Raw feeders- thinking about switching

Twizzel

Twizzel

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Can anyone give me a rough guide of how much an active sprocker should eat on a raw diet? Ours is notoriously fussy with dry food, I just genuinely don't think she likes it, however give her a bone or chunk of meat and she'll devour it. I'm tempted to give it a go but don't know how much a dog of her size (11kg) should be eating? Could anyone give me a rough idea please?
 
The recommendation is 2-3% of bodyweight daily - having said that, you may need to feed more than that if she is very active. Of that amount, it should be 80% meat, 10% offal and 10% bone.
 
So probably 300-400g if she's very active? She doesn't like offal that's the only thing, is that an issue? She loves bone and meat but I've tried her with kidney liver heart and she just spat it out around the kitchen ;)
 
To be honest I dont feed much offal to mine, they seem to do quite well without it :) Have you tried feeding it minced with something else? I get my dog food from Manifold Valley Meats, and they do various combinations including some with offal in it which mine like :) Mind you, my lot also love hearts from the abattoir!
 
I use Raw2Paw who deliver every 4 weeks. DAF beef mince contains bone and offal and Tara loves it, but will not eat offal on its own. She has minced Tripe for supper - stinky but all dogs like it. To get the bone proportion she has chicken necks/ chicken carcass/ lamb bones.
 
There are a few books about feeding raw and the one I like the best is called 'Give Your Dog a Bone' by Ian Billinghurst, an Australian vet. It's quite expensive but I think it's good, though there are others around. A quick look on Amazon should help.

Nice stuff to eat
I feed mine raw and he gets all sorts of stuff like mulched fruit and veg (or their peelings if the neighbours have given them to me), eggs, sardines, meat, bones and pretty much anything that a dog might eat if it were wild. They seem to love chicken legs/wings and ripping the meat off a bone of other meats. It's important to give the fruit and veg raw and to mulch it in a food processor as dogs can't break it down. When it's mulched, it sort of mimics the food found in the stomachs of its 'prey' and they can take the nutrients from it in that form.

Yucky stuff they're allowed to eat
They can also eat fairly disgusting stuff. One of my dogs years ago, caught and started to eat a rabbit with myxomatosis. I took it off her and went straight to the vet and he sort of smiled and said it was absolutely fine for her if she felt like it was what she wanted to eat. I just had to look the other way. Things like horse/rabbit poo etc. are also good for them as they contain nutrients that the dog can use. Of course, I don't put it in their bowls but I don't discourage eating it either.

The 'no-no' stuff
There's a list of stuff we shouldn't give them (onions, sultanas, bread, chocolate, cooked bones and some others). Funny that diseased rabbits and poo doesn't make its way onto that list ;) .

Balanced diet
The other thing Billinghurst wrote about is that a dog doesn't need to have a balanced meal every mealtime but that it should balance over a period of time. That makes it easier to not worry that the dog's being deprived of something. As if ;) .

Amount to feed
As for how much to feed. It all really depends on how active the dog is and what sort of age it is. You can feed less in quantity sometimes because the quality is better than some (most?) commercial dog foods but really, I gauge it on how the dog looks i.e. if he looks too thin or chubby, I increase or decrease the amount or the exercise until he gets to the right weight and then keep feeding at that level until something changes.

It's all much easier than it might sound and quite fun looking around at the butchers for something different to give them now and then. One of mine loved the pig's foot I brought home one day, for example.

Good luck with it - it definitely is worth the little bit of effort it takes :) .
 
I have working springers as well as a Rottie and a Cane Corso that I feed on raw.

I usually give them chicken thighs or drumsticks for their breakfast.

Their evening feed is mince, something like ox cheek and tripe or beef and tripe - I get mine from Berriewood Wholesale.

This basic diet is supplemented with mackerel, kidney, chicken carcasses, raw bones, beef fat, beef tongue and any of our leftovers.

It is definitely more expensive than feeding skinners, but cheaper than feeding a decent quality kibble.

I am friendly with my local knacker man, I have a chest freezer and bulk up on left over fat and bones.

You quite quickly get a feel of how much to feed - more bone to slim, more fat to put on weight.

My gundogs work extremely hard through the winter and get more than a pound in mince everyday plus extras. However in the summer months probably get half of this.

I have been feeding raw for about 18 months and I am thrilled with their condition, stamina and as a bonus no more smelly stools!
 
For offal, flash fry if the dog won't eat it. I use the Dog Food Company, very good quality. I add raw eggs, natural yoghurt and salmon oil if I can't get oily fresh fish, although tinned mackerel goes down well. I do an order every two-three months and fill a massive chest freezer for my three.

Start with one protein at a time then gradually introduce the next (shows if the dog is intolerant to any particular meat and stops the squits/vomiting).

Handy thread:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?408903-Another-Question-about-the-RAW-diet
 
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I have two GSP's both are fed raw. I work on the adult dog having approx. 2.5% of his weight but use his condition as a guide. If you have facebook there is a great page on there called Raw Feeding UK they are very helpful and informative. It's the best thing I did for mine and they love it! x
 
I cook ( pan fried or boiled) the offal (specially the kidney, that mine doesn't really like this from raw) with a bit of vinegar, to take off the smell.
 
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