Feed Your Dog the Natural Way : The Platform Upon Which to Build Health

Feed Your Dog the Natural Way

The Platform Upon Which to Build Health

Christopher Day

Copyright

Feed Your Dog the Natural Way

The Platform Upon Which to Build Health

Christopher Day

Third Edition

Copyright © 2012 Christopher Day

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information technology without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Similarly, no part of this book may be translated into another language without the prior written permission of the publisher. It is sold on the condition that it shall not be resold, lent or hired without the publisher’s prior consent.

ISBN: 978-1-300-34345-5

www.alternativevet.org

wwwnaturalfeeding.uk

Christopher Day MA VetMB VetFFHom CertIAVH MRCVS

Alternative Veterinary Medicine Centre

Chinham House

Stanford in the Vale

Oxfordshire SN7 8NQ

Acknowledgements

This book is the product of stimulus from clients, who have suffered listening to me banging on about natural feeding without actually giving the full explanation of ‘how’. It also owes a great deal to all the lovely canine patients whom it has been my privilege to meet and treat, over the last forty years. We humans are so fortunate that we enjoy their company and that they share their lives with us.

About the Author

Christopher Day qualified from Cambridge University and Veterinary School in 1972. He is Principal of The Alternative Veterinary Medicine Centre, in Oxfordshire - website: www.alternativevet.org.

Introduced to homeopathy at about the age of ten or eleven, he used this type of medicine on himself through school and college, for all the usual colds, flu, rugby injuries etc., to great effect. He started using it on some of his patients from the outset of his veterinary career. His use of homeopathy increased rapidly, taking up an increasing proportion of his practice time. His interest in natural medicine led him to take up acupuncture, having studied abroad, and he now uses these two medical systems, in conjunction with other ‘alternatives’, including chiropractic manipulation, herbs, tissue salts, flower essences, aromatherapy etc., in his holistic medicine practice. In 1987, he founded the Alternative Veterinary Medicine Centre (AVMC), the first dedicated holistic practice in the UK. Healthy nutrition is a mainstay of all his daily holistic work, in which he discusses a species-suitable fresh diet for each and every patient.

He is Veterinary Dean to the Faculty of Homeopathy. He was, for more than twenty-five years, Honorary Secretary of the British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons, of which he was a founder-member. He has served two terms as President of the International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy, of which he was also a founder-member. He is actively involved in clinical research and treats all species with natural medicine. He has written several books on homeopathy, herbs and natural medicine. He lectures around the UK on many aspects of natural medicine and holistic medicine to a wide variety of audiences and teaches vets on post-graduate courses both in the UK and around the world.

Preface

In this early part of the 21st Century, those who care for dogs are becoming more aware that there is a need to question the current ‘norm’, since so much that we have been led to believe about dog management and care is the product of commercial self-interest, driven by the need to sell volumes of mass-produced ‘products’, rather than the wish to disseminate a positive health message. This trend is causing a large number of dog-keeping folk to look into the logic and biological basis for feeding, rather than the convincingly presented, oft-repeated and widely disseminated self-serving emanations from the commercial concerns in the pharmaceutical industry and in the pet food industry.

While a great many people are questioning the ‘norm’, a large proportion of these are unsure how to break out of the mould, for lack of information or for lack of accessible alternatives to the commercial, processed diets that are offered in pet stores and which adorn the modern-day vet’s waiting room (does anyone else get the feeling that veterinary practices are in danger of looking more like shops than professional establishments?).

There are several schools of thought that try to recreate the wild and natural model of dog feeding. Sadly, factions have developed, as in so many fields of human endeavour, with vehement arguments between. The author of this ebook has neither read any of the key books on the topic nor taken any sides, agreeing with much of what is advocated by all those who would seek to feed dogs more naturally. The general idea makes obvious sense, after all, dogs have been eating a natural diet for millennia! However, some of these programmes can be quite rigid (for all the best reasons) so are fine for those who wish to commit themselves fully to strict rules and purchasing habits but are a little difficult, daunting and demanding for the average person in our modern urbanized society, who just wants to move away from processed food into feeding fresh food that is species-suitable. It is hoped that this book, in advocating a fairly relaxed approach to feeding dogs, will help that significant sector of the community to follow their wish to create a simple, fresh and healthy diet for their dog companions.

We all want to do the best we can for our dogs, including giving them a wholesome diet. It is absolutely clear that the food which a dog eats, just as in people, forms the basic components of tissue and organ building, tissue repair and biochemistry. Food gives us energy to carry out daily activity and to drive our metabolism. It is also about renewal of tissues. Can we expect healthy tissues and organs if we do not select the best raw materials? The old adage ‘we are what we eat’ is a meaningful and valid cliché, despite being oft-quoted. Build a house of suspect materials and the house will be sub-standard both in structure and function. So it is with the body.

In the author's daily holistic veterinary practice, dietary improvement is a major part of his medicine. He firmly believes that there is no such thing as good medicine without good diet. Any medical or management initiative that is put in place to help fight illness or to prevent disease, however good, will fall short of its intended target if the patient's nutrition is sub-optimal. The more ill a patient is, the more a fresh and wholesome diet is essential. However, even healthy young animals will benefit hugely from such a diet and be better able to resist illness, premature ageing and degenerative disease. Senior dogs will flourish better and stay active longer on a healthy diet.

Having written ‘Feeding Dogs the Natural Way’, a booklet which ran to four editions, the author has embraced new technology and generated this ebook, to carry on the good work. It is the direct descendant of ‘Feeding Dogs the Natural Way’ 4th Edition but has more information, updated content, clearer and more logical layout and more accessible detail, thanks to its electronic format and thanks to the opportunity to take a fresh look at it. It has been decided, for the sake of convenience to the reader, not to use Digital Rights Management systems (DRM) in presenting this book. In turn, the reader is trusted and expected to respect author copyright.

The purpose of this ebook is to consider the options available, to air the practical, philosophical and scientific questions which arise, to question some of the current paradigms and, by clarifying the issues surrounding dog food, to make decisions easier for those who wish to feed their canine companions ‘their own way’. Armed with all this insight, readers may even change their own eating habits!

The following paragraphs outline the theory and philosophy, which the author considers to be wholesome and healthy, along with providing the logic for that approach, in each case. The ebook constitutes the opinion of the author and not that of any group or body of authority to which he belongs or with which he sympathises. It summarises the author's own views of a practical and varied way to feed dogs. It is realised that, with the pressures of modern life, the ideal may not be attainable in every family but any steps taken towards this goal will be of health benefit. It is important to note, however, that if a holistic view is not taken (i.e. picking and choosing ‘easy’ bits), holistic advice may be needed about balancing the diet or plugging the gaps.

Christopher Day has written on canine diets previously and his thinking has naturally evolved and developed, so the advice presented in this latest book (ebook) will not quite be identical to that given in earlier books and articles written on the subject by him.

Christopher Day has also built a website on natural feeding: www.naturalfeeding.uk.

Any comments or suggestions for this book will be welcomed and might affect the next edition. Please make contact if there is anything that you feel should be addressed.

Introduction

This booklet is intended to provide a simple and non-technical introduction and guide to the ‘natural’ feeding of dogs, in a way that is reasonably relaxed for the busy family yet compatible with and complementary both to a dog’s evolved needs and to natural and holistic healing methods. This implies that it is aimed at the dog that is suffering an illness. However, puppies and adult dogs that are suffering no apparent illness will also benefit greatly from this approach.

The aim is simplicity and freedom to choose a wide variety of dietary ingredients. No actual quantities are given, since the author believes that the dog’s weight should govern quantities given. If the weight is increasing, too much is being given.