New food! Thoughts?

[BxrMommieNAZ]

You can feed raw meat yes, but you would have to feed the bones (uncooked) in order to get the calcium/phosphorus. That comes from the bones, not from the meat (cooked or raw). There's a forum on here about feeding raw. That may be easier for you overall anyway, as you would need no appliances at all or cooking utencils.

Brown or white rice doesn't matter. Any veggies or fruits as long as they are not poisonous to your dog (check the sticky at the top regarding poisonous fruits and veggies). Meat doesn't matter, chicken, turkey, beef, fish, pork, bison, etc.

My Boxer is 67 pounds, my GSD is 75 pounds. My GSD eats 1/2 cup per day more food than my Boxer does. But in reality it doesn't really matter how much my dog weighs, how much they will eat depends on weight as well as activity, metabolism, etc.

I look at it this way, I do not weigh every gram of food for myself, or my son, or my husband. I make varied meals throughout the day and week, vary our fruits, veggies, meats, and grains, and we all take a multi-vitamin and all 3 of us are very healthy. Dogs do not weigh their food in the wild either. So, I don't overly stress over things.

[Pawbla]

Originally Posted by BxrMommieNAZ

You can feed raw meat yes, but you would have to feed the bones (uncooked) in order to get the calcium/phosphorus. That comes from the bones, not from the meat (cooked or raw). There's a forum on here about feeding raw. That may be easier for you overall anyway, as you would need no appliances at all or cooking utencils.

I tried to aim for raw feeding (meat only) at first, but meat is really expensive. I asked you about raw meat so the bones could be eaten . As far as I know cooked bones are bad for dogs.

Originally Posted by BxrMommieNAZ

Brown or white rice doesn't matter. Any veggies or fruits as long as they are not poisonous to your dog (check the sticky at the top regarding poisonous fruits and veggies). Meat doesn't matter, chicken, turkey, beef, fish, pork, bison, etc.

My Boxer is 67 pounds, my GSD is 75 pounds. My GSD eats 1/2 cup per day more food than my Boxer does. But in reality it doesn't really matter how much my dog weighs, how much they will eat depends on weight as well as activity, metabolism, etc.

Yeah, I just wanted to get a general idea of where to start. Thanks! And thanks for the rice/veggies thing.

Originally Posted by BxrMommieNAZ

I look at it this way, I do not weigh every gram of food for myself, or my son, or my husband. I make varied meals throughout the day and week, vary our fruits, veggies, meats, and grains, and we all take a multi-vitamin and all 3 of us are very healthy. Dogs do not weigh their food in the wild either. So, I don't overly stress over things.

I know! I'm anemic, so dieting needs worry me a lot. I don't take vitamins because it's kinda expensive, but I would if I could. Luckily doggie vitamins are cheaper :P.

While we sort of "know" the amount of food we should eat per meal, and the variety we need, we are omnivorous animals rather on the herbivorous side. On the other side, dogs are completely different animals, omnivorous quite on the meat side. My lack of "sense of what and how much" is what worries me. I'll probably get him blood tested two or three times during the switch.

You can't guess how THANKFUL I am towards you <3. I have to make the final price check, but I'm pretty sure I'll switch. I was thinking I had to settle with kibble until I could afford more. This is my last bag of kibble :P.

[theboxerman]

You should consider us Taste of the Wild by Blue Buffalo. It is a great dog food that can bought at petsmart. It is a bit on the pricey side, but it is worth it. Just watch and make sure your dog doesn't have an allergic reaction. It can be very easy to upset a dog's stomach when introducing a new type of food.

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Originally Posted by theboxerman

You should consider us Taste of the Wild by Blue Buffalo. It is a great dog food that can bought at petsmart. It is a bit on the pricey side, but it is worth it. Just watch and make sure your dog doesn't have an allergic reaction. It can be very easy to upset a dog's stomach when introducing a new type of food.

Taste of the Wild and Blue Buffalo are two separate foods made by two very separate manufacturers. Are you talking about Wilderness by Blue Buffalo or Taste of the Wild? Taste of the Wild is not available at PetSmart though.

Also, allergies are separate from just switching a food too quickly and causing stomach upset.