Dog Weight Problems On Raw Diet

[jin]

Hi there, my two 6 year old dogs (one a Havanese and one a Maltese poodle mix) have been on a raw food diet by "back to nature" (http://backtonatureforcanines.com.au) for nearly a year now. They love it and their coats are healthy and silky after using it. However the Maltese poodle has put on too much weight since being on it, despite daily exercise. The Havanese has not gained excess weight.

My vet has said a kibble diet is better and that I should switch to a calorie controlled kibble diet for the Maltese poodle x.

I've read such conflicting things and wondered if anybody had thoughts/experiences?

Many thanks!

[Taliecat]

Is it possible to reduce the serving size for the maltese?

If they're doing great on the RAW I wouldn't change their food, but definitely adjust the serving sizes according to weight.

A lot of companies suggest far too large a serving size, I feed kibble but at 1/2-2/3 of the recommended serve for my dogs size.

If I were to feed him the recommended amount he'd be such a fattie!

[persephone]

just cut back his serving by a third and see if that helps :)

[BullBreedBoy]

I had a look at the website, and couldn' find any nutritinal info or guarenteed analysis. Is this data on the packaging? In general agree with the above recomendation for reducing portion size, however if the food is too high in fat for your dog, it may be worth looking at a lower fat alternative. it's hard to say without seeing any nutrition info.

[Steph M]

Hi there, my two 6 year old dogs (one a Havanese and one a Maltese poodle mix) have been on a raw food diet by "back to nature" (http://backtonatureforcanines.com.au) for nearly a year now. They love it and their coats are healthy and silky after using it. However the Maltese poodle has put on too much weight since being on it, despite daily exercise. The Havanese has not gained excess weight.

My vet has said a kibble diet is better and that I should switch to a calorie controlled kibble diet for the Maltese poodle x.

I've read such conflicting things and wondered if anybody had thoughts/experiences?

Many thanks!

Your vet sounds like they are speaking very generally, and unfortunately a lot of vets have partnerships with certain food companies, so I would be wary of any vet who wanted to change the food a dog was doing well on to one untested.

I third the cutting down the portion, and I wouldn't worry too much about the composition of the actual food if they are doing well on it it works for them, if however the malt acts like a starving child when the portion is reduced you can be sneaky and make up the difference with veggies or fruit in the interim?

[Dame Aussie]

I agree you should just cut down the amount you feed and see how it goes :)

[Yonjuro]

Its very easy to make up your own BARF style. My research indicates that a higher quality protein will give the dog a more satisfied feeling in their stomach than a food padded out with fillers or bulking ingredients normally present in many commercial foods, especially diet foods.

Having a quick look at the ingredients on the food the OP is using, I would be leaning towards using kangaroo meat for its leanness and protein quality and removing the potato from the diet. My belief is that you may only need a partial cut down in meal size by adopting something like this.

Note: Kangaroo on its own is not a complete meal so you will need bones, organs and veggies if you wish :-) Rabbit is also very lean, but costs can be prohibitive. Crocodile meat - woo -hoo awesome food but again very very expensive :D Maybe not a re-mortgage with the size of your dogs but something to think about.

[Steph M]

While that may or may not be correct, not everyone wants to or is able to prepare their own BARF in the correct levels.

[Yonjuro]

While that may or may not be correct, not everyone wants to or is able to prepare their own BARF in the correct levels.

I completely understand this ...I am merely offering an alternative for the OPs consideration.

[jin]

Thanks everybody for the valuable comments!

I am vegetarian and struggle to make a BARF diet myself - I would do it for the sake of my dogs' health but my thinking had been that if there was a good commercially available product out there that I would opt for that instead. It might be something I need to revisit if I can't get the weight situation under control.

Good point re kangaroo meat! We had been using a lot of the chicken options because the Havanese loves chicken. She also hasn't put on any extra weight, but the Maltese x has. She isn't any more active than him - but I guess it's just different dogs and metabolisms. Will try switching to kangaroo.

Will also try portion control but the poor guy has been SO SO hungry - scrummaging through my bag when I'm not at home and chewing even empty food wrappers.

It's a good point that I don't know the nutritional analysis - I buy this food from a pet food specialty store at the South Melbourne market and the owners there told me that this lady makes the food herself and uses human grade consumption meat and that they feed it to their own dogs. I suppose I bought it on trust and on that basis.

Thanks again everybody!

[Yonjuro]

The food actually looks pretty good when I looked at the website. It seems like a small business so I wonder if you can ask them if you can get the Roo or Chicken without the potato added? Cutting out carbs might give you the edge you need :-)

I understand your hesitancy to make your own. I am a meat eater and I didn't enjoy making up 20 meals today LOL It is a pretty rank job and can imagine it would be so much worse for a vegetarian.

There are other commercial raw options out there, but you seem mostly happy with the current food - I know as a small business owner that I would appreciate a valued customer like yourself asking for a modification rather than switching suppliers. Worst thing they can say is that is not possible :)

EDIT : Had another look at the ingredients. It is Sweet Potato as opposed to potato from the nightshade group so it really should't be too carb heavy (20% carbs per 100g sweet potato)

What slightly concerns me on the Roo one is that they say 100% human grade kanga mince - which to me means no bone?? So I worry about the calcium: phosphorus ratio. Conversely the chicken says Chicken carcass which is normally around 60% bone and a fair bit of fat???

Edited July 3, 2015 by Yonjuro

[sunny1shine]

I couldnt work out how much bone is in the meals you linked. If your little one is always hungry perhaps try feeding a little more bone. One chicken wing for breakfast keeps my lab full* until dinner

*lab full: will still eat any food given to her or left in an opportunistic spot, but will not stand at the treat cupboard barking

[Yonjuro]

oh... Jin, Do you feed once or twice a day?

[Dogsfevr]

What treats does your dog get ,often the issue isn't just the main meal but all the other stuff they give on top of the meal.

Pigs ears,bones ,treats etc etc

[persephone]

..and some dogs , like people always seem "hungry " - dogs are opportunistic .

Chewing on a bony meal , like a half chicken carcass , or WHOLE raw chicken wing( both almost frozen) is a great way to help them feel more satisfied :) Chewing releases those 'feel -good' hormones - and chewing for 5 -15 minutes lets their bodies know they have had a good meal :)

[Salukifan]

Add some non digestible fiber to the reduced portion. Dry baked pumpkin will fill them up.

[Yonjuro]

..and some dogs , like people always seem "hungry " - dogs are opportunistic .

Chewing on a bony meal , like a half chicken carcass , or WHOLE raw chicken wing( both almost frozen) is a great way to help them feel more satisfied :) Chewing releases those 'feel -good' hormones - and chewing for 5 -15 minutes lets their bodies know they have had a good meal :)

Yep - bone chewing releases serotonin (happy drug) and is one of the reasons I like to feed meat on the bone :) Chewing also makes them more tired from having to work at the meal which is a positive thing in my opinion :) All I worry about is having enough meat high in phosphorus to balance the calcium from a lot of bones. Sections of lamb neck (maybe a bit too fatty but should be okay in rotation are good for many smaller dogs, as are the wings as Perse has suggested, and I also mainly feed my meaty bones frozen or just part thawed. Sections of roo tail would be good but will need other nutrients to balance the meal and not to feed too much bone every day :)

Also feeding twice a day (if not done already) may help with better metabolising of fat.

[jin]

thanks so much everybody! We used to feed twice a day but since having cut down portion size, dropped to once a day - i can revert back to twice. We rarely feed any other treats except a bone on the weekends.

[sas]

If you have a chubster dog and need to reduce its intake whilst have the dog not think it's dying you can simply add mashed veggies. I have a little Lab x that gets more Veg than he does meat but the meat portion is the correct amount to keep him lean.

We use Berries, Cauliflower, Bok Choi, Kale, Pumpkin, any of those in a mix. We don't make it too 'green' otherwise the picky ones can turn their noses up at it. Pumpkin is a good one as being a fiber veggie to fill them up.

Feeding twice a daily is definitely a better option - it's a more logical option as well in terms of when your dog actually needs to access the energy from its food.

We generally feed meat, organs and veg in the morning and then meat and meaty bones in the evening. Seperating the bone from the organ can prevent the vitamins/minerals available in each of those meals that cancel each other out from occurring.