Cecil, I would encourage you and any dog owner to seriously read up on raw-food diets for dogs. There were some clients of mine here in Lincoln that started up a company 15 years ago called sitstay. Although they no longer own the business, it's theme was "good for your dog supplies". I always knew if I purchased a toy, snack, chew bone or food from them that it was tried and tested and good for my dog.
I spent many hours with them learning about the advantages of raw foods and the poisons in store bought kibble. I could fill several pages of facts of store bought kibble but I'll leave the research up to you and other readers as there's tons of info on the web. There are also breed-specific books on raw food diets, to know the right foods for your breed.
Our Golden Retreiver (Sammy) is 3 1/2 now and has been on a combination of raw food, canned and supplemented with only the best kibble (many varieties and a little more expensive.)
As Darcie said, dried kibble has only been around for about 60 years. Prior to that our dogs ate table food, yet our table food back then was not processed but good natural foods we used to eat, and good for our dogs.
Store bought kibble, although extemely convenient to just scoop some into their bowls, cause week immune systems, allergies, hair loss, weight gain etc. She also said that on raw food, Sammy's poop will literally disentegrate in the yard because Sammy's digestive system has utilized all the nutrients. After about 3-4 days in the yard, the poop is nearly pure white and turns to dust with the tap of a shovel! So why does dog poop from a kibble-fed dog look the same and stink many days later? Lack of nutrients and nothing but fillers.
Sammy has not been to the vet in 3 1/2 years (for any health issues), his teeth are beautifully white, has a beautful coat and is a very happy dog!
Dogs have a very short digestive system and very acidic which is why they're able to eat the raw foods we cannot.
Cecil, having a larger dog, toss her a raw chicken wing or a turkey neck, steak, fish, etc. She will love you for it! Especially Yams, very nutritious and they LOVE them! When Sammy was little and I was told to feed him a chicken wing, bones and all, I watched him like a hawk fearful of choking. From then on, he ate chicken wings, thighs, turkey necks, meats, fish, fruits and veggies etc. Raw chicken bones are very soft and the marrow is good for them. NEVER give your dog a cooked bone!
By the way, if I were to put store bought kibble in Sammy's bowl today, he too would look at me like "you think I'm gonna eat that?" If I mixed some in with his regular food, it would be left in the bowl. I know because I've tried it. They KNOW!
At 3 1/2 and fairly active, Sammy is only getting around 3 - 3 1/2 cups of food per day. If you can feel their ribs, feed more. If you can't feel the ribs, feed less.
Sorry for the long post but I am truly sold on feeding our dogs what nature intended for them to eat. So please research a raw-food diet for your dogs, learn the right foods to feed them, exercise them, and one day you will know when they look you in the eye and say "thank you!"
Feeding dogs cooked bird (e.g. chicken) bones is dangerous due to splintering and choking hazards. Dogs are carnivours and they are not cooks. Thus, raw meat is what they are built to eat. Also, they are not built for lots of small meals, but rather large meals followed by nothing (unlike us). One meal a day is fine. We supliment as much as possible with venison. Beware of feeding raw meat from the store. We had a dog get samonella poisoning from a raw soup bone sold as people food. We do not feed any raw meat now unless we harvest it ourselves (deer). We lost 4 large-breed dogs at 14 to 15 years old a number of years back after long healthy lives, and have a German Shepard and Great Pyreneese at 14 years old right now. We attrribute their long healthy lives to a proper diet and excersize, but who knows?
RAH, I hope no where in my post I indicated or insinuated using any cooked bones as I agree wholeheartedly to NEVER feed a dog a bone that has been cooked! Very dangerous indeed!
Glad to hear your dogs lived long healthy lives and I believe your attribution is correct in a proper diet and exercise.
Now if I could just follow the same advice for myself!
Lovnlivin thanks for the heads up on vegetables for dogs and I will research this. I have always wondered that if veggies were so good for me, why not for dogs unless it had something about their makeup that was so different from us. Most processed foods today have had the nutrients wrung out of them and that has been in the back of my mind and worried me when I feed Dolly people food. When we walk if Dolly finds bones from dead animals she will lay down and eat them and when she catches mice she will eat the heads, so maybe that is also telling us about their preferred diet.
That's an excellent article RAH, and there's so much information out there on raw foods that the "Purina Dog Chow" companies don't want us to know about, nor the ingredients that actually go into their foods.
JM, regarding vegetables and good and bad bones, one must use common sense on particular bones. When Sammy is finishing up a T-Bone and it's getting pretty small, I'll pull it away to not take chances. I also know they don't recommend pork as they don't digest that particular meat very well. On the vegetables, I don't think there's many that aren't recommended. Carrots I might soften up, yams I usually soften up as well but Sammy has no problem chewing away on a raw one.
Keep reading up on raw food diets and you'll find how truly good they are for our dogs.
I remember Darcie telling me once that if she saw her dog going to town on some road-kill she would just let 'em go. That one I have a harder time with. But have you noticed the first thing animals usually eat after a kill? It's normally the organs, for the protein.
Back to my original post, the thing that really sold me was not only Sammy's overall health but the way Sammy's poops turn white and then to dust. Pretty telling testament that they're actually getting nutrients from their meal.
As the article states "Meat such as chicken, poultry, beef or fish should be the first ingredient listed in any dog food you judge to be "the best"." What's the first ingredient on the bag of food you're feeding your dog?
Here's an example of some store-bought foods: Pedigree - ground whole corn, chicken by-product meal, brewer's rice, corn gluten meal,,,
Orijen - Fresh deboned chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, russet potato, fresh deboned pacific salmon (a natural source of DHA and EPA), herring meal, sweet potato, peas, fresh deboned lake whitefish, fresh deboned northern walleye,,,,
Taste of the Wild - Salmon, ocean fish meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, canola oil, salmon meal, smoked salmon, potato fiber,,,,
You get the idea.
And lastly, get your dog some Tripe! It consists of the stomach lining of (usually) a cow, stinks real bad and looks disgusting, but so good for your dog and they LOVE it! (Trippet is a good brand)
Even after all this, know what you're feeding your dog, read up on the right raw-food diet for your breed, and watch them enjoy!
BTW, I'm not affiliated with www.sitstay.com in any way and don't know the new owners but it was always my reference point of knowing what foods were the right foods for Sammy.
One thing NOT to feed raw is Salmon. IIRC some dogs have died from eating it. Please correct me if my memory is bad. Cooked, it's O.K.
You need to freeze any of the salmonids because they may have a parasite that is toxic to dogs (and humans). Can't remember the temp, but pretty sure you need a commercial grade freezer to do it. It's either -10F or -40F for 24 hours or so, but don't remember the actual.
You have to do the same thing if you are commercially producing smoked salmon.
You also need to freeze pork for a lengthy time (about 6 weeks), to kill parasites, if you are going to feed raw to your dog.
I spent quite a bit of time researching this in the past. One thing that still haunts me is the processing of grain based dog foods makes the food carcinogenic to dogs. Luna was given the top brand grain based diets for over 6 years. My ignorance may have killed Her
Before I get a new dog (Lab from local breeder, and they own a meat market), all the I's will be dotted and the T's crossed. Plus, I will have a commercial freezer!
Nothing is without risk - just try to minimize where you can. Do not count on freezing to kill microbes! Cooked meat, fed cool, will not harm dogs - just no cooked bird bones.
For now the dog is on high quality dry dog food only at 2/3's her normal amount although she stubbornly isn't eat that much.. No people food no matter how pitiful she looks. We're also walking up to 1 mile every day (longest was today) and I had to stop and let the dog rest three times. Maybe I should back off a little on the distance.
The vet is only five minutes away and I'm going to stop in next week to see what she weighs.
I'm researching making homemade dog food but it will be fully cooked if I do so and no bones and probably vitamin and calcium suplpliments.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 02/17/1306:49 PM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
One thing NOT to feed raw is Salmon. IIRC some dogs have died from eating it. Please correct me if my memory is bad. Cooked, it's O.K.
You need to freeze any of the salmonids because they may have a parasite that is toxic to dogs (and humans). Can't remember the temp, but pretty sure you need a commercial grade freezer to do it. It's either -10F or -40F for 24 hours or so, but don't remember the actual.
You have to do the same thing if you are commercially producing smoked salmon.
You also need to freeze pork for a lengthy time (about 6 weeks), to kill parasites, if you are going to feed raw to your dog.
I spent quite a bit of time researching this in the past. One thing that still haunts me is the processing of grain based dog foods makes the food carcinogenic to dogs. Luna was given the top brand grain based diets for over 6 years. My ignorance may have killed Her
Before I get a new dog (Lab from local breeder, and they own a meat market), all the I's will be dotted and the T's crossed. Plus, I will have a commercial freezer!
JKB, Please don't second-guess your decisions on Luna's diet. Sounds like she had a great life with you and your family. Nobody has the perfect system and diet to raise an animal.
I've had a husky live to be 17 yrs , my wifes doberman live to 16 yrs, Mason got to be an old fat dog for the 3 yrs he was here, a golden retreiver (still alive) 13 yrs plus this new bunch coming up. All brought up on Purina Dog Chow. But they all get a raw egg in their food 2-3 times a week.
Almost forgot to tell you I raised a raccoon (Rocky) from when his eyes were still closed till he bolted after weighing over 25 lbs. He was bottle fed then weaned onto the Purina.
This one gets me, my sister has a "Taco bell" dog,(I can't spell the name after chi) that is closing in on 17 yrs.
JKB, just remember Luna or anybodys pet could have had a lot worse life if it wasn't for people like us. Your ignorance (and I hate using that word) did not kill Luna. Sometimes things just happen (just like in people).
Sorry for rambling on for so long....Good luck with your new Lab coming in.
