# raw food diet--shedding



## hannahad (Jul 16, 2012)

Hey,
I'm new to this raw food thing, and have only been doing it for a few months now (I've kind of lost track of when I started). Basically I switched because I was spending at least 150$ per month feeding kibble and my two little dogs didn't even want to eat it. I read about raw food and saw it as a cheaper way to feed my dogs a better quality diet.
I have three dogs in total. My jack russell and chihuahua do extremely well on raw food. I'd always struggled to keep weight on the chihuahua and weight off of the JR, raw food seems to have worked this out for me. The rott/shepherd puppy I have was doing great but now he is blowing coat like crazy!
I'm used to shedding, but I am vacuuming up a full bag of hair every day. His skin isn't dry, he doesn't have dandruff and somehow he isn't balding anywhere. He has all of his energy, his appetite and normal behaviour. Just the shedding is INSANE! 
Since I am new to this raw diet thing I can't help but feel they're related. Does anyone else have a similar experience they could share or any suggestions?
My guys mostly eat chicken and the odd veggies, cheese and yogurt that I have lying around.


----------



## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

hannahad said:


> Hey,
> I'm new to this raw food thing, and have only been doing it for a few months now (I've kind of lost track of when I started). Basically I switched because I was spending at least 150$ per month feeding kibble and my two little dogs didn't even want to eat it. I read about raw food and saw it as a cheaper way to feed my dogs a better quality diet.
> I have three dogs in total. My jack russell and chihuahua do extremely well on raw food. I'd always struggled to keep weight on the chihuahua and weight off of the JR, raw food seems to have worked this out for me. The rott/shepherd puppy I have was doing great but now he is blowing coat like crazy!
> I'm used to shedding, but I am vacuuming up a full bag of hair every day. His skin isn't dry, he doesn't have dandruff and somehow he isn't balding anywhere. He has all of his energy, his appetite and normal behaviour. Just the shedding is INSANE!
> ...


Can you be more specific about what you are feeding? Are you feeding bones and organs or just chicken meat? Are you feeding any other protein sources? What you've described does not sound balanced to me.


----------



## hannahad (Jul 16, 2012)

I feed chicken thigh, back (and wings sometimes to the little guys). Occasionally I throw in some liver but it gives them diarrhea most of the time. Occasionally I give them left over cooked eggs, I've never tried giving it to them raw. 
As far as other protein sources goes I thought this was supposed to come mainly from the meat...I do cottage cheese, regular cheese and I put all natural peanut butter in their kongs. I just find there's a lot of conflicting info regarding raw food. Some sources say don't bother with veggies, others claim they need them. Some sources say they need supplements, others say only idiots supplement.The same goes for grain... My JR has grain allergies so I don't feed them period, but I'm at a loss with what to do about the rottie. It's difficult in my area to find meat that isn't extremely expensive, and chicken or ground beef (but there's no bones so I'm not sure how beneficial this would even be...) are usually what's on sale.
I'm beginning to wonder if he maybe has thyroid issues or something, but my vet hates raw food diets so I can picture her telling me to knock it off upon our next visit to her.
Also we're experiencing an extreme heat wave, but I'm not sure if it would have this severe of an impact on his coat...


----------



## Gally (Jan 11, 2012)

Sounds like you need more variety to help create a more balanced diet. The fur is a good outside visual indicator of what is going on inside. I really recommend reading this: http://preymodelraw.com/ and adding more protein sources and organs to your dogs diet to help balance it out.


----------



## RedGermanPinscher (Jun 22, 2012)

I fully agree with Gally, sounds like an adjustment to their diet may be in order... However, that being said, How old is the puppy? 
Depending on age It could also be that your pup is blowing his/her puppy coat...


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I agree the diet needs some balancing. . .but have you ever had a GSD or GSD mix before?  They shed like they get paid for it. It's really amazing how much they can shed. Maybe Huskies and Labs have GSDs beat in the shedding department but most other breeds can't compare. Since you said he's a puppy I wondered if you just have never experienced the fun of a German Shedder .


----------



## hannahad (Jul 16, 2012)

The puppy is about 6 months, I had given some consideration to the puppy coat idea. But there is just SOOOO much hair. The other two don't appear to be having any problems, actually their coats are much nicer than when they were eating kibble. 
The last time I had a GSD it was mixed with an Australian Shepherd, so I attributed the insane amount of hair to the aussie in him. But he had hair like something else. The rottie has more of a rottie coat. Also his mom is no where near a pure GSD, she's a mix of pretty much unknown origins except for the GSD. So maybe I'm getting a throwback to some lab genes as well.
I guess I will try to play with their diet a little more, now I'm wondering if I signed myself up for 10+ years of excessive vacuuming lol


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Rotties are pretty good shedders, too. But not like GSDs .


----------



## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

I too think you need more of a variety.


----------



## PackMomma (Sep 26, 2011)

I agree, the excessive shedding may not be directly related to the lack of balance in your raw diet, but it may help if you try and balance it a bit more. Typically, I believe the balanced ratio in a raw diet is roughly %75 muscle meat, %10 bone, %10 organ and %5 fat.. or something close to that (someone please correct me if i'm off), plus you should try to feed as many different proteins as you can, and what your dogs tolerate..aside from chicken, duck, turkey, beef, pork, lamb, llama, fish, bison, venison, rabbit, etc are all acceptable. No, you do not need veggies, they are not a nutrional requirement in a canine diet, but you can certainly feed them occasionally as a treat or whatever. Green tripe is about as close to vegetables as I feed on a regular basis, although I do add a few frozen green beans into a meal occasionally, and I feed elk, bison and beef tripe a couple times a week. Raw eggs are absolutely fine, with or without the shell, and if you can even find oily fish like frozen whole sardines, mackerel, herring, etc they are good to feed occasionally as well, great for the coats. Generally, if your feeding a well porportioned, balanced raw diet.. you don't really 'need' any supplements, however some people choose to add fish oils if they are not able to feed raw oily fish, and some people supplement vitamin E, as I believe a high content of some omega fatty's can deplete the vitamin E in the system but someone may be able to clarify this a bit better . 

You'd be surprised how much my 20 lb Shiba Inu sheds, I'm vaccuuming a bag of his hair a week easily, on top of regular brushing. However, since I've put him on a full raw diet, his shedding has decreased some. Although he still blows coat twice a year during shedding season.


----------



## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

You do need more variety, and and as said it might not be food related. I'd aim for at least 4 protein sources. Organ is ABSOLUTELY necessary! Give small pieces as it can cause loose poo. Liver should be about 5% of their diet and other organ 5%. Figure out what that 5% is and split it into 3-4 chunks to give throughout the week. PackMomma, the guideline is 80% meat, 10% edible bone, 5% liver and 5% other organ (kidney, spleen, pancreas, brain, etc)

When I got one of my huskies and put her on raw she blew coat like crazy about a month later for November-December. When her undercoat grew back it was soooo much better than the fluff that had come out.


----------



## PackMomma (Sep 26, 2011)

Sibe said:


> You do need more variety, and and as said it might not be food related. I'd aim for at least 4 protein sources. Organ is ABSOLUTELY necessary! Give small pieces as it can cause loose poo. Liver should be about 5% of their diet and other organ 5%. Figure out what that 5% is and split it into 3-4 chunks to give throughout the week. PackMomma, the guideline is *80% meat, 10% edible bone, 5% liver and 5% other organ (kidney, spleen, pancreas, brain, etc*)
> 
> When I got one of my huskies and put her on raw she blew coat like crazy about a month later for November-December. When her undercoat grew back it was soooo much better than the fluff that had come out.


Oooh yes thank you for breaking down the organ part. I have seen some say out of %80 meat, %5 should be fat too though, to each their own I guess.. but some people may not feed enough fat in a diet so I figured I would break that out too, its worth mentioning IMO. And yes totally out of the %10 of organ meat, %5 liver and %5 other I agree. I should have said %75 muscle meat, %5 fat, %10 edible bone, %5 liver %5 other organ - atleast this is the ratio I try to stick with.


----------



## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

I have never heard of a fat % before but 5% seems low. Just leave on all the skin and fat from the meat you buy. Too much fat can mean loose stool, but too little is also bad. My dogs work a lot (mushing, agility, and/or dog park almost every day) so I have added fat by feeding raw pork belly. Fat is needed for skin and coat health among other things.

Also, heart and lung are both fed as meat not organ. They are both "rich" so introduce them slowly.


----------

