Stinky Dog No More!

[SALTWOOD]

I recently took back a little dog, an oldie, and at that stage he was so stinky, and I mean mega stinky, that no one in their right mind wanted to touch him, let alone pat him! He also was an itchy dog! His diet consisted of a quality dry food plus pet meat rolls & raw bones at that stage. Not a terrible diet on the surface of it!

He is a lovely little guy, very well behaved but even though he was washed regularly he would really stink in a few days, if not hours, later! Not really condusive with getting lots of love and affectionate pats as no one wanted to touch him, me included!

Since arriving here several months ago he has only been fed a raw, natural diet and - this is the best part - he no longer stinks and his teeth have gone from being partially covered in tartar, especially the back teeth, to being almost squeeky clean. His skin has improved too, although I think he will be always be an itchy dog it is way better than it was. Also the best part is that I can now pat him with safety. He thinks it is the best part too!

I know that many people here feed raw, natural food but I also know that a lot still feed the processed dry dogfood and I am here to tell you that sooooooo many dog health problems can be addressed by just feeding what nature intended.

I am not posting this to pat myself on the back, rather I wanted to share my experience in the hope that if just one person out there reads this and can help their own dog in the same way, I will be very gratified!

Edited July 15, 2007 by SALTWOOD

[pembroke lover]

Thats great saltwood!!

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

I've said the same thing here many times...

[Ibizan]

It's great what going back to nature can do for the health of a dog.Hope lots of people read this and take notice.

[badboyz]

I have to agree Saltwood. Over the last 12mths I have tried all the highly recommended dry foods. I have always fed about 50% dry & 50% raw. I can honestly say I never really noticed any difference in my dogs from one brand to another. But in the last 2 months I have been feeding 90% raw and 10% dry and the difference is huge. I had one shar pei that was always a little stinky, but now she is fresh as a dog should be, and though her coat was not bad, it is so much improved in thickness and health. I have recently had a litter, and the mum was just bursting with milk and the pups big, strong and healthy. I too am converted. I do keep a small amount of dry in their diet for those times when I may forget to defrost or travelling to dog shows, etc.

[Vehs]

well done!

Would love to see some before and after shots, but you may not have them

[SALTWOOD]

If we had smell-a-vision I could have posted the before and after very effectively - but no, I didn't take any photos as the dog wasn't that bad to look at - but smell - that was another story!!

As you say Badboyz, it makes a BIG difference even when you feed 50/50 dry/raw to feeding 100% or even 90% raw.

Many people are frightened to feed raw food to their dogs. They have been brainwashed into thinking that they couldn't possibly provide everything a dog will need in their diet unless they feed it out of a packet or can. What did dogs do before the big dogfood manufacturers came on the scene!

The Dobe in my avatar is now about 44kgs and has only ever had raw natural food. His bone and especially his legs/feet are absolutely perfect and catlike. You don't get that kind of result if the diet is inadequate.

[Poodle wrangler]

Great to hear .

It defies common sense to say a food that stays "fresh" in a package for months on end is the best food for an animal .

If you check out the ingredients of much commercial dog food, it's no wonder they're busy brainwashing people.

Much of it would be rubbish if it wasn't made into pet food. "By-products" belong in the rubbish bin, IMO. Good profit margin in "recycling" this, I guess.

Breeder of my standard poodle said that one of her older dogs had a whole new lease of life when she switched to BARF a few years ago. Had wished she'd done it earlier.

[rose of tralee]

Great to hear your good result. These items of anecdotal evidence are so important to raw feeding, because *who* is going to provide the bucks to support controlled trials??

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Great to hear your good result. These items of anecdotal evidence are so important to raw feeding, because *who* is going to provide the bucks to support controlled trials??

Yes, and sadly that's why there will never be a "proper scientific" food trial that involves the comparison of raw, whole foods diets to that of the processed variety. I can't ever see Uncle Ben's forking out cash to feed half the dogs on raw and the other half on Crap in a Can...

Ian Billinghurst also laments this issue, as I believe Tom Lonsdale does as well. It's all very well for us "mere dog owners" to suggest our raw diets work best, but without that "proper scientific" data to back us up, it's not a feasible argument to launch at many vets in justification for our choices. I'm very happy that my new vet is supportive 100% of a raw diet...and he's very happy with what I feed my dogs. He's in awe at the "dedication" he says it takes to do a raw diet consistently well...but to me, it's just what the dogs need and it's not that much work if you're organised. While the learning phase slows us down, once we know what we're doing, it's so easy. I'd never go back to a processed dog food approach...it's just not worth the changed health and well-being IMO.

[sarahjane]

Good to hear that your dog is stink-free!

We are going to bring our new Staff pup home from the breeders in a few weeks, and I really want to feed him food that I have made myself - my past dog had problems with processed food, and I want to make sure our new dog has a natural diet.

Any recipes would be greatly appreciated!

[Poodle wrangler]

Good to hear that your dog is stink-free!

We are going to bring our new Staff pup home from the breeders in a few weeks, and I really want to feed him food that I have made myself - my past dog had problems with processed food, and I want to make sure our new dog has a natural diet.

Any recipes would be greatly appreciated!

Does the breeder feed raw/ natural? If not, you could either ask him/her to change your dog over before you get him, or do it yourself, but slowly i.e. over about a week. Coming home time is a bad time for sudden diet changes. Too many other changes going on .

[Karlos]

What do we think of http://www.barfvictoria.com.au/dog%20food.html

I spoke to the guy who maunfactures it for Australia, he's based up here.

[poochie]

Hi saltwood

I am glad your guy is no longer a stinky one

would you be able to let us know what raw stuff you have been feeding

are you doing barf or making/buying your own stuff.

I'd like to get get rid of one of my stinkies

and will feed the lot raw if its going to help

thanks

cheers

[Chaddy's Mummy]

Hi all

You can get charcoal tablets from any chemist that is safe to feed to a dog (following the instructions of course).

This almost stops flatulence!

I work in a chemist myself, and there is many many dogs in melbourne taking charcoal tablets!

[poodlefan]

Saltwood are you absolutely certain you havent' lost your sense of smell? :p

Gotta love BARF.

Why put a dog on a flatulence cure when you can feed a diet that prevents it in the first place? Knowing that soy protein is a flatulence trigger for many dogs, I'm gobsmacked by how many dog foods contain it. Of course, it's cheaper to add to food than quality animal protein. ;)

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Hi all

You can get charcoal tablets from any chemist that is safe to feed to a dog (following the instructions of course).

This almost stops flatulence!

I work in a chemist myself, and there is many many dogs in melbourne taking charcoal tablets!

We're not just referring to farting dogs, although processed foods certainly promote stinky farts in the dog population. We're also talking about the disgusting stink from the skin and coat that is often produced by a highly-processed diet in certain dogs. Charcoal only relieves the symptom, it doesn't remove the problem itself. I'd much rather work to eliminate the problem than mask the symptom.

Charcoal has been linked (unscientifically, as far as I know) to some cancers in some mammals. I'd be a bit more cautious in promoting such a product when a diet change is readily straightforward to achieve in many cases. :p

[Chaddy's Mummy]

It is of my understanding that the charcoal itself is of no harm to a mammal. The possible carcinogenic component of charcoal is when it occurs on grilled meat.

This is because during the process of grilling red meats or chicken, chemicals are produced (called Heterocyclic Amines) that are of a non-dangerous form when the meat is not grilled.

Any other possible carcinogenic factors about charcoal is when they are heated it is possible (not proven yet) that the heating reaction creates a chemical that is expelled by the charcoal into the smoke.

I would expect that no one would heat up a charcoal tablet before consuming or feeding it to their dog.

I am in no means ignorant to the importance of a high quality diet in a dog's life.