Re: Questions to all of you...

["J. Renee Brooks" <jrbrooks@mercury.cor.epa.gov>]

Gina Heitz wrote:

> How many of you on this list are feeding your dogs raw as a whole diet?
>
> partial diet?  Please explain what your feeding if a partial raw diet.

We are feeding a partial diet, and would feed more raw if we could find a
source of turkey necks and/or other meaty bones that have been deep frozen.

The diet: Kibble (Canine Caviar (CC) or Nutro Chicken and rice when we can't
get CC), yogurt or cottage cheese or an egg, veggie mix (usually carrots, green
beans, broccoli, and other bits from our salad fixings), seed mix (pumpkin,
flax and sunflower), fish oil, vitamin C, pet tab.   Plus the occasional bone
for fun.

>   Are you happy wit the product and why?

The dogs eat both and have no preference.  We prefer CC because Granny Gina
recommends it, but it's the continual problem of where to get it....  However,
the more I know about processed dog food, the more I want to feed raw whole
foods.  But I also don't trust raw meat sources, and hate to see Torrey dashing
for the door after eating raw bones and meat.   Maple can't get inside the
bones like Torrey can, so she always gets a small dose which doesn't seem to
effect her.   And as Gina will point out, she was raised raw and will have a
better gut for it.

> Most of you are currently enrolled in some sort of training class or have
> completed a class right?   If you have not now is a good time to get going
> on this.  Puppies need the social interaction of being around other
> K-9's.  I stress and advocate public classes.

Maple starts Oct 12th, due to a busy field season etc., we missed the August
classes.  However, for a treat Maple has mastered sit, down, stay, come, leave
and she's learning not to pull on lead, mostly because of the leash trick.  Now
to do it with all the distractions of a class setting.


--
J. Renee Brooks
U.S. EPA/NHEERL          (541) 754-4684 (Office)
Western Ecology Division (541) 754-4799 (FAX)
200 SW 35th St.          jrbrooks@mail.cor.epa.gov
Corvallis, OR 97333