Help For Beginners In Raw Feeding Please :-)

[4paws4me]

Hi :) I'm currently feeding my foster dog, Nala, Vets All Natural complete mix with raw meat and she does well on it. However, I have to say that I do truly believe that dogs would do best on raw feeding without the grains. I'm currently fostering Nala (approx. 2yrs old) from a local shelter due to her having congenital hip dysplasia. She has been down to Wagga Wagga and had a hip replacement using the new Kyon hip implant and all is good there. I was having to keep her lean during her healing time, and due to her having hip dysplasia in both hips (they operated on the worse, the other one is minimally affected) I will never allow her to be pudgy :-) I try to walk her daily, but she gets walked atleast every second day, and she currently does hydrotherapy (full swimming, no underwater treadmill!) once a week for a half hour session to help build up her muscles. So, with all this exercising, I'm finding her to be too lean. My guess would be that she should be sitting around the 28kg mark, and she currently weighs 26kgs. Breed I hear you asking ....... well, who knows !!! :-) But my guess would be either American Staffy x mastiff of some sort, maybe Dogue de Bordeaux? Then sometimes she reminds me of a bull arab x, which is what the shelter had her listed as. She is very well built in the front end (prob due to her having to use the strength in her front end since being a pup)but is only the size of an American Staffy. If I can work it out, I will add a few photos at the end of her. So, that is her history and where she is at the moment (sorry, I rambled on didn't I :-/ ) From what I have read by googling, I should be feeding her 2-3% of her ideal bodyweight of raw food, but the part that gets confusing for me is, how much offal and muscle meat can I feed her a week? I think muscle meat is anytime (but all I know of muscle meat is like heart ...can anyone elaborate on this?) and offal being like liver and ...... ???? So, doing the calculations, I should be feeding anywhere from 560gr to 840gr of raw meaty bones and meat. Can anyone give me an idea of what they feed their dog, and would be even more helpful if you have a dog similar in weight :-) Do I just feed her once a day? Is that what you do? I currently feed her twice a day. She gets 400gr of complete mix/meat a day with what ever raw meaty bone I throw her ( I don't weigh this ). Usually a chicken carcass, a roo tail, a lambs neck or a turkey neck.

My niece is also wanting to move her dog to raw feeding for better health and hopefully cheaper than buying the Vets all Natural complete mix for her puppy. Dexter is a Lab x Collie and is very active. He is only 6 months at the moment, and LOVES his raw meaty bones!!! How do we work out what Dexter's ideal ADULT body weight would be? My guess was approx. 30kg.

So, if your willing to share with me how you raw feed your dog, it would be greatly appreciated :-)

Now, to try and add some photos ......

[Guest Ams]

I have no knowledge about feeding raw but when I am trying to put weight on a dog I feed 3 - 5 times a day. Small portions often is easier to digest and metabolised rather than passing through the gut.

Hopefully some of the really knowledgeable RAW nutritionists will pop in with advice.

[teekay]

I am also fairly new to raw feeding and do not have the confidence to go it alone yet so I have been feeding Luka RMBs in the morning, either lamb off cuts (trimmed of most fat), chicken drumsticks ( occasionally a chicken frame although someone on here did point out the meat to bone ratio on a chicken carcass is not great, too much bone, so he rarely gets them anymore), turkey neck, and twice a week sardines ( not RMBS, I know)

For his evening meal I have been giving him the ready made raw patties. He has the Leading Raw brand that the guide dogs use he didn't like the Dr Billinghurst R.A.W. ones. So far he is going great, and has put a little bit of weight on. If your dog is particularly active they do have a different variety for the 'active' dog

We do agility training most days so he gets lots of treats to, which is usually left over meat from the previous family meal so I guess strictly speaking he is not on a "complete" raw diet but he's happy and I'm happy :D

Good luck with your foster :)

[persephone]

4P4me ..click HERE for everything you want to know about raw feeding :)

[westiemum]

Yep the thread Perse linked to is brilliant. I'm a raw feeder. And my three westies do extraordinary well on a raw diet. I also keep it simple - I shop for the westies when I shop for me - buy human grade meat on special, the raw mix from Adelaide Dog (which yellow girl discusses in the thread and became the basis of the raw mix she sells) - brilliant stuff, veg in season (zucchini and carrots are favs), Black and Gold frozen mixed veg, chicken necks, frames and wings, turkey necks, RMBs, Woolies cans of mackerel and sardines as a cupboard back-up.

I don't have time for a lot of fuss so I keep it really simple. And my older guys last blood panels in July last year were perfect - amazing for a 14.5 and 12.5 year olds.

Edited February 1, 2014 by westiemum

[westiemum]

Oh and basmati rice (lowest GI), sweet potato and pumpkin are also on the menu here. Cooking them is no problem once you get into the habit and it's nutritious, easily available, easy to cook in quantity and dirt cheap Westie food. And to see them do cartwheels at raw dinner time is such a joy which they never do if I have to feed dry - you can see their tails drop and they mouch towards their plates when they realise its dry food.

And as someone else said, I know exactly what's going into their bellies - and you can't say that with any processed commercial dog food. Grain free dry food to me is a form of doggy maccas so they only get it occasionally (usually when I've run out or forgotten to unfreeze something).

Hope that helps.

[Nekhbet]

Dogs do benefit from some carbohydrates in the diet - they're not obligate carnivores like cats and ferrets, they're scavengers. The point of the grains in the VAN for the most part is not to be digested at all but to help with the passing of food through the digestive tract and as a fiber source. It's why you see it in the poo.

[westiemum]

Yep agreed Nekhbet - it's the Westie skin thing that keeps me on low carb and grain-free - mine do so much better without grains - and they get roughage from other sources. But others might find it's not a problem for their dogs.

[minimax]

I just finished mixing up a batch of food for the pugs, will probably last about 6 weeks (we have a chest freezer for dog food!).

Beef mince (human stuff, from Coles. I find it much cheaper than any butcher and way cheaper than woolies), apple and carrot through the juicer (humans get the juice, pugs get the pulp), grated zucchini and pumpkin, sardines, liver, cranberry powder as one pug is prone to UTI's and it's easier than adding it each day.

Bagged up and frozen in daily portions as well as chicken necks and frames and yoghurt. Bits of fruit and veg "fall" off the bench during human meal time prep as well.

No grains etc as they do better without them, roughage comes from toilet rolls (lol) and other stuff.

Edited February 1, 2014 by minimax

[westiemum]

Yep I forgot the yoghurt - mine get a dollop in the mornings. I use the low lactose Hansell natural yoghurt packets - good for my girls sensitive tummy.

[blakkjackal]

For fiber I prefer to use flaxseed meal, the starch in sweet potato and pumpkin easily triggers yeast outbreaks in dogs prone to yeast infections. I'm a prey model feeder and follow the 10/10/80 percentages (bone/organ/meat). I don't feed ground meat and don't give bone every day although I do fulfill the dog's calcium needs every day by giving him powdered eggshells. I mix it in a couple of eggs, add the eggshells (2 teaspoons for a dog around 30 kg's) and flaxseed meal (a couple of tablespoons).

For extra energy or lean dogs I would use plain fat and add it to the meals. To be honest though I don't think your dog needs to gain much weight, lean is best especially with dogs that suffer from HD.

[Queen Maeby]

Minimax, how do you mix up six weeks of food? I struggle to find bowls large enough to mix up 2 kilos (ten days) of my Pug's food.

4P4M, my Pug has a cooked diet but you could feed it raw:

1 kilo organic free range chicken

4 tins sardines in springwater (no added salt)

6 organic free range eggs

1 cup organic raw processed low carbohydrate vegetables

1 cup organic brown rice

1/2 cup organic yoghurt

1/4 cup organic flaxseed oil

My Pug is recovering from cancer and I prefer to feed him an organic diet, but you don't have to go organic.

Edited February 1, 2014 by puggedforlife

[Sezy]

No advice on raw but I'd keep the lab cross collie smaller. My female of the same mix is 20kgs and perfectly healthy.