# Raw-feeding breeder close to Maryland?



## hoping4ahav (Aug 19, 2011)

Hi,
I'm brand new to the forum and posted this same message under the "Alternative Diets" forum. I hope it's ok to post the same message in two places...

I'm hoping to get a Havanese and am planning to raw feed. I've found 2 "natural-rearing" breeders, which includes raw feeding, but they're both quite far from me. One is in CA: http://www.chocolatesilkdogs.com/home

and the other in Canada:
http://www.mystykalsky.com/

Does anyone know these breeders? Better yet, does anyone know any raw-feeding breeders that are closer to MD?

Thanks for any help!
Lisa


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

why do you want a raw feeding breeder? I haven't done any research on that?


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

I know of one breeder in Northern Virginia that used to feed raw, but after losing a dog to a wierd bacterial infection she now cooks. PM me if you are interested in her contact info. Another breeder I know of lost two dogs to similar infections, and one other breeder who lost her own life to an uncureable bacterial infection after almost losing a dog.

Those are the only ones I have personal experience with who fed raw, and all are/were close friends of ours, including their dogs that they lost that they had bred and loved in their homes.


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## hoping4ahav (Aug 19, 2011)

It's a long story, but I'll try to summarize concisely!

I've had chronic health problems for 18 years which led me to reading about and experimenting with nutrition for the past 11 years. At one point I read "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" by Weston Price (a dentist who travelled the world in the 1930s studying nutrition & dental health/structure). He was concerned because more and more American children were having crooked teeth which was a relatively new phenomenon. He discovered that around the world people eating traditional diets (with no modern or processed foods) had straight teeth, but once the diet was changed to include modern foods, the next generation of children began having crooked teeth & cavities. That was the beginning of my changing my diet and, although I'm still ill, changing to a "nutrient dense" diet without processed foods has made a huge positive impact on my health.

Because of this I've been on various health and diet chat forums over the years, mostly with people interested in "traditional diets." It was on those forums that I first heard about raw feeding for cats and dogs. There have even been a couple of dog breeders on these forums who said that changing their dogs' diets to raw and seeing how much they benefitted from it led them to consider their own diets & that's how they ended up on the traditional foods forums!

Since then I've met people here and there who feed raw and things they've said have convinced me it's what I'd like to do. (There's a book called Pottenger's Cats -- experiments with cats on a raw vs cooked food diet in the 1930s that has often been mentioned, but I haven't read it.) A couple of years ago my sister got 2 kittens and has fed them raw & her vet has commented on how they're the healthiest cats she's ever seen. 

Anyway, one of the key things Price found was that the diet of the parents before and at the time of conception was critical in the health (and face/dental structure) of the children born to them.

So, when I started thinking about getting a dog I thought it would be great if I could find a breeder where the parents (and maybe grandparents!) had been fed raw. I wrote to one of the breeders (but he breeds bulldogs, I think, & I want a havanese) on one of my nutrition forums and he knew about the Havanese breeder in CA from one of his breeders forums.

A raw-feeding breeder is my ideal, but through this forum and other online research, I'm learning there's so much to picking a breeder!!! I haven't spoken with the raw-fed breeders on the phone yet and I will do that, but I've also been thinking I'd prefer a breeder within driving distance. I'm still weighing everything and figuring out what's most important to me.

The CA breeder's website has a section on "natural rearing" which talks more about it & has quotes from vets if you're interested.

Sorry this was a little long!


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## Havlover22 (Apr 5, 2011)

I have heard good things about the Canadian breeder, Mystykal Sky. I live in PA and would consider a future dog from that breeder. I am just not familiar with the other breeder. My reasons were not due to the diet.


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## hoping4ahav (Aug 19, 2011)

Thank you, Tom. I will PM you.

I know that nothing is without risk and your friends' experiences are just heartbreaking.

I think -- but again know that nothing is without risk -- that the fact that I get all my own meat (and would therefore get my dog's meat) from local pasture-based farmers would make it much less likely something like that would happen for me. Some of the raw-feeders I've talked to do regular grocery store meat (from confinement farms) and I feel that's risky. If I bought grocery store meat, I'd want to cook it as well.

You were one of the breeders within driving distance that I wanted to contact anyway, so I'm glad you replied to this!


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## hoping4ahav (Aug 19, 2011)

Thanks, Havlover. That's good to know. The CA breeder lists Mystykal Sky on her website as a good breeder, so I know they know each other, but that's all I know.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

interesting. makes sense. good luck!


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## Carefulove (Mar 20, 2009)

Hoping4, I also feed Raw. I got my pup from a breeder who feeds kibble, but as soon as I got my puppy home, I started him on Chicken breast and he has never had a bite of Kibble and/or canned dog food again.

I get his food from Miller Foods (Oma's Pride). Their production site is in CT (About 1hr from my house) but I know they have various distributors all over USA.


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## hoping4ahav (Aug 19, 2011)

Thanks for sharing, Carefulove! It's helpful to hear what others do.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Carefulove said:


> Hoping4, I also feed Raw. I got my pup from a breeder who feeds kibble, but as soon as I got my puppy home, I started him on Chicken breast and he has never had a bite of Kibble and/or canned dog food again.
> 
> I get his food from Miller Foods (Oma's Pride). Their production site is in CT (About 1hr from my house) but I know they have various distributors all over USA.


Just wondering about the chicken breast . Are other parts also included. or suppliments given.? The reason I asked, is because I was talking to Sabine (nutritionist) about this. She was saying with feeding raw, sometimes some dog don't tollerate the high fat parts, eg . necks and skin parts. So I asked would feeding strickly skinless breasts be better and she said...."It's a good source of protein but doesn't contain very many nutrients, so if someone fed only chicken breast, the diet would be severely deficient on trace minerals and some vitamins."


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## Carefulove (Mar 20, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> Just wondering about the chicken breast . Are other parts also included. or suppliments given.? The reason I asked, is because I was talking to Sabine (nutritionist) about this. She was saying with feeding raw, sometimes some dog don't tollerate the high fat parts, eg . necks and skin parts. So I asked would feeding strickly skinless breasts be better and she said...."It's a good source of protein but doesn't contain very many nutrients, so if someone fed only chicken breast, the diet would be severely deficient on trace minerals and some vitamins."


Dave,

Chicken breast as an only diet is not acceptable, they also need bone, organ meat, and veggies. I started with chicken breast since it was his first time eating raw (he was 12 wks old). I needed to know if he was allergic to chicken and introduce him to raw little by little. After a week of chicken breast, I gave him beef (just meat), then turkey.

After I was sure he was OK eating all those meats, I took a trip to Oma's Pride and got him their Beef, chicken, Turkey mixes. They have the correct % of bone, meat and veggies that the dog needs. Then I introduced him to chicken necks. I always get the necks without the skin, but I do know that Bumi tolerates fat OK since I have feed him Beef fat when I trim our beef, etc.
I also give him boiled egg about once a week. I was doing it more often, but cut it down to once weekly.
He does not like chicken wings or backs so I stick to necks. The beef bones that I have found are too big for him to even try to eat. The only time I gave him beef bone (the smallest they had) he kept looking at it like it was a bug rather than a treat!ound:

I also give him Turkey Hearts (freezer dried) as treats. He refuses to eat Raw chicken or turkey hearts.

Hope this helps and let me know if you have more questions! 

Here are the ingredients to the mixes from Oma's Pride

Chicken Mix: Chicken & bone, chicken necks, broccoli, butternut squash, kale, chicken hearts, chicken gizzards, chicken liver.
Turkey Mix: Turkey & bone, turkey necks, green beans, okra, yellow squash, turkey hearts, turkey gizzards, turkey livers
Beef Mix: Beef meat, beef hearts, beef kidney, beef liver, broccoli, butternut squash, kale, beef bone

PS: I tried the Lamb mix but he did not like it.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

no, I',m aware of this, I just thought that that was all that you were feeding.


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## Carefulove (Mar 20, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> no, I',m aware of this, I just thought that that was all that you were feeding.


It sounded like that in my first post. I just re-read it ound:


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