The wisdom of learning how to feed my dogs
Before I get into this blog I would like to put it out there that I do not prescribe to any particular style of diet for dogs. Personally, I feed a raw barf diet for my two Rottweilers, but I do understand this is not always the best way for others. I feed and prescribe to feed for the health of each individual animal. Like people there is no one size fits all for dogs or any animal for that matter. I am not going to tell you how to feed your dog but to give you glimpse into my experiences over the last 30 years of owning and feeding my own dogs. Experience is one of the best ways to find wisdom in any topic. When you live the experience everyday it turns into wisdom that will be with you for life. I am sure there will be many who experienced similar things.
Dog food is a hot topic now days. People are becoming more and more passionate about their animals and how they are fed. Facebook and google are rife with conflicting opinions on dog foods and how to feed correctly. The commercial pet food industry draws you in with bright bold packaging and statements such as Organic and Farm Fresh, (what is one the packaging doesn’t always match the actual ingredients) and then you have the raw food advocates pushing the “you must only feed a raw primal diet” onto everyone they meet. It is enough to make your head spin. After studying for a year and a half small animal nutrition I have a very different outlook on food for cats and dogs compared to what I started with.
Like most people I started out with dogs in my childhood eating supermarket dried biscuits and water and never thought anything more about the topic as I grew into an adult. After getting married and following my husband out west to live on a sheep property in western Queensland, the first thing we did was acquire some Kelpie puppies that were intended to be working dogs. I also had a puppy Called Wilbur who was a border collie mix that ended up being one of the best working dogs we ever owned.
Wilbur and our 3 kelpies were feed on the typical working dog mix that everyone in the bush fed. Dry dog biscuits, the scraps from sheep that were killed for meat and the twice weekly kangaroo leg with all the meat on. Again, at this time I never really thought about how my dogs were being fed just that meat they were fed cost nothing, so it was a great alternative and added a bit of variety to the boring biscuit diet.
Fast forward 10 years and we were back living in the city and no longer had working dogs but a little cattle corgi x called Stumpy. Free meat was no longer an option so back to the dry biscuits we went with little regard to the health of Stumpy and how this food was affecting her. She was as healthy as a horse, so it never crossed my mind.
Fast forward another 10 years and we got our first Rottweiler Mini. Mini had major pain issues and I was forever trying to treat her problems but was still feeding a diet of dry biscuits and the odd food scraps. As Mini aged her health issues and pain increased, I started researching more and trying more alternative foods. This is generally what tends to happen when a pet parent is faced with a pet with health challenges they tend to start looking outside of the normal paths for things to help their animal.
One of the most common issues pet parents face now with our dogs is skin allergies. These allergies inflame the skin and usually send both the parent and the dog crazy with the itching and scratching, as well as costing a fortune trying to help them. Most veterinary treatment never really helps. The dogs will be put on commercial allergy foods (usually dry biscuits) and drugs to suppress the immune system.
Towards the end of Mini’s life, I finally got the courage up to swap fully on to a raw diet to try to help her. I tried many different styles of feeding. I did the cooked vegetables and meats, I did the raw buy in bulk and cut it all myself, I tried processed and packaged raw foods, you name it I tried it. All of these different styles of feeding were expensive and time consuming and some things helped a little, but most didn’t make much of a difference at all. All the while through this process I was trying to do the best for my dog. I was learning through each experience on what worked and what didn’t.
After Mini passed away I still had Milo our other Rottweiler to look after. Milo continued on the raw food journey with different levels of success until we narrowed things down, Milo had massive issues with constipation with a raw meat diet but previous skin issues she had were now gone. It has taken me close to 5 years of trial and error with Milo and Monty (our 3rd Rottweiler) to finally find the right kind of mix of raw foods that they love and also keeps them healthy and in great condition. It is something I monitor every day; I adjust as I need to, and as new things come into my awareness.
Monty came to us a very sick little puppy who was incredibly dehydrated. It took months for his body to start to adapt and thrive on the raw diet. Monty also came with a bundle of allergies that has taken years to get on top of despite the great diet. The last year and a half of studying Animal Naturopathy and Nutrition has given me a much better understanding of how dogs and cats digest foods and what types of food they need to eat to thrive and survive.
What I would really like to let people know is that there is no right or wrong way to feed your animals. Some people can only afford to buy dry foods and that is ok. Buy the best quality you can and learn to read the ingredients lists. Be aware and learn what types of ingredients are in the processed foods. It is easy to add to dry biscuits and to supply extra nutrients to their food.
If you don’t have access to raw meats like farmers do then it can get incredibly expensive to feed a raw diet especially if you have a large breed or more than one dog. Again, there are many processed or frozen raw foods out there on the market and that awareness around the ingredients will stand you in good stead to choose the best you can for your pet. Large barf rolls are good for large breed dogs, but smaller dogs may do better with the portioned sized barf patties .
Today my dogs are fed on Canine Country Barf meat that is sold frozen in 1Kg tubes. Canine Country offal squares (Offal is great for keeping dogs pooping and is full of very important vitamins and nutrients). They get a mix of human food scraps, raw eggs, and blitzed vegetables along with some cooked vegetables when I have them. One of the most important foods my dogs get every single day is raw meaty bones.
Raw meaty bones are an absolute must for every dog at least every second day if not every day. Raw bones like chicken frames, necks and wings, turkey necks or wings, beef brisket, ribs, neck, and kangaroo tails are all vital in supplying vitamins and nutrients that help to keep your dog or cat healthy. They also help to keep your dogs’ teeth clean and healthy. The main thing with bones is to feed size appropriate bones and they must be raw. Cooked bones are incredibly dangerous as they can splinter and cause terrible injuries and even death. Never give dogs weight bearing leg bones. If you do let them suck the marrow out but once they are done remove the bone as these bones can damage and crack teeth as they are very hard. Hard bones will damage teeth and it is the softer bones like chicken frames that contain the most nutrient values.
The other thing to keep in mind is variety is good. I think back to how boring it must have been for my dogs over the years getting the same old dried biscuits day after day. Sad but true.
Some dogs really struggle with raw proteins especially the dogs with severe allergies, so for these dogs they may do much better on dried biscuits. There are always ways to boost the nutrients they are eating by adding in things like raw eggs, blitzed green vegetables, sardines or natural organic Greek yogurt and brewer’s yeast.
I guess the biggest statement here is YOU KNOW YOUR DOG BEST and learning what foods work and don’t work for your particular dog will stand you in very good stead for keeping them healthy throughout their life. Education is the key. Learn ingredients and learn what foods are good and which are ones to stay away from.
I highly recommend this book on feeding dogs by Dr Ian Billinghurst B.V. Sc (Hons) B.Sc. Agr., Dip Ed
“Give your dog a bone”
This book has some amazing information in it that looks at healthy feeding for your dog for long term health and vitality.
You can also follow his webpage https://drianbillinghurst.com/
I have also provided a Info sheet for feeding your dog a healthy raw diet that you can print out. It has percentages that you can work out how much food your dog needs to eat to maintain a healthy weight and also what foods you can feed. It is a great reference guide to have handy. The foods provided in this sheet can also be added to a dry biscuit diet to add healthier foods to the mix.
Remember like us our dogs will either love or hate food and you may have a fussy eater or a dog with an illness that must be fed a particular way. You don’t have to study nutrition like I did or dive heavily into the science of foods to learn the wisdom of feeding your dog, just watch your dog and educate yourself, don’t be afraid to learn and try new things. Your dog will thank you for it.