Introducing Natasha, our raw-fed puppy!

Those of you who have been here a while know that I lost my beloved dog, Ashke in 2009.  My family and I have been searching and waiting for the next great dog to come into our lives.  On our way back from visiting family in California we picked up this little beauty.  My 5-year-old, aspiring-Jedi-Knight-son, said he knew this was the one, because he dreamed about her.

Meet Natasha, a three-month old Silken Windhound puppy.

Tasha had been partially raw-fed before we got her.  When we got her home I started offering her large chunks of whole raw food.  She loves it!  I left down a bowl of grain-free kibble that she had been eating before, so that she could transition to raw slowly.  The same bowl of dry food is still sitting on the floor.

I am feeding her “whole-prey-model” diet, which means feeding large pieces of meat, meaty-bones and organs, to simulate what a wolf would eat in the wild.  So far she has eaten: Chicken – quarters, backs, necks, legs, breasts, liver, giblets, and bones.  Pork – meat, heart, and meaty-bones.  Beef – meat, tongue, and bone marrow.  Turkey – necks and giblets.  I plan to get her some more unusual organs, tendons and miscellaneous animal parts to provide her with a full variety of nutrients.

Here are some pictures of Tasha enjoying her meals:

June 2010: From the Editor

Thank You!

A big Thank You, to everyone responded to my request for feedback and potluck hosts! We have plenty of interest in keeping the potlucks going, and we have volunteers for the next four months! It looks like I just need to keep reminding you when we need volunteers.

Make note of the upcoming potluck dates:

  • June 14 at the home of Ellen S.
  • July 12 at the home of Janet R.
  • August 9 at the home of Sara R.
  • September 13 at the home of Mark H.

Directions and details will be posted in upcoming newsletters. For now if anyone would like to volunteer to host a potluck in the Fall, or would like to host a Community Event (see below) just let me know.
The Purpose of This Newsletter

We have been doing these newsletters for nearly three years, and I thought it was about time that I explained the purpose of this newsletter. While I try to include interesting information and make it entertaining to read, its true reason for existence is to get people together IN REAL LIFE. Therefore if you live outside the area and have no intention of ever attending our events, you might not want to stay here, because I am going to keep trying to get everyone who has signed up for this newsletter to attend a real in-person event!

The traditional societies that Dr. Weston A. Price studied did more than simply eat nutrient-dense food in order to be healthy. They had many differences in the way they structured their societies and viewed their place in the world. I think most people will agree that a sense of community and a connection to others is something that is frequently lacking in our modern world. And while we cannot go back to those traditional ways of life completely, we can learn from them and attempt to create the type of society we would like to have for the future.

What kind of world do you want to have in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? What do you want to leave for your children and grandchildren? If nutrient-dense food and healthy people is a part of that vision, then please join us.

Community Food Preparation Events

I first proposed the idea of the “Community Food Preparation Event ” in the August ’09 Newsletter. In February our local member and holistic veterinarian, Dr. Teri Sue Wright, volunteered her home and a whole bunch of fat for our first ever Community Event. Our “Fat Rendering Party was quite successful.

Now it is time to plan our next event. What would you like to see? Suggested topics include sauerkraut, kim chi, canning, preparing foods for freezing, harvesting fruit or vegetables, making mayonnaise and salad dressing, making large batches of meatloaf, or anything else we can dream up.

So, who has a large kitchen or backyard table and would like to host an upcoming Community Event?

Milk Available and Milk Groups

It’s Spring, baby animals have been born, and extra milk is now available a number of farms. I’ve also heard from milk group members that they have openings in their groups. So, if you are looking to add farm-fresh milk into your diet, now is a good time to contact farmers.

Links to Audio Interviews Online

I have been enjoying downloading audio files from the internet and listening to them on my portable MP3 player. Below are a couple sites that have many interesting audio files available to listen to at no charge.

I recently found a link to an interview about colostrum on www.oneradionetwork.com, and discovered many great speakers (and I am sure many not-so-good ones as well). The host covers diverse topics such as Environment, Geo-Politics, Health, Money/Finance and Spirituality. You will have to register in order to listen to the podcasts or download audio files, but so far I have not been inundated with email, so it is fine.

In the Diet and Nutrition category or the Health Challenges category you can find many familiar speakers that have presented at Wise Traditions Conferences. These interviews include speakers such as:

  • Sandor Katz – How to ferment your own foods
  • Mark McAfee – Organic Pastures Dairy – Raw Milk Producer
  • Farmer Amos Miller – grass fed animal products – Raw, milk, animal, eggs
  • Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride – The true connection between nutrition and brain function
  • Amanda Love – Kefir 101 – Fermentation Primer & Essential Every Day
  • Dave Wetzel – Activator X – Fat Soluable Vitamins – High Vitamin Butter Oil and Cod Liver Oil
  • Sally Fallon – Nourishing Traditions – X Factor
  • Datis Kharrazian – Hypothyroidism is an autoimmune issue
  • Mary Newport MD – What If There Was A Cure For Alzheimer’s Disease And No One Knew
  • Dr Gonzalez – Finding your ancestral diet – Pancreatic Enzymes – Detoxing – Acid Alkaline

Those of you who have been reading this newsletter for a while know that I lost my beloved dog Ashke last fall. I posted some interesting dog links in the March 2010 newsletter, and I have continued to find more animal health information. Recently I ran across AnimalTalkNaturally.com.

On these audio presentations the two Naturopathic Veterinarian hosts conduct interviews and discuss a wide variety of animal health topics. Such as:

  • Pet Care Naturally
  • Pet Vaccines: What You Need To Know
  • Nutrition for our Carnivore Pets
  • Natural Pest & Parasite Control
  • Natural Animal Health Care
  • Animal Welfare / Human-Animal Bond

You can also purchase in MP3 format or audio CD all of the recorded sessions from Wise Traditions Conferences. Selected sessions are also available on DVD. For details, please see: Fleetwood Onsite Conference Recording.

Raw Dog Food Lists

I fed our dog raw food for nine years and intend to continue with our next dog. Since we lost Ashke, I have been researching animal health and trying to link up with other local people who feed raw food. There are some great raw feeding groups that are open to people all over the world, such as: RawK9s, but the two listed below are specifically for people in Oregon and the Pacific NW who feed their dogs Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF).

WAzzuOR_BARF “The primary purpose of this group is to combine our buying power to get the best possible prices on bones and raw food for our pets.”
PacNWRaw “It’s a place to talk about natural feeding methods, to exchange ideas, and to share sources for Raw Meaty Bones, etc.”

You are welcome to discuss raw feeding of dogs and cats on our own local Eugene Chapter Yahoo! Group: WAPFEugene Yahoo! Group.

Also please see the article in The Wise Traditions Journal on Trends in Home-Prepared Diets for Pets.
~ Lisa
Newsletter Editor and Chapter Leader – who is still unfortunately dog-less 🙁 and looking for her next perfect dog somewhere in Oregon – if you know of any puppies or young dogs looking for their new home please email me.

March 2010: From the Editor

Fermentation Class

After two-year hiatus, our Eugene Chapter Co-Chapter Leaders (Lisa and Victoria), have two food preparation classes planned. The first is on making your own fermented foods!

With Victoria spending most of her time in Portland these days, it is a rare treat that they are able to team up once again to bring their culinary knowledge and experience to the folks of Eugene. You won’t want to miss this opportunity, as they don’t know when another one can be scheduled. See the March Fermented Foods Class below for more info.

They are planning one additional class on April 25th. Stay tuned for topic details.

Fat Rendering Party

Our Fat-Rendering Party in February was a success. About 8-10 people showed up at the home of our local holistic veterinarian for some chopping, cooking, straining, tasting, learning and laughing. Everyone who wanted some went home with a sample of rendered beef tallow, lamb tallow and pork lard, plus raw pork fat to try at home.

We also tried some salted cracklings (or if you prefer, “cracklins”) after the fat had rendered out. I really liked the lamb. Yummy. I ate most of them myself after everyone else left. Nice part is I lost half a pound by the next day.

Two of our attendees even blogged about the event!

http://gnowfglins.com/2010/03/03/fat-rendering-event/
http://preparetoeat.blogspot.com/2010/03/tuesday-twister.html

Earlier Starting Time for DVDs
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Six thirty PM is now our regular starting time for the DVD showings. I’ve had some people say that the 7:30 PM starting time was too late, and I’ve had other people say that it was too early. I realize that I cannot satisfy everyone, but I hope this new earlier starting time will work for most people. Let me know what you think.

Naturally Reared Dogs

In the back of the current issue of the Wise Traditions Journal (Winter 2009) I noticed an ad for AuNaturelK9s and just had to check it out. As you know, I lost my beloved dog Ashke last fall, and have been searching for my next perfect dog. I was impressed to learn that there are dog breeders who have embraced natural methods of raising dogs. From their website:

We practice Natural Rearing and Breeding which means: No Vaccinations, (rabies is required by law in many states), No Flea, Tick, Heartworm, lawn/yard chemicals, No toxic chemicals in our homes, and above all Feeding a Species Appropriate Diet. We embrace homeopathic/holistic veterinary care and rearing methods.

Ashke came from a shelter, and I fully support rescuing a dog whenever you can, but I believe that these dedicated breeders will one day hold the future for many dog breeds, just as parents following the Weston A. Price Foundation diet hold the future health of humanity (see the Healthy Babies Gallery). Through the AuNaturelK9s site I found a number of online dog health forums. I haven’t chosen my next dog yet, but I have “met” some kindred souls in these lists. If you want to improve your dog’s health, learn to feed raw food, learn to use natural methods of health care, or are interested in finding a naturally reared puppy, I recommend checking out these lists.

AuNaturelK9s – http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AuNaturelK9s
Jstsayno2vaccs – http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/jstsayno2vaccs
RawK9s – http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawk9s
ClassifiedDogsNR – http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClassifiedDogsNR

I still have the thought that somewhere nearby, maybe on a local farm, there are some puppies being raised on raw or farm-fresh food. So keep your eyes open in your travels around Oregon. I am willing to drive and willing to pay for my perfect puppy.

If anyone knows of any puppies or a pregnant dog, please let me know.

~ Lisa