Hey Valerie, what do think of this raw food ingredient blend?

Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Ground Beef Bone, Broccoli, Carrots, Beef Kidney, Romaine Lettuce, Apples, Ground Flaxseed, Salmon Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar, Blueberry, Cranberry, Inulin, Dried Kelp, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Ginger, Parsley, Garlic, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Mixed Tocopherols (as preservative), Vitamin D Supplement.

CA/PH 1.68/1 36%DMB

80% Meat; 18.15% Fruits/Vegetables; 1.85% Supplements

Crude Protein (12% min) Crude Fat (10% min) Crude Fiber (2.0% Max) Moisture (72% max)

Calorie Content: 43kcal per oz

Jen, here is a really comprehensive and concise listing for homemade raw diets. I use it for a guideline with Link. We do a combo of homemade and commercial raw.

http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjhomemade2.html

Jeff, I think it looks good, I'd feed it if it agreed with my dogs and didn't cost a fortune. Ca:P ratio looks good for both puppies and adults.

seattlesibe wrote:

Jen, here is a really comprehensive and concise listing for homemade raw diets.  I use it for a guideline with Link.  We do a combo of homemade and commercial raw.

http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjhomemade2.html

Thanks Jeff! That's a great resource. I took some pork spare ribs out of the freezer last night for his dinner tonight. My hubby gave me the sad face when I told him they were for Dizzy.

Phew..you have no idea how nervous I was for your response. That's Link's basic commercial food that we occasionally switch up with homemade stuff. We love it and he does too.

It's about $90/month in a bulk box, pre-cut in 1 lb bars.

wpskier222 wrote:

seattlesibe wrote:

Jen, here is a really comprehensive and concise listing for homemade raw diets.  I use it for a guideline with Link.  We do a combo of homemade and commercial raw.

http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjhomemade2.html

Thanks Jeff! That's a great resource. I took some pork spare ribs out of the freezer last night for his dinner tonight. My hubby gave me the sad face when I told him they were for Dizzy.

Ha, yeah. Our fridge is funny too. Our steaks and chicken breast on one side, and raw bison and a baggie of chicken hearts on the other.

We joke about the possibilities with this mix.

Okay, so I started back up and am doing half raw half dog food. He gets the dog food at 6:30 or 7 am and the raw at around 7 pm. I started with pork since he is allergic to chicken. So, since I started the raw back up, he's been randomly hacking (the thing they do when something goes down the wrong pipe) and snorting. He isn't scratching more than usual and aside from the first day, his poop has been solid (yay!). He inhales (no pun intended) his raw when I give it to him and I'm a bit worried he snarfed a small piece of bone up his nose or something (he's had pork spare ribs and neck bones). His goofiness is never ending so it wouldn't surprise me if he did something like that. He used to do this when I first started raw and was giving him chicken. It stopped when I went off of raw onto dog food. I'm thinking tonight I'll pick up some ground pork and give that a try to see if it helps. Anyway, any thoughts on what this could be?

Hi Huskyluv



I enjoyed reading your post, but I am confused because I read that bones are not safe for dogs. Can you explain the issues with bones? The post said to add bone for teeth if on a good kibble diet. What kind of bones and should I freeze them first. Thanks

prentiss80 wrote:

I enjoyed reading your post, but I am confused because I read that bones are not safe for dogs. Can you explain the issues with bones?  The post said to add bone for teeth if on a good kibble diet.  What kind of bones and should I freeze them first. Thanks

COOKED bones are not safe for dogs, RAW bones are safe. You do not need to freeze them first in all situations, however I would freeze raw foods that are harvested from the wild or obtained from less "clean" sources. I freeze everything I get before feeding for my own peace of mind.  What kinds of bones you use will depend on the dog and their stage of life.  For younger and senior dogs you'd probably look for softer bones such as chicken bones and those found in smaller animals.  For adult dogs you can offer more variety but heavy weight bearing bones should be given under supervision.

Perfect post! I had just posted asking raw feeder the good and bad of feeding raw, I have done. Lot of research but there are a few links I haven't looked at yet! Thanks for posting this it has helped me out a lot! Seriously thinking about switching my puppy over!!

I have been reading about raw for a while now and it really sounds great. My only issue is that there is no local group that does it and I am just terrified that I will do something wrong and make me kids sick.

If you are worried about messing up or not being able to get good quality meat. Most of the local meat has salt and other things added to to and I am having a difficult time finding any that doesn't.

I feed TOTW and they do pretty well on that part of me also doesn't want to mess with a good thing and mess then up while they are both so healthy.

The other issue is because there isn't really a population here that feeds it none of the local vets support it so I couldn't get any help from them.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Elise if you want to feed raw but it is hard for you to get the right variety etc (I have this issue - cannot find any offal around me and not enough variety to ensure my dogs' well-being, my girl will not eat chicken at all - maybe she is allergic?) then try Ziwipeak daily cuisine. This is what I'm doing now. Ziwipeak is raw food air dried, packed in a bag and contains everything your dog will need to thrive just as on a prey model raw. My dogs absolutely LOVE it and I don't have to worry that they are lacking some important nutrients due to lack of raw variety.
I still give them raw bones (lamb) weekly in addition to Ziwipeak.

Hello nobody has really posted lately but I need help I want to start mishka on raw food because lately she isn't interested in her kibble and she's lost some weight due to it so I want to try something different first off what supplements do I need to add and can I buy them at a local grocery store (this may not sound clear but I mean buy the supplements needed from the human wellness isle ) and should I lightly bake the meat also do dogs need veggies and one more about what is an estmated price range per month on this diet - I know it varies but I just want a range of what I'm working with here

For 2 cats and Gabby we spend around $100 a month. As I stated in your other thread we buy a lot of the stuff premixed with the things they need. We could probably do it cheaper but this is a much easier way to go and I think it gives them more variety. There are a lot of debates on whether or not dogs need fruits and veggies. The BARF model includes veggies/fruit but the Prey model does not. I would leave it up to you on which you think is better for your dog. We mainly go with the Prey model but we do include some fruits and veggies into the diet on occasion.

As for supplements we add some fish oil and coconut oil on occasion and give the animals a daily multi-vitamin.

If your pup is having issues eating it at first I would suggest lightly cooking it a pan on the stove top just to seer the outside. This may make it smell a bit more and become a tad more appetizing to them. If they don't have any issues eating then I wouldn't worry about it. Be very careful doing this if there is bones in the meat since you never want to give them cooked bones.

Hope this helps, I am sure I am forgetting something but my advice is to do some online research for what you want to do. My girlfriend has done most of the research on our end and I am just regurgitating it to you.

Haha thanks

Hello!

We are starting to consider switching Gus to a raw diet. Some of you might remember how he had some tummy problems for awhile. We finally have that more or less under control with kibble. However, I notice that he still gets itchy sometimes. On kibble, he's getting about 3 cups a day (split over 4 meals). His bowel movements are pretty medium-large sized, and he poops 3-4 times a day! I've read this thread and I still have a couple questions.

1. This might seem like a silly question haha, but when you say 80%, 10%, 10%... this is all by weight right?

2. I found a place that does 80/10/10 and they measure it out for you, but they also grind it up for convenience. If the proportions are correct, would it still be ok healthwise to feed this? I get that this wouldn't be ideal for keeping his teeth clean, but as long as i keep up with it with brushing, etc. Would this be ok for his health?

3. Why do some feed eggs, and some don't? If i do the 80/10/10, should i still feed egg?

4. Gus has shown an intolerance to chicken in kibble, but will this also translate to raw chicken? I spoke to a lot of raw food providers at Woofstock (a dog festival), and most of them said that he might not be intolerant to RAW chicken. Is this true based on other people's experiences?

5. Some of you posted that you just give a whole quarter chicken to your husky. But do you cut the bone off first to weigh it and make sure that it meets the 80/10/10 rule?

My biggest fear is that he doesn't get all the nutrients that he needs. But if i stick to 80/10/10, is that really all he needs? No supplements or extras at all? He is already underweight, so I don't want to do him any harm at all. He is slowly gaining weight, and is at 50lbs now. He looks much better than he used to, but still has a couple more pounds to go in my opinion. He just had an annual checkup, and everything came back negative (yay!).

Maggie, it doesn't have to be an exact science. Every dog is different so even the general rule of 80/10/10 is not a perfect fit for every individual but it makes a good rule of thumb to start off with and later you can customize the diet to your specific dog's needs. For example, some dogs need more than 10% bone and others need less, it's one of those things you just have to experiment with and tailor to your dog. And don't forget to split up the 10% organ requirement to 5% liver and 5% other secreting organ.

As for your questions...

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. Feeding egg is a personal preference. It's a nice, simple source of protein...and calcium if you feed the shell as well. Whether or not you feed egg and how much or how often is entirely up to you.

4. No to the 1st and yes to the second question. Dogs process raw and kibble differently, so a dog that may have a chicken intolerance in kibble form may be fine eating raw chicken...but this is not always the case. My boy is a perfect example, he cannot tolerate beef in kibble, cans, dehydrated raw or even processed treats. Yet he can eat raw beef no problem. The only way to know for sure if this holds true for Gus is to give it a try.

5. No, I guestimate bone content. As said before, it is not an exact science. You achieve balance over time rather than in each and every meal. Some people prefer to balance each meal and might feed a small portion of organ in each meal while others prefer to do organ only once a week and there is no limit to the options available to you. Some people do a bone heavy meal one day and a boneless meal another day, others prefer more balance each day...and sometimes it depends on what your dog can tolerate. My sibe does best on a consistently slightly bone heavy daily meal. On the other hand, my Chi, Glory, would eat boneless for 2 days then have a very bone heavy meal on the third day.

And yes, that is all he needs unless there is some other reason he might need a supplement.

Maggie,
I hope others will chime in on some of your questions, the 80/10/10 means 80% of your dogs food is all raw meat, 10% of it needs to consist of raw bones, and 10% is organ meat, like liver. Some people break the last 10 %, to 5% liver and 5% other secreting organs. Raw bones are very important to the raw feed, not only does it clean his/her teeth, but it provides calcium and marrow, grinding it takes away from the cleaning yes, but dependent on how the bone is ground up may take away from nutrients that your dog needs. A ground only diet is more specific to puppies who are teething and seniors who may have poor teeth. Your dog needs to be able to pull and chew, not only is that good for teeth cleaning, but it also works on muscles in the mouth, it also promotes slower eating for better digestion and making your dog feel fullness.

My girl has had a raw meaty bone since she was able to figure out how to eat, as in the weighing of it I don't worry about it. I give her beef only with bones which have some meat on it. For the most part, most people give it a guesstimate on weight. I feed slightly different than others, however most people I know give a chicken quarter(leg and thigh together) at once and let their dog pull meat off and then eat the bones, no removing of anything on your part.

As for eggs I give my girl an egg a couple of times a week as an added treat, the protein and omega fats are good, and help the coat. Also as far as the chicken intolerance, I probably would not invest in a lot of money on chicken, he may be chicken intolerant, plain and simple.
Some people give supplements, some don't. i can not help you there. Again I feed slightly different than most do. Some of this is because of the supplement issue as well. Others swear by raw feed only. This forum is very informative, so read and read again. as far as proportions, I'm not really sure since I'm guessing you're not going to be successful with chicken and that is the cheapest meat route. Unless you have constant, easy and cheap access to sheep, venison, rabbit, or other meat sources. There is a post I read in the raw feed section here that gives you portion size to feed according to you dogs weight.

Miya has a grain intolerance specifically corn, I know if something has corn in it because she'll throw up, and/or has loose stools. I'm not sure on this but I would think defecating 3 to 4 times a day is a little bit much, did your vet say this was normal? That was one of the signs that Miya couldn't eat corn. after switching her to a grain free kibble(taste of the wild) she goes 1 to 2 times a day, and are firmer. i was afraid of her needing anal sac cleaning because of going so much, gross I know, but she has a hard time going to the vet and they would have to put her out for a cleaning, and once you do a cleaning you may have to do it on a regular basis.
I really hope that someone else jumps on here to give you more help, I'm not a strict raw feed only feeder, I'm a partial raw feeder.
Renee

I'm glad Valerie jumped on here, from the posts I've read very knowledgeable on nutrition. Valerie isn't there a post somewhere here on portion size compared to your dogs weight? I know that some people feed 2 chicken leg quarters a day plus added treats, but that was for a slightly larger dog than a husky. Can you point some of us in the right direction on how much to feed, I got the percents down pat, the actual meat(the 80%) is my question? I also figured out on how much actual meat to give my cat ( it's somewhere around a 1/2 cup a day), but there must be an amount we could base this, is it like 12 ounces per 50 pounds of dog a day? Can you elaborate on that?

Thanks Valerie and Renne for your replies!

Is it safe to assume that as long as he's not losing weight, has a healthy appetite and energy level, and doesn't have any other issues (such as itchiness, eye discharge, soft stools, etc.) that whatever I am doing is "working"? My worry about adjusting to whatever he needs is not knowing what he needs, or not being able to notice or catch it.

Renee, you mentioned that you are a partial raw feeder, could you explain that a bit? Do you do one day raw, one day kibble? Also, what cuts of beef do you get? Chicken is easy because there are only so many cuts/pieces haha. But I really don't know my cuts of beef at all!

Regarding his stools, our vet said that 3-4 times a day was a bit much. But she expects that to lessen as he gets older. He is 1.5yrs old right now, but has had tummy problems since we adopted him at 4mths old! He is on Nature's Variety, Limited Ingredient, Lamb right now. So it is already a grain free kibble. Most of his tummy problems were due to the fact that he kept getting giardia (he had a poop-eating problem... not his own. Poop he would find at the beach with his dogwalker. yuck!). We've been giving him probiotics daily to help heal his belly after all those giardia meds. After every bout of giardia (he's had it three times now), he always loses a bit of weight, and it takes a couple weeks for his stools to firm up again, and then for him to start gaining weight again, hence why he is still underweight (although much better than before).

I was talking to the pet store guy the other day, and he mentioned that this brand (i can't remember the name now) adds tripe to their raw food, and that is what makes it a complete diet... When i googled tripe in raw dog food, I didn't see anything about this! Anyone know about tripe? haha

I feed Miya a cup and a half to two cups a day of kibble, like you I wanted to make sure she got everything, nutrient wise. I give her a daily raw meaty bone, they are from the t-bone, rib eye, or rib bones. My meat department in town save them for me, and they are the only bones they get, most cuts are boneless. Miya eats her bones 98% of the time unless, she gets more of something else. I like them because they have meat and fat on them, and these particular bones have a high concentration of bone marrow. When I buy meat it's the same cuts and I buy slightly more than my husband and I will eat to share with Miya and our cat Kitana. It's time consuming, because I have to prepare 3 different ways. That's how Miya gets her raw, so about 2-4 times a week raw as well as bone and kibble. The rest of my feeding is different than most, but i picked it up from my mom 30 years ago when we had a gsd, raw feed and the internet was not around. He was not a big kibble eater, Miya is the same, grain intolerant and not a fan of kibble. She would cook up either 80/20(that's labeled on the package)hamburger or turkey burger, about a 1/4 to 1/2 pound, and mixed it in his kibble. She was well aware that raw and kibble digested differently and decided to cook to grease cover his kibble. He would and Miya does the same gobble it up. I also rotate, greek yogurt, eggs and pumpkin. This works for Miya. No throwing up, stools firmer and goes 1-2 times a day, coat soft and shiny, and energy level is up, although its been 100 degrees out lately so she'd rather walk instead of playing catch or soccer with me. She is also gaining some weight, she has been at the same weight since she was 6 months old, she is now 20 months old.

Some people give raw hamburger, I do now and then, she also gets raw chicken sometimes cooked, never cooked bones. She prefers beef, so that is what she gets the most of. I hope i helped a little, it is trial and error I really guess at portion size, but she is not the type of dog who over eats and she also will self fast once a week, once every 2 weeks, don't know why but she has always done this. on those days she will only eat her bone.

A side note, my meat department gives me the bones whenever those cuts are on sale, I buy ribs if I'm getting low. When I get home I separate one bone into a freezer baggie and freeze for at least 7 days before she can have it. The cost is economical 30 cents per bag, total cost of baggies and bones, I get about 10 bones in a package and they charge me anywhere between 50 cents to $1.50 per package depending on how many bones. I calculated cost included the freezer bags and came up with 30 cents per bone per day.

I'm sorry I haven't a clue about tripe.
Renee

Watch his poop - if it's too much, add more bone...if it's turning into dust when coming out, less bone.

Otherwise, relax and reap the health benefits of a raw-fed dog!

I didn't read everything as my kids are keeping me on my toes, as always. But to answer your question, Renee, regarding feeding amount it is generally 2-3% of the dog or cats weight that you'd feed for the average adult. My sibe is 50 lbs so 2% of that weight is 1 lb. He has always been one to require less food than other huskies his size so I generally shoot for feeding him 1-1.5 lbs, preferably on the lower end but every cut of meat is not the same size so I shoot for balance over multiple days or a week rather than trying to target a pound per day. My 6 lb Chi would eat about 0.15 oz which I was able to get more exact because I had to cut up the food.

Maggie, yes, I would assume if there are no issues that he's fine and doesn't need supplementation. While 2-3% is the general feeding guideline, for dogs that need to put on weight you can feed a higher amount such as 3-4% until their desired weight is achieved.

I don't think 4 times a day is too much for an individual dogs - some dogs just poop a lot.

Valerie,
Thank you, I wasn't sure if i was giving her the right amount.
I've heard sardines are a nice snack, do you use as well? She really prefers her beef, but I would like to give her more variety.
some also give pork, we do not eat pork ourselves, so Miya doesn't get pork. Just wanted to throw that in as another meat source. Your thoughts on pork, sardines and Maggie was asking about tripe.
Pooping 4 times a day is ok? when she poops that much it's not really firm and she boot scoots more, thought it was not good pooping that much and being on the softer side that it would cause problems. Kinda gross here, but Miya rabbit poops not one big poop, too much of something? Thoughts?

Renee, I might give the partial raw a try first just to see how it goes, and then consider switching him fully.

Megan, we are feeding him more than the recommended amount right now (not much, just 1/2cup more), and that might be why he poops so much. And the 4 meals might also be why it's 4 poops too. It's not HUGE... like 1 log haha.