You feed them what?
March 21st 2011
I frequently get questioned about my choice of nutrition for my dogs. Now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with anyone asking and I will gladly answer and/or take the ridicule that comes with alternative diets for my “kids.” While I don’t feel the need to justify my actions, I would like to share my thoughts on the matter.
I’m talking about my choice to raw feed my two pups. Yes, I said RAW…. Many folks think of this as a seriously flawed ideal of feeding. I often hear folks comment, “They’re dogs. They eat dog food.” or “You’re going to make them sick.”
“What about the bacteria or salmonella?”
Fear not, young grasshoppah, let me explain.
What is this whole concept of raw feeding? Its exactly what it sounds like. My dogs get raw food. Now this isn’t road kill I pick up on my way home from work and just randomly throw in their food bowls. No, we’re talking about raw, human grade food that, for most intents and purposes, is to be cooked and eaten by the bipedal likes. Not the quadrupedal types.
So what led me to the decision to feed raw? Lots of things. The main one being, I wasn’t satisfied with the bullshit I was being “fed” from the dog food makers. I started to ponder the origins of today’s modern dog food, or kibble as most folks refer to it. I call it crap and my dogs don’t eat crap.
It started when Eko was a puppy. She had constant diarrhea and was constantly on antibiotics to control her “boxer colitis.” I didn’t like that this was happening and didn’t want my poor dog to be on antibiotics and medication for her entire life so…
I began reading the labels and found that in many of the foods on the shelf, they were full of “by products” and flavorings. Now that is not to say that ALL dog food is that way, but 90% of what you pick up at the local grocery store is that way. In general, foods preceding the first fat or oil are what make up the majority of the food. Again, this isn’t an end-all-be-all rule but federal regulations require food makers to list ingredients in the order in which they are most prevalent.
I researched on my own. I put Eko on several different foods. Same problem. She’d start out ok with solid scat but by the end of the bag, back to the “colitis” again and back for antibiotics. It was horrifying to watch my little puppy in such detriment because of what she was eating. It pissed me off. I felt like her food was eventually going to kill her and I wasn’t about to let that happen. She started on Purina (grained food), then we went to Solid Gold (grain-free, supposedly), then Wellness Core, then Evo, over the course of her first 18 months of life. Finally, between Wellness and Evo, things started to even out. She was back to a normal, happy puppy who just wanted to play and snuggle with her momma.
Now I love the Evo brand, well I did before Proctor-Gamble bought out Natura. I didn’t stick around after that to find out what damage P&G would do to the food. The problem I ran into with Evo was its high protein content. Yes, I know, what’s the difference if you’re feeding raw? I’m getting to that.
Eko quickly gained unnecessary weight, especially for a disc dog. She wasn’t food motivated, which made training a nightmare, and her attention span was that of a toddler trying to fold laundry. It wasn’t until I finally met up with Ron Watson at the 2010 Disc Dog Camp in Cedar Springs, Michigan, that I realized Eko was overweight. No one had mentioned it to me previously until Ron just flat out told me, “Your dog is overfed. No wonder she isn’t working with you.”
It was brash, it was harsh but I needed to hear it and by no means did I hold it against Ron. It was the answer I needed. So I switched Eko back to Wellness Core. It has a lower protein percentage and works well with her poor digestive system. She was on a partial green bean diet and dropped weight within a few short months and became far more food motivated which helped in our training.
So where does the raw come in? Well in recent months, our local supply of Wellness Core has started to dwindle. While our local Petsmart does carry the Wellness line, they don’t carry the Wellness CORE line. The other pet store, that I normally purchase my food from, hasn’t had the right food in the last 3 times I’ve been there. While, yes, I could do the drop ship thing and order straight from the company, I like having the power to buy locally. Its convenient but I recently started figuring in the cost of kibble versus raw.
Eko has been on partial raw for over a year now and Brick has been on partial raw since coming into our pack. When I tallied up the cost differential of kibble versus raw, raw just made sense.
A 30 lb. bag of Wellness Core runs about $60-70 and with two dogs it might last 3 weeks and requires a drive to the other side of town, so factor in the high price of gas. For that same cost plus the additional cost of gas, a local visit to Sam’s club a mere 2 miles away can yield the same, if not more food with a higher protein value and less filler.
How’s that? Well with raw, you can feed less.
If I make a visit to my local Sam’s or grocery store, I can buy a large back of chicken quarters or pig parts while I’m making my own purchases. One chicken quarter per dog per meal comes out to maybe about 3 bucks a day in food as opposed to a possible 5-6 depending on the kibble.
Now, I suck at math so my margin of cost may be slightly tighter but hear me out.
So what are some benefits of raw? Well for one, a shinier coat, healthier skin and better muscle tone. The same way protein effects us humans, it is equally important to dogs. Eko had some serious skin issues as a pup as well and with raw those have disappeared.
Think about this also. How long has processed dog food been around? Fifty, maybe sixty years? How long have dogs been domesticated? Far longer than that. So what did they eat, especially if they were feral? Whatever they could kill which means, TADA!!!! Raw!!!
In the time that I’ve been feeding raw, my dogs have not had any serious issues that required a trip to the vet, they’re happier, healthier and have far more energy and muscle tone than previously. They are regular and have solid stool with only one or two movements a day. I know this may not seem important but similar to humans, dogs shouldn’t be eliminating more than two to three times daily.
More means they’re not getting the nutrition they need and the rest is just waste. So in a way, the more they eliminate, the more money you’re spending for food. Think about it. If they’re not getting the nutrition they need, just like getting enough exercise, then the more they need to meet those nutritional needs.
Then more food leads to a “larger” (pun intended) problem which is weight gain. I see fat dogs ALL the time and it saddens me.
Ok, I’ve rattled on long enough. These are just things to think about. To each his own and you are free to do as you’d like. These are just my choices based on my own dogs and what works for them, and while I get drilled as to why I make these choices, I continue to do so knowing that I’m doing what’s right for my dogs.
