RAW - Page 1

Hello pedigree family,
i need some advice, im highly thinking about starting my dogs on the RAW/BARF diet. i been thinking i want to put some weight on my Sch GSD i feel like he has more stools and is not getting the benfits from his dog food. I feed him good dog food(Taste of the wild with the highest protin) and i feel like he should be bigger then he his. 

My questions what do i feed my dog
What benfits have you seen in your dogs?(also if you happen to have pictures please share) 
How do i make it some it is not so hard and confusing?
How much a day should i feed?
THE BIG THING.............HOW DO I MAKE IT SO I DONT SPEND TONS OF MONEY ON IT.
also i got more then one dog and as of now im spending $100 on dog food a month.


Please help.................

You'll find a lot of info under this topic: "Raw diet - specific quesiton" http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/forum.read?mnr=635090

I have an arthritic 9½ yr old GSD and a lunatic 20 mth old Border Collie, both are fed on a variety of different raw meats... raw minced tripe, raw minced chicken, raw minced lamb, raw minced beef and all those mixed together with raw tripe.... ie tripe/chicken etc. Sometimes they get offal but they aren't too keen on it.

Added to that they get raw shredded carrot, mushed/blended carrot, shredded cabbage, shredded greens, shredded broccoli, shredded spinach, sliced celery, sliced apple and I can quite happily say no squits, not even squishy poos in the last 12 months! Both dogs have stools twice a day and are what I would call ‘perfect’ and so easy to pick up with poo bag. The chicken I get finely minced [it includes chicken bones too] so it contains enough calcium for their diet.... and best of all on this RAW/BARF neither suffers from wind. One thing I can't get the dogs to eat though is raw chicken, wings, legs carcasses etc. 

Dogs are unable to break down the cellulose walls of carrots, so although mine get shredded carrot it's mainly to bulk up the food as the GSD is on a diet, so to get the benefit of carrot, I blend some too. Carrots do tend to come out as they go in.  My GSD will thieve whole carrots from the veg rack so at least crunching on a carrot helps towards keeping her teeth clean.

I can't advise you how much to feed, as I mentioned before my GSD is on a diet. Both dogs have fantastic coats, bright eyes and are healthy. There's a couple of groups on Facebook that are very informative. https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/328121590553154/ and https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/261761471359/

Now here is the thing im a city guy and i dont know meat people in the city what type of places should i look for?
Also is there any pre made stuff that i can just order?

Getting your head around the GSD diet and raw feeding program can be quite a challenge with the amount of information, educated and less educated perspectives out there. Getting the dog off processed bagged food and on to home cooking or raw is sound judgement. I would assume many owners were like me during the transition and experimented with various recipes to figure out what works with the dog and budget. Get your hands dirty so to speak and continue to fire away with your questions.

The best pre-made raw I have found is The Honest Kitchen Preference (you ad your own meat) includes fruits/vegi's.  I also have used pre-made K9 Kravings, Bravo, Natural Instinct (includes Flax though in Natural Instinct);  I have tried about all the pre-made diets on the market. 

I also use chicken/beef/pork/turkey/Offal, ground organ meats, chicken feet, raw eggs, yogart, cottage cheese, any and all fruits and vegi's raw and cooked; rabbit/duck/ I haven't tried Ostrich;  goat meat also OK, any of your game meats, elk, deer, venison, antelope, your local hunters can supply you possibly;  but most of my meats come from the  grocery stores, ethnic markets, mex & asian;  fish I do not feed raw but slight poach it and feed that way but I know people use fish raw, the list could go on and on.  Variety is the key to feeding raw, plenty of reading available for you and I would probably start with 2% of your dogs body weight in pounds of meat.  So 2% of 85 pound dog would be approximately 1 and 3/4 pounds of meat per day;  I recommend you split that up into 2 meals to start unless your dog(s) are used to once per day.  I have always thought 2 times per day feeding is better, but maybe not.  Certainly is more trouble.  Now this 2% of your dogs body weight is an average, if you want your dog to gain weight feed more, loose weight, feed less.  Best of luck  Nan

Less active dogs or older dogs you could probably use l l/2% of their body weights;  or even 1%.  BOL  Nan

You want to feed 2-3% of his body weight or what you want his optimal weight to be. TOTW is made by Diamond and constantly has recalls, not a good food as one would think. If you feed kibble try Orijen maybe or some other people may have other brand ideas. If your dog is underweight google satin balls to put some weight on him but personally I prefer a smaller sports dog. Faster and more athletic, I'd work on building muscle not weight.