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Bones of Contention
A
Pro Bono Article by Andrea Madeley (http://amadeley.mtx.net/BARF_Page.htm)
The
Short Story: Dogs thrive on bones.
The
Long Story:
For
decades our dogs have been eating a diet regarded as a completely
balanced convenience break-through. Heavily advertised,
the "best way" to feed a dog was gently shoved
down our throats by the Pet Food Companies. For decades
we believed them and our dogs have been the losers.
Slowly
doubts arose. Breeders noted more allergies and cancers
in their lines. The teeth of many dogs were rotting, and
their gums were red, swollen, and infected. Lethargy and
dull coats became more common. Breeders wondered at problems
with joints and hips, kidneys, the pancreas, and even heart
disease. What caused these horrible conditions and why were
they becoming so common?
Then
a new/old theory surfaced. How had dogs survived hundreds
of years ago without the multi-million-dollar Dog Food industry?
What did they eat? How often? The answers can still be found
by studying wolves and wild dogs like the Australian Dingo.
Though much of their wilderness has changed, one thing remains
the same: their ability to thrive on ripping flesh, munching
on bones, and consuming any other part of its prey. Our
domestic dog possesses many of those same instincts, though
the hunting instinct consists of chasing birds and mice,
etc. and the instinct to scavenge in raiding garbage cans.
You can train the modern dog to perform back flips on command,
but you will never totally eradicate his inherited and deeply
embedded ability to survive.
In
more recent years a handful of veterinarians has suggested
that a "Natural Diet" is far better for dogs than
our convenient kibble and canned food. One has gained high
recognition for his outspoken theory of canine diet, an
Australian vet named Dr. Ian Billinghurst B.V.Sc. (Hons),
B.Sc.Agr., Dip.Ed.. He noticed the increase of disease and
the poor condition of many dogs during 20 years of veterinary
practice. Eventually, Dr. Billinghurst's wrote a book, "Give
Your Dog A Bone". It details his experiences with commercial
diets and the changes that occurred when a dog's diet was
changed to one of bones…raw meaty bones, to be precise.
The
concept is an old one. Compare your dog with a wild dog.
Apart from a few breed specifics, they are essentially the
same. The years have not changed the canine's intestinal
or digestive capabilities. What do foxes eat? Foxes love
chicken, not boned or cooked, not just the by-products,
but the entire chicken... bones and all! And of course he
never built himself a fire to cook the chicken…but
if he had, he would have had to forego the bones because
they get brittle and splinter once they are cooked. So the
fox ate the whole chicken al natural. He also feasted on
small rodents, rabbits, fallen ripe fruit - maybe even a
bit of vegetation. In fact, he loved to eat the intestines
of his victim - the intestines contain much varied vegetable
matter all crushed up ready for him to ingest.
Everyone tries to tell us that dogs must not ever eat bones
of any shape or form. Why? I can't answer that as I can
see no reason to deprive a dog his right to eat what he
was designed to eat. The reasons, if they even have a reason,
are often unfounded or not substantiated.
Bacteria!
Raw meat does carry bacteria like Salmonella, and other
deadly-to- human bacteria. However, when we compare a human's
digestive system to that of a dog we begin to understand
how the dog's digestive system can handle these bacteria.
The dog's digestive intestinal tract is substantially shorter
than that of a human and this is precisely why these bacteria
are dangerous to us. With our long intestinal tract, bacteria
have ample opportunity to wreak havoc, a dog rarely has
a problem unless the dog is very ill. Certainly the average
healthy pet is more than able to cope with bacteria in small
numbers. The benefits of raw meaty bones, with all their
active natural enzymes, are too essential to the dog's system
to ignore. Of course, you should not feed your dog over-handled,
poorly stored raw meat. Instead, purchase your dog's meat
from the same source that you buy your own and buy lesser
cuts of meat.
Why
feed meat raw? As I just mentioned - anti-oxidants that
are present in raw foods are necessary for the optimal health
of a dog's auto-immune and organs systems. Those that feed
their dogs raw meaty bones notice big improvements in the
coat and overall well-being of their dogs. These same anti-oxidants
fight off the toxins that enter the dog's system and help
to slow the aging process. Cooking destroys these important
enzymes.
Bones
are dangerous, they would have us believe. Yet, the same
vet that tells you never to feed your dogs bones will sell
you a raw-hide chew that can be just as deadly, if not more
so. The truth is that COOKED bones are dangerous. Never
feed dogs cooked bones; there is no benefit and far more
risk of splintering than with raw bones. In fact, raw chicken
bones are soft, as they are generally from very young birds.
These bones are easily munched and crunched and supply so
many valuable nutrients to your dog. A raw-hide or Nylabone
type chew is a piece of dead matter. Rawhide offers little
more than a slimy mess and I have experienced the personal
trauma of trying to retrieve one of these from my dog's
throat.
I
have fed hundreds of chicken wings, necks, and carcasses,
not to mention beef necks, lamb shanks, and pork joints
and I have never ever had one negative incident. Instead,
I have happy and appreciative canines. Zero problems, just
healthy wonderful mouths with a lovely fresh breath.
Dry
dog biscuits and bone-like chew biscuits accomplish very
little when it comes to teeth cleaning. This is a huge consideration
when considering the benefits of raw bones, as decay on
a dog's teeth can kill it. Canine dentistry is a thriving
business - Why? Because we're told not to feed our dogs
bones - and to date there is no substitute for a good old-fashioned
raw bone for cleaning teeth. Nutritional benefits aside,
raw bones are still the best tooth-brushing devise available
to a dog.
Of
course, there is a lot more to feeding a raw diet than bones,
but that pretty much sums up the basics of the diet. Choose
bones that contain an adequate amount of meat on them (for
this reason, neck and back bones are great). The exercise
that dogs get ripping that meat off is another great benefit.
They work for their food and thoroughly enjoy themselves
in the process. A raw bone with some meat attached provides
protein, essential fat, calcium, minerals and many vitamins
and anti-oxidants + exercise and muscle work + psychologically
rewards. The benefits are profound! It is beyond me why
this has become taboo!
Though
a balanced diet requires other nutrients, I can assure you
though that you will not get that balance out of a bag or
can. Only the dog himself really knows what he needs in
his diet, and no kibble will ever totally balance your dog's
diet.
Sadly,
the largest problem with most kibbles, apart from the toxins
and preservatives (They all have them. How else can they
sit unchanged on a warehouse or supermarket shelf for a
year or two?), is that they deprive certain nutrients on
one hand and over-supply different nutrients on the other.
Fed in small quantities or mixed with a diet of raw human
food, this will not create the same problems as kibble fed
as the sole food. But a dog fed the same kibble over a period
of time will ultimately have exhausted organs from trying
to cope with the excesses and deficiencies.
Feeding
raw vegetables and fruit is a good way to keep your dog
in great shape. But again, the benefits are lost when these
vegetables are cooked, as heat kills the enzymes and decreases
the quality of the vitamins. However, before you throw huge
chunks of raw carrot at your dogs, you need to know that
the cellulose that surrounds the cells in raw vegetable
needs to be crushed in order for the dog to be able to absorb
and digest the goodness found inside the cells. The easiest
way of achieving this is by feeding the pulp from the juicer
after the vegetables have been processed. Alternatively,
you can cycle the vegetables in a food processor or put
them through a grinder. Either way, you will be feeding
your dog a high quality fibre with many vitamins and enzymes.
Dogs,
like humans, have individual dietary needs. You yourself
would not even think of eating the same food day in and
day out for 10 years. Yet, we expect our dogs to do just
that. Nor do we balance our own diet at every meal; we achieve
a balance over a period of time and vary the foods we eat.
This philosophy works well for canine diet too. It is important
not to dump all the nutrients into his system every day.
In fact, opting for a complete fast once a week is an even
better idea. In the wild, a dog may not eat for several
days, thus enabling his digestive system and other organs
to "take a break".
One
thing that wilds dog did not eat in abundance was a cereal
product. Many dry foods contain huge amounts of wheat or
soy-based products that are, in most cases, discarded refuse
not suitable for human use. Various government regulations
stipulate the listing of labeled ingredients. The Dog Food
Industry cleverly splits names, which give the illusion
that the main ingredient is meat. Various versions of the
same ingredient, may, if their weights were combined, actually
outweigh the meat that heads the ingredients list.
Speaking
of that meat content - look hard at what type of meat is
specified. There have been disturbing reports from the USA
and Canada about euthanized dogs and cats, road kill, and
diseased animals being recycled at rendering plants and
then sold as meat, meat-by products, or animal fat to some
Commercial Dog Food Manufacturers. Even a chicken label
will only guarantee you that it's chicken parts - don't
expect the breast meat! Let the buyer beware...and get educated.
Before
you throw out that bag of food, consider that incorrect
feeding of a home prepared 'natural' diet is not much better
than a kibble diet. I would hate to see us, in the process
of eliminating commercial foods, take several steps backward,
only to find a new range of problems with dogs on all-meat
diets. I would strongly urge anyone keen to feed their dog
a raw diet first learn a little of the nutrient requirements
of your dog. Feeding kibble for simple convenience is an
injustice to our loyal and loving pets. I would not feed
my children like this and I find it sad that people feel
that their dogs are not worth a little time and effort.
In all reality, placing some chicken necks in a bowl with
a few added ingredients is as simple for me (and less hard
on the nose) as opening a can of dog food. If people cannot
justify spending 10 minutes a day preparing a nutritional
meal for their dogs I question why they have a dog at all.
Rare it is to find human devotion equal to that of our dogs.
Surely, they are worth a few minutes of time to guarantee
them a good meal.
Since
your vet may not support these ideas, I would suggest that
you buy Dr. Billinghurst's book to get you started. "Give
Your Dog A Bone" is a simple-to- read, enjoyable book
that will help you to understand the basics of canine nutrition.
It was not designed to give you a strict feeding pattern.
The book outlines the IMPORTANCE of raw meaty bones in a
dog's diet and assists you to decide what other foods your
dog will do well on. You will be pleasantly surprised at
the simplicity of feeding your dog in this way, and even
more so at the wonderful results you will see in a short
time after switching from a kibble or canned diet.
Please
understand that although your vet plays a vital role in
your animal's health and well being, they generally are
guided by Dog Food Companies when it comes to nutrition.
In many cases that is where they receive their nutritional
training. In addition, they receive healthy incentives from
the sale of expensive commercial products. I do believe
that time will alter many a vet's opinion on raw food and
bones. Until then, you need to keep reminding yourself about
nature and survival and that, apart from some very pretty
outward changes, internally our canine friends are essentially
the same as they were in the wild. They lived on a diet
based on raw animal
parts
and vegetable matter. Simple, isn't it?
copyright
1997 by Andrea Madeley
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