What to feed, how much and how often.

When you look at the features of feeding your dog a healthy diet, the results soon become apparent. Dogs are maintained in top condition and vet trips are minimised. Benefits are often immediate and lifelong. When you stop feeding processed grain based pet junk foods, you’re halfway towards improving your companion’s health.

What to feed.
The simple answer to this is – let nature be your guide. A raw carcase is full of proteins, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes and amino acids. A raw carcase contains all the nutrients that have allowed them to evolve and survive through the centuries to the domestic companion they have become today. As responsible dog owners, our pets deserve the best.

Just like you and me, our tastes change from meal to meal and day to day and we have preferences to certain foods and flavours. Dogs can be fussy and have a preference to certain foods too. Fortunately there is a variety of raw foods available for even the fussiest dog.

Raw food suitable for dogs.
Rats, mice, rabbits, fish, chicken, mutton, lamb, beef, pheasant, turkey, goat, pig, venison, horse.

We have a great selection of raw meat and meaty bones direct at factory prices at www.nzpetfoods.co.nz

Feed meaty bones raw. Never cooked. Bone fragments become brittle and have greater tendency to splinter when broken and cause damage to the mouth and pierce the digestive tract.

Portion sizes need to be large and meaty. Ensuring there is plenty of meat on the bones maximises the cleaning of teeth and gums.

Larger pieces force dogs to chew before swallowing, minimising the risk of choking. Chewing also encourages the development of the jaw and jaw muscles. Chicken necks and other small pieces can cause blockages if gulped down and are better suited to smaller dogs.

Offal, or internal organs are also a great source of nutrients when fed raw and aid in providing a balanced diet. The only caution is with liver which can cause an excess of vitamin A if regularly fed in large amounts.

How much to feed.
As a general rule two-three per cent of the dogs body weight per day is an adequate amount to of raw food to feed. Larger dogs can eat a little less, down to one per cent of their body weight. Raw meaty bones should make up around 70 per cent, with table scraps and offal making up the remainder of their diet. Remember that not all dogs are the same, activity levels vary between lap dogs and agility dogs so monitor their diet and adjusting their food intake as required. If your dog is carrying excess weight, feed a little less, underweight dogs can be fed a little more until a healthy weight is achieved.

Always remember to have a large bowl of fresh water available for your dog.

How often to feed.
Wild dogs tend to feed at irregular intervals, never knowing when their next meal is coming. However, a regular routine is better suited to owners and domestic dogs. For most, one meal a day seems to work best. Pups however, need more regular feeding intervals – up to three times per day, gradually reducing this to one meal per day as they grow and develop.

Nature knows best.