Raw Diet for Dogs

About three weeks ago our 10 month old 65 pound Golden Retriever puppy was scratching herself so much that she had given herself a staph infection. I took her to the vet where we got antihistamines and an antibiotic. The staph infection has cleared up, but it set me on a path of researching why she was scratching so much. What I learned is that dogs in the wild do not eat grains. Think about it, when was the last time you saw a dog ravenously attack a wheat field?

I learned about something called a "Raw Diet". This means that you feed the dog raw meat and vegetables rather than cooked and processed kibble. This is closer to what they would eat in the wild and more closely reflects that they were created to eat.

Here is some of what I found:

From dogguide.net:

Some pet owners who have made the switch have noticed drastic changes in their pets, including:

* Shinier, healthier skin
* Fresher breath/cleaner teeth
* Improved digestion
* Improvement with allergy symptoms
* Decreased shedding
* Increased stamina
* Firmer, smaller stools
* A general increase in overall health

From barfworld.net:

Here are just a few of the skin and coat benefits you can expect when feeding the BARF Diet and why many of our customers call our diet "The Miracle Diet"

* Hot spots, and itching and scratching will disappear. You may not believe it but these annoying and persistent problems do vanish normally within 30 days of beginning the diet. You can throw away the expensive special shampoos and stop antibiotics and worst of all cortisone shots which, by the way, even most vets hate to give to your pet.

* Coat is lustrous, thick and shiny again. Yes, this is one of the first things you’ll notice. Sparse, dry dull coats regain their natural luster and your pet’s coat will look the way nature intended it to look and feel.

* Ear Infections become a thing of the past. This may be the hardest thing for you to believe before trying the diet. Even if your pet has suffered for years from ear problems and you’ve done everything humanly possible this diet will work its wonders. How can it cure ear problems? Because it works from the inside out. The BARF Diet naturally strengthens the immune system and reduces inflammatory conditions and you’ll have a happy and relieved pet once again.

* Fleas & Parasites Don’t Like A Barf Fed Pet! Here’s another unbelievable benefit of feeding BARF. Your pet’s improved and strengthened immune system increases resistance to fleas and internal parasites. You can stop using flea collars and shampoos once you begin on the BARF Diet. These contain pesticides that are not good for your pet or your family.

You will see a raw diet referred to as a BARF diet which stands for "Biologically Appropriate Raw Food".

Here is the website I used to figure out what amount to feed Lacy: www.goodpet.com

If you start Googling about feeding your dog a raw diet you'll find quite a bit of information. Some of it will be a little intimidating. Take the lady in this video for instance. Does she not have a life at all? (If that lady is reading this blog, sorry!) It doesn't have to that elaborate.

I buy one of those 5 pound tubes of 30% fat hamburger meat at the store and mix up 5 days of food at one time and put it in the refrigerator in ziploc bags. This means that 4 days out of 5 all I have to do is get a ziploc bag and empty it into her bowl. No worries!

According to my somewhat loose calculations, feeding her this way is about the same expense as the IAMS puppy food I was buying for her anyway. I'm definitely money ahead if you take vet bills for her allergies into account.

If you have more money than time, there are also ready made raw foods you can purchase. You buy them frozen. I bought several varieties today for Lacy to try just to see what was out there.

http://www.bravorawdiet.com/
and
http://www.naturesvariety.com/

just to name a few.



I credit my Dad's wife's daughter (my step-sister..if we were 6) with giving me the courage to go ahead and try this. She has been feeding "Boo" a raw diet for a few months with great results and encouraged me to give it a try.