Suggested Beginners Menu

This menu is not complete --- your research and observations of how your dog responds to this beginning menu will make it complete!

How to begin

Congratulations on choosing the best possible way to feed your pet! You will be thrilled with the results this diet can produce. This beginner menu is just that --- a beginner menu. Once you start your pet on a natural diet it takes a small amount of trial and error (nothing that will cause any problems) to finally get it right according to you pets' individual needs. A "one size fits all" approach does not work.

All pets have different requirements, although the differences in needs may be very small. Even pets with health problems can benefit. We just want the best for all pets!

How Much to Feed

Very important --- keep your puppy lean!

Keeping the pup lean may slow down the growing process. A fast growing, overweight pup can develop many skeletal problems. For more on this subject please read Dr. Ian Billinghurst's book "Grow Your Pup with Bones". GYPWB goes into great detail on almost every skeletal disease and how to stack the deck in your pups favor --- preventing skeletal damage!

Weight your pet

Each day your dog should consume 2-3% of their body weight with growing puppies requiring up to 10%. For an adult dog, 2% is a good place to start and can be adjusted from there by watching for unwanted weight gain/loss. It may be a good idea to start high with a pup, and adjust downward as needed.

Here's an example using a 100 lb. dog being fed @ 2%:

100 X 16 = 1600 (total ounces)

1600 X .02 = 32 (ounces @ 2% body weight)

32 ounces is how much you would feed a 100 lb. dog per day if you are feeding @ 2% body weight. Now, of that 32 ounces, 60-80% (see side bar) needs to be raw meaty bones (RMB's) and the remainder of the 32 ounces being the meat grind mix (MGM). Divide this amount into the number of meals per day. Each meal does not need to be exact or even the same. You could feed all of the RMBs at one meal and the MGM at another meal. Whatever works best for your schedule as long as the percentages are correct for a days worth of meals.

How Often to Feed

Age 2-6 months - Feed 3 times per day

Age 6-12 months - Feed 2 times per day

Adult 1-2 years (see below) times per day

Some dogs can get a sour stomach when fed only once a day, which may produce vomiting (this is true for kibble fed dogs also). In that case, it is always best to divide the single meal into two meals. Many people feed the RMBs for one meal in the AM and the MGM in the PM, or vice versa.

What To Feed

The list is almost endless. A variety is highly recommended. Introduce new meats/RMBs slowly by adding a new one every 2 weeks. Watch for any indications that your pet may not be handling the new item well. It is easiest to start with chicken wings as the RMBs. Chicken necks can be used also, but not as an every day RMB. Necks are made of mostly cartilage and may not provide adequate calcium amounts for growing pups. Wait at least 1 week before adding vegetables and supplements, again, slowly and one at a time. As soon as possible you should feed fish once a week, organ meats 2-3 times a week, and 1 whole egg with shell 2-3 times a week.

Be sure not to overload on the poultry by using ground chicken/turkey for the meat grind mix. Occasionally, it is fine, but try to use red meats such as beef, lamb, deer or buffalo. Many people feed rabbit. These are what a dog would most likely eat if it lived in the wild and some feel that if you feed more red meat, the less you need to supplement.

Suggested vegetables: Romaine lettuce, carrots, broccoli, yams, sweet potato, garlic, parsley, and celery for starters. A combo of 2 above ground (i.e.,Romaine, broccoli)and 2 below ground (i.e.,carrots, sweet potato) mixed and pulverized together, is recommended. Garlic is very beneficial and can be added to all mixes.

Basic Supplements

Basic supplements are fish body oil, olive oil, Vitamin E, and Vitamin C. Researchers now agree these are very important to human health, and we recommend them highly for dogs. Some dog owners also add kelp powder and alfalfa powder.

Do not feed or supplement with farm-bred fish or fish oil. Use only wild fish caught in cold waters, and oil certified by a testing lab.

Whether to add the extra supplements or not will ultimately be up to you.

The Power To Customize

Some owners feel that the dog should get all the nutrition it needs from this diet and supplementing could cause serious imbalances. In a perfect world, if your food quality, menu planning, food storage, and dog were all perfect there would be no need for supplements. The food and storage chain is not perfect. No dog is the same. Find out how you dog responses and their specific needs.

Decaying Food Quality

Some researchers are concerned that our food supply is not as nutritional as it used to be (due to mineral depletion of the soil, grain fed animals vs. grass fed animals, pollution, hybridization, etc.) For more information on this read your books and ask questions online!

On to Menu II

Download the entire Dog Raw-Diet "Beginner's Guide & Menu" in Acrobat PDF format here.

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