Your Natural Scottie

We now know that we should be feeding our Scotties the way nature intended. So how do you get started? There really are only a few hard and fast rules in canine nutrition. Dogs are carnivores as per their scientific category (their DNA is 99% wolf) so dogs are designed to digest raw meat and bones - they have a stomach PH level of 1 or 2 which is highly acidic – perfect for digesting raw bones.

The object of feeding a natural raw food diet is to see the health of your Scottie improve. To watch as your Scottie starts to glisten with health and vitality.

Scotties thrive on 250g-300g of raw meat and bones a day (all ages). The only factor that may change this is the activity level of your Scottie. If they are leading a sedentary lifestyle or perhaps their activity level is dropping off as they are getting older you may have to reduce this amount accordingly.

RAW FEEDING GUIDELINES

The key thing to remember with a raw diet are is balance over time – one meal could have more bone content, another more meat or organ.

The approximate ratio for Scotties to thrive on is:

75% meat, sinew, ligaments, fat 15% edible bone 5% liver 5% other organ meat

Meats are high in phosphorus, bones are high in calcium. When meat is fed with 10% bone you have the exact ratios of calcium to phosphorus required by a dog. Whole prey, fish, eggs and tripe also have a balanced ratio.

Organ meat should not exceed 10% of the diet overall and 5% of that should be liver.

If feeding pork or salmon, be certain to freeze the meat for two weeks before feeding to reduce the small risk of parasites.

NEVER feed cooked bones of any type as when bones are cooked they become harder and are dangerous for the dog as they can splinter and pierce the stomach or intestines. Raw bones are soft enough to bend and digest easily.

Feel free to feed ‘weird and icky things’ such as chicken feet, beef trachea, tails, lung, kidney, testicles. Beef trachea, trim, chicken and turkey feet are loaded in natural chondroitin and glucosamine which help to build healthy joints.

Avoid the weight bearing leg and knuckle bones of large animals such as beef – also the vertebrae as these are too dense and dangerous to teeth.

Carbohydrates, in particular grains, are not a natural part of the dog’s diet and we do not recommend they form any part of the diet. Dogs do not have the ability to digest grains properly, so instead, an extra strain is put on the liver as it has to produce more bile to break down the insoluble fibre. Grains suppress the immune system. They are mucous forming and provide an ideal environment for parasites to thrive in. Grains also contribute to the formation of dental plaque and tartar on the teeth, as well as bad breath and flatulence. Neither dogs or cats have any dietary requirement for carbohydrates nor are they equipped with the teeth to process them.

It is a commonly believed myth that dogs switching to a raw diet will experience diarrhoea in the first few days or weeks. This is a myth and is solely caused by an over-zealous approach to the switch to raw food which can cause diarrhoea and/or constipation.

With time, you will become more comfortable with your dog’s natural raw food diet and you will start to see the results in the form of better coats, cleaner teeth, fresher breath and fewer health issues. Switch to a raw diet and feel confident that you will be joining thousands of people who have safely and effectively made the leap to raw and have never looked back.

Don't forget to check out more Scottie info at www.calanclan.com