Advice Feeding Raw

[Silverfox]

We've had our grey for a year and are now moving him over to a raw diet.

 

Up until now he's had a good quality kibble alongside either raw ground beef, tinned mackerel, cooked chicken or scrambled egg. He gets raw bones or turkey necks a couple of times a week as a treat.

 

I've done a lot of reading and decided that raw is the way to go. I started him out tonight on chicken wings, and mixture of veg with an egg thrown in. He wolfed it down and hung around for a while, wanting seconds, which he never does. A good start but we'll see how it goes.

 

I was just wondering if anyone could recommend any good recipes please? I've searched for books but most of them are about the concept and benefits of feeding raw rather than what to actually feed your dog. I'd like to mix it up a bit for him and also make sure he's getting all he needs.

 

Any help or advice on supplements would also be appreciated.

[smurfette]

I change between beef, sheep and horse. Once a week I feed rumen and turkey necks or lamb ribs as bones. I always add vegetables or fruits with noodles, potatoes or rice and sometimes yoghurt.

As supplements we have grated coconuts - great worm prevention, melissa - booster for the immune system, st.jonhs wort - universal helper with all kinds of nerve damages and back pain and gingko for the older boys brains.

And different oils, blackseed oil for tick prevention, lineseed oil and rice bran oil for my 12 year old to keep his muscles.

Once a week I add brewers yeast and zinc biothin for the coat.

 

You can also feed raw fish if your dog likes it. One of mine is crazy about fish the other two act as if I am going to poison them.

[RedHead]

Raw can be very confusing at first because a lot books go on about the philosophy and general breakdown of it, without actually providing a real recipe. There are percentage guidelines you can follow but that can be confusing, especially in the beginning.

 

If you want an actual "recipe" with a supplement powder, I would HIGHLY recommend Dr. Karen Becker's book "Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats." Very practical, she doesn't go into all of the unfactual and unrealistic ideals that some raw books do, and it is also one of the few books that has nutritional analysis of the diets at the back of the book. Her recipes are very simple...the meat portion is only 2-3 ingredients, plus a bit of veggies and eggs and tinned fish added to meals throughout the week. There is a supplement powder that you make to fill in the nutritional gaps. She has a ton of videos if you just google her name.

 

Not sure where you live, but many areas also have local suppliers too who can help.

[XTRAWLD]

I don't make recipies, I just buy prepared ground raw food that has the right ratios of meat, organ and bone. Throw in supplements other food scraps like my uneaten veggies, or even some pasta and rice and that's it. I barely cook for me, so cooking for Ryder is even less of a desire! His food is dished out within a minute....can't beat the convienience.

[locket]

I loved that website for basic questions : http://www.njboxers.com/top-50-barf-faqs-for-beginners.htm

 

In my opinion, it is just like our food, it doesn't have to be balanced every meal, but over time yes. I do vary the meat source quite a lot, Jack gets mainly chicken, beef, turkey and horse with a fish meal once per week. I also add about 10% of his diet as offal (5% liver) I just cut it in little bits, freeze it and then he gets some cubes throughout the week. Then we also add kelp for the thyroid (about 1/4-1/2 tsp per day) and salmon oil for the joints and skin/fur. Finally, he gets veggies and fruits that we puree and freeze. He gets some cubes every day. And about 2-3 eggs per week, shell and all.

Actually, when I puree my veggies, I add in the salmon oil, the kelp and the eggs and freeze everything. That way I only have to worry about giving the cubes each meal and not necessarily weighting/measuring everything everyday. It also help me keep tracks as I work with a weekly bag of goodies system (see below).

I wouldn't give myself the trouble of having recipes. I calculate how much veggie and offal he needs in a week, then make little bags with the corresponding amount and that's what Jack gets in a week (plus meat of course!). If he is losing weight, I add in more, if he is gaining, I cut back on his portion a little. Easy peasy!

[BatterseaBrindl]

We are very lucky to have a local raw food supplier.

They grind the meat/eggs up and then freeze it in 40 pound containers, then cut it into individual portions...dependant on the clients needs.

I have been feeding this mix to all our dogs for over 20 years...no tummy issues at all .... and fabulous poops.

 

Of course they do it on a large scale, but you could take a look at his website to get an idea of their meat choices and the percentage of each ingredient

 

http://www.rawdogfeed.com

[claudiav]

I buy a beef & tripe chopped meat mixture from a dog food supplier (frozen in 7 lb tubes). I cut those 7 lb tubes into 8 patties and feed one every night, with chicken necks, chicken hearts & gizzards (bought from local meat market), and for bkfst and treats, i feed turkey gizzards and necks. i don't feed veggies or fruit, pasta, eggs, oil, or anything else. For treats, I also feed tripe sticks and DentaStix. occasionally, cheese, hot dog, or chicken thing when hoomans eat.

[Silverfox]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It's been really helpful to hear everyone else's approach and take parts from each of them!

 

I've been mixing it up with Harry's diet. I get Nature's Menu variety packs and keep them in the freezer for convenience but I also make my own recipes, which he loves. One of the best bits of advice I've heard is that not EVERY meal has to be balanced. At first, I was worried that I had to throw everything into a meal to keep it healthy but now I know that variety over time is the best approach.

 

I have one question though. How often should I feed raw meaty bones? If these aren't part of his meal (for instance, if I serve ground beef and veg) then I tend to give him a bone to chew on at another point in the day. These can be lamb ribs, beef bones or turkey necks. They don't have a great deal of meat on so is it ok to feed them once a day in addition to two meals, or is that too much?

[RedHead]

It's fine to feed rmb every day. Generally speaking, about half of the meat should be boneless and half (or slightly over half) raw meaty bones. So...if you feed ground or boneless meat at one meal, it is good to feed a raw meaty bone at the second meal. They need that to have an ideal phosphorus:calcium ratio. 2 meals plus raw meaty bones seems a bit much, I would just substitute it in for a second meal.