The Dish by Darcy

You said your dog (the golden?) lived to be 17 years. All of us want to live with our dogs as long as possible
and to extend their years. There are stories about dogs living to be even 25 (a border collie). Please bring up the subject of feeding and care for those dogs who manage to live extraordinary long lives in your newsletter and tell us what you feed your dogs. Thanks. – Kate

Thank you for asking, I love talking about our dogs.

Dogs who eat a nutritious diet tend to live longer and without any or with fewer health problems. Yes, some dogs can genetically be inclined to have certain problems and some dogs need diets different than other dogs. But it’s still all about nutrition. Whether you feed your dogs prepared dry food (kibble), canned, cook for them yourself, or feed raw food like we do, you want to know that it is good quality food and where it comes from. Learn to read the ingredient label on the package, become your dog’s nutritionist and he will live longer or at least live better while he’s still here.

I was born, grew up, lived and worked on ranches until I was 27 years old. We grew our own food: meat, veggies, and fruit. Our dogs got to eat whatever didn’t make it into the freezer or onto the table…and it was raw, not cooked. I don’t remember ever taking a dog to the vet for anything. Our dogs lived to a ripe old age and worked cattle right along side us and our horses. One of our labs was bitten by a rattlesnake. We lived 70 miles from the nearest town and we didn’t think she would live through the day. We had cattle to take care of and left her to her mud. She snuggled down in the mud next to the horse’s water tank for three full days. Then she got up as if nothing had happened. Amazing. Our dogs lived to ripe old ages. One lived until she was 26.

After moving to town I started feeding the big brand commercial dog foods to my dogs, you know, the foods you can get at the vet or the grocery store. In no time the dogs became ill, had bad, scratchy coats, allergy type symptoms, icky teeth, really bad breath, some were fat, and some very, very skinny. The thing I remember most is that my dogs tried to tell me…we call it finicky but it’s really the dog telling us the food isn’t good for them. Has your dog turned his nose up at his food? You probably did the same thing I did. Add a little gravy to encourage the meal! Who knew that those dog foods were bad for dogs?! The dogs did!

Changes in our dogs after starting raw food:

• Kari our Golden Retriever, rescued at 8 years old, grew young again! When Kari turned 12 she lay down and didn’t want to get up. We’d been told that Goldens only live to about 12 years old and it was apparent that she was done. I couldn’t believe it and I wasn’t ready to let her go so soon. We started feeding her raw food that we prepared and within two weeks Kari was back on her feet acting like a puppy again. Even the day she died, at nearly 18 years of age, she was outside playing in a snow bank. Kari passed away quietly in the wee hours of the morning in February 2002. We were with her, she didn’t show any pain.
• Bruno, Belgian Tervuren (1994-2007). He’d had a terrible beginning; he was born in a puppy mill and was sold through a pet store. We rescued Bruno from a family who simply didn’t want him any more. He was 30 pounds overweight, had a pink nose, and could barely breathe when he walked. His family said that they couldn’t train him to do anything, he stayed in his crate. The diet was one of the big commercial kibbles. Bruno started his raw diet the after one day of fasting. Our rescue boy grew sleek and strong, his poor old pink nose turned black, he quit having bellyaches, and he could breathe again. Bruno could hold his own at a full run all day long. Bruno’s genetics caught up with him when he was nearing his 14th birthday. Hip dysplasia became something to contend with, some days were good, others not so good. An inoperable growth developed around his liver and grew large enough that he couldn’t breathe any more. Mentally he wasn’t ready to go yet, physically he couldn’t stay. Bruno was the sweetest boy ever.
• Dancer, Belgian Tervuren (born 1995), 12 years old. Her fear of thunderstorms lessened from  uncontrollable fear to wanting a hug and she changed from a skinny minny to a beautiful girl with a gorgeous coat. She’s amazing, smart and will try anything for me. We show off sometimes. I drop a credit card and she brings it to me. Hey, they aren’t easy to pick up! Dancer is showing a little age, she gets tired a little faster than she used to but she still runs the hills with us and we can’t keep up with her. She snuck up on a wild turkey and got some tail feathers. She was very proud of herself while watching the turkey fly away. She has a little arthritis. Many of her siblings have passed on to the Rainbow Bridge.
• Tilli, Belgian Tervuren (born 1996), 11 years old, lost her baby fat that just wouldn’t go away no matter how much she exercised. And she had a bad elbow that really hurt sometimes. Now she has a svelte figure. She’s the Frisbee dog. Energy galore. And she still acts like a puppy.

When I say raw food, I mean uncooked bones and chicken, beef, lamb, rabbit, poultry, fish, veggies, and fruits. Our dogs don’t eat grain except in a special cookie treat. Grain makes them fat, just like donuts make me fat. It’s the grain.

We’ve only been to the vet for rabies shots (state law), an old tooth that needed to come out, and a broken leg. Remember when Bruno broke his leg a few years ago? He recovered quickly. Our vet just couldn’t believe it. Quick healing, perfect blood work all around, and clean teeth. Kari had a broken molar at 16 that needed to come out. The vet couldn’t believe how perfect her blood work was and even gave us a discount on the surgery because her teeth didn’t need cleaning.

I know that everyone isn’t ready to believe that raw food is the best for their dog or they simply don’t want to touch raw food. So…read the labels of your cooked dog foods, know what’s in it, where the food is coming from and buy from a reliable source. Like SitStay.com. We’ll carry only the best.

I told someone earlier today that SitStay.com customers are different than customers who shop the discount pet stores. You know those stores, they still carry rawhide for Heaven’s sake! Our customers are more educated about dogs. Their dogs live longer, stay healthier, and if that old genetic snake raises its ugly head, deal with illness better. If you’d like some help or someone to talk to, go to SitStay’s Discussion Board, Raw Food Diets. It’s a terrific resource for raw diets. You’ll find wonderful books in our library, too. Choose one and read it, then read another until you find a diet that you and your dog can stay with every day.

If you are feeding a kibble lacking in nutrition and you’re seeing bad health or attitude, it’s not too late to turn your dog around. I did it and so have tons of other people. We just didn’t know that high priced marketing could lure us in, make us spend our money, and make us think we are doing the right thing all at the same time. Don’t fret about it; just change your dog’s diet. Kibble isn’t bad, just choose a good one.

Raw food and raw bones. I believe in it. If Nature intended for dogs to eat cooked food, they’d have pockets for their matches. The most amazing thing you will ever experience is at about two weeks into a raw diet. Your dog will come to you and thank you. It’s humbling.

Darcie Krueger
President
SitStay.com