How Much Bone Do Raw-Fed Dogs Need?
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- Опубліковано 26 жов 2021
- This video will show you how to balance the calcium and phosphorus in your dog's raw diet. This is part of the Raw Dog Food Unlocked course.
RESOURCES & LINKS:
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Bone Content Of Common Foods: www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com...
Health Canada Nutrient File (CNF): food-nutrition.canada.ca/cnf-...
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Calcium is the most important mineral in your dog's diet - and it's also the most abundant. But what you might not know about calcium is that it doesn't just build strong bone - it acts as a messenger for hormones and it's critical for muscles and nerves to work in the body. So if your dog doesn't get enough of this most important mineral, things can go really bad really fast. Especially in puppies. So let's look at how to make sure your dog gets enough calcium in his raw meals.
Now, all raw feeders know that the best source of calcium for your dog is bones. That's the easy part. And bones aren't just made of calcium but they also contain the other minerals and vitamins calcium needs to do its job in the body - and in the right amounts. This includes vitamin D, magnesium, zinc - and especially phosphorus. Calcium and phosphorus work synergistically in the body - they're like yin and yang. Meat is high in phosphorus but contains virtually zero calcium. On the other hand, bones contain about double the amount of calcium than phosphorus. On the whole, you want just a bit more phosphorus in the diet than calcium - so it's important that your dog's raw diet contains bones. That part's easy … but most raw feeders have two important questions: 1. Which bones should I feed my dog and 2. How much bone should I feed?
When it comes to choosing which bones to give your dog for his calcium supply, it just needs to be something your dog can eat completely. If he can't chomp it up within a few minutes, then it's hard to call it a part of the diet - and your dog might not be getting all the calcium and minerals he needs if he can't eat all of the bone. So think about easily consumable bone like chicken or turkey necks and backs, and for larger dogs, lamb necks and veal tails will do. You could also feed whole small animals with the bone in like rabbit or quail. If your dog can munch them up quickly, then you're on the right track. And here's a safety tip: avoid large bones like cow femurs and other large weight bearing bones for two reasons. First, because your dog can't eat them entirely so you don't know how much calcium he'll get. And second, he can easily break his teeth on large weight bearing bones. Tooth fractures are painful and potentially expensive, so make sure you keep your bones small and safe. By the way, let me know in the comments if this is helpful and if you want more of this content. It's important to build a raw diet the right way and I"m here to help you.
So the next question is, how much bone should you feed your dog? And of course, Mother Nature has the answer. In the wild, whole animals average about 12% bone with very little variation. Even eggs, which are another source of calcium, have shells that make up 12% of the entire egg's weight. Mother Nature doesn't set her animals up to fail, so it's clear that 12% is the number we should be aiming for. This will also give you enough calcium and phosphorus to meet or exceed AAFCO minimum requirements for both calcium and phosphorus. But here's the problem - how do you know how much bone is in, let's say a chicken neck? Well here's a little trick … Google "Health Canada Nutrient File." Then click on the Canadian Nutrient File or CNF - and then you'll see a place to type in your food - I'll choose turkey neck - click on the food and then you'll see refuse listed. Most of the time, the amount of bone will be listed under the refuse - and you can see here that the average turkey neck is 42% bone. Now you have just a little bit of math to do, but it's not hard. Here's the equation … 12 / % bone x 100 = the percentage of your dog's food that bone should be. Again, you can feed your dog anywhere from 10-15% bone - anywhere around there is fine. But this is important … puppies need more calcium than adult dogs, so make sure you're at 15% bone for puppies. If it's much less than that, they won't be getting enough calcium.
Now Health Canada doesn't have a complete list of foods and bone. So you can also visit Dogs Naturally Magazine and look for How To Balance Calcium And Phosphorus In The Raw Diet. Scroll down and you'll see a list of bone values for most of the common foods we feed our dogs.
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Thank you. I'm on the right track 😊
thank you! Super helpful
Great presentation- thank you!!!
Thanks Rose!!
Super helpful thank you so much 😊
I took an animal nutrition class with the Lightfoot Way over 10years ago, but the detail here is so helpful. Thank you for offering this update!!!
Glad it was helpful!
We use chicken feet as part of our calcium along with turkey necks. The turkey necks also work great to clean teeth. We check blood work once a year to check levels of all important blood levels. I make adjustments as needed.
Love it!
Resources for ground beef or bison bone? Seeking to make a home made raw diet for my multiple protein and environmemtally allergic/sensitive dog. Have great resouces for grass fed, grass finished NGMO/horomone free beef. However, need proper ground beef bone to add to complete. He chews, but does not eat enough bone when offered, does not like premade raw, even Viva that he couldn't wait to eat as a puppy, and though Better Bones is wonderful, we go through it lightening fast for a 130 lb dog.
I want to be Dana Scott when I grow up so let me just start with that! Haha. I want thank y'all so much for your amazing resources as well as for the path you've forged, Dana! I've done things so differently this go-round with our puppy's health and am eternally grateful. We have an 18 month old Labrador, and I actually just found and rescued a sickly puppy off the side of the road about a month ago. He's a large breed mix we estimate to be about 5 months old. The food I have these two on is a grind of 70% muscle, 15% organs and 10% fat, and 5% bone meal, trachea, and tripe. I'm new-ish to raw feeding, and realize it's not enough bone for either dog, so I had the food manufacturer give me a bag of bone meal (it's literally just the shavings from when they cut the femurs so it's kept in the fridge). I read the article about balancing calcium and have zero idea how to calculate how much of the bone powder to give them when it's already also in the grind. I can pull out my Excel sheet and go really far down into the weeds with calculating it, I suppose, but I figured maybe you had a quicker answer. Thank you!
Thanks Gillian!! I would add it as 12% of the diet.
My dogs are thirteen years old, same weight, different breeds. They each have different bone requirements IMO. The one dog gets constipated on the same amount of bone as the other. They have been raw fed for 11 years and are both healthy. I watch the poops and if they get too hard and crumbly I back off on the bone. I have especially noticed that the same amount of bone I fed when they were younger will now cause constipation.
Older dogs will have more trouble assimilating calcium. Calcium absorption is also closely linked to gut health and the status of other vitamins and minerals so that makes perfect sense!
@@DogsNaturallyMagazineDNM I do know someone who is a natural rearing breeder and also certified naturopath and I raised my concerns about calcium to her. She has two fairly young dogs and they differ in their bone requirements. The one gets constipated more easily. I was worried I was not giving enough bone but have really studied their poops to know what is best for each dog hoping that will be my best guide. The naturopath got me to relax about it and not worry. She says each dog is a little different in her experience.
My GSD is chewing on a deer leg right now
Hello Dana!
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! 🙌
I am having trouble finding the smaller raw bones in my area. I've been making bone meal in my instant pot. Is this sufficient for reaching the 12%?
My aussie girl is 10 yrs and 45 lbs of pure love.
Thank you so much!
How exactly are you making bone meal? Tough to know if you're getting enough, it would depend on the cuts you're using and the digestibility.
I have access to bone sawdust from my butcher who butchers whole cattle. My dog loves this treat and I’ve noticed it greatly increases the solidness of his stools. Do you think he is getting adequate calcium from this.source? He’s a 25# Frenchie and gets 2-3 ounces a day. He’s also on your raw beef diet which has calcium added, Is it possible to give him too much calcium? Really am leaning from your great lessons..
I give my collie a chichen wing around 3 times a week and has raw chichen with carcass in it.
Hi Dana! I have a dog with CKD, MCT and breast tumors and skin allergies (they're all under great control) on a single protein, cooked pork diet. Phos levels are normal. I give her pork bone marrow broth daily. Due to the limitation of the diet, my only solution is cooked bone marrow.
I'd like to know your thoughts on feeding the cooked bone marrow (they're soft, crushable and bite sizes), thanks!
Hey Laura! Bone marrow would not be a sufficient source of calcium for your pup.
Hi I have an 12yr old American bull dog/pit mix. My question is.. what raw bones should I feed my senior dog ? He’s also about 80lbs. I make his food and use bone meal, and raw eggs but worry about his teeth getting what they need to stay strong. I feed him your recipe for yeasty dogs.
So when doing nine do you grind it up or place it whole pieces in the feeding ?
Can adult dogs get too much bone? I've read it really isn't an issue and that an adult dog will pass excess through the bowel. Is the true? Thanks!
9/10/23 2:11 e.t., new to raw, 5 rescue dogs 4 large 1 small I need help please. I'm a book reader, I'm not really computer savvy do you have a complete book I can buy? I'll do my best with on line but it's a struggle for me
If I’m feeding chicken neck or chicken backs to my 4 month old pomsky, how much bone do I feed him daily? Should I give him bone with every meal, he eats three meals a day. I’ve been giving him small pieces of neck bone with each meal, is that enough bone per meal, or should I give him a whole neck bone. I’m confused please help. Thank you.
If your chicken neck weighs for example 3oz which is 12% bone. Do you deduct certain weight from meat also to account for what is on the neck for meat?
Chicken necks are not 12% bone, they are 36% bone. So if you fed nothing but chicken necks, your dog would get 36% bone. If you want 12% bone, then do this math: 12 / % bone (36 in this case) x 100 = 33 ... this means if you use chicken necks as your dog's source of calcium, they should be 1/3 of his diet or 33%. Use this article to find the percentage of bone in common foods: www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/bone-food-values-for-raw-feeding-dogs/
I'm a bit confused. I thought I was told years ago that the rule of thumb was to never feed bones to dogs because they can splinter... Any insight would be helpful! Thank you! (p.s. I have taken org chicken bones and soften them in my instant pot with hopes of that being safe)
i"ve heard that you do not want to feed your pet cooked bones as thats makes them brittle which could lead to splintering.
My 7 month Cockapoo finds that 15% is too much, his stools are too chalky this week.
Are you feeding bones with every meal? If you alternate between bone meals and meat meals, the stools will be chalky.
@@DanaScottatDNM I buy ready made frozen raw food for my puppy from reputable brands in the UK. I've had to revert to raw meals for sensitive tummies while he is has been on vets medication for Fox Lungworm. He has the all clear now from the parasite. Thank you for your response Dana.
Content was useful! However, the second angle camera is not necessary. It’s distracting, unflattering and does not add to the content.
How much calcium does an older dog need?
Hey Andre! An adult dog's bone content should be between 10-12% :)