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| Meadowlawn Australian Shepherds |
| **Proudly Raw Fed & Minimally Vaccinated** |
| Contact: Kim & Sarah Patterson Cologne, MN, USA H: (952)467-2765 C: (612)554-2291 |
Raw Diet
The old saying goes, "you are what you eat." And when it comes to
canines, it only makes sense to feed what nature intended for them: Raw
Meat, Organs & Bones!
I first began feeding my dogs raw in July of 2004, but my introduction to
the idea of raw feeding came well before that. I had heard of a few people
who were feeding raw and initially I didn't think much of it. Quite honestly, I
thought they were crazy and were a little "out there." But, as it has gone with
the majority of people who now feed raw, as time went on, I became more and
more interested in the background of raw feeding and starting seeking as
much information as I could. At the same time, a bunch of my dog show
friends transitioned their dogs to raw and I was seeing first hand how amazing
this diet was. I was eager to throw the bag of "dog food" in the trash and
introduce my crew to the wonderful world of Raw food!
But before I begin telling you the wonderful tales of raw feeding, let's
discuss commercial foods. Reiterating the fact that canines are carnivores,
there is no justification to feeding them overly processed, cooked, commercial
food. First of all, the anatomy of a dog only proves that they are designed to
eat large pieces of raw meat. Their mouth is lined with 42 large, sharp teeth
(yes, even their molars are sharp, much like our incisors) to enable them to
tear & rip their prey apart. Their stomach is filled with much stronger acids
than a human to handle any bad bacteria that enters their system. And their
digestive tract is short (up to a third shorter than a human) to speed the
digesting process. Raw food is full of vitamins, enzymes & minerals and
cooking the meat (as it is in commercial foods) destroys many of these vital
nutrients. And even though the ingredients on a bag of dog food list various
vitamins, it's only a fraction of what is found in fresh raw food. Commercial
food, even the higher end brands, are filled with carbohydrates such as
potatoes, oatmeal, grains and corn (to name a few). Canines have a very hard
time breaking down complex carbohydrates, so much so that a canine on
commercial food takes roughly 14 hours to digest their meal versus a canine
on raw who takes generally 6-7 hours. Carnivores have no use for grains and
as a result, their stools are large & smelly and most often are fatter than they
should be. Because a dog on commercial food is essentially eating "cereal" day
in, day out, their teeth more often than not become full of tarter and their
breath is rancid. In short, commercial food is the complete opposite of what a
canine is designed to thrive on. Besides, would you want to eat the same
boring, processed food every single day of your life? I sure wouldn't!
So, what's this raw diet all about? It's quite simple. Our dogs are fed
anything & everything raw. This includes, but is not limited to, Chicken,
Turkey, Lamb, Beef, Pork, Bison, Venison, Rabbit, Elk & Beaver. In following
the Prey Model style of feeding raw, our dogs primarily eat Raw Meaty Bones
(RMB's) which are large pieces of meat/bone. For instance, a Chicken Leg
Quarter, Pork Ribs or a Lamb shank is considered RMB's. For some of the
more hard to find types of meats (like Beaver & Elk), they're fed ground. But
again, their mouth is designed to rip & tear large pieces of meat, so for oral
health, RMB's are ideal. Bone is an essential part of the raw diet, therefore
even when we feed ground, the bone is also included. An additional must with
the raw diet is feeding organ meats. Our dogs eat mostly beef liver, heart or
kidney for the organ portion of the diet. Because our dogs eat a wide variety
of meat sources, we minimally supplement. A must have is salmon oil as it is
rich in Omega 3's, something a dog cannot produce on it's own. This is vital
for optimal skin & coat health. In addition, we also give 200 IU's of Vitamin E
as it aids in the proper absorbtion of the Omega 3's. And that's all there is to
it!
Aside from the many health benefits of feeding raw, there are few neat
perks that I still find amazing to this day. First & foremost, their stools! I
never thought I'd get this excited over such a topic as stools, but it's really
rather amazing! The volume of their stool is minute, it's hard & will crumble
like sand, and it's virtually odorless. It turns white in a day or two and
completely disintegrates. I have not cleaned up poop in three and a half years
and we have *no* poop in our yard. In addition, our dogs teeth are
emaculate. Even our old boy, who was kibble fed for the first 6 years of his life
and had the absolute worst teeth, has shiny, tarter free teeth! At the most, I
scale of our dogs canines every once in a while because I admit, they do enjoy
training treats on a regular basis and it does build up over time. <wink> Also,
our dogs coats are gorgeous and healthy. When I fed kibble, it seemed that
every time a dog would come into full coat, they'd loose it in a matter of
weeks. They never could hold a full coat until I switched to raw. Now, they are
"naked" only a fraction of the time, rather than the majority. And we all know
a nice, thick coat helps in the show ring!
The Minneapolis/St. Paul area is blessed with several sources of buying raw
food for your dogs in bulk and at reasonable rates. And as this diet is
becoming more popular, it is becoming more easy to find co-ops and butchers
who supply raw meat for dogs. We get meat as low as .49 cents a pound! Of
course, the more "rare" types of meat can get more expensive, but generally
speaking, feeding raw is much cheaper than feeding a higher end kibble (and
it's better for your dogs, to boot!). The one initial investment when
transitioning to raw is purchasing a large freezer. Once it is all set to go,
though, you can go hog wild finding meat at super low prices & stock up.
If you are intrigued by the raw diet, don't stop here. There are many
informative website's out there to help you further your knowledge and lead
you in the right path of feeding raw! Here are a few that I reccomend:
http://www.daybreakaussies.com/natural_rearing.htm
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/
http://www.b-naturals.com
http://www.rawdogranch.com
canines, it only makes sense to feed what nature intended for them: Raw
Meat, Organs & Bones!
I first began feeding my dogs raw in July of 2004, but my introduction to
the idea of raw feeding came well before that. I had heard of a few people
who were feeding raw and initially I didn't think much of it. Quite honestly, I
thought they were crazy and were a little "out there." But, as it has gone with
the majority of people who now feed raw, as time went on, I became more and
more interested in the background of raw feeding and starting seeking as
much information as I could. At the same time, a bunch of my dog show
friends transitioned their dogs to raw and I was seeing first hand how amazing
this diet was. I was eager to throw the bag of "dog food" in the trash and
introduce my crew to the wonderful world of Raw food!
But before I begin telling you the wonderful tales of raw feeding, let's
discuss commercial foods. Reiterating the fact that canines are carnivores,
there is no justification to feeding them overly processed, cooked, commercial
food. First of all, the anatomy of a dog only proves that they are designed to
eat large pieces of raw meat. Their mouth is lined with 42 large, sharp teeth
(yes, even their molars are sharp, much like our incisors) to enable them to
tear & rip their prey apart. Their stomach is filled with much stronger acids
than a human to handle any bad bacteria that enters their system. And their
digestive tract is short (up to a third shorter than a human) to speed the
digesting process. Raw food is full of vitamins, enzymes & minerals and
cooking the meat (as it is in commercial foods) destroys many of these vital
nutrients. And even though the ingredients on a bag of dog food list various
vitamins, it's only a fraction of what is found in fresh raw food. Commercial
food, even the higher end brands, are filled with carbohydrates such as
potatoes, oatmeal, grains and corn (to name a few). Canines have a very hard
time breaking down complex carbohydrates, so much so that a canine on
commercial food takes roughly 14 hours to digest their meal versus a canine
on raw who takes generally 6-7 hours. Carnivores have no use for grains and
as a result, their stools are large & smelly and most often are fatter than they
should be. Because a dog on commercial food is essentially eating "cereal" day
in, day out, their teeth more often than not become full of tarter and their
breath is rancid. In short, commercial food is the complete opposite of what a
canine is designed to thrive on. Besides, would you want to eat the same
boring, processed food every single day of your life? I sure wouldn't!
So, what's this raw diet all about? It's quite simple. Our dogs are fed
anything & everything raw. This includes, but is not limited to, Chicken,
Turkey, Lamb, Beef, Pork, Bison, Venison, Rabbit, Elk & Beaver. In following
the Prey Model style of feeding raw, our dogs primarily eat Raw Meaty Bones
(RMB's) which are large pieces of meat/bone. For instance, a Chicken Leg
Quarter, Pork Ribs or a Lamb shank is considered RMB's. For some of the
more hard to find types of meats (like Beaver & Elk), they're fed ground. But
again, their mouth is designed to rip & tear large pieces of meat, so for oral
health, RMB's are ideal. Bone is an essential part of the raw diet, therefore
even when we feed ground, the bone is also included. An additional must with
the raw diet is feeding organ meats. Our dogs eat mostly beef liver, heart or
kidney for the organ portion of the diet. Because our dogs eat a wide variety
of meat sources, we minimally supplement. A must have is salmon oil as it is
rich in Omega 3's, something a dog cannot produce on it's own. This is vital
for optimal skin & coat health. In addition, we also give 200 IU's of Vitamin E
as it aids in the proper absorbtion of the Omega 3's. And that's all there is to
it!
Aside from the many health benefits of feeding raw, there are few neat
perks that I still find amazing to this day. First & foremost, their stools! I
never thought I'd get this excited over such a topic as stools, but it's really
rather amazing! The volume of their stool is minute, it's hard & will crumble
like sand, and it's virtually odorless. It turns white in a day or two and
completely disintegrates. I have not cleaned up poop in three and a half years
and we have *no* poop in our yard. In addition, our dogs teeth are
emaculate. Even our old boy, who was kibble fed for the first 6 years of his life
and had the absolute worst teeth, has shiny, tarter free teeth! At the most, I
scale of our dogs canines every once in a while because I admit, they do enjoy
training treats on a regular basis and it does build up over time. <wink> Also,
our dogs coats are gorgeous and healthy. When I fed kibble, it seemed that
every time a dog would come into full coat, they'd loose it in a matter of
weeks. They never could hold a full coat until I switched to raw. Now, they are
"naked" only a fraction of the time, rather than the majority. And we all know
a nice, thick coat helps in the show ring!
The Minneapolis/St. Paul area is blessed with several sources of buying raw
food for your dogs in bulk and at reasonable rates. And as this diet is
becoming more popular, it is becoming more easy to find co-ops and butchers
who supply raw meat for dogs. We get meat as low as .49 cents a pound! Of
course, the more "rare" types of meat can get more expensive, but generally
speaking, feeding raw is much cheaper than feeding a higher end kibble (and
it's better for your dogs, to boot!). The one initial investment when
transitioning to raw is purchasing a large freezer. Once it is all set to go,
though, you can go hog wild finding meat at super low prices & stock up.
If you are intrigued by the raw diet, don't stop here. There are many
informative website's out there to help you further your knowledge and lead
you in the right path of feeding raw! Here are a few that I reccomend:
http://www.daybreakaussies.com/natural_rearing.htm
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/
http://www.b-naturals.com
http://www.rawdogranch.com
| Dishes all filled up & ready to be fed to the crew! |