Had a conversation with someone last night who feeds a 'natural' diet as I do.  In addition to raw meat, bones, offal etc I feed pulped raw veg/fruit which is added most days.  I was 'told' that dogs cant digest raw veg and it should be cooked before given to them.  She is a very knowledgeable person but my reasons for feeding it raw were because its in its natural form.  The blending process has two benefits for raw veg as it stops the dogs picking out the types of veg they may not like ensuring they get all the goodness from a variety of plants, it also mimics the contents of a prey animals intestines - partly digested and broken down.

I am now wondering if I am doing it the best way? I have read many books on this diet, researched it with people who have tried and tested it over years and I thought I was doing it right. As I have a dog with an itchy problem (previously posted 'Any ideas') she said it may be cos I am not getting it right.

I read cooked, steamed OR blitzed.  Presumably the prey animal we're trying to mimic hasn't had cooked veg but I'm not sure of the effect of digestive juices on their stomach contents...

I tend to prepare dog appropriate veggies in advance so I blitz them in the food processor and freeze them in small portion sizes.  As a compromise to the cooked/steamed debate I sometimes defrost them in a dash of boiling water and a bit of time in the microwave.

This suits me, and the dogs, whilst still hopefully hitting the nutritional spot.  I'd like a definitive answer too

Personally I feed mine a teaspoon of pulped veg twice a week...I boil the veg and then pulp - have never pulped just raw veg

I feed the fruit & veg nuggets that Natures menu do for ease.

Dogs cannot metabolise fruits and veggies unless they are pulped, frozen or cooked; so any of these methods are suitable.

Mine have pulped/really mashed up raw veg about 3 times a week.I believe that it is the cellulose in the raw veggies they cannot digest.However some fruit they have whole.Their favourite is whole pear,even my non to loving veg Mal loves his pear!!They occasionally have whole mango,banana,strawberries etc but small amounts.They also love nibbling on large carrots,but this mainly passes through the digestive tract as it is.They will also pick their own blackberries in the Autumn.

Dear tohme

I hope this is correct, that means I have been doing it right

Dogs can and do digest raw fruit and veg as long as it is pulped, they don't digest it if it isn't pulped or steamed, I always give a large portion of one of the meals per day of pulped fruit/veg.

You do need to get the ratio of food right if you are feeding a natural diet and it is worth investing in one of Ian Billinghurst's books on feeding BARF.  I doubt very much that the fruit/veg would cause an itching problem, if itchiness was to do with food it is usually beef and pork that are to blame.  Of course the itchiness might be nothing to do with feeding.

Hi
I am very aware of getting the ratio correct I do however wonder who knows exactly what the correct ratio is, it is a debatable depending on which 'expert' you ask. A previous posting on here once quoted 'dogs in the wild dont use scales' which has always made me think.   I guess we just have to do the best we can and look at our dogs to see the results.  I dont feed pork as my two don't like it but they occasionally have 'best mince' from TPMS.  As I mentioned in my initial post, I have read lots of books on this subject including all Dr Ian Billinghurst's books prior to even starting the natural approach.  The itching remains a mystery, since his bath in H&S last week and lowish daily dose of Atopica he has improved. Many thanks for you post.

My personal view is that Billinghurst includes too much bone in the diet. The yahoo group BritBarf is a good place to check out all things to do with raw feeding.

Yes, i am a member of Britbarf although many people on there have their individual ideas and therefore different diets.

I guess the correct ratio is what suits each individual dog

Animals in the wild do not have scales, very true, IB explains it by taking a dead carcass and look at the ratio of bone, meat, fat, stomach contents, offal and muscle that is how we should feed our animals, but it does depend on what suits each dog.  I have one dog that gets very constipated if he doesn't get a large amount of veg each day and one dog that could go for long periods without and it never bothers him.

So, do your research and choose what suits you and your dogs.

  

I whizz in the blender and freeze, that breaks down the veg sufficiently for dogs to digest it (certainly we dont get recognizeable bits of veg out the other end!) so I dont cook it as well.

whizz in the blender and freeze

whizzing in the blender is good, you don't need to cook if they have already been pulped in this way.