raw food for large breed puppy

[nellieellie]

I would like to start my 4mth pup on raw but cannot face a lot of handling and chopping up of meat, so am more interested in the prepared foods. Has anyone got experience of raw for a large breed puppy?

I've been looking at Nutriment and Natures menu. Am a little worried because there is no food specific to a large breed pup - but generally seems that the idea is to feed adult (so keeping calcium at reasonable levels) and ensure that pup is kept lean.
Any help would be appreciated!

I've raised a Weimaraner and a Dalmatian on the Prize Choice blocks. I do supplement with chicken wings and thighs as treats, I give these straight from the freezer.
I used to buy the big bags on mince and separate those, but the blocks are the same size as a meal so just keep on with them. They get a block each (400g) for breakfast and dinner.

There is a useful site that gives how much to feed as a % of their weight.

I don't do "proper" raw though.

Join Raw Feeding UK group on FB (if you're on there) They have masses of info and files covering all aspects of feeding. Lots of useful advice and knowledgeable people in the group www.facebook.com/groups/rawfeedinguk/

Thanks for these replies -I'll look at the Prize Choice as not heard of these. I'm not on facebook unfortunately - I had heard that there was a really good group on there, so maybe I will just need to sign up!

I know a few people feeding large breeds on Nutriment with no problems :) - if you ring them they are really great and can answer any Qs. I usually speak to Ryan

The idea of raw feeding is that it is suitable for all dogs and all ages. Pups just get a larger percentage of body weight. There is no need to feed a specific large breed puppy food. The argument is that these specific types of diet (large breed, breed specific, weight control) are constructs of the pet food manufacturing industry. I tend to agree, although different meats and veggies etc will suit different dogs.

How big is your pup? My pup is 6 months and is just over 6 stone. This means he is having 2kg of meat a day. We found prepared raw food too expensive. So we buy supermarket meat!

Bugger, take a look at manifoldvalleymeats.co.uk or durham animal foods - should work out cheaper then the supermarket :)

Thanks pandora

we have a giant - get DAF delivered.

Hi, laptop breakdown, so no posting for a while! Thanks for all these replies. Pandora, the Manifold Valley meats website is very interesting. We have been feeding our pup Nutriment for a couple of weeks, with the odd duck neck and chicken neck - he loves it, but it is a bit expensive - I think when I get a bit more confident about mixing my own a bit more I'll probably switch to something like the Manifold Valley. Unfortunately Mrs Laughan, DAF don't deliver in our area. Has your giant pup been on raw from a puppy?

Silvershadows, is "Prize Choice" Nature's menu?

I suppose what I'm worried about Spicy Pear, is the view that large breed puppies, because they grow a lot over a long period are meant to have relatively low calcium levels, and this is what tends to be reflected in the large breed puppy kibble. There was the rather unpleasant research done by one of the kibble manufacturers (Eukanuba or Purina, I think) on Great danes that showed bone malformation where high levels of calcium - max of about 1.5% recommended I think. The same research debunked the "only feed giant breeds low protein diets" mantra.

The Nutriment products and other prepared raw foods seem to have about 20% bone - which is the main calcium source in raw, and I have read that best to stick to about 10% bone on a lot of the raw feeding sites. I know that a raw diet is a different thing entirely to kibble where the calcium is added in in artificial form often, but I worry a little because "in the wild", our giant breeds would not exist - the natural shape for a wild dog/wolf would be slighter, and smaller, so I think there may be an argument that we do still have to be a bit careful. But, then again, there are people who feed their dogs solely on meaty bones, and a chicken carcass is about 60% bone. My pup is not huge - he is 4mths and about 20kg (Estrela Mountain dog), but I still want to make sure I am doing the right thing. I have spoken to nutriment, and they are very helpful but I've not really had my mind put at rest - their view is that raw is different but that's not really enough detail for me!

I still buy the odd tubs of natural instincts and nutriment, mainly due to convenience when I am busy and have not defrosted their raw food. Buying raw is cheaper. I can get a kg of chunks of lean meat for about £2. I get offal from the butchers as a kg of offal is a lot to use up/ defrost in one go, so I stopped getting them from the supplier. I try not to feed mince but my own food because then I know exactly what's in it and how much.

OP I'd also feel a bit uneasy about giving Nutriment as sole source of food. I use it occasionally but expensive and dog would have to eat more of it weight wise to get what it needs to grow.
It has a lot of bone in it, also stuff that's not meat, fruit, veg, other "healthy" things that would probably be great for humans but don't seem right for a dog IMHO. When my dogs eat it I can see bits of veg etc in the poos so not not being absorbed and likely dog not getting as much as they would on a proper DIY raw diet.
The beef mix doesn't have any actual beef muscle meat in it, its offal and heart.
Tripe seems to be in most of the meals. Perhaps used as a cheap "filler", dogs love it but not as nourishing as proper meat.

If you can source your meat. It's worth doing. It's cheaper than prepacked. You just need a freezer to store it. I bought one from a charity shop and the lower cost of raw paid for the freezer in just a few months. I noticed that some prepacked, especially those containing veg are very mushy. Dogs generally do not need veg but if you want to add, just part cook and liquidise and add to the raw meat.

It is these
www.prizechoice.co.uk/products/
Most pet shops sell them and it is what I use for ease.
Both my dogs get 400g twice a day, so it's feed them then get another block out for each of them to defrost, and the pattern continues.

I do supplement with other offcuts of our meat, eggs, fish rawhide chews, their kongs etc. This is just the easiest way for us to do it. The large 2k bags were great last summer as I just fed frozen whenever the weather was hot but there seems to be some thoughts that shouldn't be done.

I must say, we came across raw because our dally had colitis as a pup and every brand of food we tried ended up in a dreadful mess across our floor. The raw was the only one that suited him and we did it in desperation. We hadn't read anything about it really, just jumped in! Because it worked for the dally we tried it with the weim as a pup and 15 months on she is a healthy specimen. The only thing I stuck to was the weight guide. I didn't stress about quantities of tripe/offal/bone/meat ratios.
I couldn't work with the 2-3% of adult weight but found a site that gave a breakdown. It was something like 8% of the puppies weight daily for 3 weeks then then went on decreasing in weight over a period of weeks until the puppy is a year and then it is the 2-3% of adult weight.

I'm sorry, I can't find that again to link to it for you. I may have it written down though, I'll look.