Fresh Raw Pet Food

The first thing you should do is some reading/research on the raw diet. Check out the links page for recommended reading. Most dogs do better on a “cold turkey” switch rather than half-kibble and half-raw. Remember to keep things simple for the dog when you are starting. We suggest that you start with just chicken backs and necks for the first couple weeks. Let their body get used to the new foods before you start feeding them a huge variety of foods. Some dogs might not know what to do with the bones at first, but they will get the hang of it. If you have a small dog or a dog that doesn’t get the hang of it, you can try crunching the bone into smaller pieces, or holding one edge of the bone for them. Wait to add the richer foods, such as liver and eggs, for a few weeks. I would also wait to start adding any supplements until you are settled into a routine.

Most people feel the same way when first switching to a raw diet. We thought it was very complicated (and maybe even more expensive), but have actually found it’s much easier than kibble. Maybe we all feel so good about what we’re feeding them now–it just seems so simple. Many of us believe the fact a raw diet is less expensive than premium kibble. Yes, it can feel very overwhelming at first, especially when thinking of supplements, how much to feed, meat-to-bone ratios, the veggies, and don’t mix this with that, but once we finally relaxed and came to understand that it’s a balanced diet OVER TIME, life gets much easier. Remember we are always here to answer any questions or concerns you might have.

Most dogs do very well being switched over to a raw natural diet “cold-turkey”, but the change over should be done after 24 hours of fasting to allow a smoother transition. It takes kibble this long to completely leave the body.

Sure, even though we feel that a raw natural diet is the best way to go, we understand some people would still prefer to feed a kibble based diet. However, we recommend super premium kibbles with all natural human grade ingredients, no chemical preservatives, and no fillers. When choosing a kibble it is still best to supplement your pet with whole food supplements and probiotics. This will maximize the nutrition you are trying to achieve for your pet. We carry super premium kibbles and the supplements that your pet needs. See supplements page.

Kibble and raw food are digested differently, and should never be fed together, in the same meal. If you feed dry kibble at the same meal as the raw meat, you are increasing the amount of time the food is in the body, and increasing the possibility of illness from microbes. It can be confusing to your pet’s body when trying to digest kibble which pulls moisture from the body to digest it. Moisture is supplied with a raw natural diet. When carbohydrates and proteins are eaten at the same time, the protein enzymes go to work first, and the digestion of carbohydrates must wait. While the carbohydrates are waiting around to be digested, they ferment and release toxins in the body. If you feel you must feed both, feed kibble one meal and the raw natural diet the next meal.

Feeding a raw natural diet is simulating what an animal eats in the wild. The diet will balance itself over time. Most pets eat 2% to 10% of their body weight. This is dependant upon the age, size, metabolism, breed, and if your pet is spayed or neutered. The average 50 pound dog eats a pound a day. If your dog is on the skinnier side, up the raw meaty bones and reduce the veggies. If your dog is on the heavier side, reduce the raw meaty bones and up the veggies. To know if your dog is ‘just right,’ rub the back of your hand…..his/her ribs should feel the same. If you can’t feel his/her ribs, then reduce the daily food intake.

RMBs are soft enough for the dog to chew up and eat – things like chicken carcasses/backs/necks/wings, lamb necks, oxtails, turkey necks, etc…, which make up an RMB meal. Recreational bones, on the other hand, are larger bones that the dog will chew on but will not eat the whole bone – things like beef marrow bones, femurs, knuckle bones, etc… Weight-bearing bones can also be given (chicken legs/thighs), but they are a bit more difficult to chew (especially for a small animal).

According to an FDA news release, “salmonella is not harmful to dogs”. Salmonella is everywhere – not just in raw meats. Employ basic hygiene practices, wash your hands and keep surfaces clean – just as you would when handling your own food. When first starting a raw natural diet, many people are overly compulsive about possible salmonella poisoning. They wear latex gloves when handling chicken and never allow one tiny piece of chicken to touch ANYTHING in the kitchen. You can get totally neurotic. Relax – it’s safe to use bare hands when handling and practice proper food handling techniques. Just take normal precautions and wipe down everything with an antibacterial cleaner when done with your food preparation. There are harmful bacteria in feces regardless of what the animals eat. There are also good bacteria in feces so don’t be alarmed if your dog decides this is a delicacy.

When switching a dog over from commercial dog food to a raw natural diet, the dog’s body may begin the process of ridding itself of toxins and impurities as it adjusts to the intake of proper nutrients. This process is called detox or healing crisis. Depending on the overall health of your dog, the healing crisis may last one week, one month or even several weeks…or not even at all. The most common symptoms of detox include vomiting, diarrhea, bad breath and itchy skin. It is normal for any of these detox symptoms to get worse before they get better…just don’t give up and hang in there. Keep your dog as comfortable as possible during this process. Just remember your pet is on its way to becoming “TRULY HEALTHY.” Pure pumpkin in the can (not pumpkin pie filling) works magic to firm stools quickly. Provide plenty of fresh water, but limit excessive water intake immediately after meals, as your dog may regurgitate.

Don’t worry – there is no reason to be concerned. Raw food is naturally full of live water! All the moisture needed to digest raw food is contained in raw food! Although a lower sodium intake is part of the reason that our raw natural diet dogs drink less water, the real reason is that raw food has not had the water removed like cooked food or kibble has. The different between kibble and canned dog food is the water content…they leave the water in the canned and dry out the kibble. It takes a lot of water to re-hydrate those little nuggets! In addition, the excessive toxins in processed foods require more water for the body to eliminate…without those toxins, your dog will need less water.

I think if you are providing a good varied diet you will be providing pretty much what your dog needs – all in a highly bio-available form. When looking for a certain vitamin/mineral, try to provide it in its natural form first. If you need to provide more Vitamin B for example, consider what foods contain that vitamin first (e.g. liver) rather than reaching for an artificial supplement. That said, there can be a benefit in supplementing those things that our dogs may be missing in the translation from a ‘wild’ diet to its ‘modern’ equivalent (i.e. a raw natural diet). As we don’t necessarily feed the whole animal for example (eyes, brains, stomach and intestines etc etc as well) the addition of things like EFA’s (e.g. fish oil) on occasion can be useful. Probiotics are also in this category, providing bacteria which a dog may otherwise have gotten in the wild by eating stomach contents/intestines etc. You can also add a bit of kelp every now and then for trace elements. Modern soils have been depleted by over-cropping etc and Australian soils in particular are low in iodine. Add Vitamins C and E every now and then for their antioxidant properties and their value to optimize health – particularly in our modern polluted environment. Vitamin C is particularly good in times of stress. Normally, supplements aren’t need on a daily basis, but of course every situation will be different (if you live in a city you might give more C and E for example to combat higher pollution). But remember, you are providing a much more nutritious product to begin with a raw natural diet. They are probably getting more nutritional value now out of a varied raw diet without the supplements that they ever did on kibble even with vitamins.

Digestive enzymes break down food so that it can be absorbed and utilized by the body. Raw food has enzymatic activity, and the body has a limited supply also. When our pets eat the raw food that their physiology is designed to thrive on, they receive plenty of food enzymes, which aid digestion and nutrient utilization. When they eat cooked food, which is devoid of enzymes, they can deplete the body’s supply, and the enzyme-producing organs must work overtime to compensate. It doesn’t matter what you put into the body if digestion is not equipped with enough enzymes to break it down and put it to good use within the body. Supplemental enzymes can be beneficial in cases of digestive disorders and degenerative diseases. They replenish the body with the tools needed to utilize nutrients. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria. They are normally present in a healthy intestinal system. Beneficial bacteria keep unwanted bacteria, fungi, and other bad guys from disrupting homeostasis. For example, labs have conducted studies showing non-dairy probiotics to be extremely successful at destroying e.coli bacteria. Beneficial bacteria are killed by antibiotics. Supplemental use of probiotics can help re-establish normal intestinal function as well as provide tons of great predigested enzymes, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and more.

The veggies need to be pulped up using something like a blender, juicer or food processor. You are aiming for something a bit like the vegetable matter found in the stomach of a prey animal. The reason for this is that dogs can not digest cellulose. Cell walls of plants are made of cellulose, so for our dogs to get the nutrients out of them, we need to crush the cell walls. Chopping them up only crushes the cell walls on the outside, leaving the bit in the middle pretty much unavailable to them nutritionally. Cooking them will also destroy the cell walls, but as this also destroys a lot of the nutrients and enzymes in the veggies (even canned veggies), it kind of defeats the purpose. Freezing the veggies and then thawing can also break down the cell walls.

Many dogs have a tendency to gulp their food, without chewing, and this can be a very scary experience for an owner new to feeding raw bones. Often, when dogs are first acclimating to the raw natural diet, they will gulp down their bones only to vomit them back up again. This is normal and teaches them to eat them slowly and properly. If you would like to teach the dog to chew before swallowing, try larger RMBs than you are feeding. You can avoid the smaller RMBs until your dog learns to chew its food. Another option is to try hand feeding your dog.

With many other food items, feeding pork is purely a personal choice. But yes, it CAN be fed safely. If you’d like to feed pork but are afraid of possible trichinosis, it is recommended that the pork be frozen, at Zero degrees F for 3 weeks, to kill the flukes. The incidence of trichinosis is actually very rare.