Considering Feeding Raw?
Posted by
editor in
Question & Answer on
Dec 17th, 2009 |
8 responses
My dogs currently eat Chicken Soup brand dry food. It’s a good quality, nutritious food (especially when you consider most kibble out there) that they’re doing well on; but I’m thinking about gradually switching them to a raw diet. I’ve been searching for info online but much of it is contradictory. Does anyone with experience/knowledge have suggestions for me? Such as what to start with, what and where to buy, how much to feed, benefits, etc… Anything would be appreciated. Thanks!
*They’re both just over a year old~ a purebred siberian husky, and a rescued lab mix.
Similar Posts:
- “i Just Rescued A 10 Month Old Chihuahua From A Puppymill Last Night… Raw Feeding…”?
- How Much Is Enough When Feeding Raw?
- Online Raw Pet Food Supplier?
- My Puppy Is Not Eating Properly. I Have To Feed Him Raw Coz No Gud Dog Food Brand Available In India. Plz Help?
- Attn Raw Feeders: Pros/cons Of Feeding Raw?
Chicken to start out with – bland and usually the cheapest meat you can find. You can purchase online from online meat vendors, raw diet sites or just go to you local grocery stores, butchers, ethnic markets etc.
Here are some links all are prey model – raw meat, raw meaty bones and organs. No fruits and veggies
Info:http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/RawCh…http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Rawfe…http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.htmlhttp://www.rawfeddogs.net/http://www.mypetcarnivore.com/rawfeeding…
Suppliershttp://www.prey4pets.com/servlet/StoreFr…http://www.hare-today.com/
http://www.taylorpondfarms.com/http://www.grasslandbeef.com/StoreFront.… – wide variety of meats and organs
Benefits – less ‘doggy’ smell and dog breath
cleaner teeth
better coat and skin
better health
smaller and less odorous feces piles as raw is more digestible than kibble
The ability to feed a variety thus avoiding common food allergies corn/grains etc.
80% muscle meat including heart, tongue, lungs gizzard
10% raw meaty bones
10% organs -5% of which should be liver This is just the basic outline and can be changed to suit your dogs’ needs
How much to feed 2-4% of your dog’s weight.
Start out with 2.5% and scale up or down based on activity level and the look of your dog. Slims down and not overweight? Move up. Getting a bit ‘fluffy’? scale down. On average most dogs are 2%-3%
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm great beginners site.http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfe…
great forum to join
More great sites.http://members.shaw.ca/tamgarboxers/…t…http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/sa…http://www.barfworld.com/http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/he…i…http://rawfed.com/http://www.rawdogranch.com/rawdietbasics… Follow the links on the lower left hand side of the site.
Prey model raw linkshttp://www.geocities.com/havens_home/fee…
There’s a ton of links there to help if you haven’t already seen them.
I started off with I believe it was Beef Liver and riblets. But I’m not 100% sure. I think an organ meat is best to start off with simply because you can portion it easier when transitioning diets.
It is well documented that raw meat carries GI tract diseases from the cow.
That’s why there are “handling Instructions” on the package – that say thing like disinfect the preparation area, wash hands thoroughly after handling, and cook well. Notice it doesn’t say eat directly out of the package.
http://www.trojanrottweilers.com/raw%20d…http://www.trojanrottweilers.com/barfpag…
Here are two different methods of raw feeding. When I fed raw, I did the premade stuff. http://www.k-9kraving.com/ For me this was much easier than having to mix it up myself and hope I gave them all the vitamins and minerals they need.
my pal Mutt can help you out with this! she feeds her dog on complete raw diet.
Are you planning on premade, prey model, barf, etc?
If you are going prey model you just feed raw meaty bones and organs.
Start with your dogs weight and multiply it by 2 to 3 percent. Then divide it up into 80% muscle meat(mm), 10% bone and 10% organ(half of which has to be liver). (this guide does change slightly, but it helps when you first start)
I figure around 80lbs for the husky and that would be around 1.6lbs a day (just a guestamate). For the guideline it would be 1.28lbs of mm, and 2.56 ounces for the bone and organ.
Start with an easy access meat that is cheap on a regular basis. This will be your staple meat. I chose chicken quarters since my dogs mouths fit it with the average quarter being 15 ounces and it is cheap.
You also want to remove all the skin and fat until stool is solid. (keep the dogs in a crate over night or in an easily cleaned area for the first couple weeks).
Once stool is solid, slowly add the fat and skin back in. After that, it is time for the organs. Introduce them over the next week to two.
Once you are feeding the guidline, start introducing other meats. I can so far feed pork, beef, turkey, chicken, vension, lamb, etc. It takes time to get to all the different meats.
And you dont have to feed balance every meal, it can be met over time.
If you are interested in it, I highly suggest this forum: http://www.bigdogsporch.com
Or a visit to this canine nutritionist: http://www.dogfoodguru.com
I wouldn’t do pre-made. It’s not really any better than kibble in that you don’t know what is in it (not really) and don’t know how much bone/meat/organ/vegetable matter is in it. Dogs do not need vegetables: they need meat, organ, and bone. In the wild, wolves and wild dogs do not eat the stomach contents of their prey, they shake them out first so the amount of vegetable matter consumed is minimal. The most they get is when they eat small prey like mice, rats, small rabbits, etc. Chicken is the meat most commonly used when starting raw because it has soft bones, is easily digestible, readily available and pretty inexpensive. You can certainly start with other meats, but most dogs find chicken less intimidating than other meats. Don’t worry about organs or variety until your dogs are doing well on chicken for a week or two, possibly up to a month. Once they are stable on chicken, slowly intro new meats or organs. Don’t do both or the dogs may get “cannon butt” (the name is pretty much self-explanatory). The usual amount to start with is 2-3% of the ideal adult body weight of the dog. Larger dogs tend to need less while smaller dogs might need more than 3% to maintain weight.
As for benefits, well, I’ve seen improvements and I was feeding “high quality” kibble. My dogs shed less, have softer coats, clean teeth, no breath odor, better muscle tone and are actually less protective of their food. We can see they are MUCH more excited about eating and greatly enjoy eating now. They are satisfied with one meal a day in contrast to being hungry on two meals of kibble a day. Other people have seen chronic ear infections resolve themselves, drastic improvements/elimination of allergies, reduction of seizures, improvements in autoimmune conditions and even positive behavioral improvements.
I would highly recommend you join at least these two yahoo groups:
Raw feeding:http://pets.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/r…
Raw Chat:http://pets.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/R…
Both are fantastic resources with literally thousands of people feeding, some of them with decades of experience. Good luck! And welcome to the Raw Side!
I was recently watching the show “The Dog Whisperer” on the National Geographic channel and I noticed that he was feeding his dogs raw meat.
The show is about a dog expert, so I’m sure it he does it, it’s totally fine.
I think he said he would only feed it to them in moderation or something, or like used as a treat.
You could probably start with inexpensive steak cuts from the butcher, or maybe chicken… not too sure on that.
It’s cool you have a Siberian Husky, they are awesome dogs!!!
Good luck to you and your dogs!