When I got my first Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy I loved going to the pet shop and dissecting bags of dog food and choosing the very best bag money could buy.
I’d take my expensive bag of food, complete with pictures of winning show dogs and plates of meats and vegetables, to the check-out counter thinking “what a lucky dog I have.”
I would excitedly rush to put this tasty gourmet treat down to my puppy only for her to completely turn her nose up and refuse to eat it. More journeys to the pet shop, even more expensive bags of food and each time she would turn her nose up at it - no matter what I fed she wouldn’t eat it.
I remember asking myself what does this tiny little dog know that I don’t about the food I’m putting in her bowl? I got desperate as she simply wouldn’t eat. I tried all the tricks, not feeding her treats, not leaving her food down for her to pick at you name it I tried it!
I remember looking at all the flashy adverts on TV seeing all those healthy dogs all jumping up to get their delicious bowl of dried dog food and wondering what was I doing wrong - she would show no interest when her dinner bowl came out, I started to worry was she sick. In desperation I asked a Cavalier group if they could help - instantly I was asked “have I tried raw?”. My face made that expression that I think we all did and said RAW - you mean raw meat?
I tentatively bought my first pre made bag of puppy raw food and thought there is no way she is going to eat that, was I wrong, her head didn’t come up for air!! I’ve never seen a dog eat so fast. That was the start of my journey to feeding all 4 of my dogs complete DIY raw. A lot of study and research into what exactly I should be feeding and I have 4 of the healthiest little Cavalier King Charles Spaniels you will come across.
I don’t see how food in a bag with an ingredient list that I couldn’t even pronounce is the best choice for my dogs. And I wonder if those big companies with big marketing budgets really had my dogs’ best interests at heart.
But you probably don’t need the details of why I switched to raw because I’m assuming that, if you’ve read this far, you’re ready to do the same.
Why should dog food be raw?
Every species on earth should be eating a biologically appropriate diet. That is why cows eat grass and pandas eat bamboo. Dogs are so closely related to wolves that they can interbreed and they share the identical digestive system. Their biologically appropriate diet is prey and they eat the lot – meat, bones, innards, you name it.
Moreover, they don’t cook it first. Cooking alters a food’s molecular structure and destroys much of its nutritional value. Cooked food is actually rather unhealthy for dogs.
What are the benefits of feeding a raw food diet?
Diet is a very important part of keeping your dog healthy. There have been many articles about dog food made in China that had harmful ingredients. A raw food diet is the most natural and healthiest way to feed your favorite canine. Here are a few arguments about feeding your dog a raw food diet. Please remember to slowly wean your dog off of their current diet so they do not experience any digestion problems.
Raw Diet Benefits for Dogs
Cleaner teeth and healthy gums: Your dog’s teeth and gums will be cleaner and healthier from chewing raw meaty bones. When your dog starts eating raw meat with consumable bones; you will learn that raw meat and bones do not allow for plaque to build up. The crunching of small bones by your dog naturally provides scraping for his teeth. Raw bones are easily digested and they are good source of calcium and roughage for cleaning the teeth and gums naturally. On the other hand, canned dog food consists of highly processed food with added fat and preservatives, which will most likely cause plaque.
Keep extra weight off: Raw diet ensures that your dog stays lean and strong, and lean dogs live longer. High protein raw diets will help your dog lose weight without losing muscle mass. On a high raw protein diet, approximately a seventh of the weight loss will be muscle and about 85% of the weight loss will be fat. The bottom line is that to maintain your dog’s muscles, his body needs protein. Raw diet helps you improve your dog’s feeling of fullness, so your dog is less of food pest when dieting, and it should be easier to keep him lean. Lean dogs live longer, have stronger immune system, and have lower blood pressure.
Improved muscle strength and stability: The tearing, shredding and meaty bone crushing activity that comes with a raw diet is helpful in building up strength in your dog’s neck, jaws, shoulder, and back muscles. Raw dog diet lifestyle’s increased activity will strengthen your dogs skeletal as well as heart muscles, which enhances cardiovascular functioning and improves balance and flexibility. The bones and natural cartilage in the diet will grow your dog strong bones and healthy joints.
Lower risk of cancer: Your dog is less likely to get cancer if he is fed on raw diet. Consumption of raw green vegetables is essentially important for dogs that eat dry foods. Dry foods are predisposed to aflatoxin contamination. Despite the fact that smaller amounts of aflatoxin are considered normal in the grains used for dog foods, green vegetables can significantly help offset the contamination element’s negative effects. Green vegetables are composed of chlorophyll, which is known to delay the onset of signs of liver cancer caused from the consumption of aflatoxin-contaminated grains. Make sure to balance the fats and complete your dog’s nutrition with fresh foods.
Better digestion and improved stool quality: When you give your dog raw food, he starts to eat by working on his jaws and teeth on the meaty bones and fleshy meat. Your dog will eat slowly, providing himself with full enjoyment. As he continues to chew, more gastric juice is secreted so that the food can be digested properly. Firmer as well as smaller stools with less smell are produced by your dog after consuming raw diet. Your dog’s stool may contain powdery white material from bones, which is absolutely normal. Better digestion leads to small and firm stool, which generally improves your dog nutrient absorption.
Better eye health: When you feed your dog raw diet from his young age, he will have fewer eye problems as he grows old. In order to maintain good eye health, raw diet with balanced fats will improve your dog’s retina. The amount of fat, protein, and carbs based upon raw diet will provide your dog with essential antioxidants among other nutrients known to protect the eyes. These may include vitamins D and E, lutein from egg yolks, and zinc. The sardines and oysters in the raw diet provide natural source of zinc. Ideally, a raw diet provides your dog with naturally balanced nutrition.
Dogs eating a raw food diet can be expected to live longer and to suffer less illness and disease.
Indeed, if your dog has any health issues now (even minor problems such as allergies, dry skin, bad breath and wind) it is quite likely that a switch to a raw food diet will clear them up.
What are the costs involved in raw feeding?
When I first transitioned my dogs to raw feeding, I started with a raw food brand. The food was delivered to me, it was 100% balanced, and the dogs loved it. Woo hooo! I’m a raw feeder!!!
Commercial raw dog food is ideal, in my opinion, because you don’t have to worry about balancing your dog’s diet, finding the ingredients, and doing the work. Everything arrives at your door ready to feed. Easy Peasy!
However, commercial raw dog food is expensive because they do all the work for you. When our family increased to four big dogs, I couldn’t afford to feed 100% premade raw dog food and began exploring ways to make raw on my own.
With a lot of research and hard work I DIY raw feed my dogs. Along with the fact that more and more stockists of raw are popping up all over the uk it is easier to get your hands on all the products you need to feed raw. This greatly reduced my costs and it is actually cheaper feeding my 4 dogs raw now than if I was feeding tinned or dry food.
How to Raw Feed My Dog?
Raw feeding is all about feeding your dog the way nature intended. At the end of the day; nature is indisputable. In other words, you cannot argue with nature.
If you want to feed your dog a raw diet, it essentially means you cannot feed your dog any cooked or processed food.
In the wild, dogs do not have access to veterinary care and are subject to other dangers such as starvation and natural predators; the raw diet recognises this. This is why the a raw diet does not duplicate, but mimics its wild counterpart’s diet.
The goal is not to create a well-balanced meal each day, but to create a balanced diet over a period of time
You can choose to use premade mixes that have done all the hard work for you but, are costly or DIY your dog's meals yourself, this is not expensive but you must do thorough research. For example you must feed your dogs bones but, these must be uncooked, non weight bearing bones. Cooked bones must never be eaten as these can very easily splinter and damage your dog.
How Much Should I Feed My Dog?
Inactive dogs need less calories, not necessarily less food. So you can go one of two way from this point. You can feed him less food (say 2.2 – 2.5% of his body weight per day) or you could feed him the same size meal as a normal dog but you need to make sure his meals are lean (use white meats like chicken / turkey / fish instead of fattier red meats). If he’s over weight check out our article on fat dogs!
You need to feed active dogs a little more food (at least 3% of his body weight) or feed a higher calorie (fattier) meal! So opt for red meats over white!
Puppies eat a lot more in terms of a percentage of their body weight. To get an accurate figure you will need the weight of your pup AND the weight you expect him to be then go to our dog food calculator. In short the pup of a medium sized dog will be eating around 10% of his body weight at 2 months of age, 5% of his body weight by 6 months and 3% of his body weight by a year.