The Real Dangers of Raw Pet Food

Sure I hear concerns all the time about salmonella, bones, unbalanced meals and any other number of concerns about raw feeding but I'm here to tell you that those are not the real risks. Oh no, the real challenges occur during the most innocent seeming of tasks; preparing vegetables.

Allow me to paint you a picture:

Three dogs, 35, 75 and 90lbs respectively and 3 cats are all patiently, well impatiently for the cats, waiting for dinner to be prepared and served. I have weighed out the meaty portion of the dogs diet and added the appropriate supplements for each pup, I now simply have to add the vegetables. I had thawed them earlier, a lovely mix of lettuce, zucchini, broccoli, kale, bananas etc all pureed to a fine pulp, 6 cups in all, ready to dish out. As I reach with the spoon to begin adding to the first doggy dish, Bonze (all 12 impatient feline pounds) jumps up to the serving area startling me and causing the spoon to push the veggie container off the edge of the counter.

Begin slow motion video capture now:

The container falls, open end up, hits the tile floor wherein 6 cups of pureed vegetables and fruit go flying into the air all over the room. The floor is coated, the wall is smeared, even the ceiling is now spackled with veggies. The cats have vegetables in their fur only the dogs were spared due to their patient waiting outside the room. Myself, I am coated, having been the closest victim aside from Bonze. There is puree in my hair, all down my side, all over my face and across my glasses and somehow even in my eyes. I tell you, veggies bits in your eyes are painful, especially three hours later when they still aren't gone! At this point the cats have fled and the dogs break and come flying into the room to check out the commotion, now veggies are being tracked everywhere! It was quite the debacle.

Sigh.

So there you have it, the true, previously hushed dangers of raw feeding.

NB - while this episode seems truly frightening and horrifying the animals are now recovered and both paws and fur are veggie free once more. we now take extra precautions to prevent future recurrences of such horrors.

Ode to Tripe

Hello cow tripe my old friend,

I've trouble sourcing you again,

Because the government tells me

You are related to BSE

And the truth is that you are not a brain

Or spinal cord, but a ruminant's stomach.

O stinky dog delicacy

Enzymes and probiotics naturally

I've so many hungry dogs to feed,

Some who will not eat anything

And you are such a perfect food for them

From a cow, or sheep or buffalo

Pawsitively Healthy would like to thank Simon and Garfunkel for accompanying us in our search for a regular supply of fresh green tripe.

Bad To The Bone

My dogs might be bad to the bone but they're usually quite good for bones. At least until someone steals a second bone and then someone else is left without and then, well, you get the idea. Bones are a great way to keep your dogs entertained, out of trouble and burn off extra energy that they might have. That being said there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Do NOT, under any circumstances, feed your dog cooked bones. They have a much higher rate of splintering and causing severe problems.

2. Chicken necks are great for smaller dogs and cats but larger dogs may swallow them whole. Not necessarily a bad thing but it also renders the whole chewing goal useless.

3. If this is your first time giving your dog a bone, take it slow as there are two potential problems. Firstly, bone guarding, if your dog REALLY likes it he may become very possessive towards people over the bone. If this is the case he needs some work on his behavior before he can safely have bones. Problem number two is just a matter of tummy training, marrow is very rich and can cause diarrhea if your dog is not used to it. The first few times you give your dog a bone make it 15-20mins tops and then you can add 5mins at a time until your dog's digestive tract can safely handle the bone without you having to worry about the back end. Some dogs are simply not able to tolerate bones in their diet, if you are unsure due to a pre-existing health condition in your dog, contact your vet to be sure.

4. A word on bone chewing locations - my favorite places are outside or in a crate with a washable blanket or bed. You can also train your dog to always chew on a specific bed or blanket or if you have a bare floor that you are comfortable washing after bone chewing that can work as well. The floor here in the store is concrete, we chew a lot of bones at work.

Crossover training

Sounds like some cool thing you might train your dog for, like, "Hey, my dog does crossover!" Sadly, it’s a state that many dogs and owners (and even trainers) find themselves in as they discover the wonders of positive reinforcement training. For those of us who started our lives and dogs with coercion based techniques, ie choke chains, leash pops, forcing the dog into a sit or down position etc, trying to figure out how to get an unruly or over excited dog to do anything nicely using rewards is, frankly, counter-intuitive.

Working with Caramel has helped me immensely as I used as little of my previous (coercion-based) knowledge as possible and now have a very clicker-savvy dog who is an active participant in training every day. She helps to remind me that Indy really needs a lot more patience and love while he figures out this new way of life. His typical response to the appearance of the clicker is "sit" then "sit harder" followed by "lie down" finished with demand barking because I still haven't given him that darned click. He knows sitting is good and down is good but other things have gotten him in trouble in the past so he's wary to try anything new. I have good news though, he's starting to figure out the target stick and he did learn to bark on cue so I remain hopeful that with a few more created behaviors he will truly begin to participate in the learning process.

Have a crossover dog? Experiences as a crossover owner or trainer? We'd love to hear your stories and how you have overcome some of the challenges you faced.

Gardening for dogs

May Long Weekend is past, our snow from said long weekend is now gone as well. This made me think of all the gardeners out there itching to get some plants growing for the fall harvest. For those who planted already hope the ones you put in before the snow are all okay.

For those of you who love to grow but run out of people to feed, don't forget the dogs! Granted some dogs might be less than enthralled that you grew them some veggies (mine come to mind here) but others might be thrilled. For those of you feeding raw or home cooked foods this is a good way to stock up on veggies to save yourselves a few buck in the winter when veggies are expensive, long distance travelers.

So what veggies should you be growing for these canines? Here are a few choices that I would opt for myself but this list is anything less than exhaustive.

Pumpkins - yes and lots of them, its great for loose bowels brought on by any number of things dogs might get into.

Zucchini - a great and productive plant and a nice fibre-y veg to add to a mix.

Carrots - many dogs like these as treats - Caramel says they're crazy.

Lettuce - any type will do, less so the iceberg variety and I might avoid the salad mixes as some of the more bitter and pungent greens could make for a reluctant pooch.

Beets - not so much beets for the dog but beet greens are great, if you don't take them all for yourself, but c'mon, you've already got the beets for you, give a little something to the canine!

That was just a small list of possible options - now a few caveats - do not, under any circumstances, feed onions to your dog. Also keep in mind that some veggies are better for them lightly cooked, eg steamed beet greens. It doesn't need to be much but it will help them digest some of the fibre and breaks down some of the anti-nutrients in the plant material.

Any questions about specific vegetables you might want to try just send us a message!

In bed with the Devil

Recently one of the biggest players in the natural pet food market, Natura, was bought out by Proctor and Gamble, one of the biggest players in, well, pretty much every market. My initial response was to treat this as catastrophic news, fearing an inevitable cheapening of ingredients and the loss of several of the most popular brands in natural pet food including Innova, EVO and California Natural as well as Mother Nature dog cookies. So why did this happen and what are the possible ramifications of this deal?

To start, Natura pet products has been a leader in product quality and innovation, they started the grain free "revolution" with their EVO line of dog and cat foods. In the midst of the major recalls in 2007 they were one of few companies who could say they were unaffected by the tainted products. For several years they have had phenomenal market growth but recently that has slowed. The official reason for this deal is to bring natural pet products to a wider audience, thereby increasing the overall health of all pets, everywhere. P & G as a company can facilitate this because they have the market share and the resources to fund and pursue it.

The problem is that P&G is not well known for placing quality first. One of the reasons they are a huge player is that the bottom line has priority. How do they plan on bringing Natura products to a wider audience at a better price and maintain its current level of quality? I don't know, maybe they hired out Santa's elves? Seriously though, economies of scale are great but they don't run infinitesimally. At some point, something is going to give and considering Iams and Eukaneuba are P&G brands my bet is on ingredient quality. I know I will be watching for any news on changes to the formulas or changes in ingredient sources, you know, like stuff from China.

It’s a doozy of a situation and future is unknown, all we lowly pet food consumers can do is hope the overall good of reaching a greater market outweighs the possible future of decreased product quality. Remember, you can always express your opinion of this deal with your dollars and choose to continue buying Natura (P&G) products or switch to similar products made by smaller companies whose reputation you trust.

Beyond The Bag

What about this homemade pet food? Or raw? There's BARF and RMB's and ground and supplements and so much more but how do we know we're doing what's right?

Bottom line: do what works for your pet.

In my case, Indy hates kibble in all its incarnations so for him, raw food works. For my cats, they love kibble but it makes them fat and the litter box is ever so full and frightening (and stinky! Oh the stench...) if they have it. Raw really works wonders for them. Pfeiffer, or phatty pants as she is affectionately known, grew to immense proportions when she was the store cat by ripping open bags of kibble and helping herself. She has since become a housecat (terrorist with claws) forced to eat raw for lack of dry goods. While she has never been able to lose the weight brought on by her early years of indulgences she now has a beautiful coat where before she had what appeared to be greasy, almost slimy fur. Works for her.

The other side of the equation is Caramel. Hated kibble as a pup, I finally gave in around 6 months and let her eat raw which appeared to work for her for quite some time. Eight months or so ago I switched her and Indy to a less expensive brand for strictly economic reasons and dropped the variety in her diet to next to nothing. She and Indy previously ate a huge selection of commercially prepared raw foods but the cost was to much at the time. About 3 months ago I noticed that she had developed baldness in front of her ears and that in spite of omega-3 supplementation she was shedding an astronomical amount of fur. It's amazing how much hair a 33lb dog can produce! Turns out my "discount" brand didn't use whole chickens in their mix, instead it was ground chicken backs. This meant I was using mostly bone and skin and not much meat for sustaining my girl creating a huge mineral imbalance leading to a copper and zinc deficiency. She was tired, balding and grumpy. Now I have a homecooked recipe formulated by a canine nutrition expert designed to replenish her depleted stores of copper and zinc and detoxify her organ systems after the damage caused by an unbalanced diet. Two weeks in and her coat is softer, no hair regrowth yet but I remain hopeful that it will come in time.

Learning experience, I couldn't screw around with Caramel, she's got a more sensitive internal balance than Indy but I am taking this as a precaution and reanalyzing what I feed him to prevent possible issues for him in the future too. Know your dog or cat, and if something seems out of the ordinary it might be, so do yourselves a favor and check it out.

Management in Dog Training

10:27 AM

Humans, on the whole, are funny creatures. There is a huge industry built simply on child proofing the home for their own protection and yet people expect their infant dogs to "know better" than to get into the garbage, the cupboards or god forbid, the shoes. Puppies are naturally curious creatures and trouble is a common by-product of that curious state, so why punish when you can prevent?

Tips for preventing puppy mischief:

1: Use your eyeballs: Keep both eyes focused on pup when he's loose. The only way to keep him out of trouble is to keep him occupied. Play, training or cuddling are acceptable. Watching tv, doing the dishes, cooking or anything where your attention is elsewhere is not enough. World of Warcraft is a big no-no, don't be surprised if your pup jumps on your bed and uses it as his bathroom because you haven't taken him out when he asked. If you will be distracted use tips 2-4 to ensure your house is safe.

2: Use a crate - for short term confinement only! A good rule of thumb for puppies 8 months and younger is no more than 1 hour in the crate per month of age. The bladder and bowels just can't handle more than that and you will be facing a very messy crate and puppy when you get home. If you must be gone for extended periods set up a long term confinement area (see #3). In the crate give your pup something to do, a chew toy or other delicious attention keeper so she doesn't fuss for lack of attention from you.

3: Long term confinement area: Use an x-pen or small, puppy proofed (nothing chewable in reach) room add an open crate and several accepted chew treats or toys. Create an acceptable bathroom area using paper or puppy pads so that accidents are contained and not on any actual flooring materials. This will help you move the potty area outside completely as pup grows up. This space is especially important for dogs left home alone during the workday or when you really can't keep even half an eye on your pooch while home.

4: Tether - You can attach your dog to yourself or any immovable object in a safe area (chew proofed again) and give pup something to do. Chew treats and toys again are great, make sure you are watching for any potty behaviors so you get pup outside before an accident occurs.

5: Exercise - A tired dog does not get into trouble, they sleep instead. So play with your dog, train lots (learning burns tons of energy), take your dog for a long run or walk, go easy if this is a puppy as too much exercise of this sort can lead to joint problems down the road. Don't forget puppy puzzles, chew toys stuffed with your dogs food means every meal lasts a lot longer and keeps your dog entertained, and out of trouble!

6: Prevent Access - In all cases, where possible, prevent access to potential problems. Keep the garbage safely out of reach, keep shoes in a closet, have rooms with chewable furniture? Baby gates, they're not just for babies. I speak from experience here, Caramel will eat any shoe she gets access too, my slippers are favorite tug toys between herself and Indy. It was not a huge deal as long as she destroyed shoes that I didn't wear due to discomfort issues. Then she ate the left half of my very favorite pair of gorgeous stiletto heels, it's the only time I considered shipping her out of my house because next to dogs good shoes are my biggest love. In any case, all my shoes now reside on the top shelf of my closet, and you know what? Caramel hasn't eaten another one.

Management is key, if your pup can't find trouble, then he can't make the mistakes and will learn what IS good and acceptable based on what he is given.

Dog food in all its mysterious glory

Ah, the pet food industry. That multi-billion dollar industry that is the reason and the bane of my existence. The advertising gurus, marketing geniuses, food science formulators, veterinary experts and the poor, misinformed, well-intentioned pet owners.

This post has the potential to read like an encyclopedia so I will break it down over the next several into kibble sized, digestible chunks. Today I will focus on the advertising component, one of the worst things that ever happened to pet food and probably a lot of other industries.

For every product or service available there is a finite amount of money available to produce it. This price is related to its eventual retail price which is governed by good ol' economics and the laws of supply and demand. One of the ways to increase the demand portion is through advertising, and that, my friends, is mega expensive. So when you buy a food you have seen advertised on tv with "more meat" for example, and you pay $12 you are not getting $12 worth of food, you are getting, at best, $2 worth of food and $10 in advertising bills.

Take the first 5 ingredients of a very popular and heavily advertised grocery store brand "original formula":

"Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat"

Corn, byproducts, more corn, wheat and "animal fat", um, what animal you might ask? They don't know, that's why it says animal, and FYI, animal can include road kill and euthanized pets, not to be too alarmist. Now it gets better, lets check out the next five ingredients:

"rice flour, beef, soy flour, sugar, propylene glycol"

Rice and beef, not bad, but soy (it’s a big allergen), sugar and propylene glycol? Wait! Isn't propylene glycol used in windshield washer fluid? Yes. It's also sweet, as is sugar, and dogs like sweet things. Sort of like soda and kids, obesity epidemic, anyone?

One of the more insidious advertising methods is the use of veterinarians and their enormous clout with the pet owning public. After all, who is the first person you turn to with questions regarding your pet? Unfortunately, nutrition is not the strong suit of most vets, and has been sorely neglected by the educational programs at most veterinary schools. Along come the ever helpful pet food companies, Purina, Hill's (Science Diet), Iams and Royal Canin to "teach" seminars which more or less consist of "feed our foods and all will be right in the world. After the schooling is done many of these companies offer "veterinary prescription diets" with high markups and valuable incentive programs for the vet clinics. Unfortunately these foods are often not much better than the above grocery formula. Let's see, shall we? Here's a commonly "prescribed" formula for "dental health":

"Brewers Rice, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soybean Mill Run, Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor"

Okay rice, corn, by-products, looks familiar so far. Powdered cellulose? Basically some form of fiber chemically treated through a ton of harsh chemicals to make a white, high fiber powder. Original source fiber could be flax, wheat, cotton, sawdust, peanut hulls or any other fiber imaginable. Pork fat, hey it says pork so we know its not animal, not bad and actually those preservatives are the fancy words for vitamin E and vitamin C, so that's really not too bad at all. And then more bad, "soybean mill run", its soy (allergen), but what is mill run? Soybean mill run is composed of soybean hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls which results from normal milling operations in the production of dehulled soybean meal. (AAFCO, 2003). Hmm, can't say that sounds particularly nutritious. On to soybean oil, again soy, I'll leave it at that and chicken liver flavor, why flavor? Because the food tastes like sawdust and soybean hulls otherwise.

To compare, let's look at a brand with no national tv spots, that advertises through good products that speak for themselves, supports independent retailers and has been at the forefront of product innovation for years. You might not have heard of them. The parent company is Natura and they revolutionized pet food a few years back by introducing grain free dry foods which have now taken the world by storm. They make several different brands that each have a niche in the marketplace including Innova, California Natural and EVO as well as a few others. Let's look at the first 10 ingredients of Innova's basic adult dry diet:

"Turkey, Chicken, Chicken Meal, Barley, Brown Rice, Potatoes, Rice, Chicken Fat, Flaxseed, Herring"

Need I say more?

To blog or not to blog

I guess I've already answered that question with this first post. When it was first suggested to me that I should start a blog I thought, "who wants to hear what I have to say?" Most of my friends already know to start tuning me out as soon as I start talking dogs, food, training, behaviour or anything even remotely related to any of those items listed. But I was reminded that there are other people who are as fascinated, intrigued or at least somewhat interested in those same topics and maybe I can give them some insights into the inner workings and inter-relations between those subjects (and more).

So I've taken the plunge and we'll see where it goes and hopefully somewhere along the way I may even help someone with a problem or two.