Real Food

Raw Dog Food Pyramid

Details

Meat (2-4% of dog’s ideal body weight)1

  • Raw muscle meat (including heart):

  • Beef, pork, chicken, turkey, goat, deer, etc.

  • Fish (cooked/canned): Mackerel (Atlantic), salmon, sardines, etc.

  • More details on Tips page here.

Calcium2

  • Raw Meaty Bone (RMB)

  • Must be uncooked (cooked bones splinter)

  • Turkey neck, back, and breast

  • Chicken, neck,back, breast, feet, and wings

  • Calcium supplement in lieu of RMB.

  • More details on Tips page here.

Organ

  • Occasional (3-5 time a week) small amount.

  • Beef & lamb liver, kidney.

  • Chicken & turkey liver, gizzards.

Veggies

  • Very small amount

  • Mix above & below ground vegetables.

  • Puree or finely pulp to improve digestibility.

  • More on Tips page here.

Extras

Extras/supplements provide essential trace vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. The Golden Girls benefit from the following occasional supplements:

  • Sardine or salmon oil daily (fish oil, not plant oils, not cod liver oil).

  • Alfalfa, barley, and wheat grass powder (organic).

  • Kelp and spirulina powder (organic).

  • Milk kefir and plain yogurt (not low fat).

  • More on Tips page here.

NOTES.

1 = Determine dog's ideal target weight. Choose a number to begin (e.g.: 2% of 50 lb target weight = 1 lb. (16oz)). Feed that amount for 4-6 months. Adjust amount based on dog's weight gain or loss over time.

2 = You must add calcium when feeding a raw meat diet that does not include RMB. Add ~900 mg of calcium per pound of meat. I use either RMB or powdered eggshell (1/2 tsp per pound of meat). More here on Tips page, and here, and here.

Avoid

Chocolate Grapes Raisins Onions Sweeteners Salt
Apple seeds Rhubarb Yeast Raw fish Macadamia nuts

More here but ignore the Raw/Under-cooked Meat, Eggs, and Bones section (reflects a lack of knowledge re raw feeding carnivores).

Feeding

  • Feed meat and RMB warm—never frozen.

  • The Golden Girls were switched to raw food overnight; fed twice a day to their target/ideal weight.

  • Variety is key in feeding a raw natural diet. This way their meals are nutritionally balanced over time. On their own, dogs would rarely eat the same food day after day. In fact, some days they might eat nothing!

  • More on Tips page here.

Sanitize everything when finished

Variety

Do not feed the same meal every day. Mix up the food and supplements in order to provide enough variety to make meals complete and balanced over time (a few days or a week).

Watch for...

As with any new food, watch for subtle changes in your dog's skin, coat, appetite, energy level, mood, itchiness, discharges or odors, body weight, and above all, the stool size and consistency.
Quality food and properly functioning digestive system produces smaller formed, brown, firm stools.

NOTE: Excess RMB often results in a firm powdery stool.

If negative changes occur try a different food. If the change persists, consult a veterinarian experienced in feeding real food.

BARF

Biologically Appropriate Real Food (BARF)

For over 20,000 years before kibble was invented (in the early 1900s) dogs ate real raw food—precisely what their bodies evolved to digest.
Today, fresh raw food still provides the most wholesome nourishment not available in highly processed kibble or even home-cooked food (remember, cooking changes the molecular structure of food).