An excerpt from
Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet. Healthier Dog
Food the ABC Way
by Steve Brown, Dogwise Publishing. 800-776-2665, www.dogwise.com
Permission to reproduce excerpt with attribution granted by Publisher.
Introduction
“The ABC day made a huge difference,” Dr. Doreen
Hock told me when I informed her I was struggling to While in theory one can feed a dog the ancestral diet, in
complete this introduction and finish the book. “I could practical terms—given modern lifestyles and busy
see the improvement in my dogs—and it’s easy,” she schedules—it is just not realistic for the vast majority of
said. “Just tell people to follow the ABCs.” What do the pet owners. However, there are steps you can take to
ABCs stand for? alter or augment what you currently feed your dog to
make it more like the ancestral diet and thus improve
A stands for the amount of fat, protein, and
the nutritional content of your dog’s diet.
carbohydrate based upon the ancestral diet of the
dog. This means adding protein to most
The ABC way of feeding is based upon detailed
commercial and homemade foods.
analyses of the dog’s ancestral diet, supported by up-to-
B stands for balancing the fats. My view is that date nutritional science, and my twenty years
the health of a dog is dependent on the fats she experience in developing foods for national pet food
eats—more than any other nutrient. The companies. The ABC plans laid out in the following
importance of the role of fats is something that chapters focus first on correcting the weaknesses
nutritional experts have just recently established. associated with modern dog food which generally
Unfortunately, some important fats are either left contain not enough protein, too many carbohydrates,
out of commercial dog foods or deteriorate when and unbalanced fats, and lack the complete nutrition
included in processed, long shelf-life foods. that can only be provided by fresh foods.
C stands for completing your dog’s nutrition
needs by feeding some fresh, whole foods. There is no need to dramatically change the type of
foods you’re feeding. If you feed dry foods, for
Follow the ABCs for whatever type of food you feed—
example, you can make significant nutritional progress
dry, canned, frozen or homemade—and you’ll
if you make one day a week an ABC day. It’s easy, and
significantly improve your dog’s diet, which will
you’ll probably see the difference in your dog within
increase the odds that your dog lives a healthy, happy
two to four weeks. If you are more ambitious, I have
life. No doubt about it, and it’s as simple as ABC.
included additional strategies that involve preparing
The canine ancestral diet food for your dog that will take you even closer to the
You may have heard of the “Cave Man Diet” as it ancestral diet. Whatever you choose to do, the ABC
applies to humans, the theory being that unprocessed way will help improve your dog’s diet and overall
fresh foods high in protein and low in carbohydrates are health.
best for people who evolved successfully over
thousands and thousands of years consuming just such a Steve Brown turned his passion for canine health into
diet. The concept of the “Canine Ancestral Diet” for developing leading-edge products and educational
programs to improve canine nutrition. He developed
dogs is similar in nature. Dogs and other canids evolved
Charlee Bear Dog Treats®, one of the best selling dog
successfully through hunting and scavenging, treats in the US and, in 1998, he developed Steve’s Real
consuming foods that were not at all like the kibble so Food® for Pets, the first AAFCO-compliant, frozen,
many are fed today. Recent nutritional science raw meat-based diet. Brown is the co-author of See Spot
increasingly supports an ancestral-type diet—high Live Longer and has written numerous articles on
protein, balanced fats, and at least some fresh foods—as canine nutrition published in leading pet health and
the healthiest approach to feeding most dogs. veterinary journals. Steve lives outside of Eugene,
Oregon.
©2010 Steve Brown, Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet 1
