The LBDR

RAW DIET INFO

CANE CORSO PUPPY example DIET SHEET

8am
Mince tripe, chicken, lamb, horse with vetables if full BARF diet

11am
2 chicken wings or chicken carcass

1pm
Fish – Salmon heads, tuna, sardines etc
Youghurt
Or
Cheese

Daytime snack
Raw meaty bone to be eaten in crate
Carrott

6pm
Once a week, heart, kidneys – offal – eggs
Mince with vegtables

Daily supplements
500g glucosamine with chondroitin
500g Ester C
Salmon oil

Please read the follow article - GOING RAW

Introduction

I have been asked many times about raw feeding, how to do it, what should be fed, what supplements to use, and how much food should be fed. I have done a lot of research into the matter, and asked these same questions over and over of lots of people. I have read and digested differing viewpoints on raw feeding, and have come up with the conclusions espoused by this article.

When I started I had the same fears in my gut. What if I do it wrong? What if I am missing some important ingredient? Is this really a good idea? It took a few weeks of experimenting before I started to become comfortable with the process. The results I started seeing after a few weeks, however, have sold me on this diet for life.

Hopefully after reading this a lot of your trepidation will disappear and you can start to enjoy the process of feeding your dogs the way nature intended.

BARF vs. Raw Feeding

I would like to differentiate the term I use in this article, "Raw Feeding", from the more typical term "BARF" (Biologically Appropriate Raw Diet, or Bones and Raw Foods). Barf is a completely valid term, and could easily describe my feeding method, but tends to be used to mean a certain type of feeding involving a high percentage of vegetable intake. Raw Feeding has little or no vegetables included in the diet. This article is not intended to compare or contrast BARF and Raw Feeding, rather it explains only one method.

Raw Feeding Basics

The Wild Diet

Raw Feeding is based on the observed diets of wolves and wild dogs, as well as sound basic principals, as well as the knowledge and study of many canine dieticians and biologists. The wild dog's diet consists primarily of whole prey, animals the pack catch and kill. In times of need this diet will be expanded to scavenging and grazing on fallen fruit and vegetable matter. Raw feeding tries to mimic this diet by feeding a balanced amount of muscle meat and whole raw bones, supplemented with high-vitamin and mineral carrying internal organ meat such as liver or kidney, plus other balancing foods both to include essential ingredients and to give your dog some much needed variety, just like your dog would if left to its own, wild devices.

What's in this diet anyway?

The Raw Feeding diet primarily consists of raw bones and a broad spectrum of raw meat sources:

tripe (lamb or beef)

chicken

beef

lamb

heart (any)

pork (yes raw!)

Fish (cooked and raw)

turkey

rabbit

llama

ostrich

Sea monster

If it moves, dogs can generally eat it! This is supplemented with nature's "perfect" protein source, eggs (including shells!), the occasional bit of healthy dairy (yoghurt, cheese, etc), and the very important organ meat (liver, kidney, lungs, brains, pancreas, thyroids, etc etc)

Bones = Bad, don't they?

The first thing any newcomer to raw feeding says is "Aren't bones dangerous to dogs?" Since bones are such a cornerstone to the healthy functioning of this diet, and bring so much eating joy to the dogs, it's very important to forget this "received wisdom". Plainly put, raw bones are NOT dangerous to your dog, cooked bones are. Never, ever feed your dog a cooked bone of any species.

The bones you SHOULD be feeding your dog are Raw Meaty Bones (RMBs). It’s important to note that the emphasis here is on the M. These are not bare ribs, or the flensed leg bones that keep dogs quiet. They should really be in the 30-50% meat category. The perfect example (and staple of raw feeders everywhere) is the 3 joint chicken wing. Chicken wings are a good example for another reason as well. When choosing RMBs, the bone should be soft, smallish bones. Another phrase is “non-weight bearing bones.” Large bones from larger animals (lamb and beef leg bones primarily) can easily chip teeth and cause problems – and generally cannot be eaten completely anyway. They are good for recreational uses, but should not be figured into the diet. Bones that are suitable, among others, are:

Chicken wings

Chicken carcasses/backs

Chicken necks

Turkey necks

Lamb neck (scrag end)

Lamb breast (bone in)

Lamb “cages” (front rib cage + neck)

Ox tail

Beef ribs

Beef or lamb blades

Pork ribs

Pig trotters

Whole fish

Whole rabbit

Unused little fingers

Using bones from this list should not cause any digestive problems and will have a side benefit of promoting a healthy set of clean teeth. Some of these bones are better than others, however, and you will find that your dog definitely prefers some over others. Lamb breast is a fantastic alternative bone, but has a lot of fat on it. Ox tail is fantastic, but quite expensive. Scrag end, if you find it, can be a very good cut for your dogs but certainly costs more than the old “standard”, chicken wings. Contact your local butchers, they actually have to pay to throw away many of these items (pigs trotters are incinerated for instance – and my dogs love them!) and you can get them for amazing prices, or even free!

Note that all of these bones should have SOME meat on them –if you are feeding primarily meatless bones (beef or lamb ribs “waste” from a butcher for instance) you will have to dramatically reduce the percentage of RMB to meat. Using more meaty bones like turkey neck allow you to reduce the amount of pure meat in the diet – it’s all “by eye” and not an exact science, but then, neither is feeding a child and you don’t have a problem doing that, do you?

Aren't we supposed to eat veg?

Humans are evolved to eat vegetables - our flat molars and our sideways "grinding" chewing ability, and carb-digesting enzymes produced in our saliva prove this. There is no evidence to show that dogs evolved to eat any more than traces of easily digested vegetable material, and in fact without human intervention (cooking) can eat very little plant material without unpleasant effects.

Vegetables do have some very good vitamins and minerals in them, however, that can really assist and boost the health of our dogs. Many of these vitamins are concentrated in the livers of herbivores, however, so ensuring that your dog gets an adequate supply of offal should assure they don’t miss out.

If you feel uncomfortable with this "Atkins" style diet for your dog, feel free to supplement your dog with a tablespoon or so of puréed vegetables daily – a mix of fruit and green vegetables, or the odd bit of seaweed supplement will do no harm, and will probably make you feel better about your dogs diet.

Remember to take your vitamins!

Recent studies have also shown that certain anti-oxidants and essential fatty acids can prolong healthy lives and improve health, temperament and lifespan. To this end we supplement Vitamin E (a powerful natural anti-oxidant) and Fish Body Oil (FBO) under this feeding regimen. Please note that FBO is not Cod Liver Oil - FBO has a very good ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3, whereas Cod Liver Oil really only supplies one of these essential fatty acids. Quantities are approximately as per normal human usage. I supplement a little less than 1 vitamin E capsule per day per dog. FBO is a higher dosage, but again I rough it out to a little less than one large capsule a day.
I also supplement a Chondrotin/Glucosamine/MSM powder for dogs that are growing, older, or have potential hip problems. This supplement is found naturally in cartilage and tracheas of ungulates, and helps develop joint cartilage and prevent joint problems in future.

Quantities

Eat yer heart out…

Quantity is both one of the easiest things to grasp, and one of the most difficult tasks to master for feeding your dog. The basic principle is that an adult dog should consume between 2% to 5% of its own weight daily in a combination of Raw Meaty Bones (RMBs) and meats/supplements. The problem is that 2-5%, however, is a HUGE range of food. For a typical Corso of 45kg, you are looking at the bottom end for a sedentary, easy-to-fat dog of just under 1kg of food (a titch over 2 pounds old money) to the high-energy, always skinny dog coming in at 2.25kg, or 5 pounds of meat, bone and goodies!

I wish there were a simple chart you could look at as well, but you will need to find your own level. There are some basic principles that you can follow, however; the smaller the dog, the higher the percentage. Most Corsos should fall in the 2-3% range, whereas my Boston Terrier Cheval eats a minimum of 5% daily and stays svelte and muscly. There are exceptions, of course. Our Viggo is very high-energy and consumes at least 5% daily himself, and stays very slim.

A good starting point for any new raw fed Corso would be 2.5% body weight per day. If you already know that your dog is skinny or high energy, move this figure up. If you have a tub-o-lard on your hands whose idea of exercise is jumping up on a sofa, then perhaps a little lower starting point makes sense.
How much for the little dog?

Puppies require a different, more flexible quantity of food. A good rule of thumb should be 10% of the weight of the pup, reducing over time until you are at the 2-5% of adult weight in about a year. Unlike commercial foods, it will be rare to see a raw fed dog “spurt” or grow too fast. However, it’s still important to keep a close look on their body to ensure that you are feeding properly, and adjust their intake over time. A puppy should be “plump” for the first 8-12 weeks (depending) of growth. After this a Corso pup should be slimmed down for the rest of its first year – slim enough to see ribs. This ensures that the newly growing bones support as little weight as possible. Adjust your percentages based on the “look” of your dog rather than weight. If the ribs are disappearing, drop it down to 7-9%, if your dog appears emaciated, increase the intake to 11-12%.

Fat-dog Slim

In order to find the ideal quantity of food for your dog, you need to look at the diet over the long haul. Over a period of weeks, is your dog gaining weight? Losing it? It would be a good idea to regularly weigh your dog if you don’t think you can judge its weight by looks alone. As your dog reaches its ideal weight, either by gaining or losing, you can change the diet slowly in response, until you have reached equilibrium. You will find soon that the quantities of an individual meal are not important at all, it’s food over time you need to look at. So much so, that it might be a good idea to multiply your percentage figure by 7 to come up with a weekly food amount, and then measure the stock in your freezer/fridge/grocery bill accordingly.
This dog diet stuff is not an exact science, no matter what the dog food manufacturers tell you. You will do no damage by overfeeding, or underfeeding your dog a few days or even weeks in a row. Just make sure to look and feel your dog, see that it feels right, acts right, and you will not go far wrong with feeding.

Proportions

Like your mamma used to say…
The proportions and range of the food you serve your dog are nearly as important as the quantities. One “benefit” of feeding your dog prepared foods is that at the very least there is a company trying to ensure that the food contains all of the chemicals, compounds and substances necessary for life. You need to do that for your dog as well – but don’t worry, it’s not nearly as difficult as you might think. Nature has a solution, after all.

By varying the sources of food, and adding natural supplements, you can ensure that your dog gets everything necessary for a healthy life. By preventing your dog from getting all its sustenance from one source (chicken for example) you can prevent health problems associated from a lack of one mineral or a surfeit of some amino acid. Our own human societies know this so well we have created a number of adages for this purpose:

Everything in moderation

Too much of a good thing

Adages are a way of promoting basic ideas throughout our society. In this case, everything in moderation ensures that we do not “put all our eggs in one basket” (another adage…) with food sources, preventing health issues that could result. Too much of a good thing reminds us that even the best ingredients can be problematic if we have too much of it. Usually used in the context of “too much fun” or “too much chocolate”, in this case even too much “goodness” in the form of liver or bone can cause problems, just like not enough would. Keep these principles in mind when feeding your dogs. Try to keep every portion of the diet just that, a portion.

One pinch swallow tongues, one cup dried salamander…

So now you know the basic ingredients, the bulk weight of food you will be feeding, you are now thinking WHAT NEXT? At least I was at this stage. I will both scare you at the outset, but make your life far easier in the long run, by saying there are no hard and fast rules. There are only general guidelines. The guidelines are as follows:

30-50% RMB
50-60% Meat (including tripe)
5% Offal

Variety over time should be your watchword. It’s OK to have a few staples; chicken wings, beef mince, but try to throw other items in fairly regularly. Whole fish, for instance, supply very good nutrition and fatty acids, good flexible bone content, and loads of minerals and vitamins. Plus they give your dog a new and different meal to eat.

On top of these basic proportions you need to add a complete egg or two a week, some healthy dairy (a tablespoon of natural yoghurt or cottage cheese every day or so) and your vitamin supplements.

Sample Diet Sheet

Putting it all together

A typical weekly feeding for an adult (45kg) Corso might be the following:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
RMB	500gms Chicken Wings	400gms Lamb Breast	300gms Lamb cage	500gms Chicken Carcass	1 whole trout (400gms)	2 small Trotters (700gms)	600gms Scrag End
Meat	500gms Minced Beef	500gms Tripe+ pilchard	600gms Tripe	700gms Rabbit mince	500gms Tripe	200gms Beef mince	500gms chicken mince
Other	1 Egg	1 Tbsp Yoghurt	200gms Liver	Tbsp veg puree	1 Egg	200gms Liver	1 Tbsp yoghurt

Please note that this is a sample, and would be divided up between 1 or two meals for an adult, 2-3 meals for a puppy. This is not something to be adhered to. Please note that if you study the chart above, those days where I am feeding a boney RMB (like lamb cage) I lower the amount of bone and raise the amount of meat. I will let you in on a secret as well, just like you don’t weigh the quantities you feed yourself (unless you’re on Weight Watchers!) I don’t weigh any food anymore. I know that a 2 joint chicken wing is approximately 90gms, and simply count them out. I will be able to see if my dogs are putting on weight afterwards.

Conclusion

Wrapped or open?

Raw feeding does not have to be a scary prospect. Your dogs will love it, and hopefully you will be fascinated by the process, and grow to appreciate some of the many results; shiny coat, fewer emotional problems, cleaner teeth, less tear staining, better joints, fewer allergic reactions, longer life and fewer vets visits. Once you get the hang of it, feeding your dogs naturally will become…second nature.

Reproduced with the kind permission of

Jo & Marc Lueck ~ Authors

and the

British Cane Corso Society

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