This is how we feed Tazmin.

I've thought long and hard about whether or not to post this, but I've decided to just lay it out there and let people decide for themselves if this is helpful to them or not. I realize this is a very hot topic even at the best of times, and with the recent events of the recalls, it’s even more so. I have no intention of starting a debate about different brands of food or which method is better vs. whatever, etc. This is just how DH and I decided to deal with what to feed our “girl” and it works for us. I'm not trying to push anyone's buttons.

A couple of years ago, I decided to change Tazmin’s food. Simply put, I do not trust the majority of large commercial pet food manufacturers. I worry about the quality of their ingredients, and whether some ingredients are even necessary and/or beneficial. Those companies are in BUSINESS, and for them, the bottom line is MONEY. Yes, their food is often cheaper, but that’s because they are able to purchase their ingredients in volume. Unfortunately, that does not ensure a quality product.

All of the ingredients listed on commercial pet food packages are added prior to processing. After processing, which involves heating, the food loses up to 100% of certain vitamins, 60% of amino acids, all probiotics, enzymes and fatty acids.

I had been very interested in the BARF diet – for those who don’t know what BARF means, it is either “Bones and Raw Food” or “Biologically Appropriate Raw Food”. However, I’m leery of trying to formulate a complete nutritional food by myself on a regular basis. Also, I did make food for our dogs about 10 years ago – before Tazmin – and it seemed as if I was always mixing dog food. Since I don’t exactly love cooking, I really didn’t want to start that up again.

We had been feeding Tazmin “Pinnacle” by Breeder’s Choice for years because that’s what she was being fed when we got her. But recently I spoke with Tazmin’s breeder again and with her recommendation, I decided to try “Great Life”. She thinks it’s one of the best premium foods out there and would probably feed it to her crew if she could afford to, but she has too many dogs. Clearly it is more expensive, but we only have Tazmin, so for us, it isn’t as much of a factor. They have 2 websites:

http://www.greatlife4pets.com/
http://www.1doctorschoice.com/

By the way, they make cat food too. :)

The idea behind “Great Life” food is that they produce a raw food diet in a natural premium dog food kibble. They layer raw food on a holistic kibble. All nutrients are kept active by freeze-drying so no refrigeration is needed. Buffalo, lamb, chicken or beef is used. No potatoes, corn, soy, fillers, by-products, or white rice. So they make it convenient to feed a raw food diet – no mess, no fuss.

“Great Life” uses USDA human grade quality meat, fresh vegetables, and easily digestible fruits. Their meats do not contain rendered meats, hormones, pesticides or antibiotics. No wheat, soy, corn and no GMO ingredients. They also recently came out with a food that contains no grains or potatoes at all.

So yeah, it’s kind of on the holistic, heath food-y side of things. I’m sure for a lot of people, it would be considered kind of “out there”. But it was just what I was looking for. I decided to start with a 20 lb. bag even though the 40 lb. bag was a better deal. I didn’t want to be stuck with 40 lbs. of kibble if Tazmin hated it or didn’t do well on it.

You have your choice of 4 different meats: chicken, beef, lamb, or buffalo. The breeder mentioned she preferred to feed her dogs meat instead of poultry and when I called the “Great Life” people, they said that since we were just starting, they recommended either the chicken or the buffalo. I chose the buffalo.

When the package came UPS, the UPS man left the box on the bench beside our front door. He didn’t knock or anything, probably because he’s tired of Tazmin barking at him through the living room window [evil grin]. Anyway, that evening DH and I were outside looking at the yard when I noticed the box. I went over to check it out and being the nosy parker that she is, Tazmin followed me. She immediately jumped up and started sniffing the box quite intently along all the seams and tried to rip the box open. I had to have my husband carry the box into the house.

I opened the box (with Tazmin’s “help”) and removed the bag of food. After I cut the bag open with a pair of scissors, I poured the kibble into a plastic bin with a lid. Tazmin was practically beside herself. She shoved her face into the bin and snagged a mouthful. Now every time we feed her, we have to be careful when we open the bin because she’ll shove her face in there really quickly and steal as much kibble as she can. She LOVES it.

So far, everything is going well and I’m quite pleased. Her poops look good and don’t seem to smell as bad as they used to. Last December, we switched her to their newer version that has no grains or potatoes in it and she’s still as crazy about it as ever. She still tries to rip into the box when it arrives, and she still tries to shove her way into the bin every time you open it and steal a mouthful or two.

I recently calculated that she goes through an 18 lb. bag in about 3 months. She’s a 30 lb. dog and eats a little less than a cup of the kibble a day. We also grate fresh carrots and zucchini into her kibble every day, which she loves. The grain-free food is $49.95 per 18 lb. bag, and is $85.59 if you buy 36 lbs., which is a better deal. So if I order her food twice a year, it comes out to about $170.00 per year to feed her. Since we have no human kids, I can justify that. Maybe we just won't eat out as much. I figure I’d rather pay a little extra on her food throughout the years and have her healthy and long-lived instead of shelling out major bucks at the end in a futile attempt to buy her more time. I’ve done that before and I don’t want to do that again.

I know I’m not alone here in that I want my girl to live a long, healthy life. We ALL want that for our fur kids. So this is our attempt to provide Tazmin with the tools her body needs to be as healthy and long-lived as possible. I think we’re all trying to do the best we can with what we’ve got. It’s just too bad that recent events have made that even more difficult than usual for everyone.

Sorry this is so long. But I hope this was helpful to anyone who is interested in either a raw food diet or this particular food. Thanks for taking the time to read it and good luck. :)

Marilee