Another Feeding Question

Question
Hi Faye:

I just came across this website and was thrilled.  We rescued a husky/lab last year - he's about 3 1/2 now.  He's a wonderful dog with more husky than lab in him.  He does all the normal things that huskies are known for; including digging up our yard - but he enjoys it so we let him.  I've read other articles about feeding raw but I'm really nervous doing this.  I have no idea how much to feed him (he weighs about 55lbs. gets walked/run about 3 miles each day and played with in the yard most nights).  Do I just give him a couple of bones and hope that he doesn't just bury them as he usually does?  Put some veggies and an egg in his bowl for his dinner?  HELP!

Donna

Answer
Dear Donna,
Well to answer your question as I am asked this one alot, a diet of commercial dog food is not something I would recomend for any dog. Sadly to say I see many dogs who fare very badly on this diet. I can never understand that humans are always told that to eat healthy they must consume raw unprocessed food to have optimum health.
Yet for some strange reason our dogs and alot of other animals are not supposed to eat this way. WHY I ASK? It goes against all commonsense and mystifies me as to how even the most intelligent people are sucked in by the pet food companies rubbish. Sadly many vets also play into this, perhaps they dont know any better, and if they do they are downright evil. It is obvoius there is a connection between vets and pet food companies and I am not so sure it is a healthy thing.
I would not feed any commercial dog food to my most loved dogs, here are a
multitude of reasons why you should change to a raw diet.
The rule is all the diet must be raw there is no getting out of it, if you cook a dog's food you will kill all the beneficial enzymes it needs for optimum health. So in reality preparation is not hard. I do not know what country you are in some places it is easier to get lots of good raw offcuts than others, and the USA is particually frustrating. But I just go to Walmart and they have 10LB bags of chicken pieces there and they are cheap. Forget all the salmonella rubbish I and my dogs have never got it and I have played with so much raw meat in 10 years I should have by now. Give him a couple of those a day and a raw egg, shell and all, you will see the difference in no time on this simple and nutritious diet. I feed no commercial dog food at all and I have 4 huge thriving boys the oldest is almost 10 he only looks 5! I go to the vets rarely, and they are amazed at the health of my guys every time. I attribute it to the diet I feed and the vast amount of excercise I give my guys. I have also raised litters of puppies on this same diet and my pups weighed 8 lbs at only 6 weeks!
I only ever feed my guys once a day, huskies can be very ruled by food.
But beware huskies were specifically designed to subsist in a very harsh
environment on very little food and work all day on it. So they can become
very overweight in the absence of this. It sounds like you are already on the right track to feeding your dog, but remember a dog cannot digest raw veggies unless you put them in a food processor first. This mimics the contents of the intestines of the animals they would have hunted in the wild. That was the only vegetable matter they really got.
Here are some feeding hints these are the rules I live by and I have had great
success with. I give all raw meat, all different kinds, keep it varied, but for growing pups chicken is the best. All uncooked bones are great, but do try to avoid the real big hard ones like the ones from a cow's leg. They are so dense and hard they can chip and injure a dogs teeth and cause wear if they have
them too often. Other than that all bones are great. For a growing pup
poultry and pork are the best but give him red meats as well. Remember the
only dangerous bones are ones that have been cooked, all raw bones are
fine. Raw eggs, cottage cheese, lactose reduced milk, all whole milk not
skim. Mince is great all different kinds, fish is great too. Blend up some
veggies from time to time and mix them in as well. Honey on the cottage
cheese, yohgurt, all full cream of course, and any general table scraps you might have as well.
Don't feed cereals, chocolate, or onion ever they are poisonous to a dog. Only
feed him once a day, and what he does not eat, take away.
Feeding should be simple and with this method your dog should thrive. Basically I feed everything I would eat with the exception of cereals,
even fruit and veg. Beleive it or not, although dog food is full of cereal,
dogs cannot digest it at all, and it has no food value to them what so
ever. So forget the cereals entirely. Cereals can even cause diabeties
which I have seen happen first hand in dogs, and often does as they get older. Commercial food is also too high in salt and calcium and can cause a myriad of problems as your dog ages. So give a diet of 80% raw meaty bones and don't have a vet bill or a broken heart. If you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask. Feel free to email me at snodogz@eongraphics.com it is my company so I am happy for you to contact me there if you need any further help.  Give it a try you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I hope this helps you, Faye and Husky Crew.