FFR- Impt READ!

[Gina Heitz <brier@oregonsbest.com>]

At 08:54 AM 2/18/01 -0500, you wrote:
>   Thanks Gina, and all the people that have contacted me for Flint River
>Ranch info.
>I am sure your pups will love this food. Gina tells me that these pups
>love their RAW diet, and I think this food will be a big help to those
>switching over to kibble. The aroma just is too much for them to resist.
>Any problems switching over, I am sure Gina can answer for you, but we
>are all here to help you new puppy folks, so don't be afraid to post to
>the list.
>
>                                   Ilene


Your welcome IIene,

Also on the FFR (this is what we call Flint River Ranch) they have a freeze 
dried veggie meat prep that you can add to the kibble.  I highly recommend 
everyone buy some of this NOW from IIene.  These guys are spoiled and I am 
having a bit of trouble getting them to eat kibble.  They really do prefer 
the raw diet. I  have been sneaking in some kibble on them but they don't 
eat as well on kibble meals even mixed with cooked meats. Sorry about this 
but those who have the education on raw feeding will back me up here: What 
I have done by feeding these puppies a biologically correct diet is to give 
their immune systems the best possible start one can ask for.  Besting 
their odds at being healthy and living a long life with out ills. 
Besting...  Many people will say oh this is hog wash, my dogs have eaten 
dog food and have lived long healthy lives.  True but is it not possible 
that future generations wont?  Or will given stepping back to feeding the 
species the way nature intend them to.  Just because humans choose to ask 
the dog to evolve doesn't mean that they are capable of doing so...  It's a 
matter of we are not the masters of the universe...

With out sounding like a fanatic (probably still do to some)  feeding 
kibble is just not what dogs should eat.  Kibble was originally invented to 
be a substitute for occasional use when one didn't have left overs or fresh 
foods to feed dogs.  This all came about in the depression years...  I 
don't think any of us on this list are old enough to remember the 
depression and what it brought to us, but I am sure some of you can relate 
to this:

My mother was 35 when I was born in 1958, she did live through the 
depression and our family was no different than most, they lost their 
shirts.  My grandfather was a produce wholesaler and he lost his 
business.  My grandmother took in laundry to help pay the bills.  My mother 
wore her older brothers hand me down overalls as the family could not 
afford to buy her dresses.  (of course I became aware of this when all I 
wanted to wear was my brothers hand me down overalls, was the fad in the 
70's and mom was adamant that I being her only daughter was NOT going to 
wear hand me downs of any kind so <sigh> she sewed for me and I wore 
dresses with ruffles... ) smile.... No I will not show you the pictures 
either!!!!

  Any way our little dog Duke ( the best dog who ever walked) mom fed some 
dog food but not much, since food at our house NEVER went to waste Duke ate 
a lot of left overs and older veggies ect...  He lived to be 15+ and might 
have lived longer but he got distemper as there was not a good vaccine for 
it at that time.  Duke was a Cocker/Golden mix. :-)  He also wore dresses, 
my overalls were way to big for him though we tried...

So anyway, even though kibble has become the way most feed, that came about 
out of necessity way back then and from there the pet food industry took 
off and a new multi million dollar industry was born.  Many of the dog food 
companies are realizing now that whole foods, less grain ect are really 
what dogs should be eating and are coming up with freeze dried preps and 
other whole food preps.  You mark my words, we will see in our life time a 
move back to feeding animals (all animals) a more biologically correct diet.

Another analogy I often share on this topic is what do cows eat?  Is there 
"Cow Chow"?  well sort of you can buy processed hay for them in cubes but 
really it's still raw dried grass.  How about hamsters?  Has anyone ever 
noticed most hamster food looks like bird seed.  Hey birds, what do birds 
eat?  Box's of seeds, fruits, veggies ect...  Ok so these animals mentioned 
are all vegetarians right?  Dogs are omnivore just like humans and they 
should be fed whole raw fresh foods.  The day they come out with "Human 
Chow" is the day I say ok this has gone way to far!!!  <snicker>  Actually 
in my opinion the pet food industry has gone way to far...

So off of my box and onto more education on feeding:  If you are going to 
feed kibble, please please also feed your puppy whole foods, cooked ground 
meats, raw veggies, fruits, eggs, just about anything you would eat minus 
adding extra grain into their diet.   Dog food is way loaded with grain as 
is...  Please let them have raw bones, they need these to balance things 
out.  Soup bones in the crate for quiet time, are a god send...  Also 
remember when you feed whole foods to take away some of the kibble...

Well got to zip, so remember you are going to have a spoiled puppy <VBG> 
(very big grin)

Gina