{"id":192617,"date":"2020-10-01T20:34:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T17:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fendaf.ee\/uncategorized-et-en\/toortoitumise-alane-sertifikaat\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T23:52:34","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T21:52:34","slug":"raw-feeding-certificate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fendaf.ee\/en\/about-us\/raw-feeding-certificate\/","title":{"rendered":"Raw feeding certificate"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 29 September 2020, I received a certificate officially titled \u201cRaw Dog Food Nutrition Specialist\u201d. Since we work with dry and wet food and treats at FendaF, why did I need a course in raw feeding as well? The answer is simple: I wanted to understand canine nutrition better. Not just what to put in the bowl, but amino acids, vitamins, minerals and how to make a diet genuinely balanced.<\/p>\n

Those who have followed us for a while or visited us know that I have also fed my own dogs raw food. Combining dry, wet and raw food has suited me. I did not take the course to prove that one must be better than all the others. I wanted to understand what simple rules such as \u201c80\/10\/10\u201d and \u201c2\u20133% of the dog\u2019s body weight\u201d leave out.<\/p>\n

Why I have not chosen an exclusively raw diet<\/h2>\n

Above all, the course confirmed that nutrition involves far more nuance than three neat percentages. The 80\/10\/10 ratio describes the proportions of ingredients, but does not in itself tell you how much iodine, manganese or vitamin D a dog receives. Nor does a food allowance calculated from body weight tell you how much energy it provides. Our article on common mistakes in homemade raw feeding<\/a> explores this in more detail.<\/p>\n

I also remember the course\u2019s honest acknowledgement that many things are estimated and not every question has a definitive answer. We also lack nutrient information for bones, for example. This should not, however, be extended into a claim that nothing is known about dogs\u2019 nutrient requirements. Nutrition guidelines based on scientific literature do exist, including the FEDIAF recommendations. They provide a reference point for formulating a diet, although an individual dog\u2019s needs, nutrient absorption and the composition of ingredients can vary.<\/p>\n

For me, it matters to rely on something more concrete than a feeling that \u201cthis bowl looks pretty good\u201d. Let\u2019s be honest: a piece of minced meat, two small Baltic herrings, some spinach, a few blueberries, a little goat\u2019s milk and an egg do look good. But is that balanced? No. The same question applies to both homemade diets and prepared food.<\/p>\n

Ingredients are not always the same<\/h2>\n

One subject raised during the course was how the nutrient content of fruit and vegetables has changed over time. It made me wonder how confidently we can apply food composition table values to what actually goes into our dogs\u2019 bowls.<\/p>\n

There is research behind this idea. In a paper published in 2004, Davis, Epp and Riordan compared USDA food composition data for 43 garden crops from 1950 and 1999. Across the group of crops, they found statistically significant apparent declines in six nutrients; no such change was found for seven others. This was a comparison of data tables from different periods, rather than a long-term experiment on plants grown under identical conditions.<\/p>\n

The study therefore does not prove that all modern vegetables are devoid of nutrients. Still less can it be used to calculate the vitamins in the meat of an animal that ate those plants. My original question nevertheless remains: an average table value is not a laboratory analysis of every piece of meat. The origin of the ingredients, animal species, body part and fat content deserve attention.<\/p>\n

The course also covered the whole-prey model: alongside muscle meat, organs, skin and other tissues come into play. For me, that immediately raised a practical question: where would I get all of them? Most of us do not buy a whole prey animal with every body part, nor assemble an exact animal from different pieces at home, because we simply cannot obtain every possible part. Preferring pasture-raised ingredients does not, on its own, solve the nutrient calculation either. A whole animal can help us understand tissue diversity, but it does not automatically guarantee that a diet meets the needs of every pet dog\u2019s life stage.<\/p>\n

Things I learned that prompted more questions<\/h2>\n

Several specific ideas stayed with me after the course. They are useful when considered in context, rather than as standalone, universal feeding rules.<\/p>\n