Just wondering what the benefits of fasting a dog are and how often it is done. The day before a fast day do you feed more, less or the same amount of food as usual. How about exercise on a fast day? Do people who fast their dogs feed a raw diet or does it matter. I feed raw.

Usually once a week.

According to the book Natural Nutrion for dogs and cats The idea of it is to give the dogs digestive system a break. Fasting is a normal occrrence in wild carnovores. Fasting allows the energy used for digesting food to be used elsewhere in the body. Fasting lets the body heal and cleanse itself

I feed raw, and I do not fast at all. Once in a while if I am on a fire or something they will miss a meal, but I do not have them on a fasting schedule.
I do not think it is necassary, however, if people want to fast their dogs, I do not think there is anything wrong with it either.

I do fast, at least once a week, but it depends on what and how much they ate. I try to feed as close to what they would get in the wild as possible, and that means lots one day, and not so much another, and nothing another. If you research dogs' digestive tracts, they are not built for a constant influx of food. They are not grazers, remember! Rather, they are designed for the purpose of handling a large quantity of food, say on the night of a kill, and then some bone-picking, and then a day or so of nothing. Wolves do not get to eat every day. I don't fast tiny puppies, but everyone else gets fasted roughly once weekly, but definitely after a pig-out session, like they have w/a deer for example. My dogs don't even expect food every day, or at least they don't seem hungry if they go a day without. I personally think fasting is cleansing and essential.

What does that look like, in portion to weight ratio for each of those types of nights, Jenni?

 Quote: Jenni Williams

but definitely after a pig-out session, like they have w/a deer for example.

I guess I do not let my dogs pig out ever....especially the Bloodhound.....

Wolves don't fast in the wild. When food is plentifull they will eat smaller amounts every chance they get. When food gets scarce they start gorging, because they don't know when the next meal will come. But those days where they can't find food are called starving. Fasting means not eating on a voluntary basis. I have a pretty hard time thinking a pack of wolves would see a wounded deer and say "hey leave that poor thing be, we've already eaten 6 days this week".

I heard on some wolf documentary on TV that a wolf will gorge up to 20 lbs in one meal. That's inconceivable to me! Just an FYI tidbit for whoever is interested

 Quote:

Wolves don't fast in the wild. When food is plentifull they will eat smaller amounts every chance they get. When food gets scarce they start gorging, because they don't know when the next meal will come. But those days where they can't find food are called starving. Fasting means not eating on a voluntary basis. I have a pretty hard time thinking a pack of wolves would see a wounded deer and say "hey leave that poor thing be, we've already eaten 6 days this week".

Ok, then I starve my dog periodically.

 Quote: david eagle

What does that look like, in portion to weight ratio for each of those types of nights, Jenni?

I don't know exactly what you're asking, David. Let's use a head for example. The thing might weigh 10 lbs, but it's not totally edible; much is heavy bone. And they're not that meaty, so let's say there's a few lbs (if that) of meat on the head, plus brain & such. I let the little ones start it, and leave them with it for maybe 15-20 mins, then give it to Caleb, so he's probably not eating THAT much more than normal...a couple pounds, maybe. On a rear leg, well, that's huge, but how much is edible and how much is thick bone? They tear muscle meat off the bone, and probably get about 4-5lbs off a leg. I feed it frozen solid after the first day, so it takes them a while and they pull it off in little pieces. I don't ever give them a bunch of quickly consumable meat w/out bone, or pieces that don't take a fair amount of work to eat, so they do NOT get huge amount of pure meat in one session, for those who are freaking out about bloat. (Don't get me started on bloat....)

Some days they eat 4 lbs, some days 1.5-2, and some days they get nothing but water and a RMB. If we want to play semantics,(Josh) calling it "starving" works for me, lol. The point is that it is perfectly natural for a canine digestive tract to not eat the exact same portion of food daily for eternity; they are not people, nor ruminants, nor birds.

Caleb weighs anywhere from 85(heroin chic) to 95 (lean) for a reference point. I am not terribly compulsive about weighing their food. I watch them eat, and gauge from there when to take it away.