Everyone has to admit, there is nothing more upsetting than finding a flea or tick on your dog. Country life, as romantic as it may sound, is the perfect breeding ground for these parasites.

Several years ago I started looking into natural methods of reducing the flea & tick population. Chemicals may help control a small area, but anything larger than one acre is a problem. The most effective chemicals are also environmentally dangerous and toxic to both humans and animals.

So the Search began for the perfect natural way of keeping these pests under control. Many of the books I read suggested certain plants and grasses that helped repel fleas or ticks. There were also many herbal sprays that would help. The philosophy here was to keep the problem under control…not to annihilate them, although I don’t think you will find anyone heartbroken to see fleas or ticks on the endangered species list!

What I found interesting, in almost all of the books I read, was the belief that a truly healthy dog will not be bothered by these parasites. So what did this mean? Natural Rearing. Almost all of the books recommended feeding raw meats, vegetables and grains, raw bones, herbal supplements, fasting one day per week, fresh water supply and plenty of fresh air and exercise.

Our dogs always have plenty of fresh water, fresh air and exercise…a "run with a view", what more could an afghan ask for? Raw meats were the next thing to try. At first, I would buy meat from the grocery store…ground beef, beef heart, lamb and chicken. With the chicken, I would soak it in a grapefruit seed extract and water mixture to kill any salmonella. I did see some improvement over the cooked meat I had been feeding.

Not long after switching to raw meats I heard about feeding green tripe. In Europe it had been used for years and many of the old time breeders swore by it. Problem was finding green (raw, uncleaned) tripe here in the US. The USDA has strict rules about that sort of stuff. One slaughter house, several hours away, required I sign a USDA release form before I could buy it from them. Luckily, I found a local "butcher" that did custom slaughtering. If they did a cow that day, I got the phone call in the evening to come get my tripe…one could not help but feel like Dr. Frankenstein awaiting phone calls for new body parts! In retrospect, I was very thankful. There is no way I would have survived a 2-3 hour trip, especially in the middle of summer, with several cow stomachs in the back of the truck…no matter how they packaged them!

I always heard people talk about how bad the smell was, but until you experience it, you could never imagine how bad it actually is. The first tripe we brought home was in an old cooler in the back of the truck. Even with windows open, in the back of an open truck, it was still horrible. Ten seconds after we pulled into the driveway, the howling began. I have never seen my dogs in such a frenzy.

When I first started using the tripe, I had to open, drain and rinse the excess hay and grass out myself and then of course, cut it up. It was really disgusting, but the dogs loved it and thrived on it. My attire and equipment usually consisted of a heavy duty butcher’s apron, latex gloves, several buckets, a hose and one of the biggest knives I could find. Happily now, I have found a supplier who sells the green tripe, ground and frozen in 5lb. rolls. You don’t even need gloves to handle it this way…just a good hand soap! I have found that Dial antibacterial hand soap works the best.

Was all of this torture worth it? YES. Within a couple of weeks I started noticing drastic improvements in coat, skin, energy, teeth and stools…less in number, small and hard…a good sign that the canine is efficiently utilizing his food.

The most noticeable improvement was on a very old rescue afghan. When she was turned into the shelter, her age was given as 6yrs old. It wasn’t until I was shaving down her mats, that I found a collar with a rabies tag. When I called the vet clinic, they informed me she was 12. Her teeth were terrible. She could not eat kibble and she could barely walk across the backyard. Today, she is 14, runs with the pack, disciplines the "young and restless" and has the most beautiful set of white teeth.

We have not been the only ones to notice the benefits of the green tripe diet. Especially in the past six months, several other sighthound breed people here in California have been trying it with very pleasant results. They have all noticed better coats…more luster and shine, no more flaky skin, richer colors, etc. Many comments have been made regarding how white their dogs teeth have become…without dental work! Everyone seems happier about the better stools, but they are more impressed by the increased energy level. Many of the older dogs have been revitalizing their running careers and have been very successful in competition over the younger dogs. On a side note, last year at the ASFA Region 2 Invitational our 7 … yea year old veteran, sire of our first litter, beat his 2 year old sons for the BOB (his second BOB title at the Region 2 Invitational) and then ran very competitively in the Best In Field run. He had been eating green tripe for at least 1 year at that point in time.

I’m not quite sure if it is related, but we also noticed a change in the two litters we bred. The first litter was before we were using the tripe. As a matter of fact, we started using a muscle meat/tripe mix when the pups from that litter were 3 months old. With the second litter, both sire and dam had been on the tripe for at least 2 years before the breeding. It was a more robust litter than the first. The pups had been on tripe essentially since conception and are far superior, in many ways, to the first litter.

So what makes green tripe the perfect food for the canine. It is said that the calcium:phosphorus ratio of green tripe is near perfect (1:1) where as in raw muscle meat it is 1:6. However, little clinical data has been collected. Still, many of the race track greyhound breeders in Ireland, I’ve been told, feed green tripe to pups and then use a muscle meat / tripe mixture on the adults.

Green tripe is loaded with gastric enzymes, amino acids, and other gastric "juices". The gastric enzymes not only help the cow in digestion, but also aid the canine in digesting and efficiently utilizing his food. The amino acids are necessary for muscular development and, the other gastric juices, I believe, are the best cleaner for their teeth! Because of it’s rubbery texture, serving it in large chunks also aids the canine in strengthening it’s jaw muscles and has an added benefit as a form of canine dental floss.

Cooking, bleaching or scalding the tripe destroys almost all of the enzymes and amino acids. Freezing destroys some too, but certainly not as many and still manages to keep most of the nutritional content intact. It is also more convenient than burying raw meat underground.

Many people are afraid to let their dogs try raw meat, especially green tripe, because of the ecoli scare. Don’t forget, a canine’s system can handle much more than we can. After all, when they bring down prey, they usually go for the innards first. If you don’t care to think about the hunt scenario, picture the loose neighborhood dog rummaging through everyone’s garbage pails.

I know this is all really "hard to stomach", but they really do thrive on it. From couch potato to sport and working dogs, they all will benefit from green tripe.

In conclusion, there is nothing trite about tripe!

References
Feed Them Well, Test Them Hard, Martin J. Lieberman
Owning An Irish Wolfhound, A Guide to Rearing and Training, published by the Irish Wolfhound Club of Ireland
Natural Insect Repellents, Janette Grainger & Connie Moore
The Complete Herbal Book for the Dog, Juliette

For more about Mary's Kennels and some nice pictures you may want to visit this web site: AFGHANS VAN BRABANT

The author lives in Aromas, CA with her husband, daughter, afghans, horses and a parrot. She has been involved with afghans for almost 9 years and has bred 2 litters. Their kennel name is "van Brabant" and their dogs are of the vdOM bloodlines. They are currently more involved in lure coursing and have finished 1 AKC Field Champion and 5 ASFA Field Champions ( the entire get from the first litter and their sire), 2 of which are Best In Field Winners.

Mary C. Voss