Raw feeding for dogs

threeeyedraven

Hi All,

I've been struggling with my dogs food pretty much since he came off puppy food. He is very fussy and dosent want to eat dry food at all, I have tried Hills Science Plan, James Wellbeloved, Tails.com complete dry foods with varying success. Basically he will eat it for a bit then will go completely off it and wont touch it. I want to give him something "complete" and would prefer dry due to convenience of it not going off if its left and he has a sensitive stomach with wind and loose stools if he eats the "wrong" things (such as lamb flavoured food). At the moment he is on James Wellbeloved chicken flavoured small breed kibble and I cook up frozen chicken breasts, shred them up and sprinkle them over the food to make it a bit more appealing.

Anyway I've been hearing a lot about raw feeding lately and have found a local place which supplies it all in minced form which seems a bit more convenient (nurture them naturally is the company - cannot post links!). I would really be interested other posters opinions/experiences with raw feeding.

My dog is a small pug cross, about 9kgs. Money is not the main issue although I cant afford very expensive diet I want to give him the best food I can afford and give him the best health possible.

Thanks in advance

babyemily

I feed raw and believe it is the best thing for my dogs. I don't believe it is the best thing for all dogs.
One of mine had numerous recurrent illnesses and infections, raw was an end of my tether choice which worked thankfully.
There are 2 ways of feeding raw, diy or complete. Diy consists of managing the proportions of bone, offal and proteins yourself. Complete should have it all prepared. But like humans, what works for one does not work for the other.
My youngest needs roughly 70 protein 20 offal and 10 bone. My older dog is perfect at 80/10/10 which is the rough guideline to feeding diy.
Some tolerate all proteins, some can't eat chicken/lamb/beef etc
There is a vast difference in quality and content with suppliers as well and I highly recommend you join the groups on Facebook. Raw feeding Rebels and barf are both good. Read the files and ask lots of questions. Learn what holds what percentages and there are files showing suppliers also.
I use TPMS who have never let me down
Bulmers for different proteins, we tend to go there and stock up. My dogs are 55kg and 50kg. So a large chest freezer is essential for us.
Paleo ridge raw is excellent food but it is very very raw and some people can't cope with that.
It's a huge industry now and there is lots of advice available.

Flipping the switch, my friends dog has multiple allergies not even raw helped him. He is now thriving on Eden food so you might like to have a look at that.

Hope that helps a little bit.

sheramber

I have fe a raw diet fro 20 years You need to do your research beforehand to ensure you are feeding a correct balance. Once you know what you are doing it is as easy as feeding a kibble, apart from having to have freezer storage and remembering to defrost it.

Mine are fed on DAF minces and chicken wings.

But it is not a necessarily a solution for a fussy dog. He is just a likely to stop eating a raw food as well.

If you keep swopping food you are encouraging him to hold out for something better.

How long does he not eat for before you give him something else? An hour, A day. a week?

If your vet confirms there is no medical cause for him not to eat then put the food down and ignore him.

If he doesn't eat it after ten minutes lift the dish and walk away.

Do not offer him anything else. No other food, no biscuits , nothing.

Do not add things to tempt him to eat it. You are upsetting the balance of a complete food by adding things to it, unless what you add is also a balanced food. You are making the food more appealing to you, not to him.

Put his dinner down at the his next meal time and again , if he doesn't eat it after 10 minutes, lift the dish. Repeat if necessary.

A healthy dog will not starve himself so as long as he has access to water he will survive.

china-doll_2

How old is your dog?

My puppy is a fussy eater, he's a jack russell / dachshund cross and we went through a few different brands and tried the raw / barf food diet. He would eat it one day and then not the next. The trainers at Doggy Day Care said a lot of puppies do this but eventually settled on one brand.

He's been on Lily's Kitchen for the last 3 months so maybe you should them a go?

Anjek

I have 13 y.o. Canus montanius and he is eating only raw food. Our vet said it's the best thing for him and I think he's right. Never been sick and acts like a teenager. At first, there was a problem because he did not accustom, but after 3-4 days, that was ok for him.

ali-t

I feed raw and we get frozen complete delivered. My dog thrives on it and we supplement with chicken wings, lamb necks and ribs etc. We have a great and consistent supplier and i feel that is half the battle with raw feeding.

McKneff

It seems a far cry from the fifties as a cild, our old mongrel ate exactly what we did and i dont remember it ever going to a vet

Helen2k8

Have you made sure his mouth is comfortable (no chipped teeth for example)?
I have fed raw, off and on. Mostly very successfully. One important thing I don't often see mentioned is that to digest the raw food, their stomach acid needs to be stronger. This adaptation occurs over a few days to a week normally BUT it means that you shouldn't mix raw with kibble on a regular basis; you'd upset this pH balance.