Raw Diet:

The diet that you feed your puppy is of paramount importance in maintaining its health.  It doesn't make sense to buy a purebred puppy and then skimp on its nutrition by buying junky supermarket kibble.  Improper nutrition will invariably increase the cost of veterinary care in the long term.  We at Plumridge have chosen to feed our dogs a raw diet, called the BARF Diet.  This stands for either Bones and Raw Foods, or Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods.  In the wild, wolves ate a variety of foods; raw meat from the pack's kill (including raw meaty bones), and they also ate the contents of the digestive systems of the animals they killed.  A raw diet attempts to mimic this diet, and many believe it has been shown to minimize many of the age related illnesses we have taken for granted as a part of aging in our pets.  In our opinion, feeding a diet that contains fresh, organic, antibiotic and hormone free foods is infinitely better than feeding commercially processed food that often contain questionable ingredients and possibly preservatives that have been shown to cause cancer (ethoxyquin, which is still legally allowed to be used in pet food although it has been banned for human consumption).  Also, if you have a dog that is a finicky eater, a raw diet will probably be a welcome change as far as your dog is concerned! 

Raw meaty bones of appropriate size for your breed make just about the best natural toothbrush you can find.  For Cavaliers (and dogs of about the same size), raw chicken wings or raw chicken necks are a very good way to keep your dogs teeth clean and in good shape.  Remember--these must be fed raw!  If you are uncomfortable with feeding your dogs raw meaty bones whole, you can also grind them up, but they won't be getting the "teeth on bone" action that keeps the teeth cleaner. 

You can either make your own raw diet, and it's about the same cost as a premium kibble, or you can choose to buy a commercially prepared frozen raw dog food.  We feed Primal Pet Food to all our dogs.  Please see the "Primal" page on our web site for more information.

There are several excellent books on the subject of raw feeding, and a few are:

• Give Your Dog A Bone by Australian Veterinarian Dr. Ian Billinghurst

• Grow Your Pups With Bones by the same author

• Raw Meaty Bones by Dr. Tom Lonsdale, a British Veterinarian

• Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats, The Ultimate Diet by Kymythy Schulze

These books are available at www.dogwise.com and www.amazon.com .

A word of warning:  Do not try to undertake making your own raw diet unless you've educated yourself on how to prepare this diet.  You can do great damage by not learning as much as you can about raw feeding before you start your pets on it!

If you choose to feed kibble, then it pays to invest in a premium quality kibble that does not contain corn or grains as fillers.  Many dogs are allergic to these things, and they can cause skin allergies and other illnesses.

For a very eye opening look at the contents of some commercial pet foods (a main reason why more and more people are starting to see the benefits of raw feeding), please read "Food Pets Die For" by Ann Martin (also available at the above web sites).  Ms. Martin did quite a long investigation into what is legally allowed to be used in the production of many commercial kibbles and canned foods that are on the market today.  In reading her book, it's very illuminating as to why so many of our pets are developing age related illnesses.  It is very shocking, to say the least.  That being said, there are also several commercial pet foods that are of a significantly higher quality and Ms. Martin identifies several of those in her book.  We highly recommend this book if you are serious about maintaining the health of your canine or feline friends..