Yet another RMB Question

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yummybagel
Posts: 77
Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 5:12 pm

Yet another RMB Question

Post by yummybagel »

Hello!
I wanted to add my question to the other questions on the forum but there were too many..And reading more and more of the other questions on RMB, I started to get a little bit paranoid about if I'm doing this right.

So this is how I broke it down:

Feed 2-3% of body weight.
Body weight: 25lbs. Food weight: 0.5-0.75lbs per day.

80% Meat/Bone 20% Offal
0.5lbs per day. 0.4lbs/6.5oz meat 0.1lbs/1.6oz offal per day

Monday
Breakfast: 0.4lbs chicken wing
Dinner: 0.1lb offal, Vegetables cube, one scoop of natural yogurt

Tuesday
Breakfast: 0.4lbs chicken wing
Dinner: 0.1lb sardines in tomato sauce, Vegetables cube, one scoop of natural yogurt

Wednesday
Breakfast: 0.2lbs/3.2oz chicken wing
Dinner: 0.05lbs/0.8oz chopped chicken, Vegetables cube, 1 raw egg

Thursday
Breakfast: 0.4lbs chicken wing
Dinner: 0.1lb offal, Vegetables cube, one scoop of natural yogurt

Friday
Breakfast: 0.4lbs chicken wing
Dinner: 0.1lb chopped chicken, Vegetables cube, 1 raw egg

Saturday
Breakfast: 0.2lbs chicken wing
Dinner: 0.05lb offal, Vegetables cube, one scoop of natural yogurt

Sunday
Breakfast: 0.4lb chicken wing
Dinner: 0.1lb sardines in tomato sauce. Vegetables cube, 1 raw egg

Does this look ok??
And also, I read somewhere that some people just give vegetables without grinding them. Is that ok to do if it's raw vegetables?
I started yesterday, but Bagel seems to be reluctant to eat it. I was surprised, since he loves ALL kinds of food..I gave chicken wings for breakfast yesterday, and he sniffed it and walked away. For dinner, I gave him the wings that he didn't eat for breakfast. Sniffed it, walked away. Same story for today's breakfast. I thought it would work if I smear some yogurt on the wings but he just licked the yougurt off and walked away. I'm hoping that if he's hungry enough he would eat it eventually, but I feel tremendously guilty for starving him like this...He got a tiny bit of treats because I felt bad..Any ideas on helping him to get used to this? I think it's weird for him because it's mushy unlike the kibbles, which he has been eating for 3 years.

Also, I know that many change up the menu daily or weekly, for example beef on one day and chicken on another day. I'm a student so I think it's much easier for me to get a bulk of same kind of meat, and change up the kind of proteins that I give him monthly. The menu that I listed above would continue for the whole August, and when September comes I plan to change it up to beef/oxtail. Would that be ok?
jacksdad
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Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by jacksdad »

on the veggie part of your question. Yes, you can give your dog whole veggies without grinding them or crushing. HOWEVER, it is my understanding that for the dog to get any significant nutrient value out of veggies, they do need to be ground or crushed so that the cellulite is broking up making it more digestible for them.

my source for this understanding is Dr. Billinghurst's book "give your dog a bone".
Sarah83
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Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by Sarah83 »

If you've only just made the switch to raw and he's not had it before then it could be that he simply doesn't realise it's food. It took a while for Spencer to get the idea. People out here advise to start off with mince but then most people out here feed nothing but minces. It does seem to me that it would be easier for a dog who'd never had raw and is a bit reluctant to try it to start out that way and progress to stuff they actually have to chew once they realise that raw is food.

I don't have a set menu for Spen, I feed a meal of liver once every 2 weeks but other than that it's whatever I get out of the freezer on the day. I use an online supplier and order so much tripe, so much of this meat, so much of that meat and other bits and bobs each month. That way I can vary what he gets on a daily basis. I work out percentages roughly over the course of the month though, it's not necessary to ensure their diet is a perfect balance of bone to meat to offal on a daily basis and to be honest it's a hell of a lot less messing around to do it over the course of a week or fortnight or month.

I give both raw and cooked veggies. My dog eats them and appears to enjoy them but I don't actually feel they're necessary.
ClareMarsh
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Location: London, UK

Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by ClareMarsh »

I do love a planner :D You'll be opening your fridge and throwing random meat down without thinking too much before you know it.

Right, a few things, you don't need to feed offal every day, or even that regularly, some feed once a week or every few days. Also initially you only want to feed tiny tiny (think size of your fingernail pieces) as it's very rich and can cause bottom explosions in some dogs :shock: Not a huge problem for the dog but not so great for you cleaning your carpet after your pooch has been caught short :lol: So I'd start small and just keep an eye on the poop and then work out what's best offal wise for your dog, it doesn't matter if he doesn't get much in the way of offal initially.

Getting him to eat the meat, you can do a few things, cut some slits in to get him started, sear it lightly (like seconds you don't want the bone to cook) so it seems more like food he's used to, cut slits and stuff a bit of cheese / whatever he likes into it.

Not giving loads of variety isn't an issue so what you're suggesting will work, I will say though that some dogs find beef very rich so you may see lose stools initially again, you might want to test some of the meats out before you buy a month's worth just in case :D

My understanding is the same as Jacksdad's re veggies, you'll find raw feeders that feed lots right through to those who never feed any. It's not something I would get massively hung up on, particularly to start with, best get the meat bit sorted and then you can think a bit more about the veg part. Personally I've based Ted's diet on Tom Lonsdale's Work Wonders book and pretty much all his food is RMB (including offal etc), he gets odd bits of veg but not daily and there's no method to what he gets.

Last thing is the only supplement raw feeders tend to add to what you suggest is fish body oil (not cod liver oil), this is because so much meat is intensively farmed and as a result it's good to boost the Omega 3 levels (I hope I've got the right Omega there!).
Proud owner of Ted and baby Ella
My blog about Ted http://tinkerwolf.com/
Ted's Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Tinkerwolf
Ted's You Tube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TheTedVids
Suzette
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Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by Suzette »

The thing to remember about veggies and your dog is that dogs have a very short digestive system that doesn't effectively break down the cellulose in veggies. So if you give raw veggies, they're pretty much going to come out the way they went in and with little absorption of nutrients. So for your dog to get any benefit from them, they have to be slightly cooked (steamed is best to retain lots of nutrients), or to pulverize them raw in a blender (which breaks down the cellulose in the veggies that your dog's digestive tract can't).

My dog doesn't like veggies and doesn't eat them often. I don't worry about this. I just make sure to offer them a few times a week so she has them if she wants them. A typical veggie 'recipe' is to throw (and for me, this does vary a bit depending on what veggies I have on hand) about 50% spinach (or other leafy vegetable but NOT iceberg lettuce), then a bit of: carrots, apples, string beans, celery, zucchini, a little green pepper and a bit of tomato along with a splash of olive oil and either some water or chicken broth into the blender and puree the whole thing. I pour this into an ice cube tray, freeze and then store the cubes in a zip lock bag in my freezer. I offer one cube several times a week. (I have a 20 pound dog.)

Hope this helps! :D
My avatar is Piper, my sweet Pembroke Corgi. b. 5/11/11
dontpugme
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Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by dontpugme »

Suzette wrote: A typical veggie 'recipe' is to throw (and for me, this does vary a bit depending on what veggies I have on hand) about 50% spinach (or other leafy vegetable but NOT iceberg lettuce), then a bit of: carrots, apples, string beans, celery, zucchini, a little green pepper and a bit of tomato along with a splash of olive oil and either some water or chicken broth into the blender and puree the whole thing. I pour this into an ice cube tray, freeze and then store the cubes in a zip lock bag in my freezer.
I've added a whole raw egg into the blender before...is that alright as long as the cube is eaten very soon after it was made?
--dontpugme
yummybagel
Posts: 77
Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 5:12 pm

Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by yummybagel »

Thank you for all of the replies! Very helpful! :D
I've blended apples, carrots, broccolis, sweet potatoes, and celeries and froze them. Not sure if he'll like it though, because I haven't given it to him yet. But good news! Bagel finally ate the chicken! But I had to grind/mince it a little bit. I think he just had no idea how to eat the mushy things. I tried to sear it and put some cheese in it, but I think the chunks were a little too big. But he was willing to eat it in little pieces. He ate it verrrry gingerly at first, but I think he liked it the more he ate it :D Now I need to figure out how I'm going to do this every morning until he gets used to it. Haha.

As for the offal, I was beginning to worry that I might not have enough but I think I'll give him very little this month. Also, do I need to get fish oil supplements made especially for dogs, or is any omega 3 supplements that I can find in a store ok?
ClareMarsh
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Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:11 am
Location: London, UK

Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by ClareMarsh »

You want a fish body oil from a quality source. I use Kronch Salmon Oil :D

It won't take long for him to become an expert at crunching bone :wink:
Proud owner of Ted and baby Ella
My blog about Ted http://tinkerwolf.com/
Ted's Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Tinkerwolf
Ted's You Tube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TheTedVids
yummybagel
Posts: 77
Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 5:12 pm

Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by yummybagel »

ClareMarsh wrote:You want a fish body oil from a quality source. I use Kronch Salmon Oil :D

It won't take long for him to become an expert at crunching bone :wink:
Oh yeah! He got better at crunching bone already! :D Though, he is not yet willing to crunch on the whole wing. I need to cut them up, and he'll chew on the bones only when I hold them up for him. Hopefully he'll learn how to eat it by himself soon!
ClareMarsh
Posts: 2008
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:11 am
Location: London, UK

Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by ClareMarsh »

Rather than get stuck holding his food for him for the rest of your life :shock: :lol: you could try just smashing the bone a little for him, get a mallet/hammer and whack it a bit so that he can smell the marrow, that should help him get the idea. And don't worry if he leaves some shards of bone at the end, mine does, I just throw them away once he's done, he always gets the marrow out though :wink:
Proud owner of Ted and baby Ella
My blog about Ted http://tinkerwolf.com/
Ted's Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Tinkerwolf
Ted's You Tube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TheTedVids
yummybagel
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Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 5:12 pm

Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by yummybagel »

So I recently read an excerpt from Victoria's Fat Dog Slim book about BARF diet. She mentioned that before you switch, you should consult a vet for any problems in your dog or your dog's breed that could cause trouble. But I kind of switched it without consulting my vet because I felt like any vet that I ask would advise against it without giving me the true pros and cons on Raw diet. So I want to ask anyone who has their dog on BARF if they encountered any problems? I have a Beagle, so any Beagle owners out there willing to share their experiences? What are some of the pros and cons of BARF? Also, any recommendations on making sure that the meat is safe to give raw?
Sarah83
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Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by Sarah83 »

I didn't consult a vet with either Spencer or Rupert. Mostly coz they always recommend crappy foods that are full of corn and wheat and other nasty things and know nothing about feeding raw.
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Sabrina
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Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by Sabrina »

yummybagel wrote:Also, any recommendations on making sure that the meat is safe to give raw?
I only switched my dog to RMB last week, but in my research it sounds like the important saftey measures are to:
(1) Buy from reputable sources:
From an external website: http://rawfed.com/myths/bacteria.html
(2) Freeze before feeding:
From this forum: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14686&p=104388&hilit=freeze#p104388 , viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12776&p=85790&hilit ... eze#p85790 ,
From an external website: http://rawfed.com/myths/parasites.html
(3) Avoid large animal weight-bearing bones (danger to teeth)
From an external website: http://rawfed.com/myths/bones.html

I spoke with my vet about switching Charley (dachshund) to RMB before I did, because he was on a course of antibiotics/anti-inflammatories (had broken a cusp off of a tooth). She advised waiting until the meds were done so that if stomach upset occured we could pinpoint the trouble. She didn't have anything negative to say about RMB in relation to Charley's health.
chay
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Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by chay »

Sarah83 wrote:I didn't consult a vet with either Spencer or Rupert. Mostly coz they always recommend crappy foods that are full of corn and wheat and other nasty things and know nothing about feeding raw.
same - gremlin had to have her teeth scoured clean and several teeth removed several times, despite being on the "science diet specialist-teeth-cleaning" type food for over half her life :roll:
Suzette
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Re: Yet another RMB Question

Post by Suzette »

yummybagel wrote:Also, do I need to get fish oil supplements made especially for dogs, or is any omega 3 supplements that I can find in a store ok?
This is what I use for Piper. It's great quality and the best price I've found. Amazon offers free shipping on purchases of $25 dollars or more and the salmon oil runs $24.99 - go figure! :lol: But I just order when I know I want something else from Amazon and then I get the free shipping. :wink: Anyway, here's the link if you'd like to take a look. Lots of choices out there, this is just one of them . . .
http://www.amazon.com/Alaskan-Bear-Trea ... l+for+dogs
My avatar is Piper, my sweet Pembroke Corgi. b. 5/11/11
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