Raw food diet composition - Page 1

I have been feeding my dogs a raw diet since puppies and they are 18and 5 months old now. I was just wondering what raw fedders here are including in their food. Do you buy or prepare yourselves, and what do you include. I mix in some grains, veggies and fruits , along with eggs, flax seed and yo.. Am curious what others have found keeps their dogs healthy.

Obviously i include various meats and organs. And the yo.. In my previous post should have been yogourt. Thanks for any replies

I recently started trying a premade mixture by K9 Kravings;  I use their chicken/beef combo frozen mixture among others they make but use the chicken/beef steadily and am very happy with it so far.  I do not have a real good source of meats in so. Cal so decided rather than hulking and trying to find meats for 3 dogs (one young gsd puppy) that I would try the premade frozen formulas and K9 Kravings has the best price for me.

However have fed raw for the past 3 1/2 years and have been very happy except for the hulking/trying to buy meats.  And of course trying to achieve the balance with the varieties.  So far for me the ground has been easier.  I very seldom added any grains though, some fruits/vegi's as I do feel mine really liked them and thought their eyes truly brighter with them.  No flax as 2 of my 4 were allergic and would start itching immediately after giving any flax; seed or oils.

I do use salmon oil cap's with a Vit E capsule and alternate with coconut oil every other day.  Although both have different functions I wasn't sure how my guys would process that extra fat so alternate on an every other day basis.  That is really all I add;  used to do yogurts, but only on occasion now same with eggs.  Mainly want to see if the K9 Kravings can carry the whole load and how the dogs look after a while.  Still in the early stages of finding that out so need a little more time for that.  So far though the guess work is out of the equation which makes my job a little easier and the company I guy from delivers to my doorstep so I guy 150 pounds at a time which lasts me about a month.  costly, but I feel it's worth it.

Bye for now  Nan  also RMB's for dental health.

Judging by the number of responses, there arent as many people feeding raw as i expected. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I know that " grainfree" is the big thing now, but i powder some, about 1/4 by volume, oats into my mixture that lasts about a week. I feel this has some benefit to their diet. And the yogourt is for the probiotic effect. Everything that is not meat is practically liquified or powdered in a food processor as the dogs system cant break down the cell walls of plants to effectivelybioutilize the nutrients. Also, i ad in 1/2 -1 cup of a quality kibble so they are accustomed to it, incase i am somewhere travelling and have no way of storing/bringing the raw food. It is a lot of work preparing so many times i question if it's worth it. Kibble would be SO much easier.i will look up the premade food you refered to and check it out as an alternative to my labor intensive way. Thanks again.

That is what I was doing also just working it to death;  either shopping for meat; grinding vegi's needing yogart's, eggs, or some damn thing from the store(s); you cannot explain to the dogs why you might be out of meat for today;  NO, that absolutely doesn't work.  I am sure others will chime in about their raw meal planning; my concerns are for balance for my growing puppy which while he is growing I don't want to guess, not at all.  So I have embedded some FRR original kibble; mostly for training and snacks;  pre ground formula(s) along with some chicken breasts w/ribs if I can find at a good price (foster farm has recall right now); will see where this takes me in about a month or so.  So far puppy (5 months today) is growing slowly and nicely;  again will see how he looks in another month or so.  He came to me eating Royal Canin Maxi puppy;  could not get him off that stuff fast enough and weaned directly onto raw but with all the bone horror stories am a little leary about the bones for him;  also have found some large shards of bones from my adults.  Quite scarey and freaked me out so have done some searching for a safer raw diet for them.  That is why I went to pre-ground.  Not sure where y ou live but the K9 Kravings is made in Maryland or Maine I believe, nice people I have consulted with them for a few questions (mostly about how much to feed a growing puppy), but seemed very helpful and will get back to you if you have questions.  Seemed for me the easier way to go and I know is healthier than kibble...  have a great day and good luck what ever you decide to do.  Nan

PS:  There are quite a few raw feeders on this forum;  sometimes it takes a little time for people to chime in.  You might do a search and see if you can bring up some raw feeding discussions we have all had on this forum.  Don't know if the search is working at this time;  BUT have had trouble in the past with it so good luck  Nan

I have been feeding raw for almost 8 years.  I feed twice a day, chicken quarters whole for one meal.  The other meal is tripe, ground beef, organ meat and pureed vegetables.  I drink a vegetable and fruit smoothie every morning and add some to the dog's breakfast.  My 80 lb male eats about 2 1/2 to 3 lbs a day depending on season and how hard he's been working.  I never feed kibble and my current dog has never had kibble in his life, he was started on raw at 4 weeks.  If I travel I pack his food or go to the grocery store and buy fresh meat when on the road.  I travel a fair amount with my dog and have never had an issue getting fresh food or packing his food in a cooler for the trip.  I freeze some and have the first couple of days cold but not frozen.  For me it's pretty easy to stop at a grocery store and buy a package of chicken, some meat, liver and yogurt and we are all set.  I do add yogurt and raw eggs with the shell twice a week.  I see no need to add any grain or carbohydrates as dogs really do not utilize carbs like a human does.  I no longer add any vitamins, but I will add coconut oil to his food. 

I am not a fan of mixing kibble and raw together although some do.  IME, the kibble digests too slowly and that can cause bacterial blooms in the gut.  When feeding raw, one thing I don't want to do is add anything that will slow down the digestive process.  If you feel that for some reason you need to add kibble I would recommend adding it in a separate meal, not with the raw.  Another vital important component of a raw diet are the raw bones, that is why I feed the chicken quarters whole.  I have been using the Blue Ridge Beef tripe, natural mix and 80/20 ground beef.  I have it down to a pretty easy system and only takes me a few minutes a day.  I also buy my chicken quarters by the 40 lb case, split it up into several large tupperware containers and freeze the bulk of it until I need it.

The K9 Kravings is a very good product, so is Oma's Pride.  Both are excellent.

There are a ton of people feeding raw. It's just that they're tired of talking about it, probably;-). Do a search on this forum for raw thread...they are literally endless. You might get more responses if you had a specific question instead of a general "what do you do" type question. People get lazy;-)

I will try the search. Thanks for the helpfull info. Will get back to you's all if have any specific questions.

I live in So cal and buy my meat in bulk from Harvest meat co. in Natl. City. I have to drive an hour to get it but I get a truck load! I buy "usually" pork butts, chicken necks, chick backs, chick gizzards, leg quarters, beef heart, kidney, liver and some ground when it is cheap. I have a sheep farm near me that calls me when they need to cull an animal. Not because it is sick but for things like not wanting to run from the cattle dog, not producing etc.That is my dogs favorite.I also have a cattle farmer near me that will let me buy beef on a rare occasion. I feed raw every other day and the days in between, TOTW with coconut oil and sometimes I sprinkle ground up liver treats over the kibble for the picky eaters.

Thanks, Von Ward, i am surprised that you include porkbutt/ shoulder. That is one of the meats that i find cheap and use, but i cant seem to find any commercially available food using pork, so i thought there was something wrong with using it. I've seen every type of meat, duck,beef, turkey, deer, goat ,kangaroo, etc. but rarely pork, not that i think pork is any better than anything else, but its relatively cheep, like a buck a pound on sale, and always available,but i always had concerns why i never see it as an ingredient.