Raw Dog Food Diet, only people who feed this diet please!!!?

Question

Alright, I am 16 and I pay for everything, dog food, treats, bowls, leash, collars, training, agility training etc etc. So obviously I am on a budget. I am not paying $20 a month for dry dog food. I used to breed and train labs for hunting with my mom some years ago, and the raw dog food is what we feed our dogs, of course with some fruits and veggies as well.

I have an English Pointer and he weighs about 46 pounds. I walk him about an hour daily and he currently eats 2 cups of dry food a day and he is at the perfect weight. So, now for the questions:

How much would I feed him a day? How much would it cost a month? What would I feed? Where can I get the food cheap locally? I don't want to rely on my dad to order the food on the internet, but I can and will if need be. Please give me all the info.

Once again, I only want answers from people who feed raw food or have in the past. Thank you for your time! You can e-mail me at [e-mail] if you need to.

Answer 1

Adult dogs can be fed between 2-3% of the their body weight. At our clinic, we recommend starting with 1/2 pound of food per 25 lbs of body weight daily and make adjustments according to your dog's age and activity.

I always recommend the following for BARF diets:

Chicken Diet: Chicken, Finely Ground Chicken Bones, Chicken Liver, Egg, Cultured Kefir, Broccoli, Celery, Spinach, Carrot, Dried Alfalfa Meal, Apple, Pear, Grapefruit, Orange, Dried Kelp Powder, Cod Liver Oil, Capsicum, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide.

Beef diet: Beef, Finely Ground Beef Bones, Beef Liver, Egg, Cultured Kefir, Broccoli, Celery, Spinach, Carrot, Ground Flax Seed, Bok Choy, Dried Alfalfa Meal, Beef Kidney, Apple, Pear, Grapefruit, Orange, Dried Kelp Powder, Cod Liver Oil, Capsicum, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide.

Lamb diet: Lamb, Finely Ground Lamb Bones, Lamb Liver, Egg, Cultured Kefir, Broccoli, Celery, Spinach, Carrot, Ground Flax Seed, Bok Choy, Dried Alfalfa Meal, Lamb Kidney, Apple, Pear, Grapefruit, Orange, Dried Kelp Powder, Cod Liver Oil, Capsicum, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide.

I swear by Dr. Billinghurst's BARF diet and order it directly from his website.

Answer 2

I'd start with 2% of his body weight, which for him would be close to 1lb of food a day. Start with that, if he loses some weight, add a little more food, if gains take away some food.

You can feed him chicken, turkey, beef, and pork with the bones included. Stay away from the leg bones of the larger animals. You can also feed rabbit, venison, variety is really key with this diet.

Most of my dogs food comes from the local grocery store. I get venison during hunting season, and for the really odds and ends I have to shop online.

Things I buy online: whole rabbits, skin and all (my dogs love these) ground goat, goat meat, duck, and more that I just kind find in local stores here. You may get lucky. The site I order from is http://www.hare-today.com

Raw eggs shell and all are also a favorite here. Those are fed a few times a week.

I don't feed fruits and veggies, some raw feeders do some don't.

When you make meals for your dog you have divide up that 1lb of food into rmb's, organs, muscle meat. I don't remember the exact percentages of each, I just eyeball portions now. I'll include some sites at the end for more information.

How much does it cost? I feed my 100lb lab on $2-3 per day. (Its been awhile since I did a cost break down) Its all in how you shop.

Good luck.

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Part of my own article on dog food, and more links.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm.........

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htm...

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html.....

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html.....

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&m...

Answer 3

Your best resource is to find a yahoo! raw-feeding group for your area.

I use a couple of places to get meat/carcasses for my dogs. When I was in Minnesota and living in the country the local DNR guy would let me know when a deer had been hit by a car... REALLY cheap ($15 and I had to butcher it myself). I had a local butcher who saved bones etc for me. I bought chickens whole and not butchered (did have the heads removed) and I would skin them (easier than plucking) and feed them relatively intact (halved for the smalled dogs) with all the innards still present. I also bought rabbits that way. I had a friend who fed hogs heads and beef heads but I never could deal with that.

When I was in San Diego I had small local carnecerias(mexican grocery stores with meat counters) who loved me because I took all their old meat that was going outdated for my dogs. They charged me 1/4 price and often tossed in bags of bones.

Here in the Seattle area I go to a butcher who saves all his meat that is going to go outdated and then grinds it with some beef liver and heart added. He sells it for 89 cents a lb or 59 cents if you buy 100 lbs at a time (yay freezer!!!). It does NOT have any bone in it though, and they need between 10-20% of their diet as bone... so I found a wholesale supplier who supplies the local grocery stores with meat and can get chicken necks, backs, leg quarters as well as turkey and pork .. my dogs love pork neck bones... the backs are 41 cents a lb right now... the pork necks are 50 cents.

You can nearly always supplement with raw eggs/shells but I only do it once or twice a week as I'm concerned about the possiblity of vitamin leaching. Plus I feed leftovers. I also grind up any excess vegetable (lettuce leaves, carrot tops, beet greens etc) and mix it in with dinner. I grow alfalfa sprouts... really easy and CHEAP.. so my dogs get living greens.

As far as amounts.. I just tweak it to the dog.. I have no set amount. If the dog is looking a bit thin I feed a bit more, a bit heavy I feed a bit less. I do watch for fat intake though. My pups require a LOT of it... my adults, not so much.. so I'll skin the backs for the adults and give the extra fat/skin to the pups.

Be careful during the transition to raw. You'll want to have some yoghurt on hand as well as some acidophilus to help his intestines adjust to the new types of food.

Answer 4

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