Raw Food Sytem Guidelines for Your Dog

A diet such as the raw dog food system often has you preparing a lot for it. With the need for different nutrients, vitamins and minerals in the diet, you may need to get creative. Just throwing together anything may not be your best bet.

It is important to be able to strike a balance when it comes to the calcium and phosphorus ratio that your dog needs. Calcium is an important building block that your dog’s body needs so make sure to include it in the barf food diet. Calcium can come from the bones that you feed your dog.

Owners sometimes eliminate bones from their dog’s raw food diet in fear or having their dog’s insides punctured or having their dog choke. This should not be done. Do not opt to serve just meat. Dogs are completely capable of chewing and breaking down bones. Just make sure that you do not cook these bones so that they do not become brittle.

Something to keep in mind when picking out a bone for your dog’s raw food diet is the ratio of meat to bone. Some agree to having a 1:1 ratio, but a 2:1 ratio of meat to bone would be much better.

When giving your dogs eggs on their raw meal, make it a point to include the shells as well. These contain calcium which your dog needs. Dairy products will give calcium as well but are best given separately from the barf itself.

Phosphorus on the other hand can be found in eggs and dairy too. So while you give your dogs their calcium in the form of these foods, you are already hitting two birds with one stone. Lean meats also contain phosphorus, as well as do grains. However, you will want to avoid giving your dog grains since it may not be something that their bodies can digest.

Fish also contain phosphorus, so it may be good to break away from the usual meats that you give your dog and serve it some fish every now and them. About once or twice a week will do when it comes to fish.

Other vitamins and minerals that are needed by your dog’s body may be found in vegetables and fruits. You can easily add vegetables and fruits to your dog’s barf food either pureed or chopped up into pieces. Offal, which is animal internal organs is also a rich source of nutrients. Try to serve your dog with these about once or twice a week.

The key to feeding your dog healthy and well-balanced raw food is variety; as much as possible try to include different type of food that is safe for your dog to take in. A mixture of meats with a mixture of vegetables can work well. Also make it a point to rotate the types of meat your give your dog in its raw food diet to avoid any allergy onsets.