Raw food diet?

Bodshi

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Apr 23, 2009
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Anyone feed their dogs on raw food? I've just put ours on it, mainly because the older dog (who has a missing front leg) was eating all the younger dog's left over kibble and getting fat. Young dog is not at all greedy and would leave his kibble in his bowl all day, just helping himself to a piece or two every now and then. At least with the raw food he eats it relatively quickly and I can keep an eye on them both to prevent the older one jumping in and taking it off him.

Just curious about other's thoughts/experiences. Must admit I was not at all sure about feeding them raw bones to start with, especially as the older dog ate them so quickly he sometimes regurgitated them at first, but thankfully he seems to have got over that now. Both dogs love the food and seem healthy and happy at the moment. Not sure I'm so keen, especially as the younger one takes it all out of his bowl before he eats it.
 
2 out of 3 of mine are on raw food. I started it because Ginny can't stomach anything and had a constant runny tummy from the moment we got her. I tried all sorts but eventually tried raw. Shortly after, I moved Caesar onto it because I was so impressed! They both have such soft and conditioned fur and I've found it miles easier to manage their weight on it. I have used natures menu, DAF and hungry hounds. Now ive found someone locally who stocks hungry hounds and other more posh stuff - can't remember what it's called. So I move them about. I alsknow get eggs and feed those raw - if I get farm eggs then I feed shells too.
 
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I've looked at it for patch as thought it would help his anxiety to have less hormone/chemicals pumped into him through processes feeds however I wasn't confident enough to ensure he got a balanced diet, and combined with shifts was difficult to manage so he is on grain free high protein kibble.
 
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@popularfurball I'm a bit unsure too. The problem with my dogs was that the puppy (now 18 months) was on a kibble appropriate to his age and size (giant breed) which was probably wholly inappropriate for an 8 year old greedy 3 legged GSD x that doesn't get walked due to it being too hard on his remaining front leg. And the GSD was eating his own food, then helping himself to the pup's because the pup wouldn't eat all his in one go. I don't know whether I'm imagining it but after just a couple of weeks on raw food I'm sure the pup looks more muscled and has more energy (not necessarily a good thing!) although the older dog doesn't look to have lost any weight yet.

@misty. What would you feed your dogs in a typical week? Do you feed the same every day or do you vary it? Mine get a staple of minced beef every day, then they get either chicken wings or ducks necks and some horrible smelling minced offal of some description (It came in a starter pack that the lady I bought it from put together for me). I've now ordered some lamb spines, duck carcasses and chicken livers but don't really know what I'm doing. Oh and they get eggs too, but not every day.

I'm glad you said you find it easier to manage their weight as I am worried about how heavy our Paddy is getting, especially as all that weight on one (front) leg must be doing some damage.
 
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What I'd say firstly is expect a drop in weight in the first couple of weeks. I had the opposite problem in that, with Ginny always being ill, she was always very skinny - to the point where I once got pulled on it by a rescue centre at a sponsored walk - it was so embarrassing as I was literally trying everything to keep food in her. Still don't know what she's allergic to but nothing in her current diet upsets her stomach. Anyway - it was scary because she lost lots of weight again, as did Caesar in the first couple of weeks of being on the raw. Then they started to bulk up and Caesar got a bit hefty so we tweaked again.

Your starter pack sounds ideal. I try to feed some fish each week (white fish is good but salmon upsets their stomachs). I try to feed mince with ground up bone in and where possible offal too. If their poo gets too dry then it's a sign there might be too much bone in the diet. I also try and find mince with offal in but if I can't I go to the supermarket and buy a big pack of liver for not very much, separate it out and bag it up in little bits. They don't need very much offal as it can give them a funny stomach.

I hardly profess to be an expert and because I'm not I tend to stick to foods that contain bone and offal where I can. Some fish and some eggs too. I worried too at the start but ours have thrived on it.

Xx
 
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Thanks @misty. No sign of any dry poo yet. I know the mince I've got doesn't have bone, hence the addition of necks and wings, but really it would be much easier if it was included it in the mince, especially as it's ground up. I'll see if I can find some of that. Will have to ask whether there's fish in the stinky offal mince - smells like there is, it reeks.
 
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Yuk! Haha. You can get white fish from
P@h but it's 99p for 500g so not the cheapest way of doing it. I find salmon makes them A bit funny. Also sometimes I give sardines for breakfast. I don't feed whole bones - though I know you're supposed to because my two are geeedy guzzlers and swallow things whole xx
 
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Do you not sub with any veggies? I thought it required more than just meat and eggs to provide vitamins etc? This is why I gave up on it being too complex though I think it's a better way of feeding though
 
Small amounts of mainly veg but berries are ok (there are guides on what is and isn't). But some raw brands (e.g. Natures menu) include bits of raw veg in their complete raw. That's how we started xx
 
Like with horse food you can and will get carried away with supplements and oils too. When I loaned a horse I used to feel like a chef preparing his tea with all the nice things to keep him healthy. Personally I love pure coconut oil (in small amounts) for both! My friend started raw feeding years ago and now is looking at adding 'self selecting herbs' to her garden for her dogs to enjoy.
 
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Do you not sub with any veggies? I thought it required more than just meat and eggs to provide vitamins etc? This is why I gave up on it being too complex though I think it's a better way of feeding though

I was told I could because some dogs like it, but that I didn't need to. I bought some of the fruit & veg balls to try, but the dogs left them. It's easy enough to add your own fruit and veg into the diet anyway - our young dog loves apple cores and will eat pear and banana, and he has a real thing for frozen peas! They both eat leftover cooked veg.
 
I'm increasingly concerned that I don't feed my dogs as carefully as I do me, my OH and my horses. They get Nature Diet soft food on Purina Beta kibble. I've used Beta since the breeder of my first dog recommended it to me, but I know that from a quality point of view it sucks.

The biggest problem I foresee with raw feeding (and the higher quality dog foods like Green Dog) are that the recommended amounts are very small because the food is so nutritionally dense. My fit young dogs are hungry beggars. They eat very quickly and a raw diet means a very small amount of food for 17-18kg dogs. I worry that they would be even more hungry all the time than they already are.
 
I used to - but to feed a correct, balanced and top quality diet was taking more and more time and money so we had to stop.
Some of the raw suppliers are suspect to say the least - in terms of where the meat is sourced (some is category 3 waste), how it’s stored, handled and transported.
 
I looked into it, did some research and read enough to make me decide against.
Happy to pm links to anyone interested but if your dogs like it and look/feel well on it then just keep going!
 
I've had the dogs, 2 seniors and 2 younkers, on Akela dry food for about 3 weeks. It's organic, natural, made in Suffolk out of Suffolk ducks.

The dogs absolutely LOVE it and all Hoover their bowls clean in seconds. You could use the biscuits as training treats they are so delicious.

The feeding quantities are quite small and our youngsters think they are starving, but they are so full of energy and high spirits that it must be good for them. All of them (even our rescue dog Maggie who came with terrible bowels) have perfect digestions at the moment. My oldie Molly, who is absolutely riddled with arthritis, is perkier and livelier than she has been for ages. And I feel better because I am not feeding them cr*p.

I think it's about 10% more expensive than Beta once the small feeding quantities are taken into account. It seems really worth it to me!
 
I've had the dogs, 2 seniors and 2 younkers, on Akela dry food for about 3 weeks. It's organic, natural, made in Suffolk out of Suffolk ducks.

The dogs absolutely LOVE it and all Hoover their bowls clean in seconds. You could use the biscuits as training treats they are so delicious.

The feeding quantities are quite small and our youngsters think they are starving, but they are so full of energy and high spirits that it must be good for them. All of them (even our rescue dog Maggie who came with terrible bowels) have perfect digestions at the moment. My oldie Molly, who is absolutely riddled with arthritis, is perkier and livelier than she has been for ages. And I feel better because I am not feeding them cr*p.

I think it's about 10% more expensive than Beta once the small feeding quantities are taken into account. It seems really worth it to me!

That sounds good. I've just had a look and think it would work out quite expensive for us, I'd need to feed 1kg a day between the two dogs, so £4 a day approx. I'm finding the raw food is quite a bit cheaper than that, the dogs love it, Teddy is gaining muscle and Paddy is losing a little bit of weight and looks very shiny, which he never has before. However, being a bit paranoid about germs and infection, I am finding all the cleaning and disinfecting everything that comes into contact with the food every meal time rather time consuming, plus if we were to take them on holiday I wouldn't want to be taking a load of frozen dog meat with us, so I may well get some Akela to try, maybe to use as a standby. Does it keep fresh when you open a bag, or do you have to eat it fairly quickly?
 
It takes our 4 about 10 - 12 days to get through a bag (the 4 of them eat about the same as your 2 I think) but it's spanking fresh at the end. I think the keeping qualities are good and the bags have a great zip fastener so dogs can't get in!
 
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