borzoimom

To me its more of what BARF is not in comparision with kibbled diets or even commericalized raw food. Let me toss out a series of well known facts here. First of all ( kibble rendition and most commercialized raw diets), have a series of problems of the ingredients they use. Remember that the original source for commercial ( both kibble and canned) was actually to use the refuse left over from cereal food makers. With grains not fit for human consumption, preserved with additives that could not be fed to livestock tht were for milk products or meat sources, the dog food industry had its start. They took those grains- rejected for anything from being molded, incorrectly rendered etc and started that as a one primary source. Second- the meat processing industry, meats that are 4D ( not fit for human consumption etc) also needed something to still at least be used for. Things like cancerious tumors, beaks, feathers, to even damaged pieces of meat ( broken wings etc) were the next step of ingredient. Now- here comes into play the 3rd step in the process. These " unstable" products need to be preserved until it can be processed or sold to a dog food rendering plant. Lets add some preservatives ( ethoxyquin was there for quite awhile until numerious complaints or unknown cancers started showing- making it politically incorrect in food, and why dog food now states " no ethoxquin:.. anyway- add bha, bht etc..) Now- if I had say plant A and I have this product, I can preserve it with any of a number of things, and then sell it to Plant B for them to turn it into their dog food. *** This is the kicker!- PLANT B does not have to list what PLANT A added in their product on purchase. ** Recently in the US there are coming laws that all companies for human foods must list all ingredients. . ( Originally set so due to food allergies with ingedients hiden. ) So Now onto number 4- Plant B now takes this 4d meats, rejected grains, and now renders it to process into their food ( whether it be canned, or kibble etc). Plant B only has to list what they do to produce their product. ** And this is where the next step of the problems shows up- The manufacturing process uses such high temperaters that this now kills most of the vitamins- especially water soluable vitamins. ( Vitamin E, C etc.) Secondly- since ( if you look at your dog food label- you will see in all dog foods the imbalence of Calcium and PHosphorus. ** Here comes another problem- those two vitamins are bonding agents with each other- if not in equal amounts - like Calcium is higher, you will get calcium deposits in the animal. If phosphorus is higher you get deteriorating cartiledge in the joints... *** ARe you starting to see the picture here???? So lets throw together a series of outcomes- worse case scenio even worse grade meat sources, molded and rendered grains, processed at high temperations, lacking in water soluable vitamins, imbalenced with calcium and phosphorus, and add - to add density to the food ( ie weight) so the packages would weight more for the consumer in purchase,) - this swells when water in added. ( That would be the worst food) If you do a good food, controlled meat sources and grains, you still have the problem with the vitamin mixture due to the type of processing. - and remember- the original plant that sold the sources prior to processing the dog food, they do not have to list what chemicals they used to preserve it. I started feeding raw in 1984. Various reasons. However there are several things I know. I know what I put in my dogs bowls. I know at least its fit for human consumption. I know all ingredients have at least passed the level of inspection that I am also eating. ( well- they eat raw chicken and I eat cooked- but same thing.) I know the food I am giving my dogs is USDA inspected and the plants that made it are also inspected- at least better than dog food company plants are. In brief ( lol ha..)- I can give you countless personal information on the benefits of BARF with my own dogs. However- these are personal "witness" to the situation with the exception of one clear cut situation I was told by specialists for one of my dogs. - But to end this- the final "science' here is more so- as I stated, more so what is bad in commercial diets, and how is that avoided in a raw diet. (**** one note here- a comment was made about not questioning as to vegetables in a dogs diet. Keep in mind the amounts are very small. If a dog were to catch a rabbit, consuming the rabbit -especially intestines etc, the dog would get what ever b type vitamins from whatever it was a rabbit ate by the intestine. )

no one saw this?

Tatelina - it is but one of the strategies that assists with desensitising a dog to its fear. It doesn't always work, or it doesn't always work immediately. But it certainly is something that I always recommend both in desensitisation practice and also in habituation (ie where the item is novel and fear hasn't been learnt). Excellent way to put it too. This took several attempts but really not many considering his out-right fright. Nothing ever hurt him before, nor has he ever been put in a situation he felt " trapped". As far as he knew that thing laying on the floor jumped up and wrapped around his feet, and the vac was attached to it. Also the other dog is Zubins sister. She was not in the room, did not see what happened and not afraid of the vac or the cord. Having another dog the dog trusts as well, that is not afraid of the object also helps- but keep your attention on the object- not the dogs. She is just basically standing there also interested in what was going on. ( calm standing posture.) You will notice I rarely patted her- keeping my atttention on the vac and the cord.

It should work with an umbrella. What I do with puppies is that we have a umbrella 'tent' snack festival. Although I must admit, my dogs look at umbrellas of " are we having treats now???" ( or was it " OH GOODIE- here comes the treat..")

My points exactly and beautifully stated! Zubin was about 12 months old. He had obviously been exposed with no trama prior to that with the vac. I do believe that is why it shocked him ( no pun intended) as up until then, he figured " that thing" would not hurt him or the cord. And yes- you are right- I think he was able to recall previous memories of no fear or concern with the vac. Group treats is also common place in our home. And yes- I have done the same thing with when a dog is worried ( or scared) of another dog.

I thought I would post this. One time that I was running the vac in my house, a had a situation. I lived at the time in a A frame house, which has a " great room"- ie one big open space in the main of the house. As I went around the corner, I felt a tug on the vac. Dismissed it as the cord caught a piece of furniture kept going. Then another HUGE tug, looked only to see Zubin roped in the cord like a roped calf. With a hare like foot, obviously he stepped on the cord, got caught between toes, panicked and started spinning out of fright. In panic I did a stupid thing and went to him and not the plug in, and as I tried to grab him, he opened his mouth, and bit the cord- at the exact same time the cord pulled from the wall.. ( thank God- Or I would been electrocuted - lesson number one all..) Zubin got an electrical burn on his mouth. I called the vet right away, but his breathing slowed down etc so after conversations with the vet except for the burn on his mouth where he bit the cord in half, he was fine. Now- I run the vac daily in the great room. The next day I just got the vac out, not even plugged in, when my normally confident boy PANICKED and charged out of the room into the screen porch and darn near went through the screen which would have dropped him 12 feet to the ground. I tried leaving the vac out- just let him watch it .. to make a long story short- although he was eyeballing it, he was still obviously worried. I was having a problem here trying all I knew to fix this, but this was so tramatic to him, I was at a loss what to do. I knew if I put him in another room, it would like the fear of the vac into concrete so what on earth to do. A friend suggested something that I thought at first was so crazy it just might work. The person said that their dog was afraid of balloons, and what they did was make friends " with the balloons" by petting it, saying good balloon, offering treats to the balloon etc. It was so crazy and I was desperate I tried it with the vac.. IT TOTALLY WORKED!!!! Dogs have no concept that something is alive or not- and it totally worked.. Here is the video. Zubin is the bigger white with black. ( pardon my appearance but I had been cutting grass all day.. and I was using cheese-its..) http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=62sca35

One note on this- if that alarm ever falsly goes off ( like burning toast etc) - you need to do the drill. The dogs must not EVER think to ignore this noise- and object is to find mom or dad etc. The dogs need to be trained by all family members in the house. This is conditioning- like when a dog hears a door bell they run to the front door- it is the same principle. They hear that noise- follow " the game". And always remember in a real fire or emergency your voice is panicked. You need to remember that to keep your voice as close to normal as possible. I used this one time when a carbon monixide buzzer went off. The dogs had no clue. I hit the fire alarm... all out of the house. Or like if you live where tornados hit- only this time calling them into a basement etc.. Same principle.

I feed 3 times a day kibble ( hold on the meat for a second) until I get potty training going in the right direction. Then my young dogs are allowed feed kibble. Twice a day I give ( totally seperate- not in the kibble so they do not over eat as that can cause stomach upset) their meat. With kibble I do not give bones with it. At 16 weeks my pups start working on total raw. Or kibble but the meat is always seperated if I am feeding kibble with it. Kibble digests slower than meat, so it is a seperate "snack". I do not know if this food is available over there, but I am impressed with " Wellness" basic 5. They have several types, - good digestability and caloric good qualities, but also balenced in calcium and phosphorus etc. As far as changing foods, I have always had success with a method that in theory should not work. In going from raw diet to kibble ( like showing or traveling etc) but it works the same. I do not mix two different kibble diets for the transistion. One big reason is that different foods can have different formulations and the puppy is not getting enough of either type to help. What I do is feed half what I would feed at night of the old food at night. Then following am only half what I would feed of the new food. This gives enough food to absorb any stomach acids but not enough to over load the gut. That night I give 3/4 of what I would feed of the new food. Next morning its up to total amount I would feed. The less amount of food helps with preventing colitus, gives them a balenced diet of how the maker of the food intended without mixing or making new formulas by mixing. ** note- if you have a food that is high in chemicals or grains- this is longer to process through the bowel. If you pups stool has a greenish tinge to it, that is " detoxing"- meaning they are passing chemicals or preservatives from the previous food. The stool turns greenish because it is passing through the liver.

This is something people have not thought of to do. In the event of a fire, most pets get lost or so scared from the noise, they do not know what to do. I fire drill train my dogs. This is how I do it. This takes two people obviously. One person to press the smoke alarm, the other to call in a happy voice to a certain door with a reallllllly great treat. ( Mine like hot dogs). Start with only a short blast from the alarm. Lots of praise and pets as well. Do it again- going to the same door.. Again- treats and praise. Then later do it but go to a different door calling the dogs again. At this point- the dogs just think this is some weird game, but when the alarm is pressed again- listen for you to figure out which door is the special treat game. Also I advance this by putting a slip lead on the dogs and walk out the door. Several things need to be noted here- remember in a real fire your voice would be highly panicked- so you need to make a mental note of that to try to control your voice. Slip leads should be at every door. I even have slip leads in back bedrooms as you might have to exit out a window as well. Another thing I teach done independantly at first is " CAR". My dogs when I say that will run to the car. Hide spare keys somewhere safe outside that would be a house key if you have reenter in another door that might be locked, as well as a set of car keys if you had to move the car with them in it. Another thing we do with keys here is that one slip lead at each door has a house key and a car key attached to it.

Rubystar- I see you in the states. I have always like "Foster and Smith". Great prices, and great deliveries. Used them for years.

Its been a year, and my boy is still deeply charishes, richly loved, and terribly missed. His video dedication. Music by John Denver " You fill up my senses".

I use to use a combination ( half and half ) of Mane N Tail shampoo, mixed with " Blue" which is for dogs. Its blue when you put it on, but rinses out white. However- what I have found that really works the best, ( and I mustter how much money I have spent on expensive dog shampoos) is- Johnsons Baby Shampoo ( like they use for small children). I am not kidding! Its mild enough for a dog, cleans off aklaline and stains out of the coat. If used even on a black dog, the coat absolutely gleams as it cuts the build up residue. It makes LIndsey so white she is almost irresdescent. I even use it on Femka and for the first time, her dusty looking black coat just shines. ( I will post pictures if you wish). You wash the dog twice. And with all shampoos make sure well rinsed.

I am so sorry for your loss.

Chicken wings are not as dense as turkey wings and digest quicker. I rarely give any turkey bones, and never give beef bones for this reason. The calcium/phosphours in the bones absorbs easily as well. When looking at what to feed raw, remember it will totally digest. ( why a raw fed dog the stool discentagrates into a powder within days in the yard, verses a kibble fed dog.). I am new so I do not know- how large is your dog? ( weight and height) if I may ask. Maybe I can help suggest something.

I am so sorry! I am so relieved to hear the outcome was good. If they can catch it early enough to have the surgery, usually they do quite well afterwards. I see prayers were answered she is going to be fine. By the way- this condition can happen so fast! One of my shepherds out of no where bloated also. We took her to vet immediately, and the vet said it was a gastric upset, gave her some meds and said take her home. I hate to tell you the outcome the next morning. The vet totally missed it, and the medications sedated her enough you could not see any further signs of distress. The view I saw that morning was positively gut wrenching! I still see her face in my memory after all these years. Since then my dogs are on such a schedule of what they eat- when they eat- what was exercise before and after- everything on a time clock. But even still- bloat can occur without even the warning signs you know. ( ie no exercise two hours before eating etc... ). I use elevated feeders as if nothing else its easier to eat for my tall dogs. However- some thoughts are elevated feeders do not help to prevent bloat- I guess the jury is still out on that one. She is actually the reason I went to feeding raw. Most kibble swells in the gut- possible cause. Due to her death, my dogs have been on raw feeding every since. At least I know what they eat will not swell in the gut. What little kibble I do feed I do " the water test" - add a little warm water to a cup of kibble, and watch how long it takes to dissolve. Also if it swells. My thoughts and prayers. Remember she will not look well when you pick her up- but neither would anyone having abdominal surgery. Just remember as the days progress she will get better and better... {{{{hugs}}}}}

I wish at the moment, he does still pull in a soft collar I agree. As a FYI neither would work well on a sighthound - halti could be dangerious, and a sighthound can get out of a choke. In my shepherds I had, I found a martingale worked just as well as a choke- more so is it is a single source of tension, but rather the area is larger than a single point choke. With a halti there are reports of a neck injuries from the dog suddenly bolting, twisting the neck.. ( yikes..). A martingale is a soft collar as far as feel, only tightens but not in a single stress area which is good for the disc bones in the neck. Give it a try...

I have found just simple hydrogen peroxide to be the best. It evaporates, great for ear wax when applied to a cotton ball and wipe the ear. As I said what I like the most about it, is that since it evaporates, you know you have not left any liquid in the ear canal. Give it a try.( Just remember to not let the dog lick the hydrogen or get the dirty cotton ball. I do one dog at a time, keeping seperate until dry, etc. ) Hydrogen peroxide will make a dog vomit if injested. Harmless and great for ear wax and cleaning.

I have fed raw diet for a long time. I swear by it. I do not however give beef bones. However- any bones given ( mostly I give chicken bones) is totally raw, warmed only by room temp etc. I hope your dog is better. Pancreatic enzymes can also elevated from stress as well. ( ie slang " stress diareah). One day I will post how I feed raw.