Dog Food, Supplements and Nutrition Products for Working Dogs

Some concern has surfaced regarding the integration of dry matter dog foods and raw products. The (alleged) problem appears to involve a perceived enzyme conflict between raw food and dry rations. Some dog owners feel raw or cooked meat creates a questionable enzyme response when integrated with dry food. So much so it is regarded as a nutritional taboo.

One should remember when dry food is fed alone its ingredients are derived from flesh, carbohydrates and fats. This being the case, where is the enzyme conflict? The notion of adding meat and fat again into a previously dry-diet should not be deleterious.

Long before dry food was the fashionable way to feed the dog, a casual feeding strategy prevailed. It was called the Left - Over method. The Left - Over strategy was dedicated to anything and every thing that had nutritional value. A valid mish - mash of cooked and raw rejects. The dogs digested a vast variety of foods. The diet ranged from meats to farinaceous material scraped from the pot.

Perhaps looking at feral animals related to the domestic dog would be of value. I think the Wolf, Coyote, Jackal and Dog are similar enough to make a two - part assumption. First and foremost, the most common game taken by these hunter - killer packs range from Mice to Rabbits. These prey animals are eaten with their stomach contents, jackets, flesh and bone. The digestion of such prey would require a multi - enzyme response much like dry food or dry and flesh. This too is a mish - mash.

In the case of Deer size animals and larger plains game no attempt to avoid eating leguminous stomach contents with muscle and bone is documented. Documentation does exist suggesting the gut and its contents maybe preferred over other nutritional areas. Should this theory be true, it would (in part) explain the driving desire demonstrated by dogs to eat and thrive on Dirty Green Tripe.

The argument dry food served with raw meat creates digestive difficulty fails to hold up. The argument of the nay-sayers looses integrity under the most superficial scrutiny. Leon F. Whitney, D.V.M. in his numerous writings asserts that a Dog can eat and thrive on just about anything, in various combinations, as long as its rations are calorie rich and nutritious. Jeremiah E. Bennis D.V.M. conditions dogs for sprint racing in Alaska. These dogs are fed flesh and dry food. I am both comfortable and confident that in addition to expert opinion, volumes of anecdotal evidence support the dry/raw feeding practice.

Conclusion: The healthy dogs pancreas is highly efficient and is not challenged by a combination of dry and meat. In fact, a food synergy is said to exist when foods are mixed, increasing values and benefits. Feeding cooked or raw meat with other types of food (dry or raw) is in keeping with proper dietary procedure. My experience in shaping dogs for sporting events clearly supports the dry/flesh feeding combination. It is both safe and acceptable.