Does this sound like a good natural diet for a dog?

Question

No lecturing please, I don't want to feed my dog kibble anymore. She has very high quality organic kibble but it's still not good enough.

So I was thinking about this;

Breakfast -
Puppy/Goats milk, and a small amount of rice (or whatever other cereals) with whatever supliments she needs, if she should have them.

Dinner - Cooked/Raw (still unsure about this) meat meal in the evenings with a bit of vegetable pulp and half a tea spoon of fish oil?

and a couple calcium treats mid day sinse she is still a puppy and very active.


Any reccomendations or alterations? I'm worried about checking with my vet, as for one, they have Sceince Plan in the waiting room and 2. they charge £15 for a meeting which is a rip off if all I'm gonna get told is lies about "balance". I don't belive in balance, childrens' meals aren't balanced to the letter and an animal wouldn't measure out his portions and vitamins in the wild.

Answer 1

Hi there! I purchase my raw diet from Dr. Billinghurst (the guru of BARF diets) directly from his website:

www.barfworld.com

It is always a good idea to buy prepackaged raw diets like these because all the nutrients and vitamins are already included. Feeding raw is time consuming and expensive. If you do decided to make the raw diet yourself you will need to supplement vitamins. The diet you described above is NOT a good one.

NOTE: Dogs are supposed to be eating 2-3% of their body weight a day, NOT 20%!!!!! Careful with your answers!

Answer 2

There are soooo many things wrong with that diet. There is no way you will be able to provide ALL of the vitamins, minerals, micro minerals, etc. that your dog requires for good health.
Dog food companies have spent YEARS developing a BALANCED diet that will provide EVERYTHING your dog needs. What makes you think you can just make one up off the top of your head?
What happens if you are out of town or ill or ??? & someone else needs to take care of your dog or it needs to be kenneled for some reason? Do you think anyone else will want to Cook a meal three times a day for your dog?
Why are you talking about what a dog would get in the wild. Where in the wild does a dog get rice or goat's milk????
If you are so into providing your dog with it's natural diet, then give it a live chicken to kill & eat. How about a rabbit, or other small animals, lizzards, frogs, eggs, etc. that a dog would hunt IF it had not been domesticated a thousand years ago & has come to rely on us for a PROPER diet to keep them healthy...

Answer 3

Nothing wrong with that but we'd give the meat in the morning. Calcium treats? No, give the dog a BONE although it must be RAW! Chicken wings are an ideal start for pups but do remember to supervise. We've never had a problem. Infact, we can remember starting with chicken carcasses;we watched in anticipation of something dreadfully happening and ALL was OK!
We firmly believe in the holistic approach and have been feeding raw for 3 years. We can recollect worrying about the overall balance of the diet; believe us, we shouldn't have bothered!
We did alot of research which contributed to the knowledge we can share today.
After the initial weaning to the raw diet, it became so much easier and less time consuming as we discovered suppliers. We get our food delivered straight to the door,discounted prices, at a time convenient to us and a FREE phone number to place orders. Infact one supplier phones us and w've gained a friend!
You may have visited the following sites but if you haven't they are worth a visit
Burns, Denes, AMP, & BARF
Want any more info, get in touch,
take care

Answer 4

OK, milk, not so much, but dairy products, like cottage cheese in small amounts every so often is fine.

no rice, no grains at all!!!!!! that is not a pat of a dogs diet, they cannot digest it properly(that is the problem with commercial foods)

Def. feed raw meats. whoever says this is bad is a moron. cooked anything has almost zero nutritional value. all meat should be fed raw.
Fish oil, yes. Even better...raw fish from the market. Dogs CAN have fish bones! They, unlike us, have throats developed to swallow them.

Veggie. pulp, yes. Feed whole raw veggies if your dog will eat them. If it's still a pup, she will.

if you feed bones, she really won't need calcium treats.
bones contain the perfect calcium/phosphorous ratio, so they are best.

i feed all 4 of mine a raw diet. This is what they get:

Raw ck thighs, wings, etc.
2 brown eggs, cracked, but shells still there, they can eat them whole.
whatever veggie whole or ground up, depending on what it is.

sometimes they get raw deer meat, ground beef, steaks, liver, hearts, etc

i have no sickness related vet bills, i do not need to vaccinate, and their teeth and gums are perfect.

Find a holistic vet, they are more supportive of your choice in raw diet. Never go back!!!!

PS, dogs do NOT need anything crunchy to keep their teeth clean, bones and raw foods do this for them. if they needed kibble to do this, wolves would have died out from tooth decay a long time ago.......

Answer 5

*sigh*

Start doing more research. The key to the whole raw approach is rotation... A varied diet. NOT a standardized diet you follow everyday.

There are about a bazillion websites on raw feeding. Start reading them. Join a Yahoo! Groups raw feeding list. Here's one quick link I like:

http://www.eastwooddanes.com/SampleMenu.html

I have no issues with what you're feeding.. I'll feed my guys anything that doesn't eat them first (treat this morning = raw eggs on the patio, shells and all).

Two nights ago was "clean out the fridge" night and they had a conglomeration of leftovers including some Pad Thai, stuffed italian shells, lamb and chicken kabobs with saffron rice and tahini, sandwich remains, pita bread and about a dozen eggs all mashed up together. My dogs have guts like billy goats BECAUSE they eat this way.

But their MAIN diet is raw meat.. chicken, lamb, pork, venison, beef... and includes organ meats... About 8-10 lbs a day.... how do I do it? Here's another link I like:

http://www.eastwooddanes.com/Getting-Started-101.htm

BTW- I've NEVER fed my dogs a supplement, because of their varied diet I've never needed to. I don't feel dogs NEED grains.. but if I have them leftover they can have some.

One thing I do do is to feed kibble as treats (training aids). So, I cannot say I completely raw feed (couldn't say that anyhow because I believe dogs evolved as scavengers eating our leftovers and once a week mine clean out the fridge). I use a bunch of premium kibbles... everything from Innova Evo, to Canidae to Solid Gold (Barking at the Moon is a favorite)... a ton of little bitty treat pieces that don't make too much mess in my pocket. Because of the amount I train.. I'd say my dogs (Bernese Mtn Dogs and Samoyeds) get about a cup of kibble a day on average.

Good luck and keep reading!

Edit: The *sigh* was not for you, but the people who keep saying "get food from a vet".

Also.. there are NO issues with feeding milk if you wish to... as long as she's had it on an ongoing basis and still has retained in her system (from puppyhood) the enzymes for digesting it... if milk is on clearance, my dogs drink milk.

Answer 6

I would cut out the milk. If the puppy is weaned, he won't need it and it could actually cause him to have loose stools. Adult dogs don't drink milk in their normal diet...not even in the wild.

Also, I'd be sure to give him something to chew...whether it be packaged bones or a hard rubber toy...because the diet you're planning to feed him will lead to tooth decay. He'll need something crunchy to keep his teeth healthy.

Balance IS important. I'm not saying the special expensive diet at the vet's office is the only way to achieve that...but if you want to do right by your dog...do some research online to see what your dog needs. If you consistently short the dog of the same nutrients because you don't realize you're doing it...you will have problems.

Answer 7

If you want to feed your dog a natural diet then thats your choice and no one can make you do otherwise and your proposed plan sounds fine, though for a puppy I would like to suggest some changes.

Puppy milk can not go on indefinately as it eventually stops being a good thing and starts to become a digestive issue as it causes bowel movements to go a lot looser and less controllable. Use baby rice with the milk on a morning, or better still would be two weetabix, Farleys/cow and gate rusks or even corn flakes, but something with bulk to get her though the day.

By meat meal I hope you mean a meal of meat as opposed to that horrible smelling meat based granules.

Use meat such as chicken, beef, liver, lamb, but no pork, and yes cook it as it makes it more appetising to the dog, Also raw poultry can give your dog food poisoning.

Also she needs a bulk mixed in, biscuits or mixer. I appreciate you don't want to feed her dog food but the mixer bulks out the food and makes her feel fuller after eating. Also the crunch keeps her teeth clean as well. If your sure about it, then keep the mixed vegetables, but add them in chunks not a puree as dogs enjoy fruit and veg as much as most people do.

My dog jumps up to take plums off our tree

If you want to add fish oil to her dinner, then make sure it doesn't alter the taste.

Alternatively, swap two or thee of the weeks morning meals from milk and cereal, to a couple of tins of sardines, pilchards, salmon or tunafish, but get one soaked in oil as this helps with flexibility and gives them a glossy coat.

As regards to the meat suppliers, butchers grade meat is costly, if you need to some pet superstores sell animal grade meat frozen which you can buy and store in blocks.

Answer 8

I don't use the raw diet so I couldn't advise you but heard it is very good.

As far as your vet ... I would change vets ASAP. He is not interested in the health of your dog. He is interested in lining his pockets if he recommends crap Hills Science Diet. Pure garbage.

Vets are NOT nutritionists and nutritionists are not vets. Vets probably took a short course in vet school sponsored by Hills Science Diet. Go to the link below and see where Hills Science diet is rated and why.

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews

Answer 9

I would not feed that diet to my dog, let alone a puppy.
You really should check with a vet, or follow a raw diet that is already spelled out for you. I am sure someone here can provide a link to one.

Answer 10

Your diet sounds fine. I'd advise you to cook lightly any meat you give your puppy, but make sure it's cooled down enough before you give it to her. I'd be careful with any vitamins. Too much can be fatal. And no chocolate...EVER!

I stopped giving my Siberian Husky ANY commercial pet foods after the initial pet food recall. I actually had a bag and some cans of the poisoned food.

Now I feed my dog exactly what I eat. If I'm having steak, I buy an extra one for the dog. A leg of lamb and the dog eats as much (or more) as I do. She also gets vegetables which she grudgingly eats... all except for English peas... she refuses to eat the bloody peas. But Cheese? She loves cheese.