Our Raw Diet

Why feed raw?

Dogs are carnivores - they eat meat, bones and organs of mammals & birds. The jury is still out on whether or not wolves eat the stomach contents of herbivorous prey animals (dogs are not obligate carnivores like cats) but they sure don't cook their food.

Dogs are now classified Canis Lupus Familiaris - 'In 1993, the Smithsonian Institution and the American Society of Mammalogists reclassified the dog from its separate species designation of Canis familiaris to Canis lupus familiaris. So, now, the Timber wolf (Canis lupus nubilus), the Mackenzie or Tundra wolf (Canis lupus occidentalis), the dog (Canis lupus familiaris ), etc., fall under the genetic umbrella of the gray wolf: Canis lupus..'
- from http://www2.fiu.edu/~milesk/Genetics.htm

To me, this means I should be trying to provide as close to a natural 'wolf-like' diet as possible - fresh water, raw meaty bones, muscle and organ meat. My dogs do graze on grass from time to time, possibly as a response to needing enzymes that may be found on plant materials rather than "to throw up" as is commonly thought. However I don't provide plant matter routinely in their diet. I work on the philosophy that feeding a raw diet will keep my dogs in excellent health - large amounts of supplements are simply excreted by the body and therefore are a waste of time.

Dr. Tom Lonsdale (a vet and an advocate of prey model Natural Feeding) says to avoid diets that consist of exclusively lean meat or exclusively vegetables - these diets are not balanced and that dogs (and cats) should be fed a diet consisting of the following to maintain optimum health:
1. Fresh water constantly available
2. Raw meaty bones/chicken wings/whole fish/rabbit or similar should form the bulk of the diet
3. Table scraps both cooked and raw (discard cooked bones)

Dogs don't need to be fed a balanced diet every day - to balance the diet over a week is the ideal for our canine friends.

My pups go to their new homes carrying a copy of Tom Lonsdale's latest book - << Work Wonders >> ~ order it from Tom's site: www.rawmeatybones.com

Sally & Zoom enjoying bones
ca. 1995

What's wrong with commercially prepared pet food?

Processed food contains a large amount of grain - carnivores don't have digestive systems designed to handle large amounts of grain, for example in the quantities found in some commercial foods.

Commercial food also has to contain some sort of meat - have you ever stopped to think about what happens to the meat before it goes into pet food and where that meat actually comes from?

To keep the cost down, pet food companies would have use the reject carcasses from abattoirs. In America, government regulations say that meat that is not consider fit for human consumption must be denatured (sounds horrible!) before being sent to the rendering plants where it is boiled down into the mush that becomes commercial pet food. Read more about that process here:

http://www.thewholedog.org/artkibble.html

This next statement I find truly terrifying: 'The National Animal Control Association has estimated that animal shelters kill over 13 million household pets a year. Of this total, 30% are buried, 30% are cremated and the remaining 40%, about 5 million pets, are shipped to rendering factories to be recycled and used in pet food.'
- from http://home.earthlink.net/~pawsreflect/nutrition.html

These two articles, and others about commercial pet food listed below, are all American. I don't know if the situation would be different here in Australia and I am currently searching for Aussie articles about the same sort of issues - if anyone has any links they would be appreciated. Email them to me at hafhafa@clove.net.au.

Another problem with canned food and even the kibble or dry food, is that it doesn't clean or exercise the gums and teeth properly, and this is a major reason why dogs fed on a commercial diet often need a lot of dental treatment. The kibble is ground down using the flat of the teeth and so it doesn't clean the teeth like bones do - dogs chew bones in many different positions, and both with the flats and the sides of their teeth.

'Uncooked bones had the most marked effect [on removing tartar build up on teeth] followed by rawhide chews and super hard baked biscuits.', said PC Higgins, Veterinary Adviser to Uncle Bens of Australia 1987.
- from http://www.rawmeatybones.com/PrevDent.html

Bad teeth and teeth covered in tartar contribute to bad breath and a general 'stinkiness' - that all too familiar 'doggy smell' - and can also harbour bacteria which could be dangerous to your dog's health.

FISH OIL capsules - I buy the cheapest in stock at the chemist or supermarket. Old dogs (15+) get 1 per day to prevent/treat arthritis and my male Saluki has one every second day for coat care.

* A note about Eggs:
Eggs contain an ENZYME INHIBITOR which can make them difficult to digest for very young puppies, sick dogs, old dogs, or dogs with pancreatitis. Apart from that, unless a dog has an allergy to eggs, there should be no problem. Egg whites contain a substance called AVIDIN, which binds with the vitamin biotin (a member of the B Complex group), making it unavailable for your dog. The only situation where this has been a problem was when an experimental diet, totally deficient in biotin was fed together with lots of raw egg whites for several weeks. It is possible that lots of egg whites could precipitate a biotin deficiency, in a dog fed a poor quality dried dog food. If that dry food was low in biotin, as they often are, the dog may suffer a biotin deficiency. It's worth noting that egg yolks contain lots of biotin, so feeding whole eggs is very safe.

How much food I feed my dogs:
I work on Tom Lonsdale's formula of 2 - 3% of the dog's body weight plus some scraps per day. I vary the amount between 2 and 3% depending on whether the dog is very active (my husband's young Australian Kelpie bitch) or very inactive (my lazy female Tenterfield Terrier). For my Tenterfields (+5kgs), it works out to about 150 grams and for the Salukis (25kgs), about 750 grams of food per day. Each week, about 50% of this amount is raw meaty bones and about 50% is muscle and organ meats.

What I DON'T ever feed my dogs:
(and my reasons why, which are based on my opinions and have not necessarily been proven as facts)

tinned (canned/wet) food - meat used is sub-standard quality, bad for teeth and digestion, dogs become smelly & itchy, contains grains
dry (kibble/pellet) food - meat used is sub-standard quality, bad for teeth and digestion, dogs become smelly & itchy, contains grains
most supplements can create imbalances, especially calcium supplements without phosphorous in the correct ratio
cooked bones of any sort - splinters can cause blockages
onions, leeks, shallots or spring (green) onions - possibly leads to anaemia (be aware that garlic also falls into this family)
ivermectin (a drug found in Heartgard) - possibly associated with AHIA (Acquired Haemolytic Auto Immune disease)
chocolate - the toxic chemical is called Theobromine

Australian Kelpie pup eating a chicken wing
2008

Some links to get you started on the quest for good health for your pet:

Information for people new to raw feeding:
Raw Feeding FAQ - Information collected by Jane Anderson - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
http://www.rawlearning.com/ - Jane Anderson presents a variety of information for people starting out with Raw Feeding (the base page for the FAQ above) - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Raw Fed Dogs - funny recipes with *minimal* preparation, also some interesting links

Raw Feeding Advocates:
Dr. Tom Lonsdale's Raw Meaty Bones Lobby has published books that are both excellent resources
- Particularly interesting and useful are: Diet is the Cornerstone of Good Health and Preventative Dentistry
Give Your Dog a Bone - Dr. Ian Billinghurst (Australian Vet) advocates a raw diet but is also the figurehead of a now largely commercial pet food company - it's raw, but it's not biologically appropriate, because meat patties don't involve chewing.

Raw Feeding Email Lists:
Natural Raw Dog [appropriate for newbies]
Basic Raw [experienced Raw Feeders who feed minimal supplements]
Raw Feeding [the *BIG* BARF list, suitable for new & experienced Raw Feeders, high volume]