Raw Food Diet

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Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

wow good to know :shock: would not have guessed that. I imagine thtas because they're actually digesting the meat instead of plant fiber passing through :lol:

Speaking of chomping on sweet potato, any advice on snacks? Bax eats a lot of bully sticks, liverwurst, milkbones,peanutbutter, and tuna fish. Some it's okay but some of it probably isn't.... what do you guys do? Like when you want to pack a kong what do you put in it?
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by JudyN »

When Jasper was on kibble more came out than went in - and an awful lot went in!

I'm pretty easy-going with treats - they vary from dehydrated free-range chicken to bits of old blue cheese and pizza crust. But with Bax having a sensitive tummy, and while you're investigating how different foods affect him, dried chicken treats would be a good start - there's some instructions here: http://www.dogtreatkitchen.com/chicken- ... reats.html (if you 'quote' my post you'll see the correct url). Dried liver is good too (if you don't mind the stink while you're making it) but introduce it gradually. He should have no more than 5% of his diet as liver, and you need to build up to that gradually.

You could also give chopped up fruit & veg. Then later, for convenience, you could use a grain-free kibble (many raw feeders would frown at this). Tuna fish should be fine, too. Later, if he's OK with wheat, you could make liver cake or salmon cake, which are very high value.

Is he still quiet and calm?
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

He's quietER and calmER which counts. I have progress. But not absolute quiet. He's still whining and pacing but the growling is almost gone completely and barking seems more... logical? Like he'll bark at a sound *I* can hear and then quiet from it on his own and stop. I am still konging occasionally to keep the whining down especially when I can tell he's working himself up into a bark.

I'm not totally happy with where he is right now but I'm willing to hold at the current level (chicken only and an Adaptil plug in going) and see what happens with time. When he was barking that just absolutely unsustainable.
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

oh... thanks... thanks bax......
Gave him his first egg today cause i was out of chicken backs and he's back to just boneless breasts. I cracked it get him started and he nosed it round and round his bowl licking it but he wouldn't bite it. Well, finally he picked it up and carried it away.....dribbling yoke allllll over my clothes. I made the mistake of trying to herd him back to a safe spot and he acted like I'd beaten him with a broom. I felt guilty so he's now crunching happily on my bathrobe.
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by JudyN »

:lol:

Just be prepared for sulphurous farts later. If one egg can do that to Jasper, I hate to think what it'll do to Bax...

It's brilliant that he's calmer. Just remember that his 'stressy' behaviours will have become habit so they'll take a while to be extinguished. And of course, at the end of the day you're still going to have a lively rat terrier - he's not going to suddenly change into a laid-back couch potato.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

Hahaha when he was on his old food he could clear a room, I can't imagine what this will do to him :lol:

I was GOING to say that he's been silent all day but he launched into a hardcore barking fit that is still ongoing as I type. So, its 3:44PM and he's been silent without even a whine all day. That's very, very good for him.
(Side note, i feel bad when he's in full bark mode. He'll come close enough to take a treat but if i try to pet him he always dodges away. I guess he's just to excited/scared?)

Interesting thing to keep in mind about the habit part. Does make me wonder what behaviors i inadvertently confirmed in my flailing to silence him :?

And yeah I think I'd miss the lil guy if he suddenly became a couch potato :lol:


EDIT: he made up for his best morning ever with his worst evening ever. continuous barking at the slightest sound :?
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

Some questions about raw feeding...

So the ratio of 1:1:8, organ, bone, muscle, Is that every day? Can i give him one chunk of liver on monday and then nothing till next monday or do i have to feed it every day? Also how do you add bone when you start working in other meats? with chicken i can just give him a back or something for bone but if we're doing pork the bones are much bigger and much less crunchable. Do i still need to try to give bone every day and if so, how?

EDIT: also i went in deep today, bought and froze a ton of chicken and weighed out individual portions of liver for him. Lots of cutting and wrapping O.o also trying to make chicken jerky treats in the oven, we'll see how it goes
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by JudyN »

It doesn't have to be balanced in a single day. In theory it would be fine to give him a big chunk of liver once a week. Some dogs are fine on this, but it can lead to explosive bottys in others. Ditto bone - if you fed a high percentage of bone one day you might find the poos are white and crumbly - or he night get bunged up. If he got no bone one day he might get a little loose. So to be on the safe side I'd try to give a bit of liver and a bit of bone daily at first, then see what happens if you vary the ratios each day.

Chicken backs and wings are relatively high bone content so if you're introducing other meats you could add in a chicken wing, or give a back one day and non-bone meat the next (I'm not sure if a back would be a bit much for Bax to have in one go). There's a table with percentages of bone in different cuts here: http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/bo ... ding-dogs/

Has he had raw pork bones before? If not you'll have to observe how much he actually eats so you know what contribution it's making to his diet. Don't get too hung up on percentages though. If he's getting a lot of meat, a bit of offal including liver, and a bit of bone, and if you're happy with what comes out of him, you're doing fine.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

Bax had backs three meals in a row and everything came out fine, then i ran out of backs =( He's going to be moving to drumsticks now and hes alternating meals, one meal he gets the bone, the next he gets most of the meat from the bone, just cause one drum stick is way more then a lil rat terrier needs.

I haven't added pork yet since I'd heard to wait a week or two on one meat before adding another.

and good to know about the percentages. I was getting a little stressed about how i would sort all that out :lol:

advice on cuts of meat to avoid once i start getting into pork and beef? Like i read somewhere that like tbone is bad because it's a weird shape?
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by JudyN »

I can't help you there - Jasper's not great at digesting bone and can't even manage free-range chicken legs so we stick to non-free-range chicken backs (and bone-in mince). He can't manage lamb ribs either. (This isn't a size thing -
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
JudyN
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by JudyN »

I can't help you there - Jasper's not great at digesting bone and can't even manage free-range chicken legs so we stick to non-free-range chicken backs (and bone-in mince). He can't manage lamb ribs either. (This isn't a size thing - chances are Bax will be fine with all these.)
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

Can you mince your own bone or do you have to buy it at the store? :shock:
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by JudyN »

I get it from a local raw dog food suppliers. Most raw dog food suppliers sell bone-in mince. I think some people do grind their own but you'd need a pretty heavy-duty mincer.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Shalista »

I'm a little concerned, Bax ate the drumstick I gave him and he left blood all over the towel from his mouth. It's not a ton but... is it normal for dogs to bleed when they eat bone?
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
Erica
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Re: Raw Food Diet

Post by Erica »

Hmm, not sure but I imagine it might be like flossing - if you haven't been flossing regularly, your gums will bleed at first. Not at all sure on it but that would be my personal first guess, if the blood for sure didn't come from the bone marrow or anything. Personally I would be keeping an eye on it and if it gets worse or doesn't improve, I'd phone the vet.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
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