How to: Raw Feeding Dogs Part 1 (Natural Meat Diet) Whole Prey Model BARF
Monday, July 26th, 2010
As a zoologist, I have always been interested in feeding my dogs a more species appropriate diet. My dogs have been introduced to a variety of foods and had ’stomachs of steel’, but I used kibble as the base. I use meat, eggs, cheese, fruit and veggies as training rewards.
Recently, Jessie was tested for thyroid and adrenal fucntion and both were on the low side. I thought I would start with food (the building blocks of the body) to rule out allergies and other possible causes of the low thyroid.
Some basic info to remember:
It’s not rocket science! And a wide margin for error is allowed! Each dog is different.
80:10:10 (follows the ‘prey model’ of raw food diets)
80% muscle meat, 10% organ meat, 10% bone
Watch the amount of fat in the meat source (10-40% depending on how active your dog is)
Use unenhanced meat (no flavoring, coloring, antibiotics, salt etc) . Organic meat is ideal!
Feed 2-3% of your dog’s body weight daily (2%x30 lb dog= 0.6lb of food,
3%x30lb dog=0.9lb of food)
When feeding puppies, feed 3-4% of adult weight.
Can also feed upto 15% of fruit/vegetable matter (pumpkin, squash, spinach, celery, yam, berries, apples etc)
Supplementing with vitamins/minerals is optional
Tips:
*start with 1 type of meat and stick with it for 3-4 weeks
*start with pure muscle meat only
*then try some bone (breast or back bone of fowl)
*add some organ meat (watch for diarrhea)
*try feeding with skin (fowl), may need to make a cut or two at first
(often fat hides under skin so remove as needed)
* dogs LOVE eating raw and they thrive under it.
* many health problems can be solved by switching to raw
Recent DNA studies (Boyco 2009) point ot african village dogs as ebing much more gnetically diverese than Asian dogs-indicating that this might be where they originated so their diet should be more similar to African wolf diets which contain plant materials (one species of wolf eats as much as 50% fruit).
A study for feeding Maned wolves indicates: “Canids appear to retain a broader array of metabolic pathways for the processing of nutrients, indicating a greater degree of dietary flexibility. Facultative carnivores (canids) need the diversity of metabolic pathways that is characteristic of species that feed on a broad array of foods.” source; http://www.nagonline.net/HUSBANDRY/Diets%20pdf/Maned%20Wolf%20Nutrition.pdf
Some solutions to common challenges:
“My dog won’t eat raw meat.” Try warming it up before feeding. Over time, reduce the amount of cooking until it is raw.
“My dog vomits the meat 5 minutes after eating” Usually this is because the meat is too cold. Check to see that is is fully thawed and feed. If it is, try warming it to room temperature and feed. Over time, your dog should get accustomed to eating meat straight out of the fridge.
“My dog wolfs the food, bones and all.” Try breaking the meat/bone into small pieces and hand feed. For some reason, most dogs chew small pieces more thoroughly than big pieces.
“My dog won’t eat a whole bird.” Try cutting it open and slice into the meat in several locations. Over time decrease the amount of cuts. Often with whole animals, dogs don’t recognize the animal as food until they can see and feel the meat.
Look for Intro to Feeding Raw Part 2
Duration : 0:9:10