questions on crude protein and fat content

Comments

• JessicaRabbit

  April 2010 edited November -1

  As far as exact requirements, I am confident that there is someone who can answer that question better than me.
  
  I know there is a shiba breeder (Tengai) on the shiba forum that feeds his puppies raw. SO you can start very early.
  
  If you are squeamish. Try pre-made raw. That is what we do. I am vegan and it is hard enough for me, with the pre-made all I have to do is thaw, add the supplements, stir a little and hand it to them. Much less painful to deal with. My dogs LOVE the Primal brand.
• StaticNfuzz

  April 2010 edited November -1

  I have often referred to the book "The ultimate pet food guide by Liz Palika" to get the basics on nutrition, and calorie information etc. etc. There is a lot to it and there isn't a simple answer or one size fits all to feeding. It varies from dog to dog and individual health.
  
  Here's a good start to looking into nutrition. . The Whole dog Journal has sound information.
  http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/sample/how-to-choose-dog-food.html
  
  Snf
• Saya

  April 2010 edited November -1

  I can't add much to this except puppies can be fed as early as when they are ready for solid foods I know some people feed their pups at the age of 8weeks when they pick them up from the breeder.
  
  Like Jessica said you can go the pre made route I've heard good things on primal I plan to buy Saya some for when I need to go away on vacation to make it easy for my dad. Maybe you can give the pup an occasional RMB for the dental benefits?
• the_november_rain

  April 2010 edited April 2010

  I started InuYasha on pre made raw right away at 8 weeks, he loves it. There was no problem with the stool coming out funny. With puppies they just need more fat, like 6% per serving.
• StaticNfuzz

  April 2010 edited April 2010

  I forgot to mention the Dr. Pitcarin "natural health for dogs and cats" which is also helpful since it provides some description of ingredients etc.
  http://www.drpitcairn.com/books/pitcairn_book.html
  http://www.thecatsite.com/Snips/112/Dr.-Pitcairn%E2%80%99s-Complete-Guide-to-Natural-Health-for-Dogs-Cats.html
  
  Snf
• brittk

  April 2010 edited November -1

  Thanks everyone for the great resources! I am definitely going to have my work cut out for me reading =)
  
  Ill have to see if I can find pre made anywhere around me. i know even quality foods are hard to come by around here, odd as it seems since this is supposedly a very dog-friendly city.
  
  Thanks again!
• JessicaRabbit

  April 2010 edited November -1

  You're near Annapolis right?
  
  http://www.primalpetfoods.com/locator/results_list.php?showonly=US&tab=US&zip=21401&distance=10&name=
  
  I found a ton of stores that carry Primal.
• TaraA

  April 2010 edited November -1

  Just curious, if you compared the price of buying Primal pre-made raw food to say a really good dryfood like ACANA or Solid Gold . . . etc would you be paying 5X as much? I was just just wondering because I've heard it's quite pricey.
• JessicaRabbit

  April 2010 edited November -1

  Never compared because regardless of price I WILL NOT feed my dogs kibble. I would eat kibble before I would feed it to my dogs.
• JessicaRabbit

  April 2010 edited November -1

  Never compared because regardless of price I WILL NOT feed my dogs kibble. I would eat kibble before I would feed it to my dogs.
• the_november_rain

  April 2010 edited November -1

  I would say around twice as much, naturally it will be much more if you have 2-3 dogs then just one. It really depends on what types of pre-made raw you feed. I would go to the stores in your town and ask the workers. They should be helpful.
• TaraA

  April 2010 edited November -1

  There's actually a really good store near me that carries it. I'll have to investigate and compare prices, if I can afford it, I'd definitely want to go with raw after hearing all the good things about it. My only issue with raw is that since I'm planning on getting a Cane Corso in the future, I'm not sure I'll be able to continue with it when I have such a large dog that eats so much food.
• JessicaRabbit

  April 2010 edited November -1

  All the raw websites have feeding calculators too. It would definitely be pricey for a Mastiff sized dog. My friend Chris has a 200lb English Mastiff, and he switched to kibble for money reasons.The way I see it the health benefits outweigh the price. Though it is easy to day with only 2 medium sized dogs.
• brittk

  April 2010 edited November -1

  Thanks for that link, Jessica! Ill have to go check out the Pet Barn, its pretty new, I was imagining it would be something like the other boutiques around here and not sell food.