Fat is incredibly important to dogs

Raw uncooked fats are far and away the best source of fats for any carnivore as they don’t require the preservatives that cooked fats need to prevent them from going rancid – preservatives found in dry kibble, preservatives that can have harmful side effects for your dog.  Tom Lonsdale, DVM says: “Fat is crucial to carnivores, in maintaining and creating energy, and to produce glycerol. While humans require some carbohydrates for energy and endurance, carnivores need fats, both animal and plant, for creating glucose and developing stamina.”  If you want your dog to lose weight, removing the fat from his diet is not the way to go.   While human beings use carbohydrates as their main source of energy, the same is not true of dogs that instead use fat the way that humans use carbs.  It is what they use as fuel.

Many raw feeders tend to cut the fat out of their dog’s diet as a way to get them to lose unwanted pounds.  They trim fat off of whole pieces of meat and look for the leanest cuts to feed their dogs.  Instead they should simply reduce the amount of food that their dog is eating.  As a general rule we feed our dogs 2-3% of their body weight per day in raw foods.  What cannot be forgotten is that we must take into consideration our dogs as individuals.  If they are older, slower, overweight, underweight, very active or couch potatoes, this will all have bearing on how much food we should feed.  People with overweight dogs will feed 2% of their current weight when the starting point should always be 2% of their OPTIMAL body weight.  They also tend to take away all of the extra fat in their diet opting for low fat meats like turkey, skinless chicken and venison.  In reality and for the best health of their pet, they would be better served to feed the same fat amounts but cut that fat with veggies and lower the total intake of food making sure that treats and “extras” are all monitored closely. 

Always keep in mind the amount you feed throughout the day –if you have a training class on a certain night you simply need to figure the amount of treats that will be used into your dog’s total intake for the day.  Don’t let big brown sad eyes sway you from your course – if your dog is still hungry, try adding something like salt free canned green beans to his meal.  It will fill him up without adding any extra calories.  Feed A Place For Paws raw mixes with veggies to make sure that they are getting all the same fat and meat but also a healthy mixture of veggies which add little extra calories.  What not to do?  Take away all the fat, pull all the skin off of their chicken necks or chicken backs, feed a low calorie kibble that offers nothing but fillers and no real usable food.

On the flip side of the coin, there are dogs who are impossible to keep weight on.  Dogs that are perpetually underweight due either to being picky, high metabolism, high activity level or any other number of things.  These dogs likely won’t fit into the standard 2-3% body weight either.  Often they eat closer to 4-5% of their body weight but many people are nervous about feeding so much at one time.  Split the meals in half, feeding once in the morning and once in the evening and use trial and error to find the amount at which they will maintain a comfortable weight.  Feed higher amounts until they reach their goal weight and simply back off to a maintenance level once that goal is achieved.

Remember, dogs are not humans.  While we may strive to ingest less fat in an effort to control our body weight, dogs metabolize things differently than we do and we must take that into consideration when finding the right combination food for them.  Taking into account that each and every dog is an individual is equally important.  They each have different needs and each should be fed according to those needs.  Feeding your dog will never be “one size fits all” and guidelines are just that, guidelines, and not rules written in stone.  Be aware of what your pet needs and you will be giving them the greatest gift of all – good health.