Because You Care.
Raw Dog
SHPOT'S SWITCH
It all started when I noticed something was wrong.
Shpot used to eat the commercial dog food diet. At his 6th or 7th month, he started being a picky eater. He would not eat his food unless it had human food as flavor.
A few months later, I experienced some financial issues. We decided to buy a cheaper dog food.
At a local supermarket, I found it. I wasn't sure what ingredients to look out for so I bought it because of the attractive yellow package with a happy looking beagle.
He wouldn't eat the "food" the whole day. Finally, at around 12 MN, he stood up and walked to the dog bowl. After sniffing it for a few seconds, he finally ate. It was like, "I'm so hungry, I'll just eat this crap."
It happened every day. Whenever we presented his food, he would sniff the food or walk around the dog bowl. Sometimes, he'd "sneeze". He'd only eat the food if he was very, very hungry.
It got me thinking. Beagles have a VERY strong sense of smell (with about 225 Million scent receptors). I thought: What if Shpot smelled something fishy with the food? Dog packaging can lie - but a dog's nose can't. If he was eating good food, he'd eat it without complaining.
My faith in my vet started to dwindle because of the following reasons:
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She told me that it's normal for beagles to have bad breath. Bad breath is a result of bacteria in the mouth. Was my vet telling me that it was normal to have a bacteria infested mouth?
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Back then Shpot's fur was in a bad condition. Whenever I'd rub his fur, huge amounts of hair would fall off. There were times when his fur is coarse and rough. The vet said it was normal.
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Shpot's appetite became less as each month passed by. There came a point where he wouldn't eat anything the whole day.
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He kept scratching his ears. The vet said it was allergies. She said the only way to stop it is to stop feeding human food. We stopped. The allergies continued.
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It was hard to find dog food information besides the commercially produced one.
Dog Food Basic Formula
Is this what pet food companies define as "nutritionally balanced"? Is my dog's food just powder and chemicals? Is this even "food"?
This YouTube video shows how they recycle animals to feed our dogs.
While not all pet companies do this, it's still hard to know who does this. I mean, no million dollar comapny will admit recycling dead animals, right?
After researching about raw feeding, I decided to switch.
He wouldn't eat raw food. We felt that Shpot didn't recognize raw meat as food. It was sad. Ciommercial dog food has altered the dog's idea of food from raw meat to powder and chemicals.
It was a very long process.I used almost every trick in the book. I asked help. I did everything to help Shpot realize that meat is food.
One day, I finally got him to eat his first slab of chicken...
He loved it! To properly describe it, he just wants more!
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He stopped having bad breath (and my vet said bad breath was normal)
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His fur is now soft and fluffy. He doesn't shed as much as he did before.
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He rarely scratches his ears.
Most of all, he LOVED eating. Whenever I bring out his food from the fridge, you can see the excitement in his eyes. He loves chomping on his food. Once he's done, you can see he still wants more.
He's never done that with kibbles.
I was also amazed to see how his energy and physical condition improved when he started eating raw meat.