Dog Owners That Say You Feed A Raw Diet, What Exactly Is This?
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Feb 14th, 2010 |
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Do you buy it at the meat counter at your grocers? Is it available at the big pet centers. Do you hunt bunnies and deer for your canine companions? I’m serious, because I want to feed my dogs what is best for them.
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A raw diet consists of meat, bones, organ meat and produce (optional). How you feed those ingredients depends on both your own personal level of comfort and also what works best for your dog.
A raw diet is a diet that is species appropriate for a carnivore – and our dogs are carnivores, plain and simple.
I have a PhD in canine nutrition and have been feeding raw food to my own dogs for over 20 years. I’ve probably fed raw every way possible and what it really comes down to is doing what works for you and for your dog. I personally only feed poultry bones (these are whole bones) because I feel they are the safest (ie: no broken teeth, no choking based on the bones I choose for my particular dogs) and the rest of our food is ground.
There is a lot of good information on http://www.k9rawdiet.com (this is where I purchase my food) but I would highly recommend that you purchase a book or two on raw feeding if this is something that interests you.
Good luck!
The BARF (or raw diet) diet generally consists of raw meat, such as beef, lamb, chicken, turkey and fish among others. Some dog owners go so far as to provide raw squid, eel, and rabbit. Many include raw eggs into the diet as well. A BARF diet may also include some processed foods, such as cheese, yogurt, or weenies. Raw bones are also part of the diet, mainly smaller and softer bones. A common practice is to feed a dog raw turkey necks or chicken necks. Some people choose to grind up bones with some kind of meat grinder, and mix other raw foods into it, such as meat, eggs, or some vegetables.
This advise below came from pet place .com. I strongly advise you to think hard before feeding your dog raw meat as there are too many problems that come with it. A good dry science diet is balanced and also good for their teeth, but they must have plenty of water available.
“Even so, the comparison showed that raw meat had significant risks: “The results of the small number of diets analyzed here indicated that there are clearly nutritional and health risks associated with feeding raw food diets. All the diets tested had nutrient deficiencies or excesses that could cause serious health problems when used in a long-term feeding program.”
Remillard hopes the raw meat issue is just a passing fad. “There’s a general distrust of big business, and the pet food industry is big business,” she said. “Add to that, food labels are not understandable and scary. But the risks of raw meat are there. Is the risk worthwhile? No, it isn’t.”
I take the easy way out. I feed a preprepared raw diet called “Nature’s Variety”. I switched to the Venison Medallions recently. 4 medallions a day and my dog is set. She hardly poops anything when shes on it, her coat shines like crazy, and she doesn’t have ANY doggie smell.
The thing I like about this food is that everything is done for you. No handling the raw meat, no measuring and mixing, and it’s one small bag for me. They make patties for larger dogs as well.
The worst part is that we travel with our pooch a lot and you simply cant travel with it. So, she gets Natural Balance dry food when we travel – much to her chagrin. http://www.naturesvariety.com/raw
I feed raw prey model and I buy the meat the cheapest I can find it at the basic grocery stores. Prey model is not available at pet stores, but premade raw is available in pet stores.
Raw entails feeding raw meat, bones, organs to your dog. There are some groups out there that also believe feeding veggies/fruits to their dogs and some agree with feeding grains. Strangely, all of those different ways lead to very similar results.
To begin with, if you want to feed raw, determine what you want to feed. Do you want to feed raw prey model, Barf, or Dr. pitcairn/homemade? (websites provided below for each).
Once you decide on which you want to follow, decide whether you want to include fasting.
Note: a puppy should not be fasted. I would start at 18 months.
You want to fast the day before to give the system a break. Once you do that, start feeding the meat you decided on. Only feed one meat w/ bone until the dogs system is used to it. Also remove the skin/fat from the meat before feeding it for the first few days. I prefer to use chicken quarters because all three dogs can eat them, but you may want to use chicken thighs or drumsticks depending on your dogs size.
Detox is the beginning of raw feeding. Your dog will have loose stool. How long detox last depends on the dog, some dont go through it too bad, others last for a couple weeks. My dogs had detox last for atleast a week and a half. They had a very hard time adjusting, but I also did not remove the skin and fat.
Keep Plain mashed pumpkin in stock. If your dog does have loose stool, feed a tbsp of plain mashed pumpkin.
After your dog is used to the meat, introduce organs.
It could be a month before organs can be added, dont panic if you cant feed organs right away.
The general idea is to feed 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, and 10% organ. Typically muscle meat and bones are together i.e. chicken quarters.
Here are some websites that can help you more: http://www.rawlearning.com/http://rawfed.com/myths/http://www.rawmeatybones.com/http://www.bigdogsporch.com/http://www.barfworld.com/http://www.drpitcairn.com/
I asked a similar question not to long ago. Someone provide this link(http://www.prey4pets.com/servlet/StoreFr… to a place where one can purchase different sorts of raw meat for their dog some typical things you’d find in a grocery store but also things you wouldn’t like rabbit both whole rabbit, parts of a rabbit and even organs from a rabbit. They have other organs available like a bison heart and liver. Pork heart, testicles, kidneys etc.
I also found these website while looking for more information on raw feeding.http://www.rawfeddogs.net/ http://www.daybreakaussies.com/raw_feedi…http://rawfed.com/myths/ http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htmhttp://www.rawlearning.com/
I tried feeding the raw diet. Made one of my dogs sick. Wound up with a $500 vet bill. The rest of my dogs didn’t care for it. They would look at me as if they were saying, “I’m not a frickin’ wolf. You actually expect me to eat this crap?”. I was having to cook it for them which defeated the purpose of feeding a raw meat diet. I now feed all my dogs Merrick dog food and they do exceptionally well on it.
I feed mine K-9 Kravings. http://www.k-9kraving.com/ It is premade, with all the nutrients my dogs need. But, because of cost also supplement it with a little kibble.
Here are also a couple of links to the raw diet, or barf diet , and what this particular breeder feeds her dogs. http://www.trojanrottweilers.com/barfpag…http://www.trojanrottweilers.com/raw%20d…
However, before you do decide to feed raw, you need to research it well, unless you go with a premade product, or someone else’s well thought of diet regime. Good luck with the research. I personally prefer the K-9 Kravings, because it is simplest to me, but it is expensive.
I think most people in the city probably just buy it from a butcher, left over bones with meat still on and such. My cousins feed there dogs bones and meat from deer and moose that they kill, they just freeze it at hunting season and feed them it all year.
Personally I don’t like the B.A.R.F (Bones and raw food) diet for my dogs though. Really research it before you decide on it.
I feed both my dogs raw meat, and it is very good for them. It has made their coats shiny and (amazingly) cleans their teeth. I just buy some raw chicken from the grocery store and chop it up. Make sure you don’t cook it though; they’ll eat it too fast and the bones will choke them. They’re more brittle when they’re cooked.
Hope this helped,
|/ i c t o r i a
Here, I came upon this while I was researching the raw diet. It is called Lisa’s List:
Lisa List; ways to creatively source cheaper variety in protein,
parts and organs. FreeCycle and craigslist are great ways to find a
free or cheap freezer to hold all the scores you’ll be making!
Where do you look for meat suppliers?
Permission to repost from Lis
A) Look up meat and poultry packers, processors, and distributors in
the yellow pages. You may be able to get great prices from them if you
order in bulk, and/or they may have a discount outlet that is open to
the public.
B) I get many of my best deals in Asian/Oriental markets. I’ve also
heard that Hispanic and Caribbean markets have great variety and
prices too.
C) You may be able to join a barter group.
D) Google breeders (i.e. rabbit, goat, lamb, etc.) who are in your
geographic area. They may have culls they want to get rid of, or lower
prices overall.
E) Look up bulk suppliers and frozen bulk foods in your yellow pages.
F) If you have a Chinatown nearby, definitely make a visit.
G) Let your friends, relatives, and neighbors know you want any
freezer burn or old meat when they clean out their freezers, and tell
them to pass the word along.
H)If you belong to a church or social group, tell those members to
mention it to their friends and relatives as well.
I) See if there are any co-ops or meat buying groups near you. Check
on Yahoo, or Google to see.
J) Try craigslist – it’s amazing what you can get for free or cheap.
K) And I get meat and fish all the time (for free) through
FreeCycle. Join multiple lists if there are a few close by.
L) Some Wal-marts and some Costcos and some Sams Clubs have good
deals, but you may want to make sure it’s not seasoned meat.
M) Definitely watch the flyers, and you can usually see the rest of
the flyers online (the ones that don’t get delivered to your house,
but are only a short drive away).
N) *** Hands down, the bulk of my best deals have been marked down
meat at regular grocery stores. They reduce it the day before it is
going to expire, and I go as early as I can to get it before it is gone.
O) Tell friends and relatives who hunt and fish that you want first
dibs on any body parts they don’t. You can probably get at least the
organs and maybe the head. Also ask them to put you in touch with
their other friends who hunt and fish.
P) A great tip I learned here a while back. Some restaurants throw
out things they don’t use, like the organs that come inside whole
poultry, or raw meat that falls on the floor. See if they’ll save them
for you. Find somebody who knows somebody who works there.
Q) Farmer’s markets are great, but pick and choose carefully for the
best bargains. And sometimes at the end of the day some vendors will
reduce their prices, because they don’t want to take it back with them.
R) Some people contact taxidermists, who have no use for the meat.
S) Find people on this list from your vicinity, and ask them where
they get their meat deals. Join other raw feeding lists (there are
many), and ask if there are other raw feeders in your area.
T) Tell your butcher you want the meat that they would normally throw
out, that is almost out of date, that people ordered and didn’t pick
up, stuff that was dropped on the floor, their freezer cleanouts, and
parts that don’t sell (like trachea, lungs, spleen, etc.). Some
butchers will save their trim for you (once they get to know you).
Build a relationship with them first.
U) Yes, roadkill works too (where it is legal). In some places you can
get your name on the list and get called when they have large
roadkill. (like deer)
V) You can raise your own meat/poultry if you have the room.
W) Post a message in Carnivore Feed-Supplier or CFS-Canada if you are
in North America:http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Carni…http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS-C…
X) Speak to local farmers.
Y) Also, look for heart, tongue, and gizzards, which count as meat (as
opposed to organ) in the world of raw feeding, but are often cheaper
than other muscle meats.
Z) Find somebody who knows somebody who works at the grocery store.
They can introduce you to the meat guy, who may become more willing to
save stuff for you or reduce items about to expire, once they know you.
AA) Check the internet. Some suppliers have affordable prices, even
after shipping costs are calculated.
Hope I helped!
RAW diet it a point of contention with many pet owners. Raw is basically organic, uncooked, non-processed foods, wether its in Prey model or natural model. Its ALWAYS BEST to consult a vet on proper nutrition when going to a RAW. Some people only feed Meat, Bone, and Organ meat. Some will add a grain, or vegetable if they wish. I do a combination of both. For me I get a lot of different meats because I know so many different farmers. I have access to rabbits, game birds, elk, goats, sheep, fish, and buffalo as well as your staple beef, chicken and pork. I do uncooked bones of all in appropriate sizes, organs, and offal. Some grains like brown rice and cooked barley, eggs shell and all, and yogurt. Thats just my recipe that I fine tuned with a vets approval.
FYI: I grind the meat, I grind bone only for one dog since she had dental problems. The cats only get meat no bones they dont like them anyway.
For the person below me: IF you feed raw you never cook the meat, and you add bone, un cooked bone with marrow.
TOO ADD: for the one talking about risk of feeding raw versus kibble. There is risk in EVERYTHING you feed your animals and yourself. What are the RISKS? you didnt mention. Are you talk only nutritional risks? That is why you need to work with a vet to find the balance. Are you talking medical such as disease? Well how bout all the risk of bad food, expired foods, tainted foods, moldy foods? I take the risk because I KNOW Whats going in my dogs. IF I could raise the meat myself I would just to know what that animal I am feeding my dogs ate themselves. Dogs are dogs, their digestive systems have been ruined by generations of feeding this crap dog food. Formulated Kibble wasnt around that long ago. As a kid on the farm, our dogs ate scraps and meat only. Bones and all sorts of garbage. We never lost our dogs to anything food related. I fell into the kibble trap only to find most of the dogs were allergic to alot of the foods, dry coats, lack luster, upset stomachs, vomiting, pickyness. With Raw I have NONE of that. All 6 of my dogs that vary from purebreds to mutts, AND my cats eat the diet. Cheaper, healthier, no allergies, no vomiting, no diet related illness, no over weight (except on cat that I got that way)problems, no left overs, no pickyness. Coats are gorgeous less shedding and a wonderful sheen thats not just from grooming them. I will always stand my by diet.
Feed your dogs meat—not bones… I give my dogs a dry food/ meat dinner. Never give them bones. I do cook the meat a little to extract the juice. Just buy regular meat/chicken, and chop it grind it. Add to food. Also check the web, veggies are good for them also.