Raw Food Question

[Jjgibbs]

I have seen a couple posts about mixing raw food with kibble. Please forgive me for my ignorance but can someone explain what exactly this is? I have a 10 week of WGSD and we have him on Purina Puppy Chow. the vet told us to switch to Purina Puppy Chow Large Breed. She did not mention changing his diet as far as raw food. Any info is greatly appreciated!! :-)

Thanks in advance!

[onyx'girl]

You can look in the raw/barf forum for information.
As far as a vet telling you to feed raw, that will probably never, ever happen!
I would look in the diet/nutrition threads on puppy feeding. Purina isn't recommended. There must be slow growth without all the fillers and the calcium/phosphorus ratio should be balanced to ensure proper growth.
Raw feeding is just that, basically a perfect balance if fed correctly.

[Holmeshx2]

I would take the dog off puppy chow in general like ASAP. Many other quality kibbles to give. Some people like to supplement with some raw food and kibble because of cost or because they are not completely sure how to make a well balanced diet so this way they can give the health benefit of raw but the kibble makes sure the dog gets all the nutrients it needs. However doing it with Purina is kind of like eating a diet of all junk food and candy then drinking a V-8 or something.

[Jjgibbs]

Originally Posted by Holmeshx2

I would take the dog off puppy chow in general like ASAP. Many other quality kibbles to give. Some people like to supplement with some raw food and kibble because of cost or because they are not completely sure how to make a well balanced diet so this way they can give the health benefit of raw but the kibble makes sure the dog gets all the nutrients it needs. However doing it with Purina is kind of like eating a diet of all junk food and candy then drinking a V-8 or something.

What kind of kibble do you recommend? And when you say "raw", am I correct in thinking actual RAW food? Feeding raw food sounds a bit scary or is it cooked first? And when mixing kibble and raw, is it a half and half mixture? Sorry for all the questions... :-/

[Jjgibbs]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

You can look in the raw/barf forum for information.
As far as a vet telling you to feed raw, that will probably never, ever happen!
I would look in the diet/nutrition threads on puppy feeding. Purina isn't recommended. There must be slow growth without all the fillers and the calcium/phosphorus ratio should be balanced to ensure proper growth.
Raw feeding is just that, basically a perfect balance if fed correctly.

Thanks so much! And of course I searched this forum for raw food and found nothing only to see someone post a new thread today to the Health and Wellness section.

[onyx'girl]

B.A.R.F./Raw Feeding - German Shepherd Dog Forums
look at the 'sticky's' on the top of the forum for great info, then threads that pertain to your questions.
Diet & Nutrition - German Shepherd Dog Forums

[Holmeshx2]

there is an entire section dedicated to feeding raw tons of information in there.

As far as kibble it depends on your price range. Personally, if I had to choose or recommend a kibble I'd go with Orijen. I feed raw myself but theres a lot more to it then just throwing some meat down so I don't recommend it to anyone in the beginning until they do research on it then am more then willing to help them along. As far as how much most people don't do an exact mix (not that I know of anyways) they just add some extra meat to the dogs kibble chicken quarter etc.. (for the larger adult dogs) for starters I would get your pup on a good kibble if you give us a price range you are looking at spending on kibble we can give you a better idea what to look for.. no use in recommending an $80 bag of kibble thats 30 lbs if you are looking at $10 for a 50 lb bag (not saying you are just using as an example)

Edit: Thanks Jane I don't know how to link threads yet lol

[Jjgibbs]

Thanks guys!! I don't know if we had a price range honestly...all about getting the best for the pup. However, with that being said, can you give me a low, mid, and high price option for kibble? One of each maybe? I know that is asking a lot, sorry. And I am actually looking at Lauri's website too. Lots of research in the upcoming days, but exciting nonetheless!! :-)

[onyx'girl]

I have no idea what kibble prices are, depends on where you live and where you purchase it. I think Orijen is highest($60 for 30# or so) and may be hard to find. I use to recommend Wellness super5mix LBP but some people have had problems with runny poo feeding that. Look at the cal/phos ratio, it should be 1:1 or so.
Not many kibble brands have it unfortunately.
Check out the other threads for more info.

The recent Whole Dog Journal has their annual kibble recommendation issue. WDJ is a good publication/worth the subscription fee. Whole Dog Journal
By the way, your pup in your profile pic is adorable!