Our Raw Feeding Story

"What do you feed your dogs?"

That continues to be one of the most frequently asked questions we get. Nowadays it's often followed by a barrage of other questions.

Why? Because we feed raw.

We also set up a little resource to answer many of the questions we get about what we feed our dogs and why. Check it out HERE

There's not just reading to do there, we included some pictures too: Raw Fed Pits

Feel free to leave us a comment there to let us know what you think or ask us questions.

If you currently feed raw, PLEASE leave us a comment and tell us how it's going, why you switched, and what you love most about it.

Dog Food - Is This Really True?

One of our most frequently asked questions (if not THE most asked) is, "What do you feed your dogs?"  Of course, as you may know, the answer to that has recently changed.  As we began researching a raw diet, we came across little comments here and there about how terrible commercial dog food was for your dog.  

Now, we didn't want to spend all of our time reading this study or that.  But there was enough said that it got us thinking that there was probably *some* truth to it.  Of course, without really digging in further, we don't really know.  

But, I just came across a resource totally devoted to Dog Food Secrets.  They offer a free report containing 5 Things You Must Do RIGHT NOW to Protect Your Dog from Death-by-Disease.  Don't know what that is?  It's explained here.  

These guys claim that commercial dog food contains AT LEAST 6 deadly chemicals that have been banned from human food because they cause:

• Kidney cancer

• Bladder cancer

• Skin cancer

• Stomach cancer

• Spleen cancer

• Leukemia

• Liver dysfunction

• Major organ failure

• Immune system collapse

• Severe allergic reactions

• Birth Defects

  ...and a heck of a lot more!  YIKES!

If you want to check out what else they have to say about commercial dog food - CLICK HERE.

How to Feed Your Dog Raw Food

So, as you may know, we feed our dogs an all raw diet.  Of course, we have many, many, many questions from people about feeding raw.  Many people we know are open to this idea simply because getting quality dog food on a regular basis in Hawaii is such a huge challenge. 

Of course, just like with anything else, we highly advise that you do your own research before making the decision on whether or not to feed your dog a raw diet.  There are do's and don'ts that really need to be followed for the health and well being of your dog. 

Like you, we are continuing to learn about this way of feeding, but really truly believe that it's best for our dogs.  

If you want more information on feeding raw, there are many great sites with free information. 

My favorite is http://rawfed.com/myths/index.html

Other people prefer the Barf Diet which you can get more info on at

http://www.barfworld.com/

Another resource I just found out about is The Naturally Healthy Dog.

This one is available via instant download and will provide you 

with information on:

• Why Raw Food
  
• Foods to Use
  
• Foods to Avoid
  
• How to Figure out Recipes and Portions
  
• What to do when you can't feed fresh
  
• The Importance of Journaling!
  
• and more
  

All of those points are very important to know about before beginning a raw feeding program.

Definitely learn as much as you can before starting.

Before I go, I promise that we'll get you the information on how Hilo was in the upcoming post.

Allen's bugging me about it, so be on the lookout for it!

More Evidence of Angel Thriving on Raw

As we've said previously, when we made our move from our old house, Angel had a bit of a rough transition. She lost a lot of weight while we lived with family waiting for our new house to be ready. Since we moved to our own place, she did pick up weight, but her skin and coat never did look the same.

As you also know, we've started her on a raw diet and she's doing so much better now. It's been a few weeks and we've learned that she much prefers beef to turkey. We've learned a lot about raw feeding from www.rawfed.com (especially the "myths" link) and from googling different terms regarding raw feeding.

Some people worry about feeding bones to their dogs and that's understandable. So far, we haven't had any problems. Chicken bones are quite soft and easy to chew, especially for beginners. Also, the prey-model diet, which is what we're following, only consists of 10%-15% bone - the rest is meat and organ. So it's not like you're feeding your dog tons of bones. Plus, feeding the appropriate sized bones helps with feeding bones safely.

Anyway - on to the main part of this post, the additional evidence (aside from the picture in this post) that Angel is doing well on raw. Like, we said, Angel lost a bunch of weight when we moved. She was down to about 60 lbs at one point. Though she did gain weight since we got into our own place, the most she reached was about 67 lbs. When Angel was "in her prime" she weighed between 70-75 lbs (between her 1st and 2nd litter).

Now, after a couple weeks on raw, Angel weighs in at 78-80 lbs. She is the 2nd heaviest dog in our yard ABOVE Fella and behind only Moose who is the one dog in the yard taller than she is. That's our girl!

Angel is Loving Chicken

For the past 6-8 months, ever since we moved out of our other house, Angel just hasn't quite gotten back to her "normal" self. She has gained weight since we moved into our new house, but the skin irritation she began while we were living with family (between houses) never really did completely go away. It did get better, but even recently, she's had flair ups of irritation every now and then.

After reading more and more about raw diet and learning that sometimes it is VERY helpful with allergies and skin irritations, we decided to try it out for Angel. Maybe she was one of those dogs that just doesn't do well with all those "extra" ingredients commercial dog foods have. So, when we decided to switch some of our dogs over to raw, she was one of them.

I have to say, after just ONE week of raw feeding, we're already seeing a difference in her skin and coat. Before this, even as recently as a month ago, her coat and skin just looked like that of an "older" dog. She simply looked like she was aging. But now, after a week on raw, she's looking soooo much better and I think she's getting even closer to her "ideal" weight as well.

We'll share a picture that will give you an idea of what raw has done for Angel. Ever since her first litter, she had spots on her back end where hair had fallen out. It's always been something that just kind of stood out when you saw her from the back side (and not in a good way) - now those spots are not as noticeable.

In the picture you'll also see how irritated her skin was about a month ago. We had tried switching her food, we gave her anti-biotics, we used medicated shampoo, etc, etc, etc and still, her skin just didn't seem to ever get back to what it used to be. I really thought it was just her getting older and had almost accepted that she would never be the same again. But look at the picture below....you'll see a big difference.

The picture on the right was from a few days ago (after almost a week on raw). The picture on the left was from almost exactly one month before the other. That's pretty much one of the last pictures we have of her before she started on raw feeding.

To us, she just looks much healthier now than she did before she started on raw food. Her skin has cleared up, her coat is shiny, and the color of her coat is getting nicer too. On top of all of that, she LOVES her food. No more days when she isn't interested in eating her food. We're so happy to have her back on track to being the beautiful girl we know she is.

What About Salmonella?

The one question or topic that comes up with every person who finds out we're feeding raw is salmonella.

"What about salmonella?"

"Your dogs not going get salmonella from eating raw meat?"

"Be careful about salmonella!"

Yes, I've heard about salmonella before, but for some reason, the knowledge that dogs wouldn't cook their own food if we weren't around to do it for them in combination with the fact that we're practicing the same food handling principles that we do with our own food (aside from the fact that we're not cooking the food the dogs eat) is enough to put the worry of salmonella out of my mind.

I've also read a few articles about this very topic and you can see them for yourself.

How Dangerous is Salmonella?
http://k9joy.com/dogarticles/doghealth01salmonella.pdf

Myth: THE BACTERIA IN RAW MEAT WILL HURT YOUR DOG.
http://rawfed.com/myths/bacteria.html

"Concerned about salmonella and other bugs? The digestive systems of dogs and cats are short, acidic, and handle bacteria well. This is why they are not susceptible to salmonella, parasites, or e-coli from tainted meat as humans are. Humans have very long digestive tracks which allow food to 'linger' for 24 hours or more, thus allowing more time for parasites to get into their bloodstreams."
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/sampleraw.htm