Hi Folks,

I was wondering if you could give me a list of the fruits and veggies you feed your dogs on the raw diet?

I've been a bit worried about expanding my current range (which I'll list below) in case I do any harm.

VEG
Carrots, sweet potatoe, celery, broccoli and spinach.

I have not fed fruit up to this point but would like to add some in for a bit of variety.

Meats
I feed chicken, mackrel, lamb and beef. I'd like to expand on this a bit but have trouble finding suppliers of other types of meat at a reasonable rate (can't get rabbit at all!)

She also gets a lot of hot dog used for training :-)

I feed a lot of chicken legs, wings and backs (basically I just buy a few whole chickens, fillet the breast for us and the dog gets the rest. I also have a good supply of lamb ribs and backs which is basically 90% bone and I use this to supplement her diet.

Can anyone give me any ideas to mix it up a bit as I'd like to prepare a months worth of food at a time and freeze it.

Cheers

John

Hi John,

Your list looks pretty good to me, no dangerous veggies (though if I fed Oscar broccoli, the flatulence might be dangerous!) - there are lots of ways to bring more variety in, but you already have at least 4 sources of both plant and animal material, so that's a good start!

I feed a lot of zuccini (which is a relatively inexpensive veggie) and is also VERY soft and digestible and I usually just grate it with a fine cheese grater on top of the food. I'll also put boiled winter squash cubes in, whenever we make it for US for dinner, or green beans. Kelp and alfalfa powder are 2 other nutritious supplements that you could mix into your veggie mash (you don't need very much, but they're packed with vitamins and minerals). I might re-think the sweet potato, as they're high in sugar, but that's all I'd omit.

For fruits, sugar is the main thing to be careful about (you don't want a lot of it, but many fruits are very high in sugar). Berries are a really nutritious little food that are very low in sugar, as fruits go, so are melons (they're mostly water). We're lucky to have a free source for blueberries in the summer, so our freezer is full of them! I feed a little apple as well sometimes. *Both veggies and fruit make up only about 2 rounded tablespoons of each meal for my 95lb dog though, so we're not talking a lot of plant matter...

I found this little chart that very nicely lists out carbohydrate content in a range of foods, separated by food group (veggie, meat, dairy, etc.) - since carbs are a combination of sugar and starch, neither one of which should be abundant in a dog's diet, it's a good idea to reference a chart like this to help you compare ingredients:
http://www.healthyeatingclub.com/info/books-phds/books/foodfacts/html/data/data2f.html

Are you adding any salmon oil and vitamin E? This is one of the most important things you can supplement (super healthy omega-3s), and you can buy it from Leerburg. I also feed a whole egg every other day or so (shell included), which would be another, easy to find protein source. Not sure if you'd want to freeze the oil or egg, but they're easy enough to just add on top before you put the bowl down.

That's just what I do - everyone feeds a little differently, many don't feed fruits or veggies at all. And to be honest, I've been changing up Oscar's meals for a few years, depending on where I'm shopping or what I've been reading about raw diets of late so it's always a work in progress, and it's ALWAYS better than Alpo!

Cheers,
~Natalya

Here is what I feed:

MEATS:

Chicken (all parts and organs)
Buffalo (ribs, tripe, heart, trimmings, "roasts", liver)
Venison (ribs, trimmings, all meat except backstrap and a few steaks, those are for us)

Pork (shoulder, ribs)

Beef (supplemental fat (for dogs that have a hard time staying at weight or do better with a little more fat in their diet), tripe, sirloin, recreational knuckle, hips joints...beef I use for treats usually, I do not feed a whole lot)

Fish (canned salmon, whole frozen mackerel, sardines and tuna)

VEGGIES:
Kale
Carrots (great frozen whole for a teething puppy too)
Green Beans
Squash
Sweet Potatoes (boiled)
Zucchini

FRUITS:
Cored Apple and Pear, Bananas (minimal amounts due to sugars)
Berries
Melons
Dehydrated Fruits (cut into small pieces) for mixing into my treat bag

I am feeding less and less veggies and fruits and going more towards prey model feeding. I think I will always use the veggie "glop" I make once in a while though. I actually enjoy making it and the dogs like it too.

Hi Natalya,

I do supplement with Omega 3 (between 6 and 8 cap of 1000UI), Vit E (2 or 3 400UI) and a glucosamine, Chondroitin and Vit C combined supplement (my dog rattles when she runs :-) ).

If I could find all this in one tablet that would be great but no luck yet.

Cheers

John

 Quote: John Aiton

Hi Natalya,

I do supplement with Omega 3 (between 6 and 8 cap of 1000UI), Vit E (2 or 3 400UI) and a glucosamine, Chondroitin and Vit C combined supplement (my dog rattles when she runs :-) ).

If I could find all this in one tablet that would be great but no luck yet.

Cheers

John

Hi, John,

That's a lot of Vitamin E.

I will guess from the fish oil (6 to 8 grams, or 6000 to 8000 mg.) that your dog weighs around 70 pounds? One of those 400 IU E caps would be good for that weight.

 Quote: carol boche

...I think I will always use the veggie "glop" I make once in a while though. I actually enjoy making it and the dogs like it too.

Me too. From everything I have read and learned, dogs do well on a little bit of produce. So I definitely do give a little bit of green, soft-cell produce (or I process it), and the occasional very-low-sugar fruit, such as blueberries. Even better (IMO) is green tripe, but I have an irregular source of that. Having seen video of gray wolves eating small amounts of immature green ferns and fallen berries, as well as devouring small prey without discarding the stomach contents, I take that as a guide.

I steer clear of high-sugar root vegetables, though, and any other high-sugar produce (such as green peas).

how do I get my dog to eat the veggies (shredded) and fruit? none of mine will eat any, and Im feeding mostly chicken, along with other whole parts and none of it is ground so I dont know how I would slip some in their without their knowing it.

I don't feed veggies, but I do give green tripe. Maybe not every day. And the kelp and alfalfa. I seems that that would cover most of the nutrients that they would get from veggies, is that right? The only fruit he will eat is blueberries, he gets a few of them most days. I sometimes see grass in his stools, so I know he eats that although I'm not sure why. Fiber? He doesn't seem to have somach upset. I have also thought of adding spirulina, but haven't bought any yet. Any one have any opinions on this?

http://www.spirulina.com/SPBSpirulina.html

To sneak veggies in, maybe buy some ground turkey or chicken, and stir the ground veggies into this, then freeze serving size portions?

Where do you get the green tripe? is that what its called or does it have another "call" name. I might be able to get tripe from a local butcher but should I ask for it washed out or what kind of procedures should it have, I know that they bleach it and that isnt good for the dog...

I buy it locally from a meat processor. I can get plain or ground with gullet. Most butchers won't touch it, the stuff they sell is washed and no good. You want the unwashed smelly stuff. If there is a game processor in your area, you can get green deer stomachs as well. Maybe more, I don't know. You can get it online here:

http://www.greentripe.com/

or just do a search for green tripe. You will get lots of places.