Raw ground beef - Page 1

Can you please help me,how much raw ground beef should I give to my 3 year old male German shepherd.thank you all in advanced.

Is this all he is getting?  What is his weight?  Just guessing if this is all he gets for the day I would start with l l/2 lbs.  (That is one and a half) pounds.  But he should get some other things along with the ground meat;  if you just want to use ground beef then you should probably use The HOnest Kitchen Preference formula along with the ground beef to be sure he is getting all he needs.  Best of luck  Nan

Thank you NAns gsd.his getting like 2-2/12 pounds a day. Is that good?

I wouldn't feed a diet of ground beef; depending on where you are buying your ground beef, it might not even actually be 100% beef (ie. recent articles on pink slime).

There are many, many different models of raw feeding but here's the ratio that I've found works for my GSDs. Some dogs need more or less bone content for optimal stool consistency. After careful research, I'm on the veggie feeding side of the debate (but some folks feed none).

75% muscle meat: 15% edible bone : 10% organs (5% liver: 5% other organs): 5% ground veggies
(Yes, it adds up to 105%.)

I feed about 5 different protein sources (chicken, lamb, goat, beef (different cuts), whole mackerel) but some folks feed less. Very basically, different protein sources have different vitamin/mineral profiles so you want to feed a variety in order to ensure that your dog is getting everything he/she needs. The key is to have balance over time (you take a longer view with raw feeding instead of a daily view). The USDA Nutrient Database is a really good resource when you are starting out (http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/).

There are many good old threads here on raw feeding including ones with sample menus.

In terms of supplements, I use a fish oil (salmon or anchovy/sardine), vitamin E, kelp, and alfalfa (but not every day). Some folks don't supplement at all. It also depends on whether your meat is grass or grain/corn fed.

I feed my female GSD (~2 years old and 61 pounds) - 2 lbs per day and my male GSD (5 months old) around 1.75 lbs per day. I would feed my skinny female more but she is a rigid self-regulator and won't eat a morsel more. I'll feed my male more when I stop giving him so many training "treats".

No two raw feeders feed the same way. I did an enormous amount of reading before I felt comfortable with my decisions and my model is always evolving as I learn more, new research becomes available, and as I find sources for new meats.


Hope this rambling message helps.

Laura271 thank you for your answer..

While I do agree with Laura271, recently because of the Pink Slime articles, some grocery stores have stopped selling Beef with Pink Slime. I shop at Krogers and thankfully, Krogers is one of the stores that has pledged to completely stop Pink Slime containing beef products.

That is about all I have to offer. I am not sure where you live, or what grocery store you shop at, but someone at the meat counter of any grocery store SHOULD be able to tell you what does and does not have the pink slime in it.

Good luck

I agree that it definitely depends on the weight of the dog. Also activity level. More than 2 pounds a day seems excessive to me. I had a problem with a dog that was only fed one type of meat/bone and no supplements (he got fish but no supplement supplements) and developed bladder stones due to vitamin C deficiency when I was first raw feeding.

"Pink slime" is also called lean finely textured beef.  Having read how it is made, I'm not sure what the hype is about.  It is beef muscle meet that has been separated from fat...what am I not understanding?  Other than an unappealing name, what is wrong with pink slime?

mfh27, it's not the meat and fat, or the separation...it's the ammonia

I feed raw meat to my dogs, but I NEVER feed ground beef from the grocery store!  If I feed any ground meat then I either did the grinding myself or I got it from someone I personally know who did the grinding and where that meat came from.  

Feeding raw meat to dogs is only as safe as where that meat came from and how it was prepared.   Ground beef from grocery stores is not a safe raw meat source.   You would be much better off buying stew meat chunks (or larger cuts) and rinsing the meat (or even dip it in boiling water for 60 seconds)  The bad bacterias that will make dogs (and humans) sick grows on the exposed surfaces of meat.

Plus, ground meat doesn't help clean the dogs' teeth like chewing on larger chunks of raw meat does.   

Like other posters on here said, raw meat is not a complete diet for dogs, they need other foods in their diet too.   Honest Kitchen formulas are one excellent source.