| Why raw? To answer this question we
have to look at the current beliefs, myths and advertising and question
their validity. The Balanced Diet
Myth
This phrase leads us to
believe that a diet for dogs must trend towards a center or norm. This
is true in itself; however that is not what the processed manufacturers
really mean. Their version relates to the chemical make-up of their
product. In their view a balanced diet is combination of base protein,
heat separated fats, and mineralized vitamin compounds that try to
duplicate the daily requirements for pets.
Why would this be an
effort? Because the products they start with do not represent the base
diet for pets. The protein is typically, base animal protein from a
separation process known as rendering, grain based, or both. All other
basic vitamin and mineral compounds must be added to bring the base
material into line with the daily intake requirement.
Surplus to the dogs diet
are the carbohydrates and non-digestible fiber from the grain. This
material is not counted in the diet ratings because they do not
represent parts of the basic daily requirements. They do contribute to
the pets intake though, sometimes with negative results.
Natural Diet?
Somehow natural foods and
diets went from base products found in gardens and pastures, to packages
being delivered from large mills. A Natural diet is a Raw Diet. If the
products the processed manufacturers were producing was a natural diet,
why would they need to supplement with calcium and other mineralized
compounds?
How many "Natural
Diets" have a shelf life of a year? Natural diets do not have
masses of preservatives to keep bacteria from forming on its surface.
Why would I feed my pet, as a staple, something that bacteria would not
eat?
The Diet Variability is
not healthy myth...
This was a marketing ploy
to be sure. Nothing could be further from the truth. What is known, is
that if you feed a monochromatic diet to a puppy in the early stages,
its ability to digest or metabolize a variety of food as an adult is
reduced. This usually shows itself as diarrhea condition which may not
be as bad for the dog as it is for the owner. This lack variability is
self serving, in that once the pet is "hooked", moving to a
different food causes a reaction that the owner sees as a problem (maybe
even a trip to the vet) then a move back the original diet. At the end
of this is typically a pet with some sort of condition requiring ongoing
medical help, due to and overabundance or missing part in the dietary
make-up.
A raw diet demands
variability. Variability is not only good for the dog, it is good for
the owner. The variability should include the vitamin sources as well as
protein sources. Poultry as a base with meaty beef bones to chew on, and
liberal addition of vegetables and some fruit provides a lot of room for
variability. Grains are not a requirement but can be added on occasion.
A little whole fish, or fish oil, is always good as well.
Feed at different times
of the day within a 4 hour window (example: between 6:00 and 10:00 PM)
and vary the amount. Tend to under feed for 2 days then "top it
up" on the 3rd day. This will keep the pet guessing as to when and
where the next meal is so they finish it up all at once. Plus you have
control over the consumption not the animal so the end result is a
leaner healthier pet.
Canine and Feline
dentistry...
This whole problem is
directly built on the commercial dog food industry. The plaque that
builds up, has it's origins in the carbohydrates in the food. When the
saliva begins the digestive process, the carbohydrates breakdown into
sugars, that the plaque causing bacteria feed on. As the bacteria
reproduce the plaque production increases. If the food has no
carbohydrate component, the pets are chewing on raw bones to break up
the lowered amount of plaque, dentistry is not required. Even the
commercial pet food industry recognizes the effect of raw bones when
they try and sell a dog bone replacement as a dental aid.
Don't feed your dogs
bones?...
We bought into this for
years. It took a lot of convincing to get us to believe that feeding a
raw bone was Ok. Now we can't believe why we were so intimidated.
Granted this saying does have some merit... DO NOT FEED COOKED BONES OF
ANY SORT! This distinction is very important as raw bones have both the
elasticity and dietary component. Cooked bones, through the heating
process change chemically, making them brittle and leaches out or
recombines most of the vitamin and protein components. These cooked
bones have no nutritional value and can became lodged in the intestine.
Raw bones are both nutritional and flexible, but most of all digestible
releasing the calcium and other components both in the right quantity
and the right time in the process.
Dogs
and cats have been domesticated and need a different diet than their
wild relatives?....
This is a 20th century
load of poor science. If that were true the dentition and digestive
systems would have adapted to 'grind up' and 'digest' the carbohydrate
laden 'briquets' being produced. Your dogs and cats would have evolved
teeth closer to humans or ungulates like goats, not the ripping and
chewing teeth they possess. What your pets need is a diet that reflects
their heredity not one based in the refuse of human consumption.
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My
vet says______ ...
While the tendency is for
us to believe implicitly the advice from our vet, as with our own health
we should always seek other opinions from the medical establishment. As
with the human medical establishment, most effort is devoted to the
treatment of disease not prevention, so a lack of understanding on their
part lies in the training not the science. The truth is that most vets
have little training in nutrition, with most of it based in animal
production for the food industry. Very few have training in feeding pets
over a longer life span. Any nutritional training they do get is
typically based in testing done at the labs for commercial pet foods.
This testing has life of about 3 to 12 months and uses dubious criteria
to determine a successful outcome. The fact still remains that we need
our vets. If we can get them past the crisis intervention thinking of
their training, to look to the long term health management you will
probably here a shift in the tone and information delivered. Most will
reconsider their thinking if approached in the correct manner, or at the
very least give you (or your pets breeder) due consideration in the
matter.
Writer's
Opinion
As a dog breeder for
nearly 20 years, we suffered the criticisms of all those who would make
us (and our work) out to be this uninformed, indiscriminate, production
of animals purely for profit, with little regard for the genetic or
physical well being of our animals. While I would suppose this is
beneficial to some of those in our society, it is a simple fact that
without us many peoples lives would lack that companion animal. It is
very interesting that those who seem to shout the loudest are those who
profit from, feeding the animals, or treating the animals. We started
our little adventure in production of raw frozen foods to augment the
results seen in our kitchen counter production. Since then we have seen
a dramatic improvement in our dogs; but also an increase in the level of
objection to what we are saying and doing.
We recently received an
e-mail with a dubious address, unsigned and unclaimed, trotting out all
the hyperbole and fear mongering typical of the commercial food sellers.
The angry tone of the e-mail was disconcerting enough; but when they
went on to blame problems in purebred dogs on the indiscriminate
breeding practices and poor genetic considerations of the breeders it
made me think about what was being said. It has occurred to me that
maybe the breeders are not entirely to blame, in fact I take exception
to that view. Maybe we have done genetic damage to our purebred dogs;
but not from breeding practices, rather a hereditary build up of poor
dietary practices has finally shown through in the health of the
animals. What leads me to this conclusion is that the same maladies that
affect the purebred animals are also present in the mixed breed
populations where breeders have not influenced the genetic outcome.
We will continue to feed
the raw food in our dogs and encourage our puppy buyers to do the same.
Given the results seen since 1997 we expect continued improvement and a
long healthy life for our dogs.
Dean
& Tracey Ricard-Mountain Dog
Food
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