A Raw Food Diet For Dogs - Fad Or Science?

In recent years, a movement has come afoot that
advocates a raw food diet for dogs, similar to
what dogs used to eat before they became
domesticated some 30,000 years ago.

Common sense would have one believe that the
dogs currently living with us as pets are as far
removed from wolves as our tabby is from a
Bengali tiger. After all, their metabolism and
bodies have become used to our diet, having been
fed scraps from our tables for thousands of year.
Relatively recently, dog food became commercially
available, which caused them now be as used to
processed food as humans are.

A refined, processed diet is probably not the
optimum diet for a dog, regardless of the breed,
the same way that a refined, processed diet is
not good for us either. When we hurt ourselves
by eating processed foods and passing it on to
our dogs, we are hurting them too.

Numerous reports have indicated that a raw diet
has done wonders for a dog in improving health,
energy level, a shinier coat, and calming a
nervous digestive system. It is possible to feed
a healthy and varied raw diet to a dog, as long
as certain precautions are taken.

Basics of a Raw Food Diet

Even the highest quality commercial pet food is
not optimally absorbed by the animal; in fact
less than 50% of its nutritional value is
absorbed. Compare this to the 95% absorption
rate of a balanced raw food diet and you'll
understand why so many dog owners are
enthusiastic about it.

Certain rules should be observed. For instance,
do not feed a raw diet to a dog with an immune
problem. Do not feed large chunks of raw meat to
a chihuahua. Small breed dogs should only eat
ground raw meat and bones that accommodate their
small teeth. In fact, all dogs should be
gradually acclimated to an all raw diet by
grinding the meat and bones for the first couple
of weeks, and it is best to increase the amount
of raw food gradually, starting with about 25%.
Add digestive enzymes to the diet to facilitate
the change.

A typical raw diet might also include green and
yellow vegetables such as squash, apples, water
melon, but avoid cruciferous vegetables as dogs
have difficulty digesting these. Pork, fish
bones, and farmed salmon are also to be avoided.
To ensure all nutritional needs are met, once a
week yoghurt, cooked potatoes and oatmeal can be
added to the diet. Dogs with special requirements
like puppies and dogs who just had them will eat
an astonishing amount on a raw food diet.


----------------------------------------------------
Victoria Vohn, aka My Granny Geek,
http://mygrannygeek.com , has been researching
potential purchases online since the early days
of the internet. She has owned and operated an
IT company for the past 20 years and has
developed extensive expertise in internet
research. Now she is sharing that research with
you. Visit her website featuring raw food diets
for dogs at http://rawfooddietfordogs.co


EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=268410

>