Dog Food
by Susan Scott
herbalist, homeopath, reiki, bowen therapist
Holistic Animal Therapist Association of Australia No. 0007
In the wild, dogs were scavengers not pretadors. They mainly ate partly decomposed
herbivorous animals, the stomach contents and also droppings of which would provide
most of their requirements for grasses, vegetables and herbs. As they lived in packs
the top dog and breeding bitches would have first pick and what was left would be
shared between the old members of the pack and the young pups, this would be
mainly bones, a very important ingredient in their diet, as bones contain the calcium so
necessary in young healthy animals and then in old age. Also bones develop good
dentition a very important factor for a healthy dog. They would also scavenge for
themselves, grasses, fruit fallen from the trees and semi-decomposed, anything of an
edible nature, consequently their love of garbage bins! The most important factor
about this natural diet was that everything was RAW! Nobody cooked their food for
them or gave them a tin opener.
All of this food was very high in natural enzymes. The dog has an under-active
pancreas, the organ in the body that produces enzymes in the gastro-intestinal tract.
The moment the food is cooked all the enzymes are destroyed, and the dog is unable
to produce the necessary enzymes to break down a cooked diet. The food stays in the
gastro-intestinal tract too long, it putrefies, and causes enormous amount of toxins to
build up in the system. This is the major cause of all the modern day diseases that our
canine friends have including eczema, arthritis, diabetes, pancreatitis, kidney disease,
heart disease, cancer ect. In fact, the same diseases found in modern man. Once
preservatives are added to this process, it becomes virtually imposible for dog to
digest.
So to return your dog to the type of health that nature intended or to allow him to grow
up fit and healthy, the following guidelines will work wonders:
1. Your dog must not under any circumstances receive any more processed food.
That is no more canned, dry semi-moist food prepared fod dogs. NO MORE EVER (and
no cat food either). No food must be fed that has the following substances in it. Added
salt, sugar, preservatives, colourings, and flavourings. In fact, you must not feed to
your dog food to which any foreign chemical substances have been added.
2. It is recommended that you do not feed any grains to your dog. All grains have a
natural enzyme inhibiting coating (to prevent them from sprouting the moment they
touch the ground). They also need to be cooked, which makes it virtually impossible for
a dog to digest. Even rolled grains without any further cooking have virtually been
cooked in the rolling process. Grains are very heating, and the only time a dog would
have eaten grains in the wild would have been when they had passed through another
animal's digestive tract, and then only in the late autumn or winter.
3. All food fed to your dog must be fresh, whole and RAW. Basicly that means fresh
row meat and vegetables and fruit. The most important word here is RAW. The only
exeption to this rule is that any sheep's liver fed to your dog must be cooked. The
sheep carries the hydatid tapeworm, which can be carried on to dog's and thence
humans. Consequently this must be cooked. (Chicken livers and calf's liver can be fed
RAW.)
4. The type of meats that can be fed to your dog are as follows:
a) Chicken fed whole and row so long as your dog has enough teeth to deal
with the bones. (Note: in my experience with many thousands of dogs over a twenty-
year period the only chicken bones that have caused problems were cooked).
b) Mutton - if your dog is lean and has plenty of exercise then areas like the
breast and necks can be given, but if your dog is ovrweight then less fatty cuts would
be prefelable ie. shank.
c) Rabbit - fed whole and RAW.
d) Fish - boneless types of fish can be fed row, if there is a risk of small bones
the fish should be lightly steamed and the bones removed, then mixed with plenty of
row food.
e) Offal such as hearts, tripe, kidneys, chicken or calf's liver can be all fed RAW.
Sheep's liver (lamb's fry) must be cooked. Boil, and use stock to mix with vegetables.
Add small amount of liver.
f) It is not recommended to feed to much beef as this can be taxing on the
kidneys. Kangaroo meat and beef (buffalo) from the pet shop has 3 times the amount
of preservatives added than any meat bought in the butchers shop. It is therefore not
recommended.
g) Always feed your dog meat with bones left in it, and do not feed bones that
have had all the meat removed. The only time I have experienced dogs with bones
stuck in their throats was after eating butcher's bones from which all the meat has
been removed.
5. You may feed your dog ANY type of fruit and vegetables (in fact the greater the
variety the better) with the following exeptions. No citrus fruit, no onion and no
vegetables from the deadly nightshade group, that is no potato, tomato, capsicum or
egg-plant, this is especially important if your dog has arthritis or eczema. Fruit and
vegetables must eventually constitute 50% of the diet. They must be very finely
grated, i.e. pulped up in a food processor, or the pulp from the juicer is a deal. You
drink the juice and feed your dog the pulp! We are trying to recreate the type of
consistency found in the stomach contents of an harbivorous animal.
Apple, carrot, celery, beetroot and parsley is a good mixture to start with, broccoli,
cauliflower, zucchini, pumpkin, sweet potato can all be used. Fruits such as pears, paw-
paw, (including about 1/2 teaspoon of the seed which has the highest content of
natural enzyme of any vegetable), and virtually any other fruit or vegetable that your
dog fancies. Exept the "windy" vegetables like cabbage, peas and beans, especially if
he has been on a cooked diet. Garlic and any other fresh herbs that you have available
would be an excellent addition.
6. It is not recommended that you feed your dog too many dairy products especially
the processed variety. Cottage cheese or ricotta can provide variety to his diet. You
may feed the occasional egg (1/2 a day) if he does not have cholesterol or heart
disease. Acidophilus yoghurt is an excellent ingriedient as the acidophilus is one of the
major bacteria in the stomach and is easy to digest. However, it should be fat-free.
Jalna Skim Milk (Green label) is an excellent variety.
7. The following additives should be given daily: kelp powder, garlic, Brewers yeast,
add Cod Liver or Flaxseed oil, Psyllium hulls, Nettle tea, Apple Cider vinegar, and
Slippery Elm powder. All of these items, if not available in the supermarket, are
available from health food shops. A small dog (i.e. Toys or Terriers) should be given a
1/2 teaspoon of each of the additives daily. A medium sized dog (i.e. Kelpie) - 1
teaspoon on food daily, and larger breeds 1-2 teaspoons daily.
If your dog has been on a cooked diet, then he should be introduced to raw food
gradually. Start by lightly steaming boneless chicken and combining with the vegetable
pulp, yoghurt and slippery elm powder. Gradually decrease cooking time until
eventually just pour boilimg water over the raw meat. The highest concentration of
bacteria is on the surface of the meat and by this method you are producing a diet
very low in bacteria but very high in nutrition. This will cleanse the dog's digestive
system without causing any further toxic build-up. This process should be spread over
a 2-3 weeks. After this time, start to feed the dog raw meat, preferebly chicken necks
that have had all the fat and skin removed. The ideal is to feed him the yoghurt and
vegetable with some of the additives mixed into it first. Wait about 10 minutes, and
then let him have his piece of meat on the bone. With this procedure, his digestive
juices will be activated with the enzyme-rich pulped fruit and vegetables, and by the
time he gets the raw meat his digestive processes will be functioning and he will not
have any problems digesting his food. Food that is well digested does not cause any
toxicity and this is the first step to good health for your dog.
