I beleive that this food just hit the market. I feed my bitch a raw diet. But now that she is whelping a litter, I am trying to make her gain some weight back, so I am feeding her this food. It supposedly is made with all natural veggies, meat, and grains. Does anybody else choose this food or know if it is close to feeding your dog a raw diet?

Why not increase the amount of food you feed in your raw diet?

Science Diet. . .I doubt it is close to a raw diet.

VanCamp speak the truth-no kibble is close to raw!

Howard-that is the truth, nothing is close to raw when it comes to kibble. If you need to you can give your "dam" the puppy milk replacer. Pig ears are high in fat and good for adding weight on, also if you really want to go to a kibble you can use,Chicken Soup for the dog lovers soul, or Dr.s Foster and Smith make their own dog food now, these are the only two that I could recommend in good conscience.

We call it Science "Death" around here. SD is one of the worst quality kibbles there is!! YUK.

If you want your female to gain weight, add more raw meaty bones with fat and skin attached, fatty cuts of meat, eggs and yogurt.

My Mal is raising a litter of 8, she has been raw fed since I got her from Belgium as a pup, she is still nursing the pups and they are over 5 weeks. I feed her 4 meals a day and have since the pups were about 2 weeks old. She has large amounts of milk and the pups are really content. the pups are eating 3 meals a day now, ground meat, goats milk and chicken backs...I hope they never have to eat kibble, it's amazing the difference in the health and contentment of a raw fed litter and mom...not to mention a LOT less clean up!!

I was just talking to a breeder about Science Diet last weekend.

She started feeding it to her dogs a few years ago and noticed all the pups she produced that year developed bad elbows. When she switched foods, the pups born on the better food no longer had problems.

Amazing what nutrition can do.

Cindy, could you post what you are feeding Aera? She is a good-looking mother with a great-looking litter.

It would be useful if that listing could be added to Ed's example raw diets.

( A Weekly Sample Feeding Schedule for Adult Dogs )

Hi Charlie,
I am the one who wrote up Ed's weekly feeding schedule based on what I feed my dogs. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

But, I have modified it somewhat for Aera during her pregnancy and the nursing of the pups. I think right now she is eating between 6-8 pounds of food a day!!!! She is about 50-55 pounds so that's quite a bit but she is really feeding the crew and I just divide it into 4 meals a day.

I give her extra eggs, extra salmon oil and extra fatty chicken backs in addition to her usual varied diet of turkey, beef, pork and fish. I do add a good vitamin powder for stress that I get from http://www.b-naturals.com it's called Immune Blend and I also add probiotic powder to her food as well as to the puppies diet. Right now they are on chicken backs, ground turkey, eggs and goats milk. they don't like yogurt! I don't typically feed my dogs dairy or grains but do use cottage cheese, goats milk or yogurt during stress or hard work...

hope this helps... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I was feeding Dr's Foster and Smith kibble to my dogs and felt it was about the best on the market, plus feeding some raw, but like all processed foods, it's cooked, so therefore alot of the nutrients are lost. Also, no matter what commercial food you buy, it can have "nasty" stuff in it, which they don't have to disclose. A good book to read is "Food Pets Die For", by Ann Martin.

I now have my dogs on all raw. I was amazed at the difference in stool size, amount. My dogs were "pooping" copious amounts, even on the Dr's F&S and now it has diminished dramatically.

According to Merck Manual there is an established need for carbohydrates for lactating and pregnant bitches (not for the rest of the time, though)

If I dont add to routine diet, I have hard time with maintaining weight due to high activity levels. Use mashed cooked sweet potatoes as supplement for high energy burn.

Originally posted by Nancy Jocoy:
According to Merck Manual there is an established need for carbohydrates for lactating and pregnant bitches (not for the rest of the time, though)

If I dont add to routine diet, I have hard time with maintaining weight due to high activity levels. Use mashed cooked sweet potatoes as supplement for high energy burn. I have one of the highest energy females I know and she just raised a litter of 8 fed ONLY raw chicken, eggs, pork, beef, fish and turkey. NO carbs were added, I don't feed dairy or grains and she has maintained weight, coat and energy. The pups are still nursing at almost 7 weeks and I intend to let them nurse as long as possible. I know people add grains and veggies to put on weight but it's not necessary. Feed fattier cuts of meat, like lamb or duck or add extra salmon oil and voila....healthy mom and content pups. About the only thing I will add on occasion is pumpkin if one of the dogs has diarrhea or is constipated. Dogs don't need the carbs like we do, they can (and do, if we give them a chance) obtain everything they need from a BALANCED raw, grain free diet...