I want to talk about a very special guy who came into our lives several years ago and, with his big brainless head and total lack of spatial awareness, made a permanent pawprint on our hearts.

Cal was an adolescent shelter pup who we fell in love with instantly. He was fifteen times the size of what we thought we were looking for, six times the size of our house, and a million times the perfect dog for us.

Along with my husband, he’s my cuddly number-one super best buddy of all time forever.

Long ago, we converted Cal from grain-free dry food to raw food. He’s done incredibly well, and we believe it’s the right thing to do. Yet there’s so much information out there about the “right way” to do raw. Where we’ve used things like Tropical Traditions‘ raw treats and patties and various other ground-up options, along with some gnaw-friendly bones now and then, it seems like we’re missing something: the very natural act of chewing.

Thanks to Rachael of Lovely Crafty Home, I’ve become more educated on the optimal way to “do raw.” Rachael stopped by the blog recently and helped immensely with my questions about a more biologically-appropriate raw food routine, and I thought the information she shared would help others as much as it helped me.

Here’s what Rachael said about her raw routine (via a blog comment conversation):

“…I’ve been feeding my Boxer a raw diet for about 5 years (she just turned 6). We’ve only used a pre-made food a few times though. Have you ever tried a whole prey model for your pup? It’s easier than it sounds, and you get the benefits of bone chewing for teeth cleaning. My dog eats mostly whole chickens (1 chicken every 2-3 days), but she does get fish, beef, and pork as well. I have estimated that it costs between $50-$60/month to feed my 53lb pup this way, which I think is pretty affordable! Anywhoo, I wanted to mention that because I believe the chewing/crunching has a lot of value that you don’t get with the patties. Just a thought! Thanks for talking about raw feeding, I find the whole idea is still very taboo to most people.”

Rachael went on to help me with my concerns about raw bones, and other such “scary” raw-feeding realities. Here are a few of the points she shared:

Re: the bones…there is a lot of negativity surrounding the whole raw bone issue…a lot of scare tactics…it’s hard to get your mind around it at first. But actually most of the bone digestion occurs in the stomach, they basically crunch the bones but it’s not like a full chew. So don’t be surprised if you find yourself cringing.

Never ever ever give a dog a cooked bone- not a tbone to clean or a rib rack…These are likely the dogs that end up at the vet giving raw feeders a bad name…Raw bones are soft and pliable, cooked bones splinter.

Never microwave bones (as in, defrost on counter, fridge, or hot water)

Dogs will only consume (eat entirely) the bones of small prey or smaller non weight bearing bones of larger animals, i.e. your dog will not be able to consume the femur of a cow, but raw soup bones (marrow bones) make great chew toys.

I avoid butcher cut bone-in meats because the bones are unnaturally sharp, it’s just a personal preference (like pork neck bones or bone-in chops)

I don’t feed chicken or turkey necks…again a personal preference, as I feel they aren’t that nutritionally sound and are good choking hazards.

Thank you for all the wisdom, Rachel!

Who out there feeds their pets with a whole-prey model? Any advice?

The post Calling all PPPs! (Parents of Paleo Pooches) appeared first on Cave Girl Eats.

So I’m back from Cali. I slept approximately 20 of the last 24 hours. Dang, I’m old. I used to party 20 of 24 hours.* Now I need an hour of recovery sleep for every five minutes of travel. Sheesh.

Highlights of the Cali trip: Driving the 101 (breathtaking); Waxing patriotic with my extended military family; attending 2 amazing weddings of folks who deserve the utmost happiness; and water sports. I “got up” on my very first try at Wakeboarding. I even crossed the wake. This was, of course, followed by a spectacular wipeout, about which everyone was far more excited than my initial achievement. Jerks.

I guess it was pretty funny.

Our arrival back home wasn’t without drama. You’ll excuse my late post when you hear why. (I know, Wednesday is pushing it. I’m sure all 11 of you were waiting with bated breath. I say 11 because I’ve learned that at least 10 people accidentally accessed my blog last week searching Google for the phrase “waste of time.” Damn you, SEO.) I’ve got an upcoming review of Farmageddon in the lineup, as well as an exciting new breakfast experiment. So please don’t resign your readership, Gramma – at least, not yet.

I’ll let my iPhone tell the story, complete with boffs via autocorrect. Here’s my text conversation with the Cave Husband. I was mid-farm market and a bit disheartened with the veggie selection, as well as a bit upset about our furry child, who is apparently not playing well with others. (“Her” is the proprietor of our fantastic kennel, Canine Cottage):

So instead of writing for my own little blog yesterday, I started Googling solutions for my “problem jumper.” I still can’t believe my kid is the obnoxious one on the playground. Does this look like an indiscriminate playgroup humper to you?

Any advice would be appreciated. And yes, he’s fixed.

*And by “party” I mean “play scrabble.”

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Did I mention the FREE adoptions were for “Extra-large breed dogs?”

Well, we visited the shelter and I promptly fell in love with a tall, sloppy drink of slobbery water. This mixed breed was some kind of Dane-Mastiff-Pit Bull mix. He was waaay too big, Husband said. But all us ladies know, when the Husband looks at us and emphatically says, “No” – it really means – “Go back to the shelter while I’m at work and put in an application.”

We brought Cal home in a rainstorm and immediately set off on a walk to establish the chain of command. After re-attaching my leash arm twice as Cal pulled me through rain puddles like he was charging the first leg of the Iditarod, I had my doubts. But we settled in to our routine, got a Dyson, let him up on the bed, and learned that the surefire way to “loosen up” is to adopt an untrained, fabulously obnoxious, overly enthusiastic 90-lb bundle of joy. I can say without reservation that my dog is the $#it.

This is his water. I don't argue.

We were fully Primal at this point, and as I became “one of those people” who chats with strangers about their “kid” without specifying that I actually mean “dog,” I started to think that we could do better than standard kibble. I’m no genius, but I’m 99.9% sure that wheat isn’t a natural part of a dog’s diet. So we switched to Orijen. I was happy with the ingredients and the improved digestion, but Cal wasn’t much more enthusiastic.

He's got the after-dinner blues.

Even with my Primal devotion, I wasn’t sure about feeding dogs “raw.” Until I asked my friend Beth at Canine Cottage what she feeds her incredibly healthy, youthful dogs. We had a conversation about smart, against-the-grain (literally) nutrition and how it applies to dogs. She visits a holistic vet, doesn’t vaccinate on the traditional schedule (she titers) and has great success with feeding a raw diet to her pooches. Suddenly it made sense to me – crunchy, uniformly chalky beef-flavored nuggets? That may be the furthest thing from a natural diet there is. My dog is extra large, and I know XL dogs are supposed to be doomed to health problems, dysplasia, arthritis, stomach issues and earlier death than their teensy counterparts. Could this be diet-related?

I want to have Cal around for as long as humanly (and canine-ly) possible. If a raw diet will make that happen, I’m on board. So we gave it a whirl.

Majestic Raw, his favorite so far.

Raw food – the good stuff – can be obtained from local butchers (Cal also gets lamb), Majestic Raw, and US Wellness meats has it as well. Like eating whole foods, it may feel more expensive, but we’re looking at the long term here.

Interestingly, it seems that because the raw food is so water-dense, he’s hardly motivated to gulp down water all day as he once was. It seems he’s getting all the water he needs from his food. (Processed foods make me ridiculously thirsty. Must be the same with dogs.)

So ask around – there are vets who’ll say “no way, ” but as with doctors, sometimes the first opinion shouldn’t be the last. The ingredients? All kinds of nasty stuff that dogs love – Tripe, heart, liver, bone, and the kitchen sink. That long ingredient list on the Majestic sleeve makes use of just about every part of the cow, and the pooch makes use of just about everything in there too. His digestion is great (I won’t bore you with the details) and I hope this keeps him with us as long as possible. I supplement his diet with the occasional pastured egg yolk and coconut oil.

Anybody else feed Raw?

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