Raw Deal

As a follow up to my previous post about grain-free dog food...I wanted to talk about raw feeding. There are tons of great resources out there to help you get started. One is a yahoo group called Raw-Lite. I use two brands of commercial raw diets Steves Real Food and Nature's Variety. Steve's Real Food comes in Turkey, Chicken & Beef. Nature's Variety comes in Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Venison & Rabbit. Tyson has a sensitive stomach so he enjoys the more expensive varieties of Rabbit & Venison. The rest of the crew is happy with just about anything, so they eat the Steve's. The benefits of raw feeding are endless. As many of you know...Bulldogs are extremely prone to allergies. Since Tyson has been on raw meat, he has not had a single ear infection or skin allergy. All of my dogs are at a great weight, are energetic and have beautiful coats & clean teeth. Some of the commercial raw diets can be expensive, but there are ways around that. You can buy chicken breasts or chicken backs, turkey necks, ground beef, etc. to get started and mix it with kibble. This is the most natural diet for our canine counterparts. Can you imagine eating hamburger helper every day of your entire life. Well that's what I think of when people tell me they feed their dogs the same kibble for 12 years. Blah! Bones are great too (much safer than rawhide)...but they must be raw. NEVER feed cooked bones as they can splinter or break and cause major internal injury to the dog. Raw bones are a wonderful and easy way to keep dogs teeth tarter & plaque free. You should always supervise your dog while he enjoys his bone, but don't ever try to take it away because these are tremendously valuable items. Always trade off for something of equal value (cheese, hotdogs, chicken, etc). If you have any questions about raw feeding please post a comment and I'll respond accordingly.