I have a lab mix puppy. I have been feeding him purina pro plan because that is what was recommended by his obedience trainer. I'm starting to wonder if it is healthier for them to have a dry food diet or a raw food diet. Which is better in your opinion? Personal experiences? And if I were to make my own raw food what would I put in it? He is 11 weeks old.
Silly human, meat's for dogs!
Favorite Answer
Raw.
Purina is really bad anyway.
Personal experiences? My dogs have been fed nearly every 5 star kibble out there - Taste of the Wild, Before Grains, Blue Buffalo Wilderness, etc. I began feeding Raw Meaty Bones (RMB) last year, and within MINUTES of chowing down, their teeth were pearly white! I began looking into different raw diets; Prey Model Raw (PMR), BARF, even Prey Model BARF and pre-made. I decided to go with Prey Model Raw, and I have seen fantastic results. I have a 4 year old mutt that, prior to being fed raw, her teeth were disgusting, brown almost, and her breath always smelt like..crap, most literally. Now, her teeth are pearly white, and she no longer has that bad 'dog breath'! Her poop is no longer the size of a horses, they are a manageable size and within a few days are even like rocks (from bone matter) and I can easily pick them up by hand and put them in the garbage. Sure, it seems disgusting because you feed kibble and your dog probably has enormous, stinky poops. Not my dogs, I can go out and pick it up as if it was nothing.
The BEST raw diet (Prey Model Raw) consists of meat, bones, organs, and offal. The basic ratio in the order I listed them is 80:10:5:5.
80% Meat
10% Bones
5% Organs (Especially liver!)
5% Offal
(Offal is leftover parts of animals after slaughter, like heads, hooves, feet, etc.)
Start out with something simple, like chicken. Give a wing, drumstick, thigh, whatever. Start giving other meats, like turkey. Then you can start giving liver, kidney, hooves, whatever you can find.
If you choose to feed PMR, then whole carcasses are important. Feeding whole chicken, turkeys, even some rabbits and deer if you're lucky enough to get them. However, if you find quality meats on sale, but they're ground, get them and feed them frozen. Last night, my dogs got frozen ground bison and beef liver. Tonight, they are getting chicken drumsticks + thighs, a LITTLE bit of pumpkin (Helps with digestion) and their favorite chew toy - pig hooves!
Here's a raw food calculator to help you determine how much to feed: http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm
Good luck! :)
Dreamer
Raw food, by far. And just about ANY diet is better than Purina- find a new trainer quick if that's the best education yours has! Purina is garbage. I wouldn't feed it to a pet rat.
There are lots of options for raw feeding, type it into Google and read through all the information there is. There are pre-made raw diets that can be a good starting point for first time raw feeders, you can find them in most areas now.
I've been feeding raw for years, I have 2 Papillons and a GSD puppy, the GSD was raised entirely on raw and is a beautiful healthy dog with a shiny coat, and never gets the runs, or gas, or any of the other nasty side effects of kibble feeding.
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michael
This is by Cesar the dog whisperer "One type of food espoused by some well-meaning pet lovers is biologically available raw food (BARF). The idea of this approach is that raw food is closer to what a dog would eat in the wild. Unfortunately, dogs in the wild do not live very long, which, to me, is a flaw in their logic, but I try to consider all viewpoints on issues this important. From research as it stands now, there is no real evidence that there are any health benefits to eating raw meat. If, however, you do want to try it, make sure you do your research and do it the right way. With extreme choices such as raw food, there is no such thing as “I do mostly raw food”. Even proponents of the diet will tell you that there are risks if you don’t do it exactly right. In addition to finding organic food sources, you must balance the food with vegetables and other sources of micronutrients to meet all of your dog’s nutritional needs. Changing an adult dog to BARF too quickly can cause pancreatitis, so follow your vet's instructions."
So there we go obsessives there is scientifically no advantage and you can harm your dog by feeding it raw! An 80/20 kibble is best which contains the fruit and veg that wild dogs also eat and isn't in raw meat!