Raw Feeding

[Brandiandwe]

It was mixed in with chicken mince and some tomato. I got some serious stink eye!

[RedHead]

I've had dogs that don't like the liver. I cut it up into smaller pieces, mix it in with some beef stew chunks, and they don't seem to notice as they gobble it up. I feed a lot of dehydrated liver treats, so I don't sweat it.

Edited February 27, 2014 by RedHead

[Brandiandwe]

So, I've begun moving toward more raw. We've started with some chicken frames minced and mixed with turkey mince to up the meat and drop the fat percentage. I've mixed through some cooked green beans. They're still on 50% kibble but they're all LOVING it. This morning for breakfast they're getting a turkey neck each and the mince. I'm keeping an eye on their condition so we'll see how we go. Gulp!

[Guest Lillypad]

Hi Busderpuddle,

 

I have been feeding raw for over 10 months now and I will never go back to kibble. The information and the site that Wonder gave you is the best. This is the guide that I follow. I encourage you to join the facebook page Rawfeeding group. They are very helpful and knowledgeable. It seems like an arduous task at first, but I promise you will get the hang of it and it will become so much easier. You will wonder why you ever lugged a huge bag of kibble into your house. You will know you have made it.. when you get a great thrill finding good priced meats and filling your freezer to the brim with all that good stuff. I enjoy a meat sale even more than a shoe sale LOL

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/rawfeedingcarnivores/?ref=ts&fref=ts

 

Best of Luck, your houndies will be so thankful.

 

P.S We often pet sit a min poodle and also another friends standard poodle, poor doggies, when they are here I have a hell of time, convincing them to eat their kibble, they want what Lilly is having. I once had to chase the min poodle around the house and almost beat the big hunk of chicken she stole from Lilly out of her mouth. I feel like a heal when I have to feed them kibble, put I can't convenience their owners to make the change...... ????? and oh yes both of them suffer yeast infections all the time ....???

Edited April 7, 2014 by Lillypad

[Guest Lillypad]

This is directed to WONDER,

 

Sorry don't mean to hijack the thread, but wondering how long have you been feeding raw, how many hounds? Do you have any regrets, would you do anything different than as directed by Rawfeeding? Wondering this because, even though I enjoy feeding Lilly raw, and will NEVER go back to kibble, I was wondering given our hounds physiological make up and their nutritional history regarding life at the track, if there is any tips you can pass along that are greyhound specific. Thanks Janette.

[Wonder]

I have 5 hounds. Thunder has seizures so I started him on raw July 2013. A few weeks later, I started Passion who is 11.5.

Around Sept/Oct, I started the rest.

 

I will never go back to kibble. I don't even like to feed treats now and would rather feed dried meat instead.

 

Lucky was a picky eater. Now he body slams me when it's time to eat. He loves it.

 

When I first started, I thawed out all the meat, weighed and put a days worth in ziplock bags. It was too time consuming & messy so I stopped.

Now I just thaw out 10 lbs of beef and 10 lbs of chicken and weigh out each pups meal at night so it's ready for breakfast the next day. I'm not awake enough in the morning to do it otherwise I would just wait until morning.

NO regrets other than I didn't start sooner.

[Guest Lillypad]

Great news to hear Wonder. I follow the suggestions of the same Raw Feeding Group that you advised to Busderpuddle.

[Wonder]

Just picked up 200 lbs of beef last night.

On the 19th, I'll get 100 lbs of chicken.

[Guest iconsmum]

I don't have anything to add cause RedHead did such a good job - except to say I've done it for quite a long time now too and wouldn't ever go back. My 3 dogs look great and have zero (touching wood) tummy issues on raw, which is way more than I can say for our kibble days. Last summer I fed kibble at a friend's cottage for convenience. I was stunned to find that they all promptly produced stinky gas and more poop than I'd seen for years.

[Guest iconsmum]

Query. I've started a bit of a transition to raw to see if this helps Brandi's UTIs. So far, they're all loving the chicken carcasses which they have two or three times a week, chicken mince (with bones in it or without) 1 - 2 time a week, turkey necks once a week. But I bought some beef liver today, and none of them seem to like it. It will be mixed in with the rest of their food, but is it an acquired taste?

 

you might try cooking it - or just adding tiny bits to other meats - lots of dogs take a while to like it. I buy ground beef from a local portuguese butcher near me for $1.29/lb.

RedHead, can I ask any of the chainstore meat departments for expiries, do you know? What happens to meat as it goes over the date?

[Guest Lillypad]

you might try cooking it - or just adding tiny bits to other meats - lots of dogs take a while to like it. I buy ground beef from a local portuguese butcher near me for $1.29/lb.

RedHead, can I ask any of the chainstore meat departments for expiries, do you know? What happens to meat as it goes over the date?

 

Your question about expired meats, had me giggling. Yes by all means ask about it. I have found that I don't seem to find that much marked down and when I do it is very expensive cuts and only reduced by 30 to 40 percent, which still leaves it too expensive. The reason for the giggle is I have often thought about "dumpster diving" at the back of the grocery store..... I KNOW they are throwing it out. They tell me they can't sell me expired meat for fear that "I" may eat it and then hold them responsible. So if you hear of some crazy lady stealing rotten meat out of dumpsters on the news.....It is me.!!!! P.S. Expired and meat a little over the best before dates is certainly OK for dogs, their stomach acids can handle it with no problem.

[CharlieRhea]

I'm pasting this link because it is a raw diet company and it has a calculator. Just add your dogs weight, activity level etc. easy.

 

https://www.primalpetfoods.com/education/calc

 

 

I've been feeding raw for about 7 yrs, I sell it where i work, many brands, i also belong to a co-op that comes to my area every 5 weeks where i buy about

80 lbs of what they have on sale that month. I buy different meats plain but also HVM , healthy variety mix, that has some veggies and organ meat.. Makes it simple and i know my pups are getting everything they need. btw it comes frozen and i thaw out what they need for a day or two.

My dogs have gorgeous coats and it has helped immensely with one of my dogs stomach issues, she can't have chicken, every dog is different.

I know someone here mentioned tripe, i second that. Not the kind from supermarkets that is bleached. You have to find another source. Co-op, high end pet food store. Tripe has natural probiotics and i feed trachea too as gross as that sounds, it has natural glucosamine as does most cartilage. I also add pumpkin.

I at times mix proteins and make sure they get organ meat as it has nutrients that plain meat does not. Liver is rich so small quantities.

Once you get used to it and see how well your dogs do, you won't go back. Looks like a lot of support here so good luck.

Oh, last but not least i use salmon, sardine, flax or coconut oil, the unrefined raw kind. Very easy on the tummy.

Edited April 11, 2014 by CharlieRhea

[RedHead]

 

RedHead, can I ask any of the chainstore meat departments for expiries, do you know? What happens to meat as it goes over the date?

I have never asked a store for expiries, but it wouldn't hurt to try. I do go in when they put the 50% off stickers on the meat though. Our grocery store has started selling trays of "dog scraps" for about 50 cents a tray which is basically trimmings and bones from the beef they cut for the store.. The butcher might be a better option, one of them around here will save trim and organs and it is amazing quality meat. I get most of my meat from a local supplier so haven't really looked into getting large amounts from the grocery store.

[krissn333]

I'm reading more about this now...Ozzie had a sheath infection and has been on antibiotics for two weeks. Two weeks ago his urine was pretty dilute due to increased water consumption. Today however it was nice and concentrated and there were some struvite crystals. We are doing a fasting UA tomorrow morning.

 

Our vet is concerned about the crystals and of course modifying his diet came up. He currently eats TOTW Pacific Stream. Wondering, if we need to modify his diet, would going raw be an option? I just got a big chest freezer for my garage. It's not huge but it is decently sized.

 

I've pondered going raw for a long time but I am just worried about sources for meat around here, and getting them what they really need so they have a good balanced diet. Every time I sit down to ponder the possibilities I get overwhelmed.

[RedHead]

Have you checked out RawPaws? They look like they are in your area, and have some product and ground mixes. There are 2 greyhounds on the cover page, so it looks like some of the members or owner might own and course greyhounds. Having some people close by to mentor you is always a good idea (that and a few good books on the subject!). Usually independent supplier groups like this like to take the time to answer your questions and help you start a plan. It really isn't that hard if you have access to good suppliers.

 

http://www.rawpaws.org

[Brandiandwe]

So, for the past week the hounds have been on raw only with the occasional sprinkling of kibble. I'm monitoring their weight, and I think they've all dropped a bit but look amazing! So I'll give it another week before upping quantities. They've all got lots more energy, breath is better, small poops that don't smell...... This was brought home to me this morning when I walked them. Last night they all got just kibble because of a miscalculation by me. At 12.45 last night they all got up and opened the bedroom door and went for a drink. Unheard of for all three to do this. Nth is morning, all three peed more and had soft and REALLY stinky poops. Lesson learnt.

 

Brandi has also stooped pending in the house (that's jinxed me, hasn't it?)

[krissn333]

Can we talk logistics for a moment?

 

Do your dogs eat indoors? Will they eat at their bowls? We do have a real winter here so there's no way I can be feeding them outside in blizzard conditions, nor can I feed them outside when it's 100+ degrees in the summer.

 

When they get turkey necks they usually take them to their beds and I put sheets on the beds so they can be washed. Obviously feeding raw every day and having them eat like that would have me doing laundry every day, and that's not really how I'd like to live.

 

So how do you handle it? At present Ozzie and Clarice eat at raised feeders across the room from one another, and my iggies eat in their kennels.

[Brandiandwe]

I'm in Australia, so even in winter we can find a time to be outside to gnaw on necks and bones. Otherwise, it's bowls inside. I feed mine meaty minced up chicken carcasses with turkey, offal and beans and tomatoes mixed through. Its not too messy at all. But I don't know what I'd do with bones if it was too cold to be outside.

[Guest iconsmum]

bones get eaten outside no matter what. Meat is in a

bowl in chunks If it comes out of the bowl it goes outside. If it can be eaten from the bowl it can stay inside. I'm in canada so the winter is an issue and sometimes they go for a stretch with no bone until the weather

shapes up a bit.

[GreytNut]

Thunder loves rabbit. I'm trying to talk a friend into catching rabbits at his farm for me.

 

My Pet Carnivore has whole prey rabbits, rabbit heads and ground whole rabbit. We got Riley a whole frozen rabbit with our order today and he's going to go ape for it. We get our turkey necks and chicken feet from them too. They do ship. http://mypetcarnivore.com

 

ETA: My Pet Carnivore does not use denaturants, if that is of concern to you.

Edited April 20, 2014 by GreytNut

[forevergrey]

I feed raw as well. I also live in an apartment so feeding dogs outside is not an option. I feed a grind (Primal brand), alternating chicken, turkey, beef. I add other meat parts that I buy at the store, (legs, wings, organs, etc..) and add veggies. I make a mixture, put it in their bowls and they eat it without making any messes at all. I also give them raw beef bones with meat on it twice a week for teeth cleaning. I place sheets on their dog beds and they just grab the bones and run to their beds and chew up the bones. I guess you just have to work out a system that works for your lifestyle.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

I feed all three of mine (2 of mine 1 foster) in crates. Keeps everything clean and everyone away from each other. Feeding time at my house is a joy.

[Brandiandwe]

I'm having to give up on the raw.... All three of my dogs are now too energetic. They are bouncing around, playing, barking, stuffies are everywhere, their coats look too good, weight has stabilised...... I'm not convinced that I can keep this up - I thought they were supposed to be a low energy breed?????

[Guest Lillypad]

Are you joking about giving up on raw feeding??? Energetic, happy, good looking coats, and weight aren't these the very thing we all strive for our hounds. Sounds like raw feeding has been beneficial for your hounds, why on earth give up on a good thing? I have been working on agility with my girl, she sure could use some of that energy you describe. I feed raw, but am always interested to learn more, what diet plan have you been following?

[CharlieRhea]

ok, you are kidding aren't you? Coats look too good and weight stabilized...I know you are joking.