-----Original Message-----

Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 8:35 AM
To: steve@familydobes.com
Subject: Nutrition

Hi Steve

I need some help! I'm thinking of switching Izzy to a raw diet but have
several questions/concerns. First of all, what are your thoughts on feeding
raw and, specifically, following the BARF diet? It seems like everyone is
on board with the raw meaty bones and organ meat part of it, but disagrees
on the vegetable, supplements and milk product side of things. Secondly,
any thoughts on whether to buy everything fresh and prepare it myself, or to
buy pre-made frozen foods. If I'm supplying everything fresh (which is what
I'm leaning toward) I feel really overwhelmed buy the whole idea. Such as:
Where do I get all this nasty stuff (chicken backs and necks, turkey necks,
cow hearts etc...)? How do I make sure the diet is balanced without the
task of feeding my dog taking over my life? What do I do when we are
traveling? Also, should I be aware of any risks associated with feeding raw?
You get my drift!

So basically, any thoughts or suggestions you might have are welcomed! No
hurries though. I won't switch unless I'm completely comfortable with the
whole thing. As an aside, I'm feeding Royal Canin right now.

I guess I should tell you my reasons for thinking about a raw diet. I want
to give Izzy the best diet possible to support good health. I walked
through the pet store and read the label on just about every food out there.
Corn corn corn! Usually the first, or one of the first, ingredient. So I
started reading some article online. I'm a little unsettled by the fact
that I've yet to find any actual research papers on feeding raw, but maybe
I'm just searching in the wrong place. Also, in a way "dog food" has always
seemed a little suspect to me. Even as I kid I wondered "what's in there
and how can they live on that? It doesn't look much like food." Then you
just kind of begin to accept that this is what dogs eat. Now I'm
questioning if it really is meeting her needs in the best way possible.
Sort of like my getting protein from a big mac instead of grilled chicken.
So that's how I got started down this path.

Thanks for your help

Shelly

 

 

Wow you opened up a can of worms :) I am all on board for Raw when people
are feeding it with a reason and understanding of nutrition. Most people I
see feeding raw do it because it is trendy or they heard it was good or
whatever, but they don't understand nutrition. I studied nutrition heavily
in college, and I have fed dogs all kinds of things for 20 years and I came
away with the conclusion that you just can't duplicate nature closely enough
in your own kitchen, and feeding raw has shown no real advantage over a good
kibble long term. Remember "In the wild" animals aren't just eating raw meat
and organs etc, they are also eating decomposing carcasses and all kinds of
other things you wouldn't dream of bringing in to your home, but it is a
necessary part of their overall diet for one reason or another. "Natural
Diets" should closely resemble what really occurs in nature, but also
consider how many malnourished wild animals they are, by feeding processed
diets we are in a sense giving them a more complete diet at every serving,
with no fluctuation where in the wild their diets fluctuate dramatically. I
really would avoid raw for all the concerns your raised, it just is too
complicated and does take over your life, and then you can't ever have any
one else care for the dog, and you didn't really gain anything by it. I am
always amazed that some dogs that win Westminster for example are fed plain
old Purina puppy chow and do great... I recommend picking a good kibble and
sticking with it. The biggest risk of raw, is malnutrition ironically,
especially in puppies. Vets hate seeing people put puppies on raw diets
because they may not see the secondary effects fast enough and correct them.
I also hate corn in a diet, it is a cheap filler but we are finally starting
to see it go away as it is no longer cheap :) Also we all dislike corn but
you really can't find much supporting research for why. The feed companies
argue that dogs eat a lot of grain since the first part of a carcass they
eat is the viscera. That is true they do, but not because it is full of
grain, it is soft and easy to eat instead of the ripping and tearing
associated with muscle tissue, it is very palatable, and easy to get to. The
only real proof I ever accepted for dogs being a limited omnivore is that
they can masticate (chew) side to side instead of just up and down like
carnivores (cats etc). So they are still primarily a carnivore, but a
limited omnivore. We all hate corn because it is not very digestible in it's
raw form, same as with us. But put it through the GI tract of herbivore
animals like pheasants etc. and it is fermented and broken down by bacteria
and becomes useable to the dog. Raw corn does not break down well in a dog's
system, but recycled corn if you will has bacterial protein associtated with
it. Herbivores also don't live much on cellulose, but rather the microbial
proteins associated with breaking it down. That is why in the wild grains
are a part of a dogs diet is because they are already broken down, and
provide fiber. Adding grains and veggies etc to a dogs diet in my opinion
don't have much benefit because they are not easy to break down without
going through and herbivore first. A good raw diet would be to buy live
chickens, feed them for a week or so, and turn them loose in the backyard.
Let the dog catch them, kill them and eat them whole, that is a raw diet.
Feeding just chicken backs and necks ignores the viscera that is nutritious
and palatable. You can also turn out a steer or a lamb and let them dispatch
of it in the same way, and continue to gnaw on the carcass as it is softened
and made digestible through decomposition. I know it sounds horrid, but that
is a real "Natural Diet" and we really are not willing to duplicate that in
our lives. There are some great grain free diets like natures variety
prairie and instinct formulas. So although kibble seems bland, it truly is
much more complete that a typical raw diet.

Hope that opinion helps instead of hinders....


Steve Parsons
480-993-9797
http://www.familydobes.com
http://www.dobetalk.com