clrturquoise *.*: raw

[Warning: This post is not for the squeamish!]

So my latest venture into the world of the non-traditional (that is actually most traditional!) is something called raw feeding. I was somewhat primed for this by the last book I read (Omnivore's Dilemma) and its talk of species-appropriate diets (although it was referring to cows & chickens!). I had read or maybe just heard about the concept prior to that but between Shadow's almost incessant licking lately and the aforementioned book, I thought I'd do some investigation. Turns out to be quite a....robust topic of conversation online with several camps (of course) as to the *real* proper diet for dogs, ranging from the "food science" of kibble to the "prey model" (basically, feeding dogs diets similar to those of their closest wild relative, the gray wolf. Thankfully this does NOT involve having the dog actually kill the prey.)

The realization that Shadow's previous diet was the most processed food in my house, with an ingredient list to match (Chicken By-Product Meal (natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Chicken, Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Fish Meal, Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Beta-Carotene, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid], Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Fructooligosaccharides, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Choline Chloride, Flax Meal, Minerals [Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate], Dried Chicken Cartilage (natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), DL-Methionine, Marigold, L-Carnitine, Rosemary Extract), helped solidify my decision. So I've started her off on whole chickens (by feeding the whole bird, you ensure the right dietary mix of meat, bone & organ meat) and plan to start working in fish 1x/wk and other meats. Thankfully Costco sells organic chickens for about $1/lb so it doesn't make that big of an impact on my diet...or my conscience...although eventually I'd like to get a deep freeze to be able to get more "ethical" meat by buying in bulk.

Here's a clip of her chowing down. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she confines herself to the towel and is for the most part, very clean about it. It's only been about a week but already I've noticed that her teeth are sparkling, she no longer has "doggie" breath, AND she's stopped licking herself (which makes me feel horrible since in all likelihood she's been allergic to something in the kibble all along).