The Importance of Good Nutrition.....Delylah's Story

I had always had an interest in nutrition, like most people I thought I knew the basics, the common sense things we pick up as we go along but my real interest began with adopting Delylah.

Delylah was a few months old and had been found with one living sibling, sadly other siblings had passed away and they had all been dumped in an abandoned car. Starving and eating anything they could these two survivors were taken in by a kind man who then found he couldn't keep them. He worked all day these two tearaways were wrecking his home, understanably quite feral and very destructive he handed them both to the RSPCA.  Taking my daughter to the RSPCA to pick up some information for a school project we saw 'Delylah' and I had to take her home with us to join Tallulah our lurcher.

Delylah was a staffordshire bull terrier crossed with a greyhound, a bull lurcher. It was thought that both dogs had tried to be used for coursing - both her and her brother Tye, who went to a lovely home, had issues. Delylah was extremely scared, very highly strung and fearful of men and any loud, confident people. She would chase her tail, not in a fun way but incessantly - I felt as though if we didnt stop her she would have continued until she dropped. Chasing her tail was an obsessive, anxiety driven way of soothing herself, she would get hot, drool and her eyes would glaze, she would get more and more hyper. It was so sad to see.

We sought help from The Dog's Trust who were absolutely amazing. We learned ways to keep her calm - ways that were the complete opposite of what we had been doing, I learned so much - I had had rescue dogs before but never one with so many issues, it was so sad to see such a sweet girl with so much damage but so rewarding to see her change. With lots of behavioural work and environmental changes and we managed to allow Delylah to feel safe, to have a place where she felt she belonged. At home she was fine - pretty much anything else triggered her. She would be reactive towards other dogs until she knew them, she was fearful but oh so loving and and responsive to being unconditionally loved. 

I tried everything to help her, we saw a zoopharmacognitist but the appointment was at Celia Cross Greyhound Rescue kennels, not thinking about the environment I was taking her into she was very anxious - clearly the kennels triggered anxiety and fear, I wasn't thinking, the sounds the smells all putting her on high alert. On entering the room where she was to have her treatment she literally climbed up me, clinging to me and hung on to me. Considering she was the size of a greyhound this was quite a feat, I loved that she trusted me but hated that I'd put her through something that drove her to be so dreadfully scared. 

The Dog's Trust again suggested changes to her diet and this is when I began my search into different food and the affect it had on not only the physical but also the emotional and mental aspects. 

Delylah from being starved likely had scarred tissue inside, if so this could cause pain so as hungry as she might be when eating it might hurt. She was anxious around food and ate quickly and as though she was scared. It was suggested I get rid of all bowls, get a large mat that was washable and cover it with raw food - I thought she would eat and be sick, I worried she would overeat and damage the already sore intestinal walls. Over a couple of weeks her shoulders relaxed, she calmed down when eating, she stopping gulping, her eyes were not so wild, her ears not flat against her head, she didn't wince after eating. She ate a LOT but slowly the amount decreased, she began to leave a lot. She knew she no longer had to fight for her food, she began to realise she wouldn't starve, she began to realise there was more where this came from - she began to relax. 

It was at this point we started feeding her raw, whole nutritious food full of simple natural plain goodness. It was as though she suddenly began to be nourished, literally within days her sparse coat thickened and became fresher looking, although it was a short smooth coat it was softer, thicker and shinier. Her whole body began to relax and she slept better. A nourished dog now, she had the basis, the grounding to allow her to be the best she could be. Calmer, nourished and getting healing sleep was a turning point, it was as though for the first time since she was born she could relax into just being and from this point on we were able to work with her behaviour to make lasting change. 

I could see so clearly how a nourished dog, comfortable and calm on the inside could now be calm enough to learn, to gain trust,  to have the space to accept and be receptive to developing and growing to be the best possible dog. From now on no dog of mine would eat overly processed, by-products or poor quality food. 

I bought mainly from butchers, quite a learning curve for a vegetarian, some butchers would give me the bones and bits they would normally have to pay to get taken away, raw feeding wasn't so easy years ago. I had to find out the best ways of making sure Delylah continued to eat well and get all the essential nutrients she needed to thrive.

I read and learned a lot from Dr Ian Billingshurst known as the father of raw pet food.