Now that we're transitioning into spring, we can forage for lots of free plants that, alongside a nice healthy raw diet, we can feed to our pets. We are a raw pet food company, and we make raw pet food. We know the benefits of raw food, but there are also amazing things out there that you can get for free to add to your pet's diet, which will really benefit them without having to pay for
In spring, we have lighter evenings and longer days, so we're going to be out and about more with our dogs potentially. We have various products that you can use. Also, we're looking at plants that are out there that you can forage, and you're legally allowed to forage them as long as you're not in a nature reserve. You can legally forage these plants, and they have beneficial elements in all of them, alongside feeding a raw diet
Previously, people have been asking, 'What types of vegetables can I give my dogs to try?' I would avoid veggies that are starchy, such as carrots. The best things you can get from a supermarket or maybe grow in your own garden are leafy greens, such as spinach, carrot tops, and beetroot tops. Put these vegetables in a bag that you can stick in the freezer, and then scrunch them up. You can feed that to your dogs, and because we're breaking it up for them, they can absorb the goodness from it.
Dandelions:
Now everybody should know what a dandelion looks like. Dandelions are usually a sign of good, healthy grass. They are little plants, and sometimes they can be quite big. We can use the whole of the plant in a dandelion because they are amazing. They're good for us as humans as well, but for dogs, we can use the roots, leaves, and flowers in their food.
I picked dandelions this morning, it's a really good idea not to just them straight away. I left them for an hour or so on the side by the grass outside the front of our unit to let any creatures remove themselves from it before I washed them and put it in the freezer. The dandelion flower, leaves and roots will be hard for dogs to digest so you might need to blend them down. These are all free things that are out there and what I did was cleaned it and then left it to one side and dry patted it down dry with a towel and then I froze it in the freezer for a short amount of time. I would probably break the dandelion down into smaller bits because it needs to be broken up for the animals to digest it better.
Dogs might find dandelions a bit bitter and they might not be interested in eating it like in chunks so maybe you could grate it down to get the goodness. Dandelions have huge roots, and they go down far they're a good sign of good grass.
Dandelions are a diuretic; the roots contain compounds with anti-inflammatory properties that can help alleviate joint pain support and overall joint health in dogs. They can be dried, roasted or ground down to make a dandelion root powder which you can then add as to your pet’s food as a supplement. The leaves are really rich in vitamins A, C and K which is why we like the leafy greens for our dogs, they also have several B complex vitamins, and they contain minerals including calcium and iron so dandelions are a massive boost to your pets nutritional health. If you can add them into the diet now I know this isn't going to be for everybody but some of us give this a go it's good one.
Dandelion flowers are rich in antioxidants and t can help combat free radicals a lot like the Neptune's Yard supplements which are also good for the free radicals and you can harvest these fresh and add them in. I would break them down again so the dogs can digest some of it so maybe chop it up a little bit or put it in a blender potentially.
You can also dry the petals I think people do that as well so what's good about dandelions for dogs. Dandelions are good at supporting the liver they help support liver health by producing and promoting the production of bile and aiding in detoxification so if you need to detox your dog maybe after an anaesthetic then this is not a bad thing to add into their food.
Dandelions are quite bitter but can help to stimulate the digestion with the production of digestive enzymes which alleviates and helps with digestive issues with dogs. As they are a diuretic which helps with kidney function it increases and promotes urine production in the dog so that can help to prevent urinary tract infections and other kidney related diseases.
Dandelions are also good for a dog’s skin and their coat health because vitamins and minerals found in dandelions help to contribute to healthy skin and a shiny coat.
Being raw feeders we know how good raw food is but this could also be something else that you can add into your pet's diet. When out foraging or maybe in your own gardens for something like this, you need to make sure that it's in an area which it less likely to have been peed upon and that they're not using any pesticides so you don't want that so you need to make sure that when you bring them home look out for any little pests that are on there too. Some of the dandelions I picked had quite a few little bugs on so I didn't pick those and then when I brought them home, I made sure that I set them on the side so the little creepy crawlies can creep off. Once I'd done that, I washed them to make sure they were clean for the food.
Overall dandelions are really a versatile and nutrient rich item that you can get for free in our hedgerows that you can add to your dog's diet and the best way I think would be to chop it up small either grate it. Once it's frozen it will break up quite nicely and it's much easier when the leaves are frozen to break them because you can just scrunch them in the bag. The bags can also be reused for next time and it smells all right as well.
