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  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran Kristy's Avatar
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    RAW diet.. anyone care to help me out?

    Ok, I have made the decision. I am switching my dogs to RAW. I am so tired of seeing one or both of them miserable, with food intolerance, or allergies.

    I have tried every dog food on the planet, and spent $100's of dollars trying to fix their allergies.

    I have come to believe that the only thing that will fix this, is giving them what they were meant to eat. Not what is packed into dog food. Just my luck I would end up with two dogs, with allergies to one thing or another..

    So I want links, recommended books, particular diets, anything and everything anyone has relating to a Raw diet that I can read and put to good use.

    The awesome part. I have found a great source for raw meat, at a GREAT price. Thanks to a friend of ours.

    I have read some stuff so I am not totally in the dark about it. I just don't want to hurt my babies. I want only whats best for these guys.

    Thank you!!
    Kristina Rogers
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  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran AndrewGeibel's Avatar
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    Re: RAW diet.. anyone care to help me out?

    I would love information on this too. I would really like to switch my dog over to a RAW diet as well.
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  3. #3
    BPnet Veteran starmom's Avatar
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    Re: RAW diet.. anyone care to help me out?

    Raw Meaty Bones: http://www.rawmeatybones.com/. The books are good also, but if you have a place where you can get good (organic) meat and bones from beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, etc., this diet is great!

    I feed my Rottie raw meaty bones and Canidae. His skin is great, coat is sleek, and he is a happy guy. I'll also be feeding my new Kangal puppy this way


    ~~McKinsey~~
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  4. #4
    BPnet Lifer wolfy-hound's Avatar
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    Re: RAW diet.. anyone care to help me out?

    That's a good website. Do you know about chicken necks and backs? I remeber reading that they were a good food for raw diets. Wings have gotten so expensive, and around me no one gets chickens in to butcher, it's all brought in as parts. So no carcusses. Feeding beef is almost out of the question price wise, unless there is some cheap source that I've missed so far.
    Theresa Baker
    No Legs and More
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    "Stop being a wimpy monkey,; bare some teeth, steal some food and fling poo with the alphas. "

  5. #5
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    Re: RAW diet.. anyone care to help me out?

    I feed all 4 of our dogs raw. It's really not as complicated as people make it out to be. The key is getting them a wide variety of food sources over time. You don't need to feed every type of food every week. I was worried about it at first too, but once you get going, and see how much more they enjoy eating, and the change in their body composition, it's all worth it.

    For an adult dog, a good target for how much to feed is 2-3% of the dog's bodyweight per day. Some dogs need more, others less. It depends on their metabolism and activity level. You can start at that level and then monitor your dog's condition. If you can see too many ribs, up the food. If the dog is getting fat and you can't easily feel ribs under the fur, and can't see maybe the last rib or 2 , cut them back some. For example, our Dane gets 3-4lbs per day, our GSD gets 1.5-2.5lbs/ day, our pug and JRT get about .5 to .75lbs/ day.

    When you start, stop feeding any dog food. Use something like chicken leg quarters as a bony meat item, and feed that for 2 weeks or so. Your dog will adjust and probably have loose stools for a few days, but once they get past that part, then you are good.

    After 2 weeks, introduce a muscle meat- ground turkey is good. I go for a 2/3 bony meat to 1/3 muscle meat ratio. Keep him on that for a week or so to monitor any issues he might have with your muscle meat source.

    After that you can gradually introduce other foods, using the week at a time trial period.

    After a month, introduce some organ meat to the diet. I like to use beef liver. I will feed my big dogs (a Great Dane and a German Shepherd) a piece about 2x2x1", and our little guys (pug and JRT) a 1x1x1" piece. They don't need it every day, and it's very rich so be careful feeding too much.

    Feeding veggies is something that is choice. Some people think dogs need them, others don't. I don't feed any (but sometimes if there are leftover baked potatoes or plain rice, I'll give them that). I feed canned tripe once a week which covers any nutritional needs that veggies might provide. If you do feed veggies, you have to puree them real good. Dogs have a hard time breaking down the cell walls. Even better would be to boil them until soft and then puree. I personally don't see the need. Dogs are opportunistic feeders, and will eat anything they can, but veggies are not high on their list of preferred foods unless they are real hungry.

    Here's a list of things I feed:

    "raw meaty bones"
    chicken leg quarters (this is our staple- cheap and easy to feed. I don't bother with wings or drumsticks or anything like that as they are too small for most of my dogs. The 2 small ones will get half a leg quarter)
    pork ribs
    pork necks
    pork shoulder (I get big roasts, cut most of the meat off to use as muscle meat, and give a 2-4lb chunk of it with the bone as a meal)
    deer ribs, shoulders, necks, backs, hips
    beef neck bones for the bigger dogs
    turkey wings, drumsticks, backs (I get the turkeys on sale and cut them up into appropropriatly sized pieces)

    "Muscle meat"

    ground beef
    ground turkey
    boneless pork
    boneless turkey breast
    beef briskit, sirloin roast, chuck roast (when it's on sale or on clearance)
    deer meat
    beef heart
    pork heart

    "organ meats"
    beef liver and kidney
    chicken and turkey giblets
    green tripe (canned is the easiest way to get this)

    Other stuff
    whole chickens- I get the small fryer/broilers by the case. One will make a meal for our Dane, and the GSD can eat half and the little guys can eat part of the other half)
    rabbits (expensive around here but if someone I know hunts them, I'll feed them)
    fish- whole or fillets. I like to use frozen whiting, it's cheap and easy. I try to feed fish once a week.
    any kind of game birds like pheasants, whole
    lamb or sheep when it's convenient

    Supplements
    eggs- shell and all. I either mix it in with ground meat, or give a whole egg. They learn how to open it up.
    fish oil supplement- I use the grizzly fish oil you get at the pet store
    I also will give high end kibble like Innova Evo maybe once a week or so. It's more of a convenience thing. They might get chicken leg quarters and some evo instead of a muscle meat.

    As far as chicken necks and backs- I don't mess with them. It takes too many for my big dogs to be worthwhile. Small dogs could be ok with it though. Some backs don't have a lot of meat. You have to monitor your dogs stools to see- if they are sandy/powdery looking, they are getting too much bone.

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to danimal For This Useful Post:

    littleindiangirl (12-17-2008)

  7. #6
    BPnet Lifer wolfy-hound's Avatar
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    Re: RAW diet.. anyone care to help me out?

    Thank you so much!
    Since 5 of my dogs are yorkies(under 7 lbs each) the chicken necks/backs might work well for them. I got two numbers for butchers, so I can contact them to find more of the stuff you mentioned.
    I was thinking of liver once a week too, do you feed it raw?
    Theresa Baker
    No Legs and More
    Florida, USA
    "Stop being a wimpy monkey,; bare some teeth, steal some food and fling poo with the alphas. "

  8. #7
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    Re: RAW diet.. anyone care to help me out?

    Yes, I do the liver raw too. With yorkies you would not need much, a tiny square would be plenty. Once a week is probably not quite enough though- you don't want to feed a big portion of it so it's something that is better spread out, a little bit every day. What I usually do is feed it every day for a week, then take a week or even 2 weeks off from it.

  9. #8
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    Re: RAW diet.. anyone care to help me out?

    I've always made my own raw dog food mix.

    1) 4 whole medium fryer sized chickens
    2) 1/2 lb of raw baby carrots
    3) Head of Kale
    4) Head of cabbage
    5) 8 large eggs (with shells)
    6) 6 apples

    Throw it all into a large meat grinder (including bones), turn it on (or crank it with your hands), and catch it at the other end. Sometimes I'll substitute venison or something else for the chicken but that's the basics. Don't recall where I got the recipe, but it has worked just fine for me for a few years now. Inexpensive, and simple.

  10. #9
    BPnet Lifer wolfy-hound's Avatar
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    Re: RAW diet.. anyone care to help me out?

    So far, raw chicken is going over decently. The sheepdog loves it, and is chomping down on hers. The smaller ones are mostly gnawing at their chicken legs(that's tonight's offering, tommorow they have BEEF which was on sale!). One is guarding hers while watching every eat, and the smallest is turning his nose up at gnawing on it, but ate raw chicken when I cut some off the bone for him.
    Most of them took the chicken OFF the deck and down to the ground, so I might have to get some outdoor carpet to feed them on so they don't get too much dirt and gunk on it.
    The poodle mix was estactic over eating a raw chicken leg, which makes me happy since she's one of the worst skin-wise.
    Thanks for all the help, I'll keep updated on how it goes.
    Theresa Baker
    No Legs and More
    Florida, USA
    "Stop being a wimpy monkey,; bare some teeth, steal some food and fling poo with the alphas. "

  11. #10
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    Re: RAW diet.. anyone care to help me out?

    Quote Originally Posted by wolfy-hound View Post
    So far, raw chicken is going over decently. The sheepdog loves it, and is chomping down on hers. The smaller ones are mostly gnawing at their chicken legs(that's tonight's offering, tommorow they have BEEF which was on sale!). One is guarding hers while watching every eat, and the smallest is turning his nose up at gnawing on it, but ate raw chicken when I cut some off the bone for him.
    Most of them took the chicken OFF the deck and down to the ground, so I might have to get some outdoor carpet to feed them on so they don't get too much dirt and gunk on it.
    The poodle mix was estactic over eating a raw chicken leg, which makes me happy since she's one of the worst skin-wise.
    Thanks for all the help, I'll keep updated on how it goes.
    I would NOT give a lot of variety right off the bat. Chicken today and beef tomorrow is not a good idea if this is the 1st couple days for the dogs. You are looking at some nasty runny stools if you do. Even with just chicken they usually get it for a day or 2. Stick with the chicken for at least a week or 2- read the novel I wrote earlier in this thread!

    Raw isn't complicated but there are a few guidelines that you need to follow.

  12. The Following User Says Thank You to danimal For This Useful Post:

    bsd13 (12-15-2008)

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