The Story Behind the Formula
How many times have you heard of someone taking their dog to the vet and finding an unexplained tumor or growth? Why is this so common? Why do so many pets have allergies, skin and digestion problems?
Over time, a bland, dry, industrial diet will starve the immune system of even the most vigorous and healthy animals. Modern veterinary medicine offers surgery and medication to combat these problems, but a natural diet is the real answer.
Farm Dog Formula is a kefir meal topping made from fresh raw goats milk. Added to a quality dry food, it works to enhance the immune system and improve digestion.
Our Mission – Our Story
Our dog (the “Ghost Dog” of Bridgman Hill) was taken by cancer in 2017. The large tumor in her body made it very difficult for her to breathe in the end. It was only then did we learn that cancer is the most common cause of death for any dog over the age of ten. We began to study dog nutrition from the perspective of a livestock farmer and was blown away by how we as a society have adapted to this “new normal” of a cancer epidemic in the modern pet. What is causing this and why is this acceptable? The emergence of dog oncology clinics over the last decade is one chilling example of this disturbing new reality.
Around the same time we began to talk to people about their pets we noticed another strange trend. Many people we talked to about their dogs claimed that they had allergies and digestive problems. They mostly seemed resolved to accept this “luck of the draw” hardship, as if they just happened to end up with a pet with these particular quirks. The fact that I met people whose pets had some problems was not in itself surprising, what absolutely BLEW US AWAY was that MOST of the people I talked to had these same problems. I mean, seriously, more people did than didn’t, and that just seemed wrong.
At Ghost Dog Dairy, we combine two of the worlds most incredible raw foods: goats milk and garlic, to create nature’s ultimate pet supplement. As a VOF-certified organic garlic grower, we began experimenting with garlic as a protective nutrient for our dairy goats. They enjoy a light ration of garlic stalks, garlic cloves and other herbs that deter common parasites they could encounter as they graze and browse our hills and pastures.
Garlic undergoes complex changes in the rumen of a goat, creating milk that is an incredible delivery system for beneficial compounds. Combine this with the already powerful probiotic boost and nutrition of fermented goats milk, and you have the most incredible immune system booster and supplement available – and it’s all natural. No garlic is added directly to Farm Dog Formula – the secret is in the milk!
The food of dogs is more like that of man than that of sheep
Marcus Terentius Varro
What is dog food?
Growing up, dog food to me was two things, either a processed dry brown pellet that comes in a big bag or a wet clump of processed meat from a can. The canned stuff cost more and that’s about as much as I really thought about it. That was dog food. But it wasn’t always like this…
Dogs may have been domesticated for 16,000 years or more , but commercial dog food did not emerge until 1860 and was not in widespread use until around 100 years ago. So what were dogs eating for those other 15,900+ years??? One early clue comes from about 4000 years ago. The Roman poet-philosopher Marcus Terentius Varro advised in a farming manual that “the food of dogs is more like that of man than that of sheep”. He recommended scraps of meat and bones, and barley bread soaked in milk.
So let’s return to the present. We have these little brown pellets formulated and packaged in a thousand different versions, all backed by modern nutritional science, but at the end of the day, it is still a processed food. What would happen if you ate only processed food? In Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 documentary Super Size Me, he attempts to find out by eating only McDonalds food for 30 days. You can see the film to find out the predictable result.
And we know the result of an all processed diet with dogs, an out-of-control cancer epidemic and lots and lots of pets with allergies and digestive issues.
So back to our farm…
In 2016 we were starting our goat dairy and garlic farm. We had decided on these two farm staples because they were two of the most powerful natural foods in the world. It was in 2016 that Maggie the Kelpie died at the age of 30 on a dairy farm in Australia. In a short news segment, I watched a video of Maggie drinking raw milk from a dirty bucket lid as she did every day of her long life on the farm. I began to learn more about the power of raw milk for dogs, and also about the use of garlic for dogs as an old farm remedy for parasites. All these things converged into the birth of Farm Dog Formula.
Ghost Dog Dairy is on a mission to save pets lives and improve their health.
Since we began producing a few years ago, we have had the privilege of helping hundreds of dogs overcome allergies and digestive issues. We believe our milk is also contributing to the long life and vitality of many dogs who drink it regularly. Life on our farm has never been easy and the work never seems to be done but the stories from people keep us going and motivate us to develop even more improvements to Farm Dog Formula.
Even if you do not choose to feed Farm Dog Formula to your pet, we encourage you to learn about the benefits of feeding a portion of raw food and to find local family farms in your area to source your nutrition.
When would you use Farm Dog Formula?
- You believe in a raw diet but don’t always have time or money to prepare raw meals
- You serve a quality dry dog food and want to compliment it with a healthy topping
- You currently use a powdered probiotic supplement (Farm Dog Formula is many times more effective)
- Your pet has trouble with digestion
- You want to hydrate your dry food with something healthy, natural and delicious
- Your pet does not finish its meals, or is underweight
- You believe in supporting community agriculture and family farms
Farm Dog Formula is fantastic for cats also. I have found cats to be more finicky in trying it for the first time, but I have never seen a dog or cat who did not eventually learn to love their formula!
