What is An All Natural Dog Food?

What’s on your mind when you consider an all natural dog food? Could it be a commercial dog food which has the word ‘natural’ on the packet? Could it be you think of cooking your own dog food from scratch? Do you consider table scraps to be the ideal diet?

Wrong! None of the above will address your dog’s health, Why not?

Well, the commercial dog food starts off with very low grade meat, mostly meat by-products (the better quality going for the higher priced human food), high fat and sometimes euthanased animals, which contain the chemical sodium pentobarbital. Then, to bulk out the already cheap ‘meat’, a non-nutritional filler is added. That can be sugar, as there’s a world glut of it at the moment, or melamine if you live in China.

Then, to keep the product indefinitely at room temperature a preservative is added.

When you see a packet of dried dog food in the shop, with the slogan ‘preservative free’ ask yourself this question - how can dried ‘meat’ be kept indefinitely at room temperature without preservatives? Do you think you wouldn’t have heard of a new way to do this, if there was?

So either there is no ‘meat’ or there is preservative present. Trouble is, the preservatives used are very strong, cause huge health problems and aren’t allowed in human food.

So commercial dog food can be crossed off as an all natural dog food!.

I see quite a lot of ‘dog experts’ on the internet advocating you cook your own dog food. Whilst that is hugely better than commercial pet food, it’s still missing the nutrients that are lost in cooking. Typically these are vitamins and enzymes, both essential for a healthy dog. But other nutrients are altered by cooking. Fat changes during the cooking process from a beneficial food to a harmful one.

So you can cross though this one too, as an all natural dog food.

What about table scraps? That depends so much on the table scraps. If the human food is a good, natural one of lots of raw fruit and veg, with lightly cooked meat, then these table scraps have the potential of being the best dog food out of all three options, as long as there is enough left over to satisfy your dog’s nutritional needs.

If, however, your diet is typically fast food with a lot of processed food, then these table scraps will be little better than the commercial dog food.

Yet another cross through.

There is only one all natural dog food and that’s the one dogs evolved on. Nothing that mankind has done has improved one iota on that. And considerable decline has occurred.

Dogs have evolved over millions of years on an all natural dog food and it keeps them happy and healthy.

Once you get to grips with the idea of how dogs evolved, duplicating that diet within the constraints of what is available and the limits on your time, is not that difficult. However, there are a few important things you need to know such as:

• what food should not be given more than once a week
• should bones be given
• what carbohydrates are the best ones and how much
• are there any fruit or vegetables that shouldn’t be given
• what amino acid is essential to a dog’s healthy skin
• should you supplement the diet
• how do you convert the diet of an elderly or sick dog safely

When you change the diet of your dog from a commercial pet food to an all natural dog food, there may initially be a de-toxing period. This is normal and natural, but can seem a bit scary to you if you don’t understand why it’s happening and the symptoms. It should be of short duration, depending on your dog’s age and level of health.

Dogs digestion is robust. They have evolved on eating raw meat and carrion. They can’t cope with preservatives, fillers, high fat or low grade protein, none of which occurs (at least in high proportions) in nature.

Once you have your dog on an all natural dog food, you’ll find fewer and fewer health problems. I’m sure you’d be as happy as anyone, to cut your dog’s professional health fees.

What is the Best Dog Food?

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. Without question, the best dog food is one which is based on a wild dog’s diet. Dogs have evolved on this. It’s raw meat. There are no cookers in nature.

People are reluctant to believe this for a variety of reasons. So lets look at some of them, and dispel your fears.

Firstly, you may be worried about the presence os parasites and worms in raw meat. It’s been drummed into you that meat needs to be cooked to kill them off.

I can assure you, that dogs digestion is robust. They have no trouble with worms and parasites in raw meat. They have evolved to deal with this. What they haven’t evolved to deal with is cooked food, high fat content, preservatives, pathogens in cooked food, poor quality filler and the low grade food which passes for dog food.

Secondly, you may be concerned about bones perforating an internal organ.

Dogs evolved by crunching up on raw bones. They have absolutely no problem with raw bones, as long as they are raw and they gnaw them. If you have more than one dog and they gobble the bone down to ensure the other doesn’t get it, they may suffer some discomfort while the bone passes through their digestive system, but it won’t do more than cause them discomfort. So ensure your dog gnaws the bone in peace.

The other problem is with cooked bones. These can perforate your dog’s internal organs. Cooked bones are a definite no-no when working out the ingredients for the best dog food.

Thirdly, you may think feeding your dog a raw food diet is expensive. After all, the connotation ‘best dog food’ looks expensive.

It depends on what you take into consideration. If you are feeding your dog the cheapest brand of dog food from the supermarket, and don’t have any ailments treated, then you may be right. If you do, I doubt you’re reading this. So lets suppose you feed your dog a medium priced commercial dog food and do use the services of a veterinarian or other health professional, for ailments your dog may suffer.

Raw dog food is nutrient dense. Commercial dog food is nutrient poor. So you need to feed much more commercial dog food to come anywhere near (and it never comes close) to providing the decent diet that raw meat does. Which means you need much less volume of raw food compared with commercial dog food.

Then, if you include the fees you spend on health care, there’s no comparison. Commercial pet food keeps veterinarians wealthy. They hardly see the healthy dogs fed on raw meat, nature’s best dog food.

Fourthly, you may think that the purchase and preparation of the best dog food there is, is too much like hard work. You think it may be too big a hassle.

I’ve taken the hassle out of it, by telling you how to do it without making the mistakes I did.

Fifthly, you may think you dog doesn’t like raw food.

Have you ever tried? With decent food, I mean? I can assure you, there is no dog alive who doesn’t recognise the raw food as the best dog food. If you’re overfeeding your dog, he may refuse it initially. And if you leave food out all day, that’s likely. Keep in mind too, many commercial dog food manufacturers add appetite stimulants to the food. This may cause a short term problem, while he adapts.

Lastly, you may be concerned that you don’t know enough to be able to get the nutritional needs of your dog correct. After all, that’s what's pushed by veterinarians and commercial dog food manufacturers - you don’t know enough. Just because the packet tells you this brand is ‘recommended by top vets’ or that brand is ‘scientific’, doesn’t mean they are selling the best dog food. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I can tell you from experience, it’s not as difficult as they make out. You do need to know some important facts, but once you’ve opened your mind to allowing your own inner wisdom to emerge, and by following certain natural laws, you’ll have no problem working it out.

If everyone started feeding their dog raw meat, many, many veterinarians would go out of business.

What are you waiting for?

Feeding This Diabetic Dog Food Could Cure Your Dog’s Diabetes

Diabetes is no fun for humans or animals, with the desire for sweet things, the copious urine output and the huge thirst, to mention just a few of the common symptoms.

And it’s on the increase in humans as well as dogs and cats. Why should this be happening now?

Leaving the human cause aside for the purposes of this article, lets look at a typical diet for dogs in the western world, those who are not fed a quality diabetic dog food, that is.

Most people feed their dog a commercial brand of pet food. You’re lured by the manufacturers claims, which are mostly untrue, and by smiling vets and dog breeders on the colourful packets.

Health depends hugely on diet. Arguably, it could be considered the major cause of ill health in all animals, you included.

I want you to imagine, for a moment, that you are the owner of a dog food manufacturing business. You have to pay

• rent on the premises
• services to the premises - electricity, telephone
• equipment purchase and upkeep
• wages for your workers, including tax, health, sick and holiday pay
• packaging for the end product
• storage for the end product
• advertising and marketing the end product

All this costs money. And you haven’t even bought in the raw ingredients, the food, yet.

Would you be a bit tempted to buy in low quality, low cost raw ingredients? After all, with the price of meat going up all the time, you have to consider whether your potential customers would pay the higher price your product would be? There’s plenty of competition about and customers are generally lured by low prices.

And they probably say - it’s only for dogs.

(I don’t know about you, but my dogs aren’t ‘only’.)

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want you to sympathise with the commercial pet food manufacturers. But if you can understand where they’re coming from, you’ll understand why it would be a good idea to make your own diabetic dog food.

I’m not suggesting all commercial pet food manufacturers are the same. But they do all face the same problems.

So not only is the meat low quality, it’s also bulked out with a filler.

Fillers can be anything from sawdust, to melamine (remember Chinese pet food?), to a market glut of any carbohydrate.

For the past few decades, the production of sugar has soared with its huge demand. This has resulted in a world glut.

Now, whenever there’s a world glut, the price drops. So buying sugar for bulking out commercial pet food is cheap.

I’m sure you’ve now made the connection between your dog getting diabetes and feeding him a commercial pet food. After all, no dog evolved eating processed sugar even in small amounts, let alone the huge amounts that go into pet food.

So the best diabetic dog food is to make it yourself. Then you know what goes into it.

I am offering you the chance to make a huge impact on the health of your beloved dog, simply by switching to the diabetic dog food I recommend.

It’s easy, it’s quick, you probably have most of the ingredients already. And it won’t cost you any more.

Are you ready to make a commitment, to feed your dog my diabetic dog food, to see his health change almost overnight?

Feeding a Raw Food Diet for Dogs While Juggling Work, Family and a Bit of You Time

Most people who have dogs in their lives, reach for the easy option of commercial dog food. There is little thought that goes into it.

Or perhaps they feel their veterinarian knows best and they buy what they offer.

Either way, the health of your dog will suffer.

But you know that already, or you wouldn’t be here.

As you’re considering feeding a raw food diet for dogs, you’ve come a long way and first up, need congratulating!

I find that the most difficult part of changing anything in my life, is the initial reluctance to change my mind. It’s no mean feat. But now that you’ve done that, the rest is easy.

Or comparatively!

A raw food diet for dogs is what they evolved. on. You can’t beat or better nature. Nature has had a long time perfecting herself. Puny man and his pseudo ideas are no match!

But I’m sure you still have questions. For a start, what should you feed your dog, and how much?

Are there any foods to avoid or limit?

Should bones be a part of the raw food diet for dogs?

And lastly, how can you fit it into your busy schedule of juggling work, family and hopefully a bit of time for you?

Well, lets answer the last question first. Buying raw food is no less difficult or time consuming than buying commercial dog food. Putting meat instead of a packet into your trolly takes the same energy!

The other questions on what and what not to feed dogs have already been discovered by others who have gone before you. So you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. It’s already been done. Just follow in someone else’s footsteps.

It does take a little bit of time to get used to what to feed and how much, but once you have the hang of it, it becomes second nature.

Feeding a raw food diet for dogs is really the start of other things too. Such as listening to your dog. He will tell you what he likes to eat and what he doesn’t. He’ll also tell you what medicines he’s happy to take and what he doesn’t like and would prefer you not to insist.

It’s a whole new world, and one I can’t recommend enough!

What Can Hypoallergenic Dog Food Really Do?

Allergies abound in today’s health arena, for dogs as well as humans. There are a various causes for this, but in my opinion, there is only one maintaining cause, ie the reason it keeps going.

As a rule, allergies are showing that the sufferer has a very weak immune system. When you are considering feeding your dog a hypoallergenic dog food, you know that his immune system is at rock bottom.

I’m not going to address the possible causes here, but I am going to look at bringing your dog’s immune system up, so that he is no longer so sensitive.

Food is consumed every day. So food has the biggest impact on your dog’s health. Whatever the label may say, if you’re feeding your dog a commercial hypoallergenic dog food, then you’re contributing to his discomfort and ill health.

All commercial pet foods are basically the same:

• over cooked, destroying vital nutrients
• use of very low quality food, such as dead animals and high fat
• use of any cheap filler to bulk it out
• use of highly toxic preservatives - how else do you keep ‘meat’ products indefinitely, at room temperature

Each one of these aspects of commercial dog food will undermine your dog’s immune system. Bringing them all together ensures he can’t fight off any health issue that comes his way.

The best way to help bring up your dog’s immune system is to feed him as his ancestors fed - with raw meat and bones.

I’m not saying that by feeding your dog as nature intended he will necessarily completely recover from his allergies. But he’ll do a whole lot better than he will by feeding him a commercial hypoallergenic dog food.

There is no true holistic vet or animal therapist who doesn’t adhere to this policy.

Once you have his diet addressed and he’s been on it for enough time to see what it alone can cure, then it’s time to consider treatment.

Being a natural therapist myself (a homeopath), of course I’m biased! But I get a lot of animals come to me who vets haven’t been able to help. Once I get the dog on the natural diet, then the homoeopathic remedy of choice finishes the problem off. Without the diet, the remedy can only palliate.

What I’m really saying is that there is no such thing as hypoallergenic dog food. There is only good, healthy dog food and unhealthy dog food. You will never address a problem if you don’t look at the cause (which homeopathy does so well) and you don’t contribute to it.

Suppose you have a riot in the city (allergies). You can send in the police and the riot will die down (allergies seem to clear up). But underneath the unrest continues (the cause of the allergies hasn’t been cured), and the real reasons are left untouched, only to fester into a much worse state (now hypoallergenic). Homeopathy is akin to finding the cause of the riots and disturbances and dealing with those in a peaceful and constructive way. That is the true nature of cure. (See afternote.)

So don’t be taken in by the pretty words and smiling actors on a packet of commercial hypoallergenic dog food. It will do nothing to bring your dog’s immune system back up, which is the only way to help cure his sensitivities.

I consider there is only one type of healthy dog food, only one type which help restore even the sickest dog’s immune system. And that’s the one based on the natural diet of wild dogs.

Footnote
The above example was written by Jeremy Sherr, a leading UK homeopath.

Dog Health - What is the Single, Most Important Thing You Can Do to Keep it?

It seems that dog health is on the decline. Depending on the breed, dogs can live to 20 years or more. Today, you’re lucky if they reach eight.

Why is this?

Years ago, dogs were fed table scraps, kitchen scraps and homemade food, as commercial pet food hadn’t been invented. The table scraps were more healthy then, as junk food didn’t abound.

Years ago, it was rare to take a dog to a veterinarian. Vets, as doctors, were only visited when deemed absolutely necessary.

And yet, still dogs lived longer.

Could there be a connection between dog health today and their diet?

In my opinion, the answer to that is a resounding YES!

As with most people, I’m sure you’re blissfully unaware of what goes into making your own food, let alone that of your dogs. When people are asked if they know, the frequent answer is “I don’t want to know”.

Obviously you suspect the worst.

But why don’t you want to know?

Is it because you’re caught out not knowing, so fear looking stupid?

I can understand that.

Or perhaps the knowledge of what goes into dog food is too revolting to consider. If this is the case, don’t you think your dog might agree with you? Maybe he thinks it’s revolting too, but if he doesn’t eat it, he fears he may not be offered an alternative. Even revolting food will keep you alive.

Well, now you have the chance of finding out what really goes into pet food, so next time someone accosts you in the street, you can answer with confidence. Not only that, you can change the diet of your dog to something he will love and that will keep him in peak condition, to boot.

There’s a saying ‘garbage in, garbage out’. Dog health IS dog food, by the very nature of its frequent consumption.

The pet food industry remains more or less unregulated in all countries. The little regulation there is, is poorly policed. It would require too much funding, which tends to be spent on human needs.

So the industry gets away with whatever it wants.

Low quality meat (called meat by-products) is the start of the slippery slope. While dogs can eat some low quality food (hair, beaks, feathers, intestines and contents, fat), they can’t survive on it. They need some good quality to maintain health.

Euthanased animals may be rejected by a more ethical company, but may be eagerly snapped up by those who are less so. The lethal injection forms part of the resulting food. Can this be contributing to poor dog health?

To bulk out the food, to make it more profitable, a filler is added. This can be whatever is available cheaply. It might be melamine. It might be sugar. It may be sawdust.

All pet food is cooked under high temperatures and pressures. This kills off enzymes, vitamins and other nutrients that are essential for good dog health.

To redress this shortfall, nutrients are added. But these are normally the synthetic ones as they’re the cheapest. Synthetic nutrients are not easily absorbed by the body. As most of them are also isolated, they are of little value. Dog health is all about getting complex nutrients in a complete and natural form, which are easily absorbed.

To give the resulting dog ‘food’ a long shelf life (which is good for business, but not for dog health), toxic preservatives are used, preservatives that would never be allowed in human food because of their highly poisonous nature. Poisons such as ethoxyquin and formalin.

Don’t be fooled by packets which maintain they use ‘natural’ preservatives, or are even preservative free. Ask yourself this - can meat be kept indefinitely at room temperature, without the use of preservatives?

It’s down to you to be vigilant in the quality of your dog’s food. To maintain good health, you need to be in control, which means you need to know the worst. Putting your head in the sand isn’t going to keep your dog healthy.

Homemade Dog Food for The Busy Human

Busy people generally tend to shy away from home prepared food for themselves as well as their dogs. But relying on others for your and your dog’s nutritional needs is likely to ensure your dog’s health will suffer, if not your own.

What it really boils down to, is time. You think preparing homemade dog food is not time efficient, perhaps messy, and how can you be sure it’s healthy? Don’t commercial pet food manufacturers know more than you do?

No. Commercial pet food manufacturers are chasing the mighty dollar, just as most people are. Generally, they have very little interest in good quality. By the time you have finished reading this article, you’ll know more than they do.

Is homemade dog food preparation going to be messy?

No, not once you have the hang of what you’re doing, which is where I come in. I’m here to help you every step of the way.

Does it take a long time to prepare homemade dog food?

No, once you’ve got the hang of what you’re doing, it incredibly quick and easy.

Just as it can be in preparing your own homemade food.

So I’ve knocked away some of the most common excuses for not preparing your homemade dog food. But, as you still hesitate, there may be one hurdle in the way, which we haven’t covered.

You have been accustomed to believe commercial dog food is better than anything else. Your vet may have told you. Your parents may have told you. You see people feeding commercial pet food all the time. Can they all be wrong?

Yes!

Because none of them are looking to their dog’s origins. Dog evolved in the wild over many thousands of years, hunting in packs in times of plenty and eating carrion or plant matter in times of famine.

In contrast, commercial dog food typically pellets, is not raw or of the quality a hunted animal is. Dogs digestive systems and nutritional requirements have not changed or adapted, just because they are now domestic.

The best way to ensure your dog maintains not just good, but excellent health is to make homemade dog food, based on a wild dog’s diet. Sure, it isn’t possible to exactly duplicate a wild dog’s diet, but we can come so close that it won’t affect your dog’s health.

When you’re shopping in the supermarket, it’s just as easy to buy raw meat and bones as it is to purchase a packet. You can buy enough to keep your dog going until the next time you shop. Freezing food is an acceptable way to keep it, as it is not so destructive as cooking. Three or four days of fresh food and the rest thawed frozen food will be absolutely adequate to maintain good health.

Once you’ve measured out the food the first time, it’s just a matter of routine.

Keeping all the ingredients together means it’s convenient.

By making your own homemade dog food, you have control over the quality and the ingredients. This is critical to your dog’s good health as many ingredients in commercial pet food is toxic, not natural, not nutritious and certainly isn’t raw.

Try your dog on raw meat and bones for a month and you’ll see a big smile on his face!

Couple that with his drastically reduced health bills, and you’ll be the next one grinning.

Warning: in older dogs there can be an initial clearing period. This is natural and normal, but can look alarming if you don’t know what’s happening.