raw diet question

[eydimork]

I have been curious about raw diets for a couple of years now, and since my boyfriend and I are in the process of getting our first Weimaraner I have been thinking about feeding a natural diet.

I do have a question for those of you who do feed naturally, though!

Weimaraners are "prone" to bloat. Do you natural diet people feed your dogs several times a day (and restrict water and strenuous exercise of course), or do you find that the time taken to eat bones is enough to avoid the buildup of gas?

[marjolein]

Mine are BARF-fed. I don't know if it's true, but they say that dogs that are BARF-fed have less chance of getting bloat or gastric torsion. Mine are fed twice a day though and of course I take the precautions by not letting them eat shortly after a walk or before a walk. I do not restrict water though, but of course I don't let them drink while they're panting heavily.

[Sylvia]

The "rumours" say there is indeed a lesser change on bloat, but that is never researched, so there is nothing on paper.

We feed them 1 time a day. About some reading about it I founded out that it is better for a dog to have 1 time a full stomache then 2 times not a totally full feeling ;-)
We let them rest after the eating. They get here their food after the last walk in the evening. Then they have the whole night to rest

[weimgirl]

From what I have read and heard from many in the US that feed raw(BARF) most feed twice a day and do not restrict water and have less bloat problems as the food is processed through the dogs system much quicker and does not ferment and increase in size internally or cause as much gas. Of course always being careful not to feed right before or right after exercise. weimgirl.

[anne]

On the Purdue University site on Bloat, somewhere, there is mention of raw fed dogs being less prone to bloat. It wasn't scientifically studied but they did make a general connection. I cant' seem to find it now and don't have time to go thru the whole site at the moment.
www.vet.purdue.edu/epi/bloat.htm
It makes sense to me. There is a lot of water in raw food so it doesn't expand in the stomach. I feed raw and feed twice a day. I never restrict water intake.

Accroding to Purdue's research the biggest factors in bloat are not even related to eating habits. Age, chest size and history in the line are the big 3. I often am amused at some of the people here in the States that have very poorly bred dogs that are absolutely paranoid about bloat.... for all their paranoia they didn't even check the one thing of the top 3 that CAN be controlled, and never asked about family history of bloat. Kind of silly isn't it.