Meet my new raw fed dog Wally West, everyone!
For those of you who read my previous blog post on tackling my foster dog Pablo’s skin allergies – yes, I’m officially a foster failure. I ended up adopting Pablo myself and renamed him Wally West.
Wally’s a 1.5 year old, neutered, red 38 lb Feist mix with a cute white tail tip.
Meet Wally West, My New Raw Fed Dog
Disclaimer: This blog post was originally published in 2019 and has been updated in 2022. It contains affiliate links I may earn compensation through at no additional cost to you.
His Main Breed: The Feist
I had never heard of this breed before, so I had to do a little reading on it myself!
Feist dogs are American hunting dogs who descended from Terriers brought over by European immigrants.
They’re easy to train, eager to please, and naturals at hunting squirrels, vermin, small game and birds. That makes them highly active dogs who need a lot of physical and mental stimulation to thrive!
Wally DEFINITELY loves chasing squirrels in my yard. He also wanted to chase ALL the seagulls on our recent day trip to the NC coast.
Feists love the outdoors in general, which I have absolutely noticed in Wally!!
He can’t get enough of being outside, so one of my first purchases for him was a doggie backpack from Ruffwear. Wally is now proudly sporting a purple/red Commuter Pack.
Renaming Him
I just didn’t see a Pablo in him and needed a cuter name that matched his curious and outgoing, bouncy little self.
Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for his new name Wally West, but I loved the suggestion!
His new dog tag reads:
Wally West. Lost Superhero (followed by my phone number)
I’m currently working on getting him used to his new name. The rescue lady I’ve been in touch with shared an easy-to-implement name changing tip with me.
She said to simply call him by his old name followed by his new name. In our case, that’s Pablo Wally for now.
Fun Things We’ve Experienced Together So Far
The other weekend, Wally and I went on a day trip to the NC coast. It’s just a hop, skip and a jump away from our place here in Central NC.
We went to Wrightsville beach where we met up with my friend Laura and her Golden pup Lucy. First, we walked the Wilmington boardwalk and then warmed up at a dog-friendly coffee shop, just a few blocks away from the boardwalk.
The place is called Java Dog Coffee House and we found it on BringFido.
We’ve also gone on a number of car rides and socialized with doggie friends Lila & Rocky.
Car dog safety is important to me, so Wally and Lila are pictured wearing their respective harnesses. Lila’s hooks up to the seatbelt and Wally’s is attached to the backseat latch bar.
We also checked out Phydeaux in Cary, NC. It’s one of my favorite independently owned pet retail stores here in the Central NC area.
It’s where Wally got his Ruffwear Commuter Pack to help him burn energy.
We’ve gone on countless walks and hikes in our neighborhood, at local parks and urban areas!
Training Challenges
I got a pretty good deal with the little guy given his shelter dog background. However, I’ve noticed that he likes to counter surf in the kitchen and that he’s a bit possessive about stuffed toys around other dogs.
That’s why I started keeping him on a leash attached to my fridge when I’m busy in the kitchen. It allows me to immediately correct any counter surfing attempts with a firm “no” and “off”.
The way I’m dealing with his toy possessiveness around other dogs for the moment is to simply not leave any toys out when other dogs are visiting.
I’ll have to teach him that sharing is cool in the long run. We’ll probably enroll in a basic obedience class and see what type of suggestions the trainer has for his sharing issues.
Switching Him From Dehydrated Dog Food To Raw Dog Food
Remember I referred to Wally as bouncy in the Renaming him section? The boy truly CAN bounce like Tigger from Winnie The Pooh. He shows it off beautifully in the video below when he got his very first raw meaty bone, a chicken neck:
So yes, I will be feeding him raw dog food that includes raw meaty bones, as well as organs and muscle meat.
The formula I follow is known as the 70/10/10/10 formula:
- 70% muscle meat
- 5% liver, 5% other secreting organs [(totals 10%) like kidney, spleen, reproductive organs, brains]
- 10% raw meaty bones
- 10% plant matter (veggies and fruit)
If you’re still new to raw feeding and/or want to learn more about the individual cuts of meat it consists of, check out the Related Reading section at the end of this blog post.
Dogs fed a raw diet need to eat 2-3% of their ideal target body weight in raw meat per day. Wally’s more on the active side, so I did my calculations with 2.5% of his ideal body weight (his current 38 lbs). Should I notice that it’s not enough food for him, I’ll up it to 3%.
The 2.5% translate into just shy of 1 lb of food per day, or 8 oz per meal since he eats breakfast and dinner. Of that 1 lb (8oz per meal), 12 oz (6oz per meal) are muscle meat, 2 oz (1 oz per meal) are organs and 2 oz (1 oz per meal) are raw meaty bones.
Now here’s how I’m going about the switch:
First, I transitioned him from kibble to a grain-free dehydrated dog food from The Honest Kitchen. I made that transition over the course of 7 days to give his digestive system time to adjust to the new food.
The reason why I chose that particular brand of food is so that his new adopter would be able to continue to feed him a healthier, affordable diet.
Little did I know that his new adopter would be me!
Once I adopted him, I bought a box of The Honest Kitchen’s dehydrated grain-free veggie, nut and seed base mix that’s fed with the raw or cooked protein of your choice.
I obviously added raw meat and decided to start with chicken breast. I fed that for 2 days, then gave him his first raw meaty bone (chicken neck), which he went bonkers for!
My next step was to place an order of different cuts of raw meat from Raw Feeding Miami. That’s because it’s a lot less expensive to put my own raw dog food together as opposed to buying it pre-made.
While I’m waiting for that order to arrive, I am, however, feeding him pre-made raw beef patties from Nature’s Variety. We bought those at a local Petco. Wally came along on that little trip, which made for a great mentally stimulating experience.
Meet Wally West, My New Raw Fed Dog: Bottom Line
Wally is an intelligent, active raw fed dog who needs a lot of physical and mental stimulation, so there’s a lot of backpack walks and hikes in our future!
I can’t wait to feel his soft coat after about a month on the raw dog food diet. For now it’s rewarding to see him enjoy it! I’ll be sharing pictures of our raw meals on Instagram.
Update 2022: Wally’s been thriving on his raw dog food diet. He absolutely loves it and can never eat it fast enough when it’s ground. That’s why I started feeding him any ground meals in a slow feeder. He has 2 different ones that work equally well:
Mighty Paw’s Slow Feeder Insert Dog Bowl
Outward Hound’s Fun Feeder Slow Bowl
Related Reading:
- What does balanced raw dog food consist of?
- How to move overseas with your raw-fed dog
- Croatia with dogs: Our summer road trip with Wally
Raw Dog Food Game Changers
BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK RAW DOG FOOD
Save 15% on anything at Raw Paws Pet Food with code K9Savings. They’re located in Indiana and ship nationwide within the US.
BEST VARIETY FOR INDIVIDUAL CUTS OF RAW MEAT
Save 10% on your first order of anything at Raw Feeding Miami with this referral link.
BEST SLOW FEEDER FOR RAW FED DOGS
Mighty Paw’s Slow Feed Insert combined with Yeti’s Boomer 4 Dog Bowl. Both are top rack dishwasher safe.
BEST FOUNDATION FOR BALANCED DIY RAW MEALS
Dr. Harvey’s Paradigm Base Mix. It’s low-carb which is particularly great for dogs on a keto diet and those with health issues like diabetes and cancer.
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