Yes, some of the things Musher said rubbed me the wrong way, but I too enjoy reading about how he lives. Dr. Salter is free to post whatever he likes, and he makes some good points, but I think he did take his comments the wrong way, which did set some people off and get them up in arms.

If you think about it, this entire argument is kinda all his fault Nah, but strongly made opinions (stating opinions in a condescending manner as if they are facts) WILL ruffle feathers. You've got to be prepared for that if you wish to boldly make your statements.

Excellent Mr Bulldog!!

I absolutely agree Myra. I am not shy of making controversial statements, but the other side of the coin is if you do that then you must be prepared to not only get the flak, but to accept it in good grace!

Gosh, I remember when I announced using an e collar on Ben to train a good recall. God only knows what Dr Salter would have done if he had been subjected to the abuse that was dished out to me ... probably had a complete mental breakdown! Whereas I cannot say I was not very upset by some of the remarks that were made about me, nonetheless if you go announcing something as controversial as using an e collar on a public forum you have got to accept some flak!

there are times and places to for shooting from the hip . . and in any sort of shooting, it's good to aim only at those who merit a bullet. The thread title is "Why NOT feed RAW". The particular hip shooting is offense, not defense. Raw feeding is trendy. Some of us have tried it and given it up for various reasons. Musher comes in and says: "I believe the question that needs to be asked is,"How can any human be so cruel as to feed a veggie or vegan or "commercial dog kibble" diet to 1000's & 1000's of years of genetically perfected carnivore."

Maybe that question needs to be asked . . . but we were having a discussion of the problems people have seen from feeding raw. Bringing a pig into a synagog might be a better analogy than shooting from the hip.

I find Musher hard to interpret. I've done a lot of work fixing ESL texts and he or she reads like a native speaker, despite claims to the contrary. Syntax is flawless. Punctuation is sophisticated. Idiom . . . pretty much English. Concepts, idiosyncratic. Is this a fabrication? Or a really interesting person with a life story completely outside most of our experience? If the latter, I'd love to hear the story. But written as a story in itself . . . not appearing as attacks on a discussion in progress.

Lets get the facts right here please. I am not against anyone having an opinion, or in fact anyone expressing an opinion. What I am saying here is that this thread is entitled "Why not feed raw", and consequently, I simply gave my opinion on why I dont feed raw. This is what I thought was required by the original poster of this thread. I did not think that this should have started the heated response by some members of this forum. The discussion of whether raw is the bees knees should be kept to other posts in my opinion. I did not set out to attack any other Member of this forum, but was forced to reply in a forthright way by some of the replies to my post. One poster made comment to my Dr degree, this has no bearing on the fact that I have an opinion on something. Whatever you feed your dog is your business, and again I say good luck to you, but dont attack me for simply making a statement in the post, which I thought was required by the original poster of this thread.

Raw feeding is NOT trendy ... it is the way that all wild canids eat, including wolves. The wolf and his direct descendent the dog, has been designed over hundreds of thousands of years of evolution to eat raw meat, bone, offal, and a few fallen nuts and berries maybe. I compare it to us humans eating a good, nutritious balanced diet of a little meat, fish, raw vegetables and fruits, cooked vegetables, nuts, berries vs. a carbohydrate-laden diet of processed foods, very little fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and berries. etc. The BARF or prey model diet for dogs is the former, and processed commercial dog food is the latter.

It is nothing to do with being trendy - it is nature's way and has been for a gazillion years.

I care not whether musher is for real or not... I love reading his posts, his philosophies and his thoughts. Some of them are outrageous, and I suspect are made very much tongue in cheek, but what the hell, who am I to judge?

If you make inaccurate and inflammatory remarks though about the sensitive subject of raw feeding vs. commercial, you will get some flak - and should expect it! It is a bit like mums talking about their children, they become extremely defensive of their own!

So the subject of whether musher could be trolling has finally arisen, I'm not active enough on here to know the full life and times of musher but some of what I've seen of him I admit I've gone "get outta here" more than once.

However I choose to believe he is real because I love reading his anecdotes, its almost like a santa claus kind of scenario

Your honesty and straight forwardness has humbled me. Thank you.

[QUOTE=halfpenny;2861147] Beautiful. I am crying softy rightnow so as no-one will know. I can relate to pretty much everything you said here. I'm old enough now that I have seen many loved ones pass from this world, animal & human.
Yes,"....(which most of us live in)...". Thank you.
"pts" Put To Sleep..?
pimatisiwinkina

It kind of means "Bring forth to this Earth, through those fragile (yet overpoweringly strong&powerful(like a living umbilical cord)) threads that are tied to this Earth, which originate from that good life/livingness in Heaven , for you."
I'm sorry if you are confused but I am too.
It's very hard to translate to English words. It make's a picture in me that I try to describe.
I hope you comprehend that I hope good things, good spirit, heavenly gifts for you in this world.