Hello friends 👋
As most of you know, my name is Chayse and I share my life with my 3 exclusively raw fed dogs, Marley, Mayson & Ripley.
While all my dogs are currently thriving on their balanced diet, things certainly didn't start out this way. I wanted to take a minute to tell you all about our journey to finding a diet that worked for us and the hardships we faced along the way. It look a lot of time, mistakes and learning to get where we are today and let me tell you, it's all still a process and we are learning new things every single day.
Back in 2013, at 19 years old I was working full time at a Veterinary clinic in Kamloops BC. At this time, I was a recent VHA grad and even prided myself on the fact that was a certified in nutrition courses through Royal Canin - a kibble brand that sponsored my clinic. I spent countless hours recommending veterinary "prescription" kibble for dogs and cats believing what I was selling was optimal for those pets. Looking back, I was selling kibble to animals constantly seen at the clinic for routine thyroid problems, anal glands expressions, ear infections, bladder crystals, cancers and so on. I feel alot of guilt not realizing these animals were suffering side effects from eating a processed and sugar loaded diet. These dogs were not "healthy" and they certainly weren't thriving in any way. The truth is, I wasn't taught nutrition in my Veterinary courses at all and only knew what I was taught through Royal Canin as nutrition was just truthfully NOT apart of my veterinary course.
My personal dogs were suffering. Marley was on the Dental formula (still with bad teeth, of course) and Mayson was on the Developmental Puppy formula. Marley had bad teeth, needed her anal glands expressed every 2 weeks and was showing symptoms of a thryoid issue, at under 2 years old. Mayson was constantly suffering from hot spots, skin infections, ear infections and eventually bladder crystals AS A PUPPY. It got to the point that I was so bad that we had to shave from his ears to his sternum so we could have access to the sores on his skin for daily medicated baths. It was awful. He was uncomfortable and I was stuffing him full of starch filled kibble that was making all these conditions worse and I just didn't see it. Our big turning point was the day Mayson was diagnosed with bladder crystals. He was leaking urine during the day (he was only 1.5 years old!!) and having to wear a diaper wrap all the time. Our vet at the time put him on the Hill's Science Diet C/D (Crystal Diet, which main ingredients are whole grain corn and corn gluten meal 🤢), he had an almost immediate reaction where he broke out in sores and started losing his fur. ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH.
I would like to add a quick note here regarding veterinary prescription kibble. Most of them do work - but they are NOT healthy for long term use. They are designed to fix a diagnosed problem, and usually in not very healthy ways. For example, their urinary formulas like Mayson was on has an extreme high amount of sodium which keeps your dog thirsty so they in turn drink more water and flush out their bladder. Does it work? In theory, yes. It is healthy or good as a long term solution? Absolutely not. Just something to consider!
This was the day our journey to raw education began and we truly haven't looked back. I took to the internet and found some amazing resources that started me in the right direction. I spent hours and hours reading about canine nutrition and was shocked at what I had been taught years before. How did I not clue in that a highly processed diet was NOT better for my dogs that a fresh food diet? Why is the dog food industry the only one that doesn't look at optimal, fresh food nutrition as a treatment plan for ill animals? I felt ashamed and I felt lied to by the industry I dreamed of working in since I was little girl.
The truth is I had failed my dogs. I failed my clients that I loved so much and thought I was doing right by. I failed because I took information I was fed as fact and didn't explore on my own terms until many years later to learn that these things may not be true. These are mistakes I have made, and that's okay. I've grown and I've learned and im still learning every single day because I owe that to my dogs, and my clients.
Once I started learning about raw I started my dogs on a ratio diet of 80/10/10 which is typically recommended in the majority of raw groups and websites you will see. Again - I was just so eagar to get my dogs better that I sort of took this information as fact and jumped right in. However, as I've grown as a nutritionist I have learned that this was also not the optimal way to feed my dogs. Again, mistakes were made and I grew from all of them. I now understand and follow the NRC guidelines when creating diets for my personal and client dogs and feel confident and happy knowing this IS the optimal way to feed our loved ones. There IS science behind this and the benefits I see are undeniable.
The results for Mayson were instant. His crystals dissolved with the help of a round of antibiotics and his skin conditions cleared up within a month being on raw. I'm happy to report that he has not had a single ear infection, hot spot or bladder crystals since we put him on a raw diet 7 years ago. We will never look back. Never again will I tell someone a processed diet is what their animal needs.
My dogs have been raw fed for 7 years now and we don't deal with skin conditions, anal gland problems, dental problems and they all have healthy, regular, small bowel movements. We no longer spend hundreds a month at the vet for treatments and medications. We see a holistic Veterinarian for regular check ups, blood work, acupuncture and chiropractics. We support the dogs with herbs and optimal natural nutrition, not steroids, antibiotics and kibble. We no longer pump our dogs full of flea and tick chemicals that carry severe side effects every month and jump to get every vaccination. We learn, we grow and we most importantly keep an open mind.
(Pictured: some of our meals over the years. Please note meal photos do not depict their entire balanced diet)
Watching Mayson's life change for the better before my eyes I realized I had a huge passion for natural nutrition and a spark was ignited! Since 2013 I have become certified in many areas of canine nutrition through Dogs Naturally University, The Companion Animal Science Institute and many other valuable courses inbetween. I am continuing to grow through studying canine herbalism and massage.
Everyone's journey is different, but this is ours. I hope you appreciate me being honest in my growth as a professional and trust that I'm constantly learning with our dog's health as my motivation.
I love you all ❤️
Want to chat with me more about your own personal journey feeding your woofer? Send me a woof! wooferwellness@hotmail.com 🐾
Please note this is not a post meant to bash Veterinarians, their education and their treatments. I respect and work closely with Veterinarians, both holistic and western and appreciate them both in different ways. Your Vet is a crucial part of your dog's well being, however I challenge you to ask about their background in canine nutrition and encourage you to find a supportive Veterinarian or work closely with a professional educated properly in this topic. For those in the Edmonton Area, the Edmonton Holistic Veterinarian Clinic is phenomenal and highly recommended for all your dog's needs.
In Canada you can find a holistic Vet in your area here: http://www.civtedu.org/canada/
In America, you can find a holistic vet in your area here: https://www.ahvma.org/find-a-holistic-veterinarian/
My favorite raw feeding resources:
Dog Food Logic (Book)