Raw Diet Dog Food

A raw diet can provide many benefits to dogs, including health, longevity, improved skin and coat, clean teeth and more energy. Pet owners considering raw feeding should research this diet extensively and discuss it with a raw-friendly veterinarian. There are multiple types of raw diets for dogs, including whole-prey model and the BARF (Bones and Raw Foods) diet. Choose the best diet for your individual dog's needs.

Raw Diet Basics

Raw diet dog feeding involves feeding raw meat and bones to your dog. Some raw feeders also include vegetables and grains. Even when the overall goal is a raw diet, vegetables and carbohydrates should be cooked to make their nutrients accessible to dogs. At a minimum, a raw diet must include muscle meat, bones and secreting organs.

A basic formula for creating a raw diet for your dog: Feed 2 to 3 percent of your dog's ideal body weight each day, with 80 percent of the diet being muscle meat, 10 percent bone and 10 percent organs. Of the 10 percent organs, half can be liver. The other 5 percent should include kidney, spleen and whatever other secreting organs you can find. Remember, the heart is a muscle, not an organ.

From this starting point, you can develop a customized raw diet for your dog. This may mean adding vegetables and grains or altering the 80-10-10 ratio. You may also need to feed more or less than 2 to 3 percent of your dog's weight, depending upon his age or needs.

How to Get Started with Raw Feeding

If you want to feed your dog a raw diet, the first step is research. Start by finding a raw-friendly veterinarian. Google, Yahoo! Groups and the Dogster forums are helpful tools for pet owners searching for a veterinarian knowledgeable about the raw diet. Once you find someone who comes recommended by other raw feeders, schedule an appointment for you and your dog to see the veterinarian to discuss raw feeding.

The vet should evaluate your dog's overall health and look for any signs of current nutritional deficiencies. Performing blood work before starting a raw diet is also a good idea. Blood work should ideally be repeated twice each year to watch for any changes that might indicate a health problem. A fecal sample should also be tested for parasites at least once per year, preferably in the late fall.

Your raw-friendly veterinarian can also discuss the complexities of raw feeding with you and recommend books and websites for further research. She may recommend particular vitamin supplements or additions to a basic raw diet for your dog's individual needs and the area where you live.

After your vet visit, continue your research by reading about raw feeding online and in books or magazines. Don't start raw feeding until you're familiar with the nutrients your dog needs, how much of them he needs and what raw meats provide each nutrient. It's also smart to go on a few practice shopping trips to ethnic markets and butcher shops to find out what raw foods are available nearby.

When you're sure you understand dog nutrition and have stockpiled plenty of resources for the inevitable questions that will come up once you start feeding a raw diet, you can begin feeding raw. Fast your dog for at least 12 hours prior to his first raw meal. Start with a single raw protein source such as raw chicken, adding other proteins after your dog's digestive system has become accustomed to the first.

Raw Diet Tips

Experienced raw feeders learn various tricks to handle situations such as diarrhea, constipation or a dog refusing a raw meal.

Keep a can of pumpkin on hand at all times. Canned pumpkin is helpful for both constipation and diarrhea. Most dogs will readily eat canned pumpkin. If your dog doesn't like it, try adding some fish oil. Once the immediate crisis has passed, add more bone to your dog's diet if diarrhea is the problem or reduce the amount of bone fed if constipation occurs repeatedly.

If your dog won't eat a particular raw item, sear it briefly in a frying pan, allow it to cool and offer it again. Raw meat and organs have very little taste compared with that of the commercial dog foods most dogs are accustomed to. Cooking the meat briefly the first few times an item is offered may be enough to convince a reluctant dog to try something new.

Buy in bulk through raw feeding co-ops or mail order distributors. If you have to buy more than you can use to get a good price, network with other raw feeders in your neighborhood to sell the excess.

Use Craigslist or Freecycle to find cheap chest freezers. You'll need at least one if you want to have room for both your human family's food and your dog's food.

If you know a hunter, ask for a gift of some of the meat that would otherwise not be used. Butchers may be able to save parts of a kill that would ordinarily be thrown away and instead label them "not for human consumption," allowing the hunter to give them to you for your dog. It is generally illegal to purchase meat acquired by hunting unless the distributor has particular licenses; make sure you have a genuine relationship with the hunter and that the meat will be considered a gift, as will any contribution by you to the processing costs for the animal.