Raw Diet
Why We feed Raw:
When they were younger Meghan and Cuinn could eat anything without incident (well except for the sock Cuinn ate when he was five). Connor, on the other hand, has some colitis type issues.
The darned dog couldn't eat a blasted thing without "dire rear". When he was 12 weeks he developed an inability to eat the kibble he was weaned onto, a very good brand that came highly recommended. Imagine our shock the first day we saw bloody diarrhea in the snow.
We did the hamburger and rice for about 6 weeks, yet every time we put him back on kibble we went right back to... well ya know. Finally, we got him onto California Natural brand and he did ok. This was going fairly well - everything seemed to settle down but if he ate one wrong thing his little system went crazy. The key is that not only did Connor have the trouble with "dire rear" but he also had chronic ear infections which are common in Golden Retrievers. As well, he had a tendency toward skin rashes and hot spots. We didn't know at the time that this was all food-related.
At the suggestion of a friend we tried Connor on a pre-made raw burger. We thought she was crazy (you know who you are!) but desperation leads people to do things they never thought they would. Within a couple of days of starting the raw burger Connors perpetually soft stool was looking like that of a normal dog (amazing how obsessed dog people can get with poop).
Months went by and all was going well but we were finding it increasingly difficult to have Connor on one food and Meghan on the other. Not to mention the fact that if this diet was doing so well for him then wouldn't it be just as good for Meghan?
About 3 mos. after Connor started his raw diet, he was still eating some kibble and Meghan was eating kibble and we thought this is silly. He was doing really well on the raw burger and we wondered how they would do on a totally raw diet. Many of the people who we trained with fed raw, so we thought we would give it a shot.
It took some getting used to and a good deal of mental energy as I can barely remember to take food out of the freezer for the people; but we managed and I have to say it was the best thing we ever did for the dogs.
We have had NO incidents of "dire rear." We have dogs who eat with gusto, have shiny coats, and are healthier looking than ever before. We have since weaned three litters to raw. Connor has no more ear infections, diarrhea or skin rashes.
Feeding a raw diet works best for us. It is not for everyone, but in our house there is no other way.
What is important is to understand that the following is what we do. With seven dogs, it is very expensive to feed some of the pre-made raw diets that are commercially available; so this is our diet. However, please don't rule out a raw diet because our routine seems to involved. If you have one or two dogs there are many pre-made raw diets that come in frozen tubes, burgers, chunks, medallions etc. and for those who have just a couple of dogs these pre-made diets are a good way to keep your pup on a raw diet and they won't break the bank.
Our daily diet:
My pups get roughly a pound and a half of food per day. I increase or decrease that based on how they look and feel to me. Meir, for example, gets more, Meghan less. We like to keep them on the thin side here - it's better for bones and joints. For young puppies, the slower the growth the better.
Mornings:
Meat: We use mostly whole chicken backs and necks but we also will use ground chicken, lamb, or beef or a can of mackerel or sardines. About once every couple of weeks, they get a breakfast of oatmeal with milk (usually when I forget to take meat out of the freezer). Some dogs do have a problem with grain- I wouldn't necessarily recommend the oatmeal to everyone, but it works ok for our crew. We do use a pre-mixed ground meat that includes veggies and organ meat so we don't have to add our own and this saves us a great deal of time. In addition we feed whole chicken backs and necks. These are easy to access; just find a poultry distributor in your area and they should carry these things fairly inexpensively.
Evenings:
Meat: In the evenings pups can have one of the meats mentioned above or beef knuckle bones. If it is not one of the pre-mixed tubes we will add a combination of veggies. We usually use two or more veggies. One of them is always a green leafy variety (we do limit their spinach). We also sometimes give them vanilla yogurt (Connor won't eat the plain stuff) or cottage cheese about twice a week. Our ratio for the entire day is about 80:20 meat to vegetables, but this is variable. Sometimes we add fruit, but I have noticed that our dogs are not really fruit-eatin kinda dogs.
Supplements: We don't supplement alot, as I can't be bothered with a bazillion vitamins. However, if the dogs look dry we will give fish oil. If you have a puppy under a year, you shouldn't supplement with anything other than a little vitamin C.
Veggies: The easiest way to think about veggies is above and below. Generally we combine two above-ground veggies (spinach, romaine lettuce, beet greens, yellow squash, or zucchini) and two below-ground veggies (sweet potatos, carrots, beets, or turnips) We do not feed veggies from the nightshade family at all - that includes tomatoes, eggplant, etc.
I don't feed as many veggies as I used to as it is believed that dogs don't need quite as much as our dogs do get our leftover veggies from dinner. However recently I have been buying dehydrated veggies from Honest Kitchen and that seems to be working out really well and the dogs like them.
Organ Meats: If we use fresh ground veggies (not very often), we grind our organ meat such as beef, chicken or pork liver. Chicken liver is what we normally use and it grinds very easily in our food processor. By grinding organ meats into the veggies, we always know our pups are getting the organ meat that they need. I have also found that when I feed the dogs whole chicken backs that there is a good deal of organ meat attached to the backs which really decreases the need for additional organ meats or offal.
The benefits are that I don't have to touch chicken livers which to me are quite disgusting and Meghan can't leave them lying around the house. Let me tell you there is nothing grosser than stepping barefoot on a raw chicken liver that had been deposited in the middle of your living room floor.
Other things: There are additional foods that we give our dogs. These are the things that we feed when we forget to defrost meat or are on vacation. We also feed these just for a change. My theory is that variety is the spice of life so the more variety a dog gets in the diet the better the odds are that in the long run their diet will be nice and balanced. For example, we give Bush's baked beans since they really like them (also because the commercials feature a golden retriever). We sometimes will add molasses or honey to their dinners and generally they eat most of our leftovers. We bake sweet potatoes for them at least once a week, they get leftover pasta, oatmeal with molasses and whatever else I think up. Generally my dogs get a large variety of different foods.
What it boils down to:
In our dogs' diets, we feed whole raw chicken necks and whole chicken backs. I know a person who had one of her dogs choke on a turkey neck bone and almost died. Another ended up with a huge esophageal infection from a whole chicken wing that punctured the esophagus. This having been said, different people have different comfort zones. Do what you feel comfortable, whole wings and backs and never had a problem. We are just too nervous to do that.
It is also very important where you get your meat. It is believed that dogs do not have problems with e-coli and salmonella in the same way that people do, due to a shorter intestinal tract. It is still important to feed a good quality meat from a source that you know is clean. In our case, we have many suppliers in our area. If you look in your phone book, you can find poultry distributors. We get our necks and ground turkey from a local distributor. The best way to find meat is to just start talking to people. The more people who know you feed raw, the more suppliers you will find.
In the summer, talk to your local farm stands. Here, they give us their giant zucchinis that they can't sell for free. Join an e-mail list for your area - that is a great way to find out who the local suppliers are . In New England they have a New England BARF list on Yahoo groups.
Dogwise.com has a large selection of books about raw diets. There are many theories and many different ways to prepare your dog's diet. I don't follow any specific diet or model. I do not believe that our dogs are wolves and I don't feed them pretending that they are. What I do believe is that variety is the spice of life and that if you feed a good variety of foods, it all works out in the end.
When we first started feeding raw, it was overwhelming at times. I was always forgetting to take meat out of freezer and was continuously thinking about what veggies I was going to feed. After a few weeks, however, we got into the swing of things. I can now say that feeding a raw diet is no more difficult than dishing out the kibble. Instead of scooping kibble, we scoop meat packaged in ziplock bags. Now that I am in a routine, it takes five minutes to feed our pack of seven dogs.
I can't imagine eating cheerios everyday of my life... so I don't ask my dogs to eat that way either.
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