We have been  feeding our dogs an all natural diet of raw meat, bones, cereals,  fruits, vegetables, and supplements since 1989, and I would like to explain how that happened. You will also find a chapter from the book “Give Your Dog A Bone” by Dr. Ian Billinghurst, an Australian veterinarian and agronomist who thoroughly studied nutrition.

I bought my first male Bouvier des Flandres, Beertie, in 1983; and my first female, Muffy, in 1987. Muffy had serious allergy problems. After much research I got in touch with Mrs. Pauline DeRycke of Bolshoy kennels in Ontario in the Spring of 1989. Mrs DeRycke explained to me the importance of proper nutrition and told me which books to read. She had been feeding her dogs on the “Natural Rearing Diet” for nearly twenty years with as a result physically and mentally sound dogs.

In the fall of 1989 after reading the recommended books and getting my act together I started feeding naturally and I still am today. Muffy’s skin problems cleared up completely, but I got her spayed and got a pure Bolshoy female to start my breeding program : Bolshoy’s Salomee du Keepsake. Jassie, as we called her, had her first litter in the spring of 1991, and since then we have had an average of two litters per year (by different female of course).

Whether our pups are sold as show dogs, for breeding purposes or as a family pet they are always a family companion and hold an important place in their adoptive home. That is why to me their health, physically as well as mentally, is of the utmost importance. I have always strongly recommended that puppy buyers take obedience classes with their dog and that they continue to feed the natural diet; and lately these have become conditions in our sales contract.

I am happy to see that health problems are scarce in our line and that most dogs live happy and healthy lives.

By feeding our dogs on the “Natural Rearing Diet” I am proud to continue the great work done for so many years by Pauline DeRycke, creating a healthy, intelligent line of dogs that conform to the official standard of the breed; and I am very grateful for her continuing advice and support over the years, even now that she is no longer breeding herself.

I stand by our dogs and our written guaranties.

I strongly believe these dogs can do anything you ask them to do and several of our clients have their dog “work” for them: as assistance dogs to the handicapped, as herding dogs and in protection work. But of course they are also great companions and family dogs.

Reading Dr. Ian Billinghurst’s books (Grow Your Puppies With Bones and Give Your Dog A Bone), it becomes very clear what an important tool nutrition is in having a healthy dog. The wolf, being the ancestor of all our modern dog breeds, is a “lean, mean, running machine” : a slender, athletically built animal. Nothing like today’s many heavily built breeds. In creating these “variations”, we have opened the door to all kinds of bone problems because the heavier the dog, the more weight the joints have to support. Further more, with the chest being rounder and wider, the legs are further apart and the angle separating them from the body is much greater. If on top of that such an animal has not been adequately fed during growth, the bones will not develop properly (they will be weaker and/or misshaped) and if you add to that the modern plague of obesity : it is obvious that such a dog is very probably set to develop problems later in life.

Our Natural Rearing Diet closely resembles what a wolf eats in the wild: meat, bones, fruits, vegetables and vegetation. Cooked foods (such as commercial dog foods) lack the enzymes and vitamins that the dog needs to properly digest its food. According to Dr Billinghurst (and I am convinced that he is right!) hip dysplasia lies dormant in all our modern dogs because we have changed their morphology through selective breeding, and it can be “awakened” by malnutrition. Especially if this malnutrition occurs during growth.

In his book How To Have A Healthier Dog, Dr. Wendell O. Belfield, DVM, of San José, California, explains the importance of vitamin C : it combats stress, has antibiotic properties and favours calcium absorption (essential during growth!). In an experiment, he bred dysplastic German Shepherds to each other. Giving a daily supplementation of vitamin C to the mother from the day she was bred and throughout the gestation and nursing periods, as well as to the pups from the day they were born. None of them developed hip dysplasia. They were all X-rayed “clear” at two years old. The genetic factor of hip dysplasia is obviously much less decisive than environmental influences such as nutrition, exercise and stress.

I therefore have no fear in fully guaranteeing our dogs, naturally reared, for any hereditary problems ; the dog must be adequately fed according to the conditions and obligations stated in the sales contract (receive daily supplementation of vitamin C and herb mix).

The following article was taken from the book ‘’Give your dog a bone’’ by Dr. Ian Billinghurst, B.V.Sc.(Hons), B.Sc.Agr., Dip.Ed., about the importance of good (raw food !) nutrition during growth and for the maintenance of good health in your dog.

THE QUESTION OF COOKED OR RAW FOODS ?

Most people are very confused about this. They hear conflicting advice from many quarters. Most commonly they are advised to cook their dog’s food. Rarely are they told why.

People cook their dog’s food for all sorts of reasons.

• One is so their dog will not take baits. Unfortunately many baits are given with cooked food.

• Others believe that dogs are ‘’supposed’’ to eat cooked food. Somebody told them, or they ‘’heard’’ it somewhere.

• Often the food is cooked ‘’to prevent worms or distemper or … something … ?’’

• Some people cannot cope with their dog eating raw meat and offal.

• Many cook their dog’s food because they believe it will become more nutritious and more easily digested.

Most people admit they have no idea at all what they should do. Sometimes they feed it raw and sometimes they feed it cooked.

SO WHY IS FOOD COOKED FOR DOGS ?

There are some very good reasons why food is cooked.

• Food is cooked to kill germs and the toxins they produce.

If there are any dangerous germs in your dog’s food, proper cooking will destroy them.

• Cooking your dog’s food kills any parasites.

Cooking prevents the transfer of parasites from the dog’s food to humans. Particularly the hydatid tapeworm. Hydatidosis is a potentially fatal disease which can be transmitted to man from various animals including sheep, pigs, kangaroos, wallabies, cattle etc..

•  Food is cooked so it can be stored and transported.

Raw food ‘’goes off’’ or self-destructs due to the activity of it’s own enzymes.

Cooking stops this process by destroying the enzymes. This allows food to be transported and stored.

•  Food is cooked to make it more nutritious and more digestible.

Is that a valid reason ? In general …no. There are exceptions to this. Grains and certain vegetables require to be cooked for various reasons, but in most cases cooking food does not make it any more digestible or nutritious.

Cooking physically breaks food down, making it more easily ‘’got at’’ by your dog’s digestive enzymes. This includes meat and vegetables.

Apart from that digestive aid, cooking does nothing to make food more nutritious. In fact cooked food for a variety of reasons loses much of its nutritive value.

It is popularly supposed that dogs cannot digest raw vegetables. However, if raw vegetables are physically broken down such as with a food processor or a juicer, your dog can easily digest them.

DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF COOKING

• Cooking destroys Vitamins.

Heat destroys many vitamins. Particularly a number of the B vitamins and vitamin C. Many are lost with the cooking water.

• Cooking destroys Enzymes.

All living tissue contains enzymes in abundance. Enzymes are proteins, which control the chemical reactions, which in their totality constitute the life of an animal. Those enzymes are destroyed by heat.

The enzymes in raw food are now recognized as important nutrients. As nutrients they have two basic functions :

Firstly they aid the digestion of the food they are found in, and secondly they help slow the ageing process.

The destruction of enzymes in food forces the pancreas to work harder. It has to produce more digestive enzymes. The result is several diseases in dogs, including Pancreatitis, Pancreatic Insufficiency and sugar Diabetes. Closely linked with this problem is the poor availability of zinc in modern processed foods, particularly the dried dog foods.

Enzymes in food are absorbed whole into the bloodstream. Once in the body, they help slow and even reverse the damaging effects of a process in the body called '‘cross-linking'’. Cross-linking is one of the most damaging of the ageing effects. It causes skin to become wrinkled and inelastic, arteries to become hard and brittle, and is one of the mechanisms by which the molecules found in genes become damaged, resulting in cancer and birth deformities.

In other words, by cooking your dog’s food, you are contributing in no small way to your dog’s ageing processes and in the case of stud dogs and bitches, you are contributing to reproductive problems.

• Cooking destroys other naturally occurring anti-ageing factors.

Anti-ageing factors called anti-oxidants which are present in raw foods, are destroyed by cooking. That is why cooked food is less able to slow the ageing process, and is involved in all of the degenerative diseases of old age, including cancer, kidney disease, heart disease, arthritis etc., etc..

•  Cooking can reduce protein value and availability.

Excessive cooking results in proteins becoming indigestible. It also causes the loss of two essential amino acids. Lysine and methionine. That loss results in growth problems, bone problems, skin problems, problems in pregnancy, milk production, and general poor health and reduced resistance to disease.

•  Cooking produces ‘’foreign’’ foods.

When food is cooked, the fats, the proteins, the carbohydrates, that is, all the major nutrients are changed. The greater the degree of cooking, the greater the changes. The greater the changes, the more indigestible that food becomes. Also, the more the body regards such molecules as foreign.

These foreign chemicals can result in allergic reactions, including autoimmune diseases like arthritis. Many of these ‘’new chemicals’’ are carcinogenic or cancer forming.

In other words, modern cooked foods, such as commercial dog foods, not only lack many protective nutrients (vitamins, enzymes, anti-oxidants and other anti-ageing factors), but also are full of dangerous chemicals, which actively promote cancer and other degenerative diseases.

• No teeth cleaning and no exercise required to eat it.

A dog subjected to a lifetime of cooked food is deprived of chewing, ripping and tearing at food. This means that an important aspect of the food as creating exercise for a dog is lost. It also means that a dog’s teeth are not cleaned. That in itself creates major health problems for the dog as infected and decaying teeth send toxins and bacteria throughout its body.

• Cooking food makes it more tasty  … sounds great ?

Cooked food tastes and smells a whole lot better than raw food. This is true for most people and dogs.

The question is, have we gained anything for our dogs by making their food more palatable ?

The only time palatability is useful, is when you are trying to coax a sick dog to commence eating. Apart from that one advantage, not much has been gained. The major problem is that cooked food is addictive. This leads to a number of problems.

1.       LOSS OF INSTINCT TO CHOOSE.

Dogs eating a raw, whole food diet are usually able to use instinct to make suitable choices if presented with a sufficiently wide variety of foods. Modern cooked food abolishes this natural instinct because of its addictive defects.

2.       THE CREATION OF AN UNBALANCED DIET.

Dogs fed cooked food often train their owner to feed them a narrow range of favorites. This always leads to an unbalanced diet with health problems being the inevitable consequence.

3.       DIFFICULTY IN CHANGING DIETS.

It can be difficult but not impossible to change the eating habits of older animals raised on cooked food.

4.       OBESITY.

Because cooked food tastes so good, over-eating and hence obesity is common.

5.       IT HELPS SELL THOSE AWFUL PET FOODS.

Pet food companies use the addictive qualities of cooked food to help sell their product. People buy food which their dog likes.

• The bottom line on cooked food.

When food is cooked, it retains sufficient nutrients to keep your dog alive with no obvious immediate problems. It does not however allow your dog to have a long, healthy, trouble-free life. It is responsible for much ill health including cancer, kidney disease, heart disease, arthritis, pancreatic disease, etc. In short, dogs fed on cooked foods live shorter, less healthy, more miserable lives.

DOES THAT MEAN OUR DOGS SHOULD EAT RAW FOODS ?

Wild dogs live exclusively on raw foods. Their whole metabolism is geared to the consumption of raw foods. Modern dogs are no different, which is sufficient justification for feeding them in exactly the same way.

However, many folk require a lot more evidence before they will feed their dogs raw food. Let’s examine that evidence.

The results of feeding trials.

The most tangible evidence is the numerous results of feeding trials. Those trials show dogs fed raw foods are much healthier than dogs fed cooked foods.

Modern dogs fed on processed food and home cooked foods have weaker immune systems, and they age more quickly.

Dogs are designed to eat contaminated food.

Many people are worried by the ‘’germs’’ in raw food. They believe those germs will make their dog sick. However, dogs have evolved to eat and thrive on ‘germy’’ food.

Your dog being a scavenger thrives on the presence of microbes in his or her food. Wild dogs eat the gut contents of their prey, and the faeces of many different animals. They also eat soil, contaminated meat, buried bones, infected meat and so on. These are all a source of microbes and any toxins they might produce.

These microbe-contaminated foods are a rich source of a wide range of healthy nutrients for a dog including proteins, fatty acids, enzymes, anti-oxidants and vitamins etc.. Dogs are designed to eat this type of food !

Raw offal can be safely eaten.

Raw offal (such as liver, kidney, heart, brains, tongues, ox cheeks, etc.) is part of a dog’s natural diet, and is full of valuable nutrients. The bottom line here is that lamb and lamb offal from your butcher is quite safe. If in doubt consider the use of raw chicken offal in your healthy dog-feeding program.

Dogs depend upon enzymes in raw foods.

For millions of years, dogs have relied on the enzymes present in their food to help with the digestive process.

Cooked food does not have those enzymes. On the other hand, food which is mechanically broken down without heating retains all its enzymes and is actually more easily digested than cooked food.

That is why your dog can actually digest raw vegetables better than cooked vegetables. All you have to do is physically break up those vegetables before feeding them to your dog.

CONCLUSION.

In other words, it is important to feed your dog on fresh RAW wholesome food. This principle is the reason I cannot recommend some of the supposedly better dog foods currently available. The ones marketed by newcomers to the pet food industry, who claim to use top quality ingredients. These foods, which I cannot name for obvious reasons, being a cooked product, have all the drawbacks of cooked foods.

HANDLING RAW FOODS.

Naturally, for the sake of our own health we always make sure that the raw food we feed to our dogs in no way contaminates our own food.

If using kitchen utensils to prepare dog food, take all the same precautions you would normally take when handling raw foods for your own consumption. That includes near-boiling water for cleaning, proper washing and drying, etc.

STORING RAW FOODS.

Store them in exactly the same way you would store food for yourself in order to preserve maximum nutrition. That is, refrigerate meat and bones, or freeze them if buying in bulk and storing for longer periods: refrigerate vegetables and so on.

Frozen food has in general less nutritional value than fresh food, but in our experience does cooking preserve far more health promoting than food.

Also note that the wolf, your dog’s ancestor has a long history of eating frozen meat and bones. This is the way many wolves survive their winter. In other words, the wolf, and therefore your dog, is actually adapted by long evolution to use frozen food as a normal part of its diet.

·         It is strongly advised that from the point of view of human health, you store your refrigerated and frozen raw dog food separately from the family’s foods.