# Beef Fat



## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

How much beef fat would you add to your dog's food if it weighed 80 pounds? Would you do it twice a week starting now?


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Howard Gaines III said:


> How much beef fat would you add to your dog's food if it weighed 80 pounds? Would you do it twice a week starting now?


More info.

Is the dog getting the fat that "comes" on a raw diet, or is this to add raw fat to a kibble diet?


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

Howard Gaines III said:


> How much beef fat would you add to your dog's food if it weighed 80 pounds? Would you do it twice a week starting now?


None, at 80 lbs it must be getting lots already :razz:


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Howard, 

For a primarily outdoor dog on raw, I would add about 1/4c. of raw fat 2x per week, starting when the temps dip below freezing.


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## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

Keep in mind if you are adding it to kibble you can knock your proportion of calories in the diet from protein to unacceptably low levels(for a hard working dog) so if you are talking kibble(generally high in carbs) you usually have to add protein if you add fat. 1/4 cup of fat is about 400 calories to you have to figure this into your diet totals to see if it pushes the figures out of whack. Best to make a little chart and put what you are feeding the dog down on it and see just how much you are feeding of what (remember if you compare food items you have to convert them to a dry matter basis)
I would be more inclined to feed a little extra fat on a regular basis than just twice a week in a larger amount.


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## kristin tresidder (Oct 23, 2008)

Howard Gaines III said:


> How much beef fat would you add to your dog's food if it weighed 80 pounds? Would you do it twice a week starting now?


i guess it depends on how high the dog's metabolism is, and what the purpose in adding the fat is. ie - making the coat shiny, gaining weight etc. is this a long term thing or just a treat 'cause it's laying around? also, if the dog has a sensitive stomach (esp if it's not on a raw diet now) the extra fat could lead to pretty loose stool, so if it's an indoor dog with a touchy stomach, i'd definitely start with small amounts every couple of days.

we recently made a brisket in the crock pot (~12#) and i shaved off some of the fat before cooking. each strip of fat was about 3" wide and 12" long. i cut those strips in 1/2 and each dog got one of those pieces with their meal as long as it lasted, with no stomach upset or anything.


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## Greg Leavitt (Aug 31, 2006)

I throw a couple pieces in my dogs food all the time with no ill effects. I get it free at the grocery store. It helps put weight on as well as add shine to the coat. jmho


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Connie Sutherland said:


> More info.
> 
> Is the dog getting the fat that "comes" on a raw diet, or is this to add raw fat to a kibble diet?


Connie I don't do raw..."Elmer's hunting skills" have not been productive to date. I feed kibble and when it gets cold the extras are put to the food. I only use fresh fat and beef bones for my dogs. Not sure why, they eat sheep poop like wolfing done ice cream!


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## Becky Shilling (Jul 11, 2006)

Dogs' Guide To Other Animal Poop:

Cow Poop - *
Sheep Poop - **
Deer Poop - ***
Horse Poop - ****
Cat Poop - *****


On the original topic, we give about a hand/fist sized hunk of fat to our dogs with thier meals in winter daily. They are exercising and burning more. If anyone gets a loose stool, we cut back, but they rarely do.

Muzzle loader season started yesterday here, so we will starting to supplement with a lot of deer trimmings. (Went and picked up two barrels of mixed venison/beef stuff yesterday)


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