SEASONAL FEEDING - Making the Most of Fresh Ingredients

Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, seasonal feeding at its freshest and finest. Featuring Hedgerow Hounds seasonal herbal blends.

 The majority of people have lost their connection with the land, nature and the changing seasons.

Natures larder provides us with a huge variety of produce at the perfect time when it will be of most benefit to us nutritionally. With a few small changes we can all benefit from eating seasonally which is better for us, our dogs and the environment.

We can utilise herbs and vegetables in the Spring, which are a perfect cleansing tonic to gently ease us out of the long winter months, where we have no doubt been overindulging and less active.

To the cooling and hydrating bounty of Summer, followed by the real bumper harvest of Autumn, which gives us all the foods we need to help boost our immunity and general health in preparation for the cold Winter months ahead.

Here at Hedgerow Hounds, we are passionate about seasonal ingredients, and if you really want to embrace seasonality, then we have a seasonal range of handmade herbal blends.

What`s so special about seasonal food?

Eating more seasonally ourselves and by including some of these foods in our dogs’ diet, we can benefit in so many ways.

. We can reconnect with the cycles of nature and really appreciate the food that is available for a short period of time.

. It is better value for money as well as kinder to the environment, to buy ingredients when they are in abundance locally and haven’t travelled halfway round the world before they even get to our kitchen.

. We can support the local communities, such as small producers, farmers’ markets, organic growers, and game dealers.

. The produce is fresher and therefore more nutritious as it is harvested when ripe or at its best, and has minimal travelling time before we can purchase it.

Could we survive without sugar snap peas from Egypt, asparagus from Peru, and eating Strawberries in January? These have travelled thousands of miles, are harvested unripe, and sprayed with chemicals, gas, or wax to stop them from deteriorating in transit.

Or could we wait until they are ready to eat locally and benefit from much more flavour and far higher nutritional value, while enjoying so many other foods in the meantime?

 How does incorporating seasonal food benefit our dogs?

If you feed raw or home-cooked food to your dog, then it is important to offer a good variety of foods over the coming months. If you feed dried or tinned food, it is also possible to start incorporating a small amount of fresh ingredients into the bowl at feed times.

By offering variety, you can ensure your dog gets a broad range of nutrients and avoid the intolerances that can occur if the same protein and carbohydrate are fed continuously.

A wide spectrum of fresh ingredients, either animal proteins or of plant origin, nurtures a healthy gut microbiome, which is vital for a healthy immune system and overall optimal health. The more diverse the diet, the less you will have to rely on supplementation.  

By feeding what is in season, you are providing food at its very best. This often means that you don’t need a large amount to benefit from the superior nutritional value.

A few local, handpicked ripe blackberries added to the food will be far superior to a larger number of blueberries that have covered many air miles. Including some free-range, wild, or organic meat whenever you can will also provide your dog with superior-quality ingredients.

Depending on your location, there is generally a good range of proteins available from Spring to Summer, but when Autumn comes, there is suddenly a whole new larder available to the raw feeder or home cook.

The game season varies by the species, but generally partridge and pheasant are available from September until February. Venison is dependent on breed, but around November to March, and Duck from September until January.

If you have been relying on beef, lamb, chicken, and fish from March until August, then this addition of free-range, often organic and minimally farmed protein is a huge bonus. You can either use in addition or temporarily replace the proteins you regularly use until the availability ends.

Putting a small amount of vegetables aside for your dog when preparing your own is a good practice. It will soon become second nature to save a broccoli stalk, steam a little extra courgette, cut off a small slice of pear or apple, or lift out the couple of squashed raspberries that are in the bottom of the punnet for your dog’s supper. You will also start to look out for seasonal bargains at the butchers’ or farmers’ market.

If you can forage for ingredients such as blackberries, dandelion leaves, cleavers, and either keep a few hens or find a local organic supplier of eggs, then that is a big win.

Adding a little fresh, local, and seasonal produce even two or three times a week will help to gradually improve your dog’s overall diet. If your dog is new to fresh ingredients, start off with very small amounts and include one new addition at a time, until they adjust to a different way of eating.

As a rule, although each dog is an individual, the majority of the meal is made up of animal protein, with anything from 5% to 15% being provided by vegetables and berries that are suitable for your dog.   

Spring

Spring ingredients offer a gentle tonic to cleanse and wake up the system after less active months and a diet of heavier, warming meals. Many of these ingredients that come into their own now offer support for the kidneys, liver, and lymphatic system that can often get sluggish over the Winter months. You may observe that your dog seeks out the fresh grass shoots as they appear, which are full of energy, sweetness, and moisture.  

The Nature’s Skin Tonic is perfect for a gentle Spring cleanse after the long winter months and also great for dogs that are itchy and suffer from seasonal allergies at this time of year.

Incorporate some of the following into your dog’s meals:

Spring nettle tops, Cleavers, Dandelion leaf and root, Asparagus, Watercress, Milk Thistle, Spring Greens, New season Lamb, Rabbit & Free range eggs.

Summer

Summer ingredients are cooling, hydrating, and uplifting, and we are spoilt for choice at the range of produce available. If you can grow a few vegetables yourself, such as courgette, cucumber, spinach, salad greens, chard, and parsley, then these will be bursting with flavour and goodness, and you can add a little of these freshly picked ingredients to your dog’s food. If you grow blackberries and raspberries, you will find that the dogs often help themselves to the fruit from the lower branches.  

Nature’s Bounty appears on the shop in February and covers the Summer months until early November. It is a nutritious blend that contains an organic seaweed, and Bounty’s main task is to naturally repel fleas and ticks, which it has successfully done for many years.

Incorporate small amounts of the following:

Fennel, Melon, Spinach, Celery, Blueberries, Bilberries, Raspberries, Dandelion, Seaweed, Sorrel, Courgettes, Mint, Parsley, Calendula, Cucumber, Green beans, Carrot tops, Lettuce, Rabbit, Free range eggs.  

Autumn

Autumn provides nourishing produce to prepare for the colder months and are typically rich in antioxidants and high in vitamin C. Many of these vegetables, fruits, and berries also lend themselves to preserving by the process of dry storage, freezing, and fermentation, which would traditionally be used to ensure a supply of nutritious foods through the lean months of Winter that lie ahead:

Incorporate small amounts of the following:

Squash, Blackberries, Rosehips, Beetroot, Pumpkin, Apples, Pear, Burdock root, Chicory, Nettle seeds, Fennel and Dill seeds, Almonds, Pumpkin seeds.

Game meat to include: Partridge, Pheasant, Grouse, Pigeon, Guinea fowl, Quail, Venison, and Duck.

Fish, including Pollack, Mackerel, Coley, and Haddock.  

Winter

Winter provides us with comforting food for warmth and sustenance.

Incorporate small amounts of the following:

Ginger root, Turmeric, Kale, Celeriac, Thyme, Ruby Chard, Brussels sprouts, Winter Squash, Jerusalem artichoke, Pear, Russet apple, Turkey, Duck, Venison, Mussels.

 Caroline Hearn MICHT, Dip ICAT. MIAAT

Equine and Canine Sports Massage Therapist and Canine Holistic Health Specialist

Find out more at www.hedgerowhounds.co.uk

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Styles of Raw Feeding

There are several different ways to feed your dog a raw diet.

For some people it is personal preference, what suits their individual dog or what can be fed due to the availability of certain ingredients.

BARF

The most popular way to feed a raw diet is the BARF method which stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones and Raw Food.

Many barf complete meals add seasonal vegetables and include supplements so be mindful if you are also adding supplementation to these meals that you are not giving an excessive amount or doubling up on one particular supplement.

They tend to follow the percentage of 70% muscle meat, 10% raw minced bone, 10% offal (5% of which is liver) and 10% vegetables although there are variations within the brands some of which omit offal altogether and others will include 20% vegetables.

 It may be a case of trial and error until you find a brand that suits your dog. Most of the raw manufacturers now offer a large range of proteins making it easy to rotate the type of meat and offer a good variety.

Barf meals are usually packaged in convenient tubs or tubes and are simply defrosted and served. This is a good way to feed if the owner is hesitant to handle raw meat or alternatively there are raw meals provided in the form of sausages which are simply lifted out with a  fork directly into the bowl.

80-10-10: You can buy ready made complete meals with an 80-10-10 ratio in which 80% is muscle meat, 10% raw minced bone and 10% offal.

80-10-10 is a good choice it you want to either omit vegetables or have the flexibility to add your own.

 Prey Model Raw (PMR) or Whole Prey: Prey model feeders try to replicate a very natural diet and will often not add any vegetable matter. Typically, the diet follows 80% muscle meat, 10% whole raw bone, 10% offal (5% of which is liver) The muscle meat tends to be offered in large whole pieces rather than a mince. When using the whole prey method an entire prey animal is fed such as a rabbit, quail, fish, pigeon or chicken etc which has the fur and feather left on to add to the ration. It can be difficult to source many different types of whole prey in order to add variation and not every dog will eat this way.   

DIY: This can be the cheapest way to feed a raw diet but it does require additional research in order to get the correct ratio of meat, bone and offal plus a reliable source of ingredients in order to rotate the proteins and provide a broad range of nutrients. Making up your own meals gives flexibility and can be useful for dogs that need certain proteins omitting from their diet due to intolerance and sensitivities, but it is important to seek advice in order to provide all the essential nutrients that your dog needs to thrive.

Caroline Hearn ISCP.Dip.Canine.Raw.Nutrition, Dip ICAT  

Carnivore or Omnivore?

 Whether dogs are carnivores or omnivores seems to spark many a passionate debate.

All their anatomical attributes point to them being facultative (scavenging) carnivores. Which in general terms means that they are predominately meat eaters but they can, if needed survive on plant matter.

One way to explore what our dogs are designed to eat is to look at their anatomical and physiological features and what nature has given them in order to survive to the best of their abilities.  

Dogs come in a vast array of shapes, sizes and specific breed types but basically their anatomy and how their bodies work has barely changed over thousands of years. 

The natural wild survival and behavioural traits may have lessened over the centuries but there are still many attributes that our pet dogs have in common with their distant ancestors.

Scenting ability

Nature has given the dog the most exceptional sense of smell for a very good reason. Dogs dedicate 33% of their brain for the very important task of following a scent, which is essential if you need to track and kill your own dinner or seek out something tasty to scavenge.   

Their ability to recognise a scent is exceptionable and with 300 million olfactory receptors compared to our 5 million they are in a different league to most other mammals when it comes to scenting ability.

A dog can quickly use his nose to gain lots of information about his environment and also to detect species that have travelled through the surrounding area. They also have the physique to run at speed with their nose a matter of centimetres from the ground and to follow a scent over many miles, even when the “prey” has long since passed by.   

Dew Claws

Dogs have a pointed dew claw on the inner aspect of their front legs which does not come into contact with the ground until they are moving through the faster paces, then it provides a very important role.

Many people think that dew claws have no purpose, but if you have ever observed a dog eating a raw bone you will see that they dig the dew claw into the meat or sinew to position and prevent movement of the bone while eating.

Dew claws also have a vital role in stabilising the lower leg and in particular when cornering at speed, as there are five tendon attachments coming off it leading to muscles that prevent twisting of the limb when it comes into contact with the ground. This can prove essential in injury prevention when travelling over uneven terrain at high speed, such as the chasing of prey or needing to flee a source of danger.     

Head

Carnivores have very big jaws in relation to the size of their heads. Although they have reduced facial muscles to allow for the opening of the mouth, the primary muscles that operate the jaws are the large, developed temporalis muscle on their skull and combined with powerful neck and shoulder muscles, overpower, hold prey , crush bones and have the strength to carry away items that have been scavenged so they can be eaten in a safe environment.      

Teeth

The teeth of the dog are probably the biggest clue as to what canines are designed to eat. Like a Swiss army knife, each group of teeth have a very specific job to do in order to deal with capturing, puncturing and devouring almost a whole carcass. None of the structure or function of the dogs teeth and jaws lend themselves to eating or grinding cereals.  

Incisors are the small teeth at the front of the mouth, they are used to nibble and strip away sinew and meat from the bone.

Canine teeth also referred to as fangs or cuspids are the long pointed teeth used for holding and puncturing flesh. There are two canines in the upper jaw (maxilla) and two in the lower jaw (mandible). They are single rooted teeth and the upper canine tends to be longer and more pointed than the lower.

Premolars are designed to crush and slice due to their uneven surface and scissor like action. There is a modified molar called a Carnassial which you will see as the largest and most jagged premolar. It has three roots and is a heavy-duty tool to crush bones and meat. A dog will often tilt their head to one side to gain full use of this tooth when gnawing on a bone or to slice through a large chunk of meat for easier swallowing. The top jaw has two molars each side and the bottom jaw has three which are used for crushing.    

 Mouth

Dogs do not have any side to side action in their jaws so unlike ourselves or herbivores they can’t grind their food before swallowing. Their jaw is a simple hinge joint and has a chomping up and down movement and a strong, muscular tongue which can manipulate food to where it can be crushed by the powerful jaws.

They do not possess any salivary amylase, which is a specialised digestive enzyme that herbivores and omnivores produce in their mouth and together with the chewing and grinding action of the molars starts to immediately break down starchy carbohydrates before we even swallow.      

The oesophagus is capable of allowing the passage of large pieces of meat, after all the dog isn't capable of breaking the meat down by chewing or salivary amylase, so it needs to get the food to where that can happen, which is in the stomach.

Stomach and Digestive tract

Dogs have a short digestive tract so they can expel waste quickly which is particularly important if they have been eating food that is covered in bacteria.

We have all seen dogs eat the most disgusting and decaying of items, which if eaten by ourselves would have us omitted to hospital, yet at worst they may have a slight upset tummy for 24 hours.

They have an incredibly strong stomach acid of around pH1 which is needed to break down large amounts of protein, to dissolve bone and as a protection against any decaying food that may have been scavenged. The walls of their stomach are covered in a thick mucosa to provide protection from the corrosive acid and to literally stop the stomach from digesting itself.     

Dogs produce amylase in their pancreas which is passed into the blood stream to assist in digesting carbohydrates.

All the leading dog food companies state that dogs have no nutritional need for carbohydrates in their diet, yet they appear in very large amounts in the majority of processed foods.

Recent studies have shown that there has been some adaptation over the years in dogs’ ability to digest starch. One study comparing wolves to our domestic dogs showed that dogs of today had between 4 – 30 copies of a gene code for amylase while wolves had 2 copies. This shows that dogs may now find it easier to digest carbohydrates, but with such a large gap between 4 and 30 copies it also shows that some dogs will not thrive as well as others on a high carbohydrate diet. It comes back to the importance of treating a dog as an individual and just like ourselves, what is ideal for one person can be very detrimental to the health of another.   

Behaviour traits

Dogs still exhibit some of the behaviour traits of their ancestors and in certain breeds this will be particularly noticeable.  

Man has taken full advantage of these natural behaviours and over many hundreds of years, through selective breeding have created companions to work alongside them. This can be anything from using their natural herding instinct to manage sheep, tracking and bringing down prey to feed the owners family and retrieving shot game.

Many dogs are keen diggers and will bury food and in particular bones as if storing them for a time when food is scarce.  

Heightened senses and prey drive

All their senses are heightened, eyesight, hearing and in particular sense of smell so they can continually analyse who is approachable and where any potential food source may be.     

This strong prey drive is still noticeable today in the gundog, terrier and hound groups who are just primed to follow a scent or in the case of sight hounds to chase sudden movement.      

Instinctively driven to eat seasonal berries, grasses and herbivore droppings.

ling an empty stomach and go some way to enriching the life of a highly sensory being that is our beloved If dogs are given a large, natural environment to wander over it is surprising how much time they spend exploring, sniffing, experimenting what is edible and generally foraging. This can include a particular type of grass, seasonal berries, herbs, plant roots or tubers, clay soil or rotting wood. This could be for medicinal use, to ease a stomach upset, rid the body of parasites, provide additional fibre and moisture or to top up on minerals that are lacking in their diet.

Studies of wild canine populations demonstrate the wide variety of food stuffs that they will eat over the changing seasons. This is also dependant on location and if there is access to fallen fruit, nuts, berries, fish, small mammals or waste food from human inhabitation nearby in which to supplement the diet. 

Dogs particularly favour the droppings of herbivores such as horses, cows and deer. Although this is only digested, fermented grass and possibly hay in the case of domesticated animals, it does provide enzymes, fibre, moisture and have probiotic qualities.

What are dogs?

Set aside for a moment your views on what dogs should be eating and look instead at what Canis Lupus Familiaris, aka our dogs, actually are?

They are highly intelligent, inquisitive, scavengers, exploring their world primarily by scent. They investigate aroma, taste, texture and edibility with all their senses. They are foragers, trackers, diggers, chewers, adventurers, opportunists and hunters. They are playful, problem solvers that adapt to their environment and not only the food source that is available at that given time but also the volume and frequency of that food.

Nature has given them the anatomy and physiology to eat a vast array of food types and if it was absolutely necessary, the ability to track, catch or at least scavenge their own dinner.  

Baring all this in mind, are we not doing them a major disservice by serving up the same beige pellets in a bowl, every single day for a lifetime?

I am certainly not suggesting that you encourage or allow your dog to chase and catch wildlife, but could you offer some more enrichment at mealtimes?

This could be by adding a little steamed or pureed vegetables into their meals, a sprinkling of herbs or blackberries, offering some appropriate fresh cooked food, rotating the flavour or type of food you offer, the use of interactive food toys, snuffle mats, games in the garden that involve tracking and finding their favourite treats or food.