The LOW down on RAW vs COMMERCIAL dog diets! Post #1

This blog has been a long time coming... and it is such a lengthy subject I will be breaking it into multiple blogs.

A HOT topic among EVERY dog owner, from breeders to vets, and pet owners to rescues. Everyone has their opinion, and quite frankly, for a select few their opinions are correct! The diet they have "Sir Barks-A-Lot" (the pampered lap dog) may suit him very well, but won't meet the same dietary needs of "Jack"(the working dog).

To truly analyze this topic with an unbiased approach we must all first agree on many things...

1. Not EVERY DOG is the same.
2. Not EVERY HOUSE-HOLD income is the same.
3. Activity levels vary between house-holds and breeds.

AND most importantly...
    4. Some dogs require additional dietary needs due to poor health (THIS should be identified by your
         VETERINARIAN ONLY!).

Let's begin where everyone wants to...diet in the RAW...

• Dogs are decedents from wolves, who hunt, kill, and eat RAW meat in the wild. Wolves are also opportunist, so if they locate a decaying carcass, they will still consume the meat...THIS doesn't kill wolves!
• Wolves  eat raw meat, that's it! Our dogs were made to eat MEAT only, not grains, GMO's, or GLUTEN, and ALL ORGANIC!
• Commercial dog foods are made of CRAP ingredients! "Meat-by-products"?! I mean if I wouldn't eat it, why would I feed it to "Fluffy"?!
• Commercial dog foods are FULL of preservatives this is the leading cause of cancers in our Fido friends, so why would I feed it?
• My VETERINARIAN (who I trust with my dog's life) doesn't know what they are talking about when it comes to nutrition for a dog. They only learned medicine in their DOCTORATE degree, they know NOTHING when it comes to nutrition and dogs...not to mention the only reason they recommend the diets they do, is because they are given "kick-backs" from the dog food companies for recommending their food!!!
• When WE were growing up our dogs were given table scraps and they lived til the ripe 'ol age of 9-10! So table scraps, bones, and ESPECIALLY bacon grease is great for dogs! Our dogs had the shiniest coats on the block!

How many of you have heard one or ALL of the above arguments as to why a RAW diet is the BEST for a dog? I know I have! And there are SO MANY MORE... but here's the TRUTH... shhhhhh, it's a secret...

All of the above are all STRETCHED truths to SOME degree. They have some validity to them that the  "knowledge seeker" CAN find some information which pertains to the above statements. Because of this it SUCKS the "truth finder" into believing the statement as a WHOLE, instead of delving further into research, or REALLY attempting to find the "whole truth, and nothing but the truth"! It's much easier to accept a portion of a true statement than to research the information yourself, to rely on like-minded individuals to agree with your position, or to just re-share information you heard from someone else you felt had a bit more knowledge on the subject matter than you do!

Sooooo... let's start with the first bullet...
Dogs are decedents from wolves, who hunt, kill, and eat RAW meat in the wild. Wolves are also opportunist, so if they locate a decaying carcass, they will still consume the meat...THIS doesn't kill wolves!

Dogs ARE decedents from wolves, BUT dogs have been removed from the wild for THOUSANDS of years and bred a span over HUNDREDS of different breeds of dogs to suits man's different needs. To say a bulldog is a DIRECT decedent of a wolf is a HUGE reach!

The first known breed of dog from a wolf was bred for hunting and sledding purposes. They were the closest relatives to the wolf.

Over the years dogs have been selectively bred to be pleasure animals, to adhere to certain aesthetics and characteristics that today's mankind now enjoy. To say dogs are so closely related to wolves that they can consume the same type of diet is preposterous! This is like comparing TODAY'S MANKIND to that of the CAVEMAN! Do we still eat the same diets humans ate back then? Do we still have the same lifespan we did back then? NO!

The simplistic explanation to this is as either species evolves into something different, so do the abilities to provide better nutrition (i.e. the hunter going from spears, to bows and arrows, to eventually guns). The ability to hunt larger game improved efficiency and decreased our need to harvest sick or susceptible animals.

Well, the same can be said for dogs! As they evolved from their wild counterparts their need to hunt diminished as they relied on humans to provide them with their next meal. This means their need to consume decaying carcasses to survive and the need to eat raw...because let's face it, you know most of men COOK their meat... diminished as well. Don't you think their body's natural defenses to combat any issues with consuming any of these diminished as well???

Now lets talk about topic number 2...
Wolves  eat raw meat, that's it! Our dogs were made to eat MEAT only, not grains, GMO's, or GLUTEN, and ALL ORGANIC.

Number one, wolves DO consume other things in their environment other than meat. They will eat berries and other plant based organisms found in their environment. Wolves do this to maintain a healthy diet, just like we do.

GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms) are nothing more than another "scare tactic" used by many companies to help increase the cost of their foods, by labeling their products as Non-GMO products. When in all honest we, and our animals (including the wild wolf) have consumed GMOs... Now, these GMOs weren't made in a "lab setting" but over the course of years selective breeding led to GMO species and diversity among species that we see today. So, stating that something is non-GMO is really a fabrication.

GMOs today are typically being referred to as being genetically engineered in a laboratory setting. There are great benefits to this (and NO they do NOT contain pesticides!!!). By extracting certain genetic markers from plants that allow a plant to survive under extenuating circumstances, this allows us to "speed up" the natural selection process and allows agriculture to create a greater yield.

Did you know that GMO fields TYPICALLY are treated with LESS pesticides than those that are not???

What about Gluten tolerance in dogs and feeding them all organic??? Gluten intolerance in dogs, just like people, is SUPER RARE! It is something that needs to be diagnosed by a licensed veterinarian. Gluten is a protein that an animal's body needs, unless it is creating a severe reaction...then removal of it from the diet is a necessity.

Organic feed vs. inorganic feed?

Did you know that their is a study conducted by USDA which measures the pesticide residues entering our food system and looking for pesticides that are illegal to be utilized in the US? This study actually shows that organic growers actually have a higher pesticide residue than those crops treated with synthesized pesticides.

Arsenic is organic, is it safe?

My point is be aware of your source of information, do your own research... don't just hop on a band wagon with what a group of people are saying!

The rest to be discussed in a few more blogs...to be continued...