Guest 4dogscrazy Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Hi Everyone! I need to switch to RAW asap and I don't know where to start. We do have a local butcher that will grind up entire animals, but I can't get to him until Thursday. Can I start tonight at the grocery store? Here's the problem, my Jesse has had terrible problems with his feet, and nothing, I mean nothing has worked. I've even gone grain free, no help. He does have a thryoid problem, which is STILL not exactly right. But the last time we increased his meds he got terribly sick. So I am leaving his meds alone for now and thinking about starting him on RAW to see if that helps. I just need the basics to get started, if anyone has the time today. Assume I know nothing, because I really don't. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DragonflyDM Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 My dog loves raw. I would start with beef or chicken. Just do one meat at a time for awhile. So for boomer it was chicken legs and thighs at first for a month, then I added in beef and beef soup bones. The third month I added in turkey into the mix. He never did process pork right and I would never give it to him again. It gave him bloody stool. You CAN give raw whole chicken legs. If not cooked, the bone isn't dangerous and it has great nutrients. Also add in gizzards and intestines occasionally, as well as veggies. At this point, he eats almost everything I eat-- which means I had to learn how not to eat crap food. Dogs are also unique in that they can eat grains like humans (unlike wolves who do not have the intestines for it). So Boomer gets stale bread when it happens, but otherwise I avoid grains and fillers. Just remember, there is a lot of experimenting-- so perhaps get some official BARF diet stuff (you can get them from higher end pet stores) to start and add in real food straight from the butcher every other meal until you feel confident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remolacha Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Start simple. If he is OK with chicken, most people start there because it is cheap and easily available. Chicken drums or thighs are good to begin with. I would hold off on the "innards" for a few weeks until he adjusts. If you hand him a raw chicken leg and looks at you like you are nuts you can lightly sear the outside (inside should still be raw). Commercial raw is another way to start, expensive, but easy in the short run. Are plain chicken parts a balanced diet? No, of course not, but it won't hurt him for a few weeks. Once he gets used to it and you set up your suppliers, you can start to expand. Most raw sites say to feed 1-2% body weight, greys usually need more. I would start at 2-3%. It doesn't have to be exact, you will figure it out as you go along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DragonflyDM Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 And also consider that many of the stores that sell food that is deep frozen for transport will add sodium to their meat for preservation. Boomer is 75lbs. I feed him about 1-1.5 lbs of meat twice a day on the real food. If I run out and have to go to the higher end "tube" dog food, I give him a pound. Nevertheless, he gets lots of snacks throughout the day. All told, he gets about 3lbs of meat plus other stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedHead Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 For starters, keep it simple...especially if you think he may have allergies. I like to start with chicken or turkey personally, you can basically feed any part you can get in the grocery store. I like the big meaty thighs. Nothing with really big bones though like turkey thighs. You don't need to worry so much about balance right now, you don't want to start adding any organs or other things yet. Anyone who decides to feed raw long term should IMO have at least 2 or 3 good books on the subject, so if you decide to stay on the diet definitely order a few. I like Lew Olson's "Raw and Natural Nutrition" or Dr. Lonsdale books but there are quite a few out now. You could try the commercial kind for now as well, but they tend to have a lot of ingredients and personally I always find them a bit of a weird colour and smell compared to the fresh stuff I make at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 4dogscrazy Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Thanks everyone! I realize this is going to take some research, and I am going to wait until after GiG to do it. I can't really expect my mom and kiddo to be around for the big switch without supervison. It helps that we have a butcher that will grind up whole animals, and I'm going to have to get over how gross that sounds! I'm starting to do some research and there is a lot of info out there on the web that is helpful to get started. Really looking forward to the benefits of RAW for the boy who I just can't seem to get healed. I am planning to get a couple of books, and now that I've decided to wait a little I will have time to read them. I guess this is a longer process than I thought, which is good it will give me time to learn! On another note: Dragonfly sorry to hear you won't be at GiG, was looking foward to meeting you and seeing Boomer again! Tina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DragonflyDM Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Thanks everyone! I realize this is going to take some research, and I am going to wait until after GiG to do it. I can't really expect my mom and kiddo to be around for the big switch without supervison. It helps that we have a butcher that will grind up whole animals, and I'm going to have to get over how gross that sounds! I'm starting to do some research and there is a lot of info out there on the web that is helpful to get started. Really looking forward to the benefits of RAW for the boy who I just can't seem to get healed. I am planning to get a couple of books, and now that I've decided to wait a little I will have time to read them. I guess this is a longer process than I thought, which is good it will give me time to learn! On another note: Dragonfly sorry to hear you won't be at GiG, was looking foward to meeting you and seeing Boomer again! Tina Well I'll miss that too. Perhaps, Boom and I can find another excuse to come out that way over the summer. One more thing-- if your dogs eat as quickly as mine does, I would look at not grinding the meat up. Giving something to chew gives him time to work on eating more slowly. I gave Boomer a pound of ground beef once and he ate it like it was a jello shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scarter55 Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 We have fed our 10 mo old, Lady, chicken necks for as long as we've had her. She usually gets them for breakfast. We supplement this with a rice and veggie mix that I make. We've found she likes her veggies slightly cooked, so I just cook them up with the rice. I usually use stock to cook the rice for added flavor. The breeder was giving her chicken necks when we got her, so we just continued doing that. We tried switching to turkey necks as she got older, but she had trouble with them, and treated them more like chew toys. We'll occasionally give her other bits of raw meat as well as we have them. I've tried giving her the innards, and she really doesn't seem to like the livers. Just makes a mess with them. She will often get a marrow bone in the afternoon, and loves them. The marrow is good for dogs and chewing on them helps clean her teeth and tires her out. If you haven't ever given your dog marrow bones, I've read its best to start slow and careful as the marrow can be too rich for some at first. Also, they may bite them too hard if they aren't used to it. We also just started using Primal Formula food for our cats. This is a prepared raw food diet that we get at Whole Foods, and I'm sure you can get it at other higher end grocery and pet stores. They have dog food as well. I've read Dr. Khalsa's Natural Dog, which is a great book on different ways to feed your dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonder Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 I feed Passion ground turkey with ground up bones in it. She loves it. I just give her a chunk and she eats it. She's looking a little chunky so I think I need to cut back a little. I get treats from Chuck and Don's pet store. They have pre-packaged raw. I think when I run out of what I have, I will just get it there. Then I don't have to worry about how much or little she's eating. Quote Kari and the pups.Run free sweet Hana 9/21/08-9/12/10. Missing Sparks with every breath.Passion 10/16/02-5/25/17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatterseaBrindl Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 We feed 'pre-made' frozen raw food...it is made locally, so that won't help you. But to get a general idea of what to feed, here is a link to the website, where you can see the percentages of his beef/chicken/fish. Just scroll down to 'Ingredients'.... http://rawdogfeed.com/ Several years ago we fed this feed to an aging Spaniel who had lots of allergies / skin problems. Within a couple of weeks there was a noticable improvement. We also had a Dobe on it...he was such a terrible food bolter that he regurgitaed numerous times. Switching to this feed stopped that instantly. When my hounds started on it we did not do a slow transition from Kibble... On the recommendation from quite a few 'raw' people, we just stopped the kibble one day and started on this raw diet the next. They were perfectly fine with it. Quote Nancy...Mom to Sid (Peteles Tiger), Kibo (112 Carlota Galgos) and Joshi. Missing Casey, Gomer, Mona, Penelope, BillieJean, Bandit, Nixon (Starz Sammie), Ruby (Watch Me Dash) Nigel (Nigel), and especially little Mario, waiting at the Bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FinnsMom Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 We feed 'pre-made' frozen raw food...it is made locally, so that won't help you. But to get a general idea of what to feed, here is a link to the website, where you can see the percentages of his beef/chicken/fish. Just scroll down to 'Ingredients'.... http://rawdogfeed.com/ Several years ago we fed this feed to an aging Spaniel who had lots of allergies / skin problems. Within a couple of weeks there was a noticable improvement. We also had a Dobe on it...he was such a terrible food bolter that he regurgitaed numerous times. Switching to this feed stopped that instantly. When my hounds started on it we did not do a slow transition from Kibble... On the recommendation from quite a few 'raw' people, we just stopped the kibble one day and started on this raw diet the next. They were perfectly fine with it. We get this for Finn once and a while. We live 4 hours away so we only get it when our raw supplier goes and brings a load back, but I find that since he's getting bone in every meal his poops are dry and chalky and he often has a hard time pooping. So now, when we do get it I mix it up a bit with other things so he doesn't eat just that. Have you had any issues with the bone content of the mix or is my guy just extra special. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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