Myths of RAW Feeding Bones of Contention What's Really in Pet Food Joints & Arthritis |
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SARFD- Species Appropriate Raw Food DietRaw is what carnivores eat. Dogs are not herbivores, they are not omnivores, though the dog food industry and many diet critics would have you believe otherwise. A carnivore gets optimal and appropriate nutrition from its species appropriate diet. The best source of this diet is a prey animal. If this is not possible, then a variety of body parts from a variety of prey-type animals works just fine. Brilliantly, in fact. There's nothing wrong with including vegetables in a dog's diet, but there is nothing essential about them, either. And there is NO point to feeding grains, whole, cracked, ground or otherwise. Supplemental carbs are superfluous in a good species appropriate diet for our domestic wolves. Dogs jaws are designed to rip, tear and pull, they move up and down only, they do not move side to side so they are unable to chew their food as a cow, horse, bear, etc. would. Their teeth are all pointed, none of them are flat which would allow the breaking down of plant matter and grains until they become of nutritional value. Dogs are also not designed to digest grains and carbs, their digestive tract is too short for the amount of time it takes for those foods to digest so the dogs eliminate more than is necessary to rid their bodies of foods they do not need nor can absorb. Grains and carbs also turn to sugar during the process of digestion- which is basically fermentation. Kibble is at least 40% grain (or some other starch) simply to make the product stick together for extrusion. The vitamins and minerals are sprayed on the pellets after they've been baked, fried, roasted, toasted or whatever cooking process. There is minimal if any intrinsic nutrition remaining in the pellet itself. Mother Nature instills in all wild animals the way their species should eat, it is man that has tried to change that. The US Government designed kibble in World War II to be able to send food to the dogs serving overseas in the armed forces without spoiling. Before that all dogs, for thousands of years, ate table scraps and raw food. Dogs evolved from wolves, wolves are wild and get their own meals from the prey they kill. They may be observed eating berries or some grasses, etc, but it is usually for medicinal purposes- again Mother Nature instilling in wild animals what they need to do.... I would not feed my dogs anything that can be purchased at a grocery store (unless it is specific to a raw food diet), a department store, a pet department store or a vet's office. The quality of foods purchased in any of those places would be the equivalent of us eating at McDonald's every day for the rest of our lives, sooner or later the poor diet would catch up with us. According to my vet, vets spend about 4 hours with a rep from Purina or Hill's Science, etc. during their education. As in the human world, if you had an issue with your diet your medical doctor would probably send you to a nutritionist. My vet is very supportive and there are many that are becoming more aware of this way of feeding. The following is how I feed: My dogs all eat their food frozen- slows them down and when some food is smaller in size it isn't as small when bagged in one lb bags and it keeps them from swallowing it whole! Raw feeding- this means literally RAW INCLUDING bones- not cooked at all: All dogs should start on nothing but chicken for the first two weeks. After that add one meat source at a time for one meal per day for one week, then a new source the third week, etc., etc. My staple is chicken because of cost- out of 14 meals a week they probably have chicken 6 times, fish 2 times, turkey 2 times, pork 4 times. I feed chicken on:Monday, Tuesday & Thursday I feed pork on: Wednesday & Friday I feed turkey on: Saturday I feed Tilapia Fish on: Sunday beef heart, chicken livers, lamb kidney, etc for organ meat and muscle meat. I don't feed beef, except beef heart, because of the price. The following is for my large dogs (they each get about 10.5lbs to 14 lbs/week): Based on 1 lb meals, 2 times a day:6- 1 lb. meals/week in chicken 2- Tilapia fish/week 2- 1 lb. turkey meals/week 2- 1 lb pork meals/week 1 lb total beef heart (MM)(treats) 1 lb total organ (OM)(treats) 4 whole raw eggs/week including shell (treats) for a puppy up to 3-4 months- 10%/day of their current weight: 20 lb puppy x 16 oz = 320 oz x .10% = 32 oz / 16 oz = 2 lbs/day over 4 months of age and for adults 1.5%, 2%, 2.5% or 3%/day of their ideal adult weight- this % will depend on whether or not your dog is too heavy, too thin, active or inactive, you can measure their food in oz. or lbs.: There's enough meat on chicken leg quarters and turkey drumsticks and thighs to be considered RMBs (raw meaty bones) AND MM (muscle meat) so it would be unnecessary to worry about making sure there is enough muscle meat being fed when feeding those kinds of meat sources. I never give organ meat OM or muscle meat MM as a whole meal- I give it as treats 2-3 times every day. I also give them whole raw eggs with shells 4-5 times a week- I just hand it to them and they go outside, drop it on the ground and lick it up! Meat sources:chicken leg quarters- chicken wings turkey wings turkey backs turkey drumsticks turkey thighs necks spareribs pork hocks- NOT smoked pig's feet - NOT smoked pig's ears- NOT smoked pig's tails- NOT smoked rib backs chicken livers- OM chicken giblets- T ground turkey- MM turkey livers- OM turkey giblets- T ground beef- MM beef heart- MM and OM beef tongue- MM beef liver- OM I DO NOT EVER give dog biscuits, etc.... I DO NOT give beef marrow bones, beef soup bones or beef knuckle bones for recreational use- they are bones that bear the weight of an animal weighing over 1000 lbs- a dental accident waiting to happen.... for further info please contact Jody at
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