gRAW and Rogue - 9 months on

9 months ago we published an article Dr Brady's gRAW which has since had thousands of views!

After the amount of interest in that article, and whats changed since, we felt compelled to do an update on things now.


Background

This time a year ago we were making almost fortnightly visits to the vet with our Papillon, Rogue, because no matter what we tried we couldn't get her to eat. We poured hundreds of Euro into trying everything possible to get her interest - dry food, tinned food, raw food, cooked food ... there really wasn't very much that we hadn't tried her on. The most frustrating part of it all was that the numerous blood/urine/stool tests all came back clear for every different ailment. The tests told us she was fine, but she was waif-like and we weren't happy. Her energy never seemed to falter, and she was a happy little dog, but her skinnyness was a huge concern to us. Judges would comment about her in the show-ring for being too slight, not realising the struggle we were having at home trying to entice her to eat anything at all, and not that we could fault them either as we agreed.

Then we came across Dr Conor Brady towards the end of the summer in 2012 and his new gRAW dog food - nutritionally balanced fresh dog food. At the time we met Conor he was only starting to get gRAW off the ground, and was only doing chubbs of the atlantic oily fish. He also had various chicken pieces on offer, but we'd tried all of those previously without much success. He did tell us that he'd soon have a new line of Chicken & Beef chubbs soon though, so we tried some of the fish and waited nervously for the new product (the fish wasn't a huge hit with Rogue).

True to his word, it wasn't too much longer before the gRAW Chicken & Beef chubbs were available to try, and I believe we may have been among the first to try it out. It's now his leading seller, and we can certainly see why.

gRAW Chunky Chicken and Beef Organ is a hearty meat meal with no cereal filler or nasty chemicals. This is as natural as it gets for your dog and as close to the whole animal as we can get. With lots of whole, fresh, Irish chicken for developing good muscle tone and strong joints, high quality organ additions that are vital canine nutrition and two types of kelp to boost condition and keep teeth clean, this is power food for all dogs but particularly young and active types. All preserved naturally with a bit of rosemary.

75% Fresh Chicken (Whole pieces, bones and all)
12% Beef Organ (Beef Liver, Heart, Kidney)
12% Steamed Veg (Green Beans, Peas, Carrots)
3 Teaspoons of Kelp (Laminaria and Ascophyllum) ,Touch of Rosemary


Time of reckoning

So there we were - a chubb in one hand, and a curious little bitch sniffing the air and wondering what this was. In the past when we'd introduced her to a new food she'd eat it for 4 or 5 days, and then gradually grow bored. She wouldn't care if the other dogs approached it, and many times would wander off to leave it for whoever wanted it. Were we going to see the same behaviour develop with yet another food now?

The recommended feeding amount for her ideal weight was around 120g (body weight 3kg-ish), so we weighed it out and let her try. She got stuck in, and ate about half of it. One of the effects of her errattic eating was that her stomach had shrunk over time, so after 60g she was actually full. Off she toddled with her full tummy, and we crossed our fingers that this wasn't going to be the same pattern as we'd seen so many times before.

I should also mention at this point, that we also supplemented the gRAW with some Beef Fat Powder, as recommended to us by Kevin @ Holistic Pet Products. The powder is designed primarily to help with energy, lack of appetite and low body weight. We actually consulted with both Kevin & Conor at the same time and they both agreed that in our situation it was definitely worth trying. It was quite refreshing to have 2 people genuinely trying to help & advise us, and not just trying to lighten our purse. For once, we were actually hopeful that we might finally turn the corner with Rogue - we had 2 exceptionally knowledgeable people working with us, and we all wanted to see some positive results.

Will she - won't she?

The question that haunted us - would Rogue revert to form and grow bored after a few days?

Much to our relief and delight - no! Ok, so she wasn't eating the proper amount yet, but after a few days on the gRAW/BFP mix she was starting to show more signs of developing an appetite. We'd feed her early in the day, and come the evening she'd start sniffing about the fridge looking for some more. She'd take about 60g in the morning, and top it up with another 30g in the evening. Things were actually looking up.

Over time she kept improving, and within a matter of weeks she was eating 150g over the course of 2 feeding times. Very very slowly the weight began to creep on to her. More weeks passed and she wasn't growing tired of the new gRAW - we'd finally found something that she liked and would eat consistently. Her tummy grew slowly, allowing her to eat more, and she became less and less waif like.

Fast forward - Summer 2013

As I alluded to at the very start of this article - an awful lot has changed in the time since we first came across the gRAW dog food. Rogue is now a very healthy weight, full of life, and has been made up into an Irish Show Champion! Her eating is consistent, and I honestly can't remember the last time we had to visit the vets for anything more than a social hello.

Things have changed for Conor too, with his appearance and success on RTE's Dragon's Den. The gRAW line of natural foods has been expanding with more and more new products coming out, and new delivery routes being added for customer convenience. He attends the vast majority of the Championship shows that take place in Cloghran in Dublin, so if you're floating about drop over to him. He's only too happy to talk to people and help them with nutritional needs.
Hypoallergenic gRAW Salmon and Steamed Vegetables
Part of our hypoallergenic range, this is product best suits dogs suffering food intolerance (itchy inflamed dogs suffering recurring skin, gut, ear and eye issues), oldies or fatties. At 85% fresh Irish salmon this is an extremely high quality and digestible product. High in fish oil and containing Calendula (an excellent anti-inflammatory), it will reduce inflammation in your dog, reducing symptoms mentioned above as well as benefiting arthritis sufferers. Finally we include two types of Irish ocean kelp, sustainably harvested, including Laminaria for a nutritional boost and Ascophyllum which is clinically proven to whiten your dog's teeth and freshen breath after 5 weeks!

85% Fresh Irish Salmon (Best fish nutritionally)
15% Steamed Veg (Green Beans, Peas, Carrots)
3 Teaspoons of Kelp (Laminaria and Ascophyllum)
Calendula, Slippery Elm, Touch of Rosemary

gRAW Duck, Duck Heart and Spinach
We at Dogs First are going fancy and bring you award winning Irish duck, duck heart, steamed spinach and carrot. Very very meaty and proving to be very very tasty. Duck meat is great stuff, lots of protein (when the bulky skin is pulled off, which we have done) and full of great trace minerals such as selenium, iron and zinc. Duck hearts are packed full of B vitamins. Even duck fat is a power house of goodies containing buckets of linoleic acid as well as lots of omega-6 and omega-3 essential oils. In this way it's better than beef or even chicken fat. Great for all types, it's sightly lower in fat than gRÁW Chunky Chicken and Beef Organ, and offers a great meaty alternative to food sensitive souls living on our Salmon and Veg! Highly recommend.

79% Fresh Irish Duck (Whole pieces, skin removed, bones and all)
10% Duck Heart
10% Steamed Vegetable (Spinach, Carrots)
3 Teaspoons of Kelp (Laminaria and Ascophyllum) ,
Touch of Rosemary

About Dr. Conor Brady

My doctorate studied the affects of diet on the mammalian digestive system and their resulting behaviour. I went on to become a guide dog trainer and pup supervisor. After a number of incidents came to light I spent two years studying canine nutrition and allergy full time. In the last five years working independently as a canine nutritionist, giving seminars and workshops recognised by veterinary councils to canine professionals and dog owners alike. I advise numerous dog groups, breeders and owners daily on the benefits of the right foods to form and function.

These days almost all my clients are itchy allergy dogs. Chronic illness is on the rise in dogs today. Inflammation from food sensitivity is linked to the top 5 reasons for visiting your vet today (repeating skin conditions, ear and eye condition, gastro-intestinal upset and arthritis). Something is very wrong in the doggie world and the answer is always the same. Get them off dry, processed dry food. Remove wheat (and all cereal), cooked meat and chemicals (i.e. dry food). Move them to a fresh, biologically appropriate diet, the benefits are evident immediately. They deserve it

Nothing compares to fresh ingredients. Don't let them sell you otherwise.

For further information on the product range, pricing and delivery options, have a look at the following link -> http://dogsfirst.ie/raw-dog-food/

Thanks for reading!

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