02/01/2025
My story, from the beginning as itās our January 1st tradition to tell Skyes story. Breaking tradition, coming in on 2nd January, but whoās counting š
Iām Stef, and without Skye, there wouldnāt be a Stefs Pet Pantry. For those that have read this before, thank you for coming again, get the kettle on and get settled, pop a picture in the comments so we can see your reason and give this post a share so your friends can find us too. š«¶š»
If youāre new here, welcome to the page weāre all friends here, please do introduce yourself below, please share your babies as well! We love seeing them.
So whoās Skye?
Skye, my world. My first āofficialā dog. I was 11 years old, Christmas Day and I can still remember the day like it was yesterday. Sat on the floor in my grandma's house, I opened a box, it contained a lead, collar and halti. I actually thought it was a joke living with my family who are the biggest set of teasers you ever did know, I could have as easily been and April fools are a Christmas present. After being told it wasnāt, and there was actually a new puppy on the way, I had to wait as they werenāt even born yet!
Skye was born later in January, and came home in March. She was everything Iād ever dreamed of. My beautiful fox red Labrador puppy. I was in love. We went everywhere together. If Skye couldnāt go somewhere, I didnāt go. Skye was a one in a million dog. I know we all think we have special dogs, but when you find one, you just know. She was that for me. Itās a weird thing to reflect on, as Iāve not been privileged enough to have another quite like her. I love all my pets, but she was just extra special, when you know you know.
When Skye came home, she had quite a menu, there was weetabix, scrambled eggs, soaked puppy kibbles, goats milk and condensed milk. There were 4 meals a day, and it was a certain time in a certain order. It was a nightmare.
Around 12 weeks of age we soon changed to just puppy kibble. All the other family dogs were fed kibble. Thereās lotās big named brands as weād been told by breeders, vets and even the kibble companies that they were the bestā¦ strange really as the equivalent would be mcdonalds owning our hospitals, training our doctors, paying for our GPās surgeries all while they prescribe us with a fast food mealā¦ more on this subject later.
I had NEVER heard of feeding dogs raw. It was definitely a āthingā but no one we knew fed their dogs like that at the time. Which is strange as you ask my grandma and sheād say she fed dogs scraps, and bones from the butchers and was even known to boil up sheeps heads taking all the broth and meaty goodness to add to the bowl! I bet her house stunk. My mum tells me dad fed Sam their Labrador, whole tripe and keeping in water buckets and lifting it up and slicing a piece off for him. All of this was only ever talked about after we started raw feeding.
Skye struggled with all forms of diets we gave her, sheād tried nearly every brand on the convention market. Every kibble and every canned food has been tried. Sheād eat for 3 days and then go off it, a week at best. In short she regularly starved herself, from days to weeks at a time. Not even cheese or cooked meat could tempt her.
Skye lived a full and great life, she regularly enjoyed her working the field, that was she lived for. She enjoyed nothing more than being out picking up pheasants with me or my dad on a shoot. After all that was what she was bred for. Her hard working life and poor nutrition contributed to her eventual spondylitis of the spine, finding movement increasingly difficult and later resulting in total muscle wastage in her back end, as well as her crippling arthritis, all this and at an unimpressive 9 years old. Told that it's normal for a working dog, most retire at 7/8 years old and that's them done.
9 is no age, I felt torn to pieces that I had to make a difficult decision, which is never easy. She was in tremendous pain. Which all seemed impossible to overcome, especially as the medication sheād had didnāt seem to make much of a difference now. Any vet wouldnāt have disagreed with my decision.
Heartbroken, even as I am writing this, it has me in tears. I just couldnāt let it go. I wasnāt ready, I needed a miracle, something that would make the difference that would mean we would have been together for longer. I did find somethingā¦.
Raw dog food? What is this! At the time it was unthinkable that people actually fed their dogs raw. Iād never been taught about this, and the very thought was terrifying. Raw food! Was I even really considering this? I read stories that still make my hair on the back of my neck stand up. In both incredible ways and bone chilling ways. After a full night of reading the good, the bad and the ugly, I felt like this was my only choice to try. After all, what did I have to lose?
I remember my parents being horrified! Like really horrified that I would even suggest that. Especially my dad who was dead set against even trying a raw diet. Even going as far to say I would kill her. He banned me outright from feeding any other of our dogs raw. As she wasnāt the only dog we owned, but Skye was mine, and when you're a stubborn mule like me, arguing with a brick wall can often be more productive.
I can still remember having no idea what I was doing, having no-one to ask. No pet shop to call into. No Facebook/Instagram pages to collect information from. It was terrifying. Just the threads Iād read online, and the information wasnāt abundant like it is today. But from the very first meal, she danced! I can still hear her feet patting up and down, in anticipation for the food. This was unheard of, unseen!
I canāt stress enough how she never wanted to eat, food never motivated her, you couldnāt feed this dog anything that would get her mouth watering. From that, to dancing for the raw food. To watch her eat was just pure joy, once I listened she never looked back.
Food is a cornerstone of health, of life. Let food be thy medicine. āThe food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poisonā. Read that again and let it sink in.
Skye, my best friend, my teacher, my world, my everything. I can still smell her, I can still feel her touch. I can hear her feet dancing. Sheās gone on to leave her legacy in the form of Stefs and the children she had, some of whom we still have today. She is wherever I go and will always by my side.
Food should be fuel, it should ignite life. It should feed and nourish the mind, the body and the soul. Within days there were improvements, within weeks we saw muscle repair. With each day, we turned back the clock, as the years went by, I had turned back time for her. The incredible improvements meant she was able enough to start alternative therapies including hydrotherapy. I also learnt about herbal remedies, and natural alternatives.
Fresh food is powerful, I just hadnāt any idea just how powerful. She was like a puppy again, I canāt tell you how I felt, words donāt describe. What I do know now though is that this is my mission, she was my teacher, she was sent to help me find my mission. Being the voice for the voiceless. Helping others not only her, but helping pet parents feel empowered, and have the right information and correct fresh food on hand.
To bring you up to speed I lost Skye a month before she was 16. The last 7 years of her life turned out to be the best 7 years of her life. She definitely defied all the odds. She just needed me to listen. I'm listening loud and clear now. Our journeys all have different starts, this isnāt a race. Weāre in this together. Our pets need us to listen. Being the voice for the voiceless means everything to me.
If my dad was here now, he would say he wouldnāt feed his dogs anything but raw. He ended up being the biggest advocate for raw feeding you could have met. Iāll miss him in more ways than I could ever name, but particularly his ability to tell a tale and this was one of his favourites. He loved how relatable he was when people came to see us, and one of the couples wanted to try raw feeding and the other one didnāt. He could empathise and share his story. If you were lucky enough to meet him, youāll know it was never a quick trip, but I think thatās why you loved coming to see him. So this story is more important than ever, and the tradition lives on. Itās a bittersweet story, one filled with love and heartache. But without it all, we certainly wouldnāt be here, reading this story!
Stefs Pet Pantry wouldnāt exist without Skye. She was my teacher, my light, my everything.
Thanks for reading, spreading the word one pet at a time, forever grateful Stef, Skye and the whole team. Iām so lucky to have a dedicated team of people who understand why we do what we do. Your pets, our passion. Weāre always happy to help.
Spreading happiness and health for all in 2025 and beyond. This picture of Skye was taken in October before we lost her in December. She was as sharp as a tack right til the end, you can see that in her eyes ā¤ļø
