[Michael P G]

Hey, I have a question for anyone out there who might have tried or knows about either Ollie’s or The Farmer’s Dog delivered fresh dog food. I’m tempted to try it since my 7 yo Boston Terrier seems to be getting more picky as he ages and I want him to have the best that a non-processed, whole food diet can give him. HOWEVER, when I look at the nutrition breakdown of both these seemingly respected new brands, the protein min/max is around 12%, which is significantly lower than the Blue Buffalo kibble and Stella and Chewy’s dehydrated that I currently feed him (around 24% protein). He’s an active dog–lots of hiking, swimming and outdoor adventure and I’m concerned the change won’t meet his requirement for best muscle maintenance, etc. Anyone have any advice? Or experience with delivered whole food/homemade diets? Thanks!

[anonymous]

Has he had his senior physical exam and lab work done? If not, I would start there, the findings will help you regarding your decisions about food choices.

[Susan]

Hi Michael,
These home made raw diets are the rage in Australia, the smaller pet shops have their own home made raw diets, where the bigger Pet food companies sell the commercial raw diets like Barf & Big Dog.. I’d stay away from the bigger raw companies the meat is lower grade…. is the Farmer Dog diet a cooked or raw diet?? wet tin & raw diets have not been converted to dry matter (Kibble) ….. Email the pet food companies & ask what is the fat % & protein % after being converted to dry matter, the protein is going to be around 40% & more being 12%-raw…. Just be careful with higher fat as dogs get older especially if your dog is prone to Pancreatitis….My boy is 8yrs old with IBD/Pancreatitis & I stay around 15% & under for fat when eating a kibble & it’s hard finding a pre made raw diet around 3-4% raw fat = 12-15%dry, unless I make it myself, it depends on the brand, Kangaroo & turkey formula’s are around 3-4%-fat raw, converted to dry matter (Kibble) that’s around 11-16%-fat…. your dog may be OK with fat around 5%-raw = 20-25% converted to dry matter, look what the fat % is in the dry kibble he eats, it’s probably around 12-15% in fat, so now you need a raw diet where the fat says 3-4% & then slowly increase to a higher fat %, first see if he’s OK eating the new raw diet, I started feeding my boy freshly home made raw for breakfast & I was still feeding him his kibble for dinner, the kibble keeps them feeling fuller longer & when they start eating a raw diet they get hungry quicker, your boy may lose a little weight when he starts the raw diet, but that’s a good thing, then you just increase the raw if he losses too much weight, your going to have a healthier dog being feed raw…..
It’s best to join a few raw feeding face book groups like “K9 Nutrition” – Lew Olson’s group & “K9 Kitchen” – Monica Segal’s group they have fresh home made raw & cooked diets & you’ll learn how balance & make your own home made diets with fresh human grade ingredients also follow Rodney Habib…

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