The American Bully is an athletic dog breed with lots of muscles on its body. Those muscles need proper nutrients to work so your Bully dog can stay agile and strong. Your American Bully is a part of your family, and you want the best food for it. Which one?
When it comes to choosing the best diet for your dog, you want to cover it all — from vitamins to proteins and all the little bits in between. You are looking for something to make your dog happy and healthy!
If you’ve been digging around looking for an answer, you might have dug a bone or two. Don’t worry; it’s the leftovers of the raw diet.
Some people say that’s the best diet of them all. As always, we will see there are pros and cons.
The question is, is the American Bully raw diet good or bad?
What Is The American Bully Raw Diet?
This is a type of dog diet where you give raw dog food to your Bully puppy.
The raw food includes:
• raw meat (muscle meat and organ meat)
• ground bone or whole bone
• raw eggs
• dairy products
• supplements
The basics of this dog diet are to try and imitate the type of food dogs used to eat a long time ago. That means feeding them bones and raw food with supplements to aid their health in various life stages.
The food can be freeze-dried or frozen based on whether you decide to travel, stack up on food, or order food from a dog food shop.
The need for this raw diet came from the fact there are hundreds of commercialized dog food types. These types come in two forms: kibble (or dry dog food) and wet dog food in cans.
Some of them are truly generous when it comes to the number of high-quality nutrients necessary for a dog’s health. Others, not so much. They can sometimes be so low in valuable nutrients that they consist mostly of additives.
So a raw diet comes in with a flashy smile, showing off the muscles and making us rethink how we feed our dogs. It seems there are valid arguments supporting this so-called BARF diet.
BARF stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, as well as Bones and Raw Food. Ian Billinghurst came up with the name in 1993 and the idea behind it.
He was one of the first to start promoting the idea that dogs should go back to eating raw foods as they did when they were in the wild.
Let’s use the kitchen table for our debate and hear all the pros and cons of the American Bully raw diet. Should we start cutting the meat or go back to kibble?
Is Raw Food Good For The American Bully?
This is not an easy and direct answer because it depends on subjective views, habits, and possibilities from one dog owner to another.
Can we spare at least an hour to make this type of diet work? Will our dog like the raw diet? Do we have enough resources?
These questions represent some of the subjective aspects of this debate.
However, there are some scientific facts that cannot be refuted, both good and bad.
I am here to show you all the good and the bad sides of the American Bully raw diet and help you make an easier choice.
Remember that you should consult your veterinarian regardless of whatever diet you choose for your Bully dog. Each dog is unique, and your vet will help you adjust the diet to your dog’s needs.
The American Bully Raw Diet Benefits
Let’s start with the good things. There are a lot of benefits from feeding your American Bully a raw diet.
From giving your American Bully more energy to healthier teeth, there is no doubt that some aspects of this diet represent a step-up in feeding your dog.
1. Healthier Coat
American Bullies have short and smooth coats. The coat doesn’t require a lot of grooming. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to give any vitamins or minerals to your dog. On the contrary, to keep the coat shiny and healthy, they need proper nutrients.
Raw food has these nutrients in the form which is best for absorption and quick utilization throughout the body.
This quick and balanced utilization helps your dog’s coat. The raw dog food diet helps the dog’s immune system by boosting it.
That leads to stronger hair follicles, which makes the coat healthier and makes the dog less prone to allergies. Of course, this doesn’t happen overnight. Usually, a couple of months need to go by for the first noticeable changes to appear.
2. Increased Energy Levels
American Bully dogs are strong dogs, and they need a lot of proteins and healthy fats to keep that strength at the optimal level.
They need a lot of exercise, and they spend a lot of energy during those exercises. That means you need to replenish their energy source if you want to keep them healthy.
A lot of foods that we can find in our everyday supermarkets don’t have enough necessary nutrients to keep the energy levels in American Bullies high. That can make them feel sluggish and unenthusiastic to participate in sometimes even normal activities.
The sluggishness and overall low activity levels can cause other health problems, especially heart and joint problems.
Raw feeding enables your dog access to all the good parts a food can have:
• proteins
• healthy fats
• fatty acids
• vitamins
• minerals
These nutrients increase your dog’s energy levels, which inevitably makes your dog healthier and helps them maintain an appropriate body weight.
3. Better Muscle Development
The American Bully dog breed is one of the more muscular dog breeds out there. That’s like their trademark. When you have a Bully, you want to make sure those muscles develop appropriately so that they can have their characteristic looks.
Feeding your American Bully raw pet food with raw meaty bones has its health benefits on the muscular body system of a dog too.
Dog foods with a lot of carbohydrates, like commercial dog food, are bad because they cause your dog to become overweight.
That can lead to other health problems, like heart, kidney, and joint issues.
When we feed our dog raw meat rich in proteins and healthy fats and supplement their food by adding fresh vegetables for vitamins, fibers, and minerals, we can be sure our American Bully dog is a healthy dog. This kind of feeding is the essence of the raw dog food diet.
They will stay muscular and energetic, with properly developed muscles, low fat, and proper body weight.
4. Healthier Teeth
The dry dog food is rich in sugars and can cause teeth and gum problems in dogs over time.
The problem happens because the plaque starts forming on the enamel, becoming a breeding ground for bacteria that cause various dental and oral problems in dogs. Sugar is like fuel for bacteria, exacerbating the problem immensely.
Even though there are ways to help your dog’s teeth and keep them clean, it is much easier to switch to a raw dog food diet.
Raw food dog diet is healthier for your dog’s teeth because it is unprocessed, meaning the food doesn’t have any carbohydrates or other harmful ingredients that can cause tooth decay or gum problems.
Raw dog food has natural enzymes that help your dog’s teeth fight against bacteria.
Overall, it doesn’t cause decay, and it actively helps in the prevention of possible dental problems in your dog.
5. Helps With Digestive Issues
Most wet dog or dry dog foods don’t have the proper form of necessary fibers to help the digestive system of a dog, or they come in small amounts. So this type of food can cause digestive issues or slow down bowel movements.
Raw foods usually have more fibers in them, especially if you choose to give a higher amount of veggies to your dog. Vegetables are famous as fiber sources, especially vegetables such as kelp, carrots, green beans, etc.
Another reason the American Bully raw diet is a plus is the fact that fibers cause the dog’s stool (poop) to be firm and healthy.
All of these things serve as confirmation your dog has proper bowel movements and a digestive system in general that works properly.
The American Bully Raw Diet Drawbacks
Those were five strong facts about the raw diet being a good choice. What about the drawbacks? There are some, and you should consider them before switching to this type of dog diet.
They might not seem like a big deal, but in the long run, they can cause problems. Let’s take a look at them.
1. Risk of Bacteria
This is the number one possible drawback of feeding your Bully raw dog food. It is a commonly known fact that raw meat is very susceptible to bacteria of different kinds. They can all cause health issues to your dog and to the person handling the meat.
There are some types of bacteria that can be found in raw meat (E. coli, Yersinia, Salmonella). They can cause various health problems, including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.
If we cook meat, the heat will destroy these bacteria. But that is not the case when we feed our dog a raw dog food diet. So what should we do?
• Buy the meat from a trusted source, someone who you know will not have spoiled meat or who will not trick you into buying something bad just because it’s for a dog.
• Freeze the meat adequately if you are not going to use it all at once; that means we should never re-freeze the meat, and it should always be kept at a temperature of 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you do take it out of the freezer, you have to use it or throw it away.
• Wash it properly. There is no cooking involved, which means this is the best way to cleanse the meat of possible foreign objects or insects. Don’t just rinse it; wash it thoroughly.
• Buy adequate amounts, which means don’t buy too much and hold it for too long in the freezer. If it is possible, it’s better to buy smaller amounts and not stack up for a month or two.
2. Risk of Choking
Even though it doesn’t sound as serious as the previous reason, it is still a possibility and something to pay attention to.
Dogs do love to eat bones, but they will sometimes swallow the whole smaller parts of their food without much chewing.
This can cause the bone fragment to get stuck, sometimes leading to a serious problem and health risk, especially if it’s a splintered bone.
The stuck bone can lead to asphyxiation, or it can cause the rupture of the esophagus or even the small intestines if it goes through the stomach untouched. They can also break your dog’s teeth and get stuck in the gums.
The risk of a dog choking on a bone fragment is higher when we cook the meat, but it still stands as a threat in a raw dog food diet too.
3. Possible Higher Fat Content
Simply put, some types of meat have more fat than others.
In general, fat is not bad for your dog, but it can cause them to be overweight, which further leads to all kinds of health problems. Chicken meat or poultry in general has lower fat content than pork or beef.
On the other hand, chicken bones are highly dangerous for a dog to eat! Also, the amount of meat we get and its price play a big role too.
The solution is to feed your dog the proper amount of food containing beef or pork. That and the proper exercise with a lot of veggies can also help solve this problem.
4. Possibility Of An Unbalanced Diet
When we choose the American Bully raw diet, it is important to consult an expert on how to properly feed our dog.
What type of meat to use, what type of vegetables, and the amount of it all are important questions. They can be best answered by a professional.
The term “unbalanced” means that we can make a mistake in the amount of food we give to our dogs and give them fewer vitamins or fewer proteins and more fat, etc.
This kind of unbalanced diet can cause several health issues, causing the opposite outcome we wanted to have with this diet.
What to do and where to find the necessary nutrients
• kale — vitamin C
• carrots — vitamin A
• leafy greens and eggs — vitamin B complex
• green beans — vitamin K
• raw bones — Ca (calcium) and P (phosphorus)
• sardines or fish oil supplements (omega-3 fatty acids)
• raw meat — proteins and fat
• veggies — fibers
5. Time and Money Problems
This is one of the biggest subjective issues a dog owner can come across when it comes to feeding the American Bully a raw dog food diet.
Most of us lead very busy lives that leave us with little time to make proper and healthy food for ourselves, let alone to prepare special recipes for our furry companions.
If you truly cannot spare a reasonable amount of time preparing raw diet food for your dog, you should consider other options.
When we don’t have time, we tend to freeze and refreeze food more often, make it more unbalanced, and make other possible unintentional mistakes.
Another important drawback is money. It costs a lot less to feed your dog kibble than to make raw dog food every day or week.
On average, you will spend around $50 a month on kibble food for your dog. This depends not only on how old is your dog but on your dog’s activity level too.
On the other hand, it can cost around $350 a month to make a well-balanced raw food diet.
If you know you don’t have enough time to make a raw dog food diet or to buy proper food with all the supplements and nutrients, it is better to choose a different type of diet for your dog.
What Raw Food Can The American Bully Eat?
If you’ve already chosen to feed your American Bully a raw meat diet, then the next questions are: What should I buy? What can my dog eat?
Well, here’s a list of all the things your dog can eat, no matter if you have a Pitbull, Greyhound, Bulldog, or our lovely and muscular American Bully.
1. Meat
This type of food is rich in proteins and fat, giving your dog all the necessary energy to run around and be a typical American Bully with all the muscles to show off in the park.
You can add these four meat products to their diet:
• meaty bones
• organ meat
• muscle meat
• fish
Meat should be the number one ingredient of this diet because it is rich in protein and fat. Bones also contain the minerals necessary for the proper growth and development of a dog’s bones and teeth.
When it comes to feeding your American Bully meat, you should choose:
1. poultry
2. rabbit
3. pork
4. lamb
5. beef
Poultry and rabbit are the best options because they are high in proteins and low in fat, but they are the most expensive option too.
Also, you should remember the possible risk of choking, especially when feeding your dog chicken or any other bird bones.
Organ meat should be the second ingredient, and the safest and the best organs to feed to your dog are the liver, kidneys, and heart.
Muscle meat or ground meat is a great supplement if your dog needs more protein. You can use ground beef to make sure your dog gets the proper supplemental amount of protein in their diet.
Fish meat contains Omega fatty acids that are also very important to your dog’s overall health.
You can use tuna fish or sardines; just make sure you avoid salmon because uncooked salmon can contain a flat-worm parasite called Fluke that can cause serious health problems.
2. Vegetables
It is important to add vegetables to your American Bully raw diet because they contain the high amount of vitamins and fibers necessary for the normal function of the entire dog’s body. They raise the immune system and make digestion easier.
Dogs can eat:
• broccoli
• carrots
• celery
• green beans
• peas
• spinach
• kale
They can also eat some fruits, like apples, plantains, bananas, guavas, pineapple, etc.
Both fruits and vegetables are a great source of vitamins necessary for the proper function of the dog’s immune system, among other things. You can even give them as a form of dog treats from time to time.
3. Eggs
You can add eggs as a source of calcium to your American Bully raw diet. The eggshell is rich in calcium and phosphorus, and you can just give the whole egg to your dog.
Eggs should be cooked before giving them to a dog. Uncooked eggs can have bacteria inside, so it is best to cook them without any other additives like oil or butter.
No matter how you give your dog an egg, whether you chop it or give it as a whole, it should make up an appropriate percentage of your dog’s raw food diet.
Also, remember you should not add seasoning or spices either. Just a simple, plain, cooked egg.
4. Supplements
Sometimes, we do not have all the necessary natural ingredients available at the moment. If that’s the case, we can always choose to add artificial supplements in the form of capsules to our dog’s raw diet.
The supplements are usually in the form of pills or powder containing Omega fatty acids or vitamin E.
If you choose to add supplements to your American Bully raw diet, you should always consult your veterinarian on how many supplements your dog needs and how often you should add them to your dog’s regular diet.
Also, you can add natural supplements like green tripe. This is the lining of the stomach of a ruminant animal, usually a cow or lamb.
It is very rich in nutrients and it has a Lactobacillus acidophilus, a good bacteria responsible for the proper digestion in mammals.
American Bully Raw Diet Recipes
As we already said, let’s say you already decided to use the American Bully raw diet. You got all the basic ingredients, but how do you mix them all up? Here are two of the best recipes for the American Bully raw diet.
Boneless Meat Patties Recipe
This recipe is the best for those who do not want to add artificial capsule supplements to their dog’s diet but choose to make it all-natural.
You will need:
• 5 lbs of ground poultry meat or ground beef/lamb or a combination of these
• 1 can of water-packed sardines
• 4 boiled eggs with shells (boil for three minutes)
• 1 cup of chopped vegetables (you can use any of the mentioned safe vegetables from our list)
What to do:
• put everything in a huge bowl and mix all the ingredients
• mix them until the mass is even
• make patties of the appropriate size depending on your Bully dog/puppy
• that’s it — feed your dog
Beefy Max Recipe
If you decide to add supplements to your dog’s food, then this is the recipe for you.
You will need:
• ground beef (boneless beef)
• eggs (with eggshells)
• beef kidney
• carrots
• peas
• supplements (Bully max)
What to do:
• chop the vegetables and cook them
• cut the beef kidney
• mix the ground beef with the kidney parts
• after mixing the beef, add chopped veggies and boiled eggs
• finally, add the supplement (6 teaspoons per serving)
• mix all the ingredients evenly
• feed the dog or freeze it for later
What Is The Amount Of Raw Food An American Bully Can Eat?
The amount of food you give to your American Bully depends on many factors, but the first and most obvious one is the age of the dog.
If it’s an adult dog, it can eat and should eat more, and if it’s a puppy, the amount is smaller but richer in the nutrients that are necessary for proper development and growth. It depends on the dog’s weight as well as their health condition.
Here is the general guideline for the amount of raw dog food you can give to your American Bully:
• 10-20 lb – 1= to 1/2 of a cup of raw dog food daily
• 20-40 lb – 1 to 2 cups of raw dog food daily
• 40-60 lb– 2 to 3 cups of raw dog food daily
• 60-80 lb – 3 to 4 cups of raw dog food daily
• 80 lb – 3 or 3 and a half to 4 cups of raw dog food daily
Always consult with your veterinarian prior to deciding on the amount of raw food you give to your American Bully dog. This is especially important if you have a pregnant dog or a dog with special health issues and nutritious needs.
The Conclusion
American Bully raw diet — is it good or bad? The conclusion is: yes.
There are some drawbacks, but most of them have to do with us in the sense of time and money and whether or not we can take proper care of the food we give to our dogs.
Your American Bully can surely benefit from this type of diet. The question is, once again, if you have the time and the money for the diet. Also, don’t forget you need lots of patience to do this often so that your dog can enjoy fresh food every day.
Remember to consult your veterinarian on the amount and nutrient balance of the food you give to the dog. If you follow one of these recipes we showed you, there shouldn’t be any problems.