Not for the Faint of Heart

I'm not sure I'll ever get fully use to handling, chopping and snapping meat and bones. The organs may be my least favorite to handle, with liver winning by a landslide. On several occasions I find myself gagging or squealing "ewwww, WHY DO I DO THIS?!" I look down at my dogs, both with healthy, full coats, bright eyes and white teeth and I think to myself, "oh right, that's why".

But what if you can't do it? What if handling raw meat every day that is slippery, bleeding, stinky and sometimes slimy is just not your cup of tea? Are there alternatives to raw feeding that still have all the same health benefits?

Of course! They just might put a bigger dent in your wallet, that's all ;) I once recieved a sample packet of dehydrated raw food. I thought I had a photo of it but I can't seem to find it! I can't even remember what the brand was, but it was a mixture of green, dried things that when you added water doubled in size and became an extremely smelly green goop. The dogs loved it though, and according to the packaging, it was packed full of nutrition.

Since pet food recalls appear to be at an all time high, pet owners have been educating themselves about natural nutrition for dogs and cats and how they can provide that nutrition for their pets without the scary addatives and doG-knows-what else that has been responsible for so many pets being sick and dying.

The Dog Food Advisor is a great way to keep up-to-date on pet food recalls and what to avoid. They also have lists of dog foods ranked, so you can quickly and easily research the best for your dog. Check out their 5 Star Raw Dog Foods list. My personal philosophy however, is "avoid it all".  I never go down the pet food aisle at Overwaitea anymore, only to buy cat litter. Instead if I'm going to buy pet food products I do it out of town. There is absolutely no nutritious prepackaged foods or treats available for pets in Fort St. James. The rare times I do buy treats for my dogs, I read every last ingredient.

How to Read Ingredients Labels:

• Look for whole ingredients
  chicken instead of "chicken byproduct/meal", chicken instead of "poultry".
  
  
• What are the top ingredients and do any repeat?
  "ingredient splitting" is when companies split an ingredient to make it appear in a smaller dosage than it really is (since ingredients with the largest amount are listed first). Example: corn, corn gluten, corn meal, ground yellow corn, etc. All of these can be listed separately near the bottom of the ingredients list to appear in small amounts, but when added together that's a lot of  corn!
  the top ingredients should be whole foods (see above)
• Avoid unnecessary additives
  for a full list of ingredients to avoid, check out The Dog Food Project's Ingredients to Avoid
• Avoid long ingredients lists
  Keep in mind though, just because something has a long list of ingredients doesn't mean it's all bad. Use the tips above to judge what's in the list. Very long lists are usually full of more junk, and keep in mind that companies are only required to list 1/4 of their ingredients on the bag they may not be listing what is even the main ingredients!
  
  For more information about reading pet food labels visit The Dog Food Project's Label Info 101

The only true 100% foolproof method of knowing exactly what your dog is consuming is by preparing it yourself, and even then it depends on where you're getting your meat, bones and organs from! Of course, organic is the healthiest and best route, but is not always available in all communities. In the end, do the best you can and do what's right for your pets and there's no way you can go wrong! Do your homework (you can start with the links listed above!) and come up with a meal plan that is most optimal for your carnivores!