Many of our (awesome) new owners are considering feeding a raw diet (and most are planning to rotate with kibble) so I thought I would include some details on raw here. . .
In the past, I have primarily fed the raw "BARF" diet (Bones And Raw Foods) and I am a fan of Stella and Chewy's frozen 8 oz. patties in different varieties, i.e. chicken, beef, rabbit, etc., http://www.stellaandchewys.com/dog-frozenchicken.php. For best results thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Note: I am not referring to the dehydrated raw (which is ok for travel). Buy the twelve 8 oz. patties for medium/large dogs.
Or I've used Nature's Variety Instinct Raw (http://www.naturesvariety.com/InstinctRaw/dog/beef).
Both of these brands are "pre-made" (frozen) patties with ground-up bone, meat, organs, veggies, etc. But you can also do Prey Model Diet; see the difference between BARF and Prey-Model http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html.
Below is an example of how a friend (Adara Vizslas) feeds her dogs the Prey-Model (they own three Vizslas and one Doberman):
This is a cut up whole chicken which is approx. 25% bone. Since the goal is about 10-15% bone, plan to add a few non-boney pieces to the meals, i.e. beef heart, liver or kidney. You also want to rotate meats (beef, duck, etc.).
Portioned into four meals (Note: the muffin tin is ground meat/bone using a Kitchen Aid grinder attachment for the Doberman who swallows her food - not chews). The other bowls represent 12 oz. (with meat) and two 8 oz. portions.
NOTE: You can also rotate kibble a few nights a week to make travel easier for everyone.
This is a great resource http://rawfeddogs.org/rawguide.html
Check out Primal Foods Feeding Calculator at http://www.primalpetfoods.com/education/calc. For example, Zene who is 42 lbs. would be just under 1 lb. of raw food a day which includes 10% meaty bones, this would be almost two 8 oz. patties a day, or equivalent.
I am planning to use the Prey-Model Diet on my girls and have heard good things about the Kitchen-Aid grinder attachment.
I am planning to use the Prey-Model Diet on my girls and have heard good things about the Kitchen-Aid grinder attachment.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
