Raw Food Diet

[Leigha]

garlic cloves, not cubes...

[***Melissa***]

When I made the veggie mix I think I may have used more veggies than you did, and I think 2 cloves garlic & it was still smelly *yak* So what I did was to put the ice cube trays in plastic bags so my freezer wouldn't smell of it
I'm new with the raw food diet too, so I'm not sure if it's normal though

[Nettle]

You might find your doggies are happy to eat the offal in a lump. Mine are.

[Leigha]

If heart's considered a muscle and therefore a meat, can the dogs eat it more than once or twice a week? Right now J doesn't feed them raw in the morning, he feeds them their kibble, because it takes them a little extra time to eat the raw than it does the kibble (that is what he thinks, I think they eat it just the same or faster--they've become experts at crunching those bones). So I'm trying to find something that he can just throw in a bowl and let them eat quickly so he'll feed them raw in the mornings too. If that doesn't work, I'll just get up earlier and drag them out of bed to eat.

[Nettle]

I'd stick with no more than twice a week for heart because it is very rich.

[Leigha]

Okie dokie! I'll just get up earlier in the morning and feed them.

They ate the kidney, heart and liver in pieces (thank god). Kole still refuses to eat the veggies. Not sure what I'm going to do with him--he doesn't like them frozen or thawed out in a mush. Can I put some mint leaves in the veggie cubes to make them not stink as much or is mint something a dog shouldn't have?

[emmabeth]

Mint is fine, parsley is fine too... both will help with smell.

Some dogs do take a while to get used to eating veggies, I mushed it up with liver or tinned fish to start with I think and my lot became remarkably UNfussy very quickly, the dogs who had previously been fed complete food had become extremely fussy!

These days becuase they are so good and will eat almost anything, I know the stuff they wont eat, they REALLY dont like, so thats another benefit to raw feeding I've found!

[littlehorses]

Great info here! It's wonderful that more folks are seeking to feed their dogs in a natural and more healthy way. YIPPEE!
The niftty thing about raw feeding is that you can ask 10 raw feeders what they do and probably get 10 different answers! I think the one thing they'll all have in common is feed a lot of variety to achieve balance over time.

Sooo, here is another take on raw feeding. I feed as close to prey model as possible, meaning no supplments, fruits and the only veggies my Danes get is the occassional baked sweet potato as a treat. They do get a lot of green tripe and green tripe mixed with offal however. When I get a new foster they get digestive enzymes and probiotics for a few weeks to help get the stomach juices going, especially of they've been eating kibble previously. I feed as much variety as I can get my hands on including chicken (only 40% of their diet) fish, lamb, bison, elk, venison, beef, pork, turkey, and so forth. None of it ground and most include connective tissue and attached bone. We are lucky where I live to several suppliers where I can buy this way in bulk.
Hope that doesn't confuse, just wanted to share another view of raw feeding!

[meggit]

can you start a pup off on a raw food diet if so what would you start with

[emmabeth]

Yep you can, I have..

Basically the same as the adult diet, but a bit more of it - look at 'Grow your Pups with Bones' by Ian Billinghurst for the correct quantities/ratios, but puppies need slightly more than they will as an adult.

Also bear in mind that some foods may take longer or be too big - for a very tiny pup a chicken wing could take hours, though in my experience even very small puppies learn how to crunch them up quickly within a couple of weeks!

I like to introduce raw food straight away, but increase the variety slowly, so start out with one sort of meat and a couple of veggies.... give ethat for a few days then add a new sort of meat.... this way you will have a better idea of what foods your pup really likes and also which ones agree with him or disagree.

Puppies who eat raw do tend to be calmer, chew and play bite a lot less, grow up leaner and fitter and do fewer and much less stinky poos!

Have a look round the internet for raw dog food, BARF feeding, and get the Billinghurst book from your library and properly do some research before you start, but it is NOT difficult to do at all, despite what pet food manufacturers would have you believe (you feed yourself dont you!) and it is very good for your dog.

[Leigha]

Kole has FINALLY decided to eat the veggie cubes. Thank god. But he only eats them at night. Never at morning. Apparently nighttime is the appropriate time to have veg. Would it be horrible of me to not give him a veggie cube in the morning since they just go to waste since he doesn't eat them?

[Nettle]

Sensible, I'd say.

[littlehorses]

Pups do very well on a raw diet! Puppies need to be fed about 10% of their body weight, until the fast growth stages have passed. With my giant breed this can be up to 18-20 months, less the smaller the breed.
I foster puppies and adults so everyone begins with chicken (skinless necks, backs, wings or cages depending on size) for at least 2 weeks, then slowly begin adding variety. Young dogs and adults previously fed kibble also get a digestive enzyme for a few weeks. Pups seldom need it if they are being weened from mom, they go straight to raw meat and bone. I no longer feed veggies, fruits or give additional supplements to healthy dogs and pups.
After that, they will require 2% to 3% of their body weight daily in food, generaly split into two meals a day. But there is no hard and fast rule- if your pup or adult is gaining too much weight- cut back the amount and add food if they are loosing weight.

[Leigha]

So we're at the end of 2 weeks of raw feeding, and they're now out of food. One of the weeks was only feeding raw in the evenings, this week it's been both meals. If we keep feeding them both meals raw then a bag of chickie wings will last about 10 days-- the other four days in the 2 weeks can be the awful offal. So meats wise we'll end up spending $36 on chicken wings and $9 on the innards a month. The veggies lasted only a week, even though I made three ice cube trays worth and had a container of stuff that didn't fit in the trays. I think I could've gotten it to 2 weeks if I'd stopped feeding Kole and Bru their morning veggie cubes (since they don't eat them anyhow). I think I probably spent $15 on the veggies, and I'll need to get another bag of spinach to make another bunch ( so add in another $2 I guess). Totaling it up, I think I'll spend around $65 this month for their food. When we were feeding them kibble it cost $49.99+tax. So we're spending a bit more for now on their food, but I think I'll get better at the grocery shopping aspect of it so it won't be quite as bad--besides, in reality, what's $15 if they're healthier.

[emmabeth]

You'll find ways of bringing that down.. easily.

For instance theres reduced bargains to be had in some stores when items are close to their sell by date, I buy meat like this sometimes and take off what we would have in a curry or chilli, and then theres some for the dogs.

Same with veggies and also some stores (more usually market stalls if you can get to a market at all) will GIVE you things like green leafy veg bits and pieces. A local supermarket here (Asda, which is now part of the Walmart group), will often do baggies of veg labelled as 'rabbit food', its the bits and pieces, bruised stuff that is left in the bottoms of the trays and boxes at the end of the day. My local market can give me a box full of stuff that they would otherwise have to throw out and they pay a fair bit to dispose of their waste stuff each day, so are happy to have it taken away for free!

If you have a good butcher who actually butchers stuff rather than selling pre-packed meat, there is often a deal to be done there when you are a regular and more confident at feeding bits and bobs (and at identifying what they once were!).

Do try to provide more variety than just chicken wings, (though for a short while its ok and feeding offal and veg helps a lot too), as you get the hang of it though you'll find more stuff you can feed!

$15 dollars extra a month is not bad going at all though given the massive increase in quality - also I would be willing to bet that you are slightly over feeding - most people do initially (tooooooootally normal, we get used to the comparatively huge amounts of kibble, and then think that the 'right' amount of raw cant possibly be enough!). So you may find in a few months that you cut back a little on the meat has they have gotten a bit 'rotund'...