Getting Started - Everything You Need to Know About Raw Feeding!

[Luna]

The What...
Remember the roughly 80:10:10 ratio - which is approx 70-80% muscle meat (incl. heart, tripe, and oily fish), 10-20% bone (within some of that meat), 10% offal (this should be ½ liver and half other offal such as kidney, spleen, etc). However, this is a very rough guideline and should be tweaked to suit the dog - for instance, many feed more like 15-20% bone and as little as 5% offal. Either way, it usually equates to somewhere in the region of 50-70% of the diet as lumps of meat with bone in...the remainder of the diet being made up of boneless chunks of muscle meat, incl heart/tripe etc, plus a small amount of offal like liver & kidney. On top of this, many feed a couple of eggs a week (whole and raw).

NOTE: None of this has to be religiously stuck to daily - as long as for weeks this adds up to roughly the correct amounts - and each dog is different, so some may need slightly lower bone, and some might not be able to tolerate that much offal, etc etc, hence the variable % stated above too.

Additional info: if you would like to feed veggies/fruit also in the 'Pictures & Preparation Tips' post.

Some ideas for meals: could be a chunk of meat of beef, lamb, pork, chicken, rabbit, turkey, venison, oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, a bone-in meal of rabbit/chicken quarter or pork/lamb ribs, etc...heart from any of the above animals, beef/venison tripe...the list is endless!

Size of pieces: The size of the pieces should always be appropriate to the size of the dog and the bigger the better! For instance, I would not personally recommend feeding something like a chicken wing to anything larger than a small breed, as this could easily be 'inhaled' and swallowed whole...instead, a chicken breast and wing quarter or even a half chicken is much better for medium + breeds.

Type of bones: You should preferably avoid any weight-bearing bones of the large ungulates (i.e. avoid leg bones of cows etc) as they are so dense that they can chip the enamel of a dog's teeth. My rule of thumb is that if I can stick a knife in the bone, then it is soft enough to feed (think pork/lamb rib bones, chicken/duck/rabbit bones, etc)...

The How Much....
You need to feed approx 2-3% of their expected adult body weight (if still growing) per day, or of their ideal adult body weight (if they have stopped growing) per day.

2% would perhaps be for a dog with low exercise or overweight. 3%+ would be for a dog with high exercise daily, perhaps sports dogs. Somewhere around 2.5% suits most average adult dogs. Large breeds have slower metabolisms so they tend to need the lower % and small breeds have a high metabolism so often need far more than 3% even. Puppies should be fed closer to 7-8% of their CURRENT weights, and adjusted as they grow, until they reach their adult weight, and are at least 1 year old.

The When....
In addition to how much to feed, is how often to feed. We need to remember that a fresh diet isn't loaded with carbs and starches that keep our dogs full. They are utilizing their meals, which means they "empty" faster than if on a kibble.

An empty tummy can be uncomfortable, and will often lead to pups, and kitties, throwing up bile. Bile is a yellow-green fluid produced by the body to help break down foods. When there is no food to break down, the bile builds up in the stomach and can lead to your pet expelling it from its body to feel better. We can avoid this by feeding their daily amount split into 2 daily meals, often given roughly 12 hours apart, so the stomach is never left on empty very long.

Puppies that are still growing should have their daily food amount split into 3 smaller meals given throughout the day, until at least 6 months old.

My Personal Experience....
Some guidelines from my own experience and research would be:
Take it slow...there is no rush to get your dog to eat everything all in one go!

Most people start with one protein source, such as chicken, and get their dogs on this for a week or so. Then add another protein source, ie rabbit or beef, etc (so your dog is now eating chicken plus rabbit) for another week or so. If everything seems good, introduce another, etc etc... I switched cold turkey so to speak - one day kibble, next day straight to raw, and no looking back! Some like to introduce gradually - whichever you prefer - but if you do introduce gradually, then I would suggest keeping the kibble and raw meals separate as they digest at different rates.

I started with raw chicken breast (no bone) for the first couple of meals and then went to chicken breast & wing, and leg & thigh quarters (bone-in). I took the skin off so she could tell it was meat and just let her eat it in her own time. She initially took a VERY long time to eat her first couple of meals, spending a lot of time licking it and not eating it! But now she chomps away quite happily. You may want to hold the food for your dog to eat with its first bone-in meal if you are worried. You will soon find that they can eat it quite happily on their own though :)

Once your dog seems settled on completely raw food for a couple of weeks, start introducing VERY small amounts of liver and offal at a time - so a tiny weeny bit as small as a little fingernail to start. Some dogs are not affected by liver & offal and can quickly build up to the right amount and can have a chunk every few days for their allowance eventually, whilst some never do too well on much liver and offal and may need to have tiny bits every day or so - as with everything, feed to your dog's tolerance.

I initially kept a drawer in my freezer and the bottom meat drawer in my fridge to store the food - but after a couple of months got a second-hand under-counter freezer to keep everything in. I will have a utility soon so am going to have a tall freezer for all their food ;)