Have you ever heard of raw dog food diets and are curious about them? Or did you do some reading but still don’t know where to start? With so many online resources it can be overwhelming. We have broken down the key components that we believe will start you on the right paw.
What Is It?
The raw diet is high in protein, moderate in fat, and is low in carbohydrates. With a lot of raw dog foods filling the freezers here is how you can tell if it is a complete balanced meal. The meal should consist of:
- Muscle meat
- Raw meaty bones
- Organ meat
- Vegetables and fruits
- And sometimes supplements (Welly Tails has many to choose from!)
Getting Started
When starting a raw diet, I recommend a slow transition. When switching from kibble to raw, you’ll want to do kibble in one meal and more of just a protein based raw food to start for the other meal. Perfectly Raw has great options of ground turkey, ground chicken backs and ground lean meaty bones for just a protein based recipe. NEVER mix raw food and kibble in the same meal. Kibble usually takes 8 - 10 hours to digest while raw only takes 4 - 6 hours. When fed together this could double the time that the raw could be sitting in the digestive tract causing gas and other bowel movement irritations.
Do I Feed it Frozen or Thawed?
I recommend always thawing it before feeding. Reason being? If your dog is a gulper and anything that fits in his/her mouth goes in without a whole lot of chewing, it could cause damage to internal organs due to the cold temperature of the food. Another reason to thaw out, from my personal experience, is if it is frozen, your dog may take it out of the bowl and into a new location of the house to chew leaving quite a horrific mess.
Benefits
Feeding raw sounds really overwhelming at first glance but is actually quite easy once you get into the groove of it and can become really rewarding. Here are some benefits to the raw diet:
- Smaller bowel movements. It’s true, and it is an insane difference in size. Also these stools are 100% biodegradable.
- Healthier coat. Less coat smell, less dander, less shedding and it’s shinner.
- Weight gain reduced. Due to the fact that there is little to no fillers you will find your pup having more energy and less likely to gain weight.
- Less ear infections, bladder stones, and allergies. It’s such a basic but nutrient rich diet that there is no more guessing game.
- And so much more!
Where to start
I recommend starting on “Perfectly Raw”. Sold here at Pisces Pet Emporium, it offers many types of raw options. General feeding guide to how much you should feed your dog a day is as follows.
General Feeding Guidelines – Dogs
- (% of Ideal Body Weight per day)
- Average Adults 2 – 4%
- Puppies, lactating & performance Dogs 6 – 8%
Perfectly raw also offers a comprehensive 30 day meal plan to get you started. https://perfectlyraw.ca/30-days-to-a-healthier-pet/meal-plan-medium-and-large-size-dogs/
Come into Pisces today and ask our staff about raw food and get your dog started on the diet that every dog has been talking about!
