I am looking to switch to a ground raw diet from a home cooked diet. I've looked online for weeks now at raw diets for bulldogs and its all so confusing. Does anyone have a diet that is complete as possible that has worked very well for them they wouldn't mind sharing?
Hi, I tagged Riisi for you, as she has experience with raw feeding. Hopefully others with experience will also come along soon with some advice.
- Sep 30, 2011
- 5,014
- 535
- Country
- Finland
- Bulldog(s) Names
- Taisto, Kylli, Salli, Angel-Usko and Angel-Voitto
Hi, and welcome to EBN.
You will get different advice from different people in here too. That is why I always advice to buy a book about raw feeding so you have just one guide line to follow. You're anyway supposed to modify the diet according to the response you get from the dog at hand. Then when you have started and know a little bit about raw feeding the internet is a great place to get more info. You just can't follow everyones advice.
I feed raw for my boys and their feeding has chanced quite a bit over the course of their lifes. And they both can't eat the same foods. At this point I usually make a batch of about 1,8kg/4lbs which consists of 50% ground meaty bones(50/50 meat/bone) 10-15%tribe, 30-40% different meats. About twice a week I put in raw eggs. Meaty bones could be horse, lamb, chicken, turkey or beef. For meat I get the same and also deer, duck, ostrich and even llama sometimes. I also use different hearts, tongue and gizzards. You should use the meat from 3 different animals.
To make a meal for the other dog I mix about 50g/1,1lbs of pureed veggies and roughly 300g/6,6lbs of that meat mixture. I also add a multivitamin since this dog can't eat organs and fish oil, for omega3, since he don't eat fish.
For the other bully, I have just awhile ago started to give, instead of veggies that make him regurgitate, 50g/1,1lbs cooked millet, buck wheat or quinoa and that same amount of the meat mixture and fish oil.
They're about the same size 30kg/66lbs and they get this twice a day. Twice a week this other guy gets a meal that consists of tripe and organs; lung, kidney and liver. They also get a joint support daily. I give them treats only when training and that is usually cooked tongue.
You will get different advice from different people in here too. That is why I always advice to buy a book about raw feeding so you have just one guide line to follow. You're anyway supposed to modify the diet according to the response you get from the dog at hand. Then when you have started and know a little bit about raw feeding the internet is a great place to get more info. You just can't follow everyones advice.
I feed raw for my boys and their feeding has chanced quite a bit over the course of their lifes. And they both can't eat the same foods. At this point I usually make a batch of about 1,8kg/4lbs which consists of 50% ground meaty bones(50/50 meat/bone) 10-15%tribe, 30-40% different meats. About twice a week I put in raw eggs. Meaty bones could be horse, lamb, chicken, turkey or beef. For meat I get the same and also deer, duck, ostrich and even llama sometimes. I also use different hearts, tongue and gizzards. You should use the meat from 3 different animals.
To make a meal for the other dog I mix about 50g/1,1lbs of pureed veggies and roughly 300g/6,6lbs of that meat mixture. I also add a multivitamin since this dog can't eat organs and fish oil, for omega3, since he don't eat fish.
For the other bully, I have just awhile ago started to give, instead of veggies that make him regurgitate, 50g/1,1lbs cooked millet, buck wheat or quinoa and that same amount of the meat mixture and fish oil.
They're about the same size 30kg/66lbs and they get this twice a day. Twice a week this other guy gets a meal that consists of tripe and organs; lung, kidney and liver. They also get a joint support daily. I give them treats only when training and that is usually cooked tongue.
yulia
New member
I feel like, just like with my family's diet, it does not have to be an exact rocket science. The way I look at it: as long as I see my children eating about right amount of protein, good fat, vegetables, seaweed and fruit, I feel they have a good diet. I do not try to measure the exact protein/fat/carb/fiber content of every food they eat, you know. I feel it is the same with animals. So I never really worry about getting things exact and just right. I usually make a home-made mix of ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey necks (something I grind through a cheap manual meat grinder...I sooo wish I could find chicken necks, heads and feet for bone content instead as they are so much easier to grind, but I just can't find a supplier of those yet 
), ground liver. All raw of course. Sometimes I steam yum and carrots, mush both and add to the mix, other times I grind just raw carrots into the mix. Right before I feed I grind (in a coffee grinder) some dried (it takes about a day to dry them) egg shells and kelp/bladderwrack seaweed (for its enormous nutritional value) and add it all to the meat mix together with a bought food based vitamin/mineral powder for young dogs. I also give her a raw egg almost daily. That's usually what our Kira eats and she has a good solid poop. Sometimes when I don't have thawed/ready mix, I would just give her some chicken breast, though it would make her stool more loose without the bone to balance it out. Though if I add an astringent herb to the chicken (like grinded red raspberry leaf, which, in addition to solidifying the poop, is one of the most nutrient dense herbs in existence and is also very tonifying and supportive to female reproductive system) then her poop would be solid just as well. Though I do it rarely, as I usually do try to have the mix always available in my freezer as I feel it is a more complete meal.
I also think if I should start adding some sardines (in water) to her meals a couple of times a week; the soft bones inside the sardines are reach with phosphorus and it is also a source of omega 3. anybody tried adding sardines in water to their bully's food?
), ground liver. All raw of course. Sometimes I steam yum and carrots, mush both and add to the mix, other times I grind just raw carrots into the mix. Right before I feed I grind (in a coffee grinder) some dried (it takes about a day to dry them) egg shells and kelp/bladderwrack seaweed (for its enormous nutritional value) and add it all to the meat mix together with a bought food based vitamin/mineral powder for young dogs. I also give her a raw egg almost daily. That's usually what our Kira eats and she has a good solid poop. Sometimes when I don't have thawed/ready mix, I would just give her some chicken breast, though it would make her stool more loose without the bone to balance it out. Though if I add an astringent herb to the chicken (like grinded red raspberry leaf, which, in addition to solidifying the poop, is one of the most nutrient dense herbs in existence and is also very tonifying and supportive to female reproductive system) then her poop would be solid just as well. Though I do it rarely, as I usually do try to have the mix always available in my freezer as I feel it is a more complete meal.I also think if I should start adding some sardines (in water) to her meals a couple of times a week; the soft bones inside the sardines are reach with phosphorus and it is also a source of omega 3. anybody tried adding sardines in water to their bully's food?
anatess
Well-known member
- Jul 26, 2011
- 1,758
- 398
- Country
- US
- Bulldog(s) Names
- Bullie (RIP) & Angus (RIP)
I don't grind my meat because my dogs are pretty good meat and bone chompers. Anyway, I follow the Prey-Model. Basically, I give the dogs the entire size-appropriate animal - for example, if I give chicken, I give the entire chicken - head, feet, innards, the whole shebang - or if I give rabbit, the same thing (including fur even). My kids have pet reptiles so we have a source for whole prey (chickens, quail, and rabbits). But, it is hard to get the whole animal from the regular grocery store except for fish, so we just mix-and-match grocery meat parts to kinda equal an entire animal - so about 80% muscle meat (including heart, tongue, gizzard, etc.), 10% bone, 5% liver, and 5% other secreting organs like kidney/brains.
Bullie is not as active as Angus, so she gets only about 2.5% of her body weight in meat (about 1.5 lbs a day) whereas Angus is active so he gets about 3.5% of his body weight a day. So, to make it simple, I would get an entire chicken, chop it up just so it fits in several Tupperwares each containing one day serving - this way, I don't have to worry about getting the exact percentage of meat to bone to organ. I know Bullie ate an entire chicken, in 3 days, so she's good. I'd do an entire month's worth of food in about 2-3 hours and put it in my stand-up freezer that is dedicated to pet food. I always have some kind of bird, rabbit, pork parts (they can't eat most pork bones), beef parts (same thing with beef), and fish. Sometimes the goat is on sale, so I get parts of those and sometimes the boys come home with meat from a hunt (deer, hog, turkey, fish) so I use those. Then every morning, I feed the dogs their food and take out the next day's food to thaw in the fridge.
I pick up their poop so sometimes I notice that their poop is chalky so I lower the bone in the next few days food. Sometimes their poop is soft, so I add bone or lower organs. And then when Bullie starts to get loose skin on her belly, I lower the amount of food, or if she gets a little too tight, I increase the amount of food.
Yeah, it's pretty much the same thing I do with the kids... they go to a holistic pediatrician and so she gives me a list of foods to combat whatever it is the kids are feeling or whatever it is that's going around in the neighborhood/schools.
It sounds complicated but for me, it's all instinctive. I guess it's the same concept as trying to get my mom to share her recipe for some casserole - she really can't tell me how many cups of this or teaspoons of that she uses - she just says, sprinkle it and taste it and add or subtract accordingly...
Dunno if this helps at all. I guess look up the basics of Prey-Model Raw and that's what I'm doing.
Bullie is not as active as Angus, so she gets only about 2.5% of her body weight in meat (about 1.5 lbs a day) whereas Angus is active so he gets about 3.5% of his body weight a day. So, to make it simple, I would get an entire chicken, chop it up just so it fits in several Tupperwares each containing one day serving - this way, I don't have to worry about getting the exact percentage of meat to bone to organ. I know Bullie ate an entire chicken, in 3 days, so she's good. I'd do an entire month's worth of food in about 2-3 hours and put it in my stand-up freezer that is dedicated to pet food. I always have some kind of bird, rabbit, pork parts (they can't eat most pork bones), beef parts (same thing with beef), and fish. Sometimes the goat is on sale, so I get parts of those and sometimes the boys come home with meat from a hunt (deer, hog, turkey, fish) so I use those. Then every morning, I feed the dogs their food and take out the next day's food to thaw in the fridge.
I pick up their poop so sometimes I notice that their poop is chalky so I lower the bone in the next few days food. Sometimes their poop is soft, so I add bone or lower organs. And then when Bullie starts to get loose skin on her belly, I lower the amount of food, or if she gets a little too tight, I increase the amount of food.
Yeah, it's pretty much the same thing I do with the kids... they go to a holistic pediatrician and so she gives me a list of foods to combat whatever it is the kids are feeling or whatever it is that's going around in the neighborhood/schools.
It sounds complicated but for me, it's all instinctive. I guess it's the same concept as trying to get my mom to share her recipe for some casserole - she really can't tell me how many cups of this or teaspoons of that she uses - she just says, sprinkle it and taste it and add or subtract accordingly...
Dunno if this helps at all. I guess look up the basics of Prey-Model Raw and that's what I'm doing.
yulia
New member
Wow, Anatess, this is really really cool! It is good to know bulldog's stomach is robust enough to handle things like rabbit's fur! Unfortunately, our selection of affordable meat is very very limited, I WISH I could get my hands on affordable rabbits, quail and so on. Kira is still a puppy, therefore, fat-rich meat like whole chicken (even when I cut out all obvious fat) still gives her a diarrhea, but I sure am looking forward to the time when she can eat it and to the time when she can grind her bones herself, without me having to sweat it 
yulia
New member
This is so funny, this is exactly me lol. when someone asks me for a recipe and I start telling them what I do approximately and they go "ha?? can't you just give me a RECIPE?" lol Well, I just don't have one, I make things up as they go and I made up "recipes" of most of the food we eat lol. It does have a downside though, every single time the same soup/dish will taste a little bit different, so I do get from my hubby a lot of: "Why do you always have to change things? If it worked last time, do it EXACTLY the same" rants
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