Does your dog LIKE his dinner?

[K9 Obedience]

In our pack we have a ten month old Border Collie called Jazz. My daughter brought him home aged eight weeks and since then they have become best friends. Jazz is very obedient and quickly learned the house rules and how to be a pleasant member of society. He is training to do agility, can do many, "tricks" and all in all is one of the easiest dogs to be with. However since he was a young pup, Jazz has been a fussy eater, which is strange in itself as BC's are known to bolt down their food. Jazz has been given many of the more expensive dried kibbles, including James Wellbeloved and Hills Science. He had been wormed and vaccinated which ruled out any infestation as being the problem. Acting on the vets advice we also tried him on tinned food and nature diet added to his kibble. His teeth have been dirty and stained brown. His breath stunk. His coat was dull and dry, and his bones stuck out. He just would not put on weight although he was active and a normal playful puppy. He was often a little bit sick, brining up bile, and suffered with either constipation or the runs. The vet had carried out various tests and declared the dog to be sound but underweight. We knew we were doing something wrong and decided it was down to the treats he was being given as reward in training.

I am currently reading Suzanne Clothier's book titled," Bones would rain from the sky" and it was here that I found the answer. In the book the author gives an example of a dog which fits Jazz to a tee. Same as the dog in the book, Jazz will back away from his food dish and stand and stare at us. When told to eat, he would just pick out the nature diet or the tripe but not touch the kibble that the vet had said he needed to keep his teeth clean and for a balanced diet. We were advised that Jazz was being given too much attention and needed reprimanding. Starving him for 48 hours would make him eat. !!!  A paragraph in the book helped me to find the answer to Jazz and his eating problem.

" I've long suspected that dogs are as prone as we are to food intolerances as well as true allergies. There is no physiological reason why dogs should not experience these same physical sensations we experience after eating food that dosen't agree with us: gassiness, cramping, nausea, headaches and sour stomach. But they cannot tell us this in words. Far more attuned to their bodies than we are to ours, dogs can quickly become aware which foods do not suit them....... Countless training books and countless trainers urge dog owners to not let dogs, "get away with", misbehaviour but forget to mention that behaviour is a pure form of communication."

After reading this, I began to watch Jazz's behaviour closely when given his meal. Every time the dog backed away and lifted his head to stare at my daughter. His whole posture was one of misery and he only approached the bowl to pick out the small amount of nature diet or tripe, leaving every single piece of kibble. I picked the bowl up and emptied the contents into the bin. I then filled the bowl with a block of thawed out tripe. Jazz wolfed down every bit and looked up at me as though to say, "At last you have heard me"  Now Jazz is fed on raw tripe or nature diet, rice or pasta, and any kithen leftovers. His teeth are white and sparkle. He has put on weight and is 20 kilo's. Not once has he vomited and his stools are normal. He is full of energy and a picture of health. All this time the dog has been trying to tell us that he did not like dried kibble.

Suzanne Clothier in her book advises us to, "listen" to our dogs. I only wish she could hear my words of thanks.

dog lover.

Check with Big Dog if you wish to purchase Suzannes book.

[Big Dog]

Check with Big Dog if you wish to purchase Suzannes book.

 

You are the best!

Actually, the book is available in the dog health book section of the shop, but there is so much more to the post that I agree with than just that most kind pitch.

I was shooting some pictures at the Redondo Beach Dog Park yesterday and talking all things dog, of course.

One of the topics was the nature of food formulations over the past 15 years. While I do expect and encourage folks to defer to expert medical advice given by Vets, there seems to be a slavish bond to buying the so-called "Science Diet" brand when told by the Vet to do so... I know enough about business to see a retail "up-sell" pitch from the food company.

And consistent with our friend K9 Obedience, I agree that so many commercial foods have ingredients that dogs would never eat as ancient wild canines. Many trigger or aggravate allergies (we see this in fast food or processed food in humans too).

I posted this before, but at 14, when in fragile and failing health, and I'd guess least likely to do well on a food change, I carefully, and gradually, tested Ansel on raw food from a natural but commercial (store bought) source. He loved it and showed no signs of digestion or nutrition issues at all.

I only stopped because I thought the droplets of raw and then refrozen meat on the bag should not be stored alongside human food in the freezer. Had I a dedicated dog food freezer I'd have continued him on it. When the next dog comes along home prepared raw food whenever possible will be on the agenda.

And folks, sometimes your dog is not just being picky by turning up their nose at food. Like the post above, they may be telling you "...it does not agree with me." Or in the case of that tainted food from Diamond Pet Foods, they may be telling you it is poison. There are tragic tales of owners adding meat and other temptations to the tainted Diamond Foods to entice the dogs to eat (not knowing it was recalled, of course). Some dogs died as a result in a very tragic turn of events.

Dogs LOVE to eat. If you they don't, look for the reason why - it is there somewhere.

A direct link to the book:
Bones Would Rain From the Sky

[K9 Obedience]

It is a classic case of not "seeing the wood for the trees" The poor puppy had been stepping back from his dish and staring at us for months. He is too well trained to bark or do anything else so would reluctantly pick bits out of the dish. His teeth were really brown stained and his physical condition was not good. All we did was to constantly change his kibble, (on the vets advice) which the dog still refused even though the stuff was costing a fortune! It started a vicious circle of us becoming more and more impatient and the dog becoming more and more confused.
When I read the thoughts of Suzanne Clothier in her book, "Bones would rain from the sky" I realised instantly what we were doing wrong. The change was nothing short of a miricle. A week after feeding him just tripe, nature diet, and scraps, he had clean teeth, no vomiting, and his general overall appearance had improved.
There are many so called Dog Whisperers on the scene today but not one of them understand the concept of communication with our four legged friends, as she does. The book has been a surprise for me as I too thought I knew just about everything there was to know about dogs. I was wrong and now believe we must never stop trying to improve our communication skills with mans best friend.....

dog lover

I purchased a second small freezer which sits in an outbuilding, for the sole purpose of storing frozen blocks of tripe.  Each evening I remove enough blocks to feed the dogs the next day. Some people do feed the tripe semi frozen but I found it gave my Doberman the runs so prefer to thaw the tripe first. Here in England tripe can be bought direct from slaughter houses in the form of huge slabs, which can then be cut up and used. Although this is the best way to give maximum benefit to the dog, my stomach cannot handle the sight of it.........

[Big Dog]

Your Dobie is a lucky dog.

Interesting how the temp caused digestion issues. I too thawed the raw food during the test - it requires just a bit more planning but it is not a big deal.

It sounds like the second freezer is a big help - that's what I'll do next time around as well.

[K9 Obedience]

 Another strange thing is that feeding the tripe semi thawed did not affect the Collies at all. They can digest anything. The Dobe and the GSD got dicky tummies if the tripe was even the slightest bit cold. Funny how they can digest anything they find out walking, such as the disgusting rabbit corpse that was slimey and stunk, yet Shadow found it most pleasant to gobble down. And had no after effects !!!!!!

dog lover

[BeyondBlondie]

This is SUCH great news! My silky terrier is such a fnicky eater! But, I am embarrassed to say, WHAT is 'tripe'?!! Thanks!

[K9 Obedience]

Tripe is edible offal made from the stomach of a cow. The cow has four chambers within the stomach that consists of:
Rumen - blanket/flat/smooth tripe.
Reticulum - honeycomb or pocket tripe.
Omassum - bible or leaf tripe.
Abomasum - reed tripe, (rarely used as it contains glandular tissue)
Tripe is also obtained from other animals such as sheep, pigs and even large sea mammals.

Although tripe has an offensive smell to humans dogs absolutley love it. Tripe is suitable for humans and is eaten reguarily in many countries.

Scotland is famous for its tripe dishes.

The French dish "Andouille" is made from poached then smoked, cold tripe sausage.

Mexico produces a dish called "Buche" which is made with pigs tripe.

"Iskembe Corbasi" is a Turkish tripe soup made with garlic, lemons and spices.

Pennsylvania produces "Philadelphia Pepper Pot" soup made from tripe and peppercorns.

The favourite dish of Northern England is "tripe and onions"

Wild animals will always eat the stomach and contents of a kill. Tripe is extremely nutritious and contains a concentrated source of many essential vitamins, minerals and fibre. It also contains a plethora of enzymes and beneficial bacteria. The protein in tripe is composed of balanced amino acids. Because of tripe being an excellent all round source of nutrients there is no need for it to be fed in great quantities. In comparison to commercially manufactured dog food of any form Tripe is very inexpensive.

Tripe is sold in various ways, in bags of frozen loose tripe, frozen blocks of tripe, in cans and even sometimes straight from the slaughter house. As it is a "wet" food a handful of dry kibble can be added to assist in cleaning the dog's teeth. I give mine a bone every day or so (the butcher saves them for me) to clean the teeth and to give them a treat. I buy tripe in frozen blocks weighing 500gms. I use a freezer stored in an out building in which to store the tripe. Every day I get out enough blocks to feed the dogs the next day. This then defrosts overnight. Quantities depend on the size and exercise needs of the dog. Mine are all high energy dogs that get lots of daily exercise so I feed the Border Collies 1x 500gm block each and the GSD and Dobermann get 2 x 500gm blocks (fed twice a day to prevent Bloat) I also cook up all veggie peelings and kitchen scraps as well as rice or pasta. I only buy organic fruit and veg so the dogs are eating organically as well. Other days I vary the diet by adding raw and chopped veggies or fruit. The Border Collie's love grapes!"

I know this sounds like it takes a lot of time but it doesn't really. My time is limited so whatever I feed them has to be done quickly. Cook up's are done as I work around in the kitchen and as I buy the frozen blocks in bulk it means a trip to the wholesalers once a fortnight. It is like anything, you soon get into a habit of thinking ahead and if one day I am pressed for time or have forgotten to defrost the tripe I just feed them dry kibble! Word of warning NEVER defrost Tripe in a microwave...as I found to my dismay. It stinks the house out for days...    

If you can ignore the smell of the tripe it is well worth giving it a go. Even if you only substitute a few meals a week to start with, you will notice a difference in your dog. Anyway in the light of this terriable contaminated pet food disaster we should all be trying to find alternative food sources for our beloved pets. My motto is:

FEED AS NATURAL A DIET AS YOU CAN..

Dog Lover.