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Feeding Siberian Huskies

20 9:16:46

Question
I need help!  I have 2 Siberians, One is 4 the other just turned 1, both females. I adore the breed.  Everything about them brings me joy and frustration.  I would not trade them for anything. We do live in the south and the weather is hot, but they are indoor with the AC 90% of the time.  During the winter they are out more and get more exercise.   I am a vet tech who has only worked for one Dr. and now discovering, have been blinded by what he thinks the be best no matter what breed.  He sells and recommends Science Diet.  Which I have been feeding to mine.  BUT, I have come to the conclusion, after hours of research on the net, that Sciencie Diet may not be the best after all for your pet.  My oldest has allergies that she takes hydroxyzine for everyday twice a day.  She is small in size, but at 4 has finally filled out.  She was feed Iams than Science Diet.  My younger one just turned 1 a few days ago, and I can feel every bone on her back and can fit my hand between her hip bone on the back.  I am disgusted to run my hand down her back.  She also has episodes of loose stool now and agian. She has only been feed Science Diet large breed puppy now adult. I do know that poor breeding may be playing a part for both, since they are related.   
I want what is best for them, but I do also have two other mixed breed dogs, and feel that actually preparing food for them  is not something  we could stick to doing. The thought of  actually giving them raw meat goes against everything I have every been taught.  If you had no other choice but to feed a commercial dog food what would you choose?  I have spoke with a local breeder at a show and she feeds Iams and Eukanuba.  I have read several diffrent articals against the Iams and Eukanuba company. If you would choose none at all, could you please be more specific on what it would take to actually prepare meals for them.  At this point I welcome any unbiased advice I can get.  Thank you  

Answer
Dear Dawn,
I guess you are now starting to see the aftermath a diet of commercial dog food has had on your dogs. Sadly to say I see many dogs who do 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, and if looking at the health of your own dogs is not evidence enough 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 dogs food you will kill all the beneficial enzymes it needs for optimum health. So in reality preparation is not hard. 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 them a couple of those a day and a raw egg 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 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. But as your guys sound so skinny initially you will have to play catch up and feed a bit more. 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, and any general table scraps you might have as well. Dont feed cereals, chocolate, or onion ever they are piosonous to a dog. Only feed them once a day, give them all they want as they sound a bit lean and what they do not eat take away.
Feeding should be simple and with this method your dogs 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 the stuff,
dogs cannot digest it at all, and it has no food value to them whatso ever. So forget the cereals entirely. Cereals can even cause diabeties which I have seen happen first hand in dogs, and often does. 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. I would dearly like to help you see the difference in your dogs, and I am sure it will also help with the allergy problem as well. Give it a try you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I hope this helps you, Faye and Husky Crew.