Raw Feeding?
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Question & Answer on
Oct 21st, 2009 |
11 responses
I’ve been thinking about getting my puppy on a semi-raw diet. I let him try a couple pieces of raw beef yesterday and he liked them. He is a large breed puppy (GSD) so would this be good for him right now?
I was planning on mixing some raw with a decent quality kibble because the meat adds nutritional value.
How would i go about doing this and would it be more or less expensive than buying a good quality dog food?
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I would personally stick to a high quality or all naturall dog food. It has every thing he needs. There is no reason to put it on raw meat.
Try the Nature Diet. My dog loves it and a few of my friends have started using and think its great. It has everything the dog needs and is completely naturall no artificial crap!!!
The raw diet is spectacular if done correctly and is getting more and more attention as people are seeing the dramtic results in dogs of all breeds and health conditions. I can’t say enough about it.
The poster that said that raw meat will give your dog worms does NOT know what they are talking about. That’s just crazy.
As far as bacteria goes…a dog’s digestive tract is designed to eat meat (animals) and will process it much faster than a human would: Too quickly for the bacteria to be an issue. Canines of all kinds are designed to eat MEAT not kibble.
Grains shouldn’t be fed to a dog any more than meat should be fed to a horse. Grains fed to dogs via kibble are responsible for more illnesses and conditions than I have space to write about here.
I will say that an improperly done raw diet can cause MANY problems, and it takes time and work to make sure you’re doing it right…it’s not simply plopping down raw hamburger and calling it dinner for the dog.
For people just starting out in raw, there are wonderful pre-made raw diets that you can order such as Nature’s Variety, Bravo, Steve’s Real Food, etc. Some of them have veggies included and some grain to decrease the unsightly blood. (The blood is GOOD for dogs, however).
My personal favorites are The Meateater Diet and Majestic Raw Patties found on http://www.animalfood.com These are all meat diets with organs, bones and meat ground together. Additionally, they are certified to AAFCO standards though feeding trials (as opposed to guidelines only) so you can be sure that your dog is getting balanced nutrition. I have seen AMAZING changes with my dogs since making the switch. With one dog, it worked on his autoimmune disorder and NOTHING the vet had done or given him had done a thing. Now he has been 100% symptom-free since the switch. It’s wonderful.
As for the kibble and the raw being fed together: That’s a point of debate and there is no solid proof to support either side. Believe me, I have researched it exhaustively and there are arguements for both sides that I find valid.
However, my feeling about it is that if you want to feed both, just feed them at seperate feedings, just to be safe. But the only reason to feed kibble at all is because the raw patties can be pricey. If you can afford to go full-on raw, that’s even better but you’ll see results with just half raw. If you do choose kibble, go with something like Innova or Wellness or Cannidae or something like that. Avoid the crap in a bag stuff like Eukanuba, Science Diet or Purina. They have pretty advertising and they pay for their own research so of course it looks good…but it’s grain junk.
And if you really get into it, learn how to balance the diet yourself and you’ll save even more money.
firstly: don’t mix raw and kibble. They digest at different rates (raw faster than kibble) and the kibble can cause the raw to stay in the stomach, causing a bacterial infection. It depends on the area as far as price of raw meat. If you buy it premade its very expensive, if you do a prey model diet it is much cheaper. If you want more info you can also join the raw fed group here on yahoo.
Usually puppies on a full raw fed diet don’t grow too fast and don’t get a lot of problems larger breeds can get. Certain (bad quality) kibbles tends to make them have huge growth spurts. A fully raw diet (if you can) is the best way to go in my opinion!
Here is some more great info:
http://www.rawfed.com
For one. Never mix raw food with kibble. These should be feed at two different times and preferable at 12 hours apart. They digest differently and is not good on his digestive system and can cause some upset.
Raw is great to ad in slowly while he is a puppy. Just don’t go overboard and give him to much right now. Maybe only do it once or twice a week along with but not with dry kibble. The best dry kibble for him if you are going the raw food was is Innova or Innova EVO (which is like raw food in a kibble form).
I have had amazing results with both these products and will only use Natura products (Innova, Innova EVO, California Natural, Karma, Mother Nature).
I think it will be great for him in the long run and he will be super healthy and happy with all raw or partially raw diet. Which ever you choose. I personally do not do all raw just because it is a lot of work with me and 9 dogs, actually now 10 dogs to do all raw. I feed raw 3 times a week and Innova EVO for some dogs, Innova for others and California Natural for the ones with sensitive stomachs. You can read more at http://www.barfworld.com to learn about raw diet and you can go to http://www.naturapet.com to learn more about Innova dog food and their products and where to buy.
Good Luck!
A lot of people say semi-raw isn’t a good idea because kibble digests differently than raw food – which is understandable because kibble consists of baked meat, veggies and other stuff. A lot of people feed kibble in the morning and raw at night, or the other way around. It’s up to you on how to feed it, though.
At the moment I don’t think it would be a good idea to feed him raw unless it’s a half raw diet with a low protein puppy food. The reason is that raw beef has a lot of protein and you definitely don’t want to give a lage breed puppy a kibble over 27% protein because it can cause overgrowth and other problems. Might not want to feed TOO much raw at the moment but you could gradually add more once he reaches teenager/adulthood.
Raw can be as expensive or as inexpensive as you make it. You can choose convenience or price, which is building a bond between you and a local butcher and get day-old organ meat and bones for free or little cost, or you can just pick up a whole raw chicken at the grocery store which may be pricier than if purhased at a butcher.
But with kibble there’s really no way around the price, the price of a 30lb dog food bag probably won’t be much different wherever you buy it, there may be a $5 difference between stores but that’s about it. And coupons can only get you so far, but most good quality dog food manufacturers don’t have coupons, and if they do they’re not worth much.
first of dont mix the raw with kibble as they digest at differing rates..it takes a lot of research before you start…you need to aim to feed at least 2/3% of your dogs body weight, i feed all 4 of my dogs raw meat (mainly chicken and fish and 3 of them have meaty raw bones on a daily basis..the 4th has no teeth hense no bones, with raw anything goes…chicken carcasses etc, if its given raw its fine, tho i dont tend to give red meats as they make my lot gassy but every dog differs..also if you are planning to stick to the raw there is no need to give kibble they will get what they need to from the meat and bones, you can buy the meat pre packed from large pet stores, it works out less expensive i think, and there is less to clean up in the garden and out on walks, i could go on but your best bet bet is to join the raw feed group on yahoo they helped me loads when first started i cant think of the link off hand so i will mail you xx
Actually, it is better to either do all raw and not mix it with kibble, since they both digest at different levels and it could cause problems with your dogs digestion.
I have a page on my website all about raw feeding. Check it out, it might help.http://www.standardpoodlesusa.com/barf-d…
good slow and stedy with raw food
I love raw food diets for my dog. Like everyone says, choose one or the other, either raw food or kibble. I use Healthy Paws which is an already prepared raw food diet. It comes in patty form and has vegetables and raw meat in it. The best idea would be to start seeing a holistic vet who knows about raw food. That way they can guide you on how to introduce it and what your dog needs. Different dogs need different supplements sometimes along with raw food, so ask a holistic vet. My dog has been on raw food since he was born (my breeder fed all her dogs raw food even as puppies) and he is doing great. He’s now four, healthy, happy, and very active. He loves his raw food!
Good luck!
Feeding raw will NOT give them worms! Don’t listen to the hype.
That being said, if you are serious about feeding raw, even partial raw, it’s about more than just tossing some raw meat in a bowl. You need to go online and do lots of research to try and find out what sort of meats your dog needs, as well any additional nutrients. You also want to be sure that if you are adding meat, that you aren’t adding to much protein to your dog’s diet, as too much protein can cause pano.
Raw feeding takes a lot of time, research, and committment. Make sure you understand it before starting it.
Good luck!
feeding any animal raw meat will give them worms. Did you also know that dogs and cats can suffer from the foodpoisoning bugs humans get from raw badly cooked food. Ecoli would be fatal to a puppy raw beef is one of the worst meats for carrying it.