Common sense isn’t so common anymore when it comes to nutrition for man’s best friend. Colourful language, packaging, and advertising campaigns have captured the public’s attention for the last 80 years and neutralized any potential for the common person to question the status quo, until now. The amount of health problems that have arisen over the years such as cancer, heart disease, liver disease, obesity, skin irritations, allergies, yeast infections, behavioural issues, and gastrointestinal disorders are more prolific than ever before. By now, you may have gone through multiple diet changes or have experienced illnesses with your loyal canine companion - young or old. Many of the commercially processed dog foods like kibble are marketed to appear as if they are beneficial. In reality, they have caused disease and sickness in our beloved dogs.
Most people refer to their vet for advice. as they are seen as the expert and highest authority for their pet’s health, but are they the expert in nutrition? How much time do they spend learning about nutrition and what is involved in the curriculum? These aren’t questions that are asked by the general public. Why would we, right? Who are we to challenge vets? Most people won’t take the time to read the ingredients on the back of a bag of chips, let alone their dog’s food. That’s partially because vets don’t educate pet owners as they haven’t been taught proper nutrition so how could they help our dogs other than recommending some other bag of crap. On the other hand, many pet owners need to become resourceful and find credible sources of information. Knowing where to look to help increase our knowledge is an important step, and sometimes those sources of information are right in front of us.
Dogs are carnivores and are designed to obtain nutrition primarily from functional foods. There are many indicators as to what dogs should be eating: the design of their teeth, lysozomes in their saliva that help with digestion, their short digestive track, and the ph levels of acid in their stomachs. Observation of animals in the wild is the most common way to determine a mammal’s classification. Studies of stomach contents are used to determine what an animal eats. Wolves share 99.9% of their DNA with our household dogs. Based on this, we know what is biologically appropriate for our dogs’ diet. Some basic nutrients they require are protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Below is an example of the stomach contents of a wolf from the North West Territories:
There are many studies of wolves and the contents in their stomachs. This research allows us to define what is biologically appropriate. While this is just a snapshot of one wolf’s stomach contents and not a bible to go by, it gives you an understanding of the components of a premordial diet. In the raw feeding community, there are a few different ways to break down the diet. The rule of thumb is 80% muscle meat, 10% bone and 10% organ. If you are providing a Frankenprey diet for your pet, it can be broken down as such:
Macro % of Calories
Protein 50%
Fat 44%
Carbohydrate 6%
Ingredient % of Diet
Meat 75-80%
Bone 12-15%
Organs 10-15%
These are the same basic components required in a dog’s diet. Nowhere do we see preservatives, fillers or additives needed and back to what nature had originally intended. Throughout our dogs’ lifespan, there are different variables that affect their health. At The Loyal Butcher Co. we believe food is the most influential component in actively promoting a healthy lifestyle or an unhealthy lifestyle. Nutrition is a crucial aspect of our dogs’ lives that we as caring owners can control and provide. Join the movement and feed raw! #FUCKKIBBLE
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