Feeding Dogs a Raw Meaty Bone Diet
by Jackie Marriott

Since meeting vet Tom Lonsdale at one of his seminars, I have become a full-time (unpaid) campaigner for raw meaty bones! A few months prior to attending his seminar I had started feeding my Bernese raw minced meat and scrap bones, sort of following the BARF type diets advocated by Ian Billinghurst. It was only after meeting Tom, and then reading his book Raw Meaty Bones, that I realised that firstly, I was doing it all wrong and secondly, I had allowed the majority of the veterinary profession, notably the veterinary associations, as well as the advertising from the multi-billion pound petfood companies, to get away with ‘feeding’ me (and other pet owners) such a load of hogwash about dog/cat food for so long.

Dogs (and cats) thrived on ‘real’ food long before processed was invented - it’s only really in the last 40-50 years that feeding dogs and cats from a can or a packet has been considered the norm.

Having never been comfortable feeding dried foods, I tended to feed our dogs tinned or vacuum packed processed food. I used to think it was normal to be at the vet every few weeks with one of my (then) five Bernese. Itchy ears, runny eyes, skin problems, upset tummies, teeth cleaning etc etc. I often joked with my vet about how a Bernese would be an ideal dog for vets to own! Over the years many serious health issues occurred - each time leaving me feeling so angry that our lovely breed were so beset with problems, and we had them for far too short a time.

Listening to Tom was the proverbial life-changing experience and since then my dogs have been fed the carnivorous diet that they have evolved to eat. The difference in their health has been staggering. The difference in financial terms is equally amazing - I hardly ever need to take any of my dogs to the vet. Their teeth are clean, their breath doesn’t smell (we’ve all heard the term ‘dog breath’), their skin doesn’t smell ‘doggy’ - all things which so many people accept as normal. They look superb and have natural energy by the bucket load. They ‘work’ at their food, unlike dried, tinned or even minced raw, which is slurped down in seconds. I’m hopeful that as they progress into middle age, they will not develop the kidney problems, cancers etc that all my other dogs have died from.

So what is wrong with processed food? Most importantly, and aside from the fact that the food is cooked and full of artificial colours, additives and flavour enhancers, it is the size and texture of the food which is totally wrong to feed an animal designed, anatomically, physiologically and psychologically, from mouth to tail-tip, to rip, tear, crush and digest whole raw prey. Mankind has changed the external appearance of dogs, to create all the various breeds, but internally they are still the same as their wild ancestors.

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