HELP!

I have two maltipoos. A little boy and girl, Both almost 4 months. When I received them from different families Roxy (girl) was on pedigree fed diet and budweiser (boy) was on eukanuba. I transitioned them right to raw food using the Primal balanced nuggets. Very easy and they loved it. Now that they are older a love raw meaty bones I have been trying to use meats from my butcher. But I am worried about if their diet is balanced.

I stopped feeding the Nuggets and I am giving them Honest Kitchen preference premix and adding my raw meaty bones, muscle meat and organ meat according to honest kitchen ratios. They also get raw goats milk and coconut oil with each meal.

I am trying to not have to use the honest kitchen preference but right now I feel like they are getting all the nutrients they need from it!

Any advice?

Little dogs have different nutritional needs then larger dogs. The diet you are giving them seems ok but you should consult with an expert. LIttle dogs have some very different needs then large dogs. This I heard from friends with small dogs.

My mentor for raw food said unless you can do nose to tail for PUPPIES then it is better to depend on a balanced food.

My puppy GSD I have on chicken quarters, thighs, livers vit, salmon oil 3-4 days a week then on a balanced local raw beef food 3-4 days. He also gets a bit of fish once a week, whole raw eggs from my own chickens a few times a week, and lamb or anything else when I can get it.

And veggies and fruits in small amounts daily. Fresh and cooked.

I'm on my 7th dog raised entirely on a raw diet from puppyhood, and have fed this way for ten years now. So, I'm not an expert, but can share what I know from simply doing it and seeing the results.

Feeding raw isn't that difficult, and I see no reason to be overly concerned about feeding a raw diet to puppies--provided that you understand a few basic principles of how to properly balance the diet.

There are two things to think about when talking about "balance." The first is the correct balance of raw bones and meat. This is especially important for growing puppies because they need the calcium and phosphorus in raw bones for their own bone and tooth growth. A properly balanced diet will include about half the diet in so-called "raw meaty bones," and about half in muscle meat (and other stuff--organs, veg, etc.). I say "about" because animal parts differ in the bone-to-meat ratio, so you'll have to adjust based on what you are feeding the dog. This also isn't difficult to know if you're doing it right because the dog's poop will tell you. If the poop is quite firm and log-shaped, you've got it right. If it is rock-hard, crumbly, or the dog is straining to poop, it's too much bone. Too soft poop can be caused by many things, but one of them is not enough bone in the diet.

The second "balance" has to do with variety in the diet. Again, this is particularly important for puppies, but all dogs need to be fed as much variety in the protein sources as you can find and afford. Chicken parts at every meal isn't balance, and, over time, the dog/pup may miss out on important nutrients that they would get from other meats. I think if you can rotate in 4-5 different proteins, that is sufficient. Chicken, turkey, pork, and beef are easy. Like everyone else who does this, chicken has become the staple in my dogs' diets because it is so cheap. But you must include other proteins on a regular basis. Duck, lamb, mutton, rabbit, venison, and fish are on many dogs' menus--but the limit is really based on what you can find and afford.

The additional issue to address with puppies and small-breed dogs is what constitutes a "raw meaty bone." It must be something that the pup can completely consume in a meal. Don't confuse this with the kind of "raw bone" that might be given as a chew toy. This isn't food, it's a toy. For small breed puppies like yours, I imagine that they can handle chicken backs, necks or wings. But may have trouble with leg quarters. You'll just have to see what they are able to consume. Grinding raw meaty bones is another option that provides small dogs with the ability to consume animal parts they might not otherwise be able to tackle.

I understand the "nose to tail" comment--which is meant to get at this idea of bone-to-meat balance (and include a small amount of organ meat.) But few raw feeders actually feed this way in a literal sense ("whole prey" style feeding.) But it's easy enough to create the idea of "nose to tail" in the bowl by envisioning what your dog would be eating if she ate, for example, a whole rabbit: It would include a good deal of bone, a good deal of meat, about 10% or so of organ meat, and a tiny amount of partially digested plant food that was in the rabbit's gut. So if you try to replicate that idea in your dog's bowl, you're on the right track.

About raw organ meat: especially at first, introduce it slowly, in tiny portions to a dog unused to it--or it will cause diarrhea.

About plant-based foods: This is a raw meat and bones diet. Your dog has no nutritional need for plant foods. That said, many people (including me) include some in the diet. Why? because they can help to "stretch" the diet a bit (sweet potatoes are cheap compared to the price of beef.) And, they are a way to add more variety. Leafy greens, berries, rice, quinoa, potatoes are all fine foods for a dog--in small doses. I would aim for less than 10% of the diet in plant-based foods. And anything plant based must be processed (pre-digested) in order for the dog to get any nutrition out of it. That means cooking it till it's mush, pureeing it, or (for some things) freezing it to make it mushy when thawed. If you feed your dog raw carrot it will come out the other end completely undigested.

If you construct a diet based on these simple principles, then the only nutritional supplement you need is fish oil and vitamin e. This is to compensate for the lack of Omega fatty acids in modern factory-farmed meats. A dog lucky enough to eat only pastured chicken or grass-fed meat might not need this, but those that eat meat from the grocery store do need this supplement.

Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy to help if I can.

 Quote: Tracy Collins

I'm on my 7th dog raised entirely on a raw diet from puppyhood, and have fed this way for ten years now. So, I'm not an expert, but can share what I know from simply doing it and seeing the results.

Feeding raw isn't that difficult, and I see no reason to be overly concerned about feeding a raw diet to puppies--provided that you understand a few basic principles of how to properly balance the diet.

There are two things to think about when talking about "balance." The first is the correct balance of raw bones and meat. This is especially important for growing puppies because they need the calcium and phosphorus in raw bones for their own bone and tooth growth. A properly balanced diet will include about half the diet in so-called "raw meaty bones," and about half in muscle meat (and other stuff--organs, veg, etc.). I say "about" because animal parts differ in the bone-to-meat ratio, so you'll have to adjust based on what you are feeding the dog. This also isn't difficult to know if you're doing it right because the dog's poop will tell you. If the poop is quite firm and log-shaped, you've got it right. If it is rock-hard, crumbly, or the dog is straining to poop, it's too much bone. Too soft poop can be caused by many things, but one of them is not enough bone in the diet.

The second "balance" has to do with variety in the diet. Again, this is particularly important for puppies, but all dogs need to be fed as much variety in the protein sources as you can find and afford. Chicken parts at every meal isn't balance, and, over time, the dog/pup may miss out on important nutrients that they would get from other meats. I think if you can rotate in 4-5 different proteins, that is sufficient. Chicken, turkey, pork, and beef are easy. Like everyone else who does this, chicken has become the staple in my dogs' diets because it is so cheap. But you must include other proteins on a regular basis. Duck, lamb, mutton, rabbit, venison, and fish are on many dogs' menus--but the limit is really based on what you can find and afford.

The additional issue to address with puppies and small-breed dogs is what constitutes a "raw meaty bone." It must be something that the pup can completely consume in a meal. Don't confuse this with the kind of "raw bone" that might be given as a chew toy. This isn't food, it's a toy. For small breed puppies like yours, I imagine that they can handle chicken backs, necks or wings. But may have trouble with leg quarters. You'll just have to see what they are able to consume. Grinding raw meaty bones is another option that provides small dogs with the ability to consume animal parts they might not otherwise be able to tackle.

I understand the "nose to tail" comment--which is meant to get at this idea of bone-to-meat balance (and include a small amount of organ meat.) But few raw feeders actually feed this way in a literal sense ("whole prey" style feeding.) But it's easy enough to create the idea of "nose to tail" in the bowl by envisioning what your dog would be eating if she ate, for example, a whole rabbit: It would include a good deal of bone, a good deal of meat, about 10% or so of organ meat, and a tiny amount of partially digested plant food that was in the rabbit's gut. So if you try to replicate that idea in your dog's bowl, you're on the right track.

About raw organ meat: especially at first, introduce it slowly, in tiny portions to a dog unused to it--or it will cause diarrhea.

About plant-based foods: This is a raw meat and bones diet. Your dog has no nutritional need for plant foods. That said, many people (including me) include some in the diet. Why? because they can help to "stretch" the diet a bit (sweet potatoes are cheap compared to the price of beef.) And, they are a way to add more variety. Leafy greens, berries, rice, quinoa, potatoes are all fine foods for a dog--in small doses. I would aim for less than 10% of the diet in plant-based foods. And anything plant based must be processed (pre-digested) in order for the dog to get any nutrition out of it. That means cooking it till it's mush, pureeing it, or (for some things) freezing it to make it mushy when thawed. If you feed your dog raw carrot it will come out the other end completely undigested.

If you construct a diet based on these simple principles, then the only nutritional supplement you need is fish oil and vitamin e. This is to compensate for the lack of Omega fatty acids in modern factory-farmed meats. A dog lucky enough to eat only pastured chicken or grass-fed meat might not need this, but those that eat meat from the grocery store do need this supplement.

Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy to help if I can.

Yep! Pretty much wraps it up!

One thing though: Remember to keep a couple of novel meats away from the dog (meaning the dog never tastes them ... maybe venison and duck, or any couple of novel-to-the-individual-dog meats) so that they exist as potential elimination-diet ingredients just in case there is ever a food allergy.

For my Poms, I wean them on raw right off mom, and I use A LOT of ground because they really can't handle a lot of the normal RMB's. (My Poms/Pom puppies range from 1 - 6 lbs)

I feed a lot of chicken, duck and quail necks as RMB's - other than that, all ground. They also get recreational bones, llama, beef, buffalo, elk etc.

I don't feed veggies - more "prey model" I guess - Beef, Pork, Chicken, Duck, Quail, Bison, Elk, llama and Tripe (Beef/Buffalo). Sometimes the foods have organ (Liver/heart) ground in, if not, I chop it into chunks that are manageable for them. They will also get Moose when hunting season comes and people are cleaning out freezers

Other than portion size and RMB size, I don't find much of a difference feeding the little guys vs the Shepherds/Leo.

Thank you for all the advice!

Another question, what would be good RMB for small puppies other then the wings and necks? My pups have taken down a chicken thigh. But what about other animals? Also, do you leave skin on or find skinless?

For small-breed pups, think small or young food animals--chickens, some duck parts, rabbit, quail, some lamb parts, fish with bones. Most of those will be hard to find or expensive. So, realistically, you may be stuck with chicken parts as the preponderance of the raw meaty bones. Which makes variety in the rest of the diet (the muscle meat) more important. Balance a chicken-heavy diet with muscle meat from pork, turkey, beef.

There is no need to remove skin or visible fat. Dogs need fat.

I have read in a few places that you should not feed pork and some fish unless it has been frozen first to kill any parasites. What are your pork and fish feeding habits?

Trichanella has been eliminated from North American pork for more than twenty years. There is no more risk of parasites in pork than any other commercial meat.

Never feed a dog raw salmon (or other Pacific Northwest salmon-like fish) due to the risk of poisoning by a fluke.

Other fish are fine to feed, as long as they are otherwise safe for consumption. Many raw feeders feed canned mackerel which includes soft bones. This is another option that's cheap and easy to find at most grocery stores.

Cooked eggs are yet another protein source that can be substituted for muscle meat for occasional variety.