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Mon Reve Portuguese Water Dogs have been blessed with strong, healthy, energetic dogs. This does not come solely by chance. We start with very careful breeding and health testing of all our dogs and we work hard to ensure the optimum health of our dogs through daily physical exercise, mental challenges through training in multiple performance venues, proper grooming, and a premium diet of real food. All the dogs at Mon Reve are fed a raw diet.
Their diet consists primarily of raw meat, just as any carnivore would eat in the wild, however our dogs are lucky enough to have only the best quality, human grade meat. . Dogs do not have teeth like we do. Take a look at the back molars of any dog. They are not flat like an herbivore or omnivore would have. Dogs have sharp, pointy teeth in order to chew and crunch meat and bones. Their throats have elasticity, so that when they swallow, their throats can expand to accommodate larger pieces of food. Our dogs all love their food and we appreciate the control we are able to maintain over what they eat. And it is never too late to start your dogs on a raw diet and see improvements in their health.
One of our puppy owners shared her journey switching her "puppy" of 7 years old to raw from kibble. She switched her dog to a raw diet in January. By June, she was amazed at the difference and so glad she had taken pictures to document the changes in her girl. Below are the pictures she shared:
Their diet consists primarily of raw meat, just as any carnivore would eat in the wild, however our dogs are lucky enough to have only the best quality, human grade meat. . Dogs do not have teeth like we do. Take a look at the back molars of any dog. They are not flat like an herbivore or omnivore would have. Dogs have sharp, pointy teeth in order to chew and crunch meat and bones. Their throats have elasticity, so that when they swallow, their throats can expand to accommodate larger pieces of food. Our dogs all love their food and we appreciate the control we are able to maintain over what they eat. And it is never too late to start your dogs on a raw diet and see improvements in their health.
One of our puppy owners shared her journey switching her "puppy" of 7 years old to raw from kibble. She switched her dog to a raw diet in January. By June, she was amazed at the difference and so glad she had taken pictures to document the changes in her girl. Below are the pictures she shared:
In January of 2014, just as she was switched to a raw diet, Poppy's teeth looked like this. You can see the yellowing of the enamel and the tartar build up on her teeth.
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By June of 2014, her teeth were whiter, free of tartar and staining and her breath was sweeter!
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Poppy had a tough time before her switch to raw. She went through periods where her skin was raw and sore and she lost hair. This photo was also taken in January of 2014.
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And by June, Poppy's hair was grown back, and she was not scratching as she had been doing. What a blessing for this sweet seven-year-old girl!
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At our home, we give a varied diet of whatever meat we can get, preferably organic and from local sources whom we trust. There is no end to what we can give them. Chicken, beef, turkey, pork, deer, lamb, fish, organ meats, whatever we can find. The bones are important. We do not grind our bones as the benefits of breaking the bones themselves is crucial for the overall health of the dog. When a dog chews on the bones, they scrape their teeth and remove plaque and bacteria. The work required to crunch, rip and chew their meals ensures strong jaws and healthy gums through increased blood flow. The dogs reap the benefits throughout their entire cardiovascular system. Lowering the incidence of periodontal disease increases the overall health of our dogs. I know of many PWDS bred by co-breeders of mine who are living into their second decade and never once requiring sedation at a vet clinic for an expensive tooth cleaning!
Aside from a daily diet of fresh meat, throughout any given week our dogs get organ meats, a couple of raw eggs for biotin, a weekly capsule of high quality Salmon Oil for Omega 3 fatty acids and tripe. These contain the only essential dietary requirements lacking in the meat that we are able to get at our local supermarket or farm. Historically, Portuguese Water Dogs were fed primarily fish at the end of a long work day on the boats they worked on with the Portuguese fisherman. For that reason, we also like to include a regular supplement of kelp, supplying a wealth of mineral elements and iodine. Being bred to fish and live on the sea, we feel this is a sensible addition to our dogs diet.
One cautionary bit of advice to all who would feed their dogs any diet would be to never leave their dogs to eat unsupervised. Some dogs are careful, deliberate eaters and are very careful. However, there are also those who can take a huge chunk of meat, crunch it twice and swallow it down. Starting the day your puppy comes home, it is important to practice taking food from him while he is eating so he learns that you control the food. There are times when your dog may get a bone chip caught between his teeth. While not difficult to help him out and remove it, you must first be able to put your fingers in his mouth without worrying that it will get bit! My dogs do on rare occasion need help dislodging a bone bit and they will sit and literally open their mouths for me to fish it out. Problem solved.
How do you start a raw diet? Easiest and safest way is to just start! We get asked so many questions about the specific points of feeding raw. There are a few guidelines that are important and we have tried to lay them out for you here.
If you are switching from kibble to raw, remember that there is an adjustment period for the dog as there would be if any of us was to switch our diet completely. As a rule, the dogs take to a raw diet with no problems at all. But it may take a little patience. Asking someone to go from a steady diet of fast food to a balanced, healthy fresh food diet can sometimes be a little tricky as anyone who has done this can attest to! Kibble and raw food are digested at very different rates. Switching a dog to raw is made simpler and safer by simply doing that. Switching. The local animal shelter will be thrilled to get your leftover kibble. And your dog’s health will benefit.
The meat you can give our dogs is dependent on where you live and availability. The amount you want to feed your dog on a daily basis is about 2-4% of the ideal ADULT weight for your dog. This is simply a guideline. It is important to monitor your dog’s weight by feeling his ribs, backbone and hip bones. You should be able to feel his ribs when you rub your fingers along them and his hip bones should not be protruding. It is easy to adjust the amount you give by checking him regularly. It is not at all uncommon here in the Midwest with our cold winters to up the amount of food we feed in the summers when our dogs are so much more active! Once you have figured out the amount you need to feed, just divide it by two if you feed twice a day or feed it all at once if you are feeding only once a day. Either way works.
An example of a meal for a 60 pound dog would be a total of perhaps 1.8 lbs. (that is 3% of total body weight). A chicken quarter can easily weigh a pound or slightly more. And then a handful of smelt, or some canned tuna or mackerel or perhaps an egg and some ground beef. There are more meat sources then days of the week. Lamb, goat, rabbit, beef, fish of any kind (I never throw out shrimp shells anymore – the dogs love them!), pork, turkey, duck, etc., etc., etc. We do not advise feeding your dog raw beef bones. Consider the age that beef is slaughtered relative to that of lamb, pork or chicken for example. They are much older and therefore the bone is much denser and much harder on the teeth. Once a tooth is cracked, it can cause great difficulty for the dog so they are much safer eating the younger, more pliable bones. So stay away from the beef, elk, moose, elephant, dinosaur – anything really big and older.
Eggs are something that some dogs love and others disdain. If you are feeding whole prey model (meat and whole bones) they are not necessary. There is plenty of biotin in bone to satisfy their needs. If they like the eggs, then feed it. Some love to get the whole egg – shell and all! If you want to feed eggs for biotin, the one bit of caution is to feed the whole egg. The biotin in the yolk cannot be processed by the body without ingesting the white.
Omega 3/6 ratio is important. The only supplement that is needed in a raw diet is a good fish oil tablet. Natural food stores have a wonderful supply as a rule or online. Norwegian salmon oil tablets are a wonderful source for the required Omegas.
Another rule of thumb is to feed only 10 to 15% bone. Do not grind the bones. Premade raw diets generally have bone in them but the bones are ground up with the meat. As was outlined above, this defeats the purpose of the grinding and tearing that whole hunks of meat provide. How do you know if you have the correct bone to meat ratio? Easy. Poop Patrol. If your pup has got “fossil poop” (hard, white and chalky) he is getting way too much bone. Runny poop is a good indicator that he needs more bone. Poop Patrol. An invaluable diagnostic tool.
Organ meat is essential. This does not include tongue or heart. Those are muscles and are considered to be part of their boneless intake. Liver, kidneys, sweetbreads, brain are just some. It does not have to be fed at each meal.
What do you feed on the first meal? Try giving some chicken. Just give some cut up chicken - thighs and drumsticks. That is the easiest and usually the most readily available meat source. New meat sources can be added weekly. The organ meats can be given over a stretch of time. The joy of raw feeding is its adaptability. Consider that a wild dog (or wolf) will eat through one whole carcass of prey over a period of a few days and then will go without much of anything until the next meal is hunted. So the organs are consumed sporadically. Feeding your dog that way is just fine. And organs should not be fed at all until your dog has had about three different meat sources and has adjusted to the new diet. After the first week crunching on chicken, you may want to try some turkey or fish.
How and where do you feed the meat pieces? Ah. Well. That’s easy. Throw the raw meat pieces in a bowl or on a plate and serve it up. That’s it. Summertime is my favorite time to feed. I serve up the dishes of meat, pour a glass of wine and head outside to the back lawn. I dumped the meat in separate piles for each of the dogs, pull up my lawn chair and enjoy the happy crunching noises while sipping on my wine and enjoying the late afternoon sun. In the winter, the dogs eat in their crates. Any little bits that are dropped are quickly cleaned up, The food is contained in a single area and crates are a snap to wipe up and disinfect with grapefruit seed extract spray if you want to do that afterwards
When do you feed the meals? Some dogs eat twice a day – morning and night. If it is easier and your dog is over a year old, he can probably do very well eating once a day (however very large breeds like great danes should really be fed twice a day – PWDs are fine eating once a day). Let your dog dictate what he or she is confortable with and split the amount to two meals if that is what you do.
We are strong proponents of the Raw Diet for our dogs, however it is not required of our puppy owners to follow it for their dogs. We do ask, however, that each of our prospective clients research on their own the benefits and daily requirements of feeding their dogs a proper, well balanced Raw Diet. It is a little more time consuming to feed your new family member a well balanced raw diet than simply opening a bag and dumping a cupful of cooked kibble into a dish, but the time is well spent. As always, we are more than happy to give advice or suggestions if you have questions. I know our dogs are blessed with full, shiny coats, strong muscles, unwavering energy, sweeter breath, whiter teeth and they have yet to require a trip to the vet for that expensive tooth cleaning!
Aside from a daily diet of fresh meat, throughout any given week our dogs get organ meats, a couple of raw eggs for biotin, a weekly capsule of high quality Salmon Oil for Omega 3 fatty acids and tripe. These contain the only essential dietary requirements lacking in the meat that we are able to get at our local supermarket or farm. Historically, Portuguese Water Dogs were fed primarily fish at the end of a long work day on the boats they worked on with the Portuguese fisherman. For that reason, we also like to include a regular supplement of kelp, supplying a wealth of mineral elements and iodine. Being bred to fish and live on the sea, we feel this is a sensible addition to our dogs diet.
One cautionary bit of advice to all who would feed their dogs any diet would be to never leave their dogs to eat unsupervised. Some dogs are careful, deliberate eaters and are very careful. However, there are also those who can take a huge chunk of meat, crunch it twice and swallow it down. Starting the day your puppy comes home, it is important to practice taking food from him while he is eating so he learns that you control the food. There are times when your dog may get a bone chip caught between his teeth. While not difficult to help him out and remove it, you must first be able to put your fingers in his mouth without worrying that it will get bit! My dogs do on rare occasion need help dislodging a bone bit and they will sit and literally open their mouths for me to fish it out. Problem solved.
How do you start a raw diet? Easiest and safest way is to just start! We get asked so many questions about the specific points of feeding raw. There are a few guidelines that are important and we have tried to lay them out for you here.
If you are switching from kibble to raw, remember that there is an adjustment period for the dog as there would be if any of us was to switch our diet completely. As a rule, the dogs take to a raw diet with no problems at all. But it may take a little patience. Asking someone to go from a steady diet of fast food to a balanced, healthy fresh food diet can sometimes be a little tricky as anyone who has done this can attest to! Kibble and raw food are digested at very different rates. Switching a dog to raw is made simpler and safer by simply doing that. Switching. The local animal shelter will be thrilled to get your leftover kibble. And your dog’s health will benefit.
The meat you can give our dogs is dependent on where you live and availability. The amount you want to feed your dog on a daily basis is about 2-4% of the ideal ADULT weight for your dog. This is simply a guideline. It is important to monitor your dog’s weight by feeling his ribs, backbone and hip bones. You should be able to feel his ribs when you rub your fingers along them and his hip bones should not be protruding. It is easy to adjust the amount you give by checking him regularly. It is not at all uncommon here in the Midwest with our cold winters to up the amount of food we feed in the summers when our dogs are so much more active! Once you have figured out the amount you need to feed, just divide it by two if you feed twice a day or feed it all at once if you are feeding only once a day. Either way works.
An example of a meal for a 60 pound dog would be a total of perhaps 1.8 lbs. (that is 3% of total body weight). A chicken quarter can easily weigh a pound or slightly more. And then a handful of smelt, or some canned tuna or mackerel or perhaps an egg and some ground beef. There are more meat sources then days of the week. Lamb, goat, rabbit, beef, fish of any kind (I never throw out shrimp shells anymore – the dogs love them!), pork, turkey, duck, etc., etc., etc. We do not advise feeding your dog raw beef bones. Consider the age that beef is slaughtered relative to that of lamb, pork or chicken for example. They are much older and therefore the bone is much denser and much harder on the teeth. Once a tooth is cracked, it can cause great difficulty for the dog so they are much safer eating the younger, more pliable bones. So stay away from the beef, elk, moose, elephant, dinosaur – anything really big and older.
Eggs are something that some dogs love and others disdain. If you are feeding whole prey model (meat and whole bones) they are not necessary. There is plenty of biotin in bone to satisfy their needs. If they like the eggs, then feed it. Some love to get the whole egg – shell and all! If you want to feed eggs for biotin, the one bit of caution is to feed the whole egg. The biotin in the yolk cannot be processed by the body without ingesting the white.
Omega 3/6 ratio is important. The only supplement that is needed in a raw diet is a good fish oil tablet. Natural food stores have a wonderful supply as a rule or online. Norwegian salmon oil tablets are a wonderful source for the required Omegas.
Another rule of thumb is to feed only 10 to 15% bone. Do not grind the bones. Premade raw diets generally have bone in them but the bones are ground up with the meat. As was outlined above, this defeats the purpose of the grinding and tearing that whole hunks of meat provide. How do you know if you have the correct bone to meat ratio? Easy. Poop Patrol. If your pup has got “fossil poop” (hard, white and chalky) he is getting way too much bone. Runny poop is a good indicator that he needs more bone. Poop Patrol. An invaluable diagnostic tool.
Organ meat is essential. This does not include tongue or heart. Those are muscles and are considered to be part of their boneless intake. Liver, kidneys, sweetbreads, brain are just some. It does not have to be fed at each meal.
What do you feed on the first meal? Try giving some chicken. Just give some cut up chicken - thighs and drumsticks. That is the easiest and usually the most readily available meat source. New meat sources can be added weekly. The organ meats can be given over a stretch of time. The joy of raw feeding is its adaptability. Consider that a wild dog (or wolf) will eat through one whole carcass of prey over a period of a few days and then will go without much of anything until the next meal is hunted. So the organs are consumed sporadically. Feeding your dog that way is just fine. And organs should not be fed at all until your dog has had about three different meat sources and has adjusted to the new diet. After the first week crunching on chicken, you may want to try some turkey or fish.
How and where do you feed the meat pieces? Ah. Well. That’s easy. Throw the raw meat pieces in a bowl or on a plate and serve it up. That’s it. Summertime is my favorite time to feed. I serve up the dishes of meat, pour a glass of wine and head outside to the back lawn. I dumped the meat in separate piles for each of the dogs, pull up my lawn chair and enjoy the happy crunching noises while sipping on my wine and enjoying the late afternoon sun. In the winter, the dogs eat in their crates. Any little bits that are dropped are quickly cleaned up, The food is contained in a single area and crates are a snap to wipe up and disinfect with grapefruit seed extract spray if you want to do that afterwards
When do you feed the meals? Some dogs eat twice a day – morning and night. If it is easier and your dog is over a year old, he can probably do very well eating once a day (however very large breeds like great danes should really be fed twice a day – PWDs are fine eating once a day). Let your dog dictate what he or she is confortable with and split the amount to two meals if that is what you do.
We are strong proponents of the Raw Diet for our dogs, however it is not required of our puppy owners to follow it for their dogs. We do ask, however, that each of our prospective clients research on their own the benefits and daily requirements of feeding their dogs a proper, well balanced Raw Diet. It is a little more time consuming to feed your new family member a well balanced raw diet than simply opening a bag and dumping a cupful of cooked kibble into a dish, but the time is well spent. As always, we are more than happy to give advice or suggestions if you have questions. I know our dogs are blessed with full, shiny coats, strong muscles, unwavering energy, sweeter breath, whiter teeth and they have yet to require a trip to the vet for that expensive tooth cleaning!