Planning the Raw Diet

Planning your dog’s raw diet can take a bit more effort than planning your own.  Then again, I’ve never really “planned” my own diet.  Most of my life I just grab what ever looks good when I get hungry.  For a few years I was very good at planning meals around a fitness regime.  I’ll liken this exercise to that.

With the dog’s diet there are two predominant things I’ve learned to pay close attention to:

1)     What foods can he stomach (we’ll call this “Front-end” reaction)

2)     What foods can he digest  (we’ll call this “Back-end” reaction)

Then, consider variety and nutrition into the planning. (Yes, this is tertiary because if he can’t keep the food down, or it’s obviously not being digested – it really doesn’t matter what the nutrition of the meal is because he’s not absorbing it and its causing him discomfort.)

Gunner has had reactions to a number of dog foods.  The first, obviously, was the many different kibbles we tried, and later what different veterinarians recommended.  Using the outline above, these were a few of his reactions:

Costco Brand Kibble

1)     finicky eating, wouldn’t eat prescribed amount, vomiting

2)     Diarrhea

Eukanuba

1)  Vomiting, Insatiable appetite

2)  Mushy Orange stool, diarrhea

Royal Canine HP (prescription)

1)     Vomiting, bloat

2)   Mushy Orange stool, diarrhea

So, it was with about 14 months of the failures above, we finally decided to take things into our own hands.  I have had almost no support in the decision to take Gunner Raw, but I feel confident now after two months of experience we are on the right track.  Data is the key to making a good decision, so I’ve recorded every meal he’s had as well as any reactions he might exhibit. (Sounds like more work than it is)

I didn’t expect moving him to a raw diet from kibble would mean we’d immediately have a solution to his dietary problems. We’d still need to figure out what works best. There are a multitude of raw options commercially available, and the sky is the limit in your meat department.   So like anything else, a little trial and error is inevitable.

Here are some specific reactions we’ve had while on the Raw Diet with our German Shepherd, Gunner:

Gunner hasn’t reacted well to Turkey – which is unfortunate given the abundance of turkey necks this time of year.  He is also a bit reactive to chicken.  Both Raw Turkey and Raw Chicken have great Back-end results, but each led to vomiting and even some burping. (not a vocal belch, just the smell)

We can’t rule foul all the way out though.  He’s had great Front-end and Back-end responses from Duck and Quail.

Beef is a strong contender.  There are two commercial blends available that are working very well for him; Columbia River Beef Blend and Columbia River Beef & Beef Heart.  The Blend has Kidney & Liver (high nutrient content) and the Beef & Beef Heart is about a 50/50 mix of Heart and Ground meat.  Heart is a great feed because it’s both meat and organ without being too nutrient rich.

These two have small differences, but a general rule is the more organs; the looser the stool.  This isn’t a bad thing, you just need to monitor and adjust for a good back-end result. These two options make that adjustment easier.

An interesting Back-end result of most red meats is that they contain blood (obviously), but blood will make stool black.  When people unaccustomed to Raw Feeding see black stool they assume there is blood in it… which can be alarming because they will often assume it is your dog’s blood.  So, if you’re feeding raw red meat, be sure to let the day care or dog sitter know what to expect.

Another Beef product that works is Green Tripe. Tripe comes from a ruminant’s stomach lining and stomach contents. It’s like a mesh filter (Imagine a really dirty aquarium filter).  The Tripe contains digestive enzymes, amino acids, calcium, phosphorus, omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids, and gastric juices that add important nutrients to the diet he wouldn’t get elsewhere, so this is a must. (even though it stinks. A recent acquaintance suggested feeding it while still a bit frozen to reduce the smell).

So, since we’ve had such great success with beef we’ll stick with it. The challenge is we can’t feed him only beef blend and expect it to be diverse enough to ensure he’s getting proper nutrients.  There has to be variety.

The beef will be the staple because he simple likes it and his reactions are wonderful. We know game foul works, so I’m going to incorporate that once or twice a week. The Green Tripe has good Front and Back-end results and I know contains some incredible nutrition.

One thing missing is Fish.  Fish oil in particular is said to be a crucial supplement so I want to incorporate it somehow…. But I don’t want to feed him whole fish.  Instead I’m going to use some treats I found that are all natural, pressed wild salmon.  (These are on the right sidebar of the website).  These will help round out the diet and cover any missing nutrients. (and he goes nutz for ‘em)

The last addition is Raw Meaty Bones.  When I initially discovered this movement I wanted to get Gunner fully on bones.  I’ve found that not only is this a little difficult to store, it is fairly difficult to find in the city.   The benefits to giving him big meaty bones are obvious, so I want to incorporate that into his diet.  I’ll feed him one or two a week.  A lot of places refer to these as “Recreation bones” since they are mostly bone with just a little meat.  He’ll go at one of these for an hour and when he’s finished his teeth look like he just came from the dentist.

Here’s the plan:

Sunday: Green Tripe

Monday: Beef & Beef Heart

Tuesday: Beef & Beef Heart

Wednesday: Quail or Duck

Thursday: Beef & Beef Heart

Friday: Beef Blend (has Kidney & Liver)

Saturday: Beef & Beef Heart

*daily supplement of salmon treats

*weekly supplement of Raw Meaty Bone (Buffalo, Venison, or Beef)

It took me 2 months to collect enough information to know what works for the Gunshow, and what doesn’t.  Variety and change itself can create reactions so the trials needed to be spaced out.  It’s not perfect; and frankly I don’t think it could be even if we decided to pay some vet a billion dollars.

I’m very excited to finally have a plan, and save any obvious mistakes I’ll stick to this plan for 4 weeks.  Of course, I’ll be recording the results.

Before I close, I wanted to share the cost for all this since that continues to be one of the frequent questions. Raw Feeding isn’t necessarily cheap, at least the way I’m preceding with the ground, commercially available options. BUT, depending on what you’re feeding now, it may not be by much.  Plus, you can count on fewer visits to the vet, and potentially avoid some of the most costly issues: Periodontal disease and Cancer.

With my plane above, I’ll be around $180 / month. I was at $120 on the prescription royal canine. Worth it?  Up to you…