Edmonton, Alberta // Shot: Clouds and Sun on Sunday
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Thoughts on RAW
"...Racing greyhounds and sled dogs have long eaten raw food diets. Extending those feeding practices to the family pet is a more recent idea, proposed in 1993 by Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst. He called his feeding suggestions the BARF diet, an acronym that stands for Bones and Raw Food, or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food.
Billinghurst suggested that adult dogs would thrive on an evolutionary diet based on what canines ate before they became domesticated: Raw, meaty bones and vegetable scraps. Grain-based commercial pet foods, he contended, were harmful to a dog’s health.
Many mainstream veterinarians disagree, as does the FDA. The risks of raw diets have been documented in several studies published in veterinary journals.
Potential benefits of the raw dog food diet that supporters tout include:
- Shinier coats
- Healthier skin
- Cleaner teeth
- Higher energy levels
- Smaller stools
Potential risks include:
- Threats to human and dog health from bacteria in raw meat
- An unbalanced diet that may damage the health of dogs if given for an extended period
- Potential for whole bones to choke an animal, break teeth or cause an internal puncture"
(Side Note:) What is interesting is the two camps of thought in the veterinary community re: raw food diets for your dog: "Pro Raw" (holistic, natural methods of care) versus "Against Raw" (traditional vet medicine, as taught in current mainstream universities).
The old paradigm (mainstream veterinarians and the FDA) of grabbing the old bag of dry commercially manufactured kibble is being questioned.
From my experience, the benefits far out weigh the minimal risks. We handle raw food in our own kitchens. The claim that RAW is an unbalanced diet is untrue.
If there were such thing as a balanced diet (do you play a balancing game with your own diets?), then dry kibble provides very little of it. Simply stated, raw food diets provide the essential spectrum of nutrients, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, enzymes, etc.... its raw/natural/fresh food :)
The last risk is probably most apparent for a dog who chews on the occasional raw bone. However, bone chewing is great for young dogs since it contributes to jaw and facial bone development. Also takes care of tartar on teeth.
Having your dog chew on fresh raw bones can be beneficial to its psychological development. But the general rule on bones is to observe and hold the bone, as the dog's time with raw bone should be deemed recreational time with your dog.....
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Man and his dog save girls who fell into the North Saskatchewan River
EDMONTON March 31, 2013 - A Fort Saskatchewan oil worker who rescued two girls from the icy waters of the North Saskatchewan River credits adrenalin and his adventurous dog for saving their lives.
Adam Shaw and his family were walking on the Rundle Park footbridge about 4:30 p.m. Sunday when they heard someone screaming.
They thought it was kids playing, but looked down and saw one girl floating in the water, her sister reaching to pull her out.
“I just really didn’t want to fail. I really wanted to save them,” Shaw, 27, said at a Monday news conference at a downtown fire station. “I was just really scared.”
After yelling to the girls to stay there and try to hold onto the ice, Shaw handed his backpack to his wife, Kelsey, who called 911 and stayed with their two small children.
Shaw sprinted down the bridge with Rocky, an eight-year-old Labrador retriever-husky cross. The pair ran through the bushes and onto the shore.
By then, the 10-year-old girl had fallen into the river, but was holding onto the edge of the ice. Shaw stood on the ice, edged toward the girl, and managed to pull her from the water and set her safely on the shore.
Her nine-year-old sister had floated downstream. He found her bobbing a metre or two from the edge.
He yelled to the girl, asking if she could swim closer to the shore. She said she couldn’t move her arms or legs.
Shaw stepped toward her and the ice crumbled beneath him, plunging him and Rocky into freezing water.
After a few attempts to scramble back on the ice, Rocky managed to get his front paws up out of the water. Shaw pushed the 110-pound dog’s hind end up onto the ice, then grabbed his leash and pulled himself out with the dog’s help.
Soaked and freezing, Shaw searched for the girl, spotting her a few seconds later 50 to 60 metres downriver. After getting close enough, he yelled to the girl that he would send his dog toward her and asked her to try to grab Rocky’s leash. Rocky jumped in and the girl managed to grab the leash. Shaw c alled the dog back, and Rocky tried to scamper up the ice. Shaw pulled the dog up, followed by the girl.
By then, they were nearly at the Beverly Bridge.
As he sat on shore, Shaw’s phone started to ring. It was the Edmonton Fire Rescue water rescue team.
By the time firefighters met them on shore, the girl was hypothermic. Rocky sat protectively beside the pair, growling as firefighters approached.
Both girls were taken to the University of Alberta Hospital.
Miranda Wagner, mother of the two girls, posted a Facebook status late Sunday thanking the man and dog who saved her daughters, calling him a “stranger that put his life at risk.”
On Facebook, Wagner said her daughter Krymzen jumped in to save her sister Samara, but couldn’t hold on to her.
Wagner told CTV News that doctors at the hospital said Samara would have been gone had she been in the water for two more minutes.
Samara had hypothermia and suffered a number of cuts and scratches to her body. She was released from hospital at midnight and Krymzen was released after six hours in hospital, Wagner told CTV news.
The girls were in the park playing with friends.
Kelsey Shaw said her husband’s actions weren’t surprising.
“He wouldn’t ever let somebody be in need and not help,” she said. “That’s how Adam is. So his reaction to go and do it didn’t surprise me.”
At the news conference on Monday, Block presented Shaw with an honorary firefighter helmet and gave the dog a bone. Rocky snatched the bone from the fire chief’s hand, gnawing happily while his owner told the story.
While firefighters don’t recommend people try to rescue someone from the river, Block credited Shaw for his “clear-minded” response to immediate danger.
“It looks like the ice along the shoreline is safe to walk on, but it’s anything but,” Block said. “You never know where you’re going to step into a hole and break through, and that’s exactly what happened (Sunday).”
Shaw chalked up his reaction to adrenalin, crediting his dog’s fearlessness in jumping in to rescue the little girl.
“He’s a terrific dog and he’s very adventurous,” Shaw said. “He’s always in and out of the water, he’s always shocking us with jumping off the ice and stuff like that. I knew that he could jump in the water and swim back no problem.”
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