Changing Our Whippets Diet

[Rob Rixon]

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We are changing our whippet's diet to contain fresh meat and veg – the difficulty is what proportions? What do you feed your Whippets.

Some quotes which adds to the confusion -

Lloyd, Freeman writes in his book dated 1894 states ‘Dogs are naturally meat eaters (or their teeth would not be made in the way they are)’.

Renwick, Lewis (1957) states ‘I am sure the secret of success is meat, milk and eggs’.

Douglas-Todd (1961) writes ‘A dog is a meat eating animal … his long and strong canine teeth were made to tear flesh’.

Fitch Daglish (1964) writes ‘Meat and whole-meal rucks or biscuits should form the mainstay of the diet’

de Bairacli Levy, Juliette in her book (chapter 1: Diet for Dogs) dated 1975 writes ‘raw meat should form 75% of the diet of every carnivorous animal’

Walsh & Lowe (1984) write ‘a whippet should be fed one meal a day consisting of meat, offal and bones’.

Rawlins (1991) writes ‘The diet of a racing dog is another area in which opinions are as many as stripes on a zebra. ..good quality food which results in a gleaming coat and a lively dog is the answer’.

Cunliffe (2000) states ‘a good test for proper diet is the colour, odour and firmness of your dog’s stool.’

Allport MRCVS (2000) writes in his book Heal your dog – the natural way ‘Meat should constitute approx 40% of the meal. Raw meat is ideal’.

What do you think? :sweating:

 

[AnnSa]

I feed my girls raw :thumbsup:

 

If you search on here you will find

lots of information on past topics )

 

[masta]

Every quote states meat, so why do you say you will you include veg

 

[posh totty]

there is a large story about a dogs diet to be told in the shape size and amount of the dog poo`s!! :- "

raw meat is most definately the VERY best diet for a dog , the coat will also show how well he feels too , look at a raw fed dogs coat teeth and stools , far healthier than fed complete food, saying that i use complete along with my raw diet, but much research has gone into my dogs feeding as i need healthy dogs with lots of stamina without loosing their heads with fizz, and im happy to say i think ive found the right balance :thumbsup:

source meat free at local butchers , they have to pay to get rid of their waste so you will be providing them with a service too , although there are some good companys which do deliver :thumbsup:

 

[SusanW]

I'm not a whippet owner (we have a Beagle that loves to race ), but I have been doing quite a lot of research into diet and can provide you with some info that might be of interest.

The book that I've found most useful is "Small Animal Clinical Nutrition" 4th Edition by Hand, Thatcher, Remillard and Roudebush. It's more of an encyclopedia really !

I'll give you a brief bit of info and if you find it of interest and want more just ask and I'll look up the answers to your questions.

The book broadly categorises dogs as Sprint Athletes; Intermediate Athletes and Endurance Athletes, and obviously recommends different diets to each. It explains all about the energy pathways that are utilised during different types of activity and the nutrients (fat, carbs, protien) that fuel each.

You'll be interested in sprint athletes.

1. Use food with 8 - 10% fat (or 20 - 24% of calories from fat).

2. Use food with 55 - 65% carbohydrate

3. Use food with 22 to 28% protein (or 25% calories from protein)

Some very rough explanations as to why (my understanding from what I've read)...

Although the main energy system used by dogs is fueled by fat, in short sprints (as in whippet racing) the main energy systems used are fueled by carbs.

Although sprinters burn a lot of energy whilst sprinting they don't actuallly sprint very far or very often, so overall they don't need that many calories in a day. Fat is very high in calories, so with too much fat in the diet the dog is more likely to put on too much weight.

It is thought (although there have been no conclusive studies) that racing dogs *should* benefit from carbohydrate loading - just like humans.

Now if your dog is quite active and burns up a lot of calories in a day then they'd probabably benefit from a bit more fat and a bit less carbs.

My little Beagle likes to sprint and she always did well on a high carb/low fat diet. However, whilst she was fast (for a beagle) we had to feed her a huge amount of food to fuel her daily mad play sessions in the park which can last for hours. So we're finding she does better on a diet that's still high in carbs, but with more like 20% fat.

Most meats (when you exclude the 60% moisture) work out at just under 50% fat, 50% protein. So if you wanted 20% fat, 20% protein and 60% carbs it's fairly easy. But if you want more protein and less fat you'll need to trim the meat and add some high protein / low fat sources such as tuna. Or find a kibble with the right balance of fat and protein to balance things out.

Anyway, if you're interested there's lots of little bits on greyhounds (most studies are done on greyhounds and sled dogs as they are the two extremes in the canine athlete world).

Our little pup (I stress again, a Beagle and not a whippet!!!) seems to be sprinting well on Burns Active. But we plan to add in some raw meat once we've figured out the exact balance that she needs (she's just maturing now, so is starting on lots of other sports including agility so we've yet to figure out the perfect balance for her).

Another thing that I should probably add is that very many people warn against feeding raw and kibble together. Having said that, all my research suggests that owners of canine athletes (sled dogs, greyhounds) have mixed the two successfully for generations of dogs without problem.

 

[haycroft]

i feed my two mainly on raw...havent the freeze space so limited how much i can get.....they love it :thumbsup:

 

[friggsy]

im a non pedigree man and always feed mine a bit of raw on top of there cooket hearts or liver

 

[bertha]

I would have thought cook hearts and liver were no good in quantity, they are very rich and can give rise to upset tums. I feed raw tripe, chicken wings, beef rib bones and a small amount of complete depending on what the dogs are doing. They also get any left over veg, cabbage stalks, carrots, spinach which they all love.