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Caring for our dogs.
CARING FOR OUR DOGS.
Our dogs bring us so much joy. What is they magic that they have to bring a smile to our faces on our gloomiest days? Whatever it is, I am thankful for the part that they play in my life. I try to care for all my dogs needs, body, mind and spirit.
All of our dogs live in the house with us. They lay on the couch and sleep on out beds. We got rid of all of our carpet years ago and that was the smartest thing we have ever done. Muddy paw prints are easily mopped up and the blanket on the couch is thrown in the wash. The puppies are born in my bedroom where I can hear every squeak and whine. They are held and loved from the day that they are born. When they are old enough to run and play, they are given lots of opportunity to explore indoors and outdoors, weather permitting.
I wean my pups very slowly, making it a natural transition for both mom and babes. I start feeding the pups a small amount of food at five weeks of age. By seven weeks they are completely on solid food and just visiting with mom once in a while. Usually at this point the mother is so tired of them chewing on her with their sharp teeth that she is happy to get away!
Nutrition:
My interest in homemade dog food started after I read a book by Ann Martin called "Food Pets Die For." I was shocked to learn that the many commercial dog foods were made with ingredients that I wouldn't want on my compost heap, never mind in my dogs stomach. Moldy grains, rancid fats,and the 4-D meat sources, that is, tissues from animals that are "dead, dying, disabled, or diseased" by the time they hit the slaughter house. Don't forget the euthanized dogs and cats along with their flea collars and the plastic bags they were wrapped in, out-dated processed meats from the grocery store, along with their styrofoam or plastic packages. Sounds terrible doesn't it. I've heard worse.
AND SO... I started making my own dog food. This consisted of cooked meat, usually turkey, raw finely grated vegetables, and cooked grain, along with the nutritional supplements: kelp, brewers yeast, bonemeal, cod liver oil, and flax oil. Sounds great doesn't it. EXCEPT it was a lot of work for eight dogs.AND THEN I started reading about the benefits of feeding a raw food diet, and there was no turning back. (More info below)
Although
I recommend that people feed their pups raw food, I realize that some
people are not ready to make the leap. For those people, I will wean
their pups onto a high quality kibble called "Go Natural" You can check out the web site at http://www.petcurean.com/ It is made in BC and all of the ingredients are fit for human consumption.
I was sent a great website by one of my puppy buyers that rates dog food from 1 star to 6 stars. It explains what some of the ingredients are and why they rate the foods the way they do. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/
Go Natural gets a 5 star rating which is very impressive. Some other very well know brands don’t do as well. Eukanuba regular puppy food only rates 1 star, although some of the Eukanuba "natural type" products rate 2 stars. Most of the Nutro foods are 2 stars and almost all of the Iams kibbles rate 1 star.
The Nutrience puppy food that I used to wean my puppies on only gets 2 stars.
It can be so deceiving reading the ingredient list. For instance, if it says "chicken", it is including the water in the chicken which makes up about 80% of the chicken, so in fact, there is a lot less chicken in the product than if it says "chicken meal" So kibble that lists chicken as the first ingredient and a grain as the second ingredient, probably has a lot more grain than chicken when you take out the 80% water content.
Bye the way, I wouldn't recommend some of the kibbles that received 6 stars and have really high protein level such as 43%. I think that is much to high. Terriers are little pigs anyway and tend to eat too much so you don't want a food that is too rich.
The diet I feed my dogs now is based on the information in Dr. Pitcairn's "Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats"and Dr.Ian Billinghurst's two books, "Give Your Dog a Bone" and "Grow Your Pups with Bones."
ARE YOU IN SHOCK NOW !!?? YES, I DID SAY BONES
According to Dr. Billinghurst raw bones do not splinter or cause
blockages in the dogs stomach and the benefits of feeding raw meaty
bones are enormous. COOKED BONES ARE DANGEROUS AND SHOULD NEVER BE FED.
The diet I feed consists of 60% raw meaty bones (chicken wings, backs
and necks have the best meat to bone ratio for proper calcium
phosphorous balance) which can be fed whole or ground.
10% raw very finely grated vegetables and fruit (dogs love chewing on
chunks of raw carrot,apple etc but for proper digestion they need to go
through a food processor or juicer)
10% raw liver,heart,milk,eggs, cottage cheese yogurt etc.
20% cooked grains - I usually feed cooked rolled oats which are higher in protein and fat than brown rice.
Cooked grains are optional, some dogs do very well with grain and some dogs don't.
WHY BONES???
According to Dr. Billinghurst, about 90% of all bone disease in dogs,
Hip and Elbow Dysplasia, Slipping Patellas, Wobblers Syndrome etc. etc.
is caused by faulty management, which includes feeding commercial dog
foods. The main culprit in these foods is the excessive amounts of
artificial calcium (some brands up to 10 times the amount your dog
should have.) This artificial calcium binds with other minerals and
prevents their assimilation into your dogs body. One of the minerals
that will be deficient is zinc. Lack of zinc causes all sorts of nasty
skin problems as well as reproductive problems. This binding of
minerals does not happen when the dogs get their calcium from natural
sources such as raw meaty bones and green leafy vegetables.
Problem number two - this is a direct quote from his book:
"Essential fatty acids are involved in every facet of reproduction and
growth. To raise healthy, highly sexed, highly fertile dogs, both male
and female, and healthy puppies that have freedom from skeletal
disease, the diet you feed them must contain adequate levels of the
essential fatty acids. The Omega-6's and the Omega-3's. Ideally, these
fats must NOT have been damaged by heat.
Because they are all cooked, It is impossible for ANY processed food to
contain undamaged and therefore healthy essential fatty acids."
Lack of essential fatty acids also cause skin problems.
Oils added to the diet should be cold pressed, stored in the dark in
the fridge, and used within 6-8 weeks. However, most of the dogs
essential fatty acids will come from the raw meat, bones and vegetables
that makes up the bulk of the diet.
I could go on and on about the Vitamins and Enzymes that are destroyed
by cooking, but then I would have to write a book. SO I SUGGEST YOU BUY
DR. BILLINGHURST'S BOOKS. If you are worried about Salmonella or Ecoli,
don't be, healthy dogs can easily handle these.
Feeding raw is so popular now that there are many places selling an
assortment of ground meats, bones and vegetables. Although I mix my own
ingredients because it costs less, feeding your dog this way can be as
easy as taking a package out of the freezer.
I buy most of my ground chicken and bone from
http://www.mountaindogfood.com
It is an Alberta based company but there are distributors all over BC.
Another company with distributors far and wide is
http://www.amorepetfoods.com/
Also, located in the lower mainland is http://www.truecarnivores.com
One of the most affordable raw food producers in the lower mainland is Surrey Meat Packers. http://www.surreymeatpackersltd.com
Below is a company that sells raw dog food throughout BC and several other provinces.
This site also has some information about the benefits of raw food. Click on “What Vets say” to see how vets are now seeing improved health in dogs being fed raw. http://www.jakeanddaiseys.com/
Below is a statement taken from a website created by Catherine O’Driscoll, after 3 of her dogs died:
"Members of CHC (Canine Health Concern) who have reverted to a CHC-recommended natural diet have seen illnesses disappear and vet bills plummet. Our diet survey showed an 85 per cent drop in the number of veterinary visits once dogs were changed to real food."
To read the entire article and many more to do with natural health for dogs go to: http://www.canine-health-concern.org.uk/
Shirley’s Wellness Café is a web site that is devoted to “Holistic Health Care for People and Animals.” There are many, many articles about diet, vaccinations, flea control, allergies, hot spots and the list goes on and on.
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/healthypets.htm
I will not demand that people buying pups from me feed their dogs a raw
food diet. I just hope that if you do run into health problems that you
consider what I am saying. I do the best I can to ensure that the pup
you buy from me is as healthy as can be when it comes to live with you.
The rest is up to you!
