Dogs Naturally

“Although we have come to accept commercial foods as being normal or natural ways to feed animals (and indeed ourselves), in fact they are not. They are simply what we’ve gotten used to in the last few decades. But nothing we can produce commercially ever can rival those mysteriously complex foods manufactured for eons by nature itself.” quote by Richard H. Pitcairn. DVM, PhD., author of Natural Health for Dogs & Cats

When people ask what I feed my dogs, I say we feed naturally. Most people assume that means some sort of expensive commercial dog food touted as ‘natural’ or a ‘premium’ dog food. No, we feed what nature intended a dog to eat and we feed it the way it comes in nature — raw. Nutrition does not come in a bag.

I know, when I first heard of people feeding their dogs raw meat and bones, I was aghast at the thought. What got me to change my thinking was the fact that it just didn’t seem right that my dogs, and other’s dogs, were plagued by so many health problems. So, I began to ask questions — probing questions — and expecting qualified answers, and I opened my mind to the possibilities.

This led to an endless and enlightening journey of information gathering and research. I read books. I kept asking questions. I used my common sense and dismissed the slick advertising campaigns by multi-million dollar pet food and pharmaceutical companies.

After all, humans are more complex than dogs and we manage to feed our families and ourselves. There is no reason why we can’t feed our dogs using our own intelligence and resources.

Not everyone is ready to feed raw foods and that’s okay. But feeding whole species-appropriate foods is important. There are useful books on how to get started and what to cook for your dog. I STRONGLY recommend that pet owners read at least one book on feeding/cooking for your pet. The more books you read, the better informed you will be. The book I wish EVERY single pet owner would read is Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats.

What we need to ask ourselves is how ‘natural’ (or sensible) is it to feed a food that our animals have not evolved to eat? We need to ask how natural it is to feed a processed cereal every single meal of our pet’s life? Isn’t that a bit extreme? and un-natural?

Feeding real food is nothing unusual or extreme — it’s natural to feed/eat whole and real foods.

Copyright © 2008 Diane M. Schuller. All Rights Reserved.

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