hear it is great for cats and ferrets too).  It is healthier, creates less waste, and is cheaper than regular dog food.

We feed our dogs only raw meat and cooked vegetables, no grains.  We have two dogs, both mutts.  One is a small terrier mix (20 pounds) named Jeffrey, and the other is a pit-chow mix (55 pounds) named Gillie.  Both dogs have experienced improved health and temperament since changing to the raw food diet.  Gillie, in particular, has greatly improved her health.  Prior to switching to raw food, she was 15 pounds heavier and on medication for thyroid problems.  She is now 15 pounds lighter and completely off the medication.  Many people have also commented that her shy skiddish temperament has improved.

Another great benefit is the waste!  Dogs on this diet poop less because they are getting more digestible food.  The poops (:p) they do make are light brown in color and turn white and completely disintegrate within 2 days.  The waste product is also very good for your yard!

So here is the theory behind it: dogs are not meant to eat corn, rice or grains which is what makes up the majority of most wet and dry kibble sold in stores (not to mention all of the preservatives and other unnatural additives).  In the wild, dogs eat small animals like rabbits and chickens with hair, bones and all.  The small animals wild dogs eat typically have partially-digested grass and vegetables in their bellies.  Wild dogs get all the nutrients they need from these animals: calcium and marrow from the bones, iron and other essential nutrients from the organ meat, protein from the regular meant, fiber and vitamins from the grass and veggies, etc.  This is how dogs are meant to eat.  By feeding our pets carbohydrates like corn and rice, we have created problems that don't exist for wild dogs: obesity, diabetes, cancer, etc.  It is nearly impossible for a dog to be overweight on the raw food diet.

But isn't it bad for dogs to eat chicken bones?  This was my biggest concern because I, like most people, had heard many times that dogs could choke on certain bones.  However, it turns out this is true only if the bones are cooked!  When bones are cooked (any type of bones), they get hard and break easily, creating a fiberglass-like effect that can be dangerous for dogs to eat.  On the contrary, when bones are raw, they are perfectly safe for dogs to eat and are what dogs are naturally supposed to eat!

So how does it work?  You can use just about any type of raw meat: chicken, lamb, beef, fish, etc.  To keep it simple and cheap, we use chicken for our dogs.  We buy hormone chicken backs in bulk from Whole Foods and give Jeffy half a back and Gillie a whole back every morning.  I like chicken backs and necks because they contain all of the necessary ingredients: organ meat, regular meat, and bone.  If you go with chicken wings or breasts, you have to supplement with livers or gizzards to get the organ meat.  We buy from Whole Foods because they sell the hormone-free backs for $0.69 per pound.  Publix sells backs and necks for the same price.  I haven't found a Publix that sells the Greenwise necks or backs.  Every once in a while, I treat them with another type of meat.

Yes, $0.69 per pound.  This diet is actually cheaper than buying dog food!

It is also good to give your dogs veggies several times a week.  You can make a mixture called "vegetable glop" buy blending stalks and leaves from vegetable parts you wouldn't normally eat with other veggies, whole raw eggs, a little garlic (perfectly ok for dogs in moderation and they love the taste), and fruit.  Just avoid grapes, onions, and nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant).  It is fun to make - throwing crazy ingredients together like the Muppet's Swedish Chef - and the dogs love it.  We started to get lazy, though, and found we were slacking on making the "glop."  So, we started buying a product called, SoJos Grain-Free Dog Food Mix (http://www.sojos.com/food.html).  It is a freeze-dried veggie glop that you just add water to. Very simple.  They sell it at Pookies on Fairbanks in Winter Park if you live in Central Florida.

Some people prefer to cook meat for their dogs.  This is still way better than feeding grains, in my opinion, but not as good as raw food since a lot of the nutrients are lost by cooking.

Another thing we do is to give our dogs fish oil capsules as treats.  We poked a small hole in the capsule the first few times so they could taste the oil.  They love them and it makes their coats beautiful.  We also give our dogs baby carrots, cut apples, and other veggies and fruits as treats.  They especially love the baby carrots.

We were nervous about telling our vet what we were doing so I just said we had them on a "whole food" diet.  Our vet them proceeded to inform us that the raw diet is actually best!  Not all vets would agree but ours is pretty progressive and not brainwashed by the dog food industry.  He used to raise hunting and racing dogs and said that if a dog was not raised on raw food from puppyhood, it would clearly show in the dog's abilities as the dog would never be as fast as the dogs raised on raw meat alone.

My favorite book on the subject is "Raw Dog Food: Make it Easy for You and Your Dog" by Carina Beth Macdonald, which you can get on Amazon.  All of the research is thoroughly explained with foot notes to back it up.  The book is short and easy to read.

Raw Dog Food fo-eva!

Where to begin?

Part of me really likes to talk about the things I know a lot about.  That's actually a lot of things because I am a bit of a know-it-all.  Then there is the part of me that beats up and judges the part of me that is a know-it-all for being such a...what's the phrase?...know-it-all.  I will start to talk to someone about a subject I know about - like the raw dog food diet, more to come on that one - and then I will catch a voice in my head saying, "you sound like such a pompous ass.  No one wants to hear all the minute details on this subject."  I then usually mumble something and trail off with an uncomfortable laugh.

No more!  

Now I am going to write about these subjects so my two parts can work together.  The know-it-all will get to shine and the part that berates the know-it-all for boring people to death will be worry-free since only people who want to hear about it will read it!  

Brilliant! 

Stay tuned for insights to come...

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