Question on RAW

I feed J.J. Fudds premade mix of Raw dog food. Now, Silence is a dog which is hard to keep weight on. I do not want to go back to commercial food at all, and was wondering what you folks do to keep hard-to-keep dogs' weight on.


Also, another question, why does no one feed pork? Any particular reason?

 

Are you feeding at least 2% of his body weight for maintenance? If adding more food/fats/oils does not help you can try satin balls.
Satin Balls Recipe - Health Nutritional Care

The reason no feeds raw pork is because of Trichinosis.
Trichinosis is caused by Trichinella species (also termed parasitic nematodes, intestinal worms, and roundworms) that initially enter the body when meat containing the Trichinella cysts (roundworm larvae) is eaten. For humans, undercooked or raw pork and pork products, such as pork sausage, has been the meat most commonly responsible for transmitting the Trichinella parasites. It is a food-borne infection and not contagious from one human to another unless infected human muscle is eaten. However, almost any carnivore (meat eater) or omnivore (eats meat and plants for food) can both become infected and, if eaten, can transmit the disease to other carnivores and omnivores. For example, undercooked or raw bear meat can contain livable Trichinella cysts. Therefore, if humans, dogs, pigs, rats, or mice eat the meat, they can become infected.

 

awesome post Scratchin Dog... I'm saving this one

 

Thank you, I am feeding him 12 sticks a day (75 lbs) in which each stick is 2 oz. Did I do my math right on that?

 

I have also heard that if you freeze the meat at the right temp, it will kill the viruses/bacterias and it will be safe to eat raw.

 

Looks right to me but 2% is a guideline. Results will vary especially if the dog is getting a lot of exercise. That food has got to be expensive. Have you thought about feeding your own raw diet?

 

I have read that but I'm not taking any chances. There's other, safer meat choices available.

 

I was just wondering, as far as the Satin Balls, it seems that everyone and every article on adding extra weight is pointing to them. How does this affect conditioning? If at all.

 

Satin balls will put weight on your dog, but if your conditioning, It would affect .. Because Satin balls are high in fat. It will be like a body builder eating fatty type foods daily and having 8 pack abs and being ripped. Not happening, unless your dog has very good genetics.

Why not ditch the pre-made raw, and pick out the raw foods that you need yourself? And then just add an extra chicken leg quarter or 2 to the feed if its losing weight

 

give your dog some extra food or treats, if he's having trouble keeping weight because of their high activity level (im guessing) then more calories are needed.

 

I have a Dobe (obviously, lol) and wanted to condition him. I have no idea how to go about that, how the schedule should go or whatnot. Such as things like, should I wait until Spring to start conditioning? Let him gain and maintain weight over the winter?

 

Satin balls are not meant for year round use. They are good for putting weight on hard gainers or keeping weight on sick or malnourished rescued dogs. They do contain a lot of fat but also carbs as well and so I would not use them if you wanted to condition a dog. But if you just wanted to add some winter weight it would be fine. I would always just add more regular food before resorting to the satin balls. But in your case the food is so expensive you might want to use them to save some money. However, it would be cheaper to make up your own raw diet and just add more meat/oils. As far as conditioning it would make more sense to keep his winter weight on and just start conditioning in the spring.

 

if you are really working the dog hard then its fine to feed them 3 SMALL meals a day. as far as when to condition goes thats all up to you i live florida an todays weather was about 80* so year round conditioning is not a problem here.

 

The pre-made raws are pretty expensive if you a several dogs to feed....I will feed it along with a base of muscle meat and bone just for the added organ meat, vitamins and greens it mixes into it.

yIS

 

Most of the work he does is his protection work. He is a competition dog as well as my Personal Protection dog and don't know how to start going about a regimen of OTHER conditioning. I am really looking for the edge in strength, power, and of course more endurance. I will wait until spring (in Chicago) on your recommendations and just add the winter weight along with his regular bitework/obedience/mantracking sessions.

Things like flirtpole I can't use in contitioning, but I have a similar thing to do with him that allows him to win from his own efforts. So, some things I may have to alter but I love the seriousness on this forum about the condition and nutrition of your dogs. And, I appreciate the non-"I'm such a badass and so is my bulldog" attitude, it's a real relief from the "working dog forums" and Dobermann forums. This forum is probably the best one I could have found for the health and wellbeing of my Dobermann! Isn't that sad that I have no support nor information from people of my own breed?

 

Why would you feed a working dog 3 meals a day, especially if they are working hard? Dogs work best on an empty stomach. If you feed them 3x a day, then most likely there will be food in there when they are working which can increase the chance of bloat.

 

Its best not to keep a dog in competition shape year round. They need a break. Even human bodybuilders take breaks from training. That's why I say wait til the spring. The work you are doing now is fine for winter conditioning. In the spring you can start dropping his weight and step up conditioning by adding drag weights for strength and try to find a slat mill for endurance.

Sad to hear the other working dog forums are full of shit talkers. Bulldog people already know what they have, so no need to back it up with "tough talk".

 

2% body weight is obviously not enough food for your dog if you are having trouble keeping weight on. Increase the feed to 3-4% body weight and adjust accordingly.

Regarding pork I feed it all the time. It is mostly fed after it has been frozen, but it is also fed straight from the store or supplier.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/trichinosis/factsht_trichinosis.htm#common

 

"thanks for the info",just what l was looking for!!

 

i feed them 3x a day because they perform pretty good on that schedule, maybe i shouldnt say feed because i'll usually give them a piece of ground(their raw food i make in patties) about 3inch in diameter.