Addeding differenty meats

Question
QUESTION: Hi
We have 2 wonderful pups! i've just recently added raw food to there kibble for extra vitamins. I was thinking of giving them liver but i want to make sure if its ok to mix it kibble or is it to high in iron? our pups are 13 mnths (collie X) and 4 mnth (border collie). Is this a safe food for young dogs? i know it healthy but not sure if there to young.

ANSWER: Hi Stacy!

Liver is typically part of a raw food diet as the major source of nutrients. There are several raw feeding approaches (some with vegetables, some without, different ratios, etc) but from a pure raw perspective, 80/10/10 seems to be the one most raw feeders adopt. This means 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organ. Liver is at least half of the 10% organ but some raw feeders use it as the entire 10% if they have trouble sourcing other organs. So, even with a completely raw diet, liver is a very small portion of the equation because it is so nutrient dense.

Liver is very nutritious and fresh food is always a great choice but would suggest that you avoid raw liver while feeding kibble and stick to a variety of meats and/or raw meaty bones. If you are comfortable feeding raw, you may want to consider eliminating kibble and feeding a completely raw diet, at which point liver would be an integral part of their diet. Raw feeding breeders transition puppies directly to raw food when they are weaned. Raw diets are safe for pups at any age and I find that the younger a dog starts eating raw, the easier the transition is.

Thank you for being so committed to your pets' health, they are very lucky pups!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ok sounds great! i was worried that it might be to much for there tummys. Also i bought some good soup bones from my local butcher shop. They have lots of meat and little to no fat. my consern was when i gave them to my older dog before we got our pup she stopped eating her dog food. she seem almost sick like she was sick to her stomach. the bones are great quailty i wont by cheap crap for my girls. I was wondering why did she get like this. she didnt eat her reg food for day in a half. But she loved the bone, she carried it around with her everywhere. We got scared that it made her sick and stopped giving it to her and out lil one hasnt had one. Should i give it to her? and why did she stop eating? we give the bone during the day while were away at work so she has something to keep her busy and keep her mind on while were gone.
I can see why people are not more concer about the pups health. Love go's further than walks and play time.

Answer
Ok, a couple of things to cover here :)

Soup bones are typically beef leg bones with marrow in them. Leg bones of large animals (cow, buffalo, etc) are denser than most bones because they hold up a lot of weight. The density of the bone has been known to crack / break teeth so it isn't a bone I recommend to most people. I do know raw feeders that do fine with them but I also know people who have had tooth damage and there are softer meaty bone choices like chicken quarters. Dogs don't really need lean meat so don't worry too much about fat on the bone (if you find your dogs are gaining weight, you can remove the skin from leg quarters).

There are a couple of possibilities of why your older girl stopped eating:

- She was full from the meat, bone, and marrow she ate

- The marrow is very rich and dogs love it, she may have gorged herself to the point of nausea

- She may have eaten too much bone and needed a day to pass overly solid stool (if you see white poop, they are getting too much bone)

I don't recommend giving bones to your dog unsupervised. Dogs do well with bones but there is always a possibility that they could choke, have a blockage, etc so you want to closely supervise them when eating bones. If you want to give them things to occupy their time during the day, try a kong and/or premier pet toy. Supervise them at first while you learn how they handle the toy and once you are confident that they work it in a safe manner, you can use it for daily entertainment. There are all kinds of recipes you can find online to stuff the toys with.. one of the easiest is to stuff it with Peanut Butter and freeze it the night before. The peanut butter will keep them interested and freezing it will create an additional challenge to make it last longer. You can also feed them their daily kibble meals in these toys which brings your dog back to a more natural environment of working for their food. There are also advanced toys like the ones by Nina Ottosson if you want to vary it up to keep your dog interested and challenged.

Best,

Tracie Fowler
Triangle Pet Supply
www.TrianglePet.com