How it Began for Us

The Dilemma
I had Jasper & Samson since they were puppies. Unfortunately, for most of their lives, I was not aware of diet alternatives and so fed them supermarket commercial dog food, including Purina, Alpo, and Beneful as well as what I thought were "premium" brands such as Iams, Eukanuba and Science Diet. Whether they thrived or not on this type of diet I could not tell because I had nothing to compare to--that was just they way they were.

When they were about 7 years old, I began to seriously reconsider what I was feeding. The primary reason for this was that Jasper had become grossly overweight. His heaviest weight was 130 lbs, which is quite heavy for a german shepherd. His stomach was so round that he looked like a bear, even the vet techs noted the resemblance. And indeed, because of his black coloring, children would come up to me and ask if I was walking a baby bear.

Jassy's weight problem was probably a result of his hypothyroidism and possibly a side effect caused by the phenobarbital we were administering to him to control his epileptic seizures. He had no weight problems until we started putting him on that medication at 2 years of age after his first major seizure.

Samson, who was on an identical diet, had the opposite result. He was grossly underweight with very visible ribs, and that was because he hated his kibble so much that he just wouldn't eat. I tried numerous different brands, and eventually, I just had to sit with him for half an hour twice a day as he ate. If I didn't do that, he would leave his food bowl completely.

It was Jassy's condition that I was primarily concerned with because he was also showing signs of hip dysplasia (or so I thought--it later turned out to be degenerative myelopathy, a neurological disease that often eventually results in the complete loss of use of the hind legs). I feared that such an excessive amount of weight would only exacerbate his hip problems. So I decreased his meals in the hopes that he would shed the extra pounds. This only resulted in his constantly being hungry and soon, he began to eat poop. I saw this as a sign that he was not getting enough nutrients--by decreasing his meals, I was also decreasing his nutrients.

The Switch
I did some research online and began to feed both my dogs a blend of Sojos dog food mix, a combination of human-grade grains, herbs, ground nuts, and sea kelp, and fresh raw meat. At first, I only added this to their commercial kibble. After seeing a slow improvement in both my dogs' weights and just observing Sammy's sheer enjoyment of his new food, I could not justify continuing to feed them what I knew by then was a substandard food, so I stopped giving them the supermarket kibble completely.

Some months later, I happened across a wonderful person who told me about BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods or Bones and Raw Foods), also referred to as a raw diet or prey model diet, and introduced me to a local co-op where I could buy high-quality meats straight from the farms. After reading more about this diet, I eventually dropped the Sojos mix completely.

Since Sammy was a gulper and Jasper had very bad teeth, I ground all my bones (raw--never feed cooked bones!) except for chicken feet which is mostly cartilage but still hard enough to clean their teeth and freshen their breath (2 feet at every meal did the trick). The types of raw meaty bones I feed are whole chicken, turkey necks, whole rabbit, and lamb breast and neck.

The Results
Jasper trimmed down from 130 lbs to a healthy 90 lbs--without starving. Sammy was a healthy and robust 100 lbs right up until he crossed the Bridge. Since weening them off supermarket kibble, their teeth became cleaner, their breath sweeter, and their poop a lot smaller, which to me, meant that their bodies were better utilizing what they were ingesting.

They used to get very severe hot spots several times a year. The last time they got that was when I first made the switch, and the vet told me that that is to be expected anytime you switch to a better diet because their bodies are releasing all the bad toxins from the old diet. They never had a single hot spot for the remainder of their lives since I stopped feeding them kibble.

I feel extremely good knowing that I am now feeding my dogs a high quality diet, a HEALTHY diet. And perhaps most important of all is seeing the pure joy in their reaction whenever mealtime rolls around. It takes dedication to make your pets' food--planning, research, time, and energy that was not required when simply opening up a bag of kibble or can of wet food. But it is a labor of love.

Reading

Purchase a few books to add to your library. You will refer to them often, especially in the beginning. I recommend starting with Raw Dog Food: Make it Easy for You and Your Dog by Carina Beth Macdonald. It is an easy read and provides the nitty-gritty of feeding a raw diet so that you aren't too overwhelmed by the little details early on.

The BARF Diet: Raw Feeding for Dogs and Cats Using Evolutionary Principles by Dr. Ian Billinghurst, often viewed as the "father" of raw feeding, provides more specific guidelines. Keep in mind that there is no one "right" way to feed a raw diet! Just as feeding yourself is not an exact science, neither is feeding your pet. Add ingredients slowly and if you find your pet doesn't do too well on one particular ingredient, exclude it in the future.

How I Do It

Grinding
Although many petowners feed whole bones without any issues, I grind most of our meats and soft bones to reduce the risk of choking and intestinal blockage. This is really only necessary if you have a gulper. Dogs with bad or missing teeth may also need their food ground. Since I buy in bulk, I store the meat in the freezer and defrost as needed. Grinding also cuts the required storage space in the freezer by half.

The Benefits of Whole Bones
Keep in mind that pets do benefit from chewing and tearing at whole pieces of raw meaty bones. It provides exercise and also helps to clean their teeth. If you have a dog with really bad tartar or plaque, try giving him whole lamb breast or turkey neck. These are harder bones that require a lot of chewing and will scrape much of that tartar off.

I once fostered a dog whose back molars were so covered in tarter that you could not even see the teeth themselves. The vet showed me where the plaque was beginning to inflame her gums and suggested dental work for her. A few weeks of chewing on lamb breast and turkey necks completely removed all of the tartar! I saved hundreds of dollars in vet bills and also saved her from the stress of having to be taken to the vet's office and anesthetized.

Raw Meaty Bones
I try to feed as big a variety of raw meaty bones as possible, although I do recommend you add each type of meat slowly to see how your dog reacts to it. Certain meats or cuts can cause allergies or diarrhea, etc, and if you add each meat slowly and one at a time, if your dog does have a negative reaction to it, you will know exactly what is causing it. Included in my dogs' diet are chicken wings, necks, backs, frames, feet, turkey necks, lamb breast, necks, and whole rabbit. Turkey necks and chicken parts are what I most regularly feed with the others rotated in based on availability.

Muscle Meat
Muscle meats are also included, such as beef, lamb or pork trim, or any type of heart. Offal such as liver, kidney, spleen, and pancreas also make up a small percentage of their diet as do canned mackeral or salmon and dairy products such as yogurt and eggs. Green tripe, as smelly as it is, is also a vital component of our dogs' diet.

Vegetables
I don't always feed vegetables, but when I do, they consist of whatever I can find cheaply at the supermarket (never feed dogs onions)--kale, lettuce, squash, zucchini, broccoli, celery, beets, herbs, etc. Vegetables must be processed, blended, juiced, or ground in order for dogs to digest them. Whole veggies are not harmful but dogs will not get extract any nutritional value from them.

Each component of the diet (raw meaty bones, muscle meat, offal, and veggies) is packaged separately. When it's time to prepare the meals, I just scoop what's needed and mix them together.

Supplements
I do also add supplements on most days. I used to purchase each vitamin separately but it became very time-consuming to dole them out, not to mention that sometimes my dogs would eat the food and spit out the vitamins. So now I get the Daily Blend from B-Naturals.com, which is a powdered formula of vitamins A, B, C, D, E, kelp and alfalfa.

I consider salmon oil to be one of the most beneficial supplements for dogs. It is a source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, which are beneficial to the immune system, nervous system, heart, and help to reduce inflammation such as from arthritis and allergies. It also gives dogs a healthy, shiny coat and skin. I order Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil from TimberwolfOrganics.com.

Syn-flex Liquid Glucosamine is also added to the dogs' meals. It had originally been recommended to me by a woman whose mother used it for her arthritis. According to the manufacturer's website, visible improvement would be noticed within 2 weeks of using the product. I was skeptical since no other glucosamine supplement resulted in any noticeable change, but figured it wouldn't hurt to try it.

I had noticed Jasper was slow to get up from a lying down position and I figured it was due to the onset of arthritis. True to their claim, I did see an improvement in Jasper within the first 2 weeks of using Syn-flex. About 6 months later, Sammy started to have the same difficulty in getting up so I started supplementing his meals with the product as well. Again, there was an obvious improvement. I have since used Syn-flex myself for my bad lower back with great results. I now give it to every dog as a preventative measure.

There are some other supplements I add from time to time--apple cider vinegar (with the "Mother"), tumeric, CoEmzyme Q10, iron to name a few. But the daily blend, salmon oil, and Syn-flex are the main core of supplements I feed to my dogs regularly.

Prepackaged Alternatives

If you want to control the meats your dog is eating, The Honest Kitchen offers a line called Preference which contains no meat at all. It is not a balanced diet in itself, and you must add the meat. However, since the mix already includes fruits, vegetables, and supplements, the meat is the only element you need to concern yourself with. As you get more comfortable with feeding raw, you can then customize the other ingredients.

A similar concept can be found with Sojo's Natural Dog Food Mix, which you simply add water and meat to for a balanced diet. Both The Honest Kitchen and Sojo's offer grain-free alternatives as well for dogs with sensitivities to grains.

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