Feeding RAW for a Great Dane???

Question

She is 12wks old what should I start out with... I've heard raw turkey burger meat, chicken backs and so on but how much and how often. I need a diet plan just for her. LOL Breakfast...., Lunch......., Supper...... and so on I only want the best for her and I will start calling the meat dept. and see what they can do for me.

I got a male but someone called me that got a female for Christmas and couldn't keep her. So now I have two natural pups I'm going to cropp their ears and I was looking into the best feeding since I do have two now. I thought about trying to place the girl but Kouv loves Fallon and that way they have a playmate their size

Answer 1

We have been feeding our Danes RAW for several years. They do fantastic. We start them out ASAP. Even puppies are weaned to it.

Buying pre-packaged meat such as Grandad's etc, is great in a pinch but incredibly expensive. We go to Costco and buy chicken legs and thighs by the case at .99 a pound. If you live close to a meat company, you get it even cheaper. We don't, so we just do Costco.

Also there are CO-OPs where folks get together and by hundreds of pounds of meat and split the cost. You can place you own order on what you would like. Yahoo.Groups has a great raw feeding group/community.

For those folks that say RAW is bad for Great Danes because of Bloat.....I have never met a Dane to bloat on RAW, ever. That is not to say it can't happen, anything is possible, but I wouldn't blame a raw diet for a case of bloat.

The a raw based diet is not that difficult either. Some folks make it seem like there is more to it than there really needs to be.

Go for it. Your puppy will be just fine.

Answer 2

You just asked a seperate question about the best kibble, and also said you have a 6 week old male dane pup too and are getting his ears cropped. Have you decided to feed them both raw?

The Great Dane lady's site has some info on feeding raw, but she doesn't reccommend it. It's easy to mess up the nutrient / trace mineral levels the pups get.

There's also a lot better places than here to ask questions about this if you are serious. I'd suggest joining one of the dane Yahoo chat groups. I think Wholesome Dane has a lot of holistic/ raw diet people on it. You'll be able to get advice from more people who are actually doing it. Premiere Great Danes is also a good group to bounce ideas off of.

If you decide to go with kibble, I feed Chicken Soup/ Adult to my dane pup and have had very good results so far. The #'s are right, and he loves the taste.
Good Luck

Answer 3

Feeding your Dane a raw diet is a wonderful idea...glad to see that you are researching it.
In addition to the eastwooddane site I also suggest going to the DOL (Danes On Line site) there is a lot of info there from some very experienced raw feeders.

www.danesonline.com

I also suggest the leans and slobbers site http://leansnslobbers.proboards92.com/index.cgi

Best of luck with your new Dane puppy


*****You are at the end of time that you will be able to get the ears cropped. Also I'll warn you it is VERY hard to find a vet that does a good crop on a Dane.Vets who crop are far & few between now. There is nothing wrong with leaving them natural. My show boy is a natural ear fawn and he is doing great in the ring. There are several natural ear Danes that have already gotten their championship and many more that are well on theri way*******

Answer 4

The only "raw food" that I would ever feed my danes is called the barf diet. Uncooked chicken backs. just chicken backs. Before chicken is cooked the marrow in the bones will not splinter and therefore is very good for them. Dogs are meant to eat bones going way back in time. Once the bones are cooked the marrow is taken out and can cause splintering. So, I know some who feed their dogs the barf diet and strongly recommend it. Getting the chicken backs is expensive and cannot be found, most times, in the grocery store. I agree with the post that stated raw meat has disease in it. Many years ago before pesticides, etc., raw meat may have been good but I wouldn't try it now with my danes.

Answer 5

Thanks Abby!!

I do feed my large furkids raw, however I do not make it from scratch. My husband is lucky he gets me to prepare food for dinner :) I purchase pre-made patties from Dr. Billinghurst (the guru of the raw diet) through his website: http://www.barfworld.com His patties are complete, meaning you do not need to supplement or add anything extra to make it balanced for your dog. As others stated... it is expensive! Especially for our big guys!!

You can absolutely prepare your raw diet yourself... it will take time, but if you are willing to carefully prepare the raw foods... go for it!! I do know of a wonderful website from a member on here that feeds her Danes raw. Her website is set up with a'menu' much like you are looking for!! Here: http://www.eastwooddanes.com/SampleMenu.html

I wish you the best of luck! You will not be disappointed feeding raw!! There are SO many benefits! Smooch to your Dane pup and Happy New Year!

Answer 6

There are some great raw feeding forums on Dogster.

http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet

Good luck!

Answer 7

Here is a website from a Dane breeder that feeds raw. I think it will help you:
http://www.eastwooddanes.com/SampleMenu.html

Read through the site, this breeder will answer some of your questions and if you email her she is always happy to help with raw feeding. She has been doing so for years.

Answer 8

what is wrong with high quality dry food, you can't fool around with great dane diet, they are prone to stomach tortion, they are big puppies that grow into bigger dogs, there are special needs nutrition wise, never give your dog something you would'nt eat, do you eat raw meat, just some thoughts

Answer 9

Here's some Dane info. Please read about bloat/gvd. I lost my 1st bloodhound to bloat. It was horrible.
http://ladyr.danebytes.com/BLOAT-SIMETHICONE.htm (this woman is a wealth of information for all large/giant breeds)

I'm now feeding Innova (it's grainless) and adding a probiotic from Nature's Farmacy which helps digestion. The digestive tract balance is easily disrupted and when you have a deep chested dog, the dog is prone to bloat. I also add a Gas X to each feeding (2 a day)- all approved by my vet. I keep a bloat kit and bloat buster on hand 24/7 also. In fact, just a couple weeks ago, I interrupted what I believe was the beginning of bloat- after 10 Gas X and 1 emergency dose of Bloat Buster, my bh was ok.

http://www.naturesfarmacy.com/

Nature's Farmacy has a great raw diet plan. Very easy to use. They included the plan in my bloat kit order.

Answer 10

I don not recommend feeding raw meat do a dog. There is no purpose or benefit in doing so. Feed your dog a large breed formula from Eukanuba if you are concerned about quality. You have to remember, dogs are domesticated animals and require a different diet than wild animals.