As Nature Intended

We all want what’s best for our pets, but recently there’s been a move by dog owners to feed their animals a raw diet, which has seen a huge turnaround in pets’ behaviour and condition.

Dibble, Tizer and Faraday, three dogs owned by Susan Margarson of Grimsby benefit from a natural raw diet. Susan had originally read about the health benefits and when Dibble began getting ear infections and Tizer suffered allergies she decided to swap their diets from dried food to natural. “In the dog world processed food is pushed upon owners, but it’s processed rubbish,” said Susan who has fed her dogs a raw diet ever since.

“I thought it was a good idea to try my dogs on raw after two of them had suffered health problems. My dogs are so healthy and the vet was very impressed with their teeth.”

Another advocate is Kenzie Wright of Laceby who has two German Shepherd dogs.

Kenzie believed it was the better option for her two after reading about how good it was.

She said, “Just because we domesticated dogs, they still have the dietary needs of a wolf. Feeding my dogs raw has seen their coats improve and their teeth are so healthy."

“You also see the difference in their energy, as they’re full of it. Dried food is full of sugar, salt and additives. We wouldn’t feed food like that to our children, so why feed it to our dogs?”

Raw feeding, known as the biologically appropriate raw foods diet (BARF) is about mimicking the diet of the wild or feral animal by feeding it raw food.

In a corner of North East Lincolnshire, Raw’s Best has been operating since 2014 and was started by Karin Carling after she began feeding her own dogs a natural raw diet and struggled to find anywhere in the area that sold the meat.

“It’s what nature intends for dogs to eat – it’s pure meat, there are no colourings, no additives, no grains, it’s just pure food,” said Karin.

“A dog needs bone, it needs fur, it needs organs. It’s the natural food of the dog. You see the massive improvements in the dog’s behaviour when it eats raw.”

Karin and Lizzie say their customers tell them how the look of the dog changes and how their pets get a second lease of life eating raw food.

Skin conditions improve in those animals that have suffered with skin allergies and runny stools become firm, thanks to the bone and as they get the goodness of the food the size of the faeces shrinks.

“It’s all food that is intended for the pet to eat. The food we get has come from reputable slaughterhouses in the UK.” added Karin.

For anyone who might be a bit squeamish about handling raw meat, it comes in blocks and looks like anything you might pick up from the butcher and comes in a variety of flavours – duck, chicken, beef or venison and lots more.

It can be fed on its own or mixed with vegetables and supplements. Additional natural treats like dehydrated lung or pigs’ ears can also be fed.