Diet of our dogs
As you already know we feed our dogs real food. And by real I mean they eat everything except a few things that are known to be toxic for dogs. Link to toxic dog foods https://www.merckvetmanual.com/toxicology/food-hazards/
Raw meat and poultry is a main food of our dogs. They also eat salads, fruits any leftovers of human food except cooked bones.
This page is not intended to be an education on raw diet but rather a menu of what my dogs eat. Perhaps, it could be helpful resource for my puppy owners who are choosing to feed raw but unsure on how to proceed.
There are a lot of information on raw and home made cooked diets with complicated recipes, lots ingredients and measurements. I feel that it is not necessary as long as you feed variety of different muscle meats, bones and organs. For example, raw meaty lamb bone for a meal, then raw chicken, then raw turkey, ground beef and organ mix, raw rabbit, raw duck, raw pork meaty bone ( I use necks) and whatever else raw meat you can get. Fish is great too but not all my dogs would it it raw so I dry fish and use it as treats. I also use dehydrator to make liver, heart and lungs treats.
Many ask me how much to feed a puppy or older dogs. My answer is simple, feel your dog’s ribs. If you can feel them easily with not much padding you feed just the right amount, if you have protruding ribs feed more, if there is a lot of padding feed less :) You can find the right proportions on the internet about meat, organs and veggies
Many ask how often should we feed a puppy and adults. I feed puppies 3 times a day until about 9 weeks old, sometimes longer but it depends on individual puppy. I usually leave lunch time for training session or grooming session with lots treats. Adults usually get fed twice a day, during hot summer days they tend to skip breakfast. Intermittent fasting has lots benefits: https://www.caliraw.com/blogs/news/intermittent-fasting-for-dogs
The Link below might be helpful for you to get started on Raw
If unsure about Raw diet for dogs, please read Feeding Dogs by Dr. Conor Brady, link below.
Feeding Dogs: The Science Behind The Dry Versus Raw Debate
https://www.instagram.com/dogsfirstireland/
Supplements I use:
Kelp or Sea Weed, My dogs love Raw unsalted Sea Weed as a snack
Raw Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower seeds, Hemp seeds and Peanuts
Diet Guide for Domestic Dogs and Cats by Tom Lonsdale
Meat
Lamb and goat meat is a main source of red meat for my dogs. I buy it from regular grocery stores for humans. I give chunks appropriate to the size of a dog in semi frozen state as it creates less mess and takes them longer to eat it.
Duck meat comes from our farm
Whole chicken, chicken carcasses and neck and backs great for young puppies as the bones are soft and easy to chew.
Whole turkey, bones might be too tough for pups until adult teeth come out
Quail is fantastic for very young puppies as bones super soft.
Rabbit meat is lean
Lamb legs pre-cut by butcher
Blends
I give elk, lamb and beef blends of pre-made dog food as my dogs are capable to chew chicken, turkey and duck with bones in. I prefer to get blend of meat, organs and tripe with no veggies. I make my own salads with veggies that digested by dogs. Many blends contain carrots, which I find in dog poop undigested unlike cucumbers and lettuce I use. Please be aware that not all commercial raw dog food is well balanced or have the best ingredients. This is one reason to rotate brands of blended food, give variety of proteins and of course give dogs the real meat on bone. I also tend to use only one source of protein in the blend for one meal. The rational behind it is that I wouldn't want to eat steak and fish together myself, why would dogs. Also, in a wild, predators hunt and eat one source of prey for one meal unless it is too small to satiate hunger.
When we go camping and fishing, dogs don’t wait for me to freeze it and eat it fresh. They love trout a lot, too much, as me and my husband often left with no fish for dinner.
Fish I give raw frozen or dry, mostly wild caught salmon and trout, but can be any fish. Puppies get baked salmon occasionally or dry fish.
Snacks
As unappealing as it looks to you your dog will disagree. Frozen duck heads, legs and trachea are healthy, full of natural glucosamine snacks that my dogs enjoy immensely. Sourced from our farm but can also be found in stores specializing in raw dog food.
Beef jerky
Making treats out of organs of ducks
Dehydrated cow ear, great source of natural fiber and chondroitin. Also great for cleaning teeth. I give frozen or dehydrated
Beef ready to be dehydrated
Raw Bones
Marrow bones can be compared to an ice cream for dogs. It is very rich in fat so I give limited amount in frozen state as a treat.
Knuckle bones last forever and great to clean dog’s teeth naturally.
Raw bones of chicken, turkey, duck, rabbit or any other source are safe for dogs to eat. Avoid giving small chunk of raw meaty bone to puppies as they will swallow instead of chewing
Avoid weight bearing bones of large animals, like cows or sheep, for dogs with strong bite as they can crack teeth. Avoid antlers for the same reason.
DO Not GIVE Any Cooked Bones
Raw eggs are safe for your dog to eat and they are full of goodness
Many suggest to give shell as well but from my own observation if I give a dog whole egg, it gets cracked and content is eaten but shell left untouched. I do not grind shells and force them to eat it, they know better what is good for them :)
Green Tripe
Tripe is a stomach of any grazing animals like cows, sheep, lamb or goats. Green tripe is high in protein and packed with enzymes, good bacteria, essential vitamins and minerals. To learn more about this “super food” for dogs follow the link below
https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-stink-on-tripe/
I get grounded tripe for puppies to add to meat blends. Adults get it in chunks in frozen state as the smell of thawed tripe is very strong and probably unpleasant for most people. If my dogs have a choice to eat only tripe they will not complain. Absolutely love it.
Cooked Food
Sometimes my husband asks me before he start eating if it is dog food or for human consumption. Sometimes he forgets to ask and tells me that it is really good but not enough salt. Yes, I cook for my dogs! I use quinoa, buckwheat, sometimes rice or barley with vegetables and oil or duck fatty skin. I add herbs and a little salt. I also bake them broccoli and mix of veggies. Although dogs are carnivores they do enjoy variety and I am not totally convinced to feed them exclusively meat at present.
Quinoa and buckwheat considered as seeds, rice and barley as grain. Can dogs benefit from such food? I don’t know as there is so many controversial articles. Grains are not necessary in dogs diet but they will not hurt the dog when given occasionally.
Quinoa with cauliflower, carrots, broccoli and duck skin
Quinoa with carrots and paper
Fruits and berries
Bananas available all year around and most dogs like it.
Apples offered but only a few of my dogs will accept unless there is peanut butter on it(please note, only 100% peanuts ingredients, no additives).
Blueberries, fresh in season and frozen, full of vitamins and minerals and delicious snack. Dogs also pick their own berries in season like blackberries and salmonberry that grow in abundance around our farm.
Dogs will eat grass, especially in the spring, when it is new and tender, totally safe to eat. Sometime, if they eat too much grass on empty stomach, they might vomit, it is normal and nothing to worry about.
Avocado, controversial fruit, my dogs love. No pit or skin as it contains toxin harmful to a dog.
Veggies
My dogs do enjoy frozen broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. They will not eat them fresh but frozen they like or better baked with olive oil!
Salads
My dogs enjoy their salads. I use lettuce and cucumbers as main ingredients and add whatever is available for variety. These include but not limited to cottage cheese, cooked meat pieces, any leftovers of your dinner(never cooked bones). Dressing for the salad is cold first pressed olive oil and special ingredient is Nupro Joint and Immune Support powder. For whatever reason dogs love this supplement and will eat anything with it.
https://youtube.com/shorts/-Pvp1hnkdlE
Kibble
Kibble is a very convenient option to feed our pets. Regardless of quality of chosen kibble, in my opinion, all kibble is “junk food” for dogs. Some kibble has better ingredients than others but all kibble processed the same way, using high temperature and pressure, destroying enzymes and nutrients in the process, then fortifying the end result with synthetic vitamins and minerals.
My logic in choosing to feed my dogs real food is simple. The more food resembles its original state the healthier it is for dogs and humans alike. To give you an example of my logic let’s have a look at the food for humans. Simple potato can be baked(good) or made into fries(worse) or chips (not very healthy at all). Same goes for meat, grilled steak or processed meat like sausage; grain, cereal or cut steel oat porridge and the list is long.
All of us eat “junk food”, some on regular basis some very occasionally, but all are guilty. Me and my dogs are no exception. I use kibble for training because of convenient size for catch games, I make trails for puppies from kibble to teach them to use their noses, I hide some around the house to prevent boredom.
The healthier alternative to kibble is ZiwiPeak air-dried dog food. It is, however, very expensive and most of us can’t afford to use it on a regular basis.
Store bought treats: dry sardines, freeze dried liver and lungs, bully sticks, duck/chicken feet, dry ears(not smoked) and anything else that looks like the original item in a dry state. Better of course if you have dehydrator and make your own treats, this way you will know for sure no chemicals or preservatives were added.
Organs
Organs include liver, heart, spleen, kidneys and lungs. My dogs don’t like to eat it raw unless it is blended and mixed in meat so I use dehydrator to make healthy treats out of it. Then they like it just fine!
Dr. Becker Discusses Raw Food Diet (Part 1-3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx2YIIpF4cc