Strombeck's Diet

[AliceGrimm]

I was just wondering your opinion of this diet.
I guess I am a little afraid of the raw diet and unsure if I could do it without step by step instructions.
But diets like this, I am unsure how the dog will get its teeth clean.

I plan on brushing my dogs teeth daily. But I am not sure if that would be enough to make a happy and healthy dog. However, I am also worried about bones splintering and or chipping teeth. This diet seems to be a cooked diet. Is it healthy and balanced? Can you use chews and brushing to help make strong teeth?

What about those greenie chews? They are always trying to sell them on the commercials.

http://www.dogcathomeprepareddiet.com/index.htm

[Nettle]

I only got as far as reading the puppy diet and it is full of unsuitable starches.

Honestly, there is no mystery to feeding dogs or ourselves. As long as dogs aren't fed food with dodgy ingredients and additives, they do well. Same with quantities - if the dog looks too lean you give it more and if it looks too fat you give it less. It's great that you are researching so thoroughly trust in your own common sense.

I don't know the chews you refer to, but take a look at what is in them, and share with us if still unsure.

I have never cleaned any of my dogs' teeth. They are spotless. My vet sighs with happiness when he sees them. You'd be amazed what a few raw meaty bones can achieve. Even just chicken wings.

[Shalista]

ditto bones and teeth. when my dog was on kibble id always try (and fail) to brush them and id feed him these green toothbrush shaped chews to eat. every time i took him to vet he'd sigh and tell me that i needed to be better at brushing or he'd have to put him under to do a professional tooth cleaning. now that he's on raw he has sparkly white teeth, no brushing or chews needed!

I feel like a salseman always gushing about raw, sorry =P i don't want you to feel pressured.

[JudyN]

I feel like a salseman always gushing about raw, sorry =P i don't want you to feel pressured.

I feel the same. But so many people reject raw feeding because they wrongly think it will be a lot of effort, or maybe dangerous/unhealthy/difficult to balance, which is such a shame. So we're saying you really can do this, and it really can be simple if you think it might suit your dog. And we can give step-by-step instructions if needed!

[AliceGrimm]

I only got as far as reading the puppy diet and it is full of unsuitable starches.

Honestly, there is no mystery to feeding dogs or ourselves. As long as dogs aren't fed food with dodgy ingredients and additives, they do well. Same with quantities - if the dog looks too lean you give it more and if it looks too fat you give it less. It's great that you are researching so thoroughly trust in your own common sense.

I wanted information about this diet because apparently the breeder sort of does this diet. It is difficult to know. They have been breeding for 20+ years and their blog started in 2011. So I am not sure if it is old information or not. I did ask what sort of dog food they help and it is the one they listed here and one other.
"We do feed our puppies "mixed diet. Because we do not know - what new family may prefer for their pet - store brand or home-made meal, we adopting our little schnauzers for both kinds of food. They receive "natural" products out of our refrigerator - as yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, meat products (cooked!). If You are interested to learn more about making food for Your dog and doing it right way we recommend a book
of pet-dietologist Dr. Strombeck.

Our second choice of food for puppies is Royal Canine Mini Puppy. Just like in bad below. Most of pet stores do carry now or You can buy it online." And when I asked what type of food to buy for the puppy, they (they are two sisters) said: "As for this mement we are using two different brands - Purina Pro and Royal Canin for puppies.We also use natural home cooked meals for dogs . Sometimes recommendations about food changes during raising a litter - because of recall on food or we did not like something how it works for particular animal. You will have all information and sample of food."

I don't know the chews you refer to, but take a look at what is in them, and share with us if still unsure.

This is the Greenies thing. I was just curious if you guys heard of it or used it.
https://www.google.com/search?q=greenie ... 8&oe=utf-8

I have never cleaned any of my dogs' teeth. They are spotless. My vet sighs with happiness when he sees them. You'd be amazed what a few raw meaty bones can achieve. Even just chicken wings.

Hmm perhaps I will look more into raw. I am just so nervous about it. lol Is it better to have huge bones or smaller bones for smaller type dogs?

[AliceGrimm]

ditto bones and teeth. when my dog was on kibble id always try (and fail) to brush them and id feed him these green toothbrush shaped chews to eat. every time i took him to vet he'd sigh and tell me that i needed to be better at brushing or he'd have to put him under to do a professional tooth cleaning. now that he's on raw he has sparkly white teeth, no brushing or chews needed!

I feel like a salseman always gushing about raw, sorry =P i don't want you to feel pressured.

Having a small dog and with a raw diet. Does he too chase squirrels and rats and things? Do you think he would eat anything he caught?

[AliceGrimm]

I feel like a salseman always gushing about raw, sorry =P i don't want you to feel pressured.

I feel the same. But so many people reject raw feeding because they wrongly think it will be a lot of effort, or maybe dangerous/unhealthy/difficult to balance, which is such a shame. So we're saying you really can do this, and it really can be simple if you think it might suit your dog. And we can give step-by-step instructions if needed!

I need step-by-step instructions. lol I would be willing to try with step by step. My mom is worried about worms and parasites. But I need to know how much to feed each meal, what to feed. Perhaps I will make a thread to asks these sort of questions. It would be great to have a meal plan and amounts. It does sound wonderful. I am just scared scared.

[Erica]

ditto bones and teeth. when my dog was on kibble id always try (and fail) to brush them and id feed him these green toothbrush shaped chews to eat. every time i took him to vet he'd sigh and tell me that i needed to be better at brushing or he'd have to put him under to do a professional tooth cleaning. now that he's on raw he has sparkly white teeth, no brushing or chews needed!

I feel like a salseman always gushing about raw, sorry =P i don't want you to feel pressured.

Having a small dog and with a raw diet. Does he too chase squirrels and rats and things? Do you think he would eat anything he caught?

He'll chase squirrels whether he's raw fed or not

My raw-fed poodle came upon a deer carcass in the woods and avoided it, even though he's had raw venison before. Raw feeding will not make your pup bloodthirsty or anything like that! Any eating of small critters is probably going to be independent behavior from raw feeding.

[AliceGrimm]

He'll chase squirrels whether he's raw fed or not

My raw-fed poodle came upon a deer carcass in the woods and avoided it, even though he's had raw venison before. Raw feeding will not make your pup bloodthirsty or anything like that! Any eating of small critters is probably going to be independent behavior from raw feeding.

lol Sorry! I tend to have one thought and then my mind tries to explain and goes off .. Squirrel!!!

I just wondered if the raw diet made the dog more incline to eating something it would/could kill. I don't want to say my pup will kill everything. But I am sure it is bound to happen. Just have to accept it with the sort of breed it is.

That is good to hear that it will not create a blood thirsty critter.

[Erica]

If that's a concern for you, I wouldn't feed whole prey (just what it says on the tin - give the dog a whole rabbit/chicken/pheasant/etc with the skin on and let them go to town). The fur/feather covering is significantly different than just meat. Some dogs know to eat the whole thing anyways, even if they're fed kibble their whole life, some take convincing to eat something with fur on it.

[Shalista]

word of warning on those greenies, totally tried them with bax and they did basically nothing. at least nothing i could see?

And if you have a high prey drive dog food shouldn't matter. Bax took out one of our chickens LONG before i ever switched him to raw. (I got to it before he could kill it)

[AliceGrimm]

I guess that is a good point. I was going to say I like to think human food is better, and you never know what the rodents around you have eaten, but then again, human meats have been treated badly as well.

But it is good to know. I think I am more worried about diseases and things from mice and squirrels.. and things.

Thank you guys!!!

[JudyN]

Bear in mind that anything anyone tells you about dog nutrition is based mainly on opinion, personal experience and anecdotes. As far as I know there have been no long-term properly controlled peer-reviewed scientific studies on the health of dogs fed different types of food. And you don't need to get it perfect anyway, any more than your own diet has to be perfect. Plenty of people seem to thrive & live long lives on a diet based round pizza & chips.

I don't think Royal Canin is a good food. This analysis is based on the adult Mini, but the ingredients are similar. Have a read of their opinion of all the grain included: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food- ... -mini-dry/

It would be worth finding out if there are any raw dog food suppliers in your area (many companies will deliver so they don't have to be right on your doorstep). If you're able to link to them on here, it will help us advise you. Personally I find it easier to feed a commercial raw diet rather than buy from butchers or supermarkets, but Shalista will be able to give more info on using the latter to feed a small dog.

Also, is cost important? Just as with people food, you can pay moree for covenience and top quality, or save money by shopping round and going for slightly cheaper options.

[AliceGrimm]

Bear in mind that anything anyone tells you about dog nutrition is based mainly on opinion, personal experience and anecdotes. As far as I know there have been no long-term properly controlled peer-reviewed scientific studies on the health of dogs fed different types of food. And you don't need to get it perfect anyway, any more than your own diet has to be perfect. Plenty of people seem to thrive & live long lives on a diet based round pizza & chips.

I don't think Royal Canin is a good food. This analysis is based on the adult Mini, but the ingredients are similar. Have a read of their opinion of all the grain included: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food- ... -mini-dry/

It would be worth finding out if there are any raw dog food suppliers in your area (many companies will deliver so they don't have to be right on your doorstep). If you're able to link to them on here, it will help us advise you. Personally I find it easier to feed a commercial raw diet rather than buy from butchers or supermarkets, but Shalista will be able to give more info on using the latter to feed a small dog.

Also, is cost important? Just as with people food, you can pay moree for covenience and top quality, or save money by shopping round and going for slightly cheaper options.

I haven't really found any raw food distributors.
http://www.asgard-raw.com/
This one is in Pittsburgh. I live near Philadelphia. And I am not sure I like that one.

Besides that... only a local vet office's blog came up and they talked about not doing raw food at all.
"We all want to feed what is best for our pet, and sometimes you worry those pre-packaged foods just cant be trusted. In truth many reputable dog food companies, including Hills and Royal Canin, spend considerable amounts of time and money to research and assure the quality, safety and completeness of their diets are the highest possible. Even still some people want to know exactly what is being fed to their dog or cat and decide to cook for their pet. Although home cooked diets sound appealing, there are some important facts you need to know before setting an extra place at the table for your fuzzy friend.

1. The essential word here is COOKED! Raw meats should NEVER be considered safe options for your pets or you. If you don't trust yourself to eat it, don't give it to your pet to eat. Salmonella, Listeria and other severe food borne illnesses are as likely to occur in your pet. Also think about Fido eating that raw chicken, licking his feet, then wandering all over your house spreading germs everywhere he goes. All meats should be well cooked before offering as food.

2. Cats are NOT small dogs. Cats are STRICT carnivores and need much higher levels of animal protein in their diet. Likewise many simple meats do not contain all the essential ammino acids (protein building blocks) that cats need. A cat should NEVER be fed a vegetarian diet, despite how strongly the owner feels about eating meat.

3. Rarely are home cooked diets complete of all the vitamins and nutrients needed for our pets. It is always recommended a multivitamin given daily to assure your pet is getting enough, calcium and micronutrients to keep their body functioning well. There are many online resources available to help create the most complete recipe for your pet, as well as veterinary nutritionist specialized in diets and food health for pet.
Check out: https://secure.balanceit.com/ or http://www.vet.upenn.edu/veterinary-hos ... /nutrition

4. Portion control is still as important to keep our friend from the perils of obesity. Weekly weight checks can be useful to know if the amount of food provided is causing weight gain or weight loss. Please feel free to bring your pet in at any time to Glenolden Animal Hospital for a weight check and body condition score by our technicians.

5. There are many human food items that can be toxic to pets. Avoid onions and garlic as these can cause blood toxicities. Chocolate and cocoa in dogs acts like caffeine and can cause heart arrhythmias. Grapes and Raisins have cause severe kidney disease in dogs. Please refer to the ASPCA website for a more complete list of common house hold toxicities.

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-p ... -your-pets"

But I dunno.

[Erica]

What do those vets imagine dogs ate before people invented kibble in the early 1900's?

Delta's breeder has fed all her dogs raw for thirty+ years, including pregnant bitches and just-weaning puppies with little/no immune system. With some common sense, you avoid the major issues - eg, keep meat frozen or refrigerated when not feeding, don't leave it on the counter for hours; wash your hands after handling raw meat; so on and so forth. Just as you would the raw meat you might handle to prepare for humans.

I will look for the link, but I think either Nettle or Emmabeth posted a study a few years ago where raw fed and kibble fed dogs had their mouths tested and cultured, and the types and levels of bacteria were similar in both - raw fed dogs' mouths weren't the teaming festering bacteria pot the vets are painting a pretty picture of.

As we said, if you don't want to feed raw, that's alright! But if you're intrigued and unsure, feel free to keep asking questions

On the East Coast, Raw Feeding Miami and Hare Today are the main distributors I know. RFM will make a meal plan for you if you ask them to, no charge; they also have completely balanced ground foods. Those plus the occasional recreational bone would be fine

I order a balanced order for a month's worth of meat (overall, 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, 5% other secreting organ) and just mix bits and pieces together in meal-sized containers, then just feed those containers. One week might be 90% meat, but the next would be 70% to make up for it. It balances out over time. I tried balancing them every day and quickly gave up, lol.