written by brindle
I researched long and hard on the internet and in books to try to find the best diet for Tigger. At first, my search was focused on finding a healthy kibble. I researched all kinds of different ingredients, and then tried to find a kibble that didn't contain anything that I objected to or was unsure about. It was pretty difficult! Even many high quality kibbles have some ingredients that are questionable. The best one that I found was "Innova", available from Natura.
However, while searching for information on healthy dogfood, the thing that I kept running into again and again, was the fact that if you really want the best, healthiest food for your dog, you need to move to a natural, home-prepared diet. Preferably one that is modeled on the foods a dog would eat in the wild. I resisted this for a long while because I thought, "We barely have time to make healthy dinners for ourselves - let alone the dog!!" However, the more I read and the more I learned, the more I came to believe that a natural diet was the best way to feed your dog. So, in the name of Tigger's health, because I really love him and want the best for him, I began the slow move to a natural, home-prepared diet.
My first step in this direction was to add extra food to Tigger's kibble. I started supplementing his kibble with some cooked meat, yogurt, rice, honey, veggies, garlic, etc. He liked that a lot!
My next step was to purchase a book, Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. This is a great book which has lots of information about holistic/homeopathic remedies and dog care in addition to the information about diets. The book includes recipes for some healthy all-natural dog and cat food. Generally these consist of ground meat, veggies mushed in a food processor, grains (oats, rice, bulgar, etc) and supplements (kelp, Brewer's Yeast, vitamins, etc). Dr. Pitcairn strongly advocates the feeding of raw meat. This completely grossed me out and scared me away for a while, so I made his recipes with cooked meat. However, again by doing web research I slowly because convinced that it was the best thing to do. So I began making Pitcairn recipes with raw meat. Tigger loved it! However, many people think (and I agree) that Pitcairn's recipes are very heavy on grains, which would not actually be very prominent in a wild dog's natural diet.
I began to hear a lot of good things about a diet called BARF (Bones And Raw Foods). Those who would rather a more appealing acronym usually call it a RMB diet (Raw Meaty Bones). This diet is even closer to a wild dog's natural diet than Pitcairn's. The bones are good for the dog's teeth, and feeding raw meaty bones (especially chicken backs and necks) is a good way of ensuring the dog is getting the proper calcium/phosphorus ratio. While it is true that cooked chicken bones are BAD for dogs (they can splinter and cause all kinds of problems), raw chicken bones do not splinter and are pretty safe (as long as your dog actually crunches them up instead of just swallowing them). This diet generally consists of feeding the dog RMBs for most meals, substituting a couple meals a week which are more like Pitcairn's (ground meat and mushed veggies). A few good books on the BARF diet are Give Your Dog a Bone by Ian Billinghurst and The Ultimate Diet by Kymythy Schultze.
So I joined a few lists on BARF diets and through those lists met contacts in my area who were feeding this diet. Then, on their recommendations, I found a poultry wholesaler who would sell me chicken necks and backs in bulk for cheap. So I started Tigger on Raw Meaty Bones - and he loves it! Since then I've added a kitten and another dog to my fur-family, and they are both thriving on BARF diets too!
Below are some links which may help you come to the same decision I have. The books I've mentioned above (Pitcairn, Billinghurst, and Schultze) are all excellent information sources too, and can be ordered online from Dogwise.
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