Miscellaneous Tips for Following A Raw Food Diet For Dogs

Putting your dog on a raw food diet may seem like a big task with so many things for you to do and keep in mind. Here are some tips that will help make everything easier for you and your dog as well when it comes to a raw food diet for dogs.

  • If you have a picky eater that won’t take in vegetables, try mixing the veggies with offal (animal innards like tripe, heart kidneys and liver). This will work two ways – by masking the vegetables and reducing the smell of the offal at the same time.
  • Once you’ve determined the amount of food that will be consumed in your dog's diet, try packing the food in single servings. It will make feeding your dog easier since everything will already be equal to what your dog needs.
  • Get in touch with a local butcher and talk to them about getting a steady supply of raw meat bones, offal and other meat or game that they may have. At least you won’t have to worry about where to get your meat. Also, your butcher may eventually offer you cheaper prices as you become a regular customer.
  • Don’t just stick to beef and chicken, go ahead and put fish in the barf diet for your dog. Whole fresh fish are fine so long as you check that no hooks have been left inside. This can be a welcome change in the diet of your dog.
  • Make sure that you provide a wide variety of raw foods for your dog. Sticking to a single type of meat will increase the chances of your dog developing allergies to it. More than this, a wide variation will mean that there are more types of vitamins and minerals to be gained by your dog.
  • If you have a litter and want to start them on a barf diet early on, the ideal age to wean them from your bitch would be about 4 weeks. Start with milk first and at around 6-8 eight weeks you can do soft foods as long as they can handle it.
  • Getting your dog started on a raw food diet does not mean that there will be no treats. You can give your dog fruit slices, natural apple sauce and yogurt. You can even make your own treats by drying pieces of meat with a bit of salt in it.
  • Thawing out frozen meat can take a lot of time especially if it is in large amounts. Take the meat or frozen pureed veggies for your dog out the night before. Leave it in the fridge to thaw out and you will not need to worry about it the next day.
  • If your dog seems to be constipated or having difficulty with bowel, increase the veggies in its diet. This will give your dog more fiber and help it go more easily.

As your dog continues to get used to the raw dog food system, then the more that you will learn; you may eventually find tips and tricks that work well for you which you have not learned elsewhere.