[charles h]

Hey all,

Been raw feeding my 8 month old Black Lab/German Shepard for around 3 1/2 months now and so far so good…

However just recently maybe the last two weeks/three weeks she is showing much less interest in food.

I try to feed around 6-7% of her body weight which works out around 650-750 grams a day. Some days she will only eat 200 grams of food and even that is with a lot of encouragement. She has no interest in Chicken whatsoever anymore…

I’m just worrying she is not eating enough although the self-regulation is a big part of the Raw Food diet I feel she isn’t doing this she is simply not eating.

Her stool seems fine and she is fine in her behavior so I do not suspect a health problem.

It did occur to me she might be starting to come on heat for the first time but this is going on a little long now.

Someone suggested to me starving her for a day then starting again the next day with two meals morning and evening to see if she eats as normal but I hate starving her 🙁

Any advise?

Thanks,

Charles

[InkedMarie]

Can you try another protein?

[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!

[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 10 years, 8 months ago by Dori.

[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.

[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]

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]

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 10 years, 8 months ago by Cyndi.

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