# 5 1/2 month 45 pounds RAW



## pr3dict (May 12, 2014)

So I'll be honest I have been slacking a little with the wholeness of the raw diet I have my girl on.

She has a 70% meat 30% bone mix of turkey, chicken, beef, and duck. about 3/4 of the month.

Every once and while I will get liver and put that in with her food but its not regular practice.

I do give her a lot of carrots and every so often I cut up an apple for her to eat.

She seems to be healthy except for a yeast infection in her ear she keeps getting.

Is 45 pounds a normal weight for a 5 1/2 month old? Or am I totally screwing her up by not giving her more organ meat?


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## d4mmo (Mar 27, 2013)

Do you add any vitamins and minerals?
What zinc to calcium ratio do you give her based on your diet?


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## pr3dict (May 12, 2014)

I do not add anything other then the veggies every once and awhile. I do not give her any extra zinc or calcium and am not exactly sure what you mean by that. I get rolls of the mix premade from a butcher near me and thats how I feed her every day... About 2 lbs each day of the 70/30 mix


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## d4mmo (Mar 27, 2013)

Please read lots of articles about these diets, and I mean journal articles not website claims. 
Dogs need a balanced diet. How do you know your diet is balanced?
How do you know it is the correct mix the butcher says it is and not left over offal. 
Read these articles please 

http://www.gsdcv.org.au/sites/default/files/file/Growth and Feeding of Puppies.pdf

http://www.gsdcv.org.au/sites/default/files/file/Nutrition in Dogs.pdf


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

I would give her a good quality kibble once in a while to make sure she gets the most balanced diet.


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## d4mmo (Mar 27, 2013)

Wolves in the wild eat whole animal, muscle, fur, insides, semi digested food in the intestines, eyes, tongue etc.
We can't match that, with our Raw model.
A puppy at 5 months is growing through rapid growth. Crucial to its overall development. There is no room for error


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

Any chance your butcher could do a bit different ratio for you?


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

Raw feeding for me is quite simple especially if your butcher csn make you a specific ratio/mix.
I use Feedsentials as my core additive.


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## pr3dict (May 12, 2014)

well now that im 100% completely afraid that im destroying my puppys life/ development, should I just go and get like 2 months supply of a commercial dog food like stella and chewys or something until shes gone through this spurt and then revisit the "do it yourself" raw method

Thoughts?


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

No not at all. Look to improve your meat ratios and continue doing what I consider one of the healthiest things you can do for your dog...raw feeding.


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## d4mmo (Mar 27, 2013)

Raw is great IF it's balanced and complete. 
Otherwise your better off feeding pedigree dog food.

Feeding unbalanced raw is pointless.
I try to enlighten average folk, please do not believe what you read on the Internet.
Speak to breeders, vets, dog clubs etc. 
there is a reason why vets and professionals don't encourage raw feeding.


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## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

you just need to add more organs. Organs are essential, especially liver.


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## pr3dict (May 12, 2014)

other then liver, I cant really find much of anything else around. The tripe I can get at the stores around here are all bleached white stuff and even the liver is not easy to find...


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## pr3dict (May 12, 2014)

This has to be wrong but I just did the feeding buide on stella and chewy's website... They are saying that for their large 8 oz patties a puppy at my girls weight should be eating 3 patties a day. There are 12 patties in each of the $36 bags of food....

Thats $270 a month to feed commercial raw?? That has to be wrong. Any insight?


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

pr3dict said:


> well now that im 100% completely afraid that im destroying my puppys life/ development, *should I just go and get like 2 months supply of a commercial dog food like stella and chewys* or something until shes gone through this spurt and then revisit the "do it yourself" raw method
> 
> Thoughts?


Yes to the above.
And Yes, a commercial product like Stella & Chewy's will cost that much per month.

My holistic vet is adamant about a "balanced" raw diet, and yours is not. The dogs are not eating a "fresh kill" and everything that goes along with it, so it's your responsibility to provide what is missing......every day.

Her 2 biggest statements are: 
*"IF you are not going to feed a *balanced* raw diet....don't feed it or you could be facing major problems down the road." 
*"You would be better off feeding a high quality kibble IF you are not going to feed a balanced raw diet".

Your pup is still young and developing, so please re-think his/her feeding program.

Best of luck to you,
Moms


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## E.Hatch (Sep 24, 2013)

Commercial premade raw is SO expensive. 

But you need more variety and more organs in order to feed a balanced raw diet. I feed mainly beef, chicken, turkey, venison, tripe and pork with the occasional rabbit, quail or duck thrown in. Check out Big Dan's Trucking, you can get meat and organs from them for very cheap. It's mostly beef but they do also sell turkey and chicken. Raw Feeding Miami has a lot of variety but they're more expensive.

I also add feedsentials and shemp oil.

Are you on Facebook? There's a couple groups on there, raw feeding friends is one and I think the other is called raw feeding community. They're very helpful about both balancing the diet and also about finding sources local to your area.

You're going to have to put the time, money and effort into feeding a raw diet and if you can't then yeah switch back to kibble.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

Here is the reference page of raw feeding from this blog.

B.A.R.F./Raw Feeding - German Shepherd Dog Forums 

Agree with E.Hatch about the Feed-Sentials. FANTASTIC products to add to raw fed dogs meals for missing nutrients. They are Human Grade "Whole Foods".....I take some of them myself!
*Sunday Sundae* (Digestive Enzyme & Pro-Biotic Combo): http://ineedthat.corecommerce.com/Sunday-Sundae.html
*Sh-emp Oil:* http://ineedthat.corecommerce.com/SH-EMP-OIL.html 
*Feed-Sentials – K9 Nutrients *(Multiple vitamins)*:* http://ineedthat.corecommerce.com/FEED-SENTIALS.html 
*Phyt-n-Chance:* http://ineedthat.corecommerce.com/Phyt-n-Chance-K9-A-Highly-Concentrated-Antioxidant-Blend.html
*Power Of EA’s:* http://ineedthat.corecommerce.com/Power-of-3EA-s.html 

From Canada http://ineedthat.corecommerce.com/SH-EMP-OIL.html 
From US: http://animalnature.net/animal-nature-product-listing.html 
phone: 412 723 2194 Jason @ Animal Nature 


Moms


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## pr3dict (May 12, 2014)

So yesterday I went and got 2 pounds of green tripe to feed with the rest of the meat/bone mix that I have (about 8 pounds). Then I bought 20 pounds of beef/bone/greentripe patties and another 20 pounds of beef/bone/liver.

At 2.99/lb its not that bad considering the turkey/beef/chicken/duck I was getting was 1.25/lb but didnt include the organ meats. 

They also sell bone marrows and chicken backs but I want to get the other esssentials down backed first. 

I cannot afford to bay $250+ on a commercial product so I will need to have to get this downpacked. I think I may end up getting that feed essentials product as well. The butcher I get the meat/bone from usually also carries the honest kitchen additives but I still need organs which are my major issue.

Also, thanks for all the helpful responses so far. Other then scaring the crap out of me it is helping redesign her diet.


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

d4mmo said:


> Do you add any vitamins and minerals?
> What zinc to calcium ratio do you give her based on your diet?


This statement is incredibly ignorant, IMO and the posts that follow are more about fear mongering than education.

Weight is based on frame, genetics and is purely dog based. Is your dog healthy, lean and active? - that is a better way to look at it.

Also, raw diets are about balance OVER TIME - not in each meal. Variety, variety, variety. Raw meat, bones, Organs and other misc "parts" are loaded with vitamins and minerals - all of it being extremely bioavailable, coming from natural sources.

Adding supplements/probiotics is totally fine and is like covering your bases, especially if you get whats on sale and can't feed as much variety as you would like.

NO KIBBLE IS 100% COMPLETE AND BALANCED. Period. If you feed one kibble, for life, no additives, your dog will experience deficiencies. Also, because the "vitamins" added to this are synthetic, the long term affects can be horrible.

Nothing wrong with feeding kibble as part of a balanced diet, but no one thing should be fed to that excess, IMO.

To the OP, if you are worried about condition - you can post pictures. Some of us love to see puppies  and we can help you determine if the calories going in are appropriate for the dog.


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

d4mmo said:


> Raw is great IF it's balanced and complete.
> Otherwise your better off feeding pedigree dog food.
> 
> Feeding unbalanced raw is pointless.
> ...


I find this super funny - only because my own vet and MANY breeders I know feed raw LOL

There is a way to incorrectly feed raw (there is also a way to incorrectly feed kibble) - however, with some very basic research most will be completely fine.

This is fear mongering at its absolute worst, IMO. I would like to see posters thinking about what they are saying before they hit submit.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

I wish the OP lived close to me as I am thinking strongly about starting my own RAW food business. I can feed Gus a well balanced raw (meat/bones) diet for 60-70 per month. I then add Feedsentials etc. It still comes in much cheaper than any quality kibble.

I have very strong opinions to the benefits of RAW feeding and would love to see more feeding it. It really is so very simple to do. I used to worry about when we travel to the U.S, can't take his food over the border but buying a few chicken breasts with bone in easily satisfies him for a few days here or there. For those days I dont stress about muscle/organ meats and feedsentials etc.

I believe my last GSD would have lived longer and with less health issues had I fed him a RAW diet.


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## pr3dict (May 12, 2014)

Here are some pics, Kinda hard to see because shes dark


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

She looks perfect! I would not want to add weight, but continue to maintain a lean physique on her.

You are on the right path, continue to add variety slowly, and more organ of course. If you can add tripe, it is absolutely an amazing multivitamin for dogs. (You want green tripe, not bleached)

If you have facebook check out the page Raw Rejects - you can ask questions and see if there are some raw sources near to you that you can get in on!

It is harder to see black dogs LOL


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