YOU LUCKY DOG YOU

January 4, 2004

A dog's diet now may be more natural, convenient and nutritionally complete than the diet of its owner. Judging by the eagerness with which its panel of taste-testers gobbled it up - working border collies that are known to be fussy eaters - it's delicious, too.

One of the creators of this food, Foam Lake rancher Matt Fox, confesses, in fact, that he knows more about dog and cow food than he knows about his own. The kelp, he explains with authority, is included for its iodine and trace elements, the ground flax for its omega-3 fatty acids, the oat bran for its fibre and phosphorus, and the garlic because historical research shows that it may work as an anti-parasitic so it could naturally de-worm animals and rid them of fleas and ticks.

"And the largest ingredient, the beef, is comparable to lean hamburger, not regular hamburger, because our animals are 95 per cent forage-fed so there's not a lot of fat. It was Drake Agri-Foods that made this comparison while grinding the meat for blending," says Fox.

This beef is the reason for the creation of Farm Fresh Dog Food. Matt and his wife, Crystal, moved themselves, their children, border collies and their 400 head of cattle from Alberta to the Foam Lake area in 2001. All went well until May 2003, when the United States border was closed to Canadian beef due to the discovery of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in one Alberta cow.

"The results of this have made the depreciation on the herd almost unbearable," says Fox. "We've made management changes - extended the calving season and changed the calving date to buy us some time - but we needed a solution, not a time buyer. So we brainstormed with others, including Paul and Holly Foley, who are mixed farmers on their family's homestead at Quill Lake. About six months ago, the four of us came up with the idea of making use of our own cull cows by producing dog food."

One of the first contacts made by the Fox and Foley families was with one of the few veterinarians in Canada to specialize in small animal nutrition. A professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, she offered dietary guidelines and ongoing support and suggestions.

In addition to the aforementioned ingredients needed to meet these guidelines, the couples added: carrots for their palatability, slow release of energy, and high levels of vitamin A and fibre; alfalfa, because it is one of the most nutrient-dense plant sources of carbohydrate and also supplies vitamins and minerals; eggs, a nutrient-dense ingredient that, with the shells, also supplies calcium; natural, unsweetened, easily digested yoghurt for calcium, potassium, phosphorus and vitamins A and B; and canola for its omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and because it has been shown to reduce joint tenderness.

Balancing the amounts of each ingredient in the diet was just as important: the correct ratio of calcium and phosphorus, for example, required the addition of a small amount of sodium phosphate because, while the oat bran would have supplied the necessary phosphate, increasing its content would have added too much fibre.

Almost all the ingredients are from Saskatchewan, kelp being the one exception. The final product was achieved the first week of December 2003, and is now in final testing at Envirotest in Saskatoon to ensure it meets the guidelines of the Pet Food Association of Canada and the Canadian Veterinary Medicine Association. Fox is confident it will meet, if not surpass, these standards.

Two types of Farm Fresh Dog Food, which was also produced with the help of the Food Centre, are currently available: one frozen and all natural, and the other shelf-stable for up to two months due to the addition of a preservative. Both one-pound products are in sausage-like casings, 15 packages to a box, which supplies enough food for a medium-size dog such as a bulldog or small border collie for about 20 days. The cost per box is $45 to $50, depending on transportation costs.

Farm Fresh Dog Food is currently being sold at the Saskatoon Farmers Market and directly by the Fox and Foley families. Contact Fox by telephone at 306-272-3930 or e-mail farmfreshfoods@sasktel.net