veggies (are vegetables necessary as part of raw feeding?)

as still being new to raw feeding i was wonndering is veg really nesscary as ive read quite often thats its not, also can some help we a weekly plan on how to feed properly thanks wayne

p.s i have a jack russell aout 6yrs old

haven't been a raw feeder that long myself, Christine in Spain is the expert as is Mys and Sansorella who all gave me loads of help and advice, and of course, my breeder, Lyn B who has fed raw for years.
The majority of my friends and the above recommended that I feed mine pureed veg with their meals, which I have been doing, Also I have given them half a melon each when giving them chicken carcasses and the like. They also love apples, and the other night when we were out they took themselves off blackberrying!!!
They really enjoy their veg and often eat it first.

if you dog enjoys it - feed it.

mine have veg/fruit if I have any that need using up, or leftover - but other than that, no.

I have been feeding raw for over three years.

Not to mean sarcastic at all, but do you draw yourself up a weekly plan for what you eat? Do you make sure you get your diet balanced and complete? Prob not.
I think when you start out as a raw feeder you worry about things, as we are told a dogs food has to be 'complete and balanced' which is a lie anyway, as every individual has different needs, there is no way to work out exactly what an individuals needs are.

Are veggies necessary? Prob not. They don't absorb alot from them, plant cell walls are hard to digest. I give mine the pulp from my juice mix, or grate some carrot or cucumber or apple into their food. I used to do it everyday, now I don't worry so much.

Food and teeth is my thing, and I ask everyone I meet what they feed. Surprisingly I have met a number of people who say they have feed 'mince' or cooked chicken and that's it, for years and the dog is healthy, not a problem.
So they don't need it, but they will get some vitamins out of veg and fruit, so i would just make sure you give some weekly, but don't worry to much about it!

I thought mine were the only ones that helped themselves! Sol loves his apples in the orchard where we walk and at the moment they have started picking so he is munching on a fair few There have been a lot on the floor for some time but obvioulsy they weren't ready as he hasn't touched them They all love blackberries, kelly won't wait for me to pick them and just helps himself, he knows where all the bushes are and which ones still have good fruit on them, he is just a walking stomach!


All mine love bananas, the riper the better so when I buy them I always get extra for the boys, I like mine green so I get them the really ripe ones and they also get any left that I haven't eaten. Strawberries are another favourite, once they have gone a bit mushy (doesn't take long) I chuck those in. In fact I have yet to find a fruit that they didn't like to be honest, same with veggies. Spinach seems to be a particular favourite. I am not convinced that they actually need veggies or fruit but I know mine like it so they get it. It's not something that I feed very often, bananas probably weekly and they are helping themselves to a fair bit of fruit out on walks. I give mine easy green from Dorwest which is a mixture of spinach, parsley and watercress, they would eat that out of the tub given the chance, they also get keepers mix from Dorwest which is another herbal supplement.

I don't think you need a weekly plan wayne, you just need to feed a good variety. I have only been doing this for about 5 months and although it is nerve wracking at first it does get better and easier

I also give mine strawberries which have gone mushy, and also cherries are a great favourite. Not thought of bananas though, they sell off bananas that are a bit over ripe at the market in big packs so will try them.
Also courgettes and cucumbers go down well, they were a bit suspicious of mushrooms at first but eat those as well now. So sometimes instead of giving them pureed veg I give them a sort of fruit salad along with some chicken wings as a change and they love it.

Some say yes necessary, some say no, not necessary.

I do feed fruit & veg (both cooked and raw) because:

1 He likes them
2 They are useful as treats
3 Good for chewing (carrots)
4 Good for helping fill up a greedy dog
5 I do believe some goodness gets to the dog.

My dog loves them so much he even scrumps apples and blackberries have been a big hit with him this year - he seeks them out himself!

Definitely not essential at all.

But if they like them there is no harm in giving them at all either.

Don't forsake meat for veg though and if I fed them regular they would be an addition to the diet not really part of.

Alot of studies have been done on how wolves eat and most the time the stomach is removed and either the contents shaken out before eating or just left. I watched a good programme on African Wild dogs the other week and they did this too...They brought down an impala and all that they left after eating was the big bones like the skull the back bone and leg bones and stomach. The stomach would be where wild dogs / wolves get there predigested - broken down vegetable matter from.

To get any nutrients out of veg the cell wall has to be broken down already for dogs so they must either be cooked (less nutrients but still ok) or raw and mashed up. Like someone said earlier you can also give them the water from cooked veg. If you give whole carrot and things which mine love these are great to munch on but hardly any goodness will be derived from them.

I'm sure that wild dogs / wolves do graze and my dogs even go grazing for berries if they see us picking them and they like them but I never think about feeding any fruit or veg regular, they just sometimes get it. Meat, edible bones and offal, in that order are what's important.

Don't fall into the trap of adding more veg to the diet to counteract any constipation or to balance those chalky white poops either...in that case your dog is getting to much bone and needs more meat so take away bone and add meat. The veg does alleviate the visual aspect only but doesn't get rid of the fact that the dog is getting to much bone and not enough meat.

I wanted to give you a rep for that, but apparently I have to spread it around first...hmm.

Anyway, I thought it was a good post Mys.

I don't know much about raw-feeding, but read the article in one of last month's dog mags about the debate between the BARF and Raw Meaty Bones factions about vegetable content in the diets.

I was a bit confused about the BARF assertion that domestic dogs' digestive systems have evolved, over the time they have been living with humans, to require more vegetable matter than wild dogs'. I quizzed my dad, a zoologist, about this, and he assures me that the 1000s of years that dogs have been domesticated are not even close to long enough to effect evolutionary changes in such a complex animal.

So I believe, as the others here do, that vegetables are no more essential to domestic dogs than they are to their wild cousins. But that doesn't mean I would deprive Bongo of the odd bit of broccolli when it provides so much entertainment!