Food
Your dog IS a carnivore, contrary to what the BIG pet food companies
would have you to believe.
If you think about it, it's only in the last century or less that
commercial kibble has been available.
Before the last century, allergies, obesity, cancers, & the myriad of other medical problems dogs suffer from today, pretty much did not exist! The bad thing is that sometimes the effects from kibble are not immediately seen, but over the generations, they are becoming more & more apparent. Sadly, they are often misdiagnosed.
To feed the average quality bag of Kibble costs about $30-45 per month for a 40-60 pound dog. Feeding SARD (a Species Appropriate Raw Diet) can cost about the same, with the additional savings of less Vet visits and even zero medication costs!
The Basics
The Basics
* diet is based on the 80%-10%-10% formula.
80% muscle meat -10% bone -10% organ- half that (5%) should be liver and half (5%) should be secreting organ(kidney, pancreas, brain, etc)
80% muscle meat -10% bone -10% organ- half that (5%) should be liver and half (5%) should be secreting organ(kidney, pancreas, brain, etc)
* whole carcasses (portion/sections) whenever possible or large pieces. Food should not be routinely ground or cut up in small chunks except for special need reasons. Bone portion should be given as bone-in meat.
* Adults- 2-3% of body weight, 1 time a day or you can divide it in two & feed half that in the morning and half in the evening(your choice, but I recommend only feeding once per day, except puppies)
* puppies feed- 2-3 % of expected ADULT body weight or 5-6 % of current body weight, 2-6 times a day depending on age.
* amount will be depending on your individual dog & lifestyle/exercise level
* amount will be depending on your individual dog & lifestyle/exercise level
* Judge if your dog is getting enough based on body condition.
* a variety of meats is crucial, the more variety the better- any type 'prey' animal- chicken, beef, pork, lamb/sheep, goat, fish, bison, elk, venison, turkey, rabbit, quail, squirrel, mice, duck, eggs, etc. No meat-eating animals should be fed to dogs.
You need "balance over time", so it is ok to feed the same type of meat for several days in a row. Over a month's time you should provide at least 3 or more different protein sources.
You need "balance over time", so it is ok to feed the same type of meat for several days in a row. Over a month's time you should provide at least 3 or more different protein sources.
*try to think about the prey a dog, coyote or wolf would be eating in the wild and try to mimic that in variety & proportions.
*NEVER feed COOKED bones of ANY kind. Cooking changes bone structure. This can cause it to splinter, causing issues like choking and punctures of the gut. Cooking changes bone on a molecular level, and this makes it harder to digest, leading to impactions of stool, diarrhea, or gut infections. Cooking also removes most of the nutrients your dog needs.
*Weight bearing bones (especially from large animals, like cows) tend to be dense and have been known to break teeth, try to stay away from those or take them away when all the meat is stripped off.
*Unless pureed, veggies pass through a dogs short digestive tract without being used/digested, so the dog gets no nutritional value from them. Grains and vegetables need to spend time in the digestive tract frermenting in order to be broken down into useable nutrients, like happens with herbivores and omnivores which have a longer digestive tract and slower digestion. Canines do not produce the necessary enzymes in the mouth to begin digestion of fruits and vegetables, leaving their pancreas to try and produce enough of the necessary enzymes. Dogs do produce a small amount of Amalyse from the pancreas, but this is not enough to provide what is necessary to digest these foods on a daily basis for long term. This small evolution of the dog is to ensure they can survive in lean times by scavenging rubbish from humans, until they are able to find prey. This is not a major change in the dog's digestive abilities, that would enable them to thrive on a diet with a significant amount of fruits, grains and vegetables for the long term. Dogs are built to thrive on a carnivore diet and get all the nutrients they need from their prey(raw diet in proper proportions and balance). Veggies, grains and fruits are not needed as part of the overall diet.
* The world is not what it used to be and our soils are becoming depleted. So you may choose to supplement with a few things as needed. Fish Oil or Krill Oil if you are not feeding grass fed meats. Coconut Oil, Aloe Vera (anti-viral & anti-fungal) Probiotics, either fresh green tripe or SBO's (Soil Based Organisms) and Bovine Colostrum or some other Immune System Building product.
* The world is not what it used to be and our soils are becoming depleted. So you may choose to supplement with a few things as needed. Fish Oil or Krill Oil if you are not feeding grass fed meats. Coconut Oil, Aloe Vera (anti-viral & anti-fungal) Probiotics, either fresh green tripe or SBO's (Soil Based Organisms) and Bovine Colostrum or some other Immune System Building product.
* RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!!! and consult a Small Animal Naturopath, Naturopathic Carnivore Nutrition Counselor, a Classical Homeopath or a (rare) raw educated Vetereinarian to guide & assist you in your learning and picking the right option for your dog.
OPTIONS
There are several different (healthier than regular kibble) options if you can not or are not ready to feed full raw. I do feel that a 100% raw diet is best and my CD puppies are weaned straight to a raw diet. I have had puppy owners tell me that their raw fed puppy was offered kibble and refused to eat it! They know what is good for them!
That being said, I wanted to make you aware of other options that you may find information on, and also why they are not the best option for your puppy.
That being said, I wanted to make you aware of other options that you may find information on, and also why they are not the best option for your puppy.
There are several alternatives to Prey Model Raw feeding.
1. Homemade cooked diet. First off Cooking changes proteins on a molecular level, even at very low temperatures. The nutrients in their raw, bio-available form are destroyed and changed. The food becomes less nutritious, and less digestible. Over time this can lead to chronic malnutrition, even though your dog is eating an acceptable amount. This can be detrimental to your dog's health, leading to cancers, low immune system, and many other chronic illnesses.
Secondly the cooked diet needs to be supplemented with calcium,, as well as digestive enzymes, probiotics and the vitamins and minerals that are lost through cooking. This can not be done correctly, consistently and successfully without a scientific evaluation of the exact diet you are making. We thought this was supposed to be simple! It's not!
2. The half & half diet(half raw, half kibble) whether for convenience or fear, this is not a good idea in my professional opinion. The fact is that kibble is not a good diet choice, much like feeding McDonalds every day to a growing child, because it is from unknown, inferior sources, cooked at very high temperatures until all the nutrients are destroyed, containing supplemental fake nutrients tht are not bio-available, having its share of recalls for pathogen contamination, and the general makeup of kibble being from largely non species appropriate sources( grains, starches, fruits & vegetables). Also to consider, Kibble and raw digest at different rates, this can cause digestive issues such as constipation, impaction, diarrhea, and infections in the gut. The kibble needs time to move through the digestive tract, time to ferment and be somewhat broken down(although you can see kibble poo is mushily similar to how it went in) and the raw food moves through much quicker. The kibble slows down the rate of digestion, leaving the raw food to sit in the gut and rot, not good at all! Hopefully you can begin to get an idea of why this diet is not a good idea.
1. Homemade cooked diet. First off Cooking changes proteins on a molecular level, even at very low temperatures. The nutrients in their raw, bio-available form are destroyed and changed. The food becomes less nutritious, and less digestible. Over time this can lead to chronic malnutrition, even though your dog is eating an acceptable amount. This can be detrimental to your dog's health, leading to cancers, low immune system, and many other chronic illnesses.
Secondly the cooked diet needs to be supplemented with calcium,, as well as digestive enzymes, probiotics and the vitamins and minerals that are lost through cooking. This can not be done correctly, consistently and successfully without a scientific evaluation of the exact diet you are making. We thought this was supposed to be simple! It's not!
2. The half & half diet(half raw, half kibble) whether for convenience or fear, this is not a good idea in my professional opinion. The fact is that kibble is not a good diet choice, much like feeding McDonalds every day to a growing child, because it is from unknown, inferior sources, cooked at very high temperatures until all the nutrients are destroyed, containing supplemental fake nutrients tht are not bio-available, having its share of recalls for pathogen contamination, and the general makeup of kibble being from largely non species appropriate sources( grains, starches, fruits & vegetables). Also to consider, Kibble and raw digest at different rates, this can cause digestive issues such as constipation, impaction, diarrhea, and infections in the gut. The kibble needs time to move through the digestive tract, time to ferment and be somewhat broken down(although you can see kibble poo is mushily similar to how it went in) and the raw food moves through much quicker. The kibble slows down the rate of digestion, leaving the raw food to sit in the gut and rot, not good at all! Hopefully you can begin to get an idea of why this diet is not a good idea.
3. Home-made BARF diet (google it) This acronym can mean Bones And Raw Food, Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, and several others, but I am meaning the BARF diet as set forth by Dr Ian Billinghurst. Learn more here-BARF. I am not a big fan of this diet, because it usually consists of only 50% meat and 50% fruits, vegetables and in some cases grains.
4. Commercially prepared raw for dogs. This is 100% raw meat, portioned or ground. you just measure the correct amount and serve. Here is one such company that sells this type of food. My problem with this type of diet is 1. your dog gets no mental benefit or the benefits of tooth cleaning that they get when eating large pieces and bone in meats. 2. Many of these diets are sterilized(using heat or High Pressure Pasteurization). the bad bacteria is killed, but the good bacteria is killed as well, the good bacteria(enzymes & probiotics) is something that every dog needs to thrive. Also when the good bacteria is killed, it cannot keep any later introduced bad bacteria in check, leading to listeria, salmonella and many other overgrowths. this can make you and your dog sick and is one of the reasons that so many fear the raw diet as dangerous.
5. Freeze dried Raw. There are several different companies that sell this type of food for pets. Most of it is in frozen patties or nuggets Primal and Steve's are 2 such companies that sell this type of food and this type can be found in many good boutique pets stores (not chains). Many of the commercial companies do add in grains, starches, and vegetables, putting us back to square one in trying to avoid these things.
6. Dehydrated Raw. This type usually is in a chunky powdered form. You just mix with water and when it is absorbed then serve. Here are 2 examples of this type of diet. Addiction and The Honest Kitchen
*There are some drawbacks to serving these types of diets. For one they are more expensive. Another drawback is that raw bones still need to be provided for mental stimulation and teeth cleaning. They are less readily available. Also many of the commercial companies do add in grains, starches, and vegetables, putting us back to square one in trying to avoid these things.
On the other hand they are a little more convenient, less messy and for newbies to raw feeding, less worry about if your dog is getting most of the correct nutrients.
*I am sure there are other options available and there are many more quality companies that make these types of foods. Just GOOGLE Raw Diet For Dogs, Dehydrated Raw Food For Dogs or other similar phrases and you will find plenty!
*There are also higher quality grain free kibbles available but these would be my last resort for feeding my Carolina Dogs, as they are not species-appropriate and are cooked, which removes all the healthy enzymes and the bio-available nutrients that you find in whole raw foods.
*Also to help you when you are shopping for pet food, watch these 2 videos by Dr Karen Becker about how to read pet food labels. Part 1 and Part 2 She has many other good videos on You Tube regarding Species Appropriate Nutrition (as well as some great video interviews with other Naturally Minded Veterinary Specialists, including Dr. Ronald Schultz!). Here is a link to her
channel: Dr. Karen Becker
*****************************************************************
THIS IS HOW I FEED. IT IS NOT COMPLICATED....
I have been raw feeding for 7 + years(as of 2016) and I feed by body condition. I just weigh the food ever so often to see where they are at. Usually they get whole prey or as close to it as we can get. But they do get a mix of everything. And I do mean everything (raw).
I feed whole prey (chickens, pigs, deer, squirrel, turkey, goat, fish, rabbit, etc) other things like beef, tripe, cuts of meat from the grocery store or meat markets, etc as parts -bone in (franken-prey, some call it), or ground.
I have been raw feeding for 7 + years(as of 2016) and I feed by body condition. I just weigh the food ever so often to see where they are at. Usually they get whole prey or as close to it as we can get. But they do get a mix of everything. And I do mean everything (raw).
I feed whole prey (chickens, pigs, deer, squirrel, turkey, goat, fish, rabbit, etc) other things like beef, tripe, cuts of meat from the grocery store or meat markets, etc as parts -bone in (franken-prey, some call it), or ground.
Also I feed different amounts every day, some days more, some less, some days will be a gorge, some days a fast, never the same amount.
Also I never feed at the same time of the day.
My dogs are in great shape.
I believe that in the wild, animals are not fed a portioned, prepared, balanced meal every day at the same time on a platter or in a bowl.
My dogs are usually fed as a pack, but can eat alone and in different areas, on different surfaces, etc. I do occasionally feed them in bowls or on a plate, or by hand, or on the ground, on the kitchen floor, different every day so they are used to anything.
I believe most of the peculiarities that many dogs have is caused by the "regulated" way of feeding and so I just avoid all that by doing things the way that I do.
Sometimes (usually) I do make them sit & wait until I allow them to eat, but not always, sometimes I have them hunt their food (in my yard or house) both are ways of working for their food:)
My pack do occasionally get to pick berries in season or herbs/grasses, not every day & not as a % of their meal. Sometimes they get a snack of a whole baby carrot or piece of cauliflower or broccoli, a piece of a pear or a peach, or whatever.
Also I never feed at the same time of the day.
My dogs are in great shape.
I believe that in the wild, animals are not fed a portioned, prepared, balanced meal every day at the same time on a platter or in a bowl.
My dogs are usually fed as a pack, but can eat alone and in different areas, on different surfaces, etc. I do occasionally feed them in bowls or on a plate, or by hand, or on the ground, on the kitchen floor, different every day so they are used to anything.
I believe most of the peculiarities that many dogs have is caused by the "regulated" way of feeding and so I just avoid all that by doing things the way that I do.
Sometimes (usually) I do make them sit & wait until I allow them to eat, but not always, sometimes I have them hunt their food (in my yard or house) both are ways of working for their food:)
My pack do occasionally get to pick berries in season or herbs/grasses, not every day & not as a % of their meal. Sometimes they get a snack of a whole baby carrot or piece of cauliflower or broccoli, a piece of a pear or a peach, or whatever.
No comments:
Post a Comment