hiya bucks in Bourne End, Flackwell Heath, Marlow, Wycombe, Wooburn January 2019 | Page 14

Ask the Expert ... advertorial Should I be feeding my dog Raw Dog Food? Johanna Till from Dogs About Town explains: Proper raw dog food is made to be complete and balanced. It’s unprocessed, uncooked muscle meat, bones, organ meats and (usually, but not always) vegetables. It looks like the ingredients it’s made of - meat, bone and vegetables plus other goodies like flaxseed. And talking of ingredients, the list shouldn’t be long and full of numbers, unpronounceable additives or “meat derivatives”. If its chicken, its chicken, at least 80% muscle meat and no messing. Some of the most important changes will be going on inside your dog…their digestive health will improve dramatically. They will likely have a much healthier microbiome (where the nutritional magic happens in their stomach) so the food passes through efficiently, with more nutrients extracted along the way. And the proteins, fats, vitamins, carbohydrates and nutraceuticals that make up the building blocks of health occur in their natural form - they don’t need to be synthetically “put back in” after high pressure processing. It should never be cooked or subjected to high pressure processing. It’s grain free and with no added chemical nasties. Raw dog food is more popular than ever and it is now easy to feed a healthy raw food diet to your dog. There are several really good manufacturers who produce food to suit a range of doggy needs and budgets. A good supplier will always help you with questions such as how much will my dog eat each day, how much will it cost and which flavours should I choose etc? So, should you be feeding it to your dog? The benefits of raw dog food stem from it being the type of diet that your dog has evolved to eat since they were part of the wolf pack (and they are wolves, deep down). Owners making the switch to raw say they notice: • fresher breath • cleaner teeth • glossier coat • healthier skin and less itching (a raw food diet can work wonders for dogs with a yeast allergy) • Smaller, firmer and less stinky stools (meaning less likelihood of anal gland issues) Making the switch is simple so it has never been easier to feed your dog a healthy raw diet; they will LOVE it! Dogs About Town is a local, family owned business. Jo is a raw dog food nutrition specialist and recently attended the 5th Annual Raw Feeding Veterinary Society’s Conference. www.dogsabouttown.co.uk dogsabouttown 01494 706600 @DogsAboutTownUK [email protected] DogsAboutTownUK https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannatill/ 14 | hiyabucks.com