Steves real food for puppy

[Mithcol1234]

Hi, today is my second day with my new blue merle Luna, I have been thinking to switch her to a raw food diet and came across this website today. My questions is would it be alright to feed my puppy this food by the guidelines on the website. I am concerned with feeding her to much protein at this early stage of her life.

 

http://stevesrealfood.com/

 

 

Here is what I found on protein in the FAQs on the site;

On a dry matter basis, Steve’s Real Food for Dogs is 45% protein, and Steve’s Real Food for Cats is 48% protein.

 

On the package of all pet foods, one can find a guaranteed analysis. The guaranteed analysis refers to the amount of the product by weight that is protein, fat, fiber and water. Steve’s Real Food for Dogs is 10% protein by weight.

 

The natural diets of dogs and cats contain a lot of water, as does Steve’s. Almost all natural ingredients have a high water content: Meat is 60 to 80% water, vegetables and fruits are 90% or more water. The natural method for dogs, and especially cats, to get their water is through their foods.

 

Water does not add calories. Therefore the proper way to look at protein is on a dry matter (DM) basis. Remove the water, and look at the percentage of the food that is protein. On our label, we list the percentage of the product that is protein. With natural diets the two percentages are quite different.

 

For example, let’s compare Steve’s Real Food (listed as 10% protein and 78% water) to a premium kibble (listed as 28% protein and 10% water). Divide the listed protein percentage by 1 minus the percent water. Examples:

 

Steve’s chicken, Protein (DM) = .10/(1-.78) = 45% protein.

 

A premium kibble, Protein (DM) = .25/(1-.10) = 28%.Like all natural diets, Steve’s Real Food is a high protein food. In contrast, all kibbles are much lower in protein than the ancestral diet of dogs and cats. Even vegetables on a dry matter basis are more than 30% protein. In addition, with kibble much of the protein comes from grain, which is not a natural or complete source of protein for dogs and cats. There is a considerable difference in the quality between the protein in real, raw meats and the protein from extruded grain-based foods.

 

 

and this is what they recommend for a puppy;

 

http://stevesrealfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Feeding-Charts-6.gif

 

 

Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

Leo

[BC One]

It is much better to feed a raw dog food. Cooking destroys enzymes and nutrients. I give Beauregard Urban Wolf which is a grain free home made dog food mix, you just have to add the meat, oil, an egg and water. They have something called Urban Wolf Balancer which you add to it if you are feeding a puppy. The processed dog food you buy off the shelf is the worst thing to feed your dog,when you have time google the truth about dog food. There are many websites on the subject and I think you will be surprised at what you read. I hope this helps.

[BorderlineCrazy(:]

I, personally, feed Prey Model Raw(PMR).

http://preymodelraw.com/

 

It would be a great thing to start your puppy on. Many breeders are starting to feed PMR, or another raw diet, to the pups when they are weaning them, and encourage the pup's new parents to continue with the raw diet.

[Maralynn]

The processed dog food you buy off the shelf is the worst thing to feed your dog,when you have time google the truth about dog food.

 

While I feed raw to my dogs and am a big fan of raw feeding in general, I do want to point out that all kibbles are not created equal! There are nasty ones out there, but there are also many good ones to choose from.

 

The Dog Aware Website is a great place to to read up on selecting a good food for your dog. It covers everything from commercial kibbles, to raw mixes, to raw feeding.

 

I think the key is to do your research whatever feeding route you choose to go.

 

As far as th OP's question, I see no issues in feeding that food to a pup.

 

I give Beauregard Urban Wolf which is a grain free home made dog food mix, you just have to add the meat, oil, an egg and water.

 

Do you use as much oil as they call for? It's a pretty high oil to meat ratio.

[BC One]

While I feed raw to my dogs and am a big fan of raw feeding in general, I do want to point out that all kibbles are not created equal! There are nasty ones out there, but there are also many good ones to choose from.

 

The Dog Aware Website is a great place to to read up on selecting a good food for your dog. It covers everything from commercial kibbles, to raw mixes, to raw feeding.

 

I think the key is to do your research whatever feeding route you choose to go.

 

As far as th OP's question, I see no issues in feeding that food to a pup.

 

 

 

Do you use as much oil as they call for? It's a pretty high oil to meat ratio.

I add 3/4'of flax oil, which is a healthy oil. When I make up a batch for Beauregard, it makes enough for five days. Beauregard is in excellent condition and is coat is amazingly shiny. The fact is no matter how good a kibble is, it is cooked and it is a known fact that heat destroys enzymes and some nutrients. I've also heard that protein is altered when it is heated and it is easier for dogs to digest protein from raw meat.I agree that everyone should do their research to see what would be best for their dog. Hopefully I haven't said anything here to offend anybody.

[gcv-border]

Another food to research is "The Honest Kitchen". They dehydrate all ingredients - so no cooking. I feed a grain-free kibble supplemented with canned dog food. I used to purchase 2-3 cases of canned dog food from an on-line supplier - the cost was about the same as purchasing locally (even including shipping), but the convenience of drop-off at my door was what I wanted. Once I heard about and investigated THK, I did some calculating and came to the conclusion that I would save a bit of money using THK instead of canned dog food - even at the expensive prices of THK. Plus I liked the idea of not paying for shipping water (in the canned dog food).

 

I am curious about the other dog foods mentioned above and will be researching those too.

 

Jovi

[Maralynn]

Hopefully I haven't said anything here to offend anybody.

 

No worries - you haven't

 

 

Your dog is probably used to the oil amount and does okay with it, but that is still a lot of fat in a diet - about 2/3 of the calories are coming from fat and that is really high for pet dogs and still on the high side for dogs engaged in strenuous physical activity. Personally, I'd only be using about 1/2 of the oil they recommend.

 

The other thing I always like to point out (for the general public reading these threads!) is that a raw diet works when it is balanced. So before feeding a dog (and especially a pup) raw, read up on it and a dog's diet requirements in general. Because if you're not able to do it balanced, then kibble is better way to go.

[rushdoggie]

it is cooked and it is a known fact that heat destroys enzymes and some nutrients.

 

 

True, but then so does exposure to air and any one of a number of other things that might affect its food value.

 

My issue with kibble isn't just that its cooked, per se, but that most of it is made out of a lot of crap that must be cooked at such high temperatures that any naturally derived nutrition from its ingredients is really compromised. I don't think cooking food at more reasonable temps is overly detrimental.

 

Dogs are a carnivore who evolved into an animal that can survive on a lot more, being an opportunistic carnivore. That said, any creature will benefit from a varied diet that includes whole, real foods that they are biologically able to digest.

 

Can a dog do ok with kibble? Sure. Will they do better on a diet with more whole foods and a minimal amount of processing? Probably.

 

That's the bet I am taking, anyways.