Feeding Raw ~ BARF

[Giro 2,648]

I have toyed with a mixture of raw and dry overs the years..

 

But have started to feed more raw again.. Just Ground beef and ground marble fat & Rabbits.

 

I read somewhere on internet its recomended to feed 3% of a dog body in meat.. I have also been reading that dogs utilize protiens, carbs and fats differently to humanes and get energy from fats..

 

What per cent of a dogs meal should be fat?? 10% or higher ??

 

This feeding by the eyes ok but I get my stuff in bulk and condence it down into portions so its harder compared to dry to increase there and then more forward planning is needed.. As with freezer and fridge space lol.

 

How many rabbits would most folk feed an average sized lurcher at one sitting??

 

I might get fed up with the Raw and slip back to the dry its less hassel

[lurche 48]

id say it depends on the size of the rabbit lol i feed mainly chicken on the bone, my year old bull x is 25 kilo and she eats around a pound and a half a day which may increase as she is worked, if i give her a whole pheasant she will eat about 3 quarters of it then leave the rest till next meal time not fed her any dried food since 12 week old and seems in great health nice clean teeth solid stools etc she wont eat rabbit with fur on and even turned her nose up at a skinned and gutted 1 last time she seems happy with the chicken and the odd pheasant infact anything that has feathers as she has had whole pigeon too.

i use to weigh it out now i dont bother just feed her twice a day at various times morning and evening.she has tinned pilchards about once a week and other bits and bats too.

 

use to feed my staffy x mince with dried biscuit for a long time she is 15 and still plodding along think shes only been in a vets once and that was from eating sticks

[lurche 48]

she has no supplements just Raw Meaty Bones

[johnrthrfrd 223]

My 3 get raw beef, tripe, chicken and heart mixed with veg.they also get raw chicken wings about once a week they will get oily fish or trout.

[crorider 174]

I have toyed with a mixture of raw and dry overs the years..

 

But have started to feed more raw again.. Just Ground beef and ground marble fat & Rabbits.

 

I read somewhere on internet its recomended to feed 3% of a dog body in meat.. I have also been reading that dogs utilize protiens, carbs and fats differently to humanes and get energy from fats..

 

What per cent of a dogs meal should be fat?? 10% or higher ??

 

This feeding by the eyes ok but I get my stuff in bulk and condence it down into portions so its harder compared to dry to increase there and then more forward planning is needed.. As with freezer and fridge space lol.

 

How many rabbits would most folk feed an average sized lurcher at one sitting??

 

I might get fed up with the Raw and slip back to the dry its less hassel

They utilize protein, carbs and fats in the same way as humans then. Fat should be our number 1 source of energy, with the odd bit of carbs thrown in for a boost, whilst protein makes us grow. If you think about it, what would we be eating as cavemen? There wouldnt be fields of potatoes and rice everywhere, nor would there be bread and pasta available. We'd be living mainly on the flesh of animals and fish, ie fat and protein with the odd nut and berry thrown in. Since the introduction of flour we've become overweight as a species and too many carbs are the reason why. Ask yoiur fattest mate what they eat and there will be a lot more carbs in their diet than anything else. I myself only eat about 10% carbs and have so much more energy than when i ate like everyone else. When you first switch to this new type of diet you'll feel like youre dying for the first week but when it kicks in you feel like youve popped an E. Basically as soon as the fluid drains from your liver you enter a state called ''ketosis'' meaning your body turns fat cells into energy cells known as ''ketones''. These can be from either your stored fats or eaten fats.

 

Sorry, rambling on a bit but basically what im saying is i dont see the benefit in giving a dog a carbohydrate rich diet, only add small amounts of different vegetables to give them minerals and vitamins, not energy. If your dog gets run a lot and is lean, then you could probably add a lot more fat into its diet than you might think healthy.

[paulus 26]

in the past i have fed !00% meat and bones, i have also fed a mixture of dry and meat, and meat and pasta. my meat comes in 1 kilo blocks so i either feed 1/2 or a full one depending on how the dog is looking, i always give lamb bones every otherday and 3 times a week i add sf50 to their meat. apart from the fact some diets being easier to do, i must admit ive seen very little difference in the dogs. if you read the greyhound stuff they they have two ideas one is a good complete and the other is the breakfast and main meal route. consisting of carbs/veg and meat with added vits and supplements.

[The one 8,401]

I was feeding one kilo blocks of minced chicken to my lot ,but now i mince chicken ,brown bread and dog food with vegetables threw it put it in plastic containers and feed that ,the dogs are looking good and thats the main thing as we where doing it we where talking about protein levels but i reckon you could never work them out with that mixture ?.

[lurche 48]

I was feeding one kilo blocks of minced chicken to my lot ,but now i mince chicken ,brown bread and dog food with vegetables threw it put it in plastic containers and feed that ,the dogs are looking good and thats the main thing as we where doing it we where talking about protein levels but i reckon you could never work them out with that mixture ?.

what sort of dog food are you mixing in with there raw as if its kibble this shouldnt be fed at the same time as raw meat cause the body digests these different foods at different rates and is not meant to be good for the metabolism ,just a thought

[Giro 2,648]

Cheers for replys.. Just more food for thought

 

Lurche I follow what your saying and understand the theory of ketosis in humanes.. Are you saying they require high protein and very little carbs, what about fats ??

 

If you broke down the dogs meal / bowl in percentages are you feeding 90% protein (meat) 5% carbs (some sort of veg or fruit) 5 % fat (vetable oil ~ animal fats) .

 

 

 

Sled dog runners recommend a "typical diet consisting of 32% protein, 15% carbohydrates and 53% fat" Stating that most of the energy is provided from the fat content..

 

I know the sled dogs have to undertake a different challenge its running a marathon and then some

 

Mind if your trustly charge is running hard 4/5 nights on the lamp the diets got to be up there to help provide energy and aid recovery.

 

one of my dogs has got to 7 or 8, I struggle with the dates, her diets been chopped and changed and I never really seen any positve benifits in the dogs health to support either way however all the science and theory leans towards Raw natural un processed grub. I hope she is 7 cause that will mean she 8 in December otherwise she will be 9 in Dec

 

I know all dogs are different sizes and weights and levels of work drastically varie. However what would the mathmatitions out there put each different food group into a fraction ??

 

Cheers

[lurche 48]

i don't really go into the % at all just make sure she is healthy i was very dubious about feeding like this even though i had done similair with the staff.

i think if you read into everything to much it will pickle your head and become a full time job just trying to feed them.

there are probably some good books about but the ones i found weren't very informative i just thought sod it in the end,we dont eat hardly any processed food and knowing what goes into dog food think il stick with feeding mine as i am.i dont feed her anything i wouldnt eat my sely (obviously mine would be cooked haha)

i think its better to choose one or the other though some people prefer a mix ,also feeding this way means no hassle with cleaning anal glands etc which i know people have to deal with.

atb

[skycat 6,172]

Spot on lurche.

 

All this talk of percentages fat, protein, this and that makes my head spin too Basic needs are protein, fat, fibre, vits and minerals and a few carbs. Know where to get them from and you're home dry.

 

Protein: red and white meat, eggs, fish, yogurt.

Fat: as it says: best sourced from lamb IMO, though chicken fat is also good.

Vits/mins: found in the above, but also in veg, fruit.

Fibre: mostly found in vegetable matter/cereals, though obviously whole carcase has some as well. Ditto fur/feather.

Carbs: cereals: rice, porridge oats, brown bread (better than white bread)

 

Feed in the above order with the protein being the greatest part of the meal, and in descending order.

 

If dog looks overweight, reduce fat content. If underweight increase fat content.

If dog is working hard, increase protein.

If dog is loose, increase bone content, if constipated, reduce bone content and increase veg content.

Simples!

 

Benefits of mainly raw feeding: shiny coat, great condition, more energy, less allergies, clean teeth, no anal gland problems, CHEAP WAY TO FEED especially if dog catches its own food and you get freebies from local butcher.

[paulus 26]

Cheers for replys.. Just more food for thought

 

Lurche I follow what your saying and understand the theory of ketosis in humanes.. Are you saying they require high protein and very little carbs, what about fats ??

 

If you broke down the dogs meal / bowl in percentages are you feeding 90% protein (meat) 5% carbs (some sort of veg or fruit) 5 % fat (vetable oil ~ animal fats) .

 

 

 

Sled dog runners recommend a "typical diet consisting of 32% protein, 15% carbohydrates and 53% fat" Stating that most of the energy is provided from the fat content..

 

I know the sled dogs have to undertake a different challenge its running a marathon and then some

 

Mind if your trustly charge is running hard 4/5 nights on the lamp the diets got to be up there to help provide energy and aid recovery.

 

one of my dogs has got to 7 or 8, I struggle with the dates, her diets been chopped and changed and I never really seen any positve benifits in the dogs health to support either way however all the science and theory leans towards Raw natural un processed grub. I hope she is 7 cause that will mean she 8 in December otherwise she will be 9 in Dec

 

I know all dogs are different sizes and weights and levels of work drastically varie. However what would the mathmatitions out there put each different food group into a fraction ??

 

Cheers

sled dogs have to battle the cold, our main problem in our dogs is over heating causing acidosis ect. it has been suggested that high protien diets effect kidney function and given that when a dog excercises hard the cells expell lactic acid that the kidneys have to process the harder the workout the more work the kidneys have to try to filter

[Giro 2,648]

Paulas that was from a uk site and adviced in colder weather to up the fat lol

 

It hard to gage wether or not foods improved dogs proformance as they should get fitter ~ better as season goes on. Be easier in greyhounds sled dogs are they are running year round ??

 

Was intrested in fat for a starting point, Then I will be able to ajust as needed currently giving half a lb of animal fat..

[skycat 6,172]

Giro: are you saying you give half a pound of animal fat to a lurcher every day? Even when I was running the coursing dogs hard they never got that much. To be honest, I've noticed that dogs with a fair bit of Saluki in them do better on increased carbs rather than increased fat: carbs are slow release energy. But so much depends on a dog's make up, its breeding. Fast, sprint type dogs do better on increased fat and protein rather than carbs. Feed my little Collie lurcher too much fat and she turns into a lump of lard herself: she gets more veg, bone than some, and less fat. They are all different: what suits one dog won't suit another.

[paulus 26]

Giro: are you saying you give half a pound of animal fat to a lurcher every day? Even when I was running the coursing dogs hard they never got that much. To be honest, I've noticed that dogs with a fair bit of Saluki in them do better on increased carbs rather than increased fat: carbs are slow release energy. But so much depends on a dog's make up, its breeding. Fast, sprint type dogs do better on increased fat and protein rather than carbs. Feed my little Collie lurcher too much fat and she turns into a lump of lard herself: she gets more veg, bone than some, and less fat. They are all different: what suits one dog won't suit another.

ive always found that the fast racy hypo types do far better on minced chicken than any other meat, maybe its the fat content maybe its not Giro. i dont think anyone will be able to answer your question with 100% certainty as even between the experts opinions vary