Raw diet
 

So, my kibbles finally ran out and i figured i'd make the switch to raw diet. I went to superstore and picked up a little bit of ground beef for about 2.50/lb, as i didn't have the time to go shopping around for the best prices for meat. I know that buying prepped raw meat from Tisol or other pet places would have more nutrients as they mix it with other ingredients. I figure it wouldn't matter too much as my dog eats veggies for treats...

Anyone else kind enough to share where they get their meat?:thumbsup:

Always got prepared raw meat at a place in kerrisdale, it really helps out with their shit.

Try mixing kibble and raw meat first to get their stomachs accustomed to it.

For dogs you need to give them a bit of veggie with the raw meat too, not just as treats. They're not obligate carnavours so they need a bit of ruffage with the meat. You can't just give them any old meat either they need different parts of the carcass, especially organ meat (usually about 10%). Usually Raw feeders encourage giving dogs raw, uncooked bones as well. There's a plethora of raw dog feeding sites on the web that can give you a good idea of what is the best way to go about it. Counting on a few treat veggies though to give your dog all the vits he needs is not the way to go. Serving sizes also depend on breed, size and activity level of your dog. Usually about 2-3% of his/her body weight a day broken up over 2 - 3 servings (so like my sister's 75 lb rottie eats about 2 lbs of meat a day).

My sister gets a meat mix for dogs Hobcott's in Pitt Meadows. Most butcher shops sell it as well as. These need to be fed with veggies and fruit.

Tisol and various other pet stores sell the meat and veggies together. (Prairie Pet Foods in Poco carries it and I believe Bosley's which is all over the place does as well).

Be VERY careful to slowly introduce the raw diet to your dog. I did the mistake of changing the diet to raw and my dog got very sick and the vet bill wasn't so great, so remember to intro with a little bit of the raw diet and a bit a kibbles. Goodluck

Also, if you're not feeding bones, then you need to add a calcium supplement. Calcium is the most important mineral in a homemade diet.

More info here: http://www.dogaware.com/articles/dwcalcium.html

This is a bad idea as they digest differently and have different bacteria. Mixing can cause issues.

The way to switch between kibble and raw with an adult dog is to skip a meal. This way the system has time to digest the kibble. I usually just give them a few cookies to tie them over. This will keep your pup from getting sick.

We've been getting raw food from the butcher (Hopcott's in Pitt Meadows, but most butchers should have it) - it's basically all their "leftovers" ground up together and frozen in blocks.

Main problem we found with that - and most things we feed them - is that the dogs get bored with it after a couple days and won't eat it.

I won a "one month supply" of raw food a while back though, from Waldo and Tubbs in Fort Langley... can't recall the actual brand offhand, it's locally-made though... got lots of veggies mixed in, they've been eating it for a couple weeks now and loving it. It's made all their pooping a lot more regular, too.