posted 01-29-2004 10:22 PM         

All Natural Diet For Dogs

By Ed Frawley
Copyright 2001
There is a lot of talk in the dog world these days about ALL-NATURAL DIETS. (AN) The purpose of this article is to explain what these diets are and the reasons why I feel everyone should consider feeding their dog a natural diet. I will also explain what I feed the dogs in my own kennel.

All-natural diets are also called RAW DIETS or BARF DIETS (BF). The BF came to this country from Dr. Ian Billinghurst, an Australian veterinarian that has written two books that I sell on natural diets. The common theme of these diets is that they feed raw human grade ingredients. While the actual contents will vary in some cases, depending on the health needs of a particular dog, the quality of the food products does not change. Everything is raw and human grade ingredient. This means that the meat that I feed is good enough for my family to eat. The vegetables come from the produce department of our local grocery store.

An all-natural diet begins with species appropriate nutrition. In the case of our dogs, which are carnivores, this means meat, bones and the vegetable matter that is found in the stomach of prey animals that are killed.

Many people mistakenly feel they must feed their pets cooked food. They are wrong. Dogs and cats have stomachs that are designed to eat raw food. That's why a dog can eat an old dead animal or fish and live through it.

The digestive system of domesticated dogs is not designed to eat processed or cooked food. Obviously wild animals do not cook their food. Cooked food or commercial dog food takes longer for dogs to digest than raw diets. In addition, the heat used to actually cook the food destroys enzymes and anti-oxidants.

In 1932 Francis Pottenger M.D. did experiments with cats. He fed one group of cats a raw diet and a different group a cooked diet. By the third generation, those cats that were fed a cooked diet could no longer reproduce. They suffered from skin problems, skeletal deformities, behavioral problems and organ malfunctions.

The cats that were fed a raw diet thrived and reproduce easily. When the first and second generation cooked food cats were put back on a raw diet it took 4 generations for those cats to recover from the effects of the cooked food.

What We Feed:

Here is a list of ingredients that we feed in our kennel:

1-Raw Meat - Any raw muscle meat will work, I feed turkey hamburger because of price but normal hamburger is also just as good.
2-A raw egg 3 to 5 times per week (with the shell)
3-Turkey necks, chicken necks or chicken backs
4-Chopped Veggie pulp (carrots, cauliflower, celery, green beans etc)
5-Kelp and alfalfa - the fine powdered type
6-Powdered vitamin C
7-Essential Fatty Acids
a. Cod liver oil
b. Salmon oil OMEGA 3 - VERY IMPORTANT EVER DAY
c. Flaxseed oil
8. Glucosamin Powder (99% pure)
9-Vitamin E - EXTREMELY IMPORTANT - YOUR DOG MUST HAVE THIS !!!!

See an exact Menu for a week for adult males and females

All-Natural Diet

A Weekly Sample Feeding Schedule for Adult Dogs

I have fed an all-natural diet for a few years now. Anyone who makes the decision to join me and improve the health and lives of their dog or dogs by getting them off a commercial kibble and onto a all-natrual diet will go through a learning process. They find themselves wondering exactly what ingredienats to feed so they obtain a balanced diet. I am therefore including a specific list of ingredients that were put together for me by Cindy Easton . This list is what "we do" and it certainly is not set in stone. Diets have to be modified to fit the specific needs of individual dogs. I would direct you towards the books I sell on diet and health in our book section, and to my links page to learn more about this very important topic.

These food amounts vary from kennel to kennel or dogs to dog. I up the food for skinny dogs and decrease for fat dogs. Not rocket science. You should feed adult dogs 2-3% of the
DESIRED body weight for each individual. Not 2-3% of what they actually weigh unless they are at ideal weight. You can change the amount for your dogs every day or two depending on how they look.

One Week Menu

for 90 Pound Male

Monday

One pound of chicken necks or backs
12 oz. Ground turkey, hamburger, beef heart or chicken hearts / gizzards
One egg w/shell
2 Mega Omega-3
1 tsp. Super C powder

Tuesday

6oz. Liver (chicken, beef or pork) or kidneys
8 oz. Chicken necks or backs
One egg w/shell
1/4 cup of ground veggies
2 Mega Omega-3
2 tsp. Kelp/Alfalfa mix
1 tsp. Super C powder

Wednesday

One can of mackerel
1/4 cup veggies
8oz. Chicken necks or backs
1 tsp. Super C powder

Thursday

One pound of chicken necks or backs
12 oz. Ground turkey, hamburger, beef heart or chicken hearts and gizzards
One egg w/shell
2 Mega Omega-3
1 tsp. Super C powder

Friday

6oz. Liver (chicken, beef or pork) or kidneys
8 oz. Chicken necks or backs
One egg w/shell
1/4 cup of ground veggies
2 Mega Omega-3
2 tsp Kelp/Alfalfa mix
1 tsp. Super C powder

Saturday

One pound of chicken necks or backs
12 oz. Ground turkey, hamburger, beef heart or chicken hearts/gizzards
One egg w/shell
2 Mega Omega-3
1 tsp. Super C powder

Sunday

One can sardines
1/4 cup veggies
1 pound Chicken necks or backs
12 oz. Ground turkey, hamburger, beef heart or chicken hearts/gizzards
1 tsp. Super C powder

We gave 1 tsp. of Grand Flex daily to our Mature dogs.

One Week Menu

for 65 Pound Female

Monday

12 oz. Chicken necks or backs
8 oz. Ground turkey, hamburger, beef heart or chicken hearts / gizzards
One egg w/shell
1 Mega Omega-3
1 tsp. Super C powder

Tuesday

6oz. Liver (chicken, beef or pork) or kidneys
6 oz. Chicken necks or backs
One egg w/shell
1/4 Cup of ground veggies
1 Mega Omega-3
2 tsp. Kelp/Alfalfa mix
1 tsp. Super C powder

Wednesday

One can of mackerel
1/4 Cup veggies
6oz. Chicken necks or backs
1 tsp. Super C powder

Thursday

12 oz. Chicken necks or backs
8 oz. Ground turkey, hamburger,beef heart or chicken hearts and gizzards
one egg w/shell
1 Mega Omega-3
1 tsp. Super C powder

Friday

6oz. Liver (chicken, beef or pork) or kidneys
6oz. Chicken necks or backs
One egg w/shell
1/4 Cup of ground veggies
1 Mega Omega-3
2 tsp. Kelp/Alfalfa mix
1 tsp. Super C powder

Saturday

12 oz. Chicken necks or backs
8 oz. Ground turkey, hamburger, beef heart or chicken hearts/gizzards
One egg w/shell
1 Mega Omega-3
1 tsp. Super C powder

Sunday

One can sardines
1/4 Cup veggies
12 oz Chicken necks or backs
8 oz. Ground turkey, hamburger, beef heart or chicken hearts/gizzards
1 tsp. Super C powder

We give 1 tsp. of Grand Flex daily to our mature dogs.

Why These Products:

Considerations for Additional Vitamins or Herbs:

i- I cannot stress enough that you need to give your dog Vitmain E every day of its life. To gain the most beneficial effect from Vitamin E you also need to give Omega 3 (salmon oil every day) In my kennel I give each dog 2 Vitamine E pills (I probably could get by with one but they are cheap and an extra E pill per day will never hirt a dog) I also give one Omega 3 pill for every 10 pounds of body wieght per day (a 80 pound dog gets 8 Omega 3 pills) If a dog does not eat the capsules you can cut the gell caps up and drain them. I personallyt feed the liquid salmon oil that we sell. It's not cheap but its very good. I give my pups 3 pumps per day adult dogs get 4 pumps per day.

2-In times of stress you should increase the amount of vitamin C that your dog gets

3 -When you have a pregnant bitch or a bitch that you are going to breed get her on folic acid

4 -Lactating bitches should get Red Raspberry Leaves

5 -Try and feed a pregnant bitch liver or heart meat once or twice a week (cut back in cod liver oil if you feed liver)

5-There are many more herbs and vitamins that people can consider for the pets. I will not go into all of them here. At the end of this article I have listed some excellent books that I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in the health of their dog.

Foods to Avoid:

1-Chocolate

2-Do not feed a dog any sugar. Sugar increases a dog’s chances of getting cancer. Sugar is made when dogs eat things like sugar beets, molasses, grains or dairy products

3-Dogs do not require any grain in their diet; they have no nutritional need for it. Carbohydrates from grain are simply not needed. Our pets get their energy from fats and protein. Grains break down into sugar which can grow yeast, produce mucous and may contribute to a multitude of problems including skin allergies, cancer, digestive upsets and skeletal disorders to name just a few.

4-Do not feed any kind of yeast. This includes brewers yeast. Yeast increases problems with allergies. Our pets have no need for yeast.

5-Do not feed dogs milk or dairy products. Dairy products turn into lactose in a dog’s body. Lactose is sugar - this only causes problems with allergies.

6-Do not feed unhealthy treats (the store-bought biscuits). Never feed cooked bones, this includes steak bones. Cooking bones makes them brittle and they then splinter when eaten.

Here are Some General Rules to Keep in Mind on Feeding your Dog:

1-Do not free feed the dog. Pick up uneaten food between meals (only leave the food down for 20 minutes)

2-Serve food at room temperature

3-Do not microwave your pet’s food or store it with aluminum foil

4-Give your dog FRESH WATER daily - wash his water dish with bleach water on a regular basis. If you would not drink from a water dish then it’s too dirty for your dog to drink

5-Do not over-exercise after you feed your dog.

6-Keep your dog thin

7-Store your oils in the fridge and shake before you feed.

8-Stop feeding bones several days before a bitch whelps. This helps soften stools and increases lactation

The Amounts I Feed:

I will begin this section by saying that it is a good idea to fast a dog that is over a year old once a week. I do not do this with puppies, lactating bitches or pregnant bitches. Fasting dogs helps them clean out their system. It’s actually a very healthy thing to get in the habit of doing. Fasting is a normal occurrence for carnivores. Fasting enables the energy used to digest food to be used for other things in the body. It’s very important to remember to make sure your pet has plenty of fresh water on fast day.

Before I talk about the amounts that I feed I will say that it is also not very critical for the dogs to be fed exactly the same amount and type of food every day. In nature wild dogs do not eat exactly 5 cups of food every day.

So with this in mind I will begin the process of determining the amount to feed each dog by looking at the condition of the respected dog. Overweight dogs obviously get less food than very thin dogs which need more food. In addition, the amount of exercise a dog gets will determine the amount of food it needs. For example, a dog that lives in an outside yard and runs the fence all day is obviously going to require more food than a 10 year old couch potato who seldom goes out for a walk. So it’s almost impossible to say that you feed a 6 month old dog this much food or an adult male GSD this amount of food.

As a rule, Americans overfeed their dogs and keep them too fat. A thin dog is a healthy dog. A thin dog has less skeletal problems (i.e. dysplasia) than an overweight dog.

With this in mind I will feed an adult male GSD 4 to 5 cups of meat, two heaping teaspoons of vegetable pulp, 1 raw egg (with shell), a tablespoon of kelp and alfalfa powder, 1 turkey neck and the vitamins and supplements that they normally get (see above).

A female may only get 2 to 3 cups of meat plus the additional items listed for the males.

Books I Highly Recommend on this Topic:

Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schultz

Grow Your Pups with Bones by Ian Billinghurst

Give Your Dog a Bone by Ian Billinghurst

The Nature of Animal Healing by Martin Goldstein

Supplements We Sell:

Kelp

Alfalfa

Vitamin C

Garlic Aid

Mega Omega-3

Mega Pet Daily

Grand Flex

Aller'g' Free

Yucca Intensive

Yeast & Fungal D'Tox

posted 02-09-2004 05:56 AM         

Act 3 - Scene 3
Preparing Eggs

Eggs are a little different from meat in preparation.

They should not be fed raw too often as the raw egg white can cause a loss of biotin (a B-vitamin).

To prevent the loss of biotin, eggs should be soft boiled to kill the avidin which is the cause of the biotin problem.

As a guideline, use approximately 1 egg for every 10 to 15 pounds your dog or cat weighs.

Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan.

Once boiling, remove from the heat.

Add the eggs and let them soak in the hot water for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove the eggs and crack them in the bowl or on the plate to stop the cooking process.

Although raw food is best, in this case, the slight cooking still allows the egg to maintain plenty of nutrients while helping to kill the avidin.

I like to feed eggs on cold days because the eggs are guaranteed to be warm.

It is a good idea to keep eggs on hand.

Should you forget to thaw some meat, at least you have eggs ready to go in the fridge.

The preparation of the food is complete. Time for feeding.

Eggs are a wonderful food to feed especially since now free range eggs are readily available!

Free range eggs are relatively quite affordable, nutritious, pure and healthy.

Remember, you can save egg shells and grind them so they become a nice fine powder. Once they are ground to a nice powder, you can then add them to your pets food as a natural source of calcium and as alternative to bonemeal.

I sometime do give my dogs a treat of tuna. Not too often I am not sure of the sodium content.

"Ham and other salty meats and foods are very dangerous to pets. In addition to being high in fat, they are also very salty, which can cause serious stomach ache or pancreatitis".