Raw meat

Well my Airedale has not been eating... anything unless we force fed it to him. I did not like this so I called the breeder. He said they were weened to raw meat. So I fed him some raw beef steaks, which he turned his nose up at. Last night I was cutting up some venison steaks and dropped a cube on the floor. This puppy came alive and snatched up the venison. So... I cut up a lot of deer steak and he wolfed it all down. Same thing this morning and this evening.

Question is there any harm to this diet?

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Originally Posted by Blackwolf

Well my Airedale has not been eating... anything unless we force fed it to him. I did not like this so I called the breeder. He said they were weened to raw meat. So I fed him some raw beef steaks, which he turned his nose up at. Last night I was cutting up some venison steaks and dropped a cube on the floor. This puppy came alive and snatched up the venison. So... I cut up a lot of deer steak and he wolfed it all down. Same thing this morning and this evening.

Question is there any harm to this diet?

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No harm in that product but imo it is not a balanced diet. I believe carbs are needed too for energy. Fat /protein ratio is also important, as are minerals.

http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_d...specific.shtml

Your right Sharon..just like us....a balanced diet !

I would try to mix the raw with kibble and see if you can gradually wean him off the raw. A pup especially needs a balanced diet to develop properly.

What is an Airedale?

BW. I was curious. I found a site. Dear Jubilee.

Glad that you seem to have solved your feeding issue.

Unbelievable that a breeder would send a puppy home and not give the buyer a heads up as to the diet they were feeding the pups PARTICULARLY when they were being weaned to a raw diet and not a dry food diet???

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Originally Posted by Dakota Creek

Glad that you seem to have solved your feeding issue.

Unbelievable that a breeder would send a puppy home and not give the buyer a heads up as to the diet they were feeding the pups PARTICULARLY when they were being weaned to a raw diet and not a dry food diet???

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I thought the same thing. My breeder feeds raw as well but she told me this. When I told her I wasn't prepared to go 100% raw she told me to feed Orijen and that she would ween the pup for me.

Phosphorous is another big component in puppy development. It's very important to make sure the food is balanced at this stage for proper growth, as was mentioned.

Personally (and we all have our own opinions on this), I don't think there's a better food out there than Orijen and Acana, and because it has so much meat it may be an easy transition for pup to try this kibble. I suggest trying the Orijen puppy food. If it doesn't work you can always get your money back since it's guaranteed.

You cannot simply just feed meat of any kind, be it muscle meat, organs, etc. as that will make a very sickly dog. Raw meaty bones are a must, such as chicken carcasses, beef bones, etc. Feeding raw has many different angles - you can choose to feed a variety of ways and programs to follow. You can feed veggie/fruit mashes, you can add cottage cheese or yogurt, you can add kelp or alfalfa powder, you can feed fish carcasses, you can add various grains of you so wished, you can feed pork bones, deer ribs, turkey necks, beef tongues, chicken livers - - too many things to list. And you can feed all the mentioned in a variety of ways, you can fast for a day (not puppies though), you can feed a complete mix (organs, meaty bones and mash in a meal) or feed meaty bones in the morning and mash/cottage cheese and a beef knuckle for dinner. You can feed different percentages of their body requirements. You can feed your dog like a wolf or feed pre-ground mixes. *Always seek the advice and opinion from your veterinarian or breeder first* This above is for general information purposes only and not to be taken literally.

My point is, if you decide to go raw, research it well, find a way of feeding it that looks best for you, your dogs needs and find a reliable source of meat and bones.

I too am at a loss for words on the breeder - but that is a whole other topic.

Blackwolf, if this is a puppy, raw meat should be verboten - my vet, who also is my dog-training partner and quite attuned to performance animals, says that dogs shouldn't have raw meat until they're two years old because they absorb too much phosphorous for their long bones, and it can make them grow too fast (and too "spindly.") I don't have the scientific background to elaborate, but I top-dress my dogs' food with raw venison, viscera, and chicken too - only after they've essentially stopped growing. The advice about a balanced raw diet (BARF) is spot on - and maplevizsla's account is most interesting.

Here's some "local" input for you that sort of attests to what my training partner's on about: http://hillcrestanimalhospital.ca/puppy-nutrition/

MG