Carol Smeja joins us for this episode, and goes in-depth about the instinctual way dogs should be eating their food…just like their relatives and ancestors, the wolves, do in the wild.
Carol Smeja's career has focused in the area of psychology and sociology which culminated in her earning a Ph.D. and teaching.
After leaving academia, she applied these roots in understanding the psychological and social dynamics of eating while working in and improving health & diet with government agencies including the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention).
More recently, she has applied her extensive research and diagnostic training in understanding the eating behaviors of our dogs & cats by studying the natural and instinctive behaviors of their ancestral roots.
And from observing her own dog Pipa, she and her husband developed a solution - The Mine Pet Platter.
So what is "the feeding equation?" - It's how you combine what you feed and how you feed that food to your pet.
As Carol notes on why pet platters are best for your pets...
Dogs smell in 3-D just like, you know, our eyes bring the two different visions together. They smell in 3-D. And so respecting that nose is absolutely critical. I always say you want to make sure how you're feeding your pet develops a positive relationship with food, not a negative relationship with food. Do that by respecting their nose and not having anything project into it.
How do we create a complete natural feeding experience?
You want to make sure that you have a broad area to feed off of. You want to eliminate any potential issue that they see in terms of perceived threat or or their food being taken away. And you want to try to resemble a carcass as much as possible by spreading food across, but also having different pockets of protein and different varieties of food. Let them sniff out and explore.
During the episode, we talk about a couple of books...
Taming The Wild from Brian Bailey
Dr. Conor Brady's Feeding Dogs Dry Or Raw? The Science Behind The Debate
Carol is the owner of The Original Mine Pet Platter, and specializes in an area that is often overlooked in the pet world: the significant importance of how we feed our pets.
Carol 's Website
Carol 's Facebook page
@minepetplatter on Instagram
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Learn more about Lifetime Pet Wellness Center.
We are a local, independent, and owner-operated shop that is committed to providing the dogs and cats in our hometown of Columbus, Ohio with the best possible foods, supplements, and gear available.
Also, we're a little different. Our small shop is not your typical pet food store. We don't carry unnecessary pet supplies like a lot of other shops do. We do not saturate our little space with products that we don't believe in and feel are unnecessary. Our goal is to have a place full of positive vibes that you and your pet feel comfortable in.
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