Golden Gate Boston Terrier Club

This quarter's feature article is an excellent discussion of the benefits of fresh and natural foods for our dogs. Enjoy!

Feeding Naturally
by Andrea Madeley, Aldinga Beach - South Australia, Copyright © 1997 Andrea Madeley, reprinted with permission of the author

The importance of diet in our dogs is every bit as important as diet in humans. Experts have long said that what we eat will largely determine how healthy we are and the healthier we are, hopefully, the longer we live. The experts are also telling us to eat more natural, uncooked foods with good variety and cut back on the heavily processed fast foods that make life oh, so convenient. As far as our canine friends are concerned the same can be said. An animal that evolved from nature - the dog - owing his very existence and survival to scavenging and feasting on what nature had to offer. We, the ever resourceful human being, then decided we should fill his system with dried up, over processed, chemical saturated balls of kibble and to our surprise?he is sicker, more allergic and more prone to cancer and disease than ever before. Gee - where do you think we went wrong?

A raw, natural diet is what our dogs should be consuming. A diet consisting of raw bones, raw meat, raw vegetables, oils and a small amount of fresh grains. RAW is the keyword here because it is the raw food that is packed full of the enzymes and anti oxidants that go into making the immune system stronger and more resilient. RAW because that is what dogs should eat and what they were designed to eat for centuries. And yet - it is this very word that frightens the living daylights out of people. Tell me?does the word Ethoxyquin not scare you half to death? What about the words Propylene glycol or Propyl gallate, Sodium Nitrate, Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). If these words mean nothing to you, that's probably a good thing because if you knew half the truth about these chemicals - they would have to find a safer way to preserve dog food!

So, lets look at this raw diet. Considering that here in Australia the average dog owner still believes that a dog should get his bones, you would imagine that if some of what you are told about raw meat and bones were true, it would mean that Australia has very few surviving canines. Wrong. The fears associated with raw meat are obviously the bacteria that can accompany raw chicken and beef such as Salmonella and E-Coli etc., which can kill a human I might add. The fact that a human's digestive system is quite different to a dogs is largely why we need to keep this in mind. The dog's digestive system was built to cope with levels of bacteria to suit their scavenging nature and the digestive tract is much shorter to accommodate this. Infact, I'll go as far as to say that dogs love bones that have had a few hours in the sun to 'mature' and I see no ill effects afterwards even if I think they're disgusting. Now, I believe that our dogs may be more adjusted to eating these varied bacteria that are supposed to be deadly and I also believe that to some degree our dogs have a natural ability to cope well with them as this would be passed down from the mother who has often consumed these bacteria - it's often what's new to the system that can have devastating effects?similar to when we travel abroad and get ill with the different water we drink.

Essentially, you offer the best nutrients available when giving a dog raw meaty bones with all the vitamins, minerals and natural enzymes already there in the one package. Indeed, many farmers here demand that their dogs eat very little else than raw meaty bones - and guess what - these buggers refuse to die (I met one last month, a border collie aged 17). The benefits are numerous aside from the nutritional value. They exercise the jaw and surrounding muscles, they exercise the leg muscles (front and rear) as they hold that bone on the ground to tear off the flesh. They clean the teeth, offer great mental stimulation and they taste wonderful to a dog! Can you name me a single man-made treat that can do the same?

You need to be a little wise when feeding your dogs bones. Simple logic like - don't give a 100lb Rottie a tiny lamb knuckle helps when you are deciding what bones are safe. The rule of thumb is that if it's a thicker textured bone like beef or lamb - make it large enough do it can't be swallowed whole or snapped in half. Sometimes lamb shanks are cracked in half by powerful jaws?you may need to supervise this, especially if your dog is not used to bones so that a smaller piece does not get stuck in the windpipe. Generally, dogs get very good at eating these bones and the less of a rare treat it becomes, the more time they will take to relish the bone. At first they eat them so fast, it can be a bit frightening, but you need to remind yourself that this is natures way of sustaining a canines vitality, so be patient and let nature do it's thing. I will not lie to you, very occasionally things can go wrong, but here you need to decide whether feeding continuous quantities of chemicals and toxins is a more secure alternative.

The balance of a natural diet is another issue that scares many dog owners and if we listen to the Pet Food Companies, we simple minds are not capable of achieving this alone. Lets consider then the bag of kibble and lets assume that it's not filled with chemicals and poor quality produce. In each morsel there is supposed to be a careful blend of every nutrient that your dog needs to sustain optimal health. Along with your dog - this morsel is also regarded as being the perfect balance for millions of other dogs. Think about this statement for a second. Does this mean that every single adult dog has the same nutrient requirement? Does every single dog need exactly the same level of protein versus calcium - Calcium Versus Phosphorous? Isn't it possible, if not highly probable, that the nutrient levels required by one dog could be completely contrasted to what may be required by a dog of precisely the same breed, but living a different, more stressed life style? When humans eat - How do we balance our own diets? Do we eat a daily kibble? The difference is that we have choices and we can satisfy our own cravings. Does your dog feast on cat pooh or tear out the back lawn in gusto? Chances are he is trying to satisfy his needs, something he is missing in that bag of kibble. Think about it?

When you begin feeding a natural raw diet you do initially worry that there is something you will miss. Generally, I would not recommend that you do this unless you have at least a basic understanding of canine nutrition. You need to begin to familiarise yourself with the various meats and their basic nutrient make-up, the vegetables you feed will also have various levels of vitamins and the various oils also offer different nutrients. However, we are not talking about a complicated science here, after all, we can balance a diet over a period of time (1-2 weeks) and by all accounts this is preferable to loading the system with every nutrient as it offers the numerous organs a well earned rest. With commercial kibble you run a very real risk of creating excesses which these organs need to cope with - and deficiencies which can result in long term illnesses. You also run a risk of certain minerals and vitamins binding together, which makes them totally unavailable anyway. The point is - it really isn't that complicated and as long as you have a basic understanding on the subject, you can achieve a better level of balance over a period of time.

The feeding of raw vegetables is important as dogs need a level of soluble fibre in their diet as we can accept that wild dogs would first go to the gut of their prey to eat the remains of the intestines. To achieve a digestible meal of raw fruit and vegetables you first need to break down or crush the cellulose (a cell wall that surrounds each plant cell). This is best done by either putting the vegetables through a blender or feeding the pulp from juiced fruit and vegetables. Heating or cooking will also achieve the same result and destroy the cellulose - but you will also destroy the enzymes and many of the vitamins that really are better served to the dog and wasted in the water and steam that escapes. If you must cook them, steam very lightly.

The cereal group is probably the least required food for dogs - and yet this is certainly what most dog food's base their recipe on. It is cheap and readily available and it is the one thing dogs were never designed to eat in great quantities. There is a place for insoluble fibre in a dog's diet because it helps to add bulk to a meal and is a good source of energy as long as it is from a quality source and not the main stay of the diet. Oats are about the best all round cereal product because they have good levels of vitamin B and iron - rice and pasta are a little over rated - but in moderation are a good addition to your dog's dinner bowl.

I will give you an example of a typical meal for my Bernese Mountain Dogs. I would take 750g of raw chicken necks, œ a cup of cooked oats, 1 cup of raw vegetable pulp, 2 tablespoons of cottage cheese, 1 tablespoon of safflower oil, natural bran, wheatgerm and some nutritional yeast and kelp powder. Sounds like a lot of effort but in reality I have all the ingredients from the fridge on one tray and all from the pantry on another. Takes very little time and I know it's a healthy balance. The next day I may feed beef instead and I may add a raw egg or add pasta instead or not add kelp. I try to keep the meat / bone content at atleast 60% of the bulk (equal value of bone and meat - that's why chicken necks are ideal). I look and feel my dogs constantly and if I feel they are getting too lean I increase the protein and fat levels. The point is, now I am in control.

In general, the key is variety and a little knowledge. Your local vet may not support this kind of diet because in general he has only basic knowledge on this topic. Sadly, most of the courses on the nutritional side of a vet's training is largely funded by the big dog food companies and this means they get one opinion and one point of view - that of the people who want their product supported and sold. Please don't think I have ill regard for vets - I don't. They are masters at their medicine and have saved millions of dogs from certain death. However, the topic of nutrition is not their area of expertise.

When you think of all the modern day ailments that are plaguing our dogs, one would have to wonder what it is we are doing that has compromised their immune system so much. It is quite possible that general pollution plays a part here and of that we have limited control?but our dog's diet has to form part of the big picture. The problem is that their isn't the government funding available, nor is their any benefit for the politician to allocate the funds needed to do a thorough research study into the benefits of raw natural diet versus commercial diets. Nobody without a vested self interest is doing such research is likely to come forward and make the offer unless they knew that they could come out shining like a rose.

The truth is - we have allowed simple convenience to take over our lives. We have justified our actions by becoming a little too quick in accepting what we read on labels or what we see on a TV commercial. We have jeopardised the health and well being of our loving dogs for the sake of saving a few minutes in the kitchen. Is this a guilt trip we are on? You betcha!!

I am suggesting to you all that there is a problem with feeding a dead, lifeless, chemical infested kibble day in and day out. I am asking you to look to the diet that allowed our furry friends to evolve over millions of years and question that if it was so bad, so dangerous, why are they still here at all? I would ask you to look at your children and say honestly whether you would be happy feeding them exactly the same food every day - foods that contain chemicals you can't even pronounce? Food that is made from meat from diseased and cancer filled organs or mouldy grain? Food that contains the rendered parts of other cats and dogs and the drug that was used to euthanase them??? The more times you begin to question - the more answers you will find.
By Andrea Madeley

  Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF)

   The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA)

  UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Lab : Canine

  American Society of Veterinary Opthamology

  Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine

  Albert Heim Foundation for Canine Research

AltVetMed

NetVet

Acme Pet's Canine Genetics links list

Research Genetics              A commercial genetics testing lab, also used by research institutions