Oooooh!!! Is that the food dish I hear rattling?!?!I started making dog food about eight years ago. Dusk was my inspiration. We had him for about three months and by then I had done considerable research on his breed mix/type and the results were not good. Dogs of Dusk's origin, breeding and size don't live much past five years old and many do not get to three. I was feeding him a quality dog food that cost twice as much as the regular stuff but a serving was about a third of what I had to give compared to the grocery store brand so it wasn't as expensive as it looks at first glance. He got lots of socialization and excercise. So I was doing what I could and Dusk seemed happy and healthy.
A big bowl of veggie mush! I'll freeze this in little packages for the dogs' meals. A meal is mainly meat or meat and bones but a bit of veggies or fruit does seem to be required for my dogs. Dusk gets about 10% in his meal where Angel does well with 20 - 30%. I try to give the dogs as much variety as I can. Meats include chicken, rabbit, turkey necks, fish, beef, pork and on occasion goat and lamb and whatever else I can snag. Veggies are usually in a three or four combo mix and include dark, leafy vegetables and a little carrot or yam.
OK, it's not part of the diet Per Se but my dogs love their liver brownie treats! They also get eggs and yogurt and assorted other foods may not be 'classified' as raw but it works for for them.
Obviously, research and learning is tantamount in the success of a non-processed diet. Here is the book and the email group that helped me the most.
At nine months Dusk started kind of favouring his hind quarters. He did a lot of 'bunny hopping' instead of running and sometimes had trouble getting up after a nap. Oh-oh. The vet said it looked like signs of hip displasia. Not good. She gave me some massage techniques to use with him and told me to limit the ball chasing/retrieval games since the stopping short wasn't good for H.D. My vet also suggested either home-cooking or raw food. She is a holistic vet, most vets are dead set against raw food for dogs. So I started looking into it. I did a lot of research but still it terrified me. I knew nothing about making a diet for my beloved pet that was going to be nutritious and healthy. A friend of mine and I were discussing this one day and I said I should really change Dusk to a homemade diet but I was pretty sure I'd end up killing him. She outright dismissed me, "You're not going to kill your dog". Here, go get this book, read and follow it and you'll be fine. And she was right. I was still halfway terrified and measured/weighed everything for well over two years. But after feeding this way for eight years and seeing Dusk approach his ninth birthday in good health, ( his back end gets a little stiff now and then) I'm glad I made the switch. I remember about a year after starting him on the diet watching all 130 pounds of him thunder across a field with a grace and strength he simply didn't have before. I couldn't help but marvel at the change in him.
Of course, food can only do so much. A really, really sick dog may not get better just because you change his food. But I do believe that a non-processed diet is just better for any living being. I suppose humans could live on nothing but cereal their entire lives, but who'd want to and how healthy would they ultimately be? Are there dangers to feeding raw food to dogs? Sure there are. I never leave the pets alone if they're having bones in case of choking. I use the same cleaning/preparation methods for their food as I do for cooking for the family. Other than green tripe, all the dogs food is human grade, so it's basically the same as ours (except it's the parts we don't eat). Green tripe is the stomach/intestines of cow, lamb or other herbivore. It's just gross, smells like a over-crowded barnyard that hasn't been cleaned in 50 years. I open the pack real fast and the dogs eat it outside. Horrid as it is, it's great for dogs and they absolutely go bonkers for it. So in short,I am aware there is risk but I believe the advantages outweigh it. Besides, the store bought dog food can be dangerous, too; remember all those recalls a couple of years ago?
A big bowl of veggie mush! I'll freeze this in little packages for the dogs' meals. A meal is mainly meat or meat and bones but a bit of veggies or fruit does seem to be required for my dogs. Dusk gets about 10% in his meal where Angel does well with 20 - 30%. I try to give the dogs as much variety as I can. Meats include chicken, rabbit, turkey necks, fish, beef, pork and on occasion goat and lamb and whatever else I can snag. Veggies are usually in a three or four combo mix and include dark, leafy vegetables and a little carrot or yam.
Mmmmm, garlic, ginger and parsley! When the dogs have veggies, I add this mix. Again, I make a load of it and then freeze it in single servings (I'm all about the easy and the convenient). I find it helps with digestion and my dogs breath/smell is not offensive at all. They do get other supplements, too; organic apple cider vinegar with their meat and bones meals, kelp/alfalfa with their meat meals, some oils like like wild salmon fish oil and early evening primrose oil though mind you, since now most of their meat is pasture fed, not grain fed they don't need as much. Dusk gets Vit. C to help when his hip displasia makes him stiff. They get raw organic ground pumpkin seed in the summer months to help prevent worms and fleas. I've never had an issue with either, yet.
Another important part of the meal is offal, the organs of whatever animal I happen to have, usually it's beef. This mix is heart, kidney, liver and tongue. They don't need much of it, but they do need it. We buy half a side of local, grass feed beef. I always ask for the organs and the trim that is usually thrown out and use it for the dogs. Of course, they have rabbit and chicken organs as well.
A nice, nutritious training/snack treat, dehydrated beef heart! The butcher usually throws in a couple of beef hearts along with the one that comes with my cow so I slice them thinly and dry them out in the oven. That plate is a whole beef heart dehydrated.
Another important part of the meal is offal, the organs of whatever animal I happen to have, usually it's beef. This mix is heart, kidney, liver and tongue. They don't need much of it, but they do need it. We buy half a side of local, grass feed beef. I always ask for the organs and the trim that is usually thrown out and use it for the dogs. Of course, they have rabbit and chicken organs as well.A nice, nutritious training/snack treat, dehydrated beef heart! The butcher usually throws in a couple of beef hearts along with the one that comes with my cow so I slice them thinly and dry them out in the oven. That plate is a whole beef heart dehydrated. OK, it's not part of the diet Per Se but my dogs love their liver brownie treats! They also get eggs and yogurt and assorted other foods may not be 'classified' as raw but it works for for them.Obviously, research and learning is tantamount in the success of a non-processed diet. Here is the book and the email group that helped me the most.
Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats The Ultimate Diet
by Kymythy R. Schultze.
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