How to Begin Feeding an Organic Dog Food Diet

The year 2005, which heralded three separate and serious pet food contamination issues, has been marked by many as the year the pet food industry was unmasked. Many dog owners, frightened and disgusted with the lack of standards the American and Canadian governments hold regarding the regulation of the pet food industry, are seeking out new ways to circumvent the commercial pet food juggernaut. It seems, however, that a "new way" has been found based on an "old way": the organic diet.

Taking their queue from an ancient example, people all over the world are shifting their pet's diet away from the grain-heavy commercial kibble to what dogs have been eating the longest. For millennia, canines in the wild have been eating exactly what God intended them to eat- fresh meat, eggs, bones, antlers, velvet antlers, vegetables, roots, and greens- with marvelous results. Traditionally viewed as carnivores, the canine world is actually omnivorous, preferring a certain level of plant-based food in their regular diet. This is evidenced by wild canines the world over including wolves, coyotes, dingos, jackals, and wild dogs. In the wild, these animals stool is smaller by weight, and of significant import to you as a pet owner, significantly less aromatic.

Knowing that a natural diet is better presents its own conundrums. Your dogs diet must shift to a natural one. Unfortunately, dog's digestive systems are far more sensitive to change than human digestive systems; they simply weren't made to have sudden major shifts in the type of food they eat. This means that when you are ready to change your dog over to a natural diet you must take care to do it correctly.

First, divide your dogs regular kibble feedings up into a twice-a-day pattern. The first feeding should be when you wake up in the morning and the second feeding should be in the early afternoon. Insure that the second feeding is not given too late, as a stomach full of grain can sit poorly in the stomach overnight, causing gastric distress, vomiting or diarrhea.

After you have divided up the feeding schedule, begin introducing the elements of the new diet to the dog as treats between feedings. Test which meats your animal prefers before settling on any one in particular. Avoid pork and ground beef, but feel free to test poultries, mutton, cabrito, or beef. Feeding raw pork increases the possibility of subjecting your dog to trichinosis; ground beef increases the possibility of salmonella. Be sure to include the greens, supplements, and additives you've chosen in the testing phase, as well, insuring nothing will be refused as the diet is changed. Make sure your dog will eat the more exotic additives: dietary items like velvet antler are never refused but sometimes a dog will get finicky over ginger or mustard.

During the test phase, monitor your dog's health for any reactions to the new food. Does his stool change? Does he get sick? Insure that your dog has no adverse reactions to his new food before continuing on to the next phase.

Next, examine the daily caloric value of the commercial kibble. If this information is not present on the packaging, consult the web for a guide- there are several available. When you have this information- a specific number of calories- begin replacing 25% of these with the caloric equivalent from the new diet, both in the morning and in the evening. You will feel that you are underfeeding when you see the volume of food reduced but don't be alarmed. This is simply a visual indicator of how calorie-poor the regular commercial kibble is; your dogs natural diet will have nearly 1.25 times the calories and 2-3 times the protein by weight that his grain-laden kibble has.

Continue the 25% substitution for two weeks and then move to a 50% substitution. Some people substitute one entire meal at this point but this is a mistake. Make sure when in this conditioning phase that you substitute your percentage at each feeding and not from the total calories per day.

Let your dog stay on the 50% substitution for a full month and integrate your additives, such as velvet antler (a common preventative for canine arthritis) and greens during this time.

At the end of the 50% period your animal should also be taking all the supplements that will be part of his meals from now on.

From there it's a short one week stint at 75% at the end of which the impact to your dogs health should be self-evident. Most dogs show marked increases in activity, energy level, mood, as well as reductions in health problems. Thanks to your change to an organic diet you can both say goodbye to commercial food forever.

Larry Strawson is a concerned pet owner and webmaster of find veterinarian clinic [http://findveterinarianclinic.com]. It lists veterinarian clinics alphabetically by city and state.