I have 2 super fussy (aka spoiled) dogs who are very picky with their diet. After my last visit to the pet store trying to find some kind, any kind, of dog food that they would find appealing, the saleswoman suggested a raw diet.
I know there is another post regarding this but I am looking for a sample menu and a simple..feed this, don't feed that kind of instruction.
I have read the pros and cons and really think my guys would benefit from this type of diet. One is prone to seizures and his brother has horrible skin allergies. (even after changing soap, removing wool rugs, etc)
Is there a site you can suggests?
Thank you!!!
Raw diet help
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Re: Raw diet help
Sample menu wise, this is what my dog gets per week. Bare in mind it's not as planned as the list below, I tend to fill the freezer up with a balance of food and feed until it's empty, that way I know that after eating it all he has had a balanced diet. Don't worry too much about making sure he has the exact amount of something on a certain day. (He's a Great Dane so excuse the big portions.)
Day 1 - 4lb of meat.
Day 2 - 2lb of meat. 2lb of Chicken Carcasses
Day 3 - 3lb of meat. 1lb of Chicken carcasses
Day 4 - 3.5lb of meat. 0.5lb of liver
Day 5 - 3.5lb of meat. A good handful of mashed broccoli. 0.5lb liver
Day 6 - 3lb of meat. Tinned sardines in sunflower oil. A good dollop of natural probiotic yoghurt (unflavoured, sugar free).
Day 7 - 3lb of meat. 1lb of Chicken carcasses.
He also gets marrow bones to chew almost daily. You don't need to feed vegetables, but they help to fill your dog up, mine gets them when I buy them for him - he loves broccoli! - but not every week. He gets a base of minced meat with bone, with something rich like liver weekly. Bones to chew on regularly. Tinned or fresh fish from the supermarket every week or two and boney meals like chicken carcasses a few times a week.
Meat wise, I use chicken, turkey, beef, tripe, pheasant, rabbit, lamb. All are minced with their bone, and I order them from a pet supplier, but I'm in the UK so I'm not sure about suppliers in the US - I'm sure other members are though. I've heard about 'meat patties' in the US, but I'm not sure what they are. I think it's done a little diferently in the UK with regards to suppliers, but I hope this can be of some help! I think it's recomended to feed 2-3% of your dogs body weight daily, but someone else may need to confirm that.
I feed by eye, so although there's measurements in my sample menu if he's looking thin he gets more and if he's looking well covered he gets less. Good luck!
Day 1 - 4lb of meat.
Day 2 - 2lb of meat. 2lb of Chicken Carcasses
Day 3 - 3lb of meat. 1lb of Chicken carcasses
Day 4 - 3.5lb of meat. 0.5lb of liver
Day 5 - 3.5lb of meat. A good handful of mashed broccoli. 0.5lb liver
Day 6 - 3lb of meat. Tinned sardines in sunflower oil. A good dollop of natural probiotic yoghurt (unflavoured, sugar free).
Day 7 - 3lb of meat. 1lb of Chicken carcasses.
He also gets marrow bones to chew almost daily. You don't need to feed vegetables, but they help to fill your dog up, mine gets them when I buy them for him - he loves broccoli! - but not every week. He gets a base of minced meat with bone, with something rich like liver weekly. Bones to chew on regularly. Tinned or fresh fish from the supermarket every week or two and boney meals like chicken carcasses a few times a week.
Meat wise, I use chicken, turkey, beef, tripe, pheasant, rabbit, lamb. All are minced with their bone, and I order them from a pet supplier, but I'm in the UK so I'm not sure about suppliers in the US - I'm sure other members are though. I've heard about 'meat patties' in the US, but I'm not sure what they are. I think it's done a little diferently in the UK with regards to suppliers, but I hope this can be of some help! I think it's recomended to feed 2-3% of your dogs body weight daily, but someone else may need to confirm that.
I feed by eye, so although there's measurements in my sample menu if he's looking thin he gets more and if he's looking well covered he gets less. Good luck!
-
runlikethewind
- Posts: 1166
- Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 12:48 pm
Re: Raw diet help
This is rather brilliant that the store assistant recommended a raw diet when I presume they sell only commercial food (some have freezers selling raw diets though)
The books I would recommend are:
Natural Nutrition for cats and dogs by Schultze
Work wonders by Tom Lonsdale
Raw dog food by MacDonald
There are facebook and yahoo groups for raw feeding. Everyone loves to help everyone else.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=261761471359
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=6584536250
Yahoo groups
Britbarf - for the UK
Raw feeding
Raw Meaty Bones
There is also a thread in the articles section of this forum.
You don't have to give your dog minced meat. The online shop refered to by Beckyyy provide it already minced, but a lot of benefit can be gained from giving unminced meat - teeth cleaning etc. I used to weight everything and now I just do it by sight.
The only thing I would say is don't fall into the trap of feeding bones with a bit of meat on because they are cheap. See a note I received from this website
http://www.ukrmb.co.uk/
"
I can only give an opinion - and that is that we recommend a diet based on raw meaty bones - that is a lump of meat (or joint) wrapped around a little bone. Not a raw bone with most of the meat having already been removed. Unfortunately the term ‘raw meaty bone” can be misconstrued as the type of bone that the butcher either gives away or sells for a few pence. That is NOT what we recommend.
With what we recommend, there are no absolute percentages. We are guided by what wolves would eat in the wild. If pet owners can manage to feed whole prey, so much the better. Not all can though, for various reasons, so second best is lumps of raw meaty “bones” with lots of flesh on them, plus some organs a couple of times per week. Veggies or fruit are not really necessary, although some people do like to feed them and they will probably do no harm."
The books I would recommend are:
Natural Nutrition for cats and dogs by Schultze
Work wonders by Tom Lonsdale
Raw dog food by MacDonald
There are facebook and yahoo groups for raw feeding. Everyone loves to help everyone else.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=261761471359
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=6584536250
Yahoo groups
Britbarf - for the UK
Raw feeding
Raw Meaty Bones
There is also a thread in the articles section of this forum.
You don't have to give your dog minced meat. The online shop refered to by Beckyyy provide it already minced, but a lot of benefit can be gained from giving unminced meat - teeth cleaning etc. I used to weight everything and now I just do it by sight.
The only thing I would say is don't fall into the trap of feeding bones with a bit of meat on because they are cheap. See a note I received from this website
http://www.ukrmb.co.uk/
"
I can only give an opinion - and that is that we recommend a diet based on raw meaty bones - that is a lump of meat (or joint) wrapped around a little bone. Not a raw bone with most of the meat having already been removed. Unfortunately the term ‘raw meaty bone” can be misconstrued as the type of bone that the butcher either gives away or sells for a few pence. That is NOT what we recommend.
With what we recommend, there are no absolute percentages. We are guided by what wolves would eat in the wild. If pet owners can manage to feed whole prey, so much the better. Not all can though, for various reasons, so second best is lumps of raw meaty “bones” with lots of flesh on them, plus some organs a couple of times per week. Veggies or fruit are not really necessary, although some people do like to feed them and they will probably do no harm."