A staff member at PAWS had convinced a local homeless couple to surrender Roscoe. He had been living in a car with the couple for about five months and was in poor health, badly malnourished and suffering from mange and giardia. Rena and I went to see Roscoe at the PAWS shelter and instantly fell in love with him.

A diet inspired by the wild
Because of his medical conditions, Roscoe had a lot of trouble keeping food down or digesting it properly. We changed his diet several times but could not find one that would work for his delicate system. Then we started feeding him boiled chicken and white rice. By boiling the chicken, we took out most of the fat and made it easier to digest. The white rice also helped to make him regular. He did so well on this diet that we've kept him on it ever since. Over time we started swapping out chicken for turkey or fish or beef. We found that beef was the only thing that didn't work.

When you think about how dogs would have lived in the wild, you can see why this diet did wonders for Roscoe's health. Granted, Roscoe is completely domesticated and does not have the survival skills to make it on his own in nature. But if he had been raised in the wild by his mother, what would he be eating? Probably small game like rabbits and chickens. He would not be eating large quantities of carbohydrates like wheat or subpar protein matter. The only carbohydrates he'd be likely to eat would come from the bellies of the animals he killed. That probably also explains why he does not do well on beef; chances are he would not be taking down cows in the wild.

The natural 'multivitamin' for dogs
Over the years, we have added a teaspoon of flaxseed oil or fish oil to Roscoe's meals. We have found that it helps his skin and coat and eliminates dandruff. We also supplement his diet with raw, meaty beef knucklebones that you can buy at your local grocery store. Chewing bones helps to clean dogs' teeth, and the bone marrow acts like a natural multivitamin.

Rescuing Roscoe was the most spiritually fulfilling thing we have ever done. The joy of saving this abused animal changed us forever. After I left corporate America in 2004, we opened Roscoe's Ranch, which has come to be recognized as the Seattle area's premier dog-boarding facility. We had hoped to open a nonprofit that would expand PAWS' ability to care for stray dogs. Instead we opened Roscoe's, which donates a portion of its proceeds back to PAWS and other animal charities. After six years in business, I was recently invited to join the board of directors of PAWS.

Our lives have been changed so dramatically for the better since we adopted Roscoe. He truly is an inspiration.

Guy Palumbo is the founder of Roscoe's Ranch in Snohomish, Washington. Guy has a B.S. in marketing from Bentley University and has worked for leading companies, including ACNielsen and Amazon.com. He's also a big New York Yankees fan. Learn more about Roscoe's Ranch at www.roscoesranch.com.