If the saying "You are what you eat" is true, then I am sure that it also applies to canine nutrition. On the internet, I see the quandary of what to feed on each list that I subscribe to. Many breeders are talking to other breeders about this. I, too, was among them. I feel that most owners would do the right thing, if only they knew what that was. I have spent many years researching this for myself and my beloved canines. I have recently come across some information that is working for each and every Siberian here at Aniak. To start with, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, read the API report titled, "What's really in dog food?" It is very informative for all of you who really want to begin to understand basic nutrition and what we are doing with the diet of our Siberians at Aniak.

Our dogs are fed a natural diet. It is a "Back to Basics" approach. I have always fed premium dog food because I wanted to provide the very best diet available for my Siberians. After all, they are worth it!!! I felt that premium foods were necessary to have premium quality dogs. Of, course, I expected my dogs to be healthy by my doing this. I had studied nutrition in college for many years and I am continually researching to find out what works the best and why it works the best. At every dog show, there are many dog food vendors who represent the major and newer companies who are marketing dog food. I had always found it difficult to compare the labels on the food because, they are not listed exactly the same way on all of the labels. We have tried many of them but we never thought that there was any real differences in them. It was very frustrating. I was always looking for the "perfect" food, but it seemed that it was not easy to find. I couldn't see the forest for the trees.

In 1998, one of my new puppy-buyers shared my entire new puppy information packet to a man who owns a pet supply store that is Holistically-oriented. He told her, "Tell your breeder that I like everything that she does except how she is feeding her dogs." I called him and he told me that what I was feeding at that time was not as nutritionally sound as I thought it was. He suggested that I read the book Give Your Dog a Bone, by Dr Ian Billinghurst. I was open-minded and did as he suggested. I also read Dr Billinghurst's other book, Grow Your Pups with Bones. I then read the rest of the books on my book list. I decided to try it. We switched the entire kennel to the natural diet.

The results of this way of feeding our Siberians are immediately apparent by just looking at their physical appearance and observing how they act. My ten year olds are no longer "couch potatos". They are youthful and energetic. They are playing with the ten month old puppies here and keeping up with them easily. Another benefit is the amazing transformation in their dental hygiene. Their tarter encased, plaque-encrusted teeth are now sparkling white. Gums are healthy and pink and, best of all, no more doggie-breath. Their teeth are as white as my little new puppy's are. The sparkling white teeth on our dogs impresses everyone who comes here and sees them.

We have beautiful, lush coats and no skin dryness or flaky skin. If that is not enough, we have no fleas or other parasites that can plague our beloved Siberians. There is much more that I could say, but I will be happy to discuss this with you personally. All I can say in closing is that it is working beautifully for us and my Sibes are LOVING IT.

They are beautiful and physically fit. They are healthy and happy. What I am seeing as a result of our natural feeding program is very reassuring. The level of health that they are enjoying is unlike anything that I have seen or experienced on any type of commercial feeding. WHY WOULD I WANT TO CHANGE THAT??

More information on how we feed