What do you feed?

Tabitha

Tabitha

Forums Enthusiast
I have been thinking of feeding home cooked or raw meals for a long time now, but I'm not sure where to start. I'm going to get a dog cookbook but not until I know what kind of feeding I'm going to be doing. I have considered cooking veggies and meat, cooking all meat, raw packaged meat, and even whole animals. I was wondering what all of you did. What proportions of what meat do you give, what organs, etc. Also does any one feed both raw and kibble?
Thanks so much!
 
Overthinking! :)

Buy Lew Olson's nutrition book, it is excellent.

I currently feed a variety of kibbles, raw, frozen "raw", organ meats, and other animal based whole foods. No veg or grains. I don't cook for me, I'm not cooking for the dogs.
 
Should not mix kibble and raw diet, especially on same days, they digest different and at different speed.
No idea why one would want to cook the goodness out of the meal if one doesn't have to? lol

Raw feeding is SO much easier to do than one thinks at the start... I remember reading so much (a lot of it on here, too. Got lots of tips) but I agonized for months, started slow and in retrospect wish I had just done with Toffee then what I did with Spruce now (formerly known as Leo) whom I switched cold turkey after the regular food I got from Rachel and Justicemom that they sent with him was gone.

Of course he has had raw food on occasion before, so he wasn't a complete stranger to it, he seriously took to it like a duck to water without even the anticipated couple of days of diarrhea.
You just start slow and stick to one protein a week, something light like chicken and then work your way up to beef liver or heart.
 
Dickens, at nine months, gets a good brand of kibble called Beaverdam, which is locally produced in southern Delaware. That's his staple. In addition he gets about three ounces of raw beef every day, with a large raw chicken thigh once a week in lieu of a kibble feeding. Once a week he gets a beef short rib with meat on it. He gets no processed food, particularly starches of any kind. He's a great big Sheltie and seems to be growing to his full potential on the diet he's getting.
 
Toffee's Mom said:
Should not mix kibble and raw diet, especially on same days, they digest different and at different speed.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure where this originated, or why it matters. I eat things that I'm sure digest differently, and my dogs have never had trouble digesting based on "different speeds". I personally think it's hogwash. I mix raw into their kibble meals all the time.
 
Sammy's favorite raw meal is simply ground beef + pumpkin puree (in a 60:40 portion).

By keeping the ingredient list short, you can control the protein/fat level quite easily by just using different "grade" of ground beef. ie the leaner the ground beef is, the more protein and less calories there is.
 
I feed Stella & Chewy's raw frozen patties. It's definitely more expensive than feeding kibble or raw from a butcher, but I'm an over-thinker and like to feed my dog as I'm walking out the door. I can't feed her meat with bones when I'm not home.

She's been eating it for over a year now. I change the protein (formula) once a month, so she has a variety of different meats. She loves it (although she would eat cardboard if I put it in her bowl) and I love how healthy she looks and how great her digestive tract has been.
 
Why raw?!!?

ClantyreSheltie said:
I'm not sure where this originated, or why it matters. I eat things that I'm sure digest differently, and my dogs have never had trouble digesting based on "different speeds". I personally think it's hogwash. I mix raw into their kibble meals all the time.
Click to expand...

We usually agree, lol, so that's minor. I think it's the theory that the kibble digests differently and churns the stomach, could lead to block the raw which digests quicker...? So that is why I have never mixed it.

Overall, here is what I think, Dogs do not have the digestive system to work with grains, most kibble has grains, additive that makes dogs overeat, preservatives, dyes and salt... No wonder allergies abound.
Thank goodness some of that is starting to change with grain free options, but the process of making that kibble is still not as healthy, imo

I know what is is in the food I feed, and I feel god about it, no agonizing, lol

I am not a purist either, so I do feed some ground raw, and also some grain free kibble as training treats as they are easy to always have in your pockets on walks etc, lol
 
I feed Zak Acana kibble in the morning and he gets primal frozen raw at night. Maggie has been a bit picky lately and she did love the primal, but right now she really likes SoJo's, so what ever makes the old girl happy.
Zak really likes the primal and I switch proteins with each bag.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top