On Valentine's Day, Julie Brigden's dog Colby received an all-natural, organic birthday gift.
"For her birthday she got Chompin' Chicken Liver — it's shaped like a bone and it's all natural and organic — free of dyes and preservatives," said Brigden, a Reston resident of the treats for her mutt that's part rottweiller and part Labrador. "Many pet foods have dyes and sugars — she can't have the sugar. It's rare for me to find food that Colby will actually eat," she said.
The dog food Brigden bragged about came from the kitchen of McLean resident Michelle Burleson, 28, a former marketing communications manager for a Fortune 500 company and current owner of Fido For Life.
"One day, about five years ago, I stopped at the animal shelter — I'm such a sucker. That's where I found Coach — I call her Coach Burleson like the kids called me Coach Burleson," said Burleson who coached lacrosse at the College of Holy Cross in Massachusetts, having played at George Mason University where she earned a B.A. in English.
Coach, a mutt that's half Retriever and half Springer Spaniel, was 10-years-old and weighed 45 pounds at the time Burleson got her, she said. "She's 15 now. She was really overweight when I got her — in bad shape. Today, she weighs about 30 pounds. I adopted Coach to save her life. I'd bring every dog home if I could," said Burleson, a military brat who was born in Hawaii and lived in Asia for a number of years.
By the summer of 2001 Coach developed a "severe health situation," said Burleson. "She couldn't walk, was urinating on herself and was throwing up."
In about a two-month period, Burleson spent roughly $5,000 and used up her vacation allotment attempting to care for Coach. "I thought I would have to put her down," said Burleson.
"I HAVE A FRIEND who's a holistic vet. We started talking about [what's] in dog food — preservatives, chemicals, and fat stabilizers — things that enhance the shelf life of dog food and make it palatable to the dog. I started researching the dog food industry — it's totally unregulated," she said.
Burleson came to the conclusion that if she wanted a job done right, she would have to do it herself.
"Michelle is very passionate about what she does — that's how she got started — trying to help her own dog," said Brigden.
"I decided to start making my dog an all natural diet — a raw diet — all the meat is served raw," said Burleson, noting that dogs are omnivores.
"In the wild, animals don't eat processed food," said Arlington resident Anita Pease, a client of Burleson's for about a month and a half.
"There's the theory that prior to being domesticated, dogs were carnivores and people were trying to get them back to that kind of diet," said Patrick Denney, a veterinarian with the Pender Veterinary Clinic in Fairfax.
"The dogs benefit from the nutrients not being cooked out," said Burleson. "I studied the work of two vets — they had dietary plans. I use their plans. I go to the market for the ingredients. Everything the dogs eat is fit for human consumption," said Burleson who makes the meals for her clients in her own kitchen. That includes the three flavors of treats — cheese, peanut butter and chicken liver. "I taste them," said Burleson adding, "Tugboat's my quality assurance guy." Tugboat, 4, is Burleson's other dog.
Burleson has a license for a home-based business, which is all she needs as the dog food industry is not regulated. "I wish it were," she said.
"It's a controversial diet based on the amount of protein used, based upon the National Review Committee requirements," said Denney. Denney, not one of Burleson's two veterinarians, said the NRC governs nutritional requirements.
FOR THE MEALS, Burleson has seven different recipes. "I vary who gets what depending on the dog," she said, using lean ground beef, whole chicken with bones chopped into bite-sized pieces — with the organs. The organs, said Burleson, are good for the dogs because of the Vitamin A content. Burleson said it's rare for dogs to contract salmonella, noting the raw chicken in the dog's diet. "They have a shorter intestinal tract and stomach acid that is really strong."
"I think it's great what she's done. She has tons of different creations with cheeses, steaks, spinach, carrots — she's done a lot of research," said Brigden, using Burleson's product since last November when Burleson began making the raw foods diet for her own dog. "I decided based on the improvements of her own dog. It's amazing the results I saw," said Brigden.
"Coach had no quality of life," said Burleson. "Since I put her on this diet, she's jumping around — a completely different dog. It happened over a three-week period. She's hiking with me, running, playing and wrestling with Tugboat," she said.
"I would never use commercial dog food again," said Burleson.
"My dog Chaos probably eats better than I do," joked Pease. "She enjoys oatmeal with honey in the morning. The food is delivered to the door in pouches — frozen — it's fresh food. It's not comparable — dry, factory-produced dog food versus healthy, raw meat, vegetables with no by-products or preservatives," said Pease.
"This is so much healthier for the dogs," said Sterling resident Suzanne Yerks of her two Greyhounds, Adam, 8, and Small Fry, 5. "I'm satisfied and the dogs love it. They lick their bowls clean. Adam gets so excited at mealtime, he practically knocks me over, said Yerks of the 90 pounder.
"I like that Michelle delivers it. When I open up the packages for the dogs it smells almost good enough to prepare for myself," said Yerks.
The convenience of delivery is important to many of her customers, said Burleson. "Everybody works, they have kids and families," she said. "It's something I'm into and I love dogs. I definitely enjoy being my own boss," said Burleson, admitting she is still learning about running her own business.
Burleson has a website, http://www.fidoforlife.com where potential clients can learn about the raw food diet she promotes and creates.