Switching to Raw

Hi Friends! This charming illustration was found in an old 1935 children's book. How perfect to illestrate my point of dogs not only needing but wanting more raw meat and bones in thier diet!

I have been weaning my puppies onto a raw food diet for several years now. Just remember, a puppy can only be grown once. Their hearts, lungs, muscles and bones need the very best possible vitamins, minerals and nutrients in order to develop properly. They do not have not developed an immune system capable of keeping them healthy on thier own until they are 6 months old so it is up to you to make sure they eat only the very best!

If you have a new puppy or even an adult that you would like to switch to raw, here are a few tips that will help.

Do Not mix kibble or cooked diets in with raw.

Start with a single protien source like chicken

Work up to variety slowly. (Don't worry about achieving "balance" with a wide variety of raw meaty bones and organs, You are in a whole different realm where balance is a useless, meaningless term. You will want to work up to variety slowly, and over a period of time. Don't rush things, as rushing can cause you and your dog undue misery in the form of early morning trips outside with diarrhea, etc. Your dog will not suffer from eating one food source for a period of time--the raw food source it will be eating is far superior in quality to any kibbled food and contains just what your pet needs nutritionally. Let your dog's system adjust to eating real food. Remember, your dog has been eating a grain-based, hard-to-digest, artificial food that is WAY different from fresh, real food. The dog has a suppressed immune system and possibly suppressed digestive enzymes, and just needs time to get its system up and running so may go through a "detox" or cleansing where it will appear to be sick.

Be relaxed about what you feed.

Some examples are:

Raw meaty bones and/or whole carcasses - chicken, lamb, pork, whole raw fish (at least once a week), beef, rabbit, deer, whole raw eggs in their shells (I will let the dogs crack the shells and most of them eat the shells very well), organ meat such as tripe, liver, heart.

Please note: Dogs do not have the digestive system to cope with grains. Grains are one of the biggest sources of allergies in dogs. Grains make up the majority of dog food company food sources. Many people find when they switch to an all natural diet, the allergies their dogs had disappear. This is common.

Supervise your dog's eating at all times. I've heard of dogs choking and dying on kibble, and dogs choking on raw meaty bones. - Just like I have heard of humans who have choked and died on a small piece of sausage or cheese.

Feed your dog based on their energy requirements. It will differ for how much work your dog does, and what their metabolism is like.

As a rough guide is to stargt with around2 - 3% of your dog's body weight (a little more for pups, up to 10% for them) and adjust according to the dog's weight gain or loss. It is not an exact science and every dog is different. Relax, observation of weight and fitness will help you adjust the amounts.

With pregnant and nursing bitches you will find that they need more food to cope with the demands of the little guys! And sometimes, a pregnant bitch will not want to eat a lot. You let your bitch be the judge. She knows her needs.

With my show dogs, I call the raw diet, "my secret recipie". On one hand I almost prefer that my competitors don't feed the raw diet, as I know their dogs will not be in the same condition as my dogs are. But on the other hand, what I want most, is for dogs to be healthy, regardless of who owns them. It is all about the dogs and what is best for THEM!

Actually, the raw diet is speakings volumes in the ring, and I often get asked the question, "what do you feed?".

In the end, feeding your dog is about management of risk. No matter which path you decide to take there will always be risk. There will always be someone who will criticise your decision. However, YOU, and only you can decide what is best for YOUR dogs. Weigh all the benefits and risks. Do your own research. Do what will have the greatest overall benefit for your dog.

If you would like a private consultation, Please send me a private message HERE.