Feeding dogs raw food

[Xtina]

I have a friend whose pug has experienced horrible skin allergies his whole life. She was at her wit's end, and I remembered that another friend's cat was the same way until they put him on raw food at age 20 and he made a miraculous recovery. So I recommended that my friend try it, even though I've never done raw food with my pets, because anything's worth a shot short-term, right? I mean, within six weeks she should know whether the food has helped his allergies and if not, she can go back to kibble. But my question is, she just came to me and said this:

"Dude, this raw food diet is hard! I make the food and he likes it so much he begs all night for more. I don't know if it's because he likes it so much or because he's not getting enough. I make 1 lb of ground beef, mixed with a bunch of blended veggies, yogurt, eggs, and olive oil. I give him basically a half a pound of it a day. He acts like it's not enough!? WHAT GIVES?"

I thought I'd bring that to you guys to see if anyone has experienced this. Not having fed my animals raw, I have no idea how they'd act. I assume it is just because he likes the food so much, but I want to hear some opinions.

 

[mchl]

how would you react if you got the most exquisit meal of your life? you would want more too.

 

[Illia]

I would probably say that is it. I feed my dogs raw, but most of their "raw diet" is chicken from our own poultry. They love it, especially if raised on it from a young age, and I usually give them about a chicken a day. Things like oil, veggies, etc, - The amount varies.

If the dog isn't getting underweight or overweight, you know things are going okay. I think that's the best advice I could give. I do raw for my dogs, but I'm not terribly experienced with how other dogs react to it or how others prepare their food and what it is.

 

[Xtina]

Quote:
I totally agree! It would be like eating ice cream for the first time. Although, honestly, I did try feeding my dog raw once and he wouldn't touch it!

 

[Illia]

Quote:
I totally agree! It would be like eating ice cream for the first time. Although, honestly, I did try feeding my dog raw once and he wouldn't touch it!

Our Chihuahua x Terrier crosses don't touch it either. . . I think some just snub the thought of uncooked meat. They're too humanized.

The best candidates for it are young dogs or large breeds / less "domesticated" breeds. Our Akita, Pitbulls, and Boerboels take it very well. Our little dogs hate it, except our tiny Chihuahua. Eating raw, especially bloody meat apparently makes him feel like a MAN.

 

[igotchickens]

Hi there! We have 2 German shepherds, ages 9 and 11, still going strong. They have been on the raw diet since puppies. They have gone through various store-bought varieties of raw food (frozen) but we switched to getting it from the butcher because it was cheaper and less work. It worked out to about $1.20/lb for chicken and $1.50/lb or so for the beef. We have them do 1/3 chicken necks/backs, 1/3 meat. 1/3 gizzards and grind all up. For the beef variety they do 1/2 beef organs (kidneys and hearts I think? or livers and hearts) and 1/2 ground beef. Give your dog some stew bones too. Real cheap, and they last a week or more depending on the size of the bones. We package the ground meat into ziplocks and freeze in the garage freezer and defrost as necessary. When serving, we add a spoon of yogurt or cottage cheese, and a spoon of mushed veggies or raw food-processed (chopped really really fine).

Make sure your friend is feeding her dog 2-3% of dog's body weight. It won't seem like much and the dog will always want more but that is what's recommended (of course, modify based on the dog's level of activity or if they're overweight or underweight). My MIL things we starve our dogs because whenever it's feeding time (twice a day) and she happens to be around, they act like it's the first meal they've had in a week. They act like that when she's not here, too. It's normal!

 

[Akane]

You can give cooked green beans as a filler until the dog adjusts to the meal sizes of the new diet. Green beans add hardly any calories and will not set off allergies but they keep the stomach full.

 

[igotchickens]

Cook BROWN rice and oatmeal are good too... not the instant kind

 

[Okie Amazon]

Here's a link that will give anyone a good start. With only one small dog, she can put up individual meals in the freezer and take one out to thaw when she feeds one. http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html


I would at first maybe go to a completely different protein source/grain free and see if the itching stops. If so, it will be a trial and error process to see if the dog is allergic to beef or chicken, wheat, corn or who knows what. Venison and sweet potato:

http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/product-details.aspx?pet=dog&pid=44