Fat and Protein are the two most vital macronutrients in your dog's raw diet. They fuel your dog's body and mind throughout the day. This is why it's important to pay attention to the balance of the two macronutrients and as well as the source and quality.

I have talked about proteins not all being created equally in my post on the importance of protein rotation. And this stands true in this article. To understand the importance of your dog needing high quality protein in their raw diet is just as important as understanding that your dog can thrive on a raw diet.

One of the easiest ways to tell the quality of the protein in your food is to check the fat to protein ratio. It will either be listed in grams or in a percentage. If the amount of fat and protein are close to equal this is in most cases a lower quality meat. For example X leading brand raw’s chicken recipe would have 9% protein and 8% fat. This is way too close together and not at all ideal for the health or well being of your pooch. On top of that, fat and protein being that close together often implicates a lower quality meat or a lower quality cut of meat.

If you were to look at Back 2 Raw’s Chicken recipe you would see that we come in at 20.47 g of protein and 12.1g of fat in a 180 gram serving. That would convert to 11.4 % protein and 6.7% fat. Almost half fat compared to protein. This is more alongs the line of what you would expect in a leaner protein like chicken. Keep in mind that the gap between protein and fat can lessen in high quality fattier meats like beef, lamb or fish. Although it is rare to see fat at the same or almost same percentage in any quality meat.

The argument on raw has always been that you will see great results short term but over time you will end up seeing lack of nutrients and a decline in health. This can be true if you choose to feed the wrong raw. Just like kibble, canned food and other dog foods on the market. Not every brand is created equally. Although switching to raw feeding is a great start, be sure your dog is on a raw food that has a good balance of fat to protein as well vegetables & fruits and a way to get omega oils naturally. (flaxseed is ideal) This way instead of just getting the short term health benefits of feeding raw you will see the health benefits of long term raw feeding as well.

The quality of protein and content of fat in relation to protein can be vital to your pet's health. You wouldn't eat a diet richer in fat than protein. And you wouldn't chew down a piece of meat that's mostly fat. Lets pass that same respect down to our dogs and choose diets that are naturally great for them.

- Delsin Boyd