Raw Diet for Small Dog

[ramama]

What exactly do I do? LOL. I have a dachshund who is 15lbs (and should be 12, max). All that I am reading on the internet is confusing and seems to be geared more towards large dogs (which causes me to attempt a lot of math and gives me a headache). Do you give supplements? What is bone meal and where do I get it, or do I even need it? Rice and pureed veggies? Ugh. This is so confusing, and I know it's not supposed to be complicated, right? Is there a website with, preferably, and exact menu per dog size, or at least a site that isn't like an online book or trying to sell something?

Edited to ask: Also, when switching to a raw diet did you do it gradually, or all at once? Either way, were there side effects as the dog adjusted, like diarrhea or whatnot?

[mistymama]

Hi there! I have a mini dachshund too and he is 100% raw fed. He's 18 pounds, not overweight just a big mini.

I know it's kinda overwhelming at first, but if you just jump in you'll get comfortable and be able to adjust to what is right for his size. For our dog I feed him once a day in the afternoons. I do not use any supplements, I feel if they eat bone, organs and a variety of meats they will get all the nutrients they need. And he does ... he is sooo shiny and healthy!

The staple of our dog's diet is chicken pieces. And that is an easy to digest meat, so it's the one I would start with. I usually buy the bags of chicken leg quarters or sometimes a whole roaster chicken and have dh cut it up. At each meal he usually gets teh equilivant of one thigh or drumstick ... I don't worry that it's the same each day, if he eats a big thigh one day, I will give him a smaller drumstick the next day. Beyond chicken I feed him pork necks, cheap cuts of steak, eggs (whole, in shell), fish (canned or fresh whatever is on sale), chicken liver & gizzards. In general I try to make each meal about the size of a chicken thigh and I buy in bulk and seperate into ziplock baggies and freeze each portion.

As far as switching, I just started feeding him raw chicken. The whole reason I started was because my mini had tummy issues and diarrhea often .. but once we started raw he was just fine, no switching issues and his stools immedately hardened and became regular!

I know it's a bit of a scary leap to start feeding raw, but honestly once you start and see the benefits, you'll gain confidence and realize that you know what you are doing. I don't worry about balance in one day, but over an entire week.

Have fun & your dog will be so healthy for it!

[ramama]

Thanks for the info! I guess I'm just nervous. I do have another question, though, when you feed your dog a drumstick, does he run off with it? My Lola is very protective of her bones and she generally runs off to eat it in our bed. Yuck if it's a raw bone! I guess I could get a baby gate and make sure she stays in the kitchen

[Asiago]

Originally Posted by ramama

Thanks for the info! I guess I'm just nervous. I do have another question, though, when you feed your dog a drumstick, does he run off with it? My Lola is very protective of her bones and she generally runs off to eat it in our bed. Yuck if it's a raw bone! I guess I could get a baby gate and make sure she stays in the kitchen

You could feed in a crate so that he doesn't run off with it (or outdoors if the weather is decent).

Also you could start off with a premade raw like Aunt Jenis and then transition to home made as you become more comfortable.

[Ola_]

I second everything that mistymama said. Raw has nothing to do with the size of the dog, many people use it for toy breed dogs and cats. My dogs are 35 and 75 lbs so there are certainly differences in what size items I feed them, but you get used to it quickly. At the beginning I got an inexpensive food scale and after a couple of months I got comfortable with the whole process and started eyeballing it. If the dogs start to look a little heavier I feed a bit less and if they're a little thinner I feed a bit more. I've found that it's much easier to both put on and take off weight on raw. You certainly don't need a scale though - if you shop at a grocery store the package will have a weight marked on it and you can just divide by how many items are in it to get a rough idea.

And as mistymama said you will want to choose one type of meat to start with (many people choose chicken because it's easy to get, inexpensive, and the bones are very soft). Give that a few days to a week and then introduce a second meat. It's important to give a variety of proteins and animal body parts since they bring different nutrients to the table - for example dark chicken meat is different than white chicken meat, red meats have more taurine, etc. I would aim to have at least 3-4 different proteins in your rotation eventually.

Once your dog is used to the different meats you are feeding you'll want to add in organ meat (liver and kidney are the main ones, but you may find others which are good also). Keep in mind that heart, although an organ in terms of body function, is considered a muscle meat for doggie feeding purposes. The ratio I aim for is about 75-80% meat, 10-15% bone, and 5-10% organ (with about half of that being liver). No need for veggies or carbs, though personally I'm not entirely anti-carb and do make my dogs simple homemade cookies as ocassional treats.

Here are a few good websites:
http://www.rawfed.com/
http://rawlearning.com/
http://rawfeddogs.net/ - Click on the Recipes section, then the item, then the item's photo. They have photos of all kinds of dogs eating their raw food, cats also!

Oh, and we feed in their crates (that's all they are used for anymore, but it helps keep the positive association in case we ever need them). We've also fed on easily washed floor (tile, laminate, linoleum) when visiting family. Let us know if you have questions - we'd love to help!

[mistymama]

I feed him in his crate - don't think I'd want to clean up raw meat off my kitchen floor each day! After he eats in his crate he pretty much licks it all up but I do spray and wipe down with a vinegar/water solution. Very easy!

[Arduinna]

One of our raw fed dogs is a pug. We feed outside. We don't feed rice, vegies or suppliments, just raw meaty bones and sometimes organ meats.

[ramama]

Thanks, mamas! Lola thoroughly enjoyed her first raw drumstick today. She was so confused, though! She was like, normally when I manage to snag one of these things I get in trouble, are you framing me? I did feed her in her crate (which we never used before LOL) just removed the pad so it was the plastic tray and wiped it down when she was done. Yay, I think this will work!

[Arduinna]

Sounds like it went great! Welcome to the world of raw food!

[Ola_]

Congratulations! I'm glad Lola enjoyed her first raw meal. My two gave me the same look at first and kept looking back at me while eating as if they thought I'd lost my mind.

[LeahBoo]

I just put my dogs back on raw. A 6 year old border collie mix, 14 year old dachshund/beagle, and 1 year old dachshund/terrier. The older girls have eaten raw on and off since I have had them. I know it's the best, but sometimes I get broke. I can afford it now though, so I will do it.

The border collie gets about a big thigh. The old dachshund gets about a drumstick, and the pup gets somewhere between a drumstick and a thigh. I get hindquarters and cut them apart. A little organ meat in the mix and you're good. No grains, no supplements, just meat with bones and organs.

Make sure and tell your friends not to throw out freezerburnt or old (frozen) meat! A friend of mine got half a cow because a co-workers freezer died and the meat thawed before they found out.

[MomOBrien]

raw meat

My dog will leave his meat outside in the sun for several hours before eating it and he is fine, but I was wondering how long raw meat will stay safe for dogs if it is kept refrigerated?

[Ola_]

Hmm, I'd say about 3-4 days? I follow pretty much the same standards as for humans. If it will be longer than that it's better to freeze and then thaw when you need it.

[Arduinna]

Dogs have the digestive track capable of eating food we can't. I really wouldn't worry about it. We have fed ours raw meat that has been in the fridge for 2 weeks and it's fine. We do try and work it out so that we only keep a weeks worth thawed because it's a waste of fridge space so we freeze what they can't eat in that time frame but there have been times when something got pushed to the back and got found and they ate it fine.