Dog Food Conspiracy

Posts Tagged ‘Wild Dogs’

Most people don’t stop to think about the food they are giving their dog. The colourful packs on the laden supermarket shelves are normally as far as people give dog food a thought. You may be one of them, but are now branching out and looking for something a bit healthier.

Believe me, the packs can look tempting and with smiling veterinarians and dog breeders on the cover, you’re not that hard to convince.

But stop for a moment and consider a wild dog’s diet. Dogs are naturally pack animals and so they hunt in packs. They can bring down a large animal, as large as a cow, with their combined efforts. Then they all gather round, with much growling and snarling and consume most of the carcass, bones and all. Probably the only parts left is the hide and hooves.

Whether or not you can accept this idea, that’s how dogs evolved. And the wild dogs still manage very well. This is the most healthy dog food. There is nothing that can beat it.

Man, with his puny pseudo scientific ideas of improving on the natural diet of dogs is going down a dead end. You can’t.

Period.

There is only one type of healthy dog food. And that is the one which so closely resembles a wild dog’s diet, as to be virtually the same as far as health benefits are concerned.

Lets look at some of the differences between a wild dog’s diet and commercial dog food, a diet most dogs exist on (I won’t say live, as it’’s hardly a life).

A wild diet, a healthy dog food, consists of:
raw food
lots of raw bones
internal organs are consumed, but these are scarce compared with the muscle meat
carbohydrates which are limited to the stomach contents, so is small in the overall content

A typical commercial dog food consists of:
cooked food (many vitamins, enzymes and other nutrients are destroyed by cooking)
the meat is of poor (often extremely poor) quality (humans get the good stuff)
carbohydrates, in particular sugar, are a major part of the food – it’s cheap and bulks out the ‘meat’
the food is fortified with strong preservatives (not allowed in human food for their dangerous impact on health) – DESPITE WHAT THE LABEL SAYS
to try to redress the nutritional imbalance, isolated and synthetic nutrients are added – nutrients which can’t be properly absorbed and utilised when they are in isolation, or if they are synthetic

So in your search for a healthy dog food, keep firmly in mind the diet of a wild dog. It’s OK to take your time to get used to the idea. If you find the idea repulsive, just go slowly. Try to replace one thing at a time. Just keep in mind that dogs have evolved over millions of years, on this diet. Humans have only been producing (poor quality) commercial dog food for a few decades.

If you don’t like the idea of raw meat for your dog, that’s your issue, not his.

I also suggest that you keep in mind the concept that most people are lured by price. With the best will in the world, if a commercial pet food manufacturer suddenly started to produce quality pet food, because it would be more expensive, do you think it would be a sell-out?

That would only be possible if people had already started to reject the current commercial dog food and were now looking for a healthy dog food, so were prepared to pay a little more.

However, if you make your own dog food, you won’t need to find the extra cash. Not only is a homemade, healthy dog food economical to produce, it has an enormous impact on the health of your dog, often beyond your wildest dreams

Most people don’t stop to think about the food they are giving their dog. The colourful packs on the laden supermarket shelves are normally as far as people give dog food a thought. You may be one of them, but are now branching out and looking for something a bit healthier.

Believe me, the packs can look tempting and with smiling veterinarians and dog breeders on the cover, you’re not that hard to convince.

But stop for a moment and consider a wild dog’s diet. Dogs are naturally pack animals and so they hunt in packs. They can bring down a large animal, as large as a cow, with their combined efforts. Then they all gather round, with much growling and snarling and consume most of the carcass, bones and all. Probably the only parts left is the hide and hooves.

Whether or not you can accept this idea, that’s how dogs evolved. And the wild dogs still manage very well. This is the most healthy dog food. There is nothing that can beat it.

Man, with his puny pseudo scientific ideas of improving on the natural diet of dogs is going down a dead end. You can’t.

Period.

There is only one type of healthy dog food. And that is the one which so closely resembles a wild dog’s diet, as to be virtually the same as far as health benefits are concerned.

Lets look at some of the differences between a wild dog’s diet and commercial dog food, a diet most dogs exist on (I won’t say live, as it’’s hardly a life).

A wild diet, a healthy dog food, consists of:
raw food
lots of raw bones
internal organs are consumed, but these are scarce compared with the muscle meat
carbohydrates which are limited to the stomach contents, so is small in the overall content

A typical commercial dog food consists of:
cooked food (many vitamins, enzymes and other nutrients are destroyed by cooking)
the meat is of poor (often extremely poor) quality (humans get the good stuff)
carbohydrates, in particular sugar, are a major part of the food – it’s cheap and bulks out the ‘meat’
the food is fortified with strong preservatives (not allowed in human food for their dangerous impact on health) – DESPITE WHAT THE LABEL SAYS
to try to redress the nutritional imbalance, isolated and synthetic nutrients are added – nutrients which can’t be properly absorbed and utilised when they are in isolation, or if they are synthetic

So in your search for a healthy dog food, keep firmly in mind the diet of a wild dog. It’s OK to take your time to get used to the idea. If you find the idea repulsive, just go slowly. Try to replace one thing at a time. Just keep in mind that dogs have evolved over millions of years, on this diet. Humans have only been producing (poor quality) commercial dog food for a few decades.

If you don’t like the idea of raw meat for your dog, that’s your issue, not his.

I also suggest that you keep in mind the concept that most people are lured by price. With the best will in the world, if a commercial pet food manufacturer suddenly started to produce quality pet food, because it would be more expensive, do you think it would be a sell-out?

That would only be possible if people had already started to reject the current commercial dog food and were now looking for a healthy dog food, so were prepared to pay a little more.

However, if you make your own dog food, you won’t need to find the extra cash. Not only is a homemade, healthy dog food economical to produce, it has an enormous impact on the health of your dog, often beyond your wildest dreams

Article Source: http://www.articlewarehouse.com

Madeleine Innocent is a practicing homeopath, a specialised modality of natural health care. She treats both people and animals in her busy West Australian practice. Madeleine loves to spread the good work of homeopathy and other areas of natural health care and writes extensively on the subject. For a complimentary ebook on how to have a healthy dog, starting today, visit naturallyhealthydogs.com or www.bestdoghealth.blogspot.com

There is much to recommend feeding your dog homemade dog food if you have the time to prepare it, and make sure you have recipes that give the correct ratio of nutrients, as well as the vitamins and supplements you’ll need to add. These can be mixed up in a bag, stored, and sprinkled in every meal.

Dogs should have a minimum of 18% protein for maintenance when they are adults, and 22% for reproduction and growth. Fat should be a minimum of 5% for adult dogs, and 8% for reproduction and growth. But the more fat that is in the diet, the more protein there should be. Fat makes dogs, as well as people, eat less by making them feel fuller. If they eat less, and there are less of other essential nutrients like protein and vitamins and minerals, the dog will not get the nourishment it needs.

Generally, commercial pet food is made according to the appropriate guidelines, but care should be taken if significant amounts of other food is added to the diet, and it is high in fat.

But whether you’re feeding your dog commercial dog food, or home made dog food, there are a few things to keep in mind so you don’t end up with a fussy dog:

* dogs should be fed once a day once they are no longer puppies, or two small meals, no more. Feeding your dog too frequently when he is older can turn him appear like a fussy eater, when he is actually full.

* feeding your dog too regularly can get him into the routine of expecting to eat at those times, too, and may lead to weight gain. Letting him get hungry, and feeding sensibly, will not harm him. In the wild, dogs would eat for once a day until they were completely full.

* Don’t stand and stare at your dog waiting for him to eat. He will likely think something is wrong, or something else is coming, and won’t eat.

* Don’t give into your dog and give him something else straight away if he refuses his meal, as he’s effectively training you and not the other way around!

* There’s nothing wrong with feeding your dog a varied diet, but don’t keep changing the food because he seems fussy and won’t eat it. Make sure nothing is wrong with him physically first, then if he is healthy, take charge of the situation. Put his food down, leave him to it, and then 30 minutes later go and check to see whether it’s been eaten. If it hasn’t, take it away, then at the end of the day put down some fresh food. Repeat the process, and take it away 30 minutes later if it still isn’t eaten. This way you’ll train your dog to eat his food, and not reinforce his behaviour.

Brian Kilcommons has a very interesting method for teaching dogs to eat their food. When the above fails, he prepared the dog food in front of the dog, making lots of ‘yummy’ noises whilst he did it. He made it slowly, and when the dog still wasn’t interested, he put it down in front of his face, then took it straight away and threw it out. He did this first at breakfast, then at dinner. At dinner, the dog in question was more interested, but he still threw it out after putting it in front of him. The next morning, the dog was jumping up and down whilst the food was being prepared. He put it down, pulled it away, then looked at him for about a minute, then left it for him to eat. That dog now eats anything put down for him.

* If your dog suddenly goes off his food, it could be because he has dental problems, or a stomach problem. Get him checked out by the vet.

* Some dogs do actually prefer a certain type of food, just as people do. Try your dog with a variety of foods, and if he only eats one type, and will starve himself if he doesn’t get it, the best solution can simply be to feed him that type of food.

* Don’t feed your dog a high fat diet, or junk food, including chocolate. It’s not good for them.

References: Brian Kilcommons, Good Owners, Great Dogs

Article Source: http://www.hobbyarticledirectory.com

For more information on feeding your dog a natural dog food diet, see this article. For information on commercial v’s non commercial dog food that might shock you, see this article.