Dog Food « The Good, the Bad, and the Heidi

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Dog Food

Sunday, October 9th, 2011

I discovered a few months ago that my dog is highly allergic to nearly every staple food. Therefore, I performed loads of research about feeding raw food to dogs and thus now prepare homemade food for him. He’s a 110 lb rescue dog, which means he requires a lot of food. Generally speaking, raw dog food must have specific percentages of pure meat, guts, raw meaty bones, veggies, supplements, yogurt, and eggs. I weigh each ingredient accordingly. I spent the first couple of months driving around town to find the best deals on lamb and duck meat, since those are one of the few options he has that are relatively cheaper than the other ones. Finally, I came across a Mexican grocery store recommended by my friend, which has the best prices and high quality foods. Half my paycheck goes to feeding my dog, but it’s cheaper than vet bills. And he’s my boy so it’s worth it.

I bought glass tupperware to store his food in the freezer as its more sanitary than porous plastic ones. I’m a germaphobe, so I’m uber careful with raw food and cleaning everything it touches thoroughly. I feed the boy outside and monitor his consumption, to make sure he chews before swallows. The only downside to feeding outside are the wasps that are attracted to his raw meat. Therefore, I feed him at dawn, so they don’t annoy or bite my dog. Afterward, I wash down the patio, which sometimes resembles a graveyard with bits of bone scattered everywhere. At dusk, I feed him a raw meaty bone to avoid wasps as well and this reduces his need to bury the bone since he’s really hungry by this time. Never cook the bone, because it may splinter and severely injure your dog. Feed only raw. I monitor my dog when he eats the bone so he doesn’t choke and he’s done a good job thus far. Dogs will try to eat so many random things–shoelaces, boxes, toys, etc., so don’t be scared of raw bones (be sensible and don’t give him toothpick thin bone fragments).

In a nutshell, dogs are meant to eat raw food. Even the best dry dog foods have fillers, so dogs don’t obtain enough nutrients. Dogs aren’t susceptible to the same diseases we humans are from raw foods. Their stomachs are built to manage the bacteria that would normally put humans at risk of e coli, etc. Before this raw food diet, my dog’s poop was always an 8-inch in diameter slushy mess. Now he poops 3 little 2-inch clumps of hard turds. He no longer has gooey eyes, yeast in his ears is nearly eliminated (plain yogurt), coat is almost puppy soft, and I don’t take him to the vet every 3 weeks. Not to mention, his breath doesn’t stink anymore and his teeth are white & clean (w/out frequent brushing–raw bones and food). Amazing, huh? I noticed the results a week after switching his diet.

You think it’s time consuming, but it only takes about 3 hours (including driving to the grocery store and preparation) from start-to-finish. I can make 30-days worth of food and store the tupperware in the freezer (you might have to purchase an extra freezer if you have a 110 lb dog). Freezing the mixture does kill some of the nutrients, but hardly enough to make a difference to compromise his nutritional needs. Freezing the food help kills the bacteria as well.

Above is all general, so before embarking on a raw food diet for your dog, do your research so you don’t make him sick. It’s not as scary as it sounds, seeing that dogs were born to eat raw meat, unless their ancestors knew how to roast a pig.