Thursday, August 2, 2012

My Experience in a Raw Food Diet for Dogs

In a blog post we published in January “Choosing a Top Quality Dry Food” we outlined what to look for should you choose to feed dry kibble to your dog.  I hinted that I would like to try feeding a raw diet, but didn’t want to further elaborate until I had some experience.  
Well, the good news is we have been feeding raw since February and LOVE IT!  The dogs love it, they eat better, they drink less water (which makes me feel better about bloat and the heat this summer) and best of all, they poop so much less.  We’re talking about two 170+lb dogs that poop as much as mini poodle.  Their coats are healthy, Boone’s skin allergies have all but cleared up, they are very physically fit and I know exactly what it is that is going into my dogs.
The work I put into it is much less time consuming than I originally had anticipated as well.  While it does take more effort than pouring some kibble in a bowl, it isn’t like I have to butcher the cow each meal either.  I try and stick with feeding them approximately 3 lbs per day.  When I first started out I was weighing everything, however after a month or so I can estimate close enough the scale is unnecessary.  I feed on average 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organ meat.  I do feed some veggies, while not a staple in thier diet they do act as a very health filler and the dogs love them.  Sometimes I puree various raw veggies and put the paste in cupcake pans and freeze it.  The dogs love them, I even mix in eggs or broth sometimes for added yumminess. I also feed whole sweet potatoes sometimes with meals or just as a snack. 
I will add that even with some of the recent recalls, should I need to switch back to a dry kibble, Diamond Naturals Large Breed 60+ is still my dry kibble of choice. If you are thinking of switching to raw or have questions about raw diets, I don’t claim to know it all, or even much at all, but I will give you my honest opinion in regards to my experiences. 

6 comments:

  1. 1ST - I LOVE Mastiffs. Such a gorgeous, gentle breed.

    2ND - I shoot with a Sony Alpha 550. Best camera ever. I started with a Sony Alpha 300 in 2009. I love my camera.

    I would love to give the raw food diet a try, but I'm confused about how to get started. I wish there was a raw food recipe book - I should look for an eBook.

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  2. I LOVE my sony, I was so torn between it and the Canon, but I'm glad I went with the sony.

    And raw is not nearly as hard as you think. It does take a bit more time, but it is so worth it. I actually was asked for raw recipes for a Animal Rescue Cookbook fundraiser recently. My response was how do you make it sound like a recipe when you simply place the roast, chicken leg quarters, pork, or whatever in a bowl and feed it to them!

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  3. My dog is on his diet and taking this recipe. He likes this very recipe much. Now he is looking healthy again than before. You have well experienced in raw food diet for dogs.

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  4. Is there an certain age to start raw

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    1. Any age, I weaned my last litter of puppies from mom straight to raw.

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