What Do You Feed Your Dog?

[Stitch]

If you feed your own raw all natural mixture, what do you feed and in what ratios?

If you have noticed an improvement in your dogs health when you switched from commercial dogfoods to raw all natural, what did you notice?

It would be really interesting to see what everyones overall experiences have been, considering the amount of discussion there has been on this subject.

I used to feed a combination of raw and dry commercial dogfood then I switched over to raw all natural.

Recently I am thinking that perhaps my dogs are getting a bit too much fibre so I will be adjusting their diet accordingly.

I wonder if anyone has a dog that has had a ailment or disease improve or worsen because of diet?

Love to read your experiences!!

Edited April 13, 2009 by STITCH

[Hastings]

If you feed your own raw all natural mixture, what do you feed and in what ratios?

If you have noticed an improvement in your dogs health when you switched from commercial dogfoods to raw all natural, what did you notice?

It would be really interesting to see what everyones overall experiences have been, considering the amount of discussion there has been on this subject.

I used to feed a combination of raw and dry commercial dogfood then I switched over to raw all natural.

Recently I am thinking that perhaps my dogs are getting a bit too much fibre so I will be adjusting their diet accordingly.

I wonder if anyone has a dog that has had a ailment or disease improve or worsen because of diet?

Love to read your experiences!!

I feed some Dr Bruce Symes Vets All Natural premium food, but mostly, raw Chicken wing tips, necks, carcasses, Lamb bones with meat, not shanks or necks though, some beef in chunks, occasionally tuna or sardines in oil, They get the occasional dog biscuit , all do well on this and are extremely fit and active , even my old girl, 12yrs eats this way. Much less poo then on a commercial diet, the have soooo much filler in them,

[Loraine]

My boy gets raw meat and veggies plus he has a bowl of biscuits/kibble for snacking. He is not a piggy eater, so the bowl of snacks is down all of the time and he barely eats a cup of snacks each week. He is very fit and healthy, and his itchy skin is clear at the moment

[Rysup]

I cant vote, you need an N/A option in the raw questions. I feed dry mainly.

[Leema]

If you feed your own raw all natural mixture, what do you feed and in what ratios?

Try to feed about 80%, 10% bone, 10% offal. I feed anything I can get my hands on, except beef femur bones. My dogs get a lot of chicken, some lamb, a little beef, a little lamb, and a little roo. Only because chicken and lamb are cheaper.

If you have noticed an improvement in your dogs health when you switched from commercial dogfoods to raw all natural, what did you notice?

No noticeable improvement that I remember. It was a few years ago.

[Gayle.]

I feed a combination of raw and kibble. Kibble would form less than 10% of their diet though. As they've always had this diet and in this ratio, I can't honestly say their health has improved, but they've always been wonderfully healthy dogs, right from birth.

[huski]

If you feed your own raw all natural mixture, what do you feed and in what ratios?

Try to feed about 80%, 10% bone, 10% offal.

Only 10% bone? Or have I read that wrong

I feed whatever I have in the fridge/freezer, mainly 80% RMBs, 20% extras like offal, fruit, vegies, fish, egg, yoghurt etc.

Bones include:

- chicken wings, necks, frames, legs etc

- turkey wings and necks

- lamb forequarters, necks, off cuts

- various beef bones

I also do a mix up of human grade beef mince, vegies, fruit, sardines, offal, yoghurt etc and feed that a few times a week.

ETA: The change in Micha and Daisy's condition and overall health since being on a raw diet is amazing.

Edited April 13, 2009 by huski

[Baby Dragon]

Only 10% bone? Or have I read that wrong

I also thought about 10% edible bone was the recommended amount, and that RMBs should be mostly muscle meat.

I guess it depends on which model you're following though

[huski]

Only 10% bone? Or have I read that wrong

I also thought about 10% edible bone was the recommended amount, and that RMBs should be mostly muscle meat.

I guess it depends on which model you're following though

AFAIK the BARF break down was 80% raw meaty bones, within that, 40% meat and 40% bone. Not sure what the prey model is but surely it's more than 10% bone too?

I don't know any raw diet that would advocate only feeding 10% bone, all the RMBs I feed would have much more bone than that.

Edited April 13, 2009 by huski

[Stitch]

Do you consider chicken frames, wings, necks to be bone??

[huski]

Do you consider chicken frames, wings, necks to be bone??

Yep

[Stitch]

Yes, so do I, but I have been told that it is cartilage.

[huski]

Yes, so do I, but I have been told that it is cartilage.

I'm not expert but isn't cartilage just connective tissue? Chicken wings/necks/frames look like they have plenty of bone in them to me!

[Baby Dragon]

Only 10% bone? Or have I read that wrong

I also thought about 10% edible bone was the recommended amount, and that RMBs should be mostly muscle meat.

I guess it depends on which model you're following though

AFAIK the BARF break down was 80% raw meaty bones, within that, 40% meat and 40% bone. Not sure what the prey model is but surely it's more than 10% bone too?

I don't know any raw diet that would advocate only feeding 10% bone, all the RMBs I feed would have much more bone than that.

Is that 40% edible bone?

Edited April 13, 2009 by Baby Dragon

[huski]

Is that 40% edible bone?

Yes, like the chicken/turkey/lamb bones I listed above - my dogs have nothing left in their bowls after I feed them! I generally don't feed brisket or recreational bones.

Edited April 13, 2009 by huski

[Baby Dragon]

Is that 40% edible bone?

Yes, like the chicken/turkey/lamb bones I listed above - my dogs have nothing left in their bowls after I feed them! I generally don't feed brisket or recreational bones.

It's interesting learning about the different models. Prey-model raw feeding is 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organs (of which about 1/2 of the organs is liver.)

Edited April 13, 2009 by Baby Dragon

[huski]

Thank BD, I had no idea they were so different!

[Baby Dragon]

Thank BD, I had no idea they were so different!

No worries.. I had no idea how BARF worked either, so thanks for explaining

I don't follow any model strictly, I have tweaked it to find what works for my dog, and we incorporate VAN. Actually at times I have worried that I may have fed more than the 10% bone, so it's good to know that some models encourage it.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Baby Dragon

[Stitch]

Thats one of the really noticeable things about feeding real meat, grains, vegs, bones, etc. as opposed to processed dogfoods is that the poos are not 'preserved', they break down in about 4 days and they tend to be less smelly and sometimes smaller depending on the time they spend in the gut.

I am in the process of researching a low residue diet for one of my dogs who gets colitis. A low residue diet includes food that can be more easily absorbed in the gut ie. processed food and it doesn't pass right through quickly, therefore I have to avoid feeding food such as bones, vegs, grains, everything that I would normally feed in a raw all natural diet. Fat is to be avoided and there is a lot of fat in bones ie. marrow.

[Leema]

10% bone is what I meant.

Apparently, most animals are only about 10% bone. (I tried to find the source but the best I could get was this.)

Chickens and birds are more bone.

Chicken wings are more like 30% bone.

"Raw Meaty Bones" are difficult to measure the meat as oppose to bone ratio. My dogs get RMBs and I estimate the meat/bone ratio and try to make up more meat in following meals, if I think it's needed.

My dogs eat all bones they get and digest it all. They're little dogs and get through mutton necks and 'roo bones' (I think roo tails?) and eat all the bone.

I don't feed beef femur bone, but feed every other type of bone - and my dogs consume all the bone. I don't make a distinction between 'edible' and 'non-edible'.

I don't know if I answered the question. Let me know if I am unclear. :rolleyes: