In a conversational Q&A, Dr. Conor Brady addresses a raw‑food‑feeding dog owner’s concerns about providing adequate omega‑3 fatty acids. He explains that outdoor‑reared meats (beef, goat, lamb, duck) already contain sufficient omega‑3s for most dogs, making fish oil supplements less critical unless the dog has specific inflammatory conditions. He endorses canned sardines as a cost‑effective source of EPA/DHA, noting that cooking and canning preserve most omega‑3s. He warns that many commercial fish‑oil supplements are oxidized or near expiry, which can be harmful. Regarding freeze‑drying, he cites a 2003 New Zealand study on green‑lip mussels showing negligible differences in fatty‑acid and sterol composition between frozen and freeze‑dried samples, indicating that freeze‑drying retains omega‑3s effectively. The discussion concludes that feeding fish twice a week, using quality canned fish, and considering freeze‑dried products are viable strategies for meeting canine omega‑3 needs.
Chapters
I am fortunate to have two great raw food companies near me where I can source organic pastured beef, pork, turkey, lamb, raw goat milk, and pastured duck eggs. My issue is finding a good source of omega-3s. After the Inside Scoop, which was— is Rodney Habib's weekly thing discussing all the pitfalls with fish oils, I decided to feed fish instead of oil as I preferred whole foods to supplements when possible. I live in an area where it's hard to find fresh fish. I've been rotating canned mackerel and sardines and freeze-dried salmon. I have two questions. Number one, I make fish chowder with fish, eggs, and raw goat's milk, brackets—
delicious—
yeah, and a small amount of veg and feed it as the main meal twice a week in my rotation. Is fish twice a week enough or should they get some daily? Does freeze-dried fish contain enough omega-3, or is some lost in the freeze-drying process?
If you're feeding outdoor meats, there is almost certainly enough omega-3 in that diet for an average dog, in my opinion. I would say for the average dog, I think there's a big kind of focus on fish oil because it's fabulous. But for a carnivore meat eater, they really want to have lots of omega-3, and that comes from animal fat. And it's not just fish oil, it's not just fish fat. It is outdoor-reared beef, goat, lamb, full of omega-3, more than enough than your dog would need. Now, if he's very sick and he's got skin condition and he's inflamed and you might go, okay, little bit omega-3 here and there, jack it up if he's got arthritis 'cause he's inflamed. So I'm not sure if that dog needs more omega-3. A little bit of fish here and there would be about as great an addition, but that's only starting with the first couple of sentences. So you mentioned that you're popping in a few sardines and tins of sardines. I was doing a cost-benefit analysis of the different fish oils and, you know, what you're paying per gram of EPA, DHA. EPA, DHA are the omega-3s you really want. And to cut a long story short, we've done a fish oil, a few talks before, but tins of sardines have lots of omega-3 in them, even though they've been cooked at 121 degrees for half an hour, all tinned food. So that's a cost-effective way of putting in omega-3. But as she was alluding to, the supplement industry is a major, major problem. 50% of them are at their point of expiry when you buy them. And then as soon as you crack that top, it gets to oxidizing. And once it goes over that edge, it takes more from your body than it gives you. And 10% of them are dangerous. So how do you feel about freeze-dried fish?
So this is a paper from— I think it's from New Zealand. It's 2003. It's called Fatty Acid and Sterol Composition of Frozen and Freeze-Dried New Zealand Greenlip Mussels. From 3 sites in New Zealand. This study showed that there was no major significant differences in lipid sterol and fatty acid composition between freeze-dried and the frozen samples of green-lipped mussel. So absolutely great. So therefore, the very short answer is freeze-drying maintains most things.
So freezing and freeze-drying is wonderful. It's quite pricey because the process is expensive. I do hear that the freeze dryers, in order to kill the bacteria, have to use a heat kill step, and they don't call it a cooking step because they don't want to market their food. They want to market it as raw. And I think the freeze dryers do— you have to get it over 70 degrees for a time to kill Salmonella coli. 72 degrees has to be there for a little bit to kill Salmonella coli. That's not a hot temperature. That's not something to worry about. So I wonder, is that the step they do before they freeze dry it? And if it was, that's not the end of the world that you're talking about. You know, wonderful, wonderful quality food. And what's the difference between hair and fur? These are brilliant foods. And if you put in the real ingredient in there, perfect. We're spending too much energy thinking too stressful of it. That's wonderful food.
