Puppy Moving To A Raw Diet

[ann21]

I am a recent raw convert. I read and researched a lot about it but still probably haven't got it down pat! It really is up to what works for your dog - what works for one may not work for the other. I'm lucky what I feed my dog seems to be working well for her currently. You might want to also read this thread : http://www.dolforums...tural-chitchat/

Anyway the basic gist of raw we follow is quite similar to BARF. Because of my dog's condition (cancer) she has quite a few additions and variations to her raw diet as recommended by our vets, so slightly different from the norm however I won't mention any of that here - I'll just give you a basic outline of what we feed.

Brekky is normally chicken frames or chicken necks or turkey necks. When I'm feeling rich she gets rabbit once in a while. Once in a while also a lamb neck but if yours is a small breed dog I wouldn't recommend one.

Dinner is a mixture of beef / veal / turkey / lamb mince, or roo mince or rabbit mince if you can get your paws on some. Sometimes also some minced chicken frames .

Eggs twice a week, shell and all. I cook the egg whites slightly but leave the yolks raw.

Fish oil about 5 - 6 times a week, Vitamin E about 3 times a week.

Yogurt about 3 times a week, just a dollop in with her brekky.

Offal a small amount about twice a week. (Liver, kidney etc)

She also gets heart once a week.

Whole fresh sardines once a week.

Also veggies blended to a pulp every day, she gets a good helping of that.

I usually just buy a batch of whatever meat/bones I need on a weekend, then separate them all by day, label the bags and freeze them. I have a menu printed out and stuck on my fridge so its easy for me to follow and see what she eats by day. It's a great system for me as I work full-time, so quick and easy. :)

Thanks silentchild. Eventually I will give my dog a diet close to this I think (I will also add kelp powder and brewers yeast- though apparently there is some issue with giving the brewers yeast?

[ann21]

I tend to believe we over think dogs diets & like the KIS approach to feeding Keep It Simple. I supply my dogs with a quality kibble thats out 24/7(may not work for labs or other highly food motivated breeds/dogs)7 do not have 1 fat dog & they are feed 1 feed a day for all mature dogs & 2 for youngsters/teens/pregnant bitches & 3 for youngster under 6mths & feeding bitches. The daily main feed varies but are made up of largely raw meat n bone with mixed veg mash/eggs/rice/yoghurt & add a multi vit. The 1 or 2 other feeds may be as little as a turkey wing or neck chops depending on the individual dogs needs. My dogs get access daily to a lot of grass n crops & often will be seen chowing down on the oat paddock before it seeds etc. I mince my own meat(we butcher our own on farm) & add heart kidneys etc to the red meat when mincing.

I know I am probably guilty of this. Biggest fear is I will give my pup an unbalanced diet and cause issues later on. I've belived the myth that you have to be a food scientist to feed your dog right for so long!

Edited September 13, 2012 by ann21

[huski]

:) Huski ..what a fantastic shot of those puppies enjoying a backbone ! perfect :) That's what our pups get as well .

I enjoyed that blog read. Thanks.

+1 thanks huski :)

No worries! I have been feeding raw for years now and I think sometimes we can get overwhelmed with info and it feels more difficult than it needs to be. It doesn't need to be hard or complicated.

[Staffyluv]

I have a 26kg staffy cross and this is what he eats:

Breaky is a chicken frame or a few chicken necks or a couple of wings or a turkey neck.

Dinner is a barf patty or home made mix of beef/chicken/turkey/roo and veg with some yoghurt or cottage cheese or an egg.

He gets about half a cup of royal canin kibble a day but most of the time this is put into his kong with peanut butter and cottage cheese (just to make it stick so it is a bit harder to get out - otherwise he just drops it on the ground until they all fall out, which is not much of a challenge for him).

He also gets fish a couple of times a week and brisket bones every few days for something to chew on... I don't give marrow bones anymore as he gets constipated on the extra calcium from all that bone.. The brisket bones seem to be a nice balance.

All food is fed raw - straight out of the fridge..

Thanks Staffyluv. I've also been thinking about barf patties- might be a safer option when I am first starting out at least for one meal. Thing is, I come from Singapore and the price of 12 patties is $56 (about $48 AUD?) One question I have about fish- is there a danger of choking on the small sharp bones? Only asking because I have choked on a fish bone before so couldn't it happen to dogs too?

I buy fillets of fish and I also use sardines, tuna and salmon in the can.

My sisters old stafford used to dive on the fish being caught and eat it straight after it was pulled off the hook. She never had any problems.

I prefer fillets because choking scares me to...

Barf patties are expensive. I think I pay $24 a box but the beef ones are a bit cheaper than the others.

Honestly I think it is easier to just make up a mixture of meat and veg and make your own patties.

[minyvlz]

I fed raw in Australia and feed raw now in Singapore. I went from BARF style feeding to prey model (no veg or supplements except fish oil). If you want to stick with BARF style or even kibble, there are many more brands in Singapore than Australia offers. However IMHO you're better off making your own food.

Just a heads up that fish or anything in a can = cooked though.

[Nekhbet]

I bypassed the whole fiddle faddle process and went to the Vets All Natural range. At least you know its complete and you can always change the protein sources.

www.vetsallnatural.com.au

for supplements I go for the Sprinter Gold products, absolutely adore the Muscle Pro powder for conditioning and preventing tying up after exercise in the older Malinois.

Edited September 13, 2012 by Nekhbet

[eyeopener]

I tend to believe we over think dogs diets & like the KIS approach to feeding Keep It Simple. I supply my dogs with a quality kibble thats out 24/7(may not work for labs or other highly food motivated breeds/dogs)7 do not have 1 fat dog & they are feed 1 feed a day for all mature dogs & 2 for youngsters/teens/pregnant bitches & 3 for youngster under 6mths & feeding bitches. The daily main feed varies but are made up of largely raw meat n bone with mixed veg mash/eggs/rice/yoghurt & add a multi vit. The 1 or 2 other feeds may be as little as a turkey wing or neck chops depending on the individual dogs needs. My dogs get access daily to a lot of grass n crops & often will be seen chowing down on the oat paddock before it seeds etc. I mince my own meat(we butcher our own on farm) & add heart kidneys etc to the red meat when mincing.

I know I am probably guilty of this. Biggest fear is I will give my pup an unbalanced diet and cause issues later on. I've belived the myth that you have to be a food scientist to feed your dog right for so long!

I used to be too & with my horses was even worse but after finally converting my horses to a total unprocessed diet & seen how great they look nn act for it decided I should rethink the dogs diets too. I have serveral breeds some really large breeds & they are all doing well on the new simplier diets. My vet even remarked how great the old girl was looking these days n i have noticed another bitch has stopped getting hot spots too. I do buy quality kibble n my meat is human grade but I dont do all the adding of supplements n fussing over every little thing they eat n whether they needed more or less anymore. I go by what i see in front of me more than anything & i am likeing what I see atm.

[ann21]

Thanks everyone for their replies. Great to hear what people are doing for their pups :)

[Tangwyn]

Hi there,

I've been raw feeding both my dogs for about 10 months now. Once you get the hang of it the whole thing is actually really easy!!

For a start, you need to get your head around the fact that every meal does NOT need to be completely balanced. A balanced diet is achieved over time, just like ours is.

When you first start out feed a very simple diet. I started mine with two weeks on only green tripe. Don't feed dry biscuits and raw food - you actually make the gut transition even more difficult for the dog because the pH in the gut needs to be different.

The basics of my dogs' diet is:

1) Green tripe (20%) - that provides probiotics and partially digested green matter

2) chicken frames - 1-2 a day depending on the dog

3) chicken mince

4) Salmon heads or whole pilchards (once or twice a week)

5) Small amounts of organ meat (10% of diet) - twice a week

6) Occasionally, duck frames, pig trotter, mashed cooked vegetables, apple, carrot etc

7) Snacks of whatever we are eating because they are spoilt!

Sometime shortly after you change to raw your dog will get the most God-awful mucous diarrhoea. Don't panic - it is normal and will pass without problem. I've been told that this is the dog detoxing. I'm not sure but it is very common and not a problem.

So, for your puppy, back off on the different types of foods you are putting into one meal. Certainly no honey - dogs don't need sugar or even carbohydrate really! Start very simple - at least two weeks on a basic diet and then add elements. No organ meat for probably 6 weeks.

http://www.rawessentials.co.nz/content/page38/Articles.html

Have a look at some of these articles. Some informative reading!!

Cheers