Dear Ashleigh,
I’m so sorry if you’ve been discouraged by negative postings. I’m also new to RAW and finding more hurdles than helpers. The problem is everyone thinks they know everything rather than just sharing what they’ve learned. I hope you are still looking into and exploring the world of raw. Here is what I’m learning and would like to share…. Obviously every dog(like every person) is different but what works for most should work for all, barring complications. I’m feeding raw with a spin. When Minnie first came home I started her on an organic GROUND WHOLE CHICKEN WITH ORGAN MEAT AND BONE. I’m lucky enough to live in an area of Southern California where that is available to me, made by NATURAL MONARCH. Knowing that she also needs other protein sources i went seeking online and now I follow Dr. Becker. She’s a traditional vet gone holistic and i like that. She has a youtube video with Rodney Habib that outlines a raw food recipe which i follow but i change up the protein. I like that this recipe doesn’t call for too many supplements. In addition i feed Raw Meaty Bones every other day. My puppy is super finicky so we’re only doing Lamb Chops, Pork Spare Ribs and Beef ribs with the occasional Chicken Wing. She refuses to eat chicken sometimes as well as chicken feet and turkey necks. She’s kind of a butthead 🙂 but we’ll keep trying. In all my research I have learned that EVERY MEAL DOES NOT NEED TO BE BALANCED! Just work on balancing over the week. Also, Human grade is best. Dog food or food intended to for pets does not have that same regulation. i don’t care what anyone else says. Let those guys eat dog grade food instead of human graded. Even sale meat is ok for animals, as you know animals have different enzymes in their mouths as well as guts to combat the bacteria and parasites that we as humans cannot without cooking it first. If in doubt just cook the protein in question and feed everything else raw. Minnie doesn’t like the taste of ground beef(youtube recipe) but i already made a giant batch so i cook it then add a tablespoon of pumpkin to kill the scent and smell and she loves it. I also add lots of parsley, kale and mint to ward off any leaky gut issues. Dogs that get sick and /or die from bacteria already have had compromised immune systems so please don’t be turned away by nay sayers. Here is a sample diet of what Minnie eats but keep in mind that she is a growing toy breed puppy and eats 3 times a day but only eats 6.5% of her body weight per day (18 weeks as of today between 6 & 7 ounces per day)
sidenote, I’ve started mixing in the rodney habib video recipe into her already ground chicken mix plus as said before pumpkin to the beef mix after lightly cooking it. The beef, i only heat the beef.
Monday… Lightly cooked Beef mix with pumpkin then a pork spare rib the Natural Monarch Raw Chicken with mix
tuesday… Ground Turkey with rodney habib mix then ground chicken mix
wed… ground beef mix then ground turkey mix then a beef rib
thurs… chicken mix then a lamb chop then chicken mix again
fri… beef mix then turkey mix
sat… beef steak with bone then chicken mix then turkey mix
sun… chicken mix then lamb chop then beef mix
Upon writing it out, i see that i obviously feed lots of ground meat but that’s because Minnie is a spoiled puppy. I feed her enough Raw Meaty Bone to have the benefit of the nice breath and clean teeth and gums plus the calcium from those and her chicken has ground bone as well and the egg shells provide sufficient calcium. I plan to introduce more WHOLE proteins after 6 months. It is safe to fast dogs for a day after that point. But right now she’s just too small and too dang picky.
Pulsing spinach, kale, parsley and other super green veggies into your mixes is also sufficient however, i also juice so i mix in the pulp into Minnie’s food.
I hope any of this was helpful.
Love, Leelina
