Opinions on feeding your dog a raw diet

[Wild one]

Looks like I will be picking up my new small munsterlander puppy in late April so the preping begins

I am considering a raw diet for my new pup as it would cut out the filler with kibble and give me a better knowledge of what my dog is actually eating

looking for opinions/experience with alternatives to a kibble dog diet

[Whonnock Boy]

I feed my pup a smorgasbord. I save all the scraps, liver, and heart from the ungulates I kill, and grind it up. Couple meatballs of that, and a meatball size of sweet potatoes with some kibble rounds out her dinner. Add in as many sheds as she can chew, and she has remained very healthy. I've read several times that the best thing about a raw diet, besides health benefits, is hard stool. Great for when you have to physically pick it up every time. Good luck.

[35rem]

Check this link so you are aware of some of the risks involved with feeding raw:

http://cvbc.ca/Files/General-Topics/Raw_Meat_Diets.pdf

[mastercaster]

I asked th same question about 6 weeks ago regarding the raw food diet because I definitely want my dog on it at some point but this is what I found out in terms of starting a pup on it. It has to do with the balance between phosphorus and calcium a growing pup needs for bone growth which is difficult to attain unless you really know how what you're doing when putting a raw food diet together. The vet I go to is all for the raw food diet but not for pups because of what I just mentioned. She's had pups come in that have shown signs of rickets because the balance between those two minerals was off.

After all the research and talking to several owners, trainers, and breeders of hunting dogs I decide to start the pup off with the highest quality kibble I could get. Basically, once you get to the high end kibbles you'll find that they have no grain in them and they use good meat and vegetables in them. I went with Go Puppy Chow. Some of them come in large puppy and small puppy formulas but I was told if I was going to go with one of those companies to get the large puppy kibble because the dog will grow slower which supposedly is better for the pup. All the good ones range about $80 for a large bag but they seem to go a long ways.

My plan is to make the switch to raw food when she's 10-12 months old. The only things I don't like about the kibble are the size of the poop and that the pup needs to drink much more water than when a dog is on a raw food diet. My pup must drink at least 1 1/2 litres per day and consequently has to go out for a pee about 15 times a day which I heard wasn't out of the ordinary for a pup when house breaking them.

Have fun,,,,those first 3-4 weeks you'll be super busy watching her. I've had mine for almost a month now and I still keep her on the leash indoors for easy handling and taking her out the back door. I believe she way ahead of the curve at this point in time because of it!

[Steeleco]

Fed my Rottie raw food from day one with a quality kibble for breakfast. She's now 10 and starting to slow down (finally LOL) but she has had ZERO issues with digestion. I fed here all matter of creatures that have been cut and wrapped, with the lion share being bears. Only ever needed to treat her for worms once too.

[Wild one]

Seems most have had positive results

[horshur]

It is a dog..they will eat most anything. With a single dog look at required portions and feed them table scraps which will in many families be enough or too much and any scraps from game. Raw diet is bit of a fad. Bolster with some kibble. You can feed a dog cheap and healthy easily . Don't pin yourself down with a fad. I feed raw,cooked,frozen,veggies,pasta,kibble.ect,ect

[Wild one]

It is a dog..they will eat most anything. With a single dog look at required portions and feed them table scraps which will in many families be enough or too much and any scraps from game. Raw diet is bit of a fad. Bolster with some kibble. You can feed a dog cheap and healthy easily . Don't pin yourself down with a fad. I feed raw,cooked,frozen,veggies,pasta,kibble.ect,ect

It is mostly I don't have trust when it comes to the quality of kibble food. Not looking to save $ just want to keep the dog healthy. Not stuck on anyone diet

With all the crazy fad diets for humans I imagine people have done the same with dogs

[Glenny]

I feed my pup a smorgasbord. I save all the scraps, liver, and heart from the ungulates I kill, and grind it up. Couple meatballs of that, and a meatball size of sweet potatoes with some kibble rounds out her dinner. Add in as many sheds as she can chew, and she has remained very healthy. I've read several times that the best thing about a raw diet, besides health benefits, is hard stool. Great for when you have to physically pick it up every time. Good luck.

N bonz too. Good eats for the pups.

[adriaticum]

Raw diet is good but.
You have to keep some things in mind.
Carefully chose where you buy the food because there is a chance of bad stuff if you run into a bad batch.
If you live in a family situation and someone is always home that cool, but if you don't and you have to travel somewhere it gets pretty complicated.
Also if you take your dog with you places, you always have to have a freezer around to keep the food frozen.

My dog used to eat raw, but I switched it to kibble because it was down right impossible for me to always feed him raw food.
Also you have to make sure the dog gets their fibre from veggies, you can mix it in the raw food.