Lexie’s Story
After I brought the most adorable 9 week old Dobermann puppy home from her breeder with a small bag of Victor Active Dog and Puppy kibble (the food her breeder was feeding her) I noticed she had bad digestive issues and skin issues on the food. So, I took her to the vet and was told that she might be allergic to something in it. Then I remembered that my first Dobermann also had slight food allergies that caused her to have bad dandruff and itchy skin and only one kibble worked for her, the Evo Red Meat Formula. I instantly went and got some for Lexie to see if it would work for her too and I tried that for a few weeks and she still had the bad digestive issues and skin issues on it too so I tried numerous other brand name kibble like Blue Wilderness, Purina Pro Plan, and Science Diet. None of them worked. After that I decided to try to really get to the root of the problem and took Lexie to an animal dermatologist and allergist. After the appointment they prescribed her a medicated shampoo for her skin issues and Iams Kangaroo and Oats for her food allergies to try an elimination diet. That food helped her digestive issues for a little while but then they came back just as bad as before. After that I finally decided to find a vet that did allergy tests for dogs and the results revealed that she was allergic to ingredients found in all kibble/wet food that I’ve seen. However, the vet recommended a Natural Balance LID Duck and Legume kibble which also worked for a short amount of time before her allergy symptoms came back. Then I remembered seeing people raving about raw diets for dogs on Facebook and since Lexie didn’t have any allergies to meat, I decided to do a lot of research about it and get info from raw feeding groups on Facebook. It sounded great so I looked up premade raw diet companies online and I found Raw Feeding Miami and Hare Today Gone Tomorrow but unfortunately, she had terrible digestive issues on those too. Due to that I tried several other foods like Zignature, Millie’s Wolfheart Texas Turkey, Farmer’s Dog, Tylees, Vital Essentials, and The Honest Kitchen but they all either caused her to have digestive issues, skin issues, were too expensive, and/or were one of the most common brands in the link between diet and a serious and fatal heart condition, Dilated Cardio Myopathy (DCM). After my first Dobermann passed away at a very young age to DCM and hearing how common it is in the breed, I wasn’t willing to feed her anything that might have any chance of causing Lexie to have DCM too.
Finally, I decided to try the raw diet again after she did good on Vital Essentials (it was too expensive though and I didn’t like how they used High Pressure Pasteurization to make their food) so I posted on several raw feeding groups on Facebook asking for recommendations. It was in one of those groups that Emma commented on my post telling me about the food she makes. However, the food did have a few ingredients in it that Lexie is very allergic to. When I mentioned that to her she said she’d be able to leave those ingredients out of Lexie’s food, so I decided to try it and got the trial pack. She absolutely loved the food and the treats and after making the gradual switch from kibble to The Braw Dog she no longer had any digestive issues and her skin issues were already getting better. I then decided to continue feeding her it as long as she didn’t have any issues with it and other than having to increase her food from 3 to 5 patties a day, she hasn’t had any. I’ve been feeding Lexie The Braw Dog for a year now and her fur is beautifully shiny, soft, and healthier. Her breath and digestive issues are great now too and she is now very fit and muscular. I’m never going to feed her kibble or any other food again as I want her to eat the best and to stay completely healthy especially because she’s not only my very best friend but she’s also my Service Dog and I literally don’t know what I’d do without her. She’s a Braw Dog for life!