A RAW DIET FOR YOUR DOG The decision that you make about what to feed your dog is basically the most important decision you will make in your dogs life. To start out with I d like to add the disclaimer that I am not a vet and I am not dispensing any medical advice here. I am merely speaking form experience and research. I am not endorsed by any dog food company and have nothing to gain by the information that I give to you. I am a dog trainer and I love animals and have made saving them and educating people as to how to best care for them my life. If you have medical questions I suggest you consult your vet. I started on this quest several years ago with my personal dog. I knew that it would be important to figure out how to get him the best foods. I researched and fell for the hype that raw food is dangerous to give to your dog: that the bones can get stuck in their throats, they can get diseases, get more aggressive, etc. I went with the commercial foods that I found were best, spent thousands of dollars on vet bills, and cooked for my dog all to come to the conclusion that I will write about here. My decision on choosing a raw diet for my dog was based on a few things: 1. I wanted the very best thing for my dog, not the easiest or most popular 2. I wanted to ask people who had nothing to gain, so I would not want to talk to salespeople at pet stores 3. The information should come from people who have many more years experience than me. 4. Their information should have been proven and compared to standard pet foods. What I ended up with would surprise me. No one could pose and argument against feeding a raw diet to their dogs. One person I interviewed has rescued dogs for many years and feeds only a raw diet from day one. No matter what they were fed anywhere else, when they arrive with her, the dog eats raw. The other person rescues wolves and wolf hybrids. He basically got confused when I questioned if the bones could splinter and hurt the dogs. After all, what do dogs eat in the wild? I also researched countless websites, blogs and articles and the overwhelming response led me to my decision.
Several months back I started on my quest in raw feeding. It is a bit disconcerting at first, but once you become accustomed to it, you feel so good about feeding your dog that the only guild I feel now is that I wish I had done it since day one with every dog I ve had. THE CONCEPT: Feed your dog what a dog would eat. Most of the commercial food is over processed and consists of ingredients that your dog can not digest and would never come into contact with. Raw feeding is first and foremost NATURAL. Dogs are carnivores, not herbivores. Corn is among the worst thing you can feed your dog, but it is in the top 5 ingredients in most commercial dog foods. Feeding your dog what he can digest and what is best for him is the goal. THE CONFUSION: Part of the confusion is that the pet food industry is a multi billion-dollar industry that obviously is geared toward profit. Remember that a hundred years ago, people did not buy dog food, but had dogs that lived healthy and happy lives. Pet food companies are major contributors to dog magazines, vet schools, vet hospitals, dog shows, etc. The information that you read on the Internet or in magazines is the information that is out there from those that have the most money to spend. People are fooled into thinking what others want them to think. Discerning breeders and trainers understand that the commercial pet food is not the best thing to feed their dogs and will be the first to tell you so. The ingredients in commercial pet food are written in such a way to confuse the consumer. For example including ingredients such as chicken beaks and feet is not bad, however meat meal or by-product meal are ingredients the consumer has no idea about. I suggest you read this article: http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/144/1/horrifying--laboratory-animalsrendered-into-pet-food/page1.html This article talks about the by-products that are included in your dog s favorite foods. Ingredients like rendered laboratory animals including dogs and cats. Animals that universities and municipalities don t cremate they dispose of in such ways. If that is not enough to convince you to go raw, nothing probably will. THE INGREDIENTS: It is fairly obvious that if you leave a steak lying around, your dog will eat it. Also, if your dog runs around in a field and finds a squirrel, you dog will kill it and eat it. Your dog won t choke on the bones or the fur or anything. It s a snack for your dog. Your dog will not dig in the garden and find a potato and some carrots and make that a meal. Meat is the natural ingredient that your dog needs and craves. If you want to humanize your dog, then feed him the grains and the vegetables, and while you re at it give him a knife and fork to eat with. The main problem with what you feed you dog is not as much what the item is, but how it is prepared. The great example of this is the difference between raw bones and cooked bones.
WHY NOT COOK: I asked the same question and when I started my quest I would cook my dog s chicken and rice every night. The key thing to remember is that a dog s digestive system is much different than ours. Their digestive track is shorter; they are not prone to clogging arteries or heart disease like us. By keeping the food raw, it retains the nutritional values that are generally cooked out of the food when we cook it. Furthermore, and most important is that dogs chew on bones. The nutritional value that a dog derives from bones is tantamount. It cleans their teeth, gives them calcium and nutrients that cannot be found by merely eating flesh. If you cook a bone it changes its molecular structure and makes it splinter, THIS CAN BE DANGEROUS OR DEADLY TO A DOG. I have NOT heard of a single incident from anyone I talked to or anything I ve read where a dog had an issue with a raw bone. SIZE MATTERS: One of the first things I fed my dog was a chicken thigh, which lasted about 5 seconds; basically my dog swallowed it whole. If you have a larger dog, don t give him small foods. His food should be gauged according to what he would eat in the wild. A small chicken wing would be ok for a small dog, but not for a medium sized dog. One thing that I ve found most raw feeders swear by are raw chicken backs. They are a good size that forces the dog to tear and chew, two things that are necessary for a dog s digestive system to kick into place. The more the food is chewed the easier it breaks down in the stomach. FASTING: In the wild, dogs do not eat every day. One thing that I ve found as a trainer is that people regularly overfeed their dogs. I see more fat dogs than fit dogs. People think that fat dogs are happy dogs. This could not be further from the truth. A lean dog will live longer and live better. Heavy dogs have problems with their hearts and most importantly they have joint problems and become sedentary and eventually get fatter. Since there are no stores or restaurants for wild dogs, they eat what they can and when they can. That being said, dogs also understand that not every day is a day to eat. Sometimes people ask me the question what should they do if their dogs doesn t eat for a day. My answer to that is, Save the Food. I give my dog 10-20 minutes to eat the food I put down, if its not touched by then or he walks away from it, it gets put away. I do not take food away from my dog while he is eating, as I find that stupid. No matter how slow he eats, if he s eating, it stays there. Proper feeding of dogs also means understanding fasting. Many experts say having your dog skip a meal or even a day without food is a good thing. By the way, the same holds true for humans. WHAT TO FEED: There are countless opinions on what to feed your dog and you will see what he likes best. Almost any meat is ok for your dog, as I have not found any that anyone argued against. I primarily feed chicken, as I noted above, I am a big fan of chicken backs. My
dog eats a chicken back for one meal a day and possibly some organ meat, kidneys, liver, etc. for the other meal. I also will give my dog green tripe, big rib bones, chopped chicken or beef strips. Be aware that there are dogs that are allergic to beef. The irony in this is that a cow is not something that your dog would come across and kill; it is too big. The largest animal the average dog would come across and eat is a lamb, so lamb bones are a regular treat for my dogs. Occasionally I may add some organic spinach in his food or some other chopped vegetables. I like feeding a raw egg with the shell mixed into any chopped meats or organ meats. Dogs also do well with fish, so fish can be a very important part of their diet. As a special treat for my dog I often give him a can of sardines or salmon for one of his meals. Please see the supplements section below for more info. Some people buy raw food from their pet stores. They come in ready to eat patties or cubes. I have not done extensive research into these products so I can t comment on them. I would say that feeding raw means more than uncooked, it also means not processed. If the chicken is cubed, it may seem easier, but it s not in a natural state. Raw feeding is so much easier than anyone puts up to. Basically you open your fridge, and put the chicken in a bowl and your dog eats it. There is no measuring, no weighing, no work. The amount you feed your dog will depend on his size and his metabolism. It s not a science. We don t eat totally balanced, weighed out meals and we do fine. My dog weighs 40lbs. He eats one chicken back and about 7-8 ounces of organ meat or tripe a day. That s a little less than 1.5 lbs of food a day. His weight is fine. If he would get heavy, I d cut back the portions, if he got skinny, I would increase. That is the extent of the science of raw feeding. I want his food to be fresh and natural that is my primary concern. ** I prefer to feed at room temperature. To do this, I take the food out of the fridge a few hours before feeding. Another I do is put the chicken back in tepid water and let it soak for a few hours. This brings it back to the state at which your dog would have killed it; moist and room temperature. SUPPLEMENTS: There are a few supplements that I give my dog regularly. Many raw feeders feel it is unnecessary, so you may opt to do your own research. There are plenty of natural supplements in the raw food that you will be feeding your dog, but a little extra that I add is as follows: I suggest adding a good multi-vitamin or at the minimum add vitamin C, vitamin E. Kelp, and wild salmon oil, spirulina and such are great things to add as well. For some dogs who are getting a little older or stiff in the joints, I would recommend Glucosamine as well. I would suggest you do some more research on what supplements are necessary for your dog and take caution to not over supplement your dog. The best supplements for animals are the same as for us, those that are present in the foods we eat, not in the pills we take.
CAN MY DOG GET SICK FROM RAW MEAT? This was one of the major objections I had to making the switch. After all, if we eat raw meat, we will get sick. The main problem with this argument is the difference between dogs and humans is that they are Dogs. We cannot humanize the dog; it is highly unfair to him. Dogs don t suffer from sickness from eating meats like we do. Dogs eat old meat in the wild when fresh meat is not available. Dogs burry bones for days and then dog them up and eat them without getting sick. If you have any health concern about your dogs getting sick from eating meats, research it and I think you will find out that your concerns are not isolated to you. There is great research out there to help you along. Google is a powerful tool that puts countless information at your fingertips. I can t address all the issues here, I merely wrote this article to get your feet wet and speak from the side of a person who is overly neurotic when it comes to caring for my dog. WHAT IF YOUR DOG DOESN T LIKE IT? There are some dogs that will not take automatically to the switch. He may need a little coaxing, but I would not give up too easily. If your kids were eating candy for 3 meals a day and you wanted to get them to eat some salad, what would you do? Would you just let them go back to the candy after trying once or twice? Probably not? My opinion is that it is worth the effort. My dog took to it immediately, and has never looked back. There are some tricks you can try, and one is simple. Put the food down and if he doesn t eat it, put it away and put it back in a couple of hours. Eventually he will eat it. Another one is to entice the dog by putting a small sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on whatever it is you are trying to get them to eat. I have found that some dogs like to wait and see. I always win that one. Be patient, you are doing something that is very good for your dog don t give up. MAKING THE SWITCH: Some people try to move to a raw diet slowly, as if they are switching from one brand of dog food from another. I did not do this. I simply stopped feeding my dog kibble one day and started on raw. There are some issues, you will obviously have a change in the consistency of your dog s stools, this is normal. They eventually will get back to normal, but will be much smaller. The more the dog s body uses, the less they crap out.. simple. He may not eat for a day or so when you start, he may not poop for a day or two. Your dog s body will go through a metamorphosis. It is a huge change for his body and his mind. He will revert to his natural instinct of tearing the meat, crunching the bone and sometimes will try to even bury some of his food. I suggest making the feeding area a place that is easy to clean, as it may get messy. I have seen no instance of a dog getting more aggressive because they started to eat raw meat. This is just another stupid wives tale that goes along with all the other stupid ones I ve heard. If a dog is food aggressive, he will be food aggressive with crap as well as with good food. He will just love his good food a little bit more, so if you see a change in behavior, it s because the new food is a higher value to him than the old junk you were feeding.
TREATS: My opinion is that if you are feeding your dog something healthy, it all should be healthy. The exception I use for this is on the occasions that I use food as a reward for training. At those times, I may still give him a little something special, but for the most part there are great natural training treats available. I often go to the deli and buy some roast beef and chop it up for training as well. Also, you may research some great recipes on the web that you can make yourself. Overall, I don t like to feed myself products that come from places that I would not eat from myself. I like to know where food is made, and I like to be able to read and understand what all the ingredients are. YOUR VETS OPINION: I have a great vet, actually I have 2. I know what they know and respect them immensely. I listen to them on anything pertaining to my dog s health. I know they truly have the dog s best interest at heart. Many vets are biased towards the foods they sell, so be aware of that. My vets are not, but I ve met some who will not recommend a food unless they sell it. These vets are crooks. I wouldn t let a vet like that treat my dog for a tick, let alone anything medical. Diet and behavior are not something that a lot of time is focused on in veterinary school. Any vet can tell you what is dangerous for your dog, i.e. chocolate, cooked bones, poinsettia plants, etc. But that what is good for your dog needs some research. A great example of this is fixing a dog at too early of an age, or overexercising a dog that is too young. Be aware that your vet is not God and you should investigate anything that might seem suspicious. A good vet is worth their weight in gold. I would not move too far, because I like my vet close. Please visit my animal rescue organization and consider supporting our important work: http://www.boundangels.org All writings are 2009 Robert Cabral not to be reproduced without permission www.blackbeltdogtraining.com