Marithyme has been home to raw diet raised Golden Retrievers since 1994. I hope to encourage my puppy buyers to consider these methods of feeding, but I don't insist they feed raw. I do expect each buyer to research what they will feed their puppy in advance to their puppy being released. We discuss the many foods in our Marithyme Yahoo Group. Nutrition is everything and key to raising healthy dogs (and our cat). My many years involved with dogs have taught me well. I have learned first to start out with the best and healthiest dogs of type, temperament and health. This is a solid foundation to “build” on. There is little sense in repairing health issues with breeding animals, the smallest problems can take many years of breeding to “un-do”. The better plan is to breed dogs and bitches with little to no faults and be very careful to breed these animals to equal partners or mates that will add more of what it is you seek. That being done, the next key issue is what to feed these prize dogs. It is very tempting to just rely on purchasing commercially prepared diets sold in pet stores and grocery stores. This is the “easy” method and so the “lazy” method. Comparable to feeding yourself or your family “fast food/ take out/ airplane food”. You can survive on these foods but you will not “thrive” from consuming them. This holds true for the commercial dog diets. Nothing poured from a bag or scooped from a can will ever equal a healthy raw diet you can learn to prepare for your pet! Yes, it means taking the time to educate yourself on what consists of a healthy Nutritious diet for your pet. It does mean shopping and thinking ahead, some cooking and grinding and clean up. You will need a freezer space to handle meats. There are many, many avenues for the pet owner to be educated today on raw diet or combination raw diets. When I began my quest in 1994, I had no internet to search and very few books or articles readily available to research. I was lucky to have a good friend who had been feeding her dogs a raw diet for a year or more and watched how those dogs improved in such a short time over all. Her few dogs on thyroid medication later needed no more treatments and actually recovered, living drug free after years of use! I started with the BARF diet and read Dr Billinghurst’s first book. I have listed some photos to demonstrate how and where my dogs and cat eat. I separate them each in crates, this allows individuals to eat at their own pace. After they eat, I remove their bowls (to the dish washer) and let the crew rest for at least a half hour. This gives them time to process their meal before cavorting about with each other on a full stomach. Then water is introduced. These methods have worked well for us. I am always evolving and changing what we feed. I feel variety helps produce a healthier immune system. Steffi Mullins List of foods I feed our dogs, bitches with whelp and puppies : • Chicken (all parts) • Beef (ground or stew meat) not bones (old and tough on teeth) • Turkey (all parts, cutting up large wings for pups to handle) • Lamb (mostly shank, neck bones, ribs and stew meat) • Venison (when available) • Veal (when available) • NO PORK • Liver (chicken usually a few times a month) • Chicken hearts (a few times a month) What else we add to our dog’s diet : • Powdered goats milk • STONEY FIELD ™ Blueberry or honey yogurt • Honey • Grizzly Wild Salmon oil™ when not feeding fresh fish • All our girls get a half pill prenatal vitamin (human grade) • Nupro supplement • Miller ™ creamy ground rice cereal (added to yogurt) • Dr Harvey’s mix (when not adding rice cereal) alternate • Raw whole egg • Canned mackerel, pink salmon or tuna (human grade)packed in water not oil. • Kale (frozen & ground up) • Berries (frozen and ground up) • Occasionally pasta • Yams (cooked and mashed) • Lentils (cooked) • Banana or kiwi (senior dogs potassium) What I feed, how often as well as how much to give each individual dog using my diet is not scientific. My knowledge comes from trial and error. For example, if one feeds any dog a “white” meat diet, such as chicken & turkey the results could cause anemia in your pet. All dogs NEED red meat in their diet. Often in warm weather I may cut the amount of food that day because the dog’s are far less active and on cold winter days when the dog’s are challenged by ice and snow I might add fat to their diet such as ground blueberries beef bones with fat to assist in building up a heavier coat. My diet is far from perfect and is designed to meet my standards. All dogs do not like or process the diets we feed them equally. It is a matter of keeping records on what dog’s like what. You can tell if an individual dog or pup is not thriving on the diet you design by the stool consistency of each pet. Loose water stools are a result of possibly a change and an adjustment time is needed but usually it means the dog is having trouble digesting that food or combination of foods. Dry hard stools light in color tend to be the results of a healthy diet. Smelly breath or stools are usually not a problem with a good raw diet. Some dogs have allergies to certain foods,so be watchful of their BM's to know if this is the case. A PLACE FOR PAWS- Raw Food Please visit Dr Dodds site on vaccine protocols Dr Jean Dodds

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