Raw Food Diet

Cooper

Hi guys. I've done some research on raw food diets for dogs, but currently i am giving Cooper dry dog food. Do any of you know if it's okay to switch back and forth with a puppy? For example, could i feed him dog food in the morning and raw food at night? (Cooper's about 4 months old)

Criosphynx

it is generally not recommended to flip flop back and forth...is there a reason you would like to do so?

giving a RMB (raw meaty bone) for teeth cleaning purposes occasionally is ok if you do kibble

RedyreRotties

I have been a raw feeder for over 15 years.

I see no issue with supplementing with raw for one meal and giving kibble with the other. I WOULD be careful about giving a good digestive enhancer. I use the one from Nature's Farmacy.

So, IMO, yes, you could do raw meaty bones for one meal, and kibble for the other, IF you give him the proper digestive support supplements.

alfi

RedyreRotties can you please give some more info about raw food diets? cause in the internet you can find many dif opinions about it and it is the same with vet's.
15 years are a lot !!

Thank you

dog01

I would not recomend giving Your puppy dry dog food and raw meal it will not be very good at that age maybe when its older you can try it. I would not switch back and forth foods beacuse it mite upset the stomach.Talk to your veterinarian




* IM NOT A REAL VET *

Mikey

It's really best not to make any diet changes at all without checking with your vet. And to be sure-feeding any home made diet (100% home made-not partial) whether its raw or cooked or what have you is *dangerous* unless you have it approved by a veterinary nutritionist. It could be sorely lacking things needed.

Cooper

Okay, I was thinking more like if it was a special occasion like christmas or his birthday or something that i could give him some raw food. BUT now i do see that i would have to talk to my vet, considering that he's only a puppy... Thanks for all the help!

Mikey

Raw can be dangerous-it has to be from a really really clean source-there are definitely people who feed it and dogs who do well on it.

I wouldn't give it to a pup unless I was a seasoned 'raw person'

Talk to the vet-but maybe when full grown you can give raw bones-what I do-just in case is boil them for 1 minute (This is what is done with raw egg used in salad dressing-called 'coddling' it sanitizes it but doesn't denature the protein or cook it) I feel very safe giving a coddled bone to my dog. BIG time is having control to take it off of him-when it gets small enough to swallow but big enough to cause damage you have to be able to take it off them imo. So we let Mikey have the occaisonal raw bone to chew at and he loves it. BUT it doesn't matter what it is-he will always give it to me with no growling or protecting.

That's a good thing to practice anyways with any dog-you don't want them guarding things-especially if children are ever over

shihtzusandwich

I feed something called Nature's Variety. They offer Frozen Raw, Freeze Dried Raw, Kibble, and Wet food. I use ALL of them except the Freeze dried, and I've had excellent results with my crew. They come in Raw Medallions, so I do them as 'snacks' in the morning I do a bit of a Medallion..then in the afternoon..then at bedtime. SO it amounts (I have shih-tzu's) to ONE medallion per dog/day.. My babes won't eat a full meal in the morning, so they have their afternoon meal which consists of the prairie kibble, a tablespoon of the wet, & salmon oil. According to the manufacturer, and the store owners, its okay to mix all 3 of their products, (raw,kibble,wet) and flavors, as they are all very good ingredients. The Raw Medallions also include veggies, and fruits and vitamins, so thats easy for me to just get out, thaw, and keep in the frig. They all have excellent coats, and were just recently checked over at the Vet on December 28th, and got excellent reviews.. So thats what works for mine.

RedyreRotties

Mikey, I disagree that any diet has to be evaulated by a veterinarian.

Let me explain.

Who evaluates your diet? Who plans it for you? Most people don't have a dietician on staff. What people do is the learn over the years what a healthy diet is, they do their best to consume one, and they take a good vitamin to make sure they are covering all their bases.

It is the same with dogs. Unfortunately the dog food mega companies and the veterinary profession has the general public so frightened of trying to feed their dogs a home made diet that almost no one does. The US is one of the only places where people screech when raw meat is mentioned as a natural food for dogs. Most dogs need no preparation or instruction as to what to do with raw food, and will have only slight adjustments to eating raw food.

The single most important thing is the mineral balance. One must either feed enough bone (best option) or use a good mineral supplement that is designed to balance the extra phosphorus in meat and eggs that are fed without bone. I use the KA Calcium supplement from Nature's Farmacy any time I feed eggs or meat without bone.

A healthy diet for an adult dogs can consist of a wide variety of raw meaty bones, organ meats, fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables, and sometimes certain dairy (yoghurt, cottage cheese, goat milk) and whole grains.

Most people aim for about 80% RMBs, 10 to 15% organ meats, and the rest fruits, veggies, dairy, and whole grains.

I use good supplements from NF to make sure I am covering all bases. I will NEVER go back to commercially prepared foods for my dogs. The benefits I see are far too great.

My dogs are rarely bathed. They have little smell, fresh mouths and breath, white clean teeth, no ear problems, very few external parasites, coats that look like a mirror with a quick brushing and toweling off, and small firm stools with low odor. They have hard muscle and keep in great condition with little exercise.

In the 20+ years that I have kept and shown dogs, IMO this is the single best thing I ever did for my dogs.