raw dog food

If humans can't eat it, then why would we feed it to our dogs? If you are reading this article, you probably want to take the best care of your best four legged friend. Why would you want to feed old faithful pet foods that are laden with contaminated animal remains? Yup, all the "meaty goodness" that your dog is supposed to go wild for, in reality comes from dying and diseased animals. All parts are used in the frankenkibble produced by the commercial giants, including, "tongues, esophagi, nails, claws, feathers, beaks, tendons, lungs with pneumonia and other diseased and cancerous meat - nothing goes to waste in the name of profit. You may even find blood and fecal wastes. These are all listed on the label as byproducts which are found in moist as well as dry pet foods." Can anyone say, gag me with a spoon?

Think about it for a second: a wolf in the wild gets hungry, goes hunting, catches and eats a rabbit. The most obvious difference in the wolf's meal and my dog's kibbles n' bits is that the rabbit is not cooked or processed in any way. For all intents and purposes the food the wolf is eating is living when the wolf eats it, the realization of which at first might make you a bit queasy. If you are anything like me, the thought of feeding your dog a live rabbit might freak you out a bit and make you wonder how safe it is to feed your dog raw meat, but that's just how nature intended your dog to eat. Not only would the wolf have eaten the rabbit, but also the contents of the rabbit's stomach, which would likely include a mix of grasses, leaves, fruit, nuts and other raw foods loaded with enzymes. My dog, Dingo, is an Australian Cattle Hound and I just know he would be overjoyed to chase a rabbit around, and would likely be able to stomach a Thumper happy meal, but I certainly wouldn't be able to. Very few of us are going to want to start feeding our dogs live rabbits! So what then? How can we feed our dogs in a way that is closer to the diet nature intended for our canine cohorts?

Quite possibly, the answer is the B.A.R.F. (Bones And Raw Food) diet for dogs, which was recently popularized in a book by Dr. Ian Billinghurst. While the name may seem unfortunate at first glance, the B.A.R.F. diet has nothing to do with puke and is being discussed in the most active dog related newsgroups and forums. Simply put, the diet consists of feeding your dog a diet of raw foods rich in protein, such as meat, dairy, and eggs, as well as raw bones with vegetable meal being added in to balance out the nutritional value of the meals. Not only will you be feeding your dog higher quality food, closer to the diet it evolved to eat, but you will also be helping your pet to restore and revitalize its health in countless ways! A raw food diet will help your pet better assimilate minerals, vitamins will be more bio-available for absorption by the body, natural antioxidants, amino acids, and natural digestive enzymes are all still present and not destroyed by heat or chemicals. All of these things will help your dog act younger and will help prolong Rover's lifespan.

But you might ask, will my dog possibly get sick from eating raw meat? Good hygiene is important when handling any raw meat for humans and dogs alike. So long as proper handling and storage techniques are used, most healthy dogs can tolerate small amounts of bacteria such as Salmonella or E. coli without any problems. It is important also to make sure that the meat and bones you purchase for your dog are organic and free of chemicals and preservatives. Remember, the goal is to provide a diet most similar to the diet your dog would have had thousands of years ago, the diet its body was designed for. It should be noted though, that while most dogs can tolerate a raw food diet, and in fact thrive on it, some dogs with compromised immune systems might do better just to switch to an all organic diet, rather than going totally raw.

A few months back, after my grandfather passed away, I began to really think about my body and how I really should become more invested in preserving and maintaining it. I stopped smoking, reduced daily drinking to social outings only, and most deliciously off all, I began to feed myself only with raw foods and the difference I feel is amazing. I feel 10 years younger and will never go back to my old eating ways. I am losing weight, have a lucid mind, and my baseline anxiety has all but vanished. Feeling so good and getter better each day, I started to think about my dog Dingo, and if I should be offering him the same type of diet that would be most biologically appropriate to his digestive system? Here's a great recipe I found that will be my first attempt to prepare some raw eats for my dog.

Basic Raw Dog Food Recipe

for a 20-25# dog

* 1/2 cup raw meat (ground poultry, beef, lamb, organ meats)
* 1/2 cup raw pureed vegetables (variety!)
* 1/4 cup cooked whole grains
* 1 teaspoon bonemeal powder (double for puppies and pregnancy)
* 1/4 teaspoon ascorbic acid powder with bioflavinoids (vitamin C)
* 1/4 teaspoon kelp powder
* 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic (not powder)
* 1 teaspoon oil mixture (2 teaspoons with poutlry)

Oil mixture:

* 11 oz. canola oil (cold pressed)
* 2 oz. wheat germ oil
* 2 oz. flax oil

Keep refrigerated in an opaque container.

Some folks eliminate the grains and increase the meat and vegetables proportionately, and only add the oil if poultry is fed. The meat must be raw. Dogs should only be fed raw bones (cooked bones will splinter). Vegetables must be pureed or they will come out looking pretty much the same way they did going in. Wild canines get their vegetable matter by eating the digested intestinal contents of their vegetarian prey. In fact, it is the part of the prey that most hunting animals will eat first. Variety is essential to deliver the correct mix of vitamins and minerals.

Stay tuned to see if my dog Dingo likes tis recipe, or if I will have to delve deeper into the dark arts of raw dog food culinary wizardry. I am going to video his reaction!

Caregivers and knowledgeable Vets are beginning to understand and appreciate the benefits of a biologically correct diet, and this very trend is now practiced by millions of pet owners across the globe. In fact, recent studies are showing that animals fed on a more biologically appropriate diet, i.e., the raw dog food diet, are outliving their cooked food companions by many years! They are nearly disease free where the cooked food group is riddled with a disease profile very similar to that of humans ??!? That fact should wake you up. Here are some of the observable differences pet owners who decide to feed their dogs raw dog food should expect to see over the years.

1. Weight Control - better muscle tone
2. Cleaner teeth and gums - tartar disappears
3. No "doggy" odor
4. More lustrous coat
5. No more dry, itchy skin, hot spots or alopecia
6. Increased energy
7. Ear problems alleviated
8. Less backyard cleanup (poops are smaller and more compact)
9. Most allergies disappear
10. Arthritis can be significantly reduced or disappears
11. Less risk of cancer
12. Anal gland relief (again because of the poops being smaller!)
13. Fewer Veterinary bills!

A common concern pet owners have with feeding their dogs raw dog food is whether or not they will get parasites, and if bacteria is a concern. It's certainly a fair concern to have and I certainly don't want feed my dog food laden with bacteria or parasites, and I certainly don't want to tell other well intentioned people to do so if it truly is the case.

A study on 25 commercial raw diets for dogs and cats detected Salmonella in 20% and Escherichia coli in 64% of the diets. However, the E. coli strain that can cause severe illness H157:O7 was not tested for. Raw feeders, however, believe that the risk of bacterial infection can be greatly reduced with safe handling and trusted meat sources that offer fresh and organic meats. Statistically speaking, human quality, raw foods that are properly handled and stored are generally be considered to be safe. If this were true, millions of pets consuming raw foods on a daily basis across the globe would not be alive and barking today, but they are! However, it's fair to acknowledge that there is always potential for any type of food, whether it be cooked or raw, to to contain bacteria. Bacteria exist everywhere, including in processed dry or canned pet foods.

While taking proper precaution to reduce the risks off bacteria and parasites is indeed the right thing to do for a raw feeder, one should note that most dogs are infested with parasites at some point or other in their lives. It is a natural occurrence within the span of a dog's life. Many pet owners believe that if a dog is unobserved with parasites in his stool, then he must be in a disease condition. This is not necessarily the case. Some dogs are born with parasites and others acquire them later in life. After they recover, the dogs develop a certain amount of immunity. This helps to keep the worms in check throughout their lifetimes without having to rely upon chemical medicines to do so. Just remember, everything living on you, or in you, that takes its food from you fits the definition of a parasite. Whether it is the size a long worm or microscopic in size, if it feeds off of you then it is a parasite. That means whether you feed your dog commercial kibble or a raw diet, your dog probably has one sort of parasite or another. It seems to me the concern about parasites is more of a knee jerk fear reaction about mentally accepting the idea of feeding your dog raw dog food than with any thing that proper food handling techniques will prevent.

Furthermore, most of the commercially available raw food items are frozen and are intended to remain so until shortly before feeding and many raw diet recipes call for freezing of the final product, which almost entirely reduces the potential for parasites. According to European Union regulations, freezing fish at -20°C (-4°F) for 24 hours kills parasites. The FDA recommends freezing at -35°C (-31°F) for 15 hours, or at -20°C (-4°F) for 7 days.

So, while the concern of parasite and bacteria is indeed a valid one that people exploring on a raw dog food diet plan for their dogs should be educated about, I see no reason why one can't follow these few simple handling and preparation techniques to make the diet safe for her dog. The overall health benefits greatly outweigh the risk of bacterial or parasitic infection when I know that through these few simple precautions that I can serve my dog food that will increase his lifespan and overall health. One of the few studies on raw food diets on animal was conducted over a period of 10 years (1932 to 1942...well before the fad!) by Francis M. Pottenger, Jr.'s study of 900 cats . His results showed that the cats fed a raw food diet were disease free and healthy. Those cats who were fed the same food cooked developed degenerative diseases. After a few generations, many cats lost their reproductive capabilities (!!!) while some were born blind and weak and had much shorter lifespans.

I think the choice is clear based on this study, at least in my mind it is. I want my dog with me, healthy and happy, for as many years as possible.