diet questions and confusions

[greagre]

I occasionally feed some boiled chicken meat without bones to Dudu. I noticed that the stool is significantly less than usual the next day. I think this is good because she absorbed it all. So I did more research on dog's diet. I noticed that some people prefer raw feeding, some prefer half dog food half raw feeding, some prefer half cooked meat half dog dry food, and some just feed dry food like what I am doing. I also heard about the concern that it is not easy to guarantee the balanced nutrition when feeding homemade meals and/or raw. Then some of such dog owners do a lot of health checks to the dogs a couple of times a year to make sure dogs are healthy. Also, raw feeding is more likely to bring parasite to dogs. However, commercial dry dog food can provide balanced nutrition to dogs for sure. So the motivation to feed raw is that raw diet can make dogs healthier?

I am very confused where we should go. Switch to raw feeding (like purchasing Darwin's pet food)? Occasionally feed raw with dry dog food? Occasionally feed cooked meat with dry dog food? Or just simply dry dog food? Thank you for any comments!

[Tanya]

boiled chicken is more of a treat though right? as a "meal" it wouldnt have too much nutrients (at least i wouldn't think).

those who feed raw do feel it is healthier. no preservatives or relying on big companies. it's important to ensure its well balances. there are various types as well. you can "cook" your own dog food, feed barf or pret model (or is barf prey? i forget) and others.

[JenC]

Prey model is fed by many people who feed raw, but upon appearance how balanced does it look?? It's just meat. Just meat.

What's worked for us is to feed kibble and use fresh cooked meat as a topper.

[shellbell]

Prey model raw is 80% muscle meat/10% bone/5% liver/5% all other organs. If you feed that it is balanced. But there are also other things to consider, if you are not feeding mostly grass fed red meat, you need to add fish oil for Omega's. The more variety of protein sources you can feed, the better. The more red meat you can feed, the better. I've been feeding my dogs this way for over four years. I do take them in for a full blood panel every year and everything is always in the normal ranges. Some things (BUN and creatin in particular) can have a different normal range for raw fed dogs, since the standard normal is based on kibble fed.

[LabMunsterBracco]

Prey model raw is 80% muscle meat/10% bone/5% liver/5% all other organs. If you feed that it is balanced. But there are also other things to consider, if you are not feeding mostly grass fed red meat, you need to add fish oil for Omega's. The more variety of protein sources you can feed, the better. The more red meat you can feed, the better. I've been feeding my dogs this way for over four years. I do take them in for a full blood panel every year and everything is always in the normal ranges. Some things (BUN and creatin in particular) can have a different normal range for raw fed dogs, since the standard normal is based on kibble fed.

"Prey Model Raw" is a complete myth and internet fabrication. Dogs evolved as scavengers that did very little to no hunting. They can eat and benefit from virtually any food. Garbage was their primary food.

Protein variety does nothing. Dogs need 10 amino acids and their tummies would not know from Adam if they came from beef, chicken, fish, eggs, lentils, peas, wheat, oats, etc. All animal sources are complete proteins, while only a few vegetable are. That is the only difference.

Pick a dry food that you can get easily and you can afford.

Your dogs health will not be dictated by diet in the US. Some people obsess about diet yet neuter too early and vaccinate too much.

In answer to your question, meat has no fiber so the stools will be smaller. It has nothing to do with nutrient absorption.

[shellbell]

"Prey Model Raw" is a complete myth and internet fabrication. Dogs evolved as scavengers that did very little to no hunting. They can eat and benefit from virtually any food. Garbage was their primary food.

Protein variety does nothing. Dogs need 10 amino acids and their tummies would not know from Adam if they came from beef, chicken, fish, eggs, lentils, peas, wheat, oats, etc. All animal sources are complete proteins, while only a few vegetable are. That is the only difference.

Pick a dry food that you can get easily and you can afford.

Your dogs health will not be dictated by diet in the US.

In answer to your question, meat has no fiber so the stools will be smaller. It has nothing to do with nutrient absorption.

Haha okay then. I guess I am doing it all wrong.

[arentspowell]

"Prey Model Raw" is a complete myth and internet fabrication. Dogs evolved as scavengers that did very little to no hunting. They can eat and benefit from virtually any food. Garbage was their primary food.

Protein variety does nothing. Dogs need 10 amino acids and their tummies would not know from Adam if they came from beef, chicken, fish, eggs, lentils, peas, wheat, oats, etc. All animal sources are complete proteins, while only a few vegetable are. That is the only difference.

Pick a dry food that you can get easily and you can afford.

Your dogs health will not be dictated by diet in the US. Some people obsess about diet yet neuter too early and vaccinate too much.

In answer to your question, meat has no fiber so the stools will be smaller. It has nothing to do with nutrient absorption.

You undercut your entire premise. As scavengers, dogs should be able to thrive on kibble as well as a homemade diet.

[Abulafia]

Dogs evolved as scavengers that did very little to no hunting. They can eat and benefit from virtually any food. Garbage was their primary food.

You know, I am pretty sure this is not the case. Wild dogs did (and do) hunt in packs. In re "garbage was their primary food," I don't exactly know what you mean by this. If you mean the very earliest dogs that began to be human companions—and we're talking 27,000 to about 40,000 years BP—then I am not even sure what you mean by "garbage." These dogs would have been domesticated almost certainly to serve as hunting companions (and, likely, companions) and so would have shared in the hunt.

Wheat was not domesticated until ~12,000 or so years BP, for what it's worth. So... no. That's not what dogs "evolved" eating. They would have been domesticated in part by sharing the meals—the meant—that they likely helped their humans hunt. The domestication of dogs far, far predates that of any other animals or plants.

Protein variety does nothing. Dogs need 10 amino acids

Dogs do need 10 essential amino acids. However, this doesn't make proteins interchangeable. Further, very few vegetable sources provide complete proteins, which is why (for instance) dogs should not be fed primarily from human garbage and why dogs really cannot be kept vegetarian in any kind of responsible way.

and their tummies would not know from Adam if they came from beef, chicken, fish, eggs, lentils, peas, wheat, oats, etc.

This is not the case. All of these foods carry different protein profiles and different levels of digestibility.

Pick a dry food that you can get easily and you can afford.

That is not bad advice.

Your dogs health will not be dictated by diet in the US.

That is incorrect.

[LabMunsterBracco]

Most of you don't know what you are talking about. Whenever someone has a question the zealots pile on with amateur science.

Their is no correlation with health or longevity with pets being fed commercial diets available in the United States compared to fad diets.

Dogs have about the most flexible digestive systems I can think of and least specific dietary requirements. As scavengers, they don't need to be pampered.

House pets in particular have very modest nutritional needs since they sleep on average 17 hours a day.

I already agreed that vegetable proteins are not ideal but they should not be excluded either.

If you want to spend all day worrying about what your dog eats that is fine, but you don't have to.

Genetics, when or if you neuter, how frequently you vaccinate and average weight will determine the health of your dog and how long it lives, not Prey Model Raw vs. Pro Plan.

[arentspowell]

Most of you don't know what you are talking about. Whenever someone has a question the zealots pile on with amateur science.

Their is no correlation with health or longevity with pets being fed commercial diets available in the United States compared to fad diets.

Dogs have about the most flexible digestive systems I can think of and least specific dietary requirements. As scavengers, they don't need to be pampered.

House pets in particular have very modest nutritional needs since they sleep on average 17 hours a day.

I already agreed that vegetable proteins are not ideal but they should not be excluded either.

If you want to spend all day worrying about what your dog eats that is fine, but you don't have to.

Genetics, when or if you neuter, how frequently you vaccinate and average weight will determine the health of your dog and how long it lives, not Prey Model Raw vs. Pro Plan.

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