[SummerRainAussies]

HDM

There are so many reviews to read here! WOW!
I have been reading a lot of your reviews the last few weeks and you are so educational for raw feeding I thought i would join and try and chat with you.
I have been feeding my Aussies pre-made raw such as darwins, and vital essentials. I have always wanted to make my own raw but was afraid of not making it balanced and That and it seems so expensive for my 22 year old self. But am totally willing to spend more on my dogs than myself. I was reading and discovered Hare-today from a earlier post and that seems like a good place. Human grade?
I was trying to maybe find a good book.
I want to maybe start with half homemade than when i get better at it switch to full homemade.

I dont know what vitamins to give and how much.

[Hound Dog Mom]

SandyandMila –

Yes you could rotate a homemade greens supplement with the Nature’s Logic supplement.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hey losul –

I used tried the Amazing Grass’ Green SuperFood chocolate drink mix – I love the ingredients but it was one of the nastiest things I’ve ever tasted. I went back to Wysong’s whole food supplement capsules – much more palatable lol. I wouldn’t recommend using the Amazing Grass supplement for a dog because it contains green tea and it doesn’t state that it’s been decaffeinated. This is the problem with many green supplements designed for humans.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Aussie Mom –

Homemade raw is actually much cheaper than pre-made raw. I spend just under $200 a month to feed my girls a homemade raw diet – for comparative purposes it would cost me nearly $800 per month to feed Darwin’s (based on the average cost of all of their formulas). There are many ways to keep costs low when feeding a homemade raw diet: 1) Utilize raw meaty bones (chicken backs, turkey necks, etc.) – they are much cheaper per pound than boneless meat and if fed in appropriate quantities will eliminate the need for a calcium supplement; 2) Use heart, gizzards and green tripe for the muscle meat component of the diet – these items are cheap and nutritious, dogs have no need for expensive cuts of meat such as boneless skinless chicken breast or beef sirloin; 3) Buy in bulk. I purchase my meat from a wholesaler that supplies restaurants and grocery stores – nearly every item I buy is under $1 per pound; 4) Purchase supplements from a human nutritional store, in bulk when possible – this is much cheaper than buying supplements marketed towards pets. I purchase all supplements for both myself and my dog from Swanson’s – best prices I’ve seen. I make my own green supplement by purchasing the ingredients I want in 1 lb. bags and combining them.

Hare Today is great – I do purchase a few things from there (mostly Green Tripe). Their products are not human grade as they contain things like green tripe, ground bone, fur/feathers (for whole prey grinds) that are not suitable for human consumption (but very nutritious for animals) and the products aren’t processed in a human food facility. Using Hare Today grinds may be slightly cheaper than pre-made raw but if you really want to cut costs you need to do it from scratch – many butchers will sell RMBs and offal cheaply as they’re not desirable for humans or hook up with a supplier like I did.

If you’re interested in homemade raw I would highly recommend purchasing “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown. It’s wonderful book for beginners and includes AAFCO compliant recipes that are easy to make and utilize easy to find and cheap ingredients. Dogaware(dot)com is also a great online resource.

[SandyandMila]

That’s why I prefer to make one like yours, I’ll know everything in it. I really like what I read about dulse, that u suggested. Since I already use bee pollen grandular, can I substitute dulse for the bee pollen. Would it be equal parts also? I think it could be beneficial for her allergies.

[Hound Dog Mom]

I add all the ingredients in equal parts but you can add them in whatever ratios you want them in – that’s the nice thing about making your own supplement. Dulse is a type of seaweed, it would be more of a substitute for kelp rather than bee pollen but you really don’t have to stick to a set list of ingredients, go with whatever ingredients you think will benefit your dog most. If you don’t want bee pollen in the supplement you could certainly substitute something else.

[SummerRainAussies]

HDM

Thank you so much! I will absolutely be purchasing that book later today. Hopefully it will be pretty self explanatory 😉
I had NO idea it could be that inexpensive to homemake raw. Wow crazy! I have looked at some butchers in my area and they all want to charge me a lot. Do you have any suggestions for finding a place that will charge me wholesale? Maybe a online distributer?
I’m new to this.. Is their a specific place I can go to chat with you or is it just in these forms?

[SandyandMila]

Check out dogaware.com as HDM suggested, there’s great resources on there and also a list of suppliers. You definitely came to the right place. I’m new to raw feeding as well (1 month now) and doing half homemade and half premade raw. I’m getting more comfortable with making homemade and enjoy learning on this site.

[losul]

Hi HDM.

Yeah, the taste of Amazing grass does take getting used to. lol. We don’t use the flavored ones. I guess the green tea could be a concern for the animals if it contained very much of it or if giving alot of it.

About the purple dulse, I always use it in place of kelp -small amounts. The taste takes some getting used to it too, more than a little fishy hah. Seems kind of addictive once used to it. Powdered good on popcorn and as a substitute for salt.

Many times kelp is harvested in heavily polluted waters, and supposedly tends to really absorb those nasties. The dulse usually comes from much cleaner waters. Mine comes from Nova Scotia.

[SummerRainAussies]

Thanks SandyandMila!

I looked that website up and it seem wonderful!
Im really glad that i ran across this site, it seems as though it may help me out alot! Real people i can talk to! 🙂
I cant wait to get started! 🙂

[pugmomsandy]

Aussie.mom

“Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Dr Karen Becker/Beth Taylor is good for beginners too. It has raw and cooked recipes, with or without bone. It also has a vitamin mix recipe. She uses ingredients that are easy to find.

[SandyandMila]

You will probably be able to find a lot locally (as far as meats, rmbs, organ meat, etc), that you just weren’t looking for before. That’s happened to me, I just found green tripe at a natural food store. It makes making homemade raw a lot more easier.

[Hound Dog Mom]

So losul – let me get this straight – you try your dog’s food and also use dulse for seasoning on your popcorn? I think I’ll stick with taking my “superfoods” in capsule form so I don’t have to taste them and have the bagged white cheddar popcorn instead. lol! 🙂

[Hound Dog Mom]

Aussie Mom – Talk to the owners of some restaurants in your area and see where they get their meat from. Contact the company and see if they cater to kennels. The company I get my meat from is just a restaurant supplier but they will cater to kennels/dog owners if the order is large enough. If the minimum order is especially large see if you can find a friend to go in on an order with you.

[theBCnut]

I found one by Health Comes First called Ultragreens that I actually like in my OJ. That really surprised me because I’m like HDM, give it to me in a capsule then hand me the cheddar cheese popcorn!

[losul]

LOL

I’ve sampled a couple of dog foods, but I definitely have my limits. I could never, ever become a kibble kruncher. I have however tasted most parrot pellets and nuts/seed though before we feed, and by experiences, I’m glad I do so.

On the supplements, human or not, as limited as we use them, and especially with having very loose regulations, to put it lightly, I personally rarely ever use any pill, tablet or capsule, preferring to rely on senses like taste, smell, and sight. Take fish oil for example. If you swallow gel caps of it, how would you know if it might be rancid until you begin to belch vile tastes and odors? And in the case of enteric coated caps you won’t even get any warning at all. It’s also really hard to determine the actual source, process, etc. used.

Anyone that is a regular sunflower seed eater, especially with the hull on, has probably had the opportunity to taste what complete rancidity/spoilage is like. One bad seed chewed can put out such a horrible taste, it can seem like hours to get the taste out, even with thorough rinsing and brushing.

Btw, I forgot. dulse sprinkled into chili just before serving is also especially tasty, IMO, you can still use cheddar cheese as a topping also 🙂 . Not me, but some people eat whole dried dulse like other folks would potato chips.

[Cyndi]

Lmao!! @ kibble kruncher! Ha ha ha!!!

[Hound Dog Mom]

I actually use a thumbtack to puncture my fish oil capsules every few weeks so I can taste and smell them to make sure they’re fresh (my dogs and I take the same fish oil). What a lot of people don’t realize is that if it’s fresh there will be no smell and virtually no taste! I see a lot of people on the review section complain about how fish oil is smelly – shouldn’t be. I use Carlson brand and have never had any issues.

[losul]

HDM, I agree , I like and respect Carlson brand and what you are doing checking it is good. Those round wooden toothpicks work very well also for puncturing also if using caps. I ‘m partial to quality bottled myself. Most of other brands in gel caps I don’t have any respect for, many of them now using enteric coated to mask the belching of bad tastes/odors and probable rancidity, as the enteric won’t dissolve until after leaving the stomach.

I do use very small amounts of the same NOW tocopherols/tocotreinals in gel caps that you use, and use toothpicks to squeeze out the small amounts I need, though even that can be had in a more natural whole food form-red palm oil.

I

[SummerRainAussies]

I was looking at the Carlson brand. I read an article that new studies are saying that fish oil can cause prostate cancer in men.. Do you think their would be any of the same risk in a in-tact male dog?

Also I was wondering if it was there is a pill/powder for all the needed vitamins and minerals that i could give that makes the calcium and phosphate levels correct and whatnot. At least until I have the portions of the meat down.
It feels less overwhelming if I could learn in it two phases. LOL

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Aussie Mom –

I would recommend “See Spot Live Longer Dinner Mix” – it’s a combination of whole foods and vitamins and minerals designed to balance a boneless raw meat diet. You add 2 – 4 tbs. per pound of meat and it supplies everything you need (in terms of vitamins, minerals, fiber and balancing the calcium to phosphorus ratio). I’m actually planning on utilizing this mix part time this fall when I go back to school to save me some time – as much as I love doing everything completely from scratch it can really take up a lot of time. You could use this while you’re researching how to do things completely from scratch. There are some other “pre-mixes” out there as well (Urban Wolf, Prefereance, Birkdale, Grandma Lucy’s, Sojo’s, Dr. Harvey’s, etc.). You will still need to add omega 3’s – either in the form of a quality fish oil, fatty fish, cage-free eggs or some combination of these.

If you’re concerned about a correlation between fish oil and prostate cancer I’d suggest reading this article by Dr. Mercola:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/07/31/omega-3-fats.aspx#!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[SandyandMila]

Congrats on going back to school, HDM!! We’re proud of you!! 🙂 Speaking of pre-mixes, Preference recommends using fish oil, coconut oil, or flax seed oil. What are your thought on flax seed oil, it’d the only one if the 3 I haven’t used?

[Hound Dog Mom]

I would only use flax if you’re feeding a lot of poultry – 1 tsp. oil or 1 tbs. ground flax (preferably sprouted) per pound of poultry fed. Poultry tends to be high in polyunsaturated fats (particularly linoleic acid) which red meats tend to be lower in, for this reason you want to avoid fat sources that are high in LA and, instead, add a fat source such as flax (or chia) which is lower in LA and higher in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). I don’t agree with using “fish oil or coconut oil or flax oil” as flax oil and coconut oil are not a replacement for a quality fish oil. Fish oil supplies bioavailable omega 3’s in their long-chain forms – docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Flax oil (and some other plant-based oils) do supply omega 3’s but they’re in the short-chain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) form. The body has to convert ALA to EPA and DHA and this process is very inefficient (I’ve read that in many cases less than 15% of the ALA is converted). Coconut oil, while a very healthy addition to the diet, does not contain omega 3’s – it contains saturated fat, predominantly in the form of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). I would recommend for a dog Mila’s size (she weighs around 50 lbs, right?) adding 1 capsule of a high quality fish oil daily or 1 tin (3.75 oz.) of sardines packed in water per week, up to 2 1/2 tsp. coconut oil per day and 1 tsp. flax oil or 1 tbs. ground flax per pound of poultry if she’s eating a lot of poultry. Hope that helps!

[SandyandMila]

Oh man, I’ve written 2 long replies and they disappeared. But anyways, I’ve been using krill oil for a few months now and just recently started with sardine oil and have been using coconut oil for the past year or so. I’ve been feeding sardines about once or twice a week with her raw. I am also looking into supplementing with vitamin e and of course the your whole food supplement I’ve been asking about and have already started giving her the NL supplement. I just wanted to know more info on flax and if it was something I needed to supplement. I’m running low on krill oil, should I stick with it and get some more or try something different, maybe salmon oil? I notice you use omega 3-6-9 with evening primrose, is that a good choice? Sorry about all the questions

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Sandy –

I do occasionally use small amounts of plant-based oils in conjunction with a quality fish oil – while I like my dogs getting the majority of their EFAs from animal sources I do like to provide some variety through the occasionally use of plant oils, sprouted flax, sprouted chia or hemp seeds. If you’ve been doing krill for awhile you might want to try something new. At the moment my girls are taking (I’m taking this as well) Carlson’s salmon oil complete – it has astaxanthin like krill oil. If you want to experiment with some plant based EFAs that’s fine, but be sure to continue with a quality animal based EFA supplement as well for the DHA and EPA. And don’t worry about all the questions, I don’t mind. 🙂

[Shihtzumom20]

Hi HDM, was recommended this product on a fb group and was wondering what you thought of it!
http://www.naturalcanine.com/green_power.html
I really like the looks of the see spot live longer dinner mix, I want to feed raw in the pm, am is ziwipeak air dried, and this may be just what I need! I liked urban wolf, but I want to stay away from potatoes, they make Dawsons eyes really watery! And I believe you are one that is OK with grocery store meats? Its all I can get right now, not too much in the ways of organics around here, but it is better than commercially made foods?… I was thinking of doing Nature’s Variety raw again, but have been on the fence…
I also am going to add in turmeric and some krill oil for supplements, he does love sardines, if he ate a can a week could I cut out the krill oil? A can drained is 80 grams. Or switch between krill and sardines if that would be helpful?
Have you ever heard of omega-alpha products, used some for my horse, and saw they had pet products I am mainly interested the probiotics and enzymes:
http://omegaalpha.ca/en/product/114/Probiotic_8_Plus_trade/
If you liked it, I thought it may be an option for Canadians!

[SummerRainAussies]

Wow thanks for all the great information. I am going to be ordering carlsons fish oil off Amazon. Could anyone tell me how much you would give a 50lb dog? In milligrams.
Also i’ve been reading that people squeeze the fish oil out of the capsules. Is this needed or could i just give the whole capsule with the oil in it?

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi shihtzumom –

Both of those products look good to me. Conventionally raised meats are fine in the event that naturally raised meats are either unavailable or unaffordable. While naturally raised would obviously be better, fresh conventionally raised meats are still superior to anything you’d get in a processed commercial food. You could give krill oil, tinned sardines, or reduce the amounts you feed of each and give a combination of both. He definitely wouldn’t need a whole tin of sardines a week – 1/2 tin per week would be plenty for a small dog. I’m not sure about the exact omega 3 content of the krill oil capsules you’re using but I’d guess 1 capsule every 2 – 3 days would be plenty.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Aussie Mom –

Which variety did you order? 1 capsule per day should be plenty for a 50 lb. dog. I was told by Steve Brown 1 capsule of Carlson’s Salmon Oil Complete (1,250 mg.) per day for my girls (68 – 75 lbs.) – they also get a few cage-free eggs per week and a small amount of plant-based omega 3’s.

[Shihtzumom20]

Hello Everyone,
So I have decided to take the plunge and make homemade raw for Dawsons pm meal! He will still get ziwipeak in the morning, for a couple reasons one its convenient mornings tend to be pretty busy! And I like their quality of meats so I think it is important Dawson gets it. He is getting the lamb variety so I think I will mostly use chicken for his dinner, but I may switch it up for beef every now and again as a treat.
Here is what my menu looks like, HDM could you take time to check how balanced it is I would greatly appreciate it!
So every am Dawson gets ziwipeak air-dried lamb. 1 ounce
pm- (3 ounces totatl) 90%-95% lean ground chicken, 200mg calcium citrate, ¼ tsp Carlson Cod Liver Oil, ½ capsule vitamin E, ½ tsp of organic wheatgrass powder+ organic kelp powder+ organic turmeric powder (mixed together in equal parts), Raw multiple Glandular supplement
*NOTE* Every 4 days Dawson consumes 1 pound of meat. On the 5th day he will get an rmb, either chicken wing with no skin (want to keep the fat fairly minimal) or beef/pork rib equaling three ounces.
Every pm meal for supplements he will get his (minimal lol) whole food supplement, and the calcium citrate but NOT on rmb night. Only 2x per week he will get 1/2 capsule vit E, and twice every 4 days he will get 1/4 tsp Carlson cod Liver oil.
I wasnt sure if I should include some liver/organ in his meal since he gets the ziwipeak in the morning and it has organs, I was hoping the raw glandular supplement would take care of that? I was also unsure what I should get for the chicken, I dont want a lot of fat since Shih tzu’s are prone to obesity and we are heading into fall/winter lol! I decided to use the cod liver oil for his vitamin d for now till I get used to it, but then I may try to give more variety using keifer, raw eggs etc.
I also want to add canned trippett, and 1/4 tin of sardines in the four day period. I think by using both the cod liver oil and sardines he would meet his omega 3 requirements and not need krill oil. But if thats wrong I will get the krill oil too! I want to take it anyways so I will have it on hand. I cant access the canned tripett website today. My computer wont let me into it, could you tell me how much and when I should I add it in?
Well how did I do? Please let me know if anything is in excess, missing or unnecessary!

[Shihtzumom20]

oops forgot the veggies, because Dawson hates them I’m not sure what to do, he doesn’t even like fruit really. I think I will add in like a tablespoon of veggie/fruit baby food and if he will eat that then make up a veggie mix of sweet potatoe, bananas. carrots, any fruit thats on sale, kale, cook/steam it puree and put it in ice cube trays and give him one or two ice cubes per dinner, depending on how well he eats it either every day or with his grind only not rmb day. Oh and I was thinking of adding an extra small rmb with an am meal after his ziwipeak, I guess that would depend on how well he is keeping his weight?

[Shihtzumom20]

switched up the whole food supplement a bit, now its spirulina powder, turmeric powder and alfalfa leaf powder, I ordered all my supplements from swansons and really liked it! I hope they get it shipped ok! I should get it in a couple weeks and then can start feeding raw!

[Shihtzumom20]

They already shipped them out yay!! They were really fast! Now its a waiting game. Would anyone be able to tell me if I should use 90% or 95% ground chicken? And how my recipe holds up? Thanks!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Shihtzumom –

I must have somehow missed your previous posts, I just saw them today.

Because Dawson is getting the Ziwipeak for one meal a day I wouldn’t get overstressed about whether or not his raw meals are completely balanced – any minor deficiencies will likely be covered by the Ziwipeak. Your recipe looks really good! If you were to feed 1/4 tin of sardines per week, in addition to the cod liver oil, his DHA/EPA needs should be covered. If you can’t get him to eat fruits and vegetables this should be okay seeing as he is getting a green superfood supplement (just make sure to rotate ingredients often). You may, however, want to add an ingredient with some fiber for the meals where he’s not getting bone if he’s not eating fruits and veggies either – some flax meal would work and it would also have the added benefit of helping to balance the fats in his predominantly chicken diet. I would still include a small amount of organ meat in the diet even though he’s getting the glandular supplement. I would suggest about an ounce or an ounce and a half of liver every week and an ounce or an ounce and a half of kidney (or another organ, if you can get it). If you’re concerned about his weight and want to keep fat levels low 95% lean should be okay, I wouldn’t go any leaner than that though. You could also use heart and gizzard as part of his muscle meat component – very lean and also pretty cheap. The only other suggestion I would make is to incorporate some nuts or seeds occasionally (I like sprouted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia or flax) and possibly a few canned oysters as well. The nuts/seeds will provide trace nutrients such as manganese and the oysters are rich in copper and zinc. You should also add a very small amount of salt. This aren’t additions that need to be made daily, but occasionally to help fill the gaps. Variety is key.

[Shihtzumom20]

Hi Hound Dog Mom, thats ok I have to wait on his supplements anyways! Thank you for suggesting Swanson’s I love them! Everything is so easy to find and pretty cheap! Plus the shipping to Canada is very reasonable.
Im glad you like my recipe! I will make sure to add in the liver and other organs, I was thinking I would give the raw glandular every other day, or do you think it should be every day? I found a baby food organic, its banana, sweet potato and blueberry puree, then concentrated lemon juice and absorbic acid. No artificial flavours or colours, BPA free package, they have many other fruits, vegetables single and combos. Would this be ok to use? Is the tablespoon enough? And the clacium citrate, I was wondering if I should only give it every 3 out of 4 days since the rmb (on the 5th day)will have bone in it? For the green supplement I really wanted to add in wheatgrass but I didnt find any on swansons, so I went with spirulina instead. For the flax meal how much/when should I give him? Oh and the tripett, how much of that would I give him? I can get the canned easily.
Sorry for all the questions, but I am very excited! I am finally doing it! When I really looked into the balancing it wasn’t too bad, but it did take me awhile! I do like feeding the ziwipeak in the am so I have some reassurance he is getting what he needs!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Shihtzumom –

The pouched baby foods are fine. I actually use them when I’m short on time. I like Plum Organics, Peter Rabbit Organics, Earth’s Best and Happy Baby. 1 tbs. should be plenty for a small dog – when I give it to my girls I split the pouch between the two of them (they’re 68 – 75 lbs.). Only give the calcium when you’re feeding boneless meat – at the rate of 800 – 1,000 mg. per pound of boneless muscle meat or 1,400 – 1,600 mg. per pound of organ meat. Swanson’s has several wheat grass products available – this is what I use in my green blend: https://www.swansonvitamins.com/starwest-botanicals-wheat-grass-powder-organic-1-lb-pkg . For flax I would suggest adding 1 tbs. per pound of meat, if you can get sprouted that’s better. I order this from Swanson’s: https://www.swansonvitamins.com/navitas-naturals-sprouted-flax-powder-8-oz-pkg . For the Tripett I would suggest mixing in 1 – 2 tbs. with his meal. I’m glad you like Swanson’s – I’m obsessed. I go nuts every time I order from them – I just got a huge box of supplements in for myself! 🙂

[theBCnut]

I’m the same way with Swanson’s. I order everything I could possibly want for my dogs, then add in a few things to try for myself.

[Shihtzumom20]

Thanks Hound Dog Mom! I am getting pretty obsessed with Swanson’s, I already have other things to add to Dawson’s green blend picked out! It is so much more fun making your own green blend/raw!
I am sure I will have more questions later! Especially if I go full raw! (which is likely I think!)

[JLezinsky]

Hi Hound Dog Mom,

We have been wanting to switch our pup to a raw food diet for a while now. We have been doing tons of reading on this forum and research and decided to start with a pre-made raw mix while we figured out how to add more from scratch.

Last weekend at our local pet store the owners of Sirius Raw Dog Food (a small company from Ruby, NY) were out front talking about their product. I was wondering if anyone has heard or more importantly used their food? We decided to give it a try and start or 8 month old Catahoula (40 lbs) on it. We switched her cold turkey without any problem, in fact she went crazy for it. However, the more I read on this form the more excited I get about making good food for her, but at the same time the more overwhelming this starts to seem. Our biggest concern right now is that she is getting the proper nutrition and the correct amounts of food. Sirius told us that she will be good with 2% her body weight, about 1lb a day. And that everything she needs is in the food. We started giving her ½ lb twice a day. It has only been a few days and it is hard to tell if she’s hungry or just wants more because it is so good. Yesterday we increased her feeding to ¾ lb twice a day. Since she is only 8 months should she be giving her more than 2-3%? Sirius told us that she was considered an adolescent. I just want to get your opinion.

Also, should we be using any additional supplements while we stay on the Sirius pre-made mix? Should we be concerned about the calcium while on this?

I figured this was the best place to get answers. I appreciate any help you can give us.

Thanks,
Jon

There is not a lot of information on their site so I attached the nutritional info. that they had emailed to me. They have a few blends, a chicken, a beef, a turkey.

beef blend….Ingredients: Beef, Chicken Bones, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Sweet Potato, Carrots, Zucchini, Romaine Lettuce, Spinach, Cilantro, Parsley, Ginger Root, Garlic
Guaranteed analysis: crude protein, min 16.00%; crude fat, min 14.00%, crude fiber, max 00.30%; moisture, max 64.00%

http://www.siriusrawdogfood.com

[InkedMarie]

There is someone here who has used their products. I was going to, until I saw the fat & protein levels. Fat should be around half of the protein but its almost the same in Sirius. I passed on ordering.

[Alexandra]

Hi Jon,

I am the one that Marie was mentioning. I ordered 50# to try out. My dogs a 90# GSD and 50# Cattle dog mix did very well on it. Marie mentioned to me about the fat, which that got by me when I placed my order. GSD’s can have pancreatic issues and higher fats can cause these issues. I was going to keep it in my rotation but it is a chance that I wasn’t willing to take.

I make my own most of the time using Hare-today or My Pet Carnivore for my meats. I may add Darwins back in as they have lower fat and are a very good company.

[InkedMarie]

Hi Ali,
Thanks for chiming in, I didn’t know if I should use your name or not.

[Alexandra]

Lol, it’s ok Marie!

I have been remiss about posting lately. Trying to return to normal.

[theBCnut]

I don’t like that the only organ is liver, heart doesn’t count, it is muscle. And I don’t like that there is no fish, fish oil, something, that is a good source of omega 3s. That wouldn’t bother me in the least if he was telling you to add a source of omega 3s, but he is telling you to add nothing. There are other things that I would add to this too, but those were the first 2 deal breakers for me.

[JLezinsky]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it.

[RescueDaneMom]

Hi All,

I have been lurking on DFA for a few months now. Originally I was trying to find the best dry food for my dog, then I started getting into dehydrated and freeze dried. Now I’m looking at frozen raw. For the past two months I have been doing 2/3 premium 5 star kibble with 1/3 frozen raw (complete formulas from Primal or Stella & Chewy’s). I didn’t know if my dog would go for it so that’s why I started this way. Now I want to move to full raw. I will admit to being lazy when it comes to this process. The easiest thing for me to get hold of right now is Primal grinds and complete formulas (Primal and S&C). A lady in the next town owner has become a retailer and sells it out of her house and adds very little markup.

I have a 7.5 year old Great Dane named Max that I got from a rescue. He is 155 pounds, is currently eating 1800-1900 calories per day, and is in perfect condition. I have fed him 3 meals per day since I got him because I could and it works for him. I want to do Primal grinds with additions for two of his meals and a complete formula for his third meal. I am most concerned with balancing his two meals of Primal grinds. From reading I have gathered that these grinds can be high in bone content as well as fat so it is important to add extra muscle meat (heart, boneless meats) and protein (eggs, cottage cheese, canned salmon, canned oysters, tripe?). I also plan on adding yogurt or kefir, sprouted seeds, fish oil, vitamin E, HDM’s superfood blend and veggie/fruit/herb puree, and 3 cloves of garlic 3x/week.

I have a few questions/ things I wanted to double check. He would need about 3200mg combined EPA/DHA, 300iu vitamin E, 200iu vitamin D/lb of food, 3 tsp of superfood blend daily, right? I couldn’t find what the appropriate amount of vitamin A was? If I use cod liver oil for the vitamin D, will that provide sufficient vitamin A? Also, would it be good to use a glandular supplement too? Lastly, assuming I have covered everything, a multivitamin/mineral isn’t needed correct?

Thank you in advance for your help. And special thanks to Hound Dog Mom for posting menus and such great, detailed information.

[pugmomsandy]

RescueDaneMom,

I don’t use the grinds, so no advice there. I was just going to suggest something easier and less time consuming to begin with – Urban Wolf, Grandma Lucy’s or Honest Kitchen premixes. You just add meat and some oil. There’s also a product called CarnivoreRaw (from Young Again Pet Food) that you add to meat. It’s a raw food supplement with everything in it. All you do is use meat and oil and the powder. That’s what I used this last time around in my batch of raw.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi RescueDaneMom –

There’s no need to add additional muscle meat to Primal grinds – all have balanced C:P ratios except for the beef and buffalo which actually have more phosphorus than calcium and thus should be fed with some RMBs. You would want to add vitamin e, vitamin d (such as cod liver oil), omega 3′ and a whole food supplement. I would also recommend feeding some canned oysters once or twice a week (high in zinc and selenium) and some ground nuts or seeds (like sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds) a few times a week (high in manganese). Yogurt or kefir is rich in probiotics and can make a good addition as well. Cod liver oil is rich in vitamin a but there’s really no need to worry about vitamin a levels – if the dog is getting liver (which it will be if its eating the grinds) and fruits/vegetables it will be getting plenty of vitamin a. Also keep in mind that the vitamin d requirements are 500 IU per kg (or approx. (227 IU per pound) on a dry matter basis – one lb. of raw food will provide around 0.3 lb. dry matter. Therefore, you would need around 68 IU per pound of raw food (minimum). I give my girls each a capsule of Carlson Cod Liver oil daily which has 250 IU vitamin d per capsule – they also get a some lower levels from beef liver, eggs, dairy. A glandular isn’t necessary, I think it can be beneficial though.

[RescueDaneMom]

Thank you pugmomsandy and Hound Dog Mom for the info and quick responses. It is much appreciated!!!

[SandyandMila]

HDM- does that go for the Primal beef mix as well? I fed it today for one if the meals and gave Mila a RMB for the other meal.

[Author]

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