Arnold's Choice

Raw feeding dogs and biologically appropriate raw foods have boomed over the last decades in dog circles. The reasons why are very simple: feeding dogs raw food means you know exactly what they are eating without added chemicals, preservatives, or denatured nutrients. Additionally, the proteins, fatty acids, and carbohydrates are bioavailable and much healthier than kibble.

Over the last couple of decades, the pet food industry did not help itself with huge numbers of recalls and withdrawals even amongst the top dog food brands! Make sure you watch the Netflix documentary Pet Fooled. Incredibly shocking behaviors from the industry. Pet parents and dog breeders got tired of these low-quality dog foods and started switching to a raw meat diet.

Raw feeding a dog is pretty much the most natural and instinctive way dogs enjoy food: it’s very tasty, it has high water content and contains no processed ingredients. After a few weeks on a biologically appropriate raw diet, physical benefits will become observable but the best pros of a raw dog diet happen under the hood.

Ideally, the dog owner wants to offer its dog a raw dog diet similar to what the wild would offer. From muscle meat, boney meat, to offals, as well as adding wholesome leafy greens and vegetables.

In the same way that we know processed junk food is bad for our minds and bodies, your dog’s processed meals can also have similar consequences. Processed dog food generally provides a poorer standard of nutrition than all-natural provides because of the low protein and high salt, sugar, and chemical content. These factors, especially when combined, will often impact negatively on your dog’s health over time. Sometimes it’s difficult to notice these negative effects until trying an alternative diet, such as the raw food dog diet, reveals eye-opening results.

The fact that processed dog food is cooked at high temperatures can also impact on its quality as many of the beneficial enzymes present in raw food are killed off during the cooking process, altering its structure. These enzymes are key components in many of your dog’s metabolic processes and without them, your dog’s body will have to work harder to digest its food, which can lead to a whole host of problems (digestive troubles being the most obvious).

Feeding dogs raw is trying to mimic what their diet would be if they were in the wild, and humans offer some healthy adjustments such as adding certain vegetables that promote good health in dogs. Perfecting a raw diet to optimize the nutritional profile of each meal.

Perhaps one of the most obvious advantages of providing your dog with a raw food diet is that you know exactly what your dogs are ingesting. There are no hidden chemicals, or additives or preservatives in our products, that may be doing your dog more harm than good. Some of the big names are already running a raw food line but the ingredients tell the truth, in some they have added montmorillonite, which is clay, yes that’s right dirt. Its an additive for dog food that stops it from “caking” and also triples in size with moisture, but don’t worry, we don’t do that at Arnold’s Choice, what we offer is real meat, real fruit and real vegetables from Ontario, made in Ontario, yes here in Canada. Feeding your dog raw food is probably the quickest and easiest way to ensure you know about every ingredient that is passing through your dog’s stomach and with this comes peace of mind. You can ensure your dog has only the best!

If your dog ever becomes unwell on a raw-fed diet you will not have to agonize over a long list of ingredients trying to work out what they are and whether they may be the cause. When you are trying to find the right food for your dog, you will also spend less time using trial and error to find products that agree with your dog. With a raw food diet, what you see is what you get and as long as the food is safely stored and prepared it is unlikely that your dog will experience any health-related issues as a consequence of diet once the transition period has passed.

Something that many dog owners will have noticed after switching their dog to a raw diet is that their dog’s excrement is less smelly and much more compact — this will not matter so much to the dog, but it’s a small victory for the owner! Raw fed dog waste has no real odor as it consists largely of powdered bone. It also tends to be produced in smaller quantities than the stools of dogs who eat a processed dog food diet. This is due to a greater uptake of nutrients and water; your dog’s digestive system has not had to work so hard to rid itself of processed ingredients that it cannot use.

When your dog eats a high-grain carbohydrate meal, the pH of his stomach is altered. Dogs who eat a raw diet typically have a low stomach pH which equals high acidity to aid digestion and maximize nutrient absorption, whereas a dog on a processed diet will have a high stomach pH and lower stomach acidity, making digestion more difficult. This also means that the food will almost all just pass straight through the dog giving them no great health benefits — this is also why their stools may look much bigger. Indeed, processed kibble and canned foods often contain a high percentage of fillers, ingredients that cut costs but offer no nutritional advantage… and these pass through the dog’s digestive system and end up in poop!