IT'S been more than 10 years since the idea of feeding raw food to dogs went mainstream.

Within the first few years raw feeding was met with a plethora of controversy and negative reactions from dog food manufacturers, pet store owners, dog owners and of course, veterinarians.

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A decade or so later the controversy has died down considerably as people, especially veterinarians, see that dogs are not only surviving on raw food but they are thriving. Dogs diagnosed with terminal illnesses have prolonged their lives by years in some cases after being put onto a raw food diet along with supplements and monitored vet care.

Even so, there are still many people who have opted out of feeding their dogs raw food, be it due to their aversion of handling raw meat, still unconvinced about its virtues or cost and convenience. Feeding raw food, even the low-grade raw food, is expensive - but the benefits abound.

Like it or not, the raw food movement has done more for the general overall health of dogs than what immediately meets the eye, even if you choose not to follow it.

The movement created an awareness of canine health in general, dog owners began taking responsibility for their dogs' health and began educating themselves about canine nutrition and what is in their dogs' food.

They began to demand, through their purchasing power, better quality pet food.

This in turn created an abundance of super high quality commercial foods. Commercial dog food manufacturers decided it was best to jump on the healthyfood-for-dogs bandwagon as opposed to running alongside waving banners of negativity in an attempt to keep (or persuade) people buying their poor-quality food all in the name of profit.

The commercial dog food industry is a staggering 20 billion dollar a year industry in North America! That's almost as much as Oprah makes!

So what does all this mean?

It means that dog owners now have a choice as to how they can keep their dogs healthy through their food choices, just as we can for ourselves. Ten years ago we were subject to a handful of dog food manufacturers all offering the same thing: lamb and rice or chicken and rice.

These companies all did the same thing - purchased their rendered meats from the same plants - but packaged their products in ways that drew our attention. They knew we were gullible and uneducated about our dogs, and that all they needed were appealing marketing schemes in order for dog owners to buy their food without really considering the contents. We blindly trusted these businesses to supply us with quality food for our dogs.

Ten years later, you can go to stores and commercial pet food may still be packaged brightly but the ingredients are far better, with meat sources such as salmon, duck and bison, to name a few.

The companies that produce the higher quality products are smaller and independent. They realize that dogs need variety in their diet, just as we do, to remain healthy. Many foods are now grain-free, or at the very least contain a type of carbohydrate that is a more digestible form such as oatmeal, or potatoes instead of wheat or rice.

There are still the "old school" dog foods out there that have changed little, and probably never will. They're still big business, but as I said, finally dog owners are now able to make an educated choice. Even if their choice is uneducated and they buy the shiny package or the one with the heartstringpulling TV commercials for their dog, the quality of food has improved.

Regardless of whether you feed your dog raw food or agree with the movement, it has done great things in the care of our dogs over the last 10 years.

I, personally am grateful for that.

joan@k9kinship.com