Raw meat diet questions

[SRMD]

I have been considering getting a dog and have a question, this is for people who feed their dogs raw meat.

If you do feed your dogs raw meat I would like to know...
what/how often and how much you feed your dogs from puppies to adult, this may seem like a stupid question but I would just like to know.

The breed of dog I may be getting is either a:
Staffordshire bull terrier
or a
English bull terrier

Thanks.

[SRMD]

anyone?

[Kodieh]

Hopefully, bringing help your way. Passing the thread link onto someone I know who knows.

[DooLittle]

Pm Pookie, or Satomi. Pookie feeds her dogs raw, and Satomi feeds her ferrets raw, not sure about her dogs though http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?p=2056113

[pookie!]

I have been considering getting a dog and have a question, this is for people who feed their dogs raw meat.

If you do feed your dogs raw meat I would like to know...
what/how often and how much you feed your dogs from puppies to adult, this may seem like a stupid question but I would just like to know.

The breed of dog I may be getting is either a:
Staffordshire bull terrier
or a
English bull terrier

Thanks.

I would advise against starting a puppy off on raw if you havnt had prior dogs on raw, its very tricky to get it right and you dont want to lack in one area or another and mess up your puppy, you know what I mean. Not that I dont know people who do it, I just cant offer advice on it because I dont know enough about it and Id rather pick a good grain free kibble and get the pup through or close to the first year before switching to raw, just to make sure it gets everything it needs to grow into a healthy strong dogs.
As for the amount, it all depends on the dogs size, energy/exorcise level and metabolism. I have a 65-70# dog who eats 1-1.5#s of food a night, then I have a 50-56# dog who eats at least 1.5-2#s of food and then he gets added oil on top to increase the calories because he needs more.

I can give you some links, here is a link to get started on the raw diet www.preymodelraw.com and if you wanna join another forum and ask about the puppy diets from people who have done it I can link that too. Although most will probably tell you the same because you are new to the whole thing.

Also its not just raw meat, you need the correct mix of muscle meat, organs and bone.

[sorraia]

I have been considering getting a dog and have a question, this is for people who feed their dogs raw meat.

If you do feed your dogs raw meat I would like to know...
what/how often and how much you feed your dogs from puppies to adult, this may seem like a stupid question but I would just like to know.

The breed of dog I may be getting is either a:
Staffordshire bull terrier

or a
English bull terrier

Thanks.

I have a Pointer/Staffordshire mix and a Malamute mix, both of whom are on raw. The Malamute mix was a puppy when I got her. She basically required the same diet as my grown dog, just in a different amount.

I follow the "prey model" version of the raw diet. IN a nutshell this means feeding ratios of organ, bone, and meat that would be found in a prey item. Some people take it a step further and feed whole prey (I actually did for a time). My dogs get about 2-3% of their body weight, divided up into 2 meals a day. My malamute gets a steady 2-2.5% per day throughout the year, but my other dog needs close to 3% in winter, and closer to 2% in summer (to keep enough fat/not too much fat on her bones - she's VERY active and pretty much just skin, muscle, and bone).

What they get varies from day to day. Their diet is based on chicken. Lamb is too fatty and doens't agree with them. Pork makes them a little gassy. Beef is given on occasion, as is turkey, quail, and fish. I would give them rabbit if it were more available and more affordable. They also get beef heart. For organ I do one of two things: Give them liver, or grind different organs together and feed the mix.

[regiusloki]

Raw diets can work, but they take a lot of work and effort. Sorraia has the right idea; most people assume just feeding the raw meet is enough. They often forget that out in the wild the wolves are eating everything, including bone and organ. From a veterinary stand point, raw diets are not generally recommended, especially for a puppy. I would recommend starting your little guy off on a diet formulated for puppies. Puppies have different nutritional requirements, and are at risk for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). After he (or she) is adult sized, talk to you vet and do un-biased research. Also, just saw your posted puppy picks, and that is one adorable puppy! Congrats!

[The Serpent Merchant]

I had my husky on a 100% raw diet for 6-8 months (he's currently 16 months old) since I have moved to 50% raw 50% high quality dog food.

For the raw portion I get scraps/organs from a local butcher by the bucket full. It is high quality meat but parts/cuts that are basically trash to the butcher. This means that they are cheap. I mix 1/3 meat (still on the bone), 1/3 organ meat, and 1/3 cooked brown rice. I do lightly cook the meat as I found it helped my dog digest it better. For the dog food portion I feed blue buffalo dog chow. They have a number of different food lines for dogs, and costs a little more than junk dog food like Iams and such but when you read the ingredients list everything is actual food and honestly I would be willing to eat it myself if I had to.

I would recommend starting off feeding your dog blue buffalo's grain free kibble. This is very close to a raw diet content wise, but is already nutritionally balanced and doesn't require prep time. It's not cheap but it is pretty much the best you can get.

[satomi325]

Careful about cooking. Cooking often destroys important nutrients in raw, rending it useless to feed.

Thanks for the rec Doolittle.
Yes, my ferrets are indeed on a raw diet. They're obligate carnivores.
My dog is however, not on a raw diet (yet).
She's still a young pup. Feeds on Taste of the Wild and supplemented some raw+bone.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Careful about cooking. Cooking often destroys important nutrients in raw, rending it useless to feed.

Thanks for the rec Doolittle.
Yes, my ferrets are indeed on a raw diet. They're obligate carnivores.
My dog is however, not on a raw diet (yet).
She's still a young pup. Feeds on Taste of the Wild and supplemented some raw+bone.

When I say cooking I mean 2 minutes in a pressureless steamer. Enough to firm it up just a tough and kill or weaken most nasty stuff.

I also believe that the destroying of nutrition by lightly cooking is overstated just as it is about freezing rodents in the reptile hobby. None the less that is why I moved to a 50% raw, 50% kibble diet to cover any gaps created by cooking or in my raw diet.