Cryslen
Welsh Springer Spaniels

Archive for the ‘Dog Food’ Category

Puppy Packet: Feeding Your New Puppy

Thursday, February 14th, 2013

Cryslen WSS puppies are raised on a raw diet.  Provided here are a couple documents to get you started on feeding a raw diet.  That said, not everyone is able to provide their dog with a raw diet, so I’ve also included the Whole Dog Journals Lists of Approved Dog Foods.

Raw Feeding for Pregnant & Nursing Dogs

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

Several months ago when I started thinking about breeding Leeloo, I started researching what she should be fed as part of raw prey model diet while pregnant and reading things like remove all bone from the diet while pregnant. As I continued reading, I learned the reason why is the likelihood of a lactating bitch developing eclampsia if they are eating a diet that includes too much calcium.  Eclampsia in dogs has nothing to do with the human condition preeclampsia.  Eclampsia is all about calcium and the ability of the parathyroid glands to release stored calcium from the bones.  Parathyroid glands control the amount of calcium in the blood and within the bones.  If you supplement too much calcium during pregnancy, the parathyroid gland when stop doing it’s job and when the bitch needs more calcium while lactating, the parathyroid gland will not “wake up” to release it.

Eclampsia, also called “milk fever”, is a very serious condition that can be fatal if not treated immediately with the administration of calcium.  This condition is most common in small breed dogs with large litters, but it can happen to any postpartum bitch at any time while she is lactating.  Calcium can come in the form of tums, Oral Cal Plus, Oralsorb, etc, but it should be given before a bitch is taken to the vet to prevent the bitch from dieing on the way.  Symptoms of eclampsia include:

  • High fever
    • Normal temp is 100-102.5 (The first 48 hours after delivery, the dam can run a temp up to 104 degrees as a normal part of the whelping process.)
  • Panting that does not stop.
  • She will forget she has puppies.
  • The lights are on but nobody’s home.
  • Anxious
  • Pacing
  • Stumbling
  • Trembling
  • Twitching around eyes
  • Muscle twitching

To prevent eclampsia, many feeding raw switch to kibble during pregnancy, but many also continue feeding raw, but remove all bones from the diet during the last trimester with success.  It is very important not to supplement calcium until the bitch is actually in labor.  Many breeders recommend starting calcium after the first puppy is born.  Feeding bitches on a raw diet more than 8-10% bone per day should be considered supplementing.

What is Prey Model Raw Feeding?

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

I have answered some questions recently about raw feeding from breeders and new puppy owners, so I thought I would create this post giving everyone the information I sent them.  Prey model is defined as feeding pieces of prey animals that are available to you, the feeder, in a way that mimics the makeup of a natural prey animal (sometimes referred to as FrankenParts or FrankenPrey). Most raw feeders use this formula: 80% meat (protein), 10% bone and 10% organ meat (vitamins and minerals) with half the organ meat being liver. That’s the only balance you have to worry about.

Since September 2011, I have fed my dogs chicken and turkey with the bones, pork, beef, and green tripe. They have done very well on it. Their coats are soft and thicker and their teeth are white and clean. I usually feed chicken liver for organs and also provide supplements to replace those organs that are hard to find.

Look at this website before you buy meat: http://rawfeddogs.net/Recipes/
It tells you how to feed it safely. The biggest thing to worry about is some bones are cut up too much at the grocery store, but this site has all the info you need. This website recommends whole chickens, but that’s a lot for a small or medium-sized dog. I’ve fed whole chickens pre-cut a couple pieces at a time, drumsticks, breast meat with or without rib bones, necks, etc with no issues. I just watch them until the bones are all gone. I did three small meals a day at first, so their body had little meals to digest until they were used to the raw.

This website is where I buy the supplements I use: http://www.b-naturals.com/
They also have recipes for cooked and raw diets and lots of informative articles. Their Berte’s Digestive Blend is what I gave my guys. It’s probiotics and digestive enzymes. I now have them on the Berte’s Daily Blend Vitamins because it can be difficult to find a wide variety of organs at the grocery store. I also supplement with Berte’s EPA 180-120 Omega-3 Fish Oil, which is great for skin, coat and immune system.

I also feed my dogs green tripe. Green tripe is basically the stomach and digestive juices of a herbivorous, grass-eating animal, usually a cow. It has a lot of nutrients and is great for dogs. They also love it, but it is smelly and hard to find. You do not want to buy the bleached white tripe at the grocery store either.  It has been stripped of all the great nutrients you want your dog to have.  I have found it through breeder’s co-ops like GreenTripe.Com, companies like Blue Ridge Beef and through dog food companies that sell canned versions like Tripett.  I’m not sure the canning process doesn’t take out many of the nutrients found in green tripe.  The best place to get fresh green tripe would be the local butcher if you can get them to save it for you.

A Caution About Grocery Store Chicken

I buy pretty much all the chicken and other meats I feed my dogs from grocery stores, but there is something to be aware of before shopping for chicken to feed your dogs. About half or more of the chicken in grocery stores is infused or enhanced with saltwater solutions or salty chicken broth.  It will say something like “enhanced with up to 15% chicken broth.” Enhanced chicken may have as much as 440mg sodium per 4 oz. serving. You want to look for meat that is minimally processed with no more than 70mg sodium per serving.

A Note About Switching To Raw From Kibble

Most experienced raw feeders say to switch “cold turkey”.  That’s right – one day your dog eats kibble and the next raw! You don’t want to feed kibble and raw at the same time because raw digests faster than kibble and you don’t want it getting backed up behind kibble in the digestive system…or so I’ve been told.

You want to start with one protein source. Chicken is the easiest and cheapest, so it is a good protein to start with unless you know your dog is allergic to chicken.  Your dog may get diarrhea for about a week after the switch.  I have been told that this is the body eliminating the toxins built up from eating kibble.  In adult dogs, you can give more bones during this time which will help solidify things. Be careful about giving too much bones after your dogs stools are normal because it can cause constipation.  Also, you don’t want young puppies to get too much calcium, so don’t increase their bones beyond 10-15%.  They need to stay at that level, so they don’t grow too fast.  I have found a great, natual product called RuniPoo to help with diarrhea. The Berte’s Digestive Blend from B-Naturals can also help during this transition.

I hope this helps people to understand that it is not too difficult to start feeding raw. After feeding raw for several months, I can not imagine going back to kibble for my dogs.

For more information on raw feeding, For more information, there are great email lists on Yahoo Groups like rawfeeding@yahoogroups.com and Facebook Groups like Raw Feeding (RF).
I have also found this public service message from the RawPup Yahoo! Group to be a great resource, especially for new raw feeders with puppies.

We’ve gone totally raw!

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

Leeloo and Tucker started on a raw diet in September, so they’ve been on it about two months with no adverse issues and great results. They both have softer, thicker coats and very tiny stools. Raiden started the raw diet about one month later than Tucker and Leeloo because I wanted to check with his vet before proceeding because of his ongoing kidney disease. He seems to be doing well on it and we will get his kidney values tested again at the end of December to see how that is doing. I’m hoping we will see further improvement. Jasmine, our nine week old puppy started raw on Sunday, December 4th and she seems to be doing very well on it. She is eating all of her food, which she was not doing on kibble. Jasmine, like all of the dogs is gobbling down all of the raw food I give her. They love it!

Right now, Jasmine is eating a whole chicken thigh three times a day and gaining weight nicely. Now that her system is adjusting to the raw food, we will slowly start adding liver and other meats and leaving more fat and skin on the meats.

They are all a prey model raw diet, which is 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organ meat (at least half the organ meat should be liver). We are learning as well go, but right now the easiest way to do this with only four dogs has been to buy a small (5 cubic foot) freezer and fill it with meat from the grocery store. Then, we thaw the food out as we need it. The dogs are mostly eating chicken and turkey parts with bones, ground beef and chicken liver. This is often fondly called “frankenmeats” in the raw feeding community. We will add more meats as we get more acquainted with where to buy meat in our community.

Moving towards a Holistic Approach

Friday, September 9th, 2011

Over the last 20 years, I’ve studied canine nutrition and raw diets. Since then, I’ve tried giving my dogs chicken necks and backs or pre-packaged raw food as treats and gave my older rescue boxer raw food as part of her meals, but I’ve never moved all of my dogs onto a raw diet despite the fact that it is widely known to be better for their overall health. I’ve decided to take the plunge and move them to a raw diet in the next few weeks. I have been told by many experienced owners and read that dogs should go cold turkey to a raw diet and not mix in kibble. I’ve also been told to start with one protein for a few weeks before adding others, so I’m going to start them on Nature’s Variety Venison formula and see how it goes.

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I’ve also been reading more and more about reduced vaccination protocols and reactions to vaccinations. In previous years, I’ve always done exactly what my vets told me and gave vaccination boosters yearly, but this no longer seems wise no matter what the average vet says. I’ve done a titer for parvo/distemper on Tucker and if it comes back that he has plenty of immunity to those diseases, we will not be getting his annual booster this year. I am also considering doing the same for Raiden and Leeloo.

As I move towards more healthy ways of maintaining my dogs, I am considering finding a new vet who will be better suited to assist me with the raw diet and reduced vaccines. I will let you know how this search goes and hopefully will find the perfect vet for my dogs.

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