Tuesday, September 14, 2010

A primal pooch

There are three happy members in Grokette's primal family.

Grok is the typical alpha male.  He is strong and tall, which is often helpful for Grokette since she's 5'2, and often needs help to lift heavy things and reach top shelves.  He has also adopted a primal lifestyle and has seen great results.  Grok will talk about his experience in a future guest post!

There is, however, another member of the family who was the first to go primal.  Her name is Shmooks, and she is a mutt.


Blessed with the brain of a border collie (her dad) and the curious and loyal nature of a schnoodle (schnauzer + poodle = her mum), she is a happy atom bomb of energy all wrapped up in fluffy suckyness.  Doesn't everyone talk this way about their pets?

If Grokers go the distance to live a primal lifestyle, why shouldn't their pets also follow the same habits?  They deserve every bit of health and happiness that we want for ourselves, and so we should take a close look at what we impose upon them.  For example, have you read the ingredients in the pet food that you buy, or does pooch get enough variety of exercise?    When Shmooks first went to the veteranarian, I was told that many people who feed their dogs Kibbles 'n' Bits are poisoning their animal with the equivalent of McDonald's to humans.

Fast forward two years, and friends explained how they decided to look into independent food makers for their precious pooch.  We did some research and decided that a dog had no reason to consume large quantities of rice, corn and wheat.  Since dogs are domesticated wolves,  their physiology should be nourished with a diet rich in meat (wolves eat moose, elk and game)… not grains.  This also means that your dog's ancestors were hunters, and so your dog should be encourages to walk, chase and play.

A bonus to having Shmooks: You.  You'll get to go on a lot of walks, and you can go to the park and run around like you did when you were a kid.  Why not?  Not only is it good for pooch, but it's atop the list of things you do when you're primal.  Move frequently at a slow pace, sprint once in a while, and play (see Challenge #3, 5 and 7 of the Primal Blueprint).

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I first wrote the above and then a comment made suggested I read up on the raw canine diet.  I'm intrigued!  I don't want to lose it, so I'm adding it to my post.  Thanks anonymous!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should be feeding your dogs raw food if they are truly primal.


http://www.rawmeatybones.com/diet/exp-diet-guide.pdf

Dan said...

Hi Kristina. I just found your site through Primal Toad's. I just wanted to let you know I have added you to my links and will be following from now on.

Kristina said...

Hi Dan! Thanks so much for adding me. I'll do the same and add you to my blog roll. Great blog title, btw!

Kristina said...

Anonymous - I deleted my old comment after taking a good read of the post you provided. I dismissed a raw canine diet as first (as of course I did with primal a couple months ago) but after reading I think it makes sense, and I'm definitely going to read further. You prompted a good discussion between Grok and myself which I like. Thanks :)

TexasPrimalSurfWahine said...

Good day Grokette, found your blog through At Darwin's Table and really like it. My pup went primal before I did as well, grain-free food, meat, eggs, and her main vice butter. Funny how many of us fix our pet's diets before our own.

Kristina said...

Hey Texas! Thanks for the compliment -- you have quite an established blog! I'll be adding you to my blog roll.

Your dog's vice is butter?? That's awesome! There is no way that would be pushed aside by pooch!

I wonder how long people have been suggesting that dogs eat a raw diet...