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CANINE HEALTH:
 *nutrition
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Last updated:
December 24, 2008

Interesting Quotes:

"In the last 4-5 years, parvovirus in the US has been the biggest problem for kennels, even in vaccinated dogs."
(Foster-Smith Pet
Catalog, Vol. 03-57)

***

"She was a seven-month-old, gorgeous, taupe-colored devil in dogs clothing. But I loved her."
(Paul Loeb)

***

"The diet of our companion animals is deplorable. So many dogs and cats eat out of bags full of poor ingredients, rancid fats and powerful preservatives."
(Don Hamilton, DVM
from Homeopathic Care for Cats and Dogs)

***

Command; he thee obeys most readily.
Strike him; he whines and falls down at thy feet.
Call him; he leaves his game and comes to thee
With wagging tail,
offering his service meek.

If so thou wilt, a collar he will wear;
And when thou wish to take it off again,
Unto thy feet he crouchest down most fair,
As if thy will were all his good and gain.
(J. Molle)

***

"The more confidence you have in your dog, the more he will believe in you."
(From: Smarter Than You Think, by Paul Loeb)

***

"The housebound dog leads a stressed existence. It cannot express its natural behaviors: stalking, chasing, exploring, investigating."
(From: The Dog's Mind, by Bruce Fogle)

CANINE HEALTH:  Nutrition

"Rudi" says, 'Hmmm, good stuff, Manard."

"BARF" stands for "bones - and - raw - food."  We highly recommend two fascinating and important books written by veterinarian Dr. Ian Billinghurst:  Give Your Dog a Bone and Grow Your Pups on Bones.  Now there is a new book by Billinghurst: The BARF Diet. Here at Courageous Caucasians, we try to follow this philosophy almost exclusively.  Although we do have a good-quality dry dog food on hand (for those days when I'm in a hurry or just plain lazy), pups up to two years of age and pregnant or nursing moms always get raw meat, bones and/or vegetables for their meals.  During the cold months of winter/early spring, our dogs feed on the carcass of an animal that has died - a frail calf, cow that has died in childbirth, etc., a "smorgasbord" of the most natural food of all.

As ranchers say around these parts, "As long as there is a dead animal around, I don't feed my dogs."  Does this seem crude to some of you "city folks"?  Let me tell you there is nothing more natural.  The stomach contents are not just run through a food processor, they are just as a wild dog, coyote or wolf would eat - digested by the prey animal itself.  The exercise of pulling, gnawing and ripping the meat and crunching the bones is great for building and maintaining muscle tone, again, as nature intended.  Never are coats so shiny or teeth so white as when feasting on a downed animal.

In fact, the BARF diet is what dogs have eaten for several hundred thousand years!

How old to start a puppy on the BARF diet? Our pups are weaned on chicken wings and necks. At 3-1/2 weeks old, the puppies get to gnaw on and fight over them. They also get raw lamburger or hamburger mixed in with shredded raw veggies or fruits, various natural supplements (cod liver oil, kelp, brewers yeast, etc., etc.) moistened with raw milk. Their mom, still nursing her puppies, eats the left-overs.

'Do I really have to share my raw chicken dinner with all these cats?!!'

Since the 1930's the health of the dog in the western world has gradually declined. This decline in health, particularly the skeletal health of pups and the reproductive health of their parents, has paralleled marked changes in two vital aspects of canine management: Firstly, our dogs have suffered an unprecedented change in their eating habits with the introduction of commercial dog food. Secondly, there has been a gradual change in the sort of exercise our dogs have been allowed. Our dogs' exercise which used to consist of free running over large areas, play and eating exercise, has gradually changed to forced and inappropriate exercise together with a complete lack of eating exercise. This quote is from Dr. Ian Billinghurst from his book Grow Your Pups On Bones.

Commercial dog food cannot even begin to duplicate the dog's natural diet, and should never be regarded as complete and adequate.

Reasons: Commercial dog food is...

•  Based on grain and low-quality ingredients,

•  Low in digestibility and nutritional value,

•  Cooked with extremely harsh methods which destroys vitamins, enzymes and anti-oxidants and changes nutrients into unusable forms,

•  Contains chemical preservatives, rancid and/or damaged fats and other toxins,

•  Contains excessive amounts of calcium, protein, salt, fat and calories,

•  Deficient in essential fatty acids,

•  Does not allow for the eating exercise which is important for maintaining the skeletal and muscular systems, in short, a whole-body exercise.

Regarding cooked food, Billinghurst concludes, "When food is cooked, it retains sufficient nutrients to keep your dog alive with no obvious immediate problems. It does not, however, allow your dog to have a long, healthy, trouble-free life. Cooked or commercial dog food is responsible for much ill health including cancer, kidney disease, heart disease, arthritis, pancreatic disease, etc. In short, dogs fed on cooked foods live shorter, less healthy, more miserable lives."

Bon Appetite

NEVER, NEVER feed your dog COOKED bones!!! Cooked bones are extremely dangerous. Cooked bones are the ones that are most likely to be caught in the mouth, to pierce the intestines, to set like concrete in the large bowel. Cooked bones can be potentially fatal to dogs. Raw bones, on the other hand, are digested and contain the essential minerals in natural form.

An added BONUS: Your dogs will have the cleanest, whitest teeth without brushing! I used to think -- "Yeah, right. How can bones clean teeth?" But proof is in the pudding. One day my husband Jim told me, "You know, I never really thought about it before, but Czara's teeth look as pearly white as a puppy's." And she's eight years old and has never had her teeth brushed. Now, when we do feed dry dog food, I notice my dogs' teeth getting a bit dingy looking. Not to worry. Just switch back to BARF, and after a few days of eating raw meaty bones, they're clean again.

The cleanest, whitest teeth you will ever see is on a dog fed BARF

How often to feed? Billinghurst mentions that dogs fed on a raw, natural diet often do not crave food the way the commercially fed dogs do, are more satisfied with their meals and do not require their food to arrive as frequently. An increasing number of dog owners whose dogs are started on whole raw foods find that they only need to feed their dogs every second or third day. And these dogs are magnificently healthy and happy.

A regular fast of one to two days duration every couple weeks will help keep your dog a lean, mean machine. For pups, limit the fast to skipping a meal or fasting for a 12 hour period, every one or two weeks. (Fasting is good for people, too.)

The only exercise allowed for a puppy is play exercise.

Billinghurst's Ten Secrets of Successful Puppy Rearing:

• First Secret:  Heaps of raw meaty bones -- 60-80% of total food intake

• Second Secret:  Grow your pup slowly, lean and slightly hungry, not at maximum growth rate.

• Third Secret:  Feed your pup a wide variety of natural foods.

• Fourth Secret:  Feed your pup mostly raw foods.

• Fifth Secret:  Feed your pup foods suitable for growth, high in good-quality protein, fats, vitamins and minerals.

• Sixth Secret:  Do not base the diet of your pup on raw steak, commercial dog food and calcium supplements.

• Seventh Secret:  The only exercise allowed is play (and eating exercise).

• Eight Secret:  Have your pup spend most of his day outside in the fresh air on clean earth and grass, in the sun, with ample fresh water available.

• Ninth Secret:  Diet balanced over time, not by providing balance in every meal.

• Tenth Secret:  Is a puppy raised with love, resulting in a strong immune system, a puppy that is "watched," and fed according to his weight, condition and general health.

I don't want mine -- I want his!

This page may indeed raise questions in the minds of those who truly want the best for their beloved dogs. Please do beg, borrow, steal or buy one (or all) of Billinghurst's books mentioned above for the answers to all your questions on BARF !!

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