Considering turning to raw

[Janer]

I am considering whether to go down the raw food route. Meg has always had dry skin and she has been fine on Gentle dog food with a small supplement of raw occasionally, in the form of a meaty bone, half a sardine or a couple of cubes of defrosted Nature's Menu. But I am now finding that her skin is getting dry again and her coat is not as shiny as it was. So I am thinking of going to a full raw diet.

I am not happy doing diy so was thinking of going for a food called Poppy's Picnic which has just scored 5 out of 5 across its range on the All about Dog Food website. Has anyone had any experience of this food?

One further question.....what level of fat is advisable for a schnauzer on a raw food diet? The fat content of raw seems to be higher than in kibble foods.

[zeta1454]

We have found raw food to be excellent for keeping our dogs in good health and coat / skin condition and we also feed a prepared raw food (Wolf Tucker). The fat content does vary a lot in the different "brands" of prepared raw meals for dogs ( from one brand that has over 20% fat to others that have "special diet" formulas of less than 5%) and I have found it very difficult to easily compare raw and kibble in terms of nutritional content such as fat.

Dogs will process the naturally occurring fat in raw meats and fish better than processed fats which are found in dry extruded foods so comparisons can be misleading.

Due to the possibility of mini schnauzers having health problems due to too much fat in the diet, I have tried to keep to meals that have a fat content of around 10% or less most of the time but this is approximate and I would not worry if one or two were a bit higher if others were less. A quick look at Poppy's Picnic seems to show a fat content of around 11.5 % which, unless Meg has a health issue with fat, should be absolutely fine. It is important for dogs to have good unprocessed fat in their diet to maintain good health so do not worry too much over the detail. It is also important if you are concerned about fat content to ensure that any treats you give Meg are very low in fat as often the issues arise with dogs who are fed a lot of high fat treats rather than the fat content in their main meals.

Raw meat meals with no added vegetables will be higher in fat and some meats and fish are higher in fat naturally than others - duck and salmon for example or lamb will usually be higher in fat than chicken or turkey.

You could also have a browse of a few different raw food brands to compare. I have not used Poppy's Picnic although it looks excellent quality. Of the four I have tried (Natural Instinct; Nutriment; Naturaw and Wolf Tucker ) the one I prefer for our dogs is Wolf Tucker but there are many others around too


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[Janer]

Thank you Leigh for your comprehensive reply, I hadn't thought that there would be good fats and bad fats for dogs as well as humans!

The reason I am liking Poppy's Picnic is because of the rating on all about dog food and also Meg's breeder recommended it, she now weans her puppies on their weaning paste and actually had input into the way it is made. They initially made it specifically for her but have now realised that they could also market it. I watched a litter of puppies eat the paste it was enchanting .....and messy!

It also helps that the owner has 3 mini schnauzers, Poppy and two of her grown up puppies.

I take your point about treats, I have always been careful about the fat content of treats, avoiding cheese and sausage. I use a fish shaped treat at the moment so will continue to use those and I saw on another thread that dried sprats were recommended and that cooked chicken is ok, which I had not thought it would, not being raw! So I take it that mixing in some cooked food into a raw diet is ok so long as it is not the main source? Something to do with the way they are digested differently.??

[zeta1454]

We have used cooked chicken for our dogs for example when training as it is not too smelly ( for humans!) and we have found no digestive problems using cooked chicken as a treat even though the dogs are primarily on a raw diet.

They love dried sprats which are a good healthy treat but these are an oily fish and we limit the amount the schnauzers have or break them into smaller pieces if using for training.

Ours also have a dried fish skin cube each before bed These are also popular with the dogs, low in fat and the rough texture is said to help keep their teeth clean although I would not rely on the latter! We use the small ones but there are a wide range of companies offering these now and they are not quite as smelly as the sprats but do have a fishy odour.

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The Poppy's Picnic food sounds ideal for Meg if it has been formulated with miniature schnauzers in mind and excellent that you have found a breeder who raw feeds and raises the puppies on this. I am sure they will be healthy and less prone to digestive issues on this kind of diet.

Good luck with the move to raw and hope it does benefit Meg's skin and coat.

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