End the Misery

[Ken]

As I sit here at my keyboard, my ever loyal dogs are sleeping at my feet.

Even in his sleep, one of them is trying to kill me. I have had both of them on a steady Iams dry food (weight control) diet for quite a long time. I have really cut back on the "people food" and they have only gotten a bit of beef, chicken, or a milkbone to supplement their diets.

My God. Clyde is farting non-stop and it reeks something awful. I just did a little web search, and I'd like to share the following with all of you who suffer as I am now suffering. He's about to get woken up for a little treat of yogurt. Let's end the misery NOW........


"EIGHT TIPS TO REDUCE YOUR DOG’S FLATULENCE"

"This short report comes to you courtesy of http://www.dogflatulence.com

Please feel free to pass this document to your friends, give it away from your web site as a free download or as a gift to your ezine/newsletter subscribers.

Tip 1. Give your dog a good quality diet. Feed your pooch with only the best dog food you can afford.

Tip 2. Don’t feed your dog food which you know is likely to give cause to gas and flatulence. Think about it – you know what gives you gas so feeding your dog on the same is likely to cause the same result!

Tip 3. After your dog has eaten, given them a spoonful of natural yoghurt as a little treat. This can aid digestion and help to prevent a flatulence outbreak.

Tip 4. If your dog is prone to “wolfing” down his food, try feeding them on a “little and often” basis. If your dog is “wolfing” he’s swallowing air with his food – a cause of flatulence. Feeding little and often can help to cut down on that.

Tip 5. Raise his bowl off the floor a little. You can buy, inexpensively, dog bowl stands. This can help him to eat at a “natural” height and also help to stop him “wolfing” and swallowing air.

Tip 6. Try to cut out those treats you can help but dish out when your dog gives you “that” look. It’ll help to keep his weight down too. Or if you really must give in to temptation from time to time, give him a little piece of chicken or good quality kibble.

Tip 7. Regular exercise. A dog who gets his share of “walkies” will be a happy and healthy dog. Another aid to digestion and flatulence prevention measure. Plus – if any gas does “escape” while your out with your dog it can escape “naturally” and not cause a “nasty smell” in your house.

Tip 8. Talk to your vet about vitamin supplements – the right vitamins can help cut down on dog flatulence as well as being good for your dog’s health in general."

[Rick]

That's pretty funny. I'm not certain how accurate it is but it was a good chuckle.

For instance, swallowing air doesn't cause gas. It might cause the dog to belch but the process of digestion creates methane, hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide as a bi product. When food is not broken down in the stomach and small intestine it finds it's way to the large intestine. It's like a smorgasbord to those little bacteria that live in the gut quietly munching away on our food. They are the little goobers that create the various gases which must be passed, musically ...always in the presence of others. The smelly part is the hydrogen sulfide. Here, pull my finger.

Too, funny.

[MatthewnOK]

Here I am at 7:30 in the morning, cross-eyed, looking at the scientific anatomy of dog farts. Nut...

[Rick]

It just proves the extent the MODS are willing to go on this forum to offer up quality information based on sound, scientific fact and using hands on experience. No hour too late, no night too dark, no winter too cold. Hey! Pull my finger.

[Ken]

Here I am at 7:30 in the morning, cross-eyed, looking at the scientific anatomy of dog farts. Nut...

Are you reading about it, or are you actually looking at it?

[Alpine_Sapper]

Ken,

I have to totally disagree with what you posted. Here's the rub; I've been feeding a "high-quality" food that someone who (self proclaimed) "knows everything there is to know about dogs" recommended. With no affiliation to the company, this person suggested a dog food that is $50 for a 35 lb bag. Ok. It's a holistic food. (For those wondering, it's Nutro Max Ultra-Holistic). This food is CRAP. Sure, it's 1000 times better than Purina, Alpo, or any of the other junk our there like "Beneful", but it's still CRAP.

If you look at the primary ingredients in most dog foods, it's corn meal. Typically the ingredients with the highest concentration in the food will be listed first, and then in descending order. Pick up the bag and look at it; I bet the first ingredient in any of your foods is corn meal. How many wild dogs do you see eat corn? Now check and see if beet pulp is anywhere in there? How many dogs do you see go dig up a beet and eat it?
These are put in as fillers, and not digested by your dog. In fact, they could be poisoning him/her. Case in point, the only reason beet pulp is put in dog food is as a stool hardener. It makes it so that your dog either CANT go to the bathroom because he's constipated, or it becomes more difficult to pass. Even if it's not THAT drastic because your dog is drinking excessive amounts of water to compensate, you can no longer tell if there is something wrong with your dog by examining the stool as the beet pulp covers all of that up.

You can also get a condition called "bloat" by feeding carbohydrate diets to a dog. Horses are prone to it too, from the oats. Guess what? If your food has oatmeal, your putting a ticking time bomb in your dogs stomach that is going to cause it to twist, and will cause the gas warfare condition you are mentioning.

Your dog is NOT meant to be an herbivore, or an omnivore. I recently read an arcticle talking about how dogs had been domesticated to the point that we had changed them from carnivores into omnivores, and that dogs would gladly eat fruit and vegetables as a snack.

roflmfao.

You can form your own opinions from research you do on the above statements. All I will say is that you should be aware that a LOT of people out there take the propaganda created by scientists on the dog food companies payroll as gospel, and this stuff is put out specifically so that people will buy this crappy food, poison their dogs, and all the time feel good about feeding their dog a primarily carbohydrate diet that is killing him/her.

So what's the solution? RESEARCH. Make your OWN conclusions. Find your OWN food.

Me? I feed a raw diet. It's more inline with what a canine SHOULD be eating. For about a buck a pound, you can get a raw food that consists of turkey, duck, emu, beef, etc. It's primarily the organs, turkey necks, etc that can't be sold in the supermarket when they butcher, but, if you've ever watched a pack slaughter prey, what get's consumed first? The Alpha has his pick of the organs, the higher stature dogs will get their pick, and the lowest statured dog in the pack will end up getting the "scraps", or muscle tissue.

I make my own dog biscuits. The primary ingredients are lamb meal, salmon meal, chicken meal...

Other than that for treats, my dog either gets jerkey, tuna, or salmon packets. Those are expensive, so rare. I also keep a large supply of bones on hand, but ONLY RAW BONES. Cooked bones will splinter much easier. Bones are GOOD for your dog. Anyone that tells you otherwise is probably listening to the propaganda from the guys that are making dog treats/food and want you to buy their product instead of going and talking to your butcher or feed store.

And just so you guys know, the one that recommended the Nutro Max to me, was a breeder, so sometimes even reputable sources turn out to be wrong.

Please understand I'm not trying to slam the dog food companies (although I could write a book about that) I'm just trying to pass along the results of my research, so you can inform yourself by doing your own, and hopefully, whether you come to the same conclusion I did or not, you will find a diet for your pooch that had the same results I did. I have never seen my dogs so healthy or with such a shiny, vibrant coat, and I've never seen such vibrance in their eyes. Please, for your dogs health, pay attention to what you put in his bowl. And Ken, it'll help the assault on your olfactory senses as well.

[Ken]

You know, that makes alot of sense. My vet actually told me once that I was slowly killing my dogs when I told him that their diet consisted mainly of meat (beef and chicken - cooked) with a few mix-ins like carrots and a bit of rice.

During the melamine scare, I made all of their food myself. Most recipies called for some rice, OATMEAL, and veggies or peanut butter. Years ago, Clyde got pancreatitis after he helped himself to a few pounds of shelled crabmeat. Four days in Angel Memorial Animal Hospital and about $7,000 in vet bills (including $2,000 for four hours at the local ER).

Sapper, care to share any of your recipies with us?

[Alpine_Sapper]

You know, that makes alot of sense. My vet actually told me once that I was slowly killing my dogs when I told him that their diet consisted mainly of meat (beef and chicken - cooked) with a few mix-ins like carrots and a bit of rice.

During the melamine scare, I made all of their food myself. Most recipies called for some rice, OATMEAL, and veggies or peanut butter. Years ago, Clyde got pancreatitis after he helped himself to a few pounds of shelled crabmeat. Four days in Angel Memorial Animal Hospital and about $7,000 in vet bills (including $2,000 for four hours at the local ER).

Sapper, care to share any of your recipies with us?

Yeah, I can. Gotta give me a week or so though. All my stuff except BOB's and field gear is in storage in the DFW area, and I only bust those dog biscuit recipes out every now and then when I run out, so I don't have them commited to memory.

As for the the food, it's easy. Buy the raw and feed it the way it is. You can buy the frozen blocks of chopped up raw, and you just pull one out, toss it in their bowl, and let it thaw, or let them eat it frozen (some dogs will, some won't, usually depends on how hungry they are.) There are other ways you can get it, and while it can be messy so you may want to feed outside or in a controlled environment where you can clean any mess up.

Sucks about the vet bills. I know how that goes. Never in my life, before I had kids, would I have looked someone in the eye and with a straight face muttered the words "Sure, go ahead with the $500 surgery to save this cat's life." Now, I like the cat, and in his defense, he's a scrapper that got an absess from kicking a Raccoon's ***, which, I think, is the only reason I paid it. But the fact that Kashi got giardia at the SAME damn time, the vet bill came out to like $1600. For some antibiotics, two tests, and draining the life threatening absess from the cat. Yay. Still doesn't hurt as bad as the gut punch they got you with though.

[tennecedar]

I blame it on my dog too.

[Rick]

You own a $9000 dog? The way I figure it, for $9000 I could own AT LEAST 180 dogs! That's 15 Mossbergs or 60 really good BOBs!

[Rick]

I blame it on my dog too.

Tennecedar - You just....never mind.

[tennecedar]

Huh? Whad I say? I was just thinking that if I was an attorney, and someone came in the room, I would want something to back up my claim that the dog caused the offending odor. What better way than by being able to pull up this post? There by giving me a perfectly plausible alibi.

[Rick]

It's your story. Tell it any way you like.

[Ken]

I blame it on my dog too.

Yeah, I know what you mean. However, last night it was just the three of us - the two dogs and me. And they KNOW whose farts are whose.

I once read up on the sensitivity of a beagle's sense of smell. I then calculated that If some sicky were to pour 5 quarts of dog urine in the middle of our local reservoir, my guys would know it was there two days after the fact. And if they "knew" the dog, they would know that the urine was his/hers. Amazing.......

[Ken]

You own a $9000 dog? The way I figure it, for $9000 I could own AT LEAST 180 dogs! That's 15 Mossbergs or 60 really good BOBs!

I paid $350.00 for him. The $7,000.00 (not $9,000.00) got added to the cost of the crabmeat, not the dog.

[mountain mama]

I blame it on my dog too.

Now I understand why my husband continues to feed the dogs people food despite my objections....this explains so much!

[Alpine_Sapper]

The way I figure it, for $9000 I could own AT LEAST 180 dogs!

Why would you want such a small pack?

[Alpine_Sapper]

Dogs have evolved.
They are omnivore.

Feeding them raw meat is a "mistake"...rooted in our own desire to revert back to "what we were". They...the dogs, have made that diet leap in order to align themselves with their idea of survival. They have decided, under the natural laws of the economy of energy to eat our scraps and hang out around us.

We made a deal with them.
They work for us...and we give them food.
But we are not the only ones having made that deal. Dogs live with baboons too. And they have the same deal with them. Dogs guard the baboon camp...bark when danger is close, and in return, they eat the baboon's scraps. Baboons are not giving them a raw meat diet.

Dogs will eat anything, as long as it is in the direction of economy of energy. Wild dogs do not eat meat everyday...hunting is hard work. And if they only based their survival on raw meat, they would become instinct. No...their diet consists of everything and anything they can find. Having said that...a balance diet is our responsibility as dog owners.
My dog is now 14 years old...she still runs and acts like she is 2.
Her diet has mostly been dry food.
I never bathe her...and i rarely give her treats apart from what falls on the ground while cooking, because that is really what they are.

All that to say...a raw diet is not in line with what a canine should be eating. A dog is not a wolf yes ? And each dog will respond differently to certain foods.

Like I said, everyone is going to have their own opinions. I raise large dogs, and while probably one of the more feral breeds, no, they are not a wolf.

However, as adaptable as dog is, they are still not healthy on an omnivorous diet. Yes, they can consume and pass grains, but they won't, unless WE give them to them. Have you ever seen a dog harvest wheat? The only time I've ever seen a dog go out and eat anything OTHER than prey was when they were having stomach issues, typically from a change in the dry food that we give them. Then they rely on instinct and eat grass to help. Why? Because they are not getting the partially digested plant matter from their prey via the stomach.

How many members of the canine genus do you see eating/harvesting plants?
None.

Why should domestic dog be any different?
Because we think they should eat the same things we do? that's like the lady trying to turn her "chi-weenies" into vegetarians because she is. Retarded, imho.

I'm glad your dog has lived longer than the average lifespan. However, I must say she/he is one of the lucky ones. And you are right, each dog will respond differently to certain foods.

No, wild dogs do not eat meat everyday. Neither does a wolfpack. But a dog is not a gatherer. He/She will not go out and forage berries or dig up wild plants to eat, whether they know they can or not. They'll go eat a frog, or a bug, or a rabbit, or a squirrel, or whatever else they can CATCH and eat that. If the prey was satiating enough they may not have to hunt again for couple of days.

I have no desire "revert back to "what we were"", because honestly, I think the evolutionary advances we've made are good ones. But I also think you're buying into the hype of the dog food companies. I have never seen one bit of compelling evidence that did NOT come from a dog food company in support of dry food. Sure, it's more convenient, and no one wants to believe that for the past 14 years they've been slowly killing their dog, so they defend their choice of actions by saying that dog has "adapted". But if you RESEARCH the statements I made regarding corn meal, oatmeal, and beet pulp, as well as the other crap in your dog food, it will definitely open your eyes.

One thing I forgot to mention; Dog food is commonly preserved with Vitamin E because it's "natural". But, in dog food, the Vitamin E has to be modified to keep it from going rancid, so not only is it no longer natural, it's not something your dog can digest.

[Alpine_Sapper]

What dogs do you have again ?

American Akitas.

[trax]

Dogs have evolved.
They are omnivore.

Feeding them raw meat is a "mistake"...

WonderMutt agrees Remy. He likes his bacon not too crispy and his steak medium-rare. He prefers Wendy's over Burger King and he sees no good reason why he should have to share a package of beef jerky with a human when we're out driving together. (although I have to do all the driving)