1. Determine Amount of Food
Dogs with average activity levels are supposed to eat roughly 2% of their body weight daily. Bella is 70 lbs now so it works out to about 9.8 lbs per week.
.02 X 7 days = .14
.14 X (your dog’s body weight) = (amount you should be feeding them per week)
2. Determine How Much of Each Type of Food
I find that the percentages help you buy food for the week or in bulk.
I decided to break that down to approximately:
65% Raw Meaty Bones (RMB)
10% Offal (organ meat)
20% Vegetables
5% Changing Weekly
The 5% that changes weekly allows me to add whatever I think she needs to her diet whether it’s more of one of the things she already gets or a special treat like an expensive meat or healthy scraps.
3. Create a Budget
I wanted Bella’s new diet to cost less than her old. She ate Wellness Just For Puppy kibble in the morning and the same kibble mixed with a natural wet food from brands like Wellness, Solid Gold, Blue Buffalo. (I would highly recommend them opposed to other commercial dog foods, but I wanted her to have a more natural diet.) Given her size, the commercial food cost me well over $60 a month even with coupons.
So, I decided that the new diet should cost less than the old and set a budget of $60 a month tops. And as a bargain shopper, I do my best to spend even less without sacrificing quality. Bulk options and manager’s specials have helped immensely.
My Shoprite regularly puts their organic chicken meat on sale so I get a varying but decent price on that. I get the offal and vegetables in bulk from the butcher and farmer’s market respectively. Offal comes in 5 lb buckets that I weigh out into ½ lbs and freeze. And I buy roughly two weeks of veggies at a time in accordance with sale prices and needed vitamins.
I find that I spend closer to $50 per month.
4. Make a Feeding Schedule
Sunday – Raw Meaty Bones
Monday – Offal & Veggies
Tuesday – Raw Meaty Bones
Wednesday – Offal & Veggies
Thursday – Raw Meaty Bones
Friday – Changing Weekly & Veggies
Saturday – Raw Meaty Bones
5. Monitor Your Dog
Weight and Activity Levels: You should be able to FEEL but NOT SEE your dog’s two bottom ribs. If she loses weight, feed her more (assuming she is at a healthy start weight). If your dog is going to be more active, feed him more. For some dogs, activity levels are seasonal; they take park trips, go hiking, have puppy play dates, and swim in the summer, but spend most of the winter curled up snug and toasty in the middle of your bed meaning that they need more food in the summer.
Coat and Skin: Watch to make sure your dog’s coat condition either stays the same or improves. Itchy puppies may mean that your dog is allergic to something or needs additional vitamins.
Take note and feed accordingly.
When researching natural dog food, you inevitably come across the raw diet and most information refers specifically to the BARF diet.
The BARF diet is a raw diet created by Australian veterinarian Dr. Ian Billinghurst and stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. His raw food diet is available at his website http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/barfdiet.shtml
Since everything I read about commercial food is appalling, I decided to read Billinghurst’s first book Give Your Dog A Bone, which discusses how to feed your dog on the BARF diet in an easy to understand, common sense manner. All in all, it’s a little repetitive, but covers most of the questions I had about nutrition on this diet.
You can buy a copy of the book Give Your Dog A Bone by clicking the link.
I’m convinced. After I have a chance to do a bit more reading/her current food runs out, Bella will be switching over to a raw diet in accordance with the basic principles of the BARF diet.
As a pet owner, you know that it is important for your dog has to have access to water at all times, but it is just as important for that water to be clean. One of the simplest things you can do is give your dog purified water instead of tap water.
Chances are you don’t drink your tap water. Almost everyone I know drinks some kind of purified water whether it’s through a filter that goes right on the tap, the fridge door dispenser, a Brita, bottled water, an ionizer, etc. If you’ve taken extra steps to make sure that you’re drinking clean water, why would you give your dog something different?
Filtration Systems Remove:
• Heavy Metals
• Bacteria
• Chemicals
• Chlorine
• Microorganisms
• Pesticides
The purification system you need and choose depends on the concentrations of these pollutants in your area’s drinking water. (Your water supplier should provide a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) every year.)
If your pup is drinking tap water, he is consuming all those contaminants. For no reason. There are no extra things to buy or drastic changes; just switch them to the same filtered water you’re drinking to improve their health.
Many natural diets are excellent for your dog’s overall health, but as with people, the fresher your dog’s food is the better it is for them.
Why is fresh better? Fresh food is preservative-free and more importantly its nutrients, vitamins, and enzymes are more digestible and therefore more easily absorbed into your dogs system. Now there are more dog diet choices than ever including commercial kibble and canned, dehydrated and freeze dried, frozen raw, and homemade.
Freshest Choice:
4. Commercial Kibble and Canned Food: many companies offer natural, organic, or holistic dog food in kibble and canned form.
3. Dehydrated and Freeze Dried: Both these processes remove moisture from food and you generally rehydrate them before serving them to your pup.
2. Prepackaged Frozen Raw: Surprisingly, many people have not heard of raw dog food. You can order frozen raw food online as needed – just defrost and feed.
1. Homemade Cooked or Raw: This takes the most time and effort, but it is the freshest, best, and probably the most enjoyed by your dog if done properly.
Homemade is the freshest choice and has the lowest environmental impact, but the cooked vs raw food debate rages on with many supporters on both sides. I tend to agree that the less heat the food is exposed to, the better the food is for your pup. However, if they are done properly, I feel that both homemade choices are better than anything processed and designed to sit on a shelf for months. Homemade is the way dogs have been eating for decades (centuries if you choose raw) so don’t be afraid to prepare your dog’s food yourself.
I recently read an article that claimed that dog care for one dog had more of an environmental impact than owning an SUV. At first, I was shocked, but when you account for the all the factors involved in caring for your dog, you understand why a pet dog has such a great impact. Lucky for you, this site is dedicated to natural dog care, and these natural choices help reduce environmental impact.
Simple Steps:
• Homemade Food – Choose to cook for your pup or prepare a raw diet using as many locally grown or raised, organic ingredients. Not only is it better for your dog, this eliminates manufacturing and shipping, which cause the biggest environmental impact.
• Better Toys – Making smart choices in dog toys can help reduce its impact. Choose durable, long-lasting toys or toys made from low-impact materials such as hemp or recycled materials. Many of these are recyclable when your dog is done with them and more importantly non-toxic.
• Dispose Properly – Dog waste can linger in plastic bags that don’t break down or contaminate water if not picked up. Choose biodegradable waste bags or a doggie septic system for your yard. (Keep in mind that biodegradable waste bags are not biodegradable inside your plastic garbage bag.)
Since eating, playing, and pooping should cover most of your dog’s daily activities, these simple steps should greatly reduce your dog’s environmental impact.
Artificial coloring is completely unnecessary for dog treats and dog food. Your dog is basically colorblind, but some of those cheap-o dog food companies (and even some pricey ones!) insist on making multi-color dog treats and kibble bits. Probably to go with their artificial flavors. Colors in dog food are strictly to make the food appear more appealing to YOU, the dog parent. More importantly, the artificial dyes and chemicals used to alter the appearance of dog food are potentially damaging to your pup
They can cause…
- Red No. 40 – cellular mutation (cancer/tumors), metabolic effects, reduced reproductive success
- Blue No. 2 – cellular mutation (cancer/tumors), organ system toxicity
- Yellow No. 5 – neurotoxicity, bioaccumulation, musculoskeletal effects, cellular mutation (cancer/tumors), reproductive toxicity, allergic reactions
- Yellow No. 6 – cellular mutation (cancer/tumors), neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, gastrointestinal effects, allergic reactions
These coloring agents are mainly tested by the FDA for their risk to humans so most tests only suggest that these effects are possible for your pets. HOWEVER, much of the testing is done on mice so I think the results are a pretty good indicator of what it will do to your pet.
Additionally, these dyes are only considered reasonably safe in SMALL, infrequent doses for the average human. Giving your 30 lb pooch daily doses of these dyes makes it far more likely that it will suffer negative effects. It is best to avoid these unnecessary ingredients and keep your dog healthy.
Always check your labels! There is lots of gross stuff in your dog food. (By the way, they put these dyes in your food too.)
One of the first things you have to do when you bring home your new puppy is choose what you are going to feed her. Choosing a quality dog food with the appropriate nutrients is extremely important during this stage.
Often, when you bring your puppy home, she will have already been eating a particular type of food on a schedule. Puppies usually eat three or four times a day until they reach six months of age. Ask your breeder or shelter what the puppy has been used to. Then, you can gradually phase your new food in and the old food out, should you choose to change to a different food. Phasing new food in should take about a week.
How to choose the best dog food:
-Start by narrowing down your choices to a brand that has a formula for puppies or for all life stages.
-Refine your list to those that offer a particular formula your dog needs, such as large or small breed puppy or grain free
-Remove all choices that have by-products, artificial coloring, artificial preservatives, menadione/vitamin K3, & BHA
-Review the remaining brands and their product labels to select the best match for your pet
The third step should greatly reduce your choices. To save you some trouble, I recommend you review this dog food comparison chart as a start: Dog Food Comparison Chart – Dog Food Ratings of Premium Dog Food and Supermarket (We’ll be making our own chart soon.)
To help you choose the best food for your puppy, we’ll be going further in depth into dog food label analysis in later posts.
Bella and I wanted to start off by defining the commonly used terms I’ll be utilizing to discuss puppy products and dog care in the future.
Natural: Natural generally means that the product is minimally processed and contains no additional flavors, colors, or sweeteners. It often means that there are also no hormones or antibiotics. However, the USDA and the FDA don’t have regulations regarding the use of the word natural as a label and many companies use the term loosely or as an advertising ploy. Natural products, especially natural dog products, are great when they are actually natural, but they require you to study the labels or research the company to find a good one.
Organic: Organic means that the product is produced without synthetic materials including but not limited to chemically formulated fertilizers, antibiotics, pesticides, growth stimulants. These products will display the USDA organic seal. If it a product is not 100% organic, it must be labeled as such. For your pet, it means that all the ingredients in the product were produced without unnecessary chemicals.
Holistic: Holistic means that a being is treated as a whole, rather than focusing on one part. Physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental aspects are all considered contributors to well-being. This means that all aspects of your dog are considered when caring for them, not just if they have food and water.
I use these terms to help determine what is healthy for Bella, particularly when choosing new products. The holistic philosophy is a big factor in Bella’s care, and I do my best to make sure all her needs are met. This means knowing your dog and noticing subtle changes so you can determine what is causing them, whether they are positive or negative. I’ll be posting often about everything I’m learning so check back soon!