Is it worth the $ to feed grain free?

Hi folks, i just want your opinions on how our kind of dogs can benefit from eating a grain-free diet no by-products? Ive recently came to learn that feeding the Pedigree food to my bitch is like me eating Top Ramen everyday. I like the idea of feeding my dog a raw diet but cannot so im looking into something with high protien like Evo Innova or Black Gold. How long would it be before i can see any results? My bitch gets decent exersize.

 

There are several good kibbles that are grain free.
I feed Taste of the Wild personally. The high Prairie formula.
Grains like corn and wheat and barley are just hard for dogs to digest and are often the leading causes of food allergies. RAW/BARF is just too complicated for me honestly lol I will throw in a chicken neck or back every once in a while, but I DO add raw eggs and salmon oil at least once a week.

You'll see results pretty quickly. When I switched over to TOTW it was probably within a couple weeks the coats, eyes, nails, teeth all Looked healthier

 

good dog gets good food. yes grain free worth the money. totw/raw diet for my yard.

 

Within 3 weeks, you will see a much healthier dog emerging. Nice coat, less shedding, fewer health issues like hot spots and yeasty ears, better smelling breath, better body shape, more energy (but without the high anxiety corn can cause with some dogs), less poop.... Your dog will also eat much less of the high quality food, making it less expensive than it looks.

When making such a major switch in dog food, take it slow. A lot of dogs will go through a stage where they actually look like crap before looking better. Also, expect to see loose stool if you do not make the switch very gradual. I would strongly suggest adding a digestive enzyme supplement for a couple of months to help with the transition. Doesn't have to be expensive - I buy powder in bulk from the local feed store (called probios)

I would compare feeding a dog Pedigree to a person eating candybars part time, and out of a garbage can the other. First ingredient in most of the formulas is corn, which provides very little nutritional value. Second ingredient is chicken by-product meal. Mostly beaks, feet, intestines, etc. They also use BHA/BHT as a preservative. These have been proven to cause serious health problems.

If you have never been to this website, its a good one to check out - you can type in the food you feed (or one you are looking into feeding). They will give info on what is good about the food, and what is not good.
www.dogfoodanalysis.com

I have a friend who feeds her dog Innova Evo, and that has GOT to be one of the most beautiful dogs I have seen.

 

If you can feed Evo you can afford to feed raw. i feed raw for $35 a month and its much better then any dry kibble around.

 

Whats all in there PurePit?

 

My Pluto would love that meal, $35 bucks is crazy cheap.. can you give us some info on your recipes and what you feed daily =)? I pay 57 dollars for a bag of dry food that will last him 3 weeks=(

 

I had a basic feed, and then modified it, this bowl is: half of a chicken quarter, spinage, 1 egg, 1 multi-vitamin, a blend of carrots and apples, 1 teaspoon of missing link, 1 spoon of plain yogurt, and a teaspoon of lard.

 

Raw diet seems to be cheaper and better but i have a small fridge no extra freezer so i need kibble.

Yesterday i purchased Evo red meat it does cost alot but for my 40 lb female it should last all month. Ill begin mixing it with the pedigree till its all gone by then she should adjust to it.

I cant find TOTW anywhere in my area, i hear its just as good as Evo and cheaper

 

Tractor supply sells the TOTW if you have one near you

 

here is a raw diet i have been feeding for a month. i found it on feds online. i love it, the dogs are happy and look way better than they did before. it costs about as much as a bag of 25 dollar food per month.

1 raw chicken thigh. sometimes subsituted for beef heart, liver, etc'

1 cup white rice

1 soft boiled egg

1 heaping tablespoon all natural yogurt (no high fructose corn syrup)

1 heaping tablespoon of lard with 1/2 equate vitamin pill stuffed in it

1 cup spinach

excellent, cheap, and better than most commercial kibbles.

 

This is the basic raw diet from cali Jack! Its a good one, but after using it for a while, you'll understand why i modified it. You will to, eventually.

 

Just wanted to know what you modified?

YIS

 

if you feed raw you should add some vitamin c in there also. dogs have been shown to be much healthier when getting more vitamin c.

so like, an orange or something in there also, would help.

I know a lot of dog people who do agility and such around here with all breeds who feed raw and they swear by enough fat and enough vitamin c.

 

I feed close to this. I do alot of leg quarters but he also gets beef, turkey, venison, and elk when I can get it cheap. He gets a half a pound in the morning.

After noon meal is plain yogurt, 1 egg, 1 tsp of an herbal supp I use, 1 tbs olive oil, three caps of Omega 3,6,9, a Vitamin C cap, and I am going to be trying K9 super fuel for the summer when we are working. Winter I will switch to a plain joint supp.

Dinner another half pound of meat.

 

I modified it because when your conditioning a dog, they don't really need carbs, the rice holds no other value other then carbs and calories. So i eliminate the carbs and add more fat as an energy source, and the spinage make for a more rich meal. You'll notice on a good raw diet the dog will consume much less water then when on dry. I forgot to mention that i add jack mackeral and tuna fish to the diet as well. I prefer jack Mackeral, because it has a lower sodium content, then tuna. My dogs tend to be in overal great health when on raw, my vet goes crazy when he gets to see them, which isnt very often.

Although dogs are meat eaters, they eat animals that eat fruits and veggies. One of the most wholesome parts of animal is the stomach, liver and heart, so thats how they would get there fruit and veggie source which would be predigested.

 

fellas, dogs are omnivores, or opportunistic feeders. they dont limit themselves to just protein and fats in the wild. they will consume grasses, berries, and other vegitation in addition to meat and fat.

i wont be switching to a completely carb free diet, dogs can in fact untilize some energy from the carbs in white rice. dogs do use fats and protein more efficiently for energy but IMO the diet should be balanced.

white rice also provides nutrition in the form of vitamins, minerals, protein, and amino acids. sorry if this looks like crap i copy and pasted it from another website.


NUTRITION INFORMATION

Amounts per 1 cup (158g)​

Calorie Information​

Amounts Per Selected Serving​

%DV​

Calories
205
(858 kJ)
10%​

From Carbohydrate
185
(775 kJ)​

From Fat
3.7
(15.5 kJ)​

From Protein
16.2
(67.8 kJ)​

From Alcohol
0.0
(0.0 kJ)​

Carbohydrates​

Amounts Per Selected Serving​

%DV​

Total Carbohydrate
44.5
g
15%​

Dietary Fiber
0.6
g
3%​

Starch
~​

Sugars
0.1
g​

Sucrose
~​

Glucose
~​

Fructose
~​

Lactose
~​

Maltose
~​

Galactose
~​

​

Fats & Fatty Acids​

Amounts Per Selected Serving​

Total Fat
0.4
g
1%​

Saturated Fat
0.1
g​

Monounsaturated Fat
0.1
g​

18:1 undifferentiated
137​

Polyunsaturated Fat
0.1
g​

18:2 undifferentiated
98​

Total trans-monoenoic fatty acids
~​

Total trans-polyenoic fatty acids
~​

Total Omega-3 fatty acids
20.5
mg​

Total Omega-6 fatty acids
98.0
mg​

Learn more about these fatty acids
and their equivalent names​

Protein & Amino Acids​

Amounts Per Selected Serving​

%DV​

Protein
4.2
g
8%​

Tryptophan
49.0
mg​

Threonine
152
mg​

Isoleucine
183
mg​

Leucine
351
mg​

Lysine
153
mg​

Methionine
99.5
mg​

Cystine
86.9
mg​

Phenylalanine
228
mg​

Tyrosine
142
mg​

Valine
259
mg​

Arginine
354
mg​

Histidine
99.5
mg​

Alanine
246
mg​

Aspartic acid
400
mg​

Glutamic acid
828
mg​

Glycine
193
mg​

Proline
201
mg​

Serine
223
mg​

​

Vitamins​

Amounts Per Selected Serving​

%DV​

Vitamin A
0.0
IU
0%​

Retinol
0.0
mcg​

Retinol Activity Equivalent
0.0
mcg​

Alpha Carotene
0.0
mcg​

Beta Carotene
0.0
mcg​

Beta Cryptoxanthin
0.0
mcg​

Lycopene
0.0
mcg​

Lutein+Zeaxanthin
0.0
mcg​

Vitamin C
0.0
mg
0%​

Vitamin D
~​

~​

Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol)
0.1
mg
0%​

Beta Tocopherol
~​

Gamma Tocopherol
~​

Delta Tocopherol
~​

Vitamin K
0.0
mcg
0%​

Thiamin
0.3
mg
17%​

Riboflavin
0.0
mg
1%​

Niacin
2.3
mg
12%​

Vitamin B6
0.1
mg
7%​

Folate
91.6
mcg
23%​

Food Folate
4.7
mcg​

Folic Acid
86.9
mcg​

Dietary Folate Equivalents
153
mcg​

Vitamin B12
0.0
mcg
0%​

Pantothenic Acid
0.6
mg
6%​

Choline
3.3
mg​

Betaine
0.5
mg​

​

Minerals​

Amounts Per Selected Serving​

%DV​

Calcium
15.8
mg
2%​

Iron
1.9
mg
11%​

Magnesium
19.0
mg
5%​

Phosphorus
68.0
mg
7%​

Potassium
55.3
mg
2%​

Sodium
1.6
mg
0%​

Zinc
0.8
mg
5%​

Copper
0.1
mg
5%​

Manganese
0.7
mg
37%​

Selenium
11.9
mcg
17%​

Fluoride
64.9
mcg​

 

I feed a similar meal to my dogs but I don't feed rice or lard to my dogs.
They get a chicken leg or drumstick, gizzards, hearts, and liver. 1 egg. A vegetable/fruit mix out of greens or spinach (I switch it around), carrots, celery, apples, blueberries and orange. Sometimes I switch the greens, spinach and carrots for Broccoli, Bok Choy, Cauliflower or Butternut squash. They also don't get blueberries and orange on a daily basis. Maybe twice or three times a week. I also add Salmon Oil, Hemp Oil, Kelp and Bee Pollen to the mix and a few oz of organic yogurt.
I don't feed a multivitamin since the Kelp combined with Bee Pollen will cover every vitamin and mineral needed. It costs me about 85 bucks to feed three dogs for a month and they get a top notch meal.

 

that is one hell of a diet, i bet they like it. i couldnt afford to do that though.

CA jacks raw diet is designed for someone who wants to feed raw without going broke. it is easy, economical, and better for a dog than most dry kibble. my dogs drink very little water, and do not eat grass anymore. they look phenominal. it costs me about 25 bucks a month for 2 dogs.

 

Hey quick note not to diviate from the topic, why do dogs eat grass? isn't to clean their stomach or something?