1) Feeding dry food (kibble diets) prevents tartar build-up
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Truth: Effective chewing (raw meaty bones, rawhide chews, and other man made chew products — like the durable rubber Kong) simulates how wild canines gnaw on the bones of prey animals to ‘brush’ their teeth. Kibble is simply crunched and swallowed like a bowl of Cheerios and does nothing to prevent tartar build-up.
Fact: Raw food diets contain live enzymes and are free of grain — closer to a dog’s natural diet, which naturally promotes better dental health. Kibble lacks any live enzymes (killed by heat) and contains cheap grain products (unless listed as grain-free) which bacteria-producing plaque love to feed on!
Don’t fall for kibble marketing hype promoted by some clueless vets. Remember, invisible plaque build-up ultimately leads to visible tartar. You can help prevent plaque build-up by regular tooth brushing and choosing better diets.
2) Trust your vet to recommend only the vaccines your dog needs
Truth: Do not accept your vet’s recommendation without first reading my free special report (available on this blog) or visiting the AAHA website:
http://www.ufsheltermedicine.com/news/2006_AAHA_Canine_Vax_GL.pdf
Fact: Really? Ask your vet if he or she is following the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) vaccine guidelines published in 2006. Since these guidelines were published more than 2 years ago, surveys show that many vets are not in compliance. Most pets continue to be over-vaccinated and given vaccines that are not necessary. Furthermore, vaccine titer testing is not offered as an alternative to re-vaccination by vaccine junkies out for easy money.
3) Vets are experts on pet nutrition — watch for these flags!
Truth: Not likely. Standard ‘nutrition’ courses in veterinary school preach formulated and prescription diets. Few docs are willing to think outside the bag!
Red Flag #1: You get the eyebrow look when you ask your vet for advice on how to prepare homemade meals.
Be sure to check your pet’s weight often to make sure you are not over or under feeding. Ask your vet what your dog’s ideal body weight should be — that may be all the nutritional help you get!
Fact: There is no need to buy dog food. You can prepare healthy meals for your dog by following some simple guidelines and adding proper supplements.
Find my homemade feeding guideline here:
http://www.foundersvet.com/home_cooking.htm
Better yet … become a pet food expert in only 30 minutes by reading: How to Feed Your Dog if You Flunked Rocket Science.
Red Flag #2: Your vet tells you that commercial pet foods are the best way to feed your dog and contain all the nutrients they need. Don’t believe it! For the most part, canned and kibble diets are highly processed with questionable ingredients that challenge the claim that they promote ‘health’. Most are no better than prison diets — cheap sources of calories with nutrient values set at minimum standards. They also violate the 3 hallmarks of optimal nutrition: Freshness, wholesome food ingredients, and a diet that offers a variety of food choices.
There are many undesirable ingredients in pet foods and even trusted name brands like Iams and Science Diet can contain them. You must learn to read pet food labels and also discover the source of ingredients that companies purchase to manufacture their diets.
When buying dog food, first become a pet food detective. Read blog post: Beneful by Purina — the next pet food disaster. Avoid feeding this ‘hog food’ (and others like it) to your dog!
Red Flag #3: You get a scolding from your vet when you tell him you are feeding a raw food diet. If your vet tries to scare you off with horror stories about bacteria and parasites in raw meat — perhaps he missed the latest pet food recall. For years, pet foods have been found to contain aflatoxins (deadly molds that grow on grain crops and peanuts), endotoxins from pathogenic strains of bacteria not killed by heat, and most recently melamine — a chemical added to produce a higher nitrogen content fooling pet food manufactures to believe they are buying food stuffs that contain more protein. Bottom line: The pet food industry lacks government regulation and safety inspection practices, which allows pet food to be tainted with various contaminates that can make your dog sick or even worse kill your dog!
For Google lovers, just type in: pet food contamination. You won’t find any reports of raw meat diets killing pets, but caution applies here, too. Raw diets must have proper storage and be fed correctly to ensure safety. Do some research before feeding your dog his ancestral wolf diet and don’t be surprised if he howls at the moon. 
Next week … I will let you in on Rosie’s new raw food diet — winner of the best wholesome food list category. Plus, it’s the ONLY pet food that has been Certified Food Safe under Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).
Here’s a look at its line-up of superb ingredients:
Chicken (ground with bone), chicken liver, chicken gizzard, organic cranberries, organic spinach, organic broccoli, organic beets and organic beet fiber, organic carrots, organic squash, organic apples, organic blueberries, probiotics — for gut health: Pediococcus acidilaticici, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, Entercoccus faecium.
(FYI: Rosie’s poops are the best ever!)
And here’s another hint: This company uses only USDA inspected free-range meats with no hormones or antibiotics. And they are the only pet food company to employ HPP (high pressure process) to destroy harmful bacteria without heat! See how it works in this surprising video:
http://www.iptv.org/video/detail.cfm/1033/mtom_20080118_3320_clip
Care to guess which diet Rosie is thriving on? Leave your comments … and find out if you are a winner next week. All winners will be rewarded with a free copy of my e-book; How to Solve the Mystery of Your Itchy Dog.
Do a little homework — Good luck!
I am having difficulty digesting all the info about over vaccination. Is there a easy guideline to follow? I have 3 dogs ranging in age from 2(Basset hound), 3 (Beagle mix) 4 (? mix) all my dogs are rescues of one sort or another and are currant on rabies vaccines. My vet is saying the 3 & 4 yr old are due for DHLP-PV, is this neccessary? They are in a controlled enviornment (fenced in back yard) with no other contact with dogs other than each other. I want to do what’s best but after losing a dog to AIMD at age 5 most research has led me to believe it may have been caused by over vaccinations. What should I do?
I’m going to guess Stella & Chewy’s Raw Freeze Dried Food! I’ve given my 13 year old Lab and two Akitas a taste of the lamb and chicken steaks as a treat and they love em!
You are the best Dr. Terifaj! Thanks for clearing up misnomers in the animal world and cutting through the you know what. You are truly a friend to animals and the people who love them!
Meow! Stella and Chewy’s Fresh from the Farm. My cat is blind since birth and will only eat kibble. She’s won’t even try any other texture of food. Any ideas? She is eating California Natural and so far that’s as close as I can get her to what I’d like for her to be eating. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO FOR THE FURKIDS!!!!!!
I agree – Stella and Chewy’s. (Ididn’t copy – I have really been researching this stuff) but the info out there boggles the mind. A friend forwarded your email to me – thanks for your insight – I can use all the help I can get. I’ve been feeding The Honest Kitchen Force and Embark but they both still do itch sometimes, but, so do I, so I thought it was just the South Florida allergies??? We go to a holistic vet but she sells the food so I’m wondering now if this is the best food for the dogs – or for the vet’s bottom line??????
Great article! Can you suggest where I can find a diet for a dog with pancreatitis? I cook for my 12 year old, female boxer, Cody and want to be sure she gets the right food without the fat. I was told to find a veterinary nutritionist but don’t know how to go about finding one that is reliable and follow my wishes for a home-cooked food. Any suggestions?
Thank you so much!
I’m going to also guess Stella & Chewy’s FRESH from the FARM Raw Frozen Chicken Diet.
Looking forward to your next article. You say, “Raw diets must have proper storage and be fed correctly to ensure safety.” I’m guessing that you mean to keep it frozen and wash everything with hot water when your doggie is done eating. I hope I’m not missing anything. I’ve also read that you should pick up the droppings right away.
Thanks for sharing all your information Dr. Terifaj!
I think Rosie’s food is, Steves Real Food for Pets.
Keep up the good work on keeping us informed!
And thanks for DOG-Breath!
Stella & Chewy’s Raw Frozen Chicken Steaks? June Bug loves them – and I don’t have to add anything to improve the flavor for her! She likes a Freeze-Dried Lamb Steak after dinner but not quite as much as two Health Mutt Cookies for dessert. Thanks, Dr. T, for all you continue to do to keep our fur kids healthy!!
I am eternally grateful, and so is Rowdy for his new svelt body. At 13.8#, this yorkie was busting at the seams! Huge praises to Dr. T for teaching us about home cooking. Rowdy is now a healthy, happy 9 pounder and has never looked better. At 12 years old, I know his life has been greatly increased. My old vet just blew off his weight for years when I would ask for something I could do. I can’t sing your praises enough. Thanks so much for these articles. I learn a lot and get a glimpse at the real you, a wonderful, caring angel.
~Wendy
Oops! Hadn’t done my “research”! Of course you feed DOGie Bag meals! Doh!
Keep up the great work! Love the site!
Stella and Chewy’s Raw Frozen chicken, I’m pretty sure! It’s a great food.
Here is something vet’s say that you might find “interesting.” My brother’s vet tells him his “pit bulls” need a special diet (mostly protein) just because of their breed. I never heard of a breed needing a special diet. Worst part I believe my brother is getting Purina or something of the sort because that is what the vet recommended. yuck!
I’ll guess a variety of the flavors of Stella & Chewy’s Raw Frozen Steaks (chicken, beef, lamb etc.) on a rotating basis for variety. Poppy loves them too. Thanks Dr. T for thinking outside of the box and helping us to do so too!
Thanks for the–as usual–great article, Dr. T. I’ve put it on my myspace page. I wish I still lived near enough to take my 2 rescue schnauzers to you, although I did use your recipe for making real food for my kids, and the little boy’s very bad itchy skin condition improved to the point of disappearing in a few weeks. Keep up the good work…we all need you!!!
Dr. Terifaj is beyond belief with skill, integrity, compassion and determination to provide the highest quality of medical care for her clients. This message is the living proof that no matter how long any of us primates live, not a day goes by that you have the opportunity to learn something new. I have always been concerned about health issues revolving around a raw diet until I saw this and the process used to kill dangerous bacteria without using heat. Being the skeptic that I am, admittedly I have no further arguments about health safety of raw diet assuming you use Dr. Paula’s suggested safely prepared diet. I surrender now thanks to the education you have been providing me with. But finally, you have taken my health issues away. Does this mean on Shy’s monthly birthday (13th) when we share a rib eye steak celebrating his survival on a month to month basis since birth that I have to eat mine really rare? Thanks for the care you have given to both Shy and Margeaux, and for the advice you gave that saved Shy’s eyesight at three years old. I can’t thank you enough for your candidness. I know how difficult it is to deviate from the “accepted program”. Those with a real heart will do that for the benefit of their patients or constituents while the “sheep” of their field follow the course of the stream for profit, or to avoid criticism from their peers at the expense of their patients. Thanks, Mark.
I will have to agree & go with Stella & Chewys. I get the freeze dried lamb for my dog now & then. (I do home cook even though my vet believes that commercial pf is better…….oh yuk.) I break up the patties & sprinkle on her food. Do I need to tell you what she gobbles down first? She LOVES S&C lamb patties.
Thanks for all your wonderful newsletters & great information.
Here’s the real “poop” on a raw food doggie diet—much fewer and much smaller poops! Dr. T’s nutrition and diet advice has transformed my 10 1/2 yr. old fat Lab mix into a playful “puppy” with the added bonus of very little poop in the yard! The raw food diet works!