07/08/2020
Why Raw?
We have a female blue Doberman, Sasha (also affectionately known as Stink Stink, Princess Sasha Soft Paws, and Booberton) that recently turned seven. Our journey to a raw diet can be primarily attributed to her, as she seems to have really lost the genetic lottery and inherited basically every common health problem seen in both color dilutes and Doberman Pinschers.
Over the first few years with Sasha we tried a variety of kibbles – Orijen, Acana, Merrick, Canidae – all of their limited ingredient options, a wide array of medicated shampoos, sprays, ointments, allergy medications, and any other option we found.
Nothing seemed to help. Sasha was itchy, mostly bald, and fighting constantly with folliculitis, red, irritated paws, and dry, scaly, skin.
By this time, a little German Shepherd pup had joined our pack – Juneau. Very early on we started seeing yeast issues with her and encountered a similar lack of results in finding her some relief.
I started searching for more options. Something different.
I eventually stumbled upon Kimberly Gauthier’s blog – Keep the Tail Wagging – and began reading everything I could find about raw diets and the experiences people had with their dogs.
The stories of improvements people were seeing in dogs with serious allergies were compelling enough that I decided we had to try it.
Everything else had failed, so at the very least we didn’t really have anything to lose.
