Ok so every time I send one of my puppies to live with their furever families I keep saying #rawdiet (in any of its variations eg commercial, homemade, BARF, Prey, single protein, the ones that are referred to as ‘species appropriate’) is what dogs are designed for. My adults are fed raw (thanks to awesome #radowgfood, trust me I've done my homework! It's one if not THE BEST one out there), however, I do understand not all families willing to deal with raw meats so I do supplement my pups with TLC brand breeder's balances puppy kibbles just so the puppies have developed (or at least have what it needs in some way) needed enzymes and got their digestive tract used to processed food (well to some point). Nevertheless, I repeat myself raw is BETTER HEALTHIER AND NATURAL to dogs. As dogs are carnivores. Not omnivores and certainly not vegan. They need meat. Dogs don’t possess jaws that have lateral movement, they can’t chew stuff. They tear and swallow. Jaws and teeth (which are sharp, not flat — take a look sometime — from the front fangs to back molars) are geared for meat rather than vegetables or grass-like matter. Dogs’ digestive systems are small, their intestinal tract is about 5% the length of ours. Which means they move food through their intestines quickly, about three times as fast as we do, helping move bacterial waste out before it can leach into the bloodstream but at the same time, not breaking down vegetable matter very easily. Perhaps most significantly, the pH value of their stomachs is very low (about 1 — whereas ours measures about 3–5), where the very high acid content is suited to breaking down bones and meat. So dogs are clearly designed to be carnivores. Or to be more accurate about it, FACULTATIVE CARNIVORES. Meaning they are carnivores but do not depend solely on animal matter to meet all their nutritional needs at all times. They can SURVIVE (the keyword here, not thrive but survive so think about it) on other sources of food, such as plant matter for a short time or as a supplement when meat is scarce. Or they can metabolise vegetable matter to boost and vary their nutritional intake. But they cannot have optimum health without meat. In essence, dogs need meat, bone and a small amount of vegetable matter and even fewer carbohydrates in their diet. The consensus is about 70% meat (protein) be it beef, pork, chicken, turkey, duck, venison, fish, rabbit, heck with it even Bizon, 20% offal (meaning organs liver hearts, kidneys, spleen even part of animal digestive tracts like tripe) and bone and 10% vegetable and carbohydrate (the latter in the form of seeds and grain (and not processed!).
Stay tuned for more facts about raw diets for a good healthy life for your pooch. I will be dropping some more good info on this topic in the next few weeks.
