What's new
Mastiff Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Welcome back!

    We decided to spruce things up and fix some things under the hood. If you notice any issues, feel free to contact us as we're sure there are a few things here or there that we might have missed in our upgrade.

What else besides meat and bone?

Winter's Cinder

Well-Known Member
Ok... now I've read and read and researched to the best of my ability to learn about raw feeding... I wont start this right away, but besides the meat, bone, and organs... what else can I mix in? Like fruits .... veggies? I saw something about cooking potatoes... im just wondering what stuff I could maybe add to the garden this spring....

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk
 

TricAP

Well-Known Member
That's great you are researching raw! We're beyond thrilled with our choice to feed all 3 of our dogs that way. Some do add fruits and veggie occasionally to help with stool bulk and keep the anal glands expressed. You will notice the fruit and veggie pieces come through undigested so the other school of thought is not to bother. Our EM can eat around the smallest bits of veggies in his bowl. Fruits he "thinks" he loves and the drool faucet turns on when he sees us eating them, but he always spits them out. Silly pup!
 

BAMCB

Well-Known Member
Researching is always a great idea but I've also found it to be a bit confusing at times. There are so many varieties of raw diets out there it's hard to decipher what is good and what to leave behind. Over time you will see what works well for you and your pups.

I add in frozen carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and green beans with their ground mix but not regularly. I do offer treats like trachea, gullets, whole egg, fresh whole sardines and the like with meals and use dried liver pieces and freeze dried sardines for training. They love cow tails(whole) for a meal also. It keeps them occupied for a bit too. I'm sure I'll think of more soon but had a root canal and still kinda hurting today:(
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
All you need for complete nutrition is Meat/Bone/Organs in the rough 80/10/10 ratios (with at least half of the organ coming from liver, the other half being kidney, spleen, brain, pancreas or any other secreting organ). That's it.

BUT, that said, variety is VERY important... so having at least 4 different protein sources, at least one - if not two - being red (land-based) meat. Our staples are: Pork, Lamb, Sardines, Beef and Bison
We also add in raw eggs - about 3-4 a week (which is probably on the low end) shell and all - they are good sources of vitamin D and biotin, which can be hard to come by elsewhere.

AND - There are studies out there, if you dig long enough, that suggest dogs who eat SOME veggies (especially colorful and/or cruciferous ones) have lower instances of some cancers. But, dogs don't digest cellulose, so you need to either pulverize/grind or freeze the veggies so the goodness inside the cells can get out.

Around here, I add in veggies as available - for example, when I cut up broccoli for dinner, I put any dog-safe trimmings in a bowl in the freezer (onions go in my stock-fixin's bag, NOT for the dog!), and then empty the bowl into Denna's dish a few times a week - as a 'topper' to her normal meal or as a treat (bi broccoli stems are one of Denna's favorites). I don't reduce her meat portions, I just add in the veggies. She LOVES broccoli, carrots, squash and even kale stems... she's a crazy dog. Our last dog (kibble fed) would not TOUCH a fruit or a veggie to save his life. Denna will strip any and all raspberries within her reach off the bushes in the summer time.... so I occasionally toss some berries in her dish too (as I'm getting them for my own oatmeal or smoothies).

Some other 'adders' to consider: coconut oil, tumeric, bone broth

You can go crazy - or not... the adders are definitely not 'necessary'.
 

Winter's Cinder

Well-Known Member
Ok... its gonna be toward the end of summer before I'll really have extra veggies (we had a lot going on this past yr so I took it off from gardening) I have a good food processor so I think I could get the goodie coming out of them... lol...
Now that I've reduced the amount she's getting a day... she isn't having anymore problems with the pork we transitioned to... I will look around for lamb here... im sure I can find some beef on sale soon... and there is always an abundance of deer around...
I haven't given her an egg yet... and I started beef liver this week.. she likes that!!
I have stocked my freezer this past weekend with chicken backs and whole chicken to keep her bones ratio up as we work through introducing different proteins. ..
Thanks for the advice!!!

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk
 

Winter's Cinder

Well-Known Member
Just to throw this out there... Cinder had a chunk of banana this morning thanks to my son who decided he just couldn't take her looking at him with those big puppy eyes any longer without sharing!! She really chewed it up!! Kept licking her lips afterward... LOL... the kids have been pretty good about not feeding her from the table (which they ALL want to do)

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk
 

EM Nani

Well-Known Member
I am enjoying reading your progressions with RAW. I still haven't gone through with it because I am testing to see if she has any allergies to the meats I can get here. This is a small town and we do not have any local butchers so I will be going to the local grocery store for meats. I know I can get no hormone, no antibiotic, no added salt chicken here, but the other proteins the meat guys do not or can not guarantee it. I have yet to find anyone in this town that feeds RAW where they do the prep work most people here use reelraw.com or Darwin.