questions abotu starting raw diet

[sadu77]

Hello everyone. im new to this site. i have a 13 month old male frenchy named "Buddy." since buddy was puppy i was feeding him Eagle pack puppy food and dick van pattens natural roll. he has had no problems. but slowly he stopped eating the eagle pack and picking thourhg for the dick van pattens. so about 3 months ago i stopped with the eagle pack and just fed him dick van pattens. i was thinking about switchign his food because he used to devour his food and now he takes an hour or two to finish it and he doesnt seem to like it anymnore. i was thinking about startign him on a raw diet but i have no idea what to do. can someone recomend somehting? thanks

[sadu77]

Gmacleod.. you seem to know a lot. can you give me some advie please?

[gmacleod]

Sure :)

LOL - where to start? I think that feeding a natural raw diet to your dog is the best thing you can do for them nutritionally. That's what nature has spent the last 30 million years or so designing the dog to eat, and 100 years of commercial diets is so infantisimal in evolutionary terms so as to be negligible (besides which, kibble has actually only been widely fed for the last 20-30 years). The majority of dogs do much better when fed their natural food (though there are always exceptions, as with anything).

BUT: While raw food is best for most dogs, it isn't necessarily best for all owners. You have to decide what's going to work for you. IMO feeding a homemade raw diet is the best thing out there. But that takes a bit of effort and preparation - at least initially. If convenience means a lot, then you might want to consider pre-made raw diets. There are quite a few options, but simpler is better IMO. Buy something that is a simple mix of meat/bone/offal and add any vegetables you wish to add to the diet yourself (then they're fresh! And you know how much is in the food). You also need to feed a variety of different meats (dog cannot live on chicken alone - they need to be fed as many different meats as you can give them).

Well - I'm not sure that that really answers what you wanted to know. If you've got specific questions, ask away :) I'm happy to answer whatever I can.

In the meantime though, here are a couple of raw feeding websites that can give you a fairly good overview:
www.rawlearning.com
www.rawfeddogs.net

[sadu77]

thank you very much. i think i will start with apurchased raw food and then woek on creating my own at home. ive noticed since he stopped eating eagle pack, that his breath has gotten much better but his coat isnt as shiny as it was. i imagine a raw diet will help with that. are there any brands you can recomend for a raw diet? and how much do i feed a 21 1/2 pund french bulldog?

[sadu77]

i went to the rawfeddogs website and it made it seem very easy. im stil confused about portions though. i wan tot do this correctly. any advice would be greatly appreciated. Matty

[gmacleod]

It is very easy :) Really, it is. But it's also something that you should take the time to read about and understand before launching into it. Then you know what to expect and won't have to worry about whether or not you're feeding a balanced diet to your dog.

Things that it is worth understanding at the outset:

Dogs need variety in their food. Just like people do. We're all encouraged to eat as wide a range of foods as possible, because we get different nutrients from different things - and that variety is important to ensure that we get all the nutrients we need. Well, it's the same for a dog except that the range of things they eat is more limited. It's mainly animal carcasses (which is not the same as just "meat") with some amount of fruit and vegetable matter included. So it is very important to feed a wide range of carcass portions from different animals.
The basis of a raw diet (aside from including different animals) is raw meaty bones - emphasis on the meaty - and offal. Meat needs to be balanced by bone (calcium/phosphorous balance) and around 15-20% of the total diet should be offal (internal organs). Again, the offal should come from a range of different animals, and you should feed a range of different organs (it's no good for all the offal to be liver, for example - you should feed liver, heart, tripe, kidneys, etc).
There is no need for every single meal to be balanced - it is variety over time that counts. Think on a monthly basis, not a daily one ;)
If you choose to feed a ground mix rather than whole portions, then you still need to brush your dog's teeth two or three times per week. It is chewing through bones that keeps the teeth and gums clean and healthy - so if you prefer not to feed whole bones, then you need to ensure your dogs dental health by brushing, just the same as when feeding kibble.


On meal sizes, it depends a bit on your particular dog and also on his age. Dogs are just like people - some have the sort of metabolism that means they consume a huge amount of food without ever gaining an ounce, while others run on the smell of an oily rag ;) Well, that issue arises whatever you feed - some dogs need more or less than the average. For raw feeding, a good average or guideline is 2-3% of the dogs ideal adult body weight. It will become apparent fairly quickly (ie. through the dog's weight and appearance) if you're over or underfeeding and you just have to adjust accordingly.

[sadu77]

ok thank you. my dog is a very very i want to say "poor"chewer. hes had a cow hood for about 3 months now and hes not even half way done with it. i feel that the only bones he might be able to chew are chicken bones. i ordered the book by lonsdale. so i will do my reading first, before i jump into anything. thank you for all your help. im sure ill have more questions. MJ

[gmacleod]

Mmmm. What's a cow's hood? Is it rawhide? If so, I'd throw it in the trash ;)

Tom Lonsdale has some very good information in his book - so that's an excellent place to start. I'd just warn that he's quite extreme. But don't let the activist thing put you off, take the good info out of the book and ignore the extremism :)

[sadu77]

i meant cows hoof. with an F. he cant chew rawhide. i mean he can but all he can do is sratch it with his teeth. lol. not a trong chewer. thats why this raw diet concerns me. i would have to grind everything

[gmacleod]

Well, you never know - he may be more inclined to chew if it's his food ;) Some dogs just aren't recreational chewers.

But if you want to feed ground raw without having to do the grinding yourself, there are always the pre-made options to consider. There are a lot of brands around. It's quite a lot more expensive than feeding home-made, but with a dog the size of a Frenchie, it probably won't break the bank. If you want to go that way, the only suggestion I'd make is that you avoid the ones with a lot of vegetables and supplements already added. It's better to get the basic meat/bone/offal mix and to add any vegetables or supplements you want to add yourself.

[sadu77]

im goignt o give that a try i think. i mena finding a premade raw food with no veggies. im havign some trouble though. ill just have to look harder. thank you so much for all of your help. i really appreciate it. matty.

[gmacleod]

If it helps, here are a few websites of pre-made raw products. I haven't checked to see which ones do veggie and supplement-less mixes, but I know several of these do. Just a case of checking the others and seeing what's available near you.

Aunt Jeni’s Homemade for Life: http://www.auntjeni.com/homemade.htm
Bravo: http://www.bravorawdiet.com
Dr. Billinghurst’s BARF Diet: http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/barfdiet.shtml
Granddad’s Pet Foods: http://www.grandadspetfoods.com/
Halshan: http://www.halshan.com/
Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow: http://www.hare-today.com/
Oma’s Pride: http://www.omaspride.com/
Raw4Dogs: http://www.raw4dogs.com
Steve’s Real Food for Dogs: http://www.stevesrealfood.com