Congratulations! You've decided to make the switch to RAW!

Raw Feeding Guidelines

Please remember these are guidelines and should be used as such – dogs are like humans with their individual metabolism and activity levels. 3 main factors to consider on how much to feed your dog is how much.

1 - Current weight and muscle mass

2 - Age

3- Daily level of activity.

On average - We recommend feeding your dog 2-3% of their body weight when they are at their desired weight. 2% for dogs on the lower end of the activity scale, 2.5% for a fairly active lifestyle and 3% for a very active pup. In the summer months, if you & your dog are very active and going on daily walks, runs, or hikes, you can boost their food intake up to 4%. 

Dogs are very much like humans with their individual flavour palettes. While most love raw, there are the dogs that will not enjoy it. That is okay! The idea of any diet is to ensure that your dog lives their best happy and healthy lives.

While some dogs take to their changes in diet instantly, most require a gradual transition between diets. If you are currently feeding your dog kibble, ask us how to make the transition. Every dog is unique so we'll make a custom program for you.

If you have nay questions or need help starting your pet on a Raw diet, don't hesitate to reach out! info@rawtopaw.ca or 587-888-4627.

 

The Top 5 Benefits Of Raw Food For Dogs 

A trial, conducted by the largest veterinary laboratory in the world, compared hundreds of raw food for dogs with dry dog food. This trial found that dogs fed fresh meat are significantly healthier than dry fed dogs (ANTECH 2003), immunologically speaking.

The following, is just some of the benefits gained from changing a dogs diet to a raw meat diet.

1. Coat Condition

The first physical change will be in the coat. Up to 40% of the protein a dog eats goes into their skin and coat! Thus when a dog is fed a low meat protein, cereal based diet (most dry foods) they will not have the protein spare to grow a healthy coat. In general raw dog food is high in fresh meat (protein) and fresh fat, which work together to fuel a luxurious coat.

2. Muscle Tone

Dogs are carnivore’s, meaning all they need to eat is protein (and fat). When fed this diet, they will shed the carbohydrate-fuelled fat to reveal their beautiful, sleek, firm body. Raw food for dogs is nearly always void of cereal filler (carbohydrates) which is central to getting a dogs weight and muscle tone right. Can you imagine a guy going to the gym to bulk up on a diet of 50% bread? Protein is the building blocks of muscle, organs, skin, hair and joints. There is no alternative.

3. Dental Hygiene

Cutting out dry kibble and offering a dog some meat on the bone improves dental hygiene and reduces bad breath (9/10 dry fed dogs suffer gum disease by 2 years and 9/10 are dry fed). Kibble bounces off the teeth, so now there is specially formulated “dental types”. Unfortunately, the fact that dogs have no amylase in their saliva (it breaks down carbohydrate sugars in the mouth), means that the sugars in these dry food products fuel bacteria growth leading to poor dental health and hygiene (plaque, tartar, calculus, gingivitis, periodontal disease). Put simply, dogs need fresh meaty bones to clean their teeth, not cooked, raw. Here’s how to feed bones to dogs safely.

4. Behaviour

The improvement in behaviour from raw dog food is primarily due to the removal of dry food from the diet. This is why the top behaviourists recommend it. Dry pet food is thought to fuel poor behaviour in three ways:

1. It is high in easily digested carbohydrates, which fuel high blood sugar and insulin levels long linked to poor behaviour.
2. It is full of chemicals (just have a look at the back of the packet).
3. It has a low vitamin B content (the mind soothing vitamins), and the B vitamins are very sensitive to long storage times.

5. Raw Food For Dogs Produces Less Waste, Thus Easier To Train And Better For The Kidneys

The amount of salt in dry food begins at 1.2%, the same percentage of salt that is in salted peanuts (and 4 times a dog’s RDA of salt per meal!). If there was no salt in the dry foods, the dogs would not touch the stuff. Due to the high amounts of salt in their diets, dry fed dogs drink huge amounts of water, causing higher amounts of urine. Toilet issues aside, this fuels kidney disease in dogs. Then there’s feces! The stool is the window of digestion. As fresh food is easier to digest than cooked food, it leads to improved digestion, meaning less feces. Stools from raw dog food also smell nothing like the stools from dry dog food, another little benefit. To sum it up, meat and bone is the ideal diet for a dog and this is before we discuss the scandalous amount of kidney disease, pancreatitis and cancer occurring in dogs today. The dry food diets are simply not working out for them. 

If you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out to us info@rawtopaw.ca or 403-470-7480.