Whippet Diet

[K19WAG]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

Hi all, I have an 18month old whippet who is not food orientated at all. He has been on Wainwrights dry dog food for some time, but never wolfs it down he just tends to graze on it. It has been suggested to me to try him on a raw food diet (ie. mince, pork, lamb etc) has anybody out there tried this kind of diet and was it successful/unsuccessful?

I would appreciate any comments on this.

Thanks.

 

[rls22]

All of our whippets are fed a raw diet and the two litters we have bred were both weaned on to raw. All are in fabulous condition, shiny coats, very clean teeth and healthy appetites.

They are fed a variety of minced meats; beef, chicken, tripe, beef and kidney etc, with a good quality wholemeal mixer, we feed Laughing Dog puppy/terrier. Along with chicken wings, turkey necks. Lamb ribs a few times a week. They also get a small amount of veggies, but always a scoop of Dorwest Easy Green.

Once or twice a week they get a raw egg and sardines in tomato sauce, which they love.

There are lots of members on here who feed a variation on the raw diet and whose dogs love it. If you have the freezer space then I think it's a great idea.

 

[jinnyfizz]

I feed all mine on raw, from the age of 8 weeks old and they are all in great condition with healthy teeth, coats and attitude!!

Roughly the same types of meats as rls22 and I add calcium to the pups food as well as the whole pack having raw meaty bones from the butcher once a week :thumbsup:

Can't recommend this type of diet highly enough - it's what they would eat naturally

 

[Janimal]

All mine on the BARF diet too.

I must admit when I first heard about it when I got Oscar I thought oh what a faff on.... :lol: but you do get used to it

and it becomes a daily routine...if you have the freezer space. We have a small one which we keep just for the dogs frozen food.

Mine are in freezer packs...which I lift out the night before ready to feed the evening meal the next day.

I usually keep a mixture of tripe, beef, chicken, lamb, chicken wings in the house....although this week I got a good deal on some

Duck necks which I am going to try them with instead of the wings on a morning.

I mix Burgess Triple mixer with my meat and raw veggies too....Dorwest Greens..and cod liver oil too.

oh and they get Goats milk, eggs and sardines too. All mine have had this diet since puppyhood.

 

[~Annie~]

A lot of people feed BARF to very good effect but not all of us have the freezer space to make this diet practical or cost effective ... remember raw meat needs to have been frozen and then thawed before feeding to ensure that any nasties it may contain have been killed off.

Personally I also remain unconvinced that raw meat is necessarily any better than cooked meat, or the BARF diet any better than a food developed by animal nitrionists. In my view it is the quality of meat that you feed that is most important and the high end kibbles and wet foods contain meat of similar quality to that fed on the BARF diet, although admittedly at a cost. Also some manufacturers will guarantee that the meat they use is largely free from antibiotics and such like, but the same cannot be said for all raw meat suppliers.

If you really fancy the change to raw far be it from to stop you ... but if the fact that your dog grazes rather than wolfs his food down is your reason for changing I'd look at a few other issues. Do you have fixed mealtimes for your dog or do you leave food down all day, which encourages grazing. Do you feed dry kibble or do you moisten it a little with water or a gravy? Not all dogs enjoy dry food ... I have one who loves the crunch and eats his kibble one crunchy morsel at a time (frustratingly as it takes him twice as long as the other's to eat his breakfaast), and another who will only touch kibble if it's been softened a little with hot water. Does your dog have any variety in his diet? Dogs eat primarily to satisfy hunger rather than for pleasure but can still get bored with the same food day in and day out.

My boys, as I'm sure rls22 and jinnyfizz will agree, are in tip top condition ... they are lure coursers and agility dogs and they have been known to win lol. They have masses of energy and are lean, nicely muscled, with glossy coats without any scurf, etc. etc... Their weekly diet consists of Skinners Salmon and Rice kibble (most breakfasts), Nature Diet Rabbit and Turkey or Nature Diet Lamb (basically a rice and meat loaf/most suppers), lots of sardines (mostly in spring water as these are salt free), some goats yoghurt or cottage cheese, occasionally some raw tripe or a raw egg, and raw carrots and the occasional meaty bone to chew on. I'm convinced it's the variety that keeps them interested and the quality that keeps them well.

Good luck whatever you decide