Swiss Lick Swissies

What to feed your dog?

Monday, November 10th, 2008 | Dogs

People have asked what we feed our dogs. Their coats are beautiful, they have great eyes, and Gryffin, at 5 years old, has never needed a teeth cleaning. So here’s the scoop–

For the most part, we feed raw. Yes, raw food. Mainly chicken backs, necks and leg quarters, but we also throw organs and muscle meat in there in addition to pork and beef. We also give them yogurt to help build up the good bacteria in their systems. Beowulf will switch back and forth between Honest Kitchen raw dehydrated food and Fromm Four Star (which is not raw). Indy is currently on Fromm, but we are in process of switching her over to raw full time. They also get good soup bones (pork or beef) in the yard as weather permits, which they love.

We decided to switch to raw food about 7-8 years ago. Our Beagle, Alex, has bad allergies. She was on prednisone and various medications through the summer and fall, and we really thought it was killing her. So our thought process was that many commercial dog foods have fillers like corn or other ingredients that she may be sensitive to.

Removing them from her diet really helped with her allergies. We saw an improvement each year, meaning she required less and less medications, and the ones she was taking had almost no steroids. This is the first year we’ve been able to control her allergies with Benadryl only. It’s a great thing!

We started with a lot of internet research and a book or two. The book wasn’t great, but it gave enough information to start. I’ve recently become aware of a book called Raw Dog Food: Make it Easy for You and Your Dog. It’s an excellent book that provides the information you need to get started.

While the raw diet for dog is by no means the answer for everyone, I would urge you to look into it. It can be much cheaper overall, depending on costs in your area, and I have yet to meet a dog that doesn’t enjoy it.

Tags: Greater Swiss Mountain Dog

No comments yet.

Leave a comment