69: Is Your Dog's Diet Really Healthy? Here’s What You Need to Know

Is Your Dog's Diet Really Healthy? Here’s What You Need to Know

Intro

Today, we're diving into a topic that's not just fascinating, but also incredibly important for the health and wellbeing of our four legged companions. And that is why dogs are meat eaters. And we'll explore the ancestry, physiology, and even discuss some common misconceptions, especially the kind that.

Your vet might be perpetuating. Plus, I'll share our personal experience with feeding our German Shepherd, Ribi, a raw meat diet, and how that contrasts with the balanced kibble diet most dogs are on today.

Are you ready to revolutionize your health and reconnect to your primal self?

Welcome to the Primal Shift Podcast.

Sponsorship

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And now back to the episode.

Now to understand why dogs are carnivores, we need to look at their ancestry. Dogs are direct descendants of wolves, which are obligate carnivores. And this means that their entire physiology is designed to thrive on a diet composed mainly of meat. Not, maybe not exclusively, but mainly, and we'll get to that.

So let's start with their teeth. Dogs have sharp pointed teeth designed for tearing flesh, not grinding plant material. Their jaws are powerful and capable of exerting significant pressure. And I know this firsthand because just this morning I had to pry one of our turkeys out of our neighbor's dog's mouth.

And I can tell you it took all of my strength. to pry that, uh, those, the jaw open and get our turkey out. But, you know, their jaw strength is ideal for crushing bones and tearing meat. And unlike herbivores and omnivores, dogs lack flat molars needed to grind grains and other plant matter efficiently.

Next, let's talk about their digestive tract. Dogs have a relatively short digestive system compared to herbivores and even omnivores. And this is because meat is easier and quicker to digest. And their stomachs are highly acidic, with a pH level that can drop to around 1 to 2. And that helps them break down meat and bones, and more importantly, kill harmful bacteria that might be present in raw meat.

And I think maybe that's where the misconception comes from, that a dog's mouth is incredibly clean. I don't think it's incredibly clean, but it has, it is such an inhospitable, inhospitable environment for germs and that extends down to the digestive tract so they can eat a lot of things that we, that would make us sick, um, and they don't.

Simply because, you know, all of that stuff kills the bacteria and pathogens and so they don't, you know, they make it, they don't make it through the digestive system. Now, their small and large intestines are also much shorter indicating a digestive system optimized for meat consumption rather than plant material.

A dog's gut simply isn't designed to ferment plant matter like an herbivore's, uh, would be. And the short digestive tract and a sitting environment further reinforce that dogs are built to process meat, not grains or vegetables. Now, you might be wondering, if dogs are such clear cut carnivores, why do so many veterinarians recommend a Quote unquote balanced diet that includes grains and other plant based ingredients and the unfortunate truth is that much of the Veterinary curriculum is influenced if not outright sponsored By commercial pet food companies, these companies have a vested interest in promoting a product, which is often, which often contain grains, fillers, and processed ingredients that aren't natural for a dog's diet.

Now, in our experience, you know, we contacted over a dozen vets in our area and not a single one recommended a raw meat diet. And that was Ribeye. And I just wanted to find out what is a vet who understands, you know, canine nutrition properly and who appreciates that dogs are carnivores for the most part.

Not a single one, um, said that's a good idea. They all recommended against it in favor of a more balanced kibble based diet, which is absolute BS. The problem is that, you know, the vet's advice doesn't align with the biological evidence or the natural history of canines. It's a classic example of how commercial interests can influence medical recommendations and, you know, that obviously not only happens in the, uh, in the canine world, we've seen this in, you know, with human medicine and medical advice as well, especially over the last couple of years.

So what happens when you feed a dog the diet they were designed for? Well, let me tell you about our experience with Ribeye, our German Shepherd. We switched him to a raw diet. Right after we got him from the breeder, consisting of three pounds of a mix of muscle meat, organs, and bones from various animals, meaning beef, lamb, goat, beaver, even some sardines, turkey, you name it.

And so he eats three pounds now, and you know, he is like 90 pounds or so. Obviously, he didn't eat three pounds when he was a pup, when he was significantly lighter. And we also give him three to five egg yolks from our own hands. Uh, each day together with his meat. And sometimes we also add in some raw milk kefir, uh, some bovine colostrum, some berries from our garden, and occasionally even cooked sweet potato.

And when we butcher rabbits, he gets the whole rabbit, including the stomach and its contents. And that's interesting because that kind of gives you an idea. Um, of what dogs can get away with in terms of, you know, eating plant materials, because our dog hasn't been influenced by commercials, by, you know, social media or anything.

He just eats what feels natural to him and that includes stomach contents, which means partially digested plant matter. So you might wonder, you know, why the extras? Why feed him extra stuff other than meat? And there are two reasons for that. One is we like, uh, seeing what. Or we like, uh, to find out what he eats when given the choice, because dogs are very instinct, well, all animals really are mostly, maybe not goats, but everything else, they're instinctual eaters.

So they eat what's good for them and they don't eat what's not so good for them. And so we can kind of figure out, okay, what can he have? Um, You know, and be okay with. And the second reason that kind of, you know, dovetails right into that is cutting down on feed cost. You know, feeding raw is incredibly expensive.

We'll talk about that in a bit. Now, here's the thing, though. I'm not entirely convinced that dogs should never eat raw. plant, you know, um, having seen how ribeye consumes the stomach contents of rabbits, I don't mind him having access to partially digested or fermented plant matter. He also sometimes nibbles on grass, you know, and he usually does that and then throws up.

So I don't know if that's a Kind of a digestive, you know, aid type of thing, or a medicinal thing, or maybe, you know, to throw up something he ate before that he shouldn't have, I don't know, but he does that, and we let him do that, because, you know, if it wasn't good, he wouldn't be doing it. Um, now his primary nutrition obviously comes from meat, organs, and bones, which is what his body is designed to process, and the results, well, Reba is in excellent health.

His coat is shiny, his teeth are clean without us ever having to brush them, and he's full of energy, you know? And this stands in stark contrast to many other dogs on kibble diets who often suffer from dental issues, dull coats, and various health problems. And, you know, here's the thing, canine health in the U.

S. is facing a significant crisis, much like human health, you know, with diseases like diabetes, cancer, and obesity becoming increasingly rampant among dogs, well, and cats too. Think about that, you know, this is not only a human issue, you know, we see the very same, um, side effects of crappy, inappropriate diet in our pets.

That's ridiculous, you know. Over half of the dogs in the country are overweight or obese, leading to a higher prevalence of chronic conditions that severely impact their quality of life and drives up, you know, medical bills, obviously. Obesity in particular, um, is a major contributor to the rise in diabetes among dogs as excess weight strains the bodies and disrupts insulin regulation.

Additionally, cancer has become one of the leading causes of death in dogs, with estimates suggesting that nearly 1 in 4 dogs will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. These alarming statistics highlight the urgent need for a re evaluation of common dietary practices and a greater focus on preventive care to improve the overall health and longevity of our canine companion.

companions. In other words, feed those dogs an appropriate diet, you know, and, and have medical professional give actually professional advice. The problem is we don't get that, you know, not from human doctors and not from vets. And that's a huge issue. And that means you need to take control of not only your own health, but also your dog's health and just apply common sense.

You know, what's, Uh, are, are the ancestors of dogs eating it's meat? And yes, you know, dogs have been domesticated a long time ago. They have certainty evolved. They have changed and they have maybe, you know, also adapted, you know, some of their dietary needs. But looking at the physique of a dog, you know, the mouth.

the jaw, the teeth, the digestive tract. There is nothing to suggest that our dogs have become omnivores. That's absolute bullshit, you know? And anytime I go to a doctor, be it a human doctor or a vet, you know, and they tell me, Oh, you shouldn't be feeding your dog meat and you shouldn't be eating so much meat yourself.

And, you know, I'm like, you know, look at you, look at, The pets under your care, look at your own pets maybe, and look at my dog, and look at me, and you tell me that I am eating the wrong things. It's absolutely hilarious. So, you know, think for yourself, is what I'm trying to say here. Now, but let's talk a bit about why kibble is so terrible.

First off, kibble is loaded with processed grains and seed oils, which are far from healthy. What a dog would naturally consume. These ingredients can, much like in humans, lead to inflammation, obesity, and a host of other health problems. And one of the things is, you know, the high heat used in processing kibble destroys many of the natural nutrients, those few very, um, difficult to absorb nutrients that are in plant matter.

are destroyed using the high heat during the processing and then are synthetically added back. This isn't real food, you know, it's a highly processed Piece of crap that is designed for convenience and shelf life, but not for your dog's health. Dogs, like most animals, instinctively know what's good for them, you know, they haven't been brainwashed by, uh, by years of commercials telling them what to eat.

If you put a bowl of raw meat and organs in front of a dog alongside with a, uh, bowl of kibble. I guarantee they'll go for the meat every time. You know, it's what their bodies are telling them to eat. Now, feeding Ribeye this way isn't cheap. You know, he eats about 400 worth of meat each month. This is a significant amount of money, and it's one of the many reasons we're working towards raising 100 percent of the meat we consume as a family, including for our dog.

You know, that's why we raise Why we have livestock, you know, and why we want to, uh, even raise more livestock, especially larger livestock that can produce a significant amount of meat. So we can feed rabbi. Um, And even though it's super expensive, I think the benefits we see in his health and well being make it worth every penny.

And it's the reason why we only have one dog and not two or three or four, because we could not be feeding so many dogs an appropriate diet, right? And, uh, even though I would like to have more dogs, but maybe once we have more animals, we'll have another dog, so we can, you know, feed them all meat. Now, it's worth noting that there are several versions of raw feeding, including PMR, uh, which stands for Prey Model Raw and BARF, which stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food.

And each has its proponents, but they all share a focus on feeding dogs the diet they were naturally designed to eat. So I wouldn't necessarily sweat, you know, picking between those two. PMR is basically only meat, you know. organs and bones. Uh, barf can include some vegetable and plant matter. And we mostly do PMR, but with some exceptions as mentioned earlier, like, you know, the kefir, uh, some sweet potatoes, some berries, maybe the stomach contents of, you know, rabbits, et cetera.

So those go more into the barf side. And I think barf is. more doable from a financial perspective, because you can prepare some of those veggies yourself and you cook a sweet potatoes, et cetera, uh, that can lower the cost a little bit, but not by far because the, you know, your dog is still going to eat predominantly meat and some extra if you want to, if you choose to.

Now, before we wrap up, it's worth mentioning that cats. Much like dogs are also obligate carnivores feeding them anything but a diet predominantly composed of meat can have serious negative impacts on their health. And I know because I've been a cat person for most of my life and I've always fed them, you know, kibble with the last cat, you know, now thinking back and knowing what I know now, I, I feel guilty really of feeding that cat such a chunk diet of mostly rancid probably expired kibble we had you know bought it in bulk and had it forever and uh it was it was terrible and you know he at some point disappeared probably died somewhere in the woods because he was just too sick and fat and obese and all the things that you don't want to have again while feeding raw can be expensive and time consuming.

The benefits, you know, to your pet's health are undeniable. So if you care about your dog's well being, or cat's for that matter, if you're a cat person, it's at least worth considering. You know, maybe partially if you can't do it all, you know. Um, But the thing is, you know, dogs should not be eating kibble, you know, no grains, no seed oils, no processed chunk food.

And our goal really is to raise as much of that food our dog consumes as possible and as much of the food that we consume so we can have full control over our health, our dog's health, uh, without, uh, breaking the bank. So thanks for tuning in. I hope this episode has given you some insight. A, some food for thought, pun intended, about what you're feeding your dog.

If, uh, you've had experiences with raw feeding or want to learn more, I'd love to hear from you until next time, take care and keep questioning the status quo. Coming up on the next episode of the Primal Shift podcast. Get ready for a deep dive into the world of martial arts and meditation with special guest Jeff Patterson, founder of Northwest Fighting Arts and Portland Tai Chi Academy.

Jeff has spent over 36 years mastering the art of yielding, a transformative concept that blends physical, mental, and emotional strength. In this episode, Jeff shares how the practice of yielding can enhance your life, whether you're in a heated martial arts battle or navigating everyday challenges. From self defense to mental clarity, this episode will leave you thinking about the power of being present and strategic.

Don't miss it. Tune in to discover how you can integrate the ancient wisdom of yielding into your modern life.