Feeding Our Dogs Raw #thesearethedays #dogsgoraw

It all started with THIS ~ hundreds of complaints from the last 4 months of people whose pets either got sick or even died as a result of their food….the same brand of food our dogs are on. WERE on, but I’ll get to that.

I do honestly believe it was more than likely a bad batch, but it was enough for me to reconsider what we’ve been feeding our dogs. So, being halfway through our last bag of dog food, I started my research. On a facebook pet group I’m a part of I asked everyone what food they were using. I got some great advice, but was still worried about choosing the right and best store bought food…quality and price. I found that the suggestion that appealed to me the most was going raw – homemade raw. But because it is something pretty foreign to me I’ve been googling my butt off. I was surprised to read just how many foods dogs are able to have and have been having a blast trying them out ~ I’m so excited about this in every nerdy way possible. Plus, since our dogs don’t seem to have any allergies I’m not really limited in what I can offer them. *hooray*

When I’m researching something like this I like to look at multiple sites and make note of the common suggestions. Here are a few of the sites I’ve referenced:

BARF Diet (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food)

The I Love Dogs Site (Foods to avoid)

The Whole Dog Journal 

As a result I have given the dogs meals consisting of any variety of the following:

Venison {Ground or in strips} – Hunting season has turned out to be beneficial for more than just my human children 🙂

Beef Fat 

Bones (they LOVE)

Organs (haven’t yet, but will be in the very near future)

Raw Egg – they each get one a day in their dinner. I’ve read the shell is excellent for them as well, but I haven’t tried it yet.

Sweet Potatoes

Potatoes – a couple of sites said to avoid them, one said to avoid them with their skin on, and a couple of sites said they were good. Having not noticed an issue when they’ve had potatoes before, I decided to offer them every once in a while, without skin.

Carrots

Celery (haven’t tried yet)

Brussel Sprouts

Green Beans

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Spinach (haven’t tried yet)

Strawberries

Blueberries

Pears

Watermelon (no rinds)

Cantaloupe

Apples – They each get a whole apple as a snack in the afternoon. It’s recommended, particularly for smaller dogs, that you cut out the seeds to protect from choking. Since our dogs have eaten bone since we first got them, I was pretty sure an apple seed was not going to be their undoing. 

Kidney Beans

And about two times a week they enjoy their Kong filled with peanut butter. 

{I will also be adding Flax Seed Oil and Cod Liver Oil at some point for their health benefits}

Seriously – can you see why this is so fun?! I love mixing it up every day and seeing them devour it up. Actually, Axel DEVOURS ~ INHALES ~ his dish in about 2 bites, while Malibu daintily nibbles away. It’s really funny to watch. But I am happy that we’ve made this switch and even more happy that I was able to convince the Captain to *try it* for a time. I’m pretty sure he’s sold. 

Within the first week we noticed two improvements: The first (we were told to expect) was smaller poops. Sorry to go there, but really, because their diet is all raw now their bodies absorb most of it. Awesome!!! And secondly, something neither of us anticipated but are thrilled about is the decrease in shedding. HUGE decrease…from a cats amount of hair swept up daily to barely even a skiff after even 3 days (I so wish I had photos to show you). I have read and been told that the raw egg is so good for their fur, but I had no idea it could/would impact their shedding. 

I’m just tickled. #nerdalert