[FreeholdHound]

I have an 80 lb Greyhound and he gets one of those ginormous turkey necks once a week as a meal, frozen to make it last longer & get more chew time. I do give him ground tripe that meal as well as the neck alone will constipate him. He is a tripe addict in any form and also loves gnawing on the strips (frozen) also. He loves the duck necks from Hare as snack during the week (Reel Raw’s seemed smaller to me). Frozen chicken feet are his bed time cookie (?). If he swallows anything before he’s chewed it up enough, he just horks it back up & works on it some more. I’m always present to supervise him. Besides the raw he’ll chew on a split antler, bully stick, or yak chew.
Even though Harry HATES tooth brushing I get a 1/4 of his mouth done nightly. All that being said I just dropped him off for his annual Dental- this is the 1 day a year I’m that psycho dog mom. I trust my Vet 100% and even though I know she is aware of all the weirdo Greyhound protocols – I will still be watching the clock & waiting for the call.
I will probably try upping the tripe strips & continuing with everything else. I believe some dogs are predetermined to have worse mouths than others & Harry is huts one of those. Ugh.

[Patricia O]

Hello my dear forum !
I got my first and only dog about a year and a half ago ! He is the joy of my life but a very very very picky eater ! He does not like kibble (orijen), or canned food or raw food for that matter ! He wants me to hand feed him !!!!

[pugmomsandy]

GreenTripe.com sells frozen raw tripe/organs products and other things. You can locate some retailers that carry the GreenTripe products.

[Dori]

Hi Marie. I went on line to see if there were any locations in the South. Unfortunately there aren’t any. Glad you have one that is at least half an hour closer to you. I still can’t get over the fact that they have six freezers. I don’t even have the room for one. I still have mostly dog food in my bottom drawer freezer to my refrigerator. Yes, my husband is still wondering, too late since Summer is just about over, when will there be room in the freezer for ice cream. I keep saying, maybe next year honey. LOL! He’s silly enough to believe that or he’s just appeasing me since he knows that’s just not going to happen.

[InkedMarie]

I’m not happy with the new Darwin’s, don’t like that they’ve raised the fat. I personally don’t see the need for fruits or veggies in Boone’s raw so he gets grinds from Hare Today or Reel Raw.

[DogFoodie]

I’ve also used Darwin’s, Hare Today and My Pet Carnivore. I love to order from MPC and they also have a home delivery / pickup route, which I’m on. Pickup nets me all I want for $10.00. You can also order some raw from Wag.com. I’ve ordered NV from them, which ships frozen in an insulated container with dry ice for no additional charge than regular shipping (free with minimum purchase).

[Shawnna G]

I have a Irish Wolfhound mix who is epileptic and we are in the process of switching over his food.
Our vet warned us about three things when switching his food over – Turkey (which can effect the seizure threshold), Rosemary (which can cause seizures in some epileptic dogs) and salt (because if interacts with his medicine).
I was looking at Natures Variety – however be careful because most of their products have Rosemary in them. I decided on a homemade diet (we may do raw after he fully adjusts) and Acana limited ingredient dog food. (About 3/5 homemade and 2/5 Acana).

[Nancy C]

Marilyn: Great info. thank you.
My into order of DARWINs is in the freezer. I transitioned my 10 1/2 yr old Golden Retriever to Big Dog Natural dehydrated raw first. It is fermented and green tripe is in every meal; both help digestion. My homeopathic vet recommends BOTH these raw brands on his site, also feeds them to his dogs and he suggested the Big Dog Natural would probably be easier to digest cold turkey. Our dog transitioned beautifully without a loose stool, diarrhea or any transitional symptoms. Was a piece of cake and she loves the food. BDN is a very small company and the Customer Service is great. Ask for Chris. The number is on the website. After several weeks on BDN we will move to DARWINS as part of rotation. it is true raw & I anticipate no troubles. Their website is great and people seem to like the food.
There are several other raw foods I plan to use: ANSWERS Raw food, OC Raw, VITAL ESSENTIALS, & Hare Today. All have websites. There are other good ones! These suggestions come from the generous, helpful posters at DFA. (I really don’t have much experience but have studied raw all summer.) Best of luck. Hope this helps.

[Dori]

Marie. Hopefully that will bring more people their way and keep them in business for years to come. I’m always trying to bring business to my local pet food boutiques. I will admit it’s kind of selfish in a way I want them to stay in business and not close down due to lack of customers so I can get great frozen raw for my girls. It’s always so much finding a pet food store with such a great variety in their freezer sections. Most have the typical kibbles and canned and so few even have one freezer let alone six. You really lucked out girl!!! Goody for you!

[Marilyn E]

I’ve been feeding Darwin’s for 2 years and am very pleased with the quality. (darwinspet.com). I have a standing monthly order, and it arrives by UPS. They send return labels so you can ship the boxes back, which is Eco friendly. If I don’t get around to taking them to UPS, I just leave them out on the next delivery day and the driver takes them. Darwin’s has 2 lines of food, one is free range, no hormones or antibiotics; the other is human grade, USDA inspected. Darwin’s is an complete diet–includes veggies, organ meats, ground bone.
To answer the other part of your question: I supplement the raw with probiotics, coconut oil, omega 3s, and Spirulina-Astizanthan (Mercola Healthy Pets online). I do feed treats cuz I don’t know how you train without it, but if I don’t use meat leftovers, I use high quality treats, such as freeze-dried liver, Real Meat brand dog treats, or ZiwiPeak dehydrated raw food.

[Cotons mom]

Could a few of you tell me the names of websites that I can order raw frozen off of please. I want to stay within the 4 or 5 star food. I don’t want to have to order huge amounts because I like to rotate brands and protein. Also how would I know if there was something else that I need to give to my 1 y/o cottons in addition to the food. We don’t give treats. How do you all feel about adding fresh beans/veges to their food?

[Brenda E]

We have a 6 and a half month puppy, believed to be an Irish wolfhound mix, that has been having diarrhea for the past month. It is about once or twice a week and only lasts for a day. We assumed he caught a parasite, but vet tests found nothing. He has been on Blue Buffalo Wilderness puppy since we got him (at 3 and a half months) and I have seen other people complaining about similar things with Blue. Now I am wanting to switch him to another kibble, but don’t know which one. We are strongly considering feeding raw, but until I do all my research I would like to try another kibble. Any suggestions? Also people have suggested trying a probiotic. Could that help? Thanks in advance.

[Naturella]

Kim, I’m glad I could help! 🙂 Many many many good people on this site have helped me enhance my knowledge of most things dog (and even cat, although I don’t have one), and I know you will learn a lot here too.

As far as travel – kibble is very convenient, so if you get them used to something, that will be easy when you travel with your “pack”. Also, dehydrated raw/freeze-dried raw are fairly convenient options too, plus, I hear boarding places will still feed dehydrated, but not actual frozen raw. Some brands are The Honest Kitchen, Sojos, Grandma Lucy’s, Nature’s Variety (I think they have freeze-dried).

One interesting brand I wanted to invite you to try is Wysong. Their Epigen line has zero starches as binders, which makes it pretty unique, plus it is very nutritious and protein-rich, and the kibble is tiny. They also offer some dehydrated/freeze-dried options. Epigen is on the pricier side of dog foods, but I think it is quite worth it. Aside from Epigen, they have other great kibbles that are also small and have no corn, you just have to look through the ingredients. I have a bag of the Nurture with Quail (has some brown rice) by Wysong that I will try in my rotation soon, and it was pretty affordable ($5 for 5 lbs on Petflow.com), plus, you can find even better deals on them on some of the online shopping websites (Petflow.com ; Chewy.com ; Wag.com). I just love their philosophy as a company, so check them out. But all other suggested brands are completely viable options, and GREAT choices as well. Don’t forget that rotation of food brands is also essential for the dog’s well-being as this way they get not only varied proteins, but varied combinations of vitamins and minerals, which helps make their overall diet more “complete” and “balanced”.

Let us know if you have any more questions! 🙂

[Stacy D]

Also, he does not need to gain weight. He’s had EPI for going on two years and has been easy to stabilize. Right before I switched him to raw he had lost some weight (about 5 pounds) and stomach was gurgling a lot (signs of bacterial overgrowth in small intestine from undigested food). He was eating Earthborn Holistic Natural kibble. When I switched to raw the gurgling stopped, he put the weight back on immediately, he stopped shedding, and his coat is glistening. He looks great and is happy and energetic. But the poop just doesn’t look like it should. Is it detox? Is it yellow because he’s eating mostly chicken? Or is it yellow due to malabsorption?

[Stacy D]

Yes he absolutely gets enzymes. Enzyme Diane 6x powder 1 1/2 tsp per meal. I also have raw beef pancreas and raw green tripe. I’m going to ferment fresh raw goat’s milk for probiotics. I’m active on the epi4dogs forum as well. There they talk a lot about cooked diets and alternating raw with kibble, which I would never consider doing. I’m looking for someone to give me straight advice about raw diet. One person says cook the vegetables. Another one (including Billinghurst) says don’t cook, just pulverize. Of course the EPI dog is a different set of rules.

[Nancy C]

I started transitioning my 10 yr old Golden R to RAW 8 days ago. She ate kibble for TEN YEARS! I was scared. With the help/ advice from a good Homeopath DVM I started with Big Dog Natural, a dehydrated raw. He suggested it because he knows the company, it is an excellent food which he feeds his 6 dogs (rotates w Darwins). The strength of the food is that it is FERMENTED and every meal has GREEN TRIPE included. Both these 2 ingredients are excellent digestive aids. So when I fed the first meal — Cold Turkey – NOT mixed with kibble due to the different digestion times for kibble and raw (There are varied opinions on feeding raw and kibble simultaneously). Customer Service and Dr. Loops recommended cold turkey – NOT MIXING THE TWO. Customer service all but guaranteed me there would be no problem.
I was very nervous but I followed their advice. There was NOTHING TO TO IT! Worked beautifully plus my dog LICKED THE BOWL for over 1 1/2 minutes. She LOVED the food. NO DIARRHEA and NO LOOSE STOOL which I was expecting! NONE. This was a PIECE OF CAKE! She has Significantly smaller stools. After a few weeks on this raw food I will ADD DARWIN’S. Then will ADD other raw foods.Have Darwin’s patties, Tripe and Turkey Necks from HARE TODAY in my freezer. The homeopath said that going to BDN would be easier and a great intro into raw. They are on the net. Great Customer Service. The ONLY thing that is “difficult” is that you have to let the food REHYDRATE for about 12 to 15 min before feeding. Can do that at night and leave in frig so to feed your dog immediately in the morning. Check out the website and good luck.

[Susan]

Hi Stacey, google “Raw diets for dogs with EPI” I know EPI dogs cant digest too much fiber & need a very low fiber/FAT diet, enzymes are suppose to help with the digestion of the food, u soak their food in a enzyme for 20mins, but Ive also read that enzymes can give mouth ulcers thats why Ive never tried any enyzmes,..here’s a good site
http://www.epi4dogs.com/diet.htm scroll down to Meat/Protein Vegetables, vegetables must be fully cooked & mashed up & you only add 1 new vegetable at a time, 1 new veggie a week to see if they can tolerate that vegetable, once you work out what he can eat & what he can’t you’ll be right but you have a big dog to feed, so maybe do 3-4 smaller meals a day that way its not too much for him to digest..also google “foods that are low in fiber” I dont know if pasta is low in fiber, I know brown rice has more fiber then white rice, the pasta will help fill him up & maybe gain weight, you need to do a bit of research, I did the research last year when I thought Patch had EPI….Wild Salmon oil is suppose to be good for dogs with EPI & Gastro problems, but you start with a real little bit then work ur way to the dose over 2 week period, Ive always been too scared that the Salmon oil will give Patch bad diarrhea so Ive never tried, it helps their stomach & skin…. if you keep scrolling down there’s recipes aswell, but you must take it very slow & cause they always feel hungry he’ll gulp his meals so maybe just add little food in his bowl then a little more, I have 2 bowls, 1 bowl has the meal then I put Patches bowl on a little chair so its level with his stomach & I just add 1 spoon at a time & feed slowly I have to lift the bowl when putting in food or he’ll gulp the food as Im adding it to his bowl, he’s getting better, he seems to gulp his food more as the day goes on..it takes a bit longer but that way he doesnt get his pain & have his bad burping after eating…its an awful disease….poor boy

[pugmomsandy]

For what’s best, I like to say VARIETY! Kibble, canned, raw (frozen, dehydrated or freeze-dried), and fresh food such as meat protein and low starch veggies. I do tend to stick with 4 stars and above.

[Susan]

Hi Kathy, I forget itchy skin, yes Potatos are a high carb & can cause itch, see how she goes with the potato, as alot of the kibbles have potato now & the Wellness Simple has their Potato & Salmon, Turkey & Potato & they’re suppost to be for skin/stomach problems, but Potato makes my boy itch with his skin allergies, thats why I got the Duck & Oatmeal, & Lamb & Oatmeal kibble as it has no Pototes but all dogs are different… maybe try sweet potato first…you’ll see, as soon as Patch eats something that doesn’t agree with him he starts his scratching & gets his hive lumps all over his head & body…
like 4FootedFoodie said there’s alot of good dog diet books, also Lew Olson has a book called “Raw & Natural Nutrition for dogs” it has cooked meals for certain illnesses, its an excellent book & easy recipes & what vitamins to add, like grounded up egg shell for their calcuim…its only $12.80 on Amazon…in the end home cooked ends up being cheaper & healthier & ur dog will be happier…

[lmnordrum]

Wellness Core Puppy is entirely grain free and suitable for all life stages and is on HDMs list as suitable. My dog loves it and does very well on it. I only added in the Fromm later because its good to have them eat more than one thing should your food be recalled. (Although Wellness has never had a recall and is made in the USA in small batches.)

My dog also receives cooked meat as a topper. I buy inexpensive beef (chuck, round or even something on clearance) and cook it, and I also give her chicken. She’s had leftover pork too. The meat I add is just used as a topper–and a way for me to clean out the fridge. I’ll also boil eggs and give them to her if I have some older eggs. So basically my dog gets about 90% kibble and 10% of leftover meat from the fridge. Last week she had chicken parmigiana without stuff on the meat: I just scraped it off and rinsed the meat, and chopped it in the food processor. I’ll grind up my leftover meat, put it in plastic bags, and place in the freezer. Makes it easy to dump on the kibble and she’ll eat her entire meal.

I can’t bear to deal with the thought of raw food in my house or her bowl and am terrified by the thought of salmonella or listeria. When we were trying to find a second kibble I got some Instinct Rabbit which gave her loose stool. So it doesn’t seem like rabbit was a good protein for this particular animal. Plenty of people feed that Instinct Rabbit with no problems. The loose stool was why I settled on the Fromm as a backup food and part of her dinner mix.

We had a brief time around 4 months when the dog has some diarrhea but I traced that back to cranberry supplements I was giving her for a UTI. It wasn’t the food because once I eliminated that cranberry extract she was perfectly fine.

I’ve been very happy with the Wellness Core, and the Fromm. Her stool is a bit more firm when she has more Wellness. I will share that too much coconut oil, like when I decided to tip the jar over her food, gave her loose stool, but I figured that would happen with too much fat.

Hopefully you just have a systemic problem due to grain. I don’t even feed corn to my family (unless it is organic) and I sure as heck am not giving it to my dog.

[Genevieve K]

I want to go completely grain-free. I have a few specialty stores around that carry the higher-end foods. Petsmart now carries Wellness but does Wellness make a grain-free puppy food? I hesitate to deviate from the Large Breed Puppy foods because I know, as a puppy, he has different needs than an adult. Yes, there are All Life Stages formulas but I’m not confident those would meet his nutritional needs.

We’ve been giving him coconut oil this week. He LOVES it. I’m also hitting the butcher today and hoping they have some rabbit – have them grind one up, bones and all. I’ve not fed him raw before but, at this point, I”m desperate. I know I shouldn’t change everything at once because that makes it harder to identify the allergen but if he’s getting mainly meat and veggies with some supplements like coconut oil and maybe some calcium (unsure about that), I’d like to think he’d do ok with more limited ingredients. (OMG, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower are the best treats on earth for my dogs.)

Again, he’s a large breed and I want to make sure he gets what he needs to be healthy and strong as an adult. This makes me so sad, especially when there is so little, yet so much, information (all conflicting) out there on large breed foods and puppy needs.

[George D]

Hi Stewart, I started her when she was 4 months on orijen dry mixed with their freeze dried line, she likes it and no problems. I’ve tried stella and chewys frozen patties and she also likes them. I’m leaning towards half dry ( orijen ) and half raw. Any other suggestions on good brands? Was also thinking of trying Darwin’s free trial.

[Stewart]

The one thing I dislike about Ziwi is there use of lecithin. It is soy based lecithin. For some dogs soy can trigger an allergy.

After having an issue with my dog constantly regurgitating or vomiting many different types of food(kibble, raw, dehydrated,canned) we had him tested. What puzzled me was some foods he would immediately vomit while others he would be fine with for weeks before he would start to reject. We had this same issue with Ziwi. We later found out he has a moderate soy allergy. So ingredients he was moderately allergic to took awhile to build up in his system before he could no longer take it.

Have you thought about other types of raw or dehydrated foods? Ziwi is good but there are so many other types of commercial raw that could be a better fit.

[Stacy D]

Hi I’m new to raw feeding and have a GSD with EPI. And he’s a gulper. I’m in the second week. I started out feeding ground chicken and things were going great. When I started adding small amounts of other proteins and organ meat his poops started turning yellow and mushy. I’m back to feeding just chicken but clearly need to be giving him more as he’s not getting all the nutrition he needs. Help!!!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Paul B –

Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately BARF brand frozen raw definitely wouldn’t qualify as a budget-friendly option.

[Paul B]

Origen or Primal quail frozen raw
Paul b

[Paul B]

BARF frozen raw

[Naturella]

I use extra-virgin, organic, cold-pressed coconut oil at breakfast every other day. My Bruno also gets canned sardines in their own juices once/week. Haven’t used any type of fish oil specifically, but when he was on fish-based kibble with regular coconut oil intake, his skin and coat became the best they’ve ever been and the effect is still lasting even though the fish food has been switched out 2 months ago. So far I am satisfied with the effect of sardines once/week, raw egg once/week, and coconut oil every other day. Plus, I rotate kibbles, so every few months he gets a fish-based kibble. 🙂

Oh, and I also use a coconut oil-based concoction as a “conditioner” after a bath, as well as for minor wounds/cuts/scrapes. The blend is: coconut oil-olive oil-tri-vitamin oil (A, D, E)-chamomile oil-tiny amount of a Garnier blend of olive, shea, and avocado oils. It works miracles for softness and shine of the coat, and for healing small play wounds. I use it on myself as well, for my hair, or for wounds. I usually treat with just coconut oil the first 2 days, then with the blend.

For the paws I use tree oil – propolis mix (from Bulgarian honey bees) and it also works really well in soothing chapped paws from heat or cold.

[Paul B]

Green tripe is excellent if it is sold in sections or even ground. It’s hard to find it but it has so much great fiber that is missing in most raw diets! Sounds like you know enough to do a great job.
Paul

[Paul B]

The problem with beef is not enough bone and then possible diarrhea. I only do this one time per week. You can find raw meat groups that will sell whole ground chicken but the fat is to high so I use turkey necks. The raw meat groups are popping up everywhere. Check out topqualitydogfood this is the type of place that come monthly and people get great deals on raw meat.
Take care
Paul

[USA]

I’m a big fan of probiotics for gut health and for overall immune system benefits. The one I use is expensive but if you calculate the cost per billion cfu’s it is the least expensive. I take one daily and I split one between my 2 dogs. Each capsule contains 100 billion cfu’s and 34 different strains of probiotics.

http://www.vitacost.com/garden-of-life-raw-probiotics-ultimate-care-30-vegetarian-capsules-2

Supplement Facts
Serving Size: 1 Capsule
Servings per Container: 30

Replenish Blend – 100 billion CFU

ISS Bif™ Bifdobacterium lactis (SD-5219), Lactobacillus acidophilus (SD-5221), Lactobacillus paracasei (SD-5218), Bifidobacterium lactis (SD-5220), RAW Whole Food Probiotic Blend: Bulgarian Yogurt (milk) Concentrate, Eastern European Wild Kefir Culture containing Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, lacotbacillus brevis, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus helveticus, Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens, Lactobacillus kefirgranum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactococcus lactis, Lactococcus cremoris, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacilus kefir, Lactobacillus parakefir, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactococcus lactis biovar diacetylactis, Leuconostoc lactis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Leuconostoc cremoris, Leuconostoc dextranicum, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Brettanomyces anomalus, Debaryomyces hansenii, Saccharomyces unisporus, Saccharomyces turicensis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharmomyces exiguus, Torulaspora delbrueckii

Protein Digesting Enzyme Blend – 50 mg
Protease, Acid Protease, Protease S

Eastern European RAW Fruit and Veggie Blend – 45 mg
Red Bell Pepper (Fruit), Green Pea (Seed), Carrot (Root), Plum (Fruit), Cherry (Fruit), Strawberry (Fruit), Raspberry (Fruit)

[InkedMarie]

I had a dog with struvites. I wasn’t recommended to switch foods; the vet knew better but my vet recommended one 500 mg of vitamin C (don’t do this without talking to your vet). It’s very important that your dog get ample fluid: feed raw, canned or dehydrated. If you must feed dry, add some canned & water to it. You also need to make sure he gets ample opportunity to urinate.

Good luck!

[pugmomsandy]

For struvites, I used to add Wysong Biotic pH- to my dogs’ meals. Also, I started feeding at least 50% wet food (canned, raw, dehydrated) or at least add water to the kibble. Rarely do they eat something dry. Now I just use methionine rotating with another bladder support product containing cranberry and d-mannose. Mine never developed stones or UTI’s. I also periodically test with urine pH test strips at home. One of the vets actually suggested 500 mg vitamin C daily. I have small dogs.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[USA]

Hi Dori and Cyndi, you are both very welcome!

Dori

Please clean the trays and interior of the dehydrator before first use. Then make a dry run to further insure that any thing offensive is gone. First try the highest temp and see how they are after 10 hours. Then adjust time and temp to your preferences. I slice the meats to about 1/8 of an inch and I would recommend you go no thicker than a 1/4 of an inch. Once you hit a 1/4 of an inch the outside of the treats will cook faster than the inside and it could take longer than 12 hours to make a treat that doesn’t go bad without any preservatives. Of course you feed raw so making a softer treat with more moisture in it is always an option for you.

Cyndi

Organ meats can be pretty odiferous and tripe could cause your neighbors to send you nasty letters. But some people don’t mind at all. Fish is pretty high up on the stinky list too!

[USA]

Hi sue

The oven doesn’t work as well but I think you are on to something! Dori (or anyone else) should probably make some treats in the oven first while they find out if making jerky is something they are going to stick with. Once you are making jerky regularly and want to go to the next level of quality and/or volume than the investment in a dehydrator seems more justified.

For an oven you would put it on the lowest heat and leave the door slightly ajar for better air circulation. For jerky that will last a long time without preservative you would cook until it it pretty hard and breaks easily into smaller pieces. For a raw fed dog like Dori’s you could cook it less because the dog is used to dealing with bacteria but you would only make a couple of days worth at a time (it will spoil) unless you freeze it.

You must remove any external fat from the neat before you slice it (no thicker than 1/4 inch) because fat goes rancid fast no matter how long you cook the jerky.

Hi Melissaandcrew

I am fearful of using anything other than 100% stainless steel for dehydrating foods. Plastics even if they are “food safe” and “BPA free” scare me.

[Melissaandcrew]

Hi Dori- I have a cheap, 5 drawer plastic tray model somewhere in my attic. I take it out perhaps5 times a year and dehydrate meat for the dogs as treats, which I then keep in my freezer. I lack patience and think it takes too long, but others that have seen it run think they are great..so go figure, lol. Would I buy another one? Yes, because I like to dehydrate pure chicken breast pieces and have them on hand for dogs with digestive upset.

[milly w]

Vegetarian Dog Food

To most Americans, leading a vegetarian lifestyle is the right way to healthy living. As a result, they feel obliged to extend this sort of lifestyle to their pets. Such beliefs have brought about a wide-scale marketing campaign for vegetarian dog foods.

Depending on your definition of vegetarian, certain ingredients and food types may be incorporated or removed from a vegetarian diet. As a minimum requirement, most meat sources – pork, beef, fish, etc. – are usually removed from the diet. Animal products such as milk and eggs are also usually not incorporated into the diet.

Why do people switch their pet diets to Vegetarian Dog Food?

Most vegetarians believe that vegetarian diets are healthy when compared to the traditional diets, which include animal-source foods. Vegetarians extend this assumption to their pets, which of course is not always true. For example, dogs do not suffer from disorders such as high cholesterol. Therefore, cutting your dog’s meat intake with the intention of reducing its cholesterol intake does not serve any real health benefit to the dog.

Other folks believe that meat contains contaminated bacteria that may harm their dog. This may be a real and legitimate cause to worry; however, meat products that have been properly canned or dried pose a far lower risk of disease transmission when compared to raw vegetables or fruits.

Some people cut their pet’s meat or animal-source intake with the premise that it causes food allergies. Pets rarely develop food allergies. When it comes to pets, the risk of developing allergies due to protein intake from meat or protein intake from plants is the same. Cutting meat intake rarely helps solve this problem.

The most likely Effects of switching your Dog’s Diet to Vegetarian

The nutritional demands for dogs are very different when compared to those of humans. A perfect vegetarian diet for a human may; therefore, not be suitable for a dog. A vegetarian pet food that meets all the requirements – of the dog species – is very difficult, but possible to develop. However, it becomes even more difficult when you decide to use ingredients that fit a purely vegetarian diet: a vegan diet.

A protein and calcium need of a dog, for example, is much higher when compared to that of a human. Such nutrients are usually derived from animal ingredients.

Of course, it is possible to derive such nutrients – Calcium and protein – from synthetic substitutes; however, the process is much more expensive and far less reliable. The process may prove very effective theoretically, but fail miserably in the “real world”.
Finally, even if the dog eats the vegetarian diet that you serve it, it may not consume it in the proportions that its body requires. Pets enjoy a cookie or a fruit on an occasional basis; however, they may not enjoy consuming vegetarian products for their survival. Therefore, even if you come up with a vegetarian diet that meets all the requirements, your dog may not take in as much as its body needs. Thus, it will suffer nutritional deficiency eventually.

In a concluding remark, vegetarian diets are healthy – to a certain extent. However, they may deprive your dog of certain essential requirements. If you must serve your companion with vegetarian dog food, ensure that it takes it in sufficient quantities, and that it has all the essential nutritional requirements.

[Dori]

Hi all. I’m thinking of getting a food dehydrator to dehydrate for the dogs their raw treats. Would love to know your thoughts. Also, do you have one, are you happy with it? Wish you’d bought a different brand, if so which one? What do you dehydrate in yours? Pros and cons please. As always, a great big thank you for going on this ride with me as I continue my research and education on better nutrition for my canines on what I call DFA University.

[Naturella]

Dori, I see. Yeah, I figured Petbrosia would be young of a company.

And oh no!!! I am so sorry this happened to your girls on Victor!!! I never had problems with it… But I’m sure raw is better for them and the switch to kibble must have upset their tummies… Hope you find something else that could work for them! What about Dr. Tim’s RPM? Or Earthborn Holisitic GF, NVI Rabbit maybe, or any of the Wellness COREs?

[Dori]

Hi Naturella. I just spoke to someone in customer service at Petbrosia. The company is a year old and they only have the two formulas. Chicken and grain free Salmon. I was thinking of ordering the 3 lb. box but decided against it once I realized how young the company is. She told me they are getting great feed back but, what else would she say, she’s in customer service.

As far as the Victor’s I tried it with all three girls and it just was awful. I don’t know why it happened but all three dogs got the worst diarrhea they have ever had. Poops were totally black, gooey (only word I can use to describe it) and stunk to high heaven, I couldn’t pick any of it up so I had to keep the hose out to wash it away. Oh, and they were huge huge poops! If it was only one of the dogs I would think that something didn’t agree with her, especially if it had been Katie, but it was all three dogs. I gave it a fair shot. Needless to say, they are back on their raw and their poops are back to being small and normal. I called Victor’s to speak to them about any issues and they told me I was their only call about this issue. I checked the bag. It didn’t smell bad, food looked fine, wasn’t expired and their were no ingredients that they couldn’t eat. Well Katie is the only one with intolerances. Hannah and Lola have never had an issue with any food in the past. Oh well, 🙁 back to the drawing board. Thanks for asking.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Dori.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Dori.

[Naturella]

Vianca, I am not a pro, but from what I know, different breed puppies mature differently – a small or toy breed puppy can be considered an adult and fully-mature at 6 months of age; large and giant breed puppies can continue growing and be considered puppies for up to 2 years! So I don’t know where the 5-month mark came from. I do know that adult dogs just don’t need the extra calories from puppy food, that is why the amount should be reduced, but as with every dog, you need to watch activity levels and overall body condition and adjust accordingly – for example, reduce food if she’s getting chunky or is in general not very active, and increase food if she’s too thin and/or very active. As for the dog being spayed, I don’t know if you have to reduce her food, maybe one of the pros here will jump in on that part. For my Bruno, I only reduced his kibble 1/4 cup from his 1 cup/day allowance after being neutered, but that coincided with him being 6 months old and an “adult” now. Also, now I complement the loss of kibble with various toppers (wish I did that when he was a puppy, but oh well, he got his fair share of bully sticks, fish skins, etc.), so he hasn’t really lost the calories, but he burns them just fine.

My Bruno is 13.5lbs and he’s at moderately high activity level. He is supposed to get 1 cup at most of food, I think, for his weight group. I feed him 3/4 (heaping) cup of dry food plus The Honest Kitchen as a topper and coconut oil/yoghurt every other breakfast, and a raw egg, canned sardines, and a raw meaty bone once/week for each. He is lean, muscular, and in good body condition.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the actual amount – just observe your dog and adjust accordingly, and eventually you will find an amount that works for her.

[Cyndi]

I have learned that you feed 2-3% of the dogs body weight. Closer to 2% for less active dogs and closer to 3% for more active dogs. I’m not sure though about growing puppies. Hopefully someone else that knows can chime in and give you a better answer. I feed my dog closer to 2% now because she was getting a bit on the pudgy side, so I feed her a bit less.

Awesome that you found a website that sells green tripe. That’s the kind of place Hare Today is. They raise rabbits and chickens and goats & stuff just to sell to raw feeders.

Freezing and defrosting foods is something just about all us raw feeders do. Most of us buy in bulk and freeze until needed. For instance, I’ll get frozen goat pieces. I thaw them out just enough to break them up into individual servings, then refreeze until I feed them. Then I’ll thaw them in the refrigerator overnight and feed it the next day. I do the same with raw ground meat. I’ll thaw it, portion it out and refreeze. As long as you’re not freezing it for over a year, it should be fine. The sooner you use it the better I believe.

Here is just one article I was able to find quickly…
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/starting-puppy-on-raw-diet/

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Cyndi.

[charles h]

Thanks Cyndi,

From my understanding with Raw food can you not simply calculate the diet amount (percentage) on the dogs weight. I mean if she was a greedy dog who ate and ate then I would say I need to limit the food amount but shes quite self-regulated and has a very steady weight so surely the ‘rules’ of feeding are slightly not applicable?

I will think about what the best day is to go through some fasting.. Definitely something to think about moving forward…

I think I have found a website that does Green Tripe and other bits, it is actually a raw food diet site based off a farm in the UK.

What are your thoughts on freezing and defrosting foods for raw feeding is it a good idea?

Thanks,

Charles

[Cyndi]

Dori, I did think 6-7% sounded kind of high, but for a puppy, I wasn’t sure. I thought it would be different for a puppy than for an adult dog. Charles you may want to research this a bit more and make sure that isn’t too much.

I would also keep her on a twice a day feeding if I were you. It is better for them. I’ve been feeding my dog raw for about a year and a half and let me tell you, it sure was hard at first when I fasted her for the day. I still feel guilty, so I don’t eat in front of her on those days. She gets a good breakfast in the morning and then around dinner time that day that I fast her, I’ll take her for a walk or to a park or something. She’s used to it now and doesn’t bother me too much. She’ll go out and lay on the deck or something.

Also, with the tripe, make sure it’s raw green tripe. I didn’t realize you live in the UK, but it is very easy for me to get it. I order from a place called Hare Today-Gone Tomorrow. I get most of my raw food from there, including the tripe. Hopefully you can find it somewhere locally. They do also make canned tripe. Not sure what is available to you though. Good Luck!

[charles h]

Hi InkedMarie,

I do rotate proteins I normally go Chicken & Pork, then Chicken & Lamb, then Chicken & Beef… The problem I have is getting bone content as I have previously read that you cannot give Lamb or Beef bone as its too hard. I give Pork bone as in Ribs but it doesn’t seem to be enough to stop her stool being soft. Sometimes she gets Duck with the bones like a duck wing but its quite expensive when added together with the lamb and beef 🙂 so this is rare… I guess its too much chicken as its part of her whole cycle. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi Cyndi,

Yeah I guess she’s so spoilt I hate thinking about not feeding her haha! I haven’t tried to give raw green tripe as its quite difficult to get in the UK (not sure where you are all from)… I should be able to source some on the internet, I can only find dried tripe in the shops.

Hi Dori,

I hate seeing her little puppy eyes when she is hungry though 🙁 lol… I do feed her twice a day at the moment since about two months ago with a view to change this to once a day when she is a bit older (as I’ve read before not sure if you guys recommend this?)

Yeah I’ve read about the percentages she is just quite thin and it concerns me, also I’ve read puppies should have x% and adults x% but she is 8 months and I cannot find anything for junior feeding of how much the percentage should be so I’ve kind of gone in-between the puppy and adult percentage if that makes sense…

She may just be full and that has crossed my mind… Also another behaviour she has is to not eat when we are near her, even if we ignore her she will sit close to us rather than eat (I found this out last night); so I left her in the kitchen with her chicken legs which she ignored the whole time we had dinner (30mins or so) and she had finished it when I went back in after about 15 minutes. So maybe its just she prefers to be around us and she is too easily distracted to eat…

Thanks for all your help… Guess it’s all a bit of a learning curve, I just worry she is not getting the nutrients she needs to develop in to a healthy adult dog.

[Dori]

Marie. Not sure I want to know what beef puzzle is? Never heard of it before. Though, as you know, I’m kind of a plain raw feeder. I don’t go into too much of the different parts. Hmmmmm? Now I’m curious. I think I’ll look it up on google. I’ll get back on if I figure it out.

[Dori]

Oh my goodness. As stated above, missing a meal or two is not starving an animal. I too feed raw. A lot of people feeding raw and kibble or canned will sometimes let an entire day go by with no food. Only water. It’s called “fasting”, not starving. Also, you should be feeding your dog twice a day anyway. Much healthier for them.

Another thing, is it possible that your dog is losing interest in food because you’re feeding your dog way too much food. I’ve always heard and read that the rule of thumb is to feed your dog between 2.5 to 3 % of their body weight daily. Not per meal, but daily.

Does anyone else think that 6 – 7 % body weight of food daily is too much? That’s a heck of a lot of food. No??????

Also, if your dog is showing no interest in chicken (poultry) then maybe you might think of feeding a rotational diet. That might perk up her interest in food. I’m wondering if it’s not a lack of interest in chicken or food, it may be that she’s just full. 6 – 7 % of her body weight is a lot of food for any dog. She may just be full and your feeding her too much.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Dori.

[Cyndi]

It wouldn’t be “starving” her for a day. Most places that recommend raw diets, also recommend “fasting” for a meal, or even a day. I do that on Sundays. I will give my dog her a.m. meal and then not feed her again til Monday a.m. meal. Oh, my dog is also raw fed.

One suggestion, have you tried feeding raw green tripe? Most dogs LOVE it, I know mine does. Maybe offer a meal of that after you fast her for a meal, or a day and see if she will eat it. I bet she does.

I know you haven’t been feeding her raw for long, but have you been rotating proteins yet. Maybe try giving her something different for a while and then go back to chicken or something. There are somethings my dog has gotten tired of and refused to eat, so I pretty much just tried other things and left the stuff she doesn’t care for out of her rotation. I might try to go back to them after a while though…

Good luck!

[Bobby dog]

Hey Naturella:
I am in the same boat you are, textbook time. Plus I have alot of canned, raw, and kibble in stock for Bobby too. I was able to control my compulsive pet food shopping for once. I did bookmark the page because I do want to have a look at the company, thanks for posting!

I love the nickname “muscle pup.” I used to call my JRT my “long/short dog.” lol She was a short legged, very muscular dog and people often thought she was a male. lol 😉

[Naturella]

Akari, I see, yeah, doubt 3lbs would have lasted any of yours too long, except for maybe Bentley, but he is on raw now, so no Petbrosia for him. 🙂