Dogs - Raw Diet Update

[Kaneman]

Yea, I think you're going to have to hand feed him for a couple days. Don't worry, that's part of the process and it'll be good for you're bond anyway.

[Gas Man]

Well I tried that as well. He thinks about it. Almost tried a bite then backed away. All "I don't think so". Even just laid down in defeat.

I feel so bad, he's licking his kible container. He's eating grass cause I know his stomach is upset from no food. But he's still not going for it.

Advise?

Wait it out? Hunger will get him to eat? Like I said I feel horrible about it.

[Kaneman]

How many hours since he's eaten? Try some raw ground beef mixed with one chicken thigh...

[Gas Man]

Its been a day and a half going on 2 days. Will pull some beef hamburger from freezer. He'll get it when I or wifey gets home from work.

He's a stubborn dog. Always has been and this proves it once again.

I can really hear his stomach now. Not the first time though. He's also known for weird eating habits and sometimes weird eating schedules, probably due to our hectic & erratic work schedules.

Will report back and thanks for the help.

[Gas Man]

Ok well wifey, fed him some raw beef hamburger. He liked that, but not the chicken. She even put some beef under the chicken skin. he licked it out. She said everytime he picked up a piece of chicken he spit it out.

Now what...

[Kaneman]

I'd mix some cooked chicken in with the raw and try that....

Man, you're giving it one for the gipper though....I'm definitely surprised how uninterested he is.

[VatorMan]

I'd mix some cooked chicken in with the raw and try that....

Man, you're giving it one for the gipper though....I'm definitely surprised how uninterested he is.

Me too. My dogs had a what the he'll is this moment for about 2 minutes and went to work. Yea,you are going to have to train him to eat healthy.

Kind of like trying to wean one of us off of beer. :lol

[Gas Man]

Ok! Thanks man for the help. This shit is buggin me.

My prediction... he will eat the cooked chicken and leave the raw. Just like he did for the raw beef hamburger.

I'm not surprised. It's his distaste for raw chicken coupled with his stubburness.

[OneSickPsycho]

Ok! Thanks man for the help. This shit is buggin me.

My prediction... he will eat the cooked chicken and leave the raw. Just like he did for the raw beef hamburger.

I'm not surprised. It's his distaste for raw chicken coupled with his stubburness.

Grind it all up together.

[Gas Man]

Don't have a grinder.

We mildly heated the chicken... stripped the meat off the bones and he ate that crap right up. Basically just enough to heat it. Put a raw drum stick and a small piece of raw in there... he ate around or picked it up and moved it aside.

So I don't understand the issue. I mean we barely heated the stuff and he went to town on it.

[VatorMan]

Grind it all up together.

GM-Your dog will take to it-as soon as he finds that he likes raw meat. Now, if you recall my first post on this, I had one dog that wants NOTHING to do with duck. I really hope yours isn't chicken because chicken is the base behind raw diet being economical. He'll come around.

Maybe you need to get a live chicken and let him kill it. :rockwoot:

[OneSickPsycho]

Fresh kills aren't room temperature... They are warm.

[VatorMan]

Fresh kills aren't room temperature... They are warm.

Dog has to get the scent of the kill. Later he'll appreciate refrigeration.

[Gas Man]

Well he hasn't ate the raw chicken. There are still 2 raw pieces in his bowl. He's chewed on it a bit, but still spitting it out.

[VatorMan]

Well he hasn't ate the raw chicken. There are still 2 raw pieces in his bowl. He's chewed on it a bit, but still spitting it out.

Use the afore mentioned suggestions. Don't feed him chicken with bones- mix ground up raw chicken breast in with his kibble. Decrease amount of kibble and increase size of chicken pieces. He has to get used to the taste of raw chicken on his terms apparently.

[Gas Man]

But we don't want to re-introduce kibble. That will mess with his digestion process. We pan seared the chicken, de-boned it and he ate it up.

What I'm wondering is, we aren't even cooking the chicken meat. So what about the bone. It's not cooked so it should be good. Just sear the skin and serve, Correct?

[Gas Man]

Ok well I did what I said... plus major hands on. First we just gave it to him and he pulled it from the bowl and thought about tearing into it... but it was like he was unsure about using his paws to hold it down.

So we went outside and I went hands on feeding him. He really enjoyed it. Daddy feeding him. I would cut a piece of meat most of the way and have him tear it off with his front teeth. Then he took off with a piece of bone with some meat on it. He went to the grass and tried to eat it, but wasn't sure about it. Sometime little pieces of the bone, like a knuckle would be hanging with meat on it. He would tear that off and eat everything, bone and all.

He's got some ADD cause he'd see somebody walking by, and would go to bark. I would make him come back to me and he got fed more. It was really great. He was really enjoying the raw meat now.

From 2 large chicken quarters, this was all that was left.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l311/cjclark69/Pets/Brinks/RAW/SU1HMDAyNDMtMjAxMTA2MDktMTkxNS5qcGc.jpg

So he ate most of it and that was probably a bit over 2#. So I'm saying he got 2# of raw chicken diet. It seemed like he got wasn't as hungry after that, so we figure it was good. Leaving him slightly hungry will help with tomorrow.

Thanks guys for all your help. I think we are finally rolling in the right direction.

[Kaneman]

But we don't want to re-introduce kibble. That will mess with his digestion process. We pan seared the chicken, de-boned it and he ate it up.

What I'm wondering is, we aren't even cooking the chicken meat. So what about the bone. It's not cooked so it should be good. Just sear the skin and serve, Correct?

Correct, as long as the bone isn't cooked you're good to go. And you're also right about re-introducing kibble...not a good idea at this point.

Ok well I did what I said... plus major hands on. First we just gave it to him and he pulled it from the bowl and thought about tearing into it... but it was like he was unsure about using his paws to hold it down.

So we went outside and I went hands on feeding him. He really enjoyed it. Daddy feeding him. I would cut a piece of meat most of the way and have him tear it off with his front teeth. Then he took off with a piece of bone with some meat on it. He went to the grass and tried to eat it, but wasn't sure about it. Sometime little pieces of the bone, like a knuckle would be hanging with meat on it. He would tear that off and eat everything, bone and all.

He's got some ADD cause he'd see somebody walking by, and would go to bark. I would make him come back to me and he got fed more. It was really great. He was really enjoying the raw meat now.

From 2 large chicken quarters, this was all that was left.

So he ate most of it and that was probably a bit over 2#. So I'm saying he got 2# of raw chicken diet. It seemed like he got wasn't as hungry after that, so we figure it was good. Leaving him slightly hungry will help with tomorrow.

Thanks guys for all your help. I think we are finally rolling in the right direction.

HELL YEA MAN!! Feeding by hand is going to give you an even better bond too.

[asdgirl]

Yep I had to feed Andre by hand at first. Sometimes still do, with the bigger stuff.

I will also mention garlic salt - that helped get them really interested. I just sprinkle some on top of the chicken itself and they went to town.

Good luck, just make sure he gets enough bone and organ meat for the vitamins, and minerals, etc that his body needs :)

[Gas Man]

Garlic salt... cool, will give that a try.

Went through tonight the same way as last night. What I have found is that he doesn't like it cold. We put a piece of meat with bone in the pan, just enough to heat it. I'm talking 40secs. He eats it up!

However, if the pieces are too big he will chew & chew & chew. But being it's not getting smaller aka small enough to swallow. he drops it on the floor and gives up. Daddy cuts into smaller pieces and he chews it down. He will eat bone as long as it's covered in meat. Otherwise, not overly interested in the bone.

He ate the 2 leg quarters... and we thought, go for the 3rd. His body weight should take 3 full quarters.

This is all that was left...
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l311/cjclark69/Pets/Brinks/RAW/SU1HMDAyNDQtMjAxMTA2MTAtMjA1MS5qcGc.jpg

However, 45mins later he puked up a bunch of it. I think the 3rd quarter was just too much. So we are going back to 2 quarters for at least a week. Then maybe just add in a leg or thigh. He needs more food, but I think we will have to ween him back up.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

[101lifts2]

What is so bad about cooking the meat then giving it to the dog? Throw that shit in the oven....debone it and feed it to the dog. Problem solved.

[Homeslice]

What is so bad about cooking the meat then giving it to the dog? Throw that shit in the oven....debone it and feed it the dog. Problem solved.

Yeah really. Cold raw chicken's gotta suck, I'm sorry. Looks like shit too --- all slimy & shit.

[Gas Man]

The problem is that the bones actually give them a great deal of vitamins and minerals that is good for them. Further, it keeps their teeth clean and their jaw muscles in good shape. It also "gets out" their desire to chew bones. Your dog is chewing the meat and bones and therefor doesn't need raw hide and such.

Sound about right Kaneman?

[Gas Man]

Well he's doing well with it. Wifey was with him all day today and this afternoon, with lots of encouragement, she cut the leg quarter into about 5 pieces, heated real quick in the pan (again, talking seconds) put on a plate (seems to be magic if it's on a plate) and many crunches later, it's down the hatchet.

This was repeated a few hours later for the 2nd leg quarter of the day.

No pics as there was nothing remaining.

We are Very Excite!

[Kaneman]

The problem is that the bones actually give them a great deal of vitamins and minerals that is good for them. Further, it keeps their teeth clean and their jaw muscles in good shape. It also "gets out" their desire to chew bones. Your dog is chewing the meat and bones and therefor doesn't need raw hide and such.

Sound about right Kaneman?

There is a great debate raging as to whether or not the bone actually contains anything beneficial nutrient wise to the dogs, but it definitely keeps their dental health in check by cleaning their teeth every day.

Another thing is that when they poop out that bone dust they have to push harder, which causes them to evacuate their anal glands...meaning you don't have to pay the vet to do it...and they don't do it in the house either, which would be the worst!!

Well he's doing well with it. Wifey was with him all day today and this afternoon, with lots of encouragement, she cut the leg quarter into about 5 pieces, heated real quick in the pan (again, talking seconds) put on a plate (seems to be magic if it's on a plate) and many crunches later, it's down the hatchet.

This was repeated a few hours later for the 2nd leg quarter of the day.

No pics as there was nothing remaining.

We are Very Excite!

Fuckin a man, fuckin a.

[azoomm]

Well he's doing well with it. Wifey was with him all day today and this afternoon, with lots of encouragement, she cut the leg quarter into about 5 pieces, heated real quick in the pan (again, talking seconds) put on a plate (seems to be magic if it's on a plate) and many crunches later, it's down the hatchet.

This was repeated a few hours later for the 2nd leg quarter of the day.

No pics as there was nothing remaining.

We are Very Excite!

That's really awesome, man. It's just different food than he is used to. I mean, if someone just opted to change everything and everyway you eat every day you might not like it so much, right? He'll get it. And, he'll be better because of it.

Awesome.

[Gas Man]

There is a great debate raging as to whether or not the bone actually contains anything beneficial nutrient wise to the dogs, but it definitely keeps their dental health in check by cleaning their teeth every day.

Another thing is that when they poop out that bone dust they have to push harder, which causes them to evacuate their anal glands...meaning you don't have to pay the vet to do it...and they don't do it in the house either, which would be the worst!!



Fuckin a man, fuckin a.
That's an interesting debate... keep us advised if you find anything more on it. I would think all that red bone maro would reap big benifits.

Speaking of poop... he really hasn't eaten much, in the grand scheme... he went 2 days without, then most of 2 qrts, then ate most of 3 but puked up 2, then 2 yesterday. He still really hasn't pooped. I know that he should digest most of it and being his body uses most of the nietrients therefor doesn't poop much. Is this normal? I did listen to his bowls tonight and I can hear them doing their normal squishy noises. He hasn't puked other than 2 days ago.

Oh and I duplicated yesterday. Same style prep, 1 qrt, wait an hour, 2nd qrt. He seem to like it. I know the yard is poop free so if he does do the deed when I'm not watching, I'll know.

[Gas Man]

OK I have a correction...

He must have pooped last night (twice/2 of them) before he went to bed. Very small, very light in weight & color, with no odor.

This is great because his poop has been very soft, goo patties lately due to anti-biotics and clariton pills daily.

Further, I think I have noticed a significant lack of water drinking in comparison to kibble diet. He use to be almost obcessed with water, and now not so much. Please confirm, but I think the kibble was so dry (in comparison to the chicken) that it caused him to drink more.

[azoomm]

Man, I'll tell you - I read your posts and you are SO MUCH more attentive to this than I was with Sadie. I mean, I just went with it. You're attention to detail is much higher than mine. :lol:

Sadie did drink less water than she did with kibble. I think your reasoning is on target.

[VatorMan]

OK I have a correction...

He must have pooped last night (twice/2 of them) before he went to bed. Very small, very light in weight & color, with no odor.

This is great because his poop has been very soft, goo patties lately due to anti-biotics and clariton pills daily.

Further, I think I have noticed a significant lack of water drinking in comparison to kibble diet. He use to be almost obcessed with water, and now not so much. Please confirm, but I think the kibble was so dry (in comparison to the chicken) that it caused him to drink more.

You got it. Don't forget the veggie portion of the diet.

[Kaneman]

Please confirm, but I think the kibble was so dry (in comparison to the chicken) that it caused him to drink more.

Correct, most dogs on the raw diet drink less water for that reason.

[OneSickPsycho]

OK I have a correction...

He must have pooped last night (twice/2 of them) before he went to bed. Very small, very light in weight & color, with no odor.

This is great because his poop has been very soft, goo patties lately due to anti-biotics and clariton pills daily.

Further, I think I have noticed a significant lack of water drinking in comparison to kibble diet. He use to be almost obcessed with water, and now not so much. Please confirm, but I think the kibble was so dry (in comparison to the chicken) that it caused him to drink more.

Wait... you weigh your dog's poo?

[VatorMan]

Wait... you weigh your dog's poo?

Smells it too apparently. :lol

[OneSickPsycho]

Smells it too apparently. :lol

Well, with my dogs there's little choice with that...

[Particle Man]

Wait... you weigh your dog's poo?

You don't?


:lol:

[Gas Man]

Man, I'll tell you - I read your posts and you are SO MUCH more attentive to this than I was with Sadie. I mean, I just went with it. You're attention to detail is much higher than mine. :lol:

Sadie did drink less water than she did with kibble. I think your reasoning is on target.

Well thank you I think. Remember though. This is my kid.

[Gas Man]

You got it. Don't forget the veggie portion of the diet.

Thanks. But I was told to wait like 2 weeks before introducing anything besides chicken.

But it brings up another great question. What veggie do you all suggest to start with? Potatoes and carrot? Just slice and serve? Did the dog go for them?

poop....

I didn't weight it so much as I flicked it onto my scooper and when you're use to dog shit the size I am. You'll notice when he only craps a 1/3 the amount.

And as I said. He's been shittin moon pies for the past couple months. Which stink horribly and you can barely pick up. It sucks. But now he's shittin the previously stated different poop.

[VatorMan]

Refer back to my GLOP posts.

[Gas Man]

That's what you did from the beginning?

[Gas Man]

Brinks is doing well. I'm sure he's lost weight, Uma noticed it when she returned from her vacation. But he's now up to 2.75 leg qrts where he should be.

Our butcher shop is running a fathers day weekend special on leg quarters... over the counter $0.59lb so I'm sure my case price will be cheap. I think I'm going to buy 3 cases if it's down around $0.50lb cause that saves me like $0.14lb or about $8 a case.

Also going to pick up other various meats... both for him and us. They got this awesome deal going on now for meat bundle that I think we're buying for us.
http://www.cattlemansmeats.com/pdfs/cattlemansfathersday2011-1.pdf

And we are going to introduce GLOP to his diet. Just ordered for store pick up a Kenmore Elite food processor. Hopefully it lasts... it is a 800 watt motor. on sale as well.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00806902000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2#desc

I tell ya though... the freezer, and now processor does make this more expensive initially.

[Gas Man]

Well picked up the food processor... it's a beast!
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l311/cjclark69/Pets/Brinks/RAW/SU1HMDAyNTYtMjAxMTA2MTktMTgxOC5qcGc.jpg

Bought carrots, lettuce, cucumber, garlic to make the veggy glop.
Frozen berries, apple, pear, yogurt to make the fruit glop. We bought bananas as well but forgot to put them in.

We combined all that and had Brinks taste testing it the whole way.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l311/cjclark69/Pets/Brinks/RAW/SU1HMDAyNTgtMjAxMTA2MTktMTgxOC5qcGc.jpg

Like Vators it doesn't look good and while the fruit style tasted good, when you mixed in the garlicy veggy, it tasted funky. But Brinks LOVE LOVE LOVED it. He was drooling waiting for his next taste.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l311/cjclark69/Pets/Brinks/RAW/SU1HMDAyNTktMjAxMTA2MTktMTgxOC5qcGc.jpg

[OneSickPsycho]

Brinks is doing well. I'm sure he's lost weight, Uma noticed it when she returned from her vacation. But he's now up to 2.75 leg qrts where he should be.

Our butcher shop is running a fathers day weekend special on leg quarters... over the counter $0.59lb so I'm sure my case price will be cheap. I think I'm going to buy 3 cases if it's down around $0.50lb cause that saves me like $0.14lb or about $8 a case.

Also going to pick up other various meats... both for him and us. They got this awesome deal going on now for meat bundle that I think we're buying for us.
http://www.cattlemansmeats.com/pdfs/cattlemansfathersday2011-1.pdf

And we are going to introduce GLOP to his diet. Just ordered for store pick up a Kenmore Elite food processor. Hopefully it lasts... it is a 800 watt motor. on sale as well.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00806902000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2#desc

I tell ya though... the freezer, and now processor does make this more expensive initially.

Damn... that does make it way more expensive... You've got over $300 in equipment... Based on our dogs, it would take about a year to break even between all of this equipment and the food itself... Over the life of the dogs it should work out well though... We just need to find a good butcher here in Orlando...

[Kaneman]

Damn... that does make it way more expensive... You've got over $300 in equipment... Based on our dogs, it would take about a year to break even between all of this equipment and the food itself... Over the life of the dogs it should work out well though... We just need to find a good butcher here in Orlando...

All it takes is not having to go to the vet once and it all pays for itself. Of course, there's no real way to measure that, but in my case I've never had to take a dog to the vet for sickness...

[azoomm]

All it takes is not having to go to the vet once and it all pays for itself. Of course, there's no real way to measure that, but in my case I've never had to take a dog to the vet for sickness...

Or, the fact that my dog is still alive. I'm sure she wouldn't be here today if we would have stayed on that diet.

That, my friend, is truly priceless.

[Gas Man]

Damn... that does make it way more expensive... You've got over $300 in equipment... Based on our dogs, it would take about a year to break even between all of this equipment and the food itself... Over the life of the dogs it should work out well though... We just need to find a good butcher here in Orlando...

Well, to be honest though... I'm also using the freezer to store more long term meat deals, like the mega meat deal I got when I picked up his chicken. So that's ok. Plus the food processor can have other means of use for us. It's not like these large priced items are dog only. Hell not even his food is. If I want to bbq some chicken (non breast) I got plenty!

All it takes is not having to go to the vet once and it all pays for itself. Of course, there's no real way to measure that, but in my case I've never had to take a dog to the vet for sickness...

And we are hoping to have this benifit as well.

[VatorMan]

All it takes is not having to go to the vet once and it all pays for itself. Of course, there's no real way to measure that, but in my case I've never had to take a dog to the vet for sickness...

Or, the fact that my dog is still alive. I'm sure she wouldn't be here today if we would have stayed on that diet.

That, my friend, is truly priceless.

This.

[OneSickPsycho]

All it takes is not having to go to the vet once and it all pays for itself. Of course, there's no real way to measure that, but in my case I've never had to take a dog to the vet for sickness...

Yeah absolutely... I totally wasn't knocking it, just breaking it down cost-wise...

Well, to be honest though... I'm also using the freezer to store more long term meat deals, like the mega meat deal I got when I picked up his chicken. So that's ok. Plus the food processor can have other means of use for us. It's not like these large priced items are dog only. Hell not even his food is. If I want to bbq some chicken (non breast) I got plenty!

And we are hoping to have this benifit as well.

Oh yeah... I am down to have a ton of meat on hand... Can't ever have too much meat.

[Trip]

Oh yeah... I am down to have a ton of meat on hand... Can't ever have too much meat.

That's what she said

[Gas Man]

Is there a guideline on how much glop to give the dogs? Say an amount per 50# or somin? Just unsure on quanity.

[Gas Man]

Well glop still works. Some of the charm has worn off with him, however, the good thing is, that it's flavor should change every time. We have just been giving him about 2 heaping table spoons a day. Think it's enough?

He's eating his full 3 chicken quarters each day, warmed in a pan. But we are trying to squeeze in completely raw pieces in as well. But overall, seems well with it.

[Kaneman]

I actually don't feed the glop so I'd be the wrong person to ask on that one...

[Gas Man]

I think Vator was the big glopper. But I thought a few others did as well.

Kaneman, what else other than meat do you feed your hounds?

[Kaneman]

I think Vator was the big glopper. But I thought a few others did as well.

Kaneman, what else other than meat do you feed your hounds?

White/Brown rice, Cottage cheese, olive oil, organ meat (heart, liver, etc.), any onion-free leftovers, some fish here and there, bananans and peanut butter. They love the cottage cheese.

[Gas Man]

Rice... right. That's a good cheap idea.

[Kaneman]

The glop they're making is probably the healthiest way too go to be honest. I think I'm going to try what Vator did on down the line here and see what happens.

[OneSickPsycho]

The best part of the whole raw diet is the lack of dog landmines everywhere. :rockwoot:

I'll have to see what the wife paid for food today. I know they won't be eating rabbit unless they catch one. Friggen $18 a bunny !!!

So far their typical diet is for a 20 LB dog-5 ounces of meat tissue, 2 ounces organs, 8 ounces of vegetable glop X twice daily. Just multiply by 8 for a 160 LB dog. :lol

They get a raw egg three times a week. Shell and all.

You feed your 20lb dog, 4.68lbs of food per day????

I'm going to check out a butcher nearby this week... can I get your guys' recipes without sifting through 30 pages of posts?

[VatorMan]

Sorry I was absent- was at VIR wasting gas and rubber.

My wife just corrected my post. 2 OZ of Glop, 2 OZ of organs, and 4 OZ of meat per meal X 2. Thanks for correcting me OSP.

[azoomm]

Morning:
1 Egg - broken but shell and all into bowl
2 Chicken livers
1 Banana
2 large spoonfuls plain yogurt
1 spoonful peanut butter
1 tsp butter

Dinner:
1 Chicken thigh

We have played with her diet - up and down. She used to get less breakfast and more chicken for "dinner." But, watching her weight and activity level - this right now is suiting her best.

She is a 65lb Black Lab. She turned 14 in May.

The main trick for this diet is to know your pet. Pay attention to your pet and watch their gain/loss of weight. Knowing their activity level and personality is key as well. What I LOVE about Sadie now is how close we are. She now doesn't behave like a typical pet - she is another child of mine.

[Gas Man]

We've had a ruff go here this week. Last weekend he got the last rawhide bone we had on hand. He tore it up faster than we've ever seen him. He was lovin it.

But now this week he's less "into" the chicken. Further, his poop, suffered from that rawhide. So he may not get any more of those.

I got him to eat some more. He hasn't eaten for nuttin all week. I had some left over bbq'ed chicken (3 qrts) that I shredded the meat off and fed to him with one raw. He ate that along with a scoop or two of glop.

Told the wife, not to pull anymore glop from the freezer till he eats his normal amount of chicken.

[Kaneman]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/298695/pet_safety_how_rawhide_bones_can_harm.html

Contrary to the unfortunately very popular belief, those yummy little rawhide bone treats we give our dogs to provide distraction for our pets are actually quite bad for them.Pick up a rawhide treat now-they come in all shapes and sizes. Some come in the rectangular flat disks, while others are cleverly twisted into replicas of real bones. They all have one thing in common though-the ability to make a dog very, very ill.

Dogs eat the way fish do-until all the food is gone. Their instincts tell them that when the food is there it must be gorged upon as they never know when their next meal will be. Also, in the wild, dogs come in packs. First come, first serve, so stuff yourself and you will survive. While this is not the case for most domesticated dogs, the instinct to eat everything super-fast is still there.

Which is exactly why those rawhide treats are so dangerous.

Think about it-those treats are designed to be gnawed upon for at least an hour's time, leaving a mutt gaily chewing on his little rawhide delicacy until he bores of it and wanders away. The reality is most dogs will have those little bones half-consumed within just a few minutes, with the entirety gone in less than half an hour.

While that may sound like a simple piggish act on your dog's part, a serious complication may be in the making. Those pieces of rawhide, when swallowed in massive sizes, as they most often are, do not digest in the dog's body. This means the dog has to either pass a very large blockage or retain a very large blockage, both of which are extremely painful for the poor creature, with the latter being potentially fatal.

The best treat you can give your dog is your attention, time, and activity. If you MUST give your dog something to chew on, stick with real bones, such as raw knuckle bones, or pig and beef feet. As these are naturally hard and cannot be easily swallowed, provided the actual bone is larger than your dog's mouth, the fear of ingestion is less of a worry.

[Gas Man]

Yeah I know. Usually he takes his time and chews on a large one for weeks. Like you said, till he bores. This last one he went at a bit different than normal. But we'll see. He's starting to eat more again. And I must remember that he has always bored fast of the "same food". We noticed before but now it's more noticeable because of the feeding time vs a bowl of kibble just sitting thr.

[OneSickPsycho]

redflipThis is an update on the a conversation we had regarding putting your pooches on a "raw" diet.

We switched from commercial pet food (Pedigree dry, choice cuts and missing link) a few months ago to a raw meaty bone diet in an effort to ensure the health and stamina of my 90lb male Boxer and 65lb female Lab.

Initially I was using chicken necks and leg quarters as the main sources of meat but after a few raw vomiting episodes it became clear that they weren't chewing the neck bones enough and just gulping them down. I switched over to whole carcasses to force them to learn to chew and began feeding once a day instead of twice a day.

There are always good deals somewhere on whole chickens so there has not been a large cost increase compared to commercial dog food. The dogs main staple is 1/2 whole chicken, warmed to room temperature. I try to cut them in half so that the Boxer gets a bit more, but I don't weigh their food or anything to determine portion size....because they're dogs.

They get a ground beef/steak mix consisting of eggs, banana, some veggies and sardines/olive oil once or twice a week. They also get a whole raw fish (guts and all) once a week.

The results have been very positive, here are the bullet points of my experience thus far.

* Dogs thoroughly enjoy chewing and eating the food and seem very satisfied afterwards. They now have very well developed jaw and neck muscles.

* Dogs strength and stamina has improved on long runs and uphill pulls.

* Dogs have a very full and shiny coat that feels very healthy to the touch.

* Both dogs used to throw up once a week or so on the commercial diet. This is no longer a problem.

* The have completed ceased chewing on anything left out during the day and now have open access to the house while I'm gone...usually about 9 hours a day.

* They rarely fart and never have bad breath.

* And best of all, at our yearly vet exam a couple weeks ago the vet told me they were the healthiest dogs he had seen come into his office. Their muscle to fat ratio was perfect, their teeth and gums were exceedingly clean, and thorough testing revealed absolutely no bacteria or parasites in their digestive system. He was especially impressed with their muscle definition.

So far so good...we're definitely going to stick with it and keep watching them closely. My good friend came over while they were eating one day and asked a lot of quesitons. He switched his black lab over to raw and reported even better improvements than I got.

Here is a quick update along with requested photos. We actually went to adopt a pitbull pup today from a local rescue and were denied because of the diet we feed. There was concern that salmonela poisoning was going to kill our dogs and their rescue. Our dogs obvious display of perfect health was not enough to counter their fears.

I try to find whole chickens for $.75 to $.85 a pound.

Cut it in half...I slice a little more on one side to give our larger boxer a bigger portion. This is an entire day's worth of food.

I put it in hot water to warm to near room temp. My understanding is that cold meat slows down the digestive process.

Then there is of course the mandatory sit and stare at your delicious chicken until I say differently because I'm bigger than you exercise....

Then there is only heaven.

Well I picked up a grinder from Cabelas for $40 that clamps down and was pretty impressed. It took a while to grind down 10 lbs of chicken but it got the job done.

Here is my recipe for this weeks mix, already ground up, pre-mixed and packaged so feeding is a snap.

5lb ground beef
10lb dark chicken
3lb white chicken
2 large salmon filets
3/4 container of chicken liver
2 cups yogurt, plain
1 bell pepper pured
1/2 dozen jumbo eggs
some olive oil

They seem to be enjoying it, lol. In the couple of days that our new Pit puppy has been on this diet his coat has already started to show a glossy sheen and the spot of mange on his forehead is healed.

They have the digestive system to take care of the things in raw chicken that would make you or me sick. You can't feed them chicken alone and I do feed raw red meats as well, depending on what is on sale that week. They also get eggs, cottage cheese, leftovers, pork and so on.

Red meat is $2+ lb vs. chicken at $.59 a lb. so chicken is the obvious choice to make up the bulk of their protein.

As the bones are part of their diet and cooked bones are dangerous to dogs feeding cooked is not an option. I do buy a big bag of quarters every week, boil that and strip the meat for a quick meal that isn't messy when I'm in a rush. Its more of a back up meal. A lot of fat is not a problem because they are not eating carbs, only fat and protein. Whole chickens have a good fat/protein ration.

In the time that I've been doing this I've seen my dogs digestive problems (throwing up, diarrhea, farts) virtually disappear. They have not been sick at all in the last 6 months.

:lol: I fed beef heart and liver the other day, first time I've ever actually bought a cow's heart. I cut 'em up in thirds and gave them to the dogs.

Organ meat is a much richer than muscle and I guess their stomachs weren't ready for that. Nothing will clear a room faster than raw organ farts. Good sweet Jesus.

We got some beef livers because they are soft and juicy. Cats have never had to chew before and that is the problem with Triumph(the 'what the fuck is this shit?' cat). I cut tiny little pieces up for him and mixed it with wet cat food. He would pick up the liver pieces, realize he had to work to get it down and spit it back out. :rolleyes:

Eva(the 'I love it, give me more!' cat) devoured all that we gave her then 20 minutes later we had bloody vomit to clean up on the carpet. :lol: It was disgusting.

Main point is, we have cats because they are low maintenance. We can put out a bowl of kibble and be gone for a couple of days and they'd be fine. We don't have the type of life that we can be home twice a day everyday, ya know?

Well... I've been doing alot of research on this lately as well, and decided to get Piggy off of the "poison" (as most referred to kibble as, lol), and get her headed in the right direction to a long healthy life. I always knew kibble foods weren't the greatest for dogs, but didn't know just how bad until I started digging a little deeper... YIKES!!

So today (sun), was Piggys first day on her new RAW meaty bones diet! As recommended by everything I've read, I started out very simple: plain chicken quarters. Everyone said don't add variety just yet, just pick one meat and stick with it for a couple weeks and let the dogs body get used to eating and digesting "real" food, then start adding variety, organs, etc.

I got her a 16" pizza pan too to eat off of, so there's room for her to pick stuff apart without getting it all over the kitchen floor.

Small doses to start off with until I know everything is going well. I fasted her yesterday to let everything else work it's way through first

At first she looked a little confused, like "ummm what do I do with this??" LOL. She kept looking up at me, then back down at the chicken, then up at me again, then she just started licking it, hahah

After a few minutes though, she was going to town on it. I watched her the whole time to make sure she didn't try and gulp it (she usually tends to eat pretty fast cuz of the other dogs always coming around her food bowl). But she did great... took her time and chewed everything, crunched all the bones, and all was good. Took her probably 15 mins to finish both pieces. She didn't leave so much as a crumb behind, hahah

She has hip dysplasia and very dry itchy skin in the winter time, and from what I've read, this should help out with both of those. She had a yeast infection in her right ear recently too, but that seemed to be just a one time thing and hasn't happened before that or since. A little maximum strength Vagisil took care of it no prob anyways, lol

So, we'll see how it goes! I'm cutting her feeding down to 1 meal per day and will watch her weight carefully. Hopefully it goes well! Never heard a single bad thing about a raw diet though

Our dog gets mostly meat. They are naturally carnivores. A few of the meals she gets are "medleys" which have certain veggies or berries in them that aid digestion.

With a properly varied diet, supplements shouldn't be necessary except in extreme cases. The dogs get all the nutrients from the food just like their ancestors did in the wild.

We have switched from leaving dry food out for her to graze on to two feedings per day. She'll usually finish it within 10 seconds. On the rare occasion that it is not gone, we usually throw it away. We have left the raw meat out and left. It is gone by the time we get home.

It is definitely not cheaper than kibble. Our raw diet costs about 2X's what dry food would but we aren't bargain shoppers. Convenience > cost.



A raw food diet is the better, easier way. It's not cheaper though.

If you don't want to deal with the preparations that some of these guys go through, do what we do:
We have a local "Pet Deli" that prepackages all meals into individual packages. They are kept in the freezer. When the dog gets her dinner, we pull tomorrow's meals into the fridge to defrost. The next day, open the package and serve. Can't get much easier than that. :idk:

I can give you my answers on these, but I may not be doing it like everyone else.
1. My dogs get meat [on the bone], eggs, and vegetables daily. Yogurt every other day, and a whole fish once a week (in place of meat).
2. I don't give them supplements normally
3. I have no problem with them not eating it all in 1 sitting. Hasn't happened yet.
4. I don't leave raw meat laying around.
5. It isn't cheaper (or more convenient), from what I can tell. Although my beasts used to go through quite a bit of bag food anyway, and that wasn't exactly cheap either.

Basically, every Sunday I do all the major prepping for the entire week. I usually just buy whole chickens and portion them myself. In a pinch I will use leg quarters.

For the treats, yes. She still gets them and is as excited now as when she was on a super-bland kibble diet.

The rule of thumb with raw foods is about 2% of body weight per day. That means Brinks would need about 3lbs of food, give or take.

Hopefully Kaneman will chime in on the best way to make that happen. It takes our dog almost 2 weeks to eat that much food! :lol:

The weight percentage shmike mentioned is a good rule of thumb, and then you just vary it based on your dog's metabolism. My big guy weighs 90lbs and eats about a half a chicken a day, plus "fixins." He has a very high metabolism, I don't think a 150lb dog would eat a whole lot more. A whole chicken a day seems like a lot, but if you're talking a small chicken, like 2.5lbs...then that might be good.

I would find a Mastiff forum, most dog forums these days have a Raw Diet sub forum so you can see what other breed owners are doing for their dogs.

I don't give my dogs anything to chew on, no raw hide or anything. Its too hard to keep an eye on them with stuff like that laying around for me, but they don't chew up any of my stuff so its all good. The raw diet is supposed to satisfy that urge they have to chew stuff, seems to work.

I feed once or twice a day, depends on what food they're getting. Raw meaty meals are fed once, ground meals twice.

We actually make a "glop" which is a bunch of raw veggies,eggs, yogurt, and a bit of molasses and freeze it. We have it sectioned out so its easy to just transfer a container of glop to the fridge to thaw before feeding.

I have beef and chicken sections separated into organs vs. Muscle so it's very easy to put a meal together for the dogs. We shop at the local Amish market so we get all fresh meat. We can get fresh duck and rabbit as well. It's fun to shop for the dogs as much as for us.

Lesson learned. Serve beef bones with marrow outside unless you want to mop the floor following feeding.

:whosr:

[OneSickPsycho]

redflipThis is an update on the a conversation we had regarding putting your pooches on a "raw" diet.

We switched from commercial pet food (Pedigree dry, choice cuts and missing link) a few months ago to a raw meaty bone diet in an effort to ensure the health and stamina of my 90lb male Boxer and 65lb female Lab.

Initially I was using chicken necks and leg quarters as the main sources of meat but after a few raw vomiting episodes it became clear that they weren't chewing the neck bones enough and just gulping them down. I switched over to whole carcasses to force them to learn to chew and began feeding once a day instead of twice a day.

There are always good deals somewhere on whole chickens so there has not been a large cost increase compared to commercial dog food. The dogs main staple is 1/2 whole chicken, warmed to room temperature. I try to cut them in half so that the Boxer gets a bit more, but I don't weigh their food or anything to determine portion size....because they're dogs.

They get a ground beef/steak mix consisting of eggs, banana, some veggies and sardines/olive oil once or twice a week. They also get a whole raw fish (guts and all) once a week.

The results have been very positive, here are the bullet points of my experience thus far.

* Dogs thoroughly enjoy chewing and eating the food and seem very satisfied afterwards. They now have very well developed jaw and neck muscles.

* Dogs strength and stamina has improved on long runs and uphill pulls.

* Dogs have a very full and shiny coat that feels very healthy to the touch.

* Both dogs used to throw up once a week or so on the commercial diet. This is no longer a problem.

* The have completed ceased chewing on anything left out during the day and now have open access to the house while I'm gone...usually about 9 hours a day.

* They rarely fart and never have bad breath.

* And best of all, at our yearly vet exam a couple weeks ago the vet told me they were the healthiest dogs he had seen come into his office. Their muscle to fat ratio was perfect, their teeth and gums were exceedingly clean, and thorough testing revealed absolutely no bacteria or parasites in their digestive system. He was especially impressed with their muscle definition.

So far so good...we're definitely going to stick with it and keep watching them closely. My good friend came over while they were eating one day and asked a lot of quesitons. He switched his black lab over to raw and reported even better improvements than I got.

Here is a quick update along with requested photos. We actually went to adopt a pitbull pup today from a local rescue and were denied because of the diet we feed. There was concern that salmonela poisoning was going to kill our dogs and their rescue. Our dogs obvious display of perfect health was not enough to counter their fears.

I try to find whole chickens for $.75 to $.85 a pound.

Cut it in half...I slice a little more on one side to give our larger boxer a bigger portion. This is an entire day's worth of food.

I put it in hot water to warm to near room temp. My understanding is that cold meat slows down the digestive process.

Then there is of course the mandatory sit and stare at your delicious chicken until I say differently because I'm bigger than you exercise....

Then there is only heaven.

Well I picked up a grinder from Cabelas for $40 that clamps down and was pretty impressed. It took a while to grind down 10 lbs of chicken but it got the job done.

Here is my recipe for this weeks mix, already ground up, pre-mixed and packaged so feeding is a snap.

5lb ground beef
10lb dark chicken
3lb white chicken
2 large salmon filets
3/4 container of chicken liver
2 cups yogurt, plain
1 bell pepper pured
1/2 dozen jumbo eggs
some olive oil

They seem to be enjoying it, lol. In the couple of days that our new Pit puppy has been on this diet his coat has already started to show a glossy sheen and the spot of mange on his forehead is healed.

They have the digestive system to take care of the things in raw chicken that would make you or me sick. You can't feed them chicken alone and I do feed raw red meats as well, depending on what is on sale that week. They also get eggs, cottage cheese, leftovers, pork and so on.

Red meat is $2+ lb vs. chicken at $.59 a lb. so chicken is the obvious choice to make up the bulk of their protein.

As the bones are part of their diet and cooked bones are dangerous to dogs feeding cooked is not an option. I do buy a big bag of quarters every week, boil that and strip the meat for a quick meal that isn't messy when I'm in a rush. Its more of a back up meal. A lot of fat is not a problem because they are not eating carbs, only fat and protein. Whole chickens have a good fat/protein ration.

In the time that I've been doing this I've seen my dogs digestive problems (throwing up, diarrhea, farts) virtually disappear. They have not been sick at all in the last 6 months.

:lol: I fed beef heart and liver the other day, first time I've ever actually bought a cow's heart. I cut 'em up in thirds and gave them to the dogs.

Organ meat is a much richer than muscle and I guess their stomachs weren't ready for that. Nothing will clear a room faster than raw organ farts. Good sweet Jesus.

We got some beef livers because they are soft and juicy. Cats have never had to chew before and that is the problem with Triumph(the 'what the fuck is this shit?' cat). I cut tiny little pieces up for him and mixed it with wet cat food. He would pick up the liver pieces, realize he had to work to get it down and spit it back out. :rolleyes:

Eva(the 'I love it, give me more!' cat) devoured all that we gave her then 20 minutes later we had bloody vomit to clean up on the carpet. :lol: It was disgusting.

Main point is, we have cats because they are low maintenance. We can put out a bowl of kibble and be gone for a couple of days and they'd be fine. We don't have the type of life that we can be home twice a day everyday, ya know?

Well... I've been doing alot of research on this lately as well, and decided to get Piggy off of the "poison" (as most referred to kibble as, lol), and get her headed in the right direction to a long healthy life. I always knew kibble foods weren't the greatest for dogs, but didn't know just how bad until I started digging a little deeper... YIKES!!

So today (sun), was Piggys first day on her new RAW meaty bones diet! As recommended by everything I've read, I started out very simple: plain chicken quarters. Everyone said don't add variety just yet, just pick one meat and stick with it for a couple weeks and let the dogs body get used to eating and digesting "real" food, then start adding variety, organs, etc.

I got her a 16" pizza pan too to eat off of, so there's room for her to pick stuff apart without getting it all over the kitchen floor.

Small doses to start off with until I know everything is going well. I fasted her yesterday to let everything else work it's way through first

At first she looked a little confused, like "ummm what do I do with this??" LOL. She kept looking up at me, then back down at the chicken, then up at me again, then she just started licking it, hahah

After a few minutes though, she was going to town on it. I watched her the whole time to make sure she didn't try and gulp it (she usually tends to eat pretty fast cuz of the other dogs always coming around her food bowl). But she did great... took her time and chewed everything, crunched all the bones, and all was good. Took her probably 15 mins to finish both pieces. She didn't leave so much as a crumb behind, hahah

She has hip dysplasia and very dry itchy skin in the winter time, and from what I've read, this should help out with both of those. She had a yeast infection in her right ear recently too, but that seemed to be just a one time thing and hasn't happened before that or since. A little maximum strength Vagisil took care of it no prob anyways, lol

So, we'll see how it goes! I'm cutting her feeding down to 1 meal per day and will watch her weight carefully. Hopefully it goes well! Never heard a single bad thing about a raw diet though

Our dog gets mostly meat. They are naturally carnivores. A few of the meals she gets are "medleys" which have certain veggies or berries in them that aid digestion.

With a properly varied diet, supplements shouldn't be necessary except in extreme cases. The dogs get all the nutrients from the food just like their ancestors did in the wild.

We have switched from leaving dry food out for her to graze on to two feedings per day. She'll usually finish it within 10 seconds. On the rare occasion that it is not gone, we usually throw it away. We have left the raw meat out and left. It is gone by the time we get home.

It is definitely not cheaper than kibble. Our raw diet costs about 2X's what dry food would but we aren't bargain shoppers. Convenience > cost.



A raw food diet is the better, easier way. It's not cheaper though.

If you don't want to deal with the preparations that some of these guys go through, do what we do:
We have a local "Pet Deli" that prepackages all meals into individual packages. They are kept in the freezer. When the dog gets her dinner, we pull tomorrow's meals into the fridge to defrost. The next day, open the package and serve. Can't get much easier than that. :idk:

I can give you my answers on these, but I may not be doing it like everyone else.
1. My dogs get meat [on the bone], eggs, and vegetables daily. Yogurt every other day, and a whole fish once a week (in place of meat).
2. I don't give them supplements normally
3. I have no problem with them not eating it all in 1 sitting. Hasn't happened yet.
4. I don't leave raw meat laying around.
5. It isn't cheaper (or more convenient), from what I can tell. Although my beasts used to go through quite a bit of bag food anyway, and that wasn't exactly cheap either.

Basically, every Sunday I do all the major prepping for the entire week. I usually just buy whole chickens and portion them myself. In a pinch I will use leg quarters.

For the treats, yes. She still gets them and is as excited now as when she was on a super-bland kibble diet.

The rule of thumb with raw foods is about 2% of body weight per day. That means Brinks would need about 3lbs of food, give or take.

Hopefully Kaneman will chime in on the best way to make that happen. It takes our dog almost 2 weeks to eat that much food! :lol:

The weight percentage shmike mentioned is a good rule of thumb, and then you just vary it based on your dog's metabolism. My big guy weighs 90lbs and eats about a half a chicken a day, plus "fixins." He has a very high metabolism, I don't think a 150lb dog would eat a whole lot more. A whole chicken a day seems like a lot, but if you're talking a small chicken, like 2.5lbs...then that might be good.

I would find a Mastiff forum, most dog forums these days have a Raw Diet sub forum so you can see what other breed owners are doing for their dogs.

I don't give my dogs anything to chew on, no raw hide or anything. Its too hard to keep an eye on them with stuff like that laying around for me, but they don't chew up any of my stuff so its all good. The raw diet is supposed to satisfy that urge they have to chew stuff, seems to work.

I feed once or twice a day, depends on what food they're getting. Raw meaty meals are fed once, ground meals twice.

We actually make a "glop" which is a bunch of raw veggies,eggs, yogurt, and a bit of molasses and freeze it. We have it sectioned out so its easy to just transfer a container of glop to the fridge to thaw before feeding.

I have beef and chicken sections separated into organs vs. Muscle so it's very easy to put a meal together for the dogs. We shop at the local Amish market so we get all fresh meat. We can get fresh duck and rabbit as well. It's fun to shop for the dogs as much as for us.

Lesson learned. Serve beef bones with marrow outside unless you want to mop the floor following feeding.

:whosr:

[OneSickPsycho]

I have started my 2 Danes on raw finally. It's slow and they still get expensive kibble, but I wanted to introduce the raw to them first to make sure they could handle it.

I also decided to do it after getting my emaciated second Dane, Lexi. It was a perfect opportunity to start her on something GOOD compared to the damn Old Roy shit she was eating before.

Lexi just turned 3 and Andre just turned 5.

I started them off on turkey necks and we alternate between those and half chicken breasts without the skin for now (poop is not runny when taking the skin off).

Never had any throw up issues, choke issues, nothing.

They are both doing fantastic on it and I can see it is doing a lot for Lexi and isn't taking her as long to bulk up on raw than it did for Andre on kibble.

They also get raw egg (she gets all including shell, he gets just the egg as he refuses the shell), peanut butter, and some cheese and garlic powder.

Hadn't heard of the pat of butter thing. I'll try it as it is dry here lately and both have dry skin.

This month I will slowly be moving them to raw-only. :rockwoot:

Its cheaper before you add in the meds, vet costs and bones to chew. Raw meat is cheaper than premium dog foods per lb, and certainly more healthy.

I'm paying $.59 - $.89 per lb for leg quarters and whole chickens. I buy cottage cheese and the other supplemental on sale every week. How much you have to feed Brinks depends not only on his size, but his activity level as well. Start with a half a chicken's worth a day and go from there. Pay attention to his ribs and amount of body fat. If he starts getting too skinny, feed him more.

As far as known allergies and issues like you mentioned with his thyroid, everything we know medically about dogs is based on them eating food that they can't process correctly. For example, Rottweilers are known to have hip displasia "because they're so big", however it could just as easily be degenerated hip bones, tendons and muscles from 10 years of eating shit food that causes them to be crippled.

I don't like the slow conversion because when you feed raw and kibble combined the kibble slows the digestion down and allows bacteria from the raw meat to grow. Although I have mixed them before and had no problem I prefer the cold turkey (get it) method and switched all mine over in one day.

If you have a set feeding time then just put the chicken out for him at that time, give him 5 minutes or whatever and if he doesn't eat it put it back in the fridge and repeat the next day. He'll eat it eventually... My Boxer/Mastiff was pretty skeptical at first, but he came around and now gives the same reaction if you try to feed him kibble. :lol:

Maybe put some other stuff he likes in there with the chicken, or you can feed raw beef instead the first day....I bet he'll eat that.

This is true, dogs can get roundworm from raw pork. Sometimes my brother in law gives me pork that he buys in bulk and lets go bad in the freezer. I cook it then feed it to the dogs, never had a problem with that.

Any other meat should be ok raw though.

So far our dogs have had chicken,duck,rabbit,beef, and goose. No pork. If I can catch Mr. Groundhog this year.they'll have that.

That's where you use raw veggies,yogurt,eggs, molasses. We buy a lot of leafy greens{kale,romaine,broccoli,spinach,....) carrots,celery,etc..pretty much everything but onions. We have an industrial food processor and make a veggie glop. We have to make some tomorrow. I'll snap some pics. Tell you what-I'll snap pics of tomorrow's dinner.

BTW-Wife bought meat and veggies-enough for almost 2 months for 3 20 lb dogs and spent $50. She uses coupons and watches the weekly sale paper but you get the idea. Remember-you are buying the stuff most people don't buy. Chicken backs and necks,liver,gizzards,hearts etc...

Here they are. As you can see, Leafy veggies, carrots, ginger root, garlic,berries eggs,yogurt.vinegar and molasses. Damn dogs eat healthier than us humans. :lol

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21/vatorman/Raw%20Diet/Rawdiet001.jpg

Monster food processor. We burned up our Harry Homeowner model doing this shit. Basically 3 eggs, yogurt, and molasses per run. We did 4 runs.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21/vatorman/Raw%20Diet/Rawdiet005.jpg

Never said it looked good.

DAMN-it looks like a hideous experiment. Now you see why we call it glop.But the dogs love it.

Ready for freezing. About 2 months worth. Total cost- $20

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21/vatorman/Raw%20Diet/Rawdiet009.jpg

Tonight's dinner. Beef ribs,chicken hearts and livers, and glop.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21/vatorman/Raw%20Diet/Rawdiet011.jpg

WOW Vator... that looks awesome.

Uma & I doing more research tonight....

Don't listen to the vets.
Don't feed them pork.
Don't cook anything but maybe vegs.
Cold turkey switching is best
no vegs for first few weeks, just meat.
slightly browned hamburger is good to help switch
I can buy used fridge/freezers locally on craiglists all day long.

Oh and according to the math of 3% of the dogs body weight (150#) he needs about 4lbs of food a day!!!!!!!!

Really?!?!?

Sadie eats in one place, it's a tile floor and gets cleaned after she eats. The chicken gets dropped on the floor by her when she eats, it just happens. That doesn't mean she won't try and sneak it away.... :lol:

I use a Swiffer Wet with antibacterial stuff, takes less than a minute to clean up.....or I feed them outside when its nice.



Definitely a freezer. You can transfer a daily meal to your fridge to dethaw it, but to avoid going to the store all the time it pays to have a freezer.

My dog always behaves like her paws taste like peanut butter after breakfast. Probably because there is peanut butter in her mouth :lol:

I divide her food into single meal portions in cheap Ziploc plastic containers. Those go into the freezer. I have two in the fridge at all times, one thawing and one thawed for dinner. I rotate them. The bulk of them are in the freezer. At one time, we used freezer bags. But, the plastic containers are reuseable.

I'm worried abt thaw time. Whole chickens aren't gg to thaw fast. And our fridge is always packed. 2 gals of milk, 2 oj gals, beer, soda, lots of left overs. No room for 2 or 3 whole chickens is various states of frozen/thaw.

I fill the sink with hot water and soak it to dethaw...

Thinking of making the switch sunday (later today). Question. Have any of you had any issues with the switch? Puking? Difficulty pooping? Do they poop whole pieces of bone or no?

Correct me if I'm wrong on any of this:
As long as he's chewing up the bones, no worries.
He gets 30 mins with his chicken pieces, if he don't eat it, back in the fridge, waits till following day.
Sit and wait for the food.
No more kibble.
Just run chicken, no veggies or other meats, for 2-3 weeks.

All my dogs threw up a couple of times during the first month. There was always bone fragments in the puke, but I think that was mainly because I was feeding pieces too small for them to have to chew (neck bones)

The poop should be nothing more than compacted bone dust. It will turn while and basically be a powder when it dries....there should be no whole bone fragments in their poop.

Sometimes it helps to feed them by hand, you can teach them how to eat correctly by not letting them swallow it whole, :lol:

Well picked up the food processor... it's a beast!

Bought carrots, lettuce, cucumber, garlic to make the veggy glop.
Frozen berries, apple, pear, yogurt to make the fruit glop. We bought bananas as well but forgot to put them in.

We combined all that and had Brinks taste testing it the whole way.

Like Vators it doesn't look good and while the fruit style tasted good, when you mixed in the garlicy veggy, it tasted funky. But Brinks LOVE LOVE LOVED it. He was drooling waiting for his next taste.

Sorry I was absent- was at VIR wasting gas and rubber.

My wife just corrected my post. 2 OZ of Glop, 2 OZ of organs, and 4 OZ of meat per meal X 2. Thanks for correcting me OSP.

Morning:
1 Egg - broken but shell and all into bowl
2 Chicken livers
1 Banana
2 large spoonfuls plain yogurt
1 spoonful peanut butter
1 tsp butter

Dinner:
1 Chicken thigh

We have played with her diet - up and down. She used to get less breakfast and more chicken for "dinner." But, watching her weight and activity level - this right now is suiting her best.

She is a 65lb Black Lab. She turned 14 in May.

The main trick for this diet is to know your pet. Pay attention to your pet and watch their gain/loss of weight. Knowing their activity level and personality is key as well. What I LOVE about Sadie now is how close we are. She now doesn't behave like a typical pet - she is another child of mine.

Quoted for my own personal reference...redflip

Gloppers... do you make one kind of glop or two? Seemed like GM was talking about making two different ones... a veggie and a fruit. If so, do you altnernate? I think maybe making two, both combos of veggies and fruit, would be the way to go... keep the dogs interested... though I only change kibble flavors about every 2-3 weeks (same kind, just differnet flavor)...

I'm figuring for Taco @ around 95lbs, he should get about 2.5lbs of meat per day... using 2-3% as the baseline... For Belle @ around 30lbs, she should get 1lb of meat per day... using a bit over 3% as the baseline (figuring she's a growing puppy)... gonna try it with the cats too, fuck it.

Correct me if I'm wrong... Here's my plan...

Gonna buy a freezer and a food processor... freezer first, processor not so urgent... Look for deals at the grocery store, but will also check out the butcher down the road (you walk in and say you want 'that' chicken and they slaughter it on the spot... AND it's less than 3 miles from the house!).

When the last of their kibble is gone (est another 1.5 weeks)... I will present them with a whole chicken... well, ~2/3 for Taco and the other ~1/4 for Belle... and the other ~1/4 split between the cats. I think I'll just put it in their dishes, chopped up so they don't pull the whole damn thing out and eat it off the floor. We'll do that twice a day for a couple of weeks, then start glopping.

We'll mix up some veggie/fruit glop at that point and add it to the mix... maybe 1/4 cup for Taco, 2 tablespoons for Belle, and a tablespoon for each cat along with the meat... Not sure on the portion sizes there... Obviously their weight at that point will make the difference... if I see ribs/getting fatty/etc... but I guess what I'm asking is what's the right glop to meat ratio? Is that in addition to the weight of the meat or is that a combined weight (the 2-3%)?

Probably will buy a grinder down the road and make some prepackaged meals for dog sitters, boarding, etc. I figure that would make it much easier... just buy a bunch of zip loc containers and freeze them... whoever watches them just busts out a couple a day and forget about it.

[defector]

I don't have a specific fruit/veggie mix, but...
Since we also have an iguana, I have started sneaking some of his leafy greens/veggies/fruits in the dog's mix. I just toss everything that isn't meat in the processor for a few seconds.

[VatorMan]

I'm thinking of patenting the word "Glop." Everyone owes me $1 for every use per post.

[OneSickPsycho]

More reading this afternoon...

Found this: http://rawfed.com/myths/feedraw.html

It says the veggie portion is completely unnecessary... thoughts?

[Kaneman]

More reading this afternoon...

Found this: http://rawfed.com/myths/feedraw.html

It says the veggie portion is completely unnecessary... thoughts?

I personally don't do it and have never had a problem.

[VatorMan]

Well, my dog's diet was championed by a California hippy. That diet seems to mimic a wolfs typical diet. I guess it's all in what you want to feed your animals. I would guess since we (humans) get nourishment from veggies, so would my dogs. Plus they like it and it stretches our food $$.

[OneSickPsycho]

I personally don't do it and have never had a problem.

Yeah, but didn't you say you do supplement the meat portion with rice or something?

[OneSickPsycho]

Well, my dog's diet was championed by a California hippy. That diet seems to mimic a wolfs typical diet. I guess it's all in what you want to feed your animals. I would guess since we (humans) get nourishment from veggies, so would my dogs. Plus they like it and it stretches our food $$.

Yeah, I like the stretching of the $$ too, but I just want to make sure we're doing what's best for the dogs... If they don't need it, I won't give it... Saves me money on a food processor and shit too...

[VatorMan]

Well, my dog's diet was championed by a California hippy. That diet seems to mimic a wolfs typical diet. I guess it's all in what you want to feed your animals. I would guess since we (humans) get nourishment from veggies, so would my dogs. Plus they like it and it stretches our food $$.

[defector]

More reading this afternoon...

Found this: http://rawfed.com/myths/feedraw.html

It says the veggie portion is completely unnecessary... thoughts?

I would probably say it isn't necessary. But we have to buy the veggie stuff anyway, so if the dogs can help eat the collard greens, then I don't have to. :lol:

[Kaneman]

Yeah, but didn't you say you do supplement the meat portion with rice or something?

Yea, I don't feed strictly chicken....but I don't really use any veggies or anything. Every once in a while I'll have some leftover onion-less stirfry with broccoli and stuff that the dogs will eat.

I use rice, olive oil, cottage cheese, yogurt and organs to go with the chicken.

[OneSickPsycho]

Yea, I don't feed strictly chicken....but I don't really use any veggies or anything. Every once in a while I'll have some leftover onion-less stirfry with broccoli and stuff that the dogs will eat.

I use rice, olive oil, cottage cheese, yogurt and organs to go with the chicken.

Not to :deadhorse:, but isn't feeding rice counterproductive to the whole point of going raw... getting rid of the grains and bullshit that's in mass produced dog food?

[Kaneman]

Not to :deadhorse:, but isn't feeding rice counterproductive to the whole point of going raw... getting rid of the grains and bullshit that's in mass produced dog food?

Pretty big difference between feeding some freshly cooked rice and feeding processed dog food with wheat, brewers rice (very low quality shitty rice), barley, God knows what kinds of chemicals, "by-products", corn, bran, yeast, etc., etc. The rice gets 'em extra full and makes them feel satisfied and lazy while saving me some cash. They don't have any problem processing plain ol' white rice.

The absolute main reason that I feed raw meat is because I learned that they just don't use very much meat in dog food....and dogs fucking love meat. :lol:

[OneSickPsycho]

Cool beans... makes sense... I think we're just going to go 100% meat. Fuck it.

Great video I found btw... the comment in the first minute or so is priceless... "when the dogs eat baby bunnies like little Tootsie Rolls..." :slol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3wLTlqnMMg&feature=related

[Gas Man]

Quoted for my own personal reference...redflip

Gloppers... do you make one kind of glop or two? Seemed like GM was talking about making two different ones... a veggie and a fruit. If so, do you altnernate? I think maybe making two, both combos of veggies and fruit, would be the way to go... keep the dogs interested... though I only change kibble flavors about every 2-3 weeks (same kind, just differnet flavor)...

I'm figuring for Taco @ around 95lbs, he should get about 2.5lbs of meat per day... using 2-3% as the baseline... For Belle @ around 30lbs, she should get 1lb of meat per day... using a bit over 3% as the baseline (figuring she's a growing puppy)... gonna try it with the cats too, fuck it.

Correct me if I'm wrong... Here's my plan...

Gonna buy a freezer and a food processor... freezer first, processor not so urgent... Look for deals at the grocery store, but will also check out the butcher down the road (you walk in and say you want 'that' chicken and they slaughter it on the spot... AND it's less than 3 miles from the house!).

When the last of their kibble is gone (est another 1.5 weeks)... I will present them with a whole chicken... well, ~2/3 for Taco and the other ~1/4 for Belle... and the other ~1/4 split between the cats. I think I'll just put it in their dishes, chopped up so they don't pull the whole damn thing out and eat it off the floor. We'll do that twice a day for a couple of weeks, then start glopping.

We'll mix up some veggie/fruit glop at that point and add it to the mix... maybe 1/4 cup for Taco, 2 tablespoons for Belle, and a tablespoon for each cat along with the meat... Not sure on the portion sizes there... Obviously their weight at that point will make the difference... if I see ribs/getting fatty/etc... but I guess what I'm asking is what's the right glop to meat ratio? Is that in addition to the weight of the meat or is that a combined weight (the 2-3%)?

Probably will buy a grinder down the road and make some prepackaged meals for dog sitters, boarding, etc. I figure that would make it much easier... just buy a bunch of zip loc containers and freeze them... whoever watches them just busts out a couple a day and forget about it.

I was making 2 glops but ended up just mixing them.

And they say to start with just raw meat for the first few weeks. This is reflective in my posts.

I don't have a specific fruit/veggie mix, but...
Since we also have an iguana, I have started sneaking some of his leafy greens/veggies/fruits in the dog's mix. I just toss everything that isn't meat in the processor for a few seconds.

I don't either... last night I noticed I had a few things I need to get rid of, so into the processor it all went...

I'm thinking of patenting the word "Glop." Everyone owes me $1 for every use per post.

Check's in the mail. :skep:

More reading this afternoon...

Found this: http://rawfed.com/myths/feedraw.html

It says the veggie portion is completely unnecessary... thoughts?

But that person also says 25% bone, and using organs. I do all the leg quart bone and don't currently do any organs. So I think that warrants veggies.

Well, my dog's diet was championed by a California hippy. That diet seems to mimic a wolfs typical diet. I guess it's all in what you want to feed your animals. I would guess since we (humans) get nourishment from veggies, so would my dogs. Plus they like it and it stretches our food $$.

I don't have a hippy but I just figure he eats the way I SHOULD eat. Healthy!

[HurricaneHeather]

OSP, give us updates with your cats too. I am thinking about trying it again with mine. It was a friggin nightmare the last time we tried. Should be fun. :lol:

[OneSickPsycho]

OSP, give us updates with your cats too. I am thinking about trying it again with mine. It was a friggin nightmare the last time we tried. Should be fun. :lol:

Aye Aye...

Bought a stand up freezer last night... $30... looks great, we'll see how long it works...

Gonna drop by the butcher tonight after work... been meaning to for a while now, but the dogs have about 1 or 2 more meals of dog food left, so I gotta move quickly.

[Tsunami]

I want to get my stray kitty off kibbles too or at least incorporate some fresh stuff into her diet so I would be interested in cat updates as well. I know nothing about cats.

[OneSickPsycho]

I want to get my stray kitty off kibbles too or at least incorporate some fresh stuff into her diet so I would be interested in cat updates as well. I know nothing about cats.

Cats are easy... They are just like dogs, only for the most part they could give a fuck about you... and they don't need to be potty trained... and they aren't NEARLY as much of a pain in the ass...

[Kaneman]

OSP, give us updates with your cats too. I am thinking about trying it again with mine. It was a friggin nightmare the last time we tried. Should be fun. :lol:

Yea, cats make pretty good raw food for dogs. Sometimes you have to skin them, or at least get it started so your dog doesn't get a hairball.

[VatorMan]

Yea, cats make pretty good raw food for dogs. Sometimes you have to skin them, or at least get it started so your dog doesn't get a hairball.

This was mildly humorous.

[HurricaneHeather]

Cats are easy... They are just like dogs, only for the most part they could give a fuck about you... and they don't need to be potty trained... and they aren't NEARLY as much of a pain in the ass...

My cats wanted nothing to do with the raw food. So they didn't eat. Cats who haven't eaten are 4 billion times more annoying than a dog who haven't eaten. :lol:

But, yeah normally cats aren't nearly as much work.

[OneSickPsycho]

My cats wanted nothing to do with the raw food. So they didn't eat. Cats who haven't eaten are 4 billion times more annoying than a dog who haven't eaten. :lol:

But, yeah normally cats aren't nearly as much work.

Very true... Our cats take turns meowing at the door, in the bed, in your face in the mornings until someone gets up and feeds them.

Mr. Bear will undoubtedly be down with raw... he's been caught licking thawing chicken on a number of occassions... and he's stolen raw'ish food from the stove. Piper on the other hand... it could go either way.

[OneSickPsycho]

Last night after work, I went on the hunt for cheap chickens... The butcher down the road closes before I get off work and the dogs were pretty much out of food so I hit the supermarkets... Publix ended up being the cheapest... picked up 8 chickens @ $1.19/lb and two packages of chicken hearts @ $1.39/lb...

Went home, cut a chicken into 1/4, split it and the organs inside by hand into each one of the dog's dishes... Belle went to town immediately... licking licking licking... then finally grabbed a wing and started chowing down. She got it and was HOOKED within 30 seconds to a minute. Taco on the other hand wasn't so sure... he licked and when I fed him a heart, he was all about it, but the meat on the bone... not so much. He'd lick, watch Belle, look at us, lick, repeat. We started pulling some of the meat off the bone and feeding it to him by hand. He would eat small chunks, but anyting that required a lot of chewing, he wasn't into. By the end of it he was chomping down bones and all, but still in small peices.

About a half hour later Taco walked up to ONSSP salivating like a motherfucker... no drool, just pretty much water. We figured he was about to vomit, but he didn't. Another half hour or so later, he "exorcist vomitted" on the floor... I was droppin a hog so I didn't see it, but that's how ONSSP described it... All it was was water and a big chunk of chicken skin. Both dogs wanted to eat it immediately and aside from a bit more salivating later, he was fine.

This morning I took another 1/4 of the chicken out of the fridge and they were all about it again. Belle had no issues again, went right at it... Taco required more feeding by hand, but would eat considerably larger pieces... Both had no issues with the bones and again, were ALL ABOUT the hearts. When I took the dogs for a walk, Belle pooped about 1/4 the normal size and Taco shot straight liquid. His has been soft lately anyway, so I'm guessing he's working through something and the meat probably didn't help. We'll be keeping a close eye on that one.

All in all, it's been damn easy... not as easy as kibble... hacking chickens, cleaning the floor/bowls after each meal, etc... but no issues with them taking to it.

As for the cats... After feeding the dogs I had a bunch of chicken slime on my hands including very small bits of meat... I put my hand in their faces and both licked and ate some of the little pieces. We still have a bunch of cat food left so we aren't going to make the switch just yet, but I predict a pretty easy transition for them as well.

[Adeptus_Minor]

Both had no issues with the bones and again, were ALL ABOUT the hearts. When I took the dogs for a walk, Belle pooped about 1/4 the normal size and Taco shot straight liquid. His has been soft lately anyway, so I'm guessing he's working through something and the meat probably didn't help. We'll be keeping a close eye on that one.


I don't know what it was about the organ meats, but they always gave Lilly the shits.
Too rich? Not enough density? Something...

[HokieDNA01]

Hey everyone. Haven't been on here in months. Came back on last night and got sucked into this thread. I adopted a Boston Terrier named Mack a few months ago and he is awesome. He has a TERRIBLE digestive tract though and often as diarrehea and horrible gas. He also has skin allergies/dry skin the dont seem to bother him much but I think they look really bad. I have him on a "premium" kibble atm (Nature's Balance Duck/Potato) but would like to try him on the raw diet starting next week.

Here is the guidelines I plan to follow. I won't be doing pork as suggested

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/diet/exp-diet-guide.pdf

Few questions:

I have seen 2 ways of thinking on this, BARF which has some grains, veggies, egg etc and RMB diet which is all meat. I think I want to provide him some veggies and may try the "glop". Why do you put vinigar and mollassess in?

I am also seeing that you should fast your dog for a day before starting and also fast your dog once a week as they are not regular eaters in the wild. Does anyone else do this?

I think i will see a MAJOR cost savings over the food I am buying ($31/17lb) and hope he will really start to look and feel better. I have a spare freezer so that shouldnt be an issue either. I just hope I can find a local butcher.

Thanks for all the advice. I can't wait to get him started.

[VatorMan]

Vinegar because, well vinegar is good for you. Molasses for taste. We accidentally forgot molasses in one session and the dogs gave us a *sniff,sniff* WTF is this ? look. :lol

[OneSickPsycho]

Ok, so it's been a few days now... what an experience so far...

Both are eating like champions now... no more hand feeding, they just go at it. Belle has been pooping 1 time per day, about half the size of her normal poop, slimy, but solid... Taco on the other hand...

Saturday Taco continued to shit liquid... Then later on in the day, there was a little blood... about a half hour later, he shit straight blood. I had been reading and the big thing was if the blood was red (it was) - could be irritation (dog IBS), a bone fragment, or allergy. Not something to be immediately freaked out about. Given the amount of blood, I figured bone fragment... so I investigated and found a sharp little bone up in him... He still doesn't look at me the same, but the next poop was pretty much blood free and every one since has been without blood.

Sunday I got pretty excited because, while still shooting some liquid, Taco had a good amount of solid poo as well... I figured he's adjusting and it's getting better. Then ONSSP took him out yesterday morning and he shot straight liquid again... same thing for me last night.

I am REALLY hoping it's not an allergy thing... I cut out organ meat to see and am going to up the bone content a bit to see if I can balance it out. We'll give him a few more days and hopefully this shit will solidify.

Otherwise, both dogs are very happy and totally normal. Can't tell yet about weight loss/gain or anything, so I'm sticking with the portion sizes as-is for now.


......


Hokie - I don't plan on doing the glop thing... don't see it as necessary... I doubt that if all the humans died tomorrow our dogs would be eating from the garden and shit... pretty sure they'd be killing buffalos and cool shit like that.

Also, as far as fasting is concerned... not gonna happen with my dogs. Taco must eat twice a day at relatively consistent intervals or else he has a tendency to vomit. Probably has something to do with him tearing up his ropes and those strings upsetting his stomach...

Don't worry too much about finding a butcher... you'll get serious cost savings anyway... I bought chickens for $1.19/lb and Publix... Found them for $0.99/lb at Walmart and found them for $0.89/lb at BJ's. You can also find chicken scraps for cheaper than that... I think I saw necks and backs for $0.69/lb at Publix.

[Gas Man]

Vinegar because, well vinegar is good for you. Molasses for taste. We accidentally forgot molasses in one session and the dogs gave us a *sniff,sniff* WTF is this ? look. :lol

Good point. I know brinks hates honey... I don't think maolasses will yield any difference.

On that PDF from hookie. It says garlic is toxic. That's a first I've heard of it.

[OneSickPsycho]

I don't think the dogs are getting enough bone... gonna cut some of the meat out and add more bone... We'll see if that stiffens up Taco's hershey squirts.

[Particle Man]

I don't think the dogs are getting enough bone... gonna cut some of the meat out and add more bone... We'll see if that stiffens up Taco's hershey squirts.

Bet that stinks when you run Max A/C....

[anthonyk]

Given the amount of blood, I figured bone fragment... so I investigated and found a sharp little bone up in him... He still doesn't look at me the same, but the next poop was pretty much blood free and every one since has been without blood.

:tremble::lol

Wow.

[OneSickPsycho]

Yeah ONSSP hates it... HATES it when I refer to "when I fingered Taco"... :lmao:

[Particle Man]

Yeah ONSSP hates it... HATES it when I refer to "when I fingered Taco"... :lmao:

:lmao: :lmao: can't imagine why

[Gas Man]

I'm tellin ya OSP... you can get leg quarters for cheaper and I'm sure it's easier.

[OneSickPsycho]

I'm tellin ya OSP... you can get leg quarters for cheaper and I'm sure it's easier.

It's not bad as is... takes about 5 minutes to dissect a chicken... I will probably not buy any more whole chickens once we are through our current supply, but rather just start buying backs and other parts. Gotta see if upping the bone content helps with Taco's squirts.

Last night I hacked a new chicken... Cut the breast meat out, the leg quarters and wings off, then fed the remaining carcass to Taco. Belle got a couple wings and some random trimmings. We ate the breasts for dinner and the leg quarters made up their meal this morning. Worked out pretty well.

[HurricaneHeather]

We mixed in a little bit of raw Tilapia with our cat's wet food tonight. Even the picky cat ate the fish out and left the cat food. Gonna try to slowly work them toward eating more raw and cheaper raw stuff. :lol: Figured we'd start with a sure bet. The fish was on sale, so it was worth a shot.

Hooray!

[OneSickPsycho]

We mixed in a little bit of raw Tilapia with our cat's wet food tonight. Even the picky cat ate the fish out and left the cat food. Gonna try to slowly work them toward eating more raw and cheaper raw stuff. :lol: Figured we'd start with a sure bet. The fish was on sale, so it was worth a shot.

Hooray!

Canned tuna. That's been the old standby when we forget to buy cat food.

Be careful with fish though, too many metals in it plus some parasite concerns.

[VatorMan]

Vet report: Took Soffi and Fergi to the vet. As usual, they recommended teeth cleaning. Almost all of the plaque and etc..was left from the kibble. We are probably going to have it done as it is noticeable.
Both dogs got clean bill of health and she remarked how healthy they looked and acted. Only then did I tell her that we had changed them to a totally raw diet. Needless to say she stammered for a bit as her place sells high end pet food. :lol

[Kaneman]

Only then did I tell her that we had changed them to a totally raw diet. Needless to say she stammered for a bit as her place sells high end pet food. :lol

This thread is so long now I can't remember if I posted this story or not, but when we went to adopt our third I wanted a Pit Bull, assuming it would be my last chance to have one. So we're going to different shelters and what not when we come upon a rescue called Lil' Angels or some ghey shit like that.

Find a dog we like, I go rollerblading with him to check him out a bit, everything looks really good so we start filling out paperwork.. One of the staff comments on how healthy our dogs looks (we brought them to check compatibility) and I tell them how we feed raw meat. Well they FREAKED OUT. "DON'T YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO KILL YOUR DOGS???" They actually went back and had a meeting amongst themselves to discuss it. In the end we walked away before they could decide, told them we didn't want the dog to associate us with negative energy. Anyway, I just dug up an old email between me and that agency....I just replied (2 years later) to let them know none of my dogs have ever been sick.

[OneSickPsycho]

http://hathbanger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/repost.jpg

This thread is so long now I can't remember if I posted this story or not, but when we went to adopt our third I wanted a Pit Bull, assuming it would be my last chance to have one. So we're going to different shelters and what not when we come upon a rescue called Lil' Angels or some ghey shit like that.

Find a dog we like, I go rollerblading with him to check him out a bit, everything looks really good so we start filling out paperwork.. One of the staff comments on how healthy our dogs looks (we brought them to check compatibility) and I tell them how we feed raw meat. Well they FREAKED OUT. "DON'T YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO KILL YOUR DOGS???" They actually went back and had a meeting amongst themselves to discuss it. In the end we walked away before they could decide, told them we didn't want the dog to associate us with negative energy. Anyway, I just dug up an old email between me and that agency....I just replied (2 years later) to let them know none of my dogs have ever been sick.

[Kaneman]

:lol: I hate you.

[Gas Man]

Vet report: Took Soffi and Fergi to the vet. As usual, they recommended teeth cleaning. Almost all of the plaque and etc..was left from the kibble. We are probably going to have it done as it is noticeable.
Both dogs got clean bill of health and she remarked how healthy they looked and acted. Only then did I tell her that we had changed them to a totally raw diet. Needless to say she stammered for a bit as her place sells high end pet food. :lol
Can't you get rid of it with the boney diet?

[Trip]

and I tell them how we feed raw meat. Well they FREAKED OUT. "DON'T YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO KILL YOUR DOGS???" They actually went back and had a meeting amongst themselves to discuss it. In the end we walked away before they could decide, told them we didn't want the dog to associate us with negative energy. Anyway, I just dug up an old email between me and that agency....I just replied (2 years later) to let them know none of my dogs have ever been sick.

LOL, I would be more worried about the dog amazingly flinging raw chicken somewhere you didn't see and you accidentally getting salmonella from the amazing flying chicken than the dog ever getting sick from it.

Apparently they never had a dog tear apart some unsuspecting forest critter...

[VatorMan]

Can't you get rid of it with the boney diet?

They've been on the raw diet for several months. Doubtful the built up tartar can be removed without assistance.

[OneSickPsycho]

LOL, I would be more worried about the dog amazingly flinging raw chicken somewhere you didn't see and you accidentally getting salmonella from the amazing flying chicken than the dog ever getting sick from it.

Apparently they never had a dog tear apart some unsuspecting forest critter...

They don't sling anything anywhere... Most of the time Belle doesn't even take the pieces out of her bowl... Taco likes to pull it out and drop it on the floor and then eat it from there...

Update time...

Taco is pooping normal now... both may actually be pooping a little dry so I think they are getting a bit too much bone... Still working on the balance.

As it goes now, I'm hacking a whole chicken every day... I cut off the breast meat and we eat that... Taco and Belle each get a leg in the morning and Taco gets an additional wing. Belle gets a wing and the neck at night, Taco gets the remainder of the carcass... both split the organs.

Probably giving them a bit too much, but both were big eaters before the switch and I have consistently felt as if they weren't getting enough to eat... Taco was on 6 cups of food/day, Belle on 4... both always had just the right amount of rib showing.

I'll probably start adding some of the breast meat to the mix in a few days now that everything has become more solid upon exit...

[Gas Man]

They've been on the raw diet for several months. Doubtful the built up tartar can be removed without assistance.
Sucks... that can get costly to take care of.

[HurricaneHeather]

Our cats are actually moving along famously with fish and some chicken livers. Next step is to give them bigger pieces so they start learning to gnaw. After that....bones. Not looking forward to that. That's going to be a long stage.

[OneSickPsycho]

Still going strong over here... Poops have been consistent...

Pretty amazed so far... Dogs barely poop and hardly drink any water... It's really crazy just how good you can tell this is for them. Can't wait to get the cats on it... no more stinky litterboxes...

[azoomm]

People think I'm crazy when I tell them how awesome it is. So much so, that I don't tell them anymore. It's like they think I'm making it all up just to get them to switch over.

meh...

[Kaneman]

People think I'm crazy when I tell them how awesome it is. So much so, that I don't tell them anymore. It's like they think I'm making it all up just to get them to switch over.

meh...

I still tell them, but more in the same way that I tell fat people they should stop being so fat all the time. When people stop listening it can be fun to be condescending...

BTW, I had to take mine off raw for a few days. Went and bought some high quality kibble (bleh) and they got to munch on that for 3 days while I went out of town. They seemed to handle it pretty well.

[azoomm]

I still tell them, but more in the same way that I tell fat people they should stop being so fat all the time. When people stop listening it can be fun to be condescending...

BTW, I had to take mine off raw for a few days. Went and bought some high quality kibble (bleh) and they got to munch on that for 3 days while I went out of town. They seemed to handle it pretty well.

WHYYYYY???!!?! Someone wouldn't feed them their normal diet?

[OneSickPsycho]

Yep, we left our roommate for three days over the weekend with separate ziploc bags including sharpie instructions on each bag... Werked out great.

[Gas Man]

Still going strong over here... Poops have been consistent...

Pretty amazed so far... Dogs barely poop and hardly drink any water... It's really crazy just how good you can tell this is for them. Can't wait to get the cats on it... no more stinky litterboxes...
I noticed same results.

[Kaneman]

WHYYYYY???!!?! Someone wouldn't feed them their normal diet?

Nope, it was hard enough finding people to check in on them...but nobody was willing to handle the raw meat. What can I say? I have shitty family...

[Particle Man]

Nope, it was hard enough finding people to check in on them...but nobody was willing to handle the raw meat. What can I say? I have shitty family...

Wimps :lol:


They have soap and water in your part of the country, right? :lol:

[Kaneman]

Wimps :lol:


They have soap and water in your part of the country, right? :lol:

Yea, it kind of pissed me off. My Dad was the one doing it and to be honest I think he's mad that his dogs are crippled and mine are super healthy so he refuses to do the raw thing for me. Oh well.

[OneSickPsycho]

So now for two days in a row, fed Taco a whole chicken back and several hours later he vomits. I think it's too much bone at one time.

All in all, it's going well. Cats ran out of food last night and are now on it...

Split a chicken wing between the two of them. Both were tenative - had to hand feed them small chunks. Both seemed to think it was too good to be true... like, 'will I get in trouble if I eat this?' Finally they both went at it pretty good... Mr Bear was crunching bones, but Piper was eating around them. We locked them in our bathroom for several hours - tile floors just in case they puked... no puke, all is well.

This morning I tried to split a chicken neck between the two... they weren't that into it... I think it was too boney. They ate a little and stopped. I went back to another chicken wing and ripped it up for them. Same as last night... Piper did eat a bit of bone this morning and Mr Bear was all over it again.

The only thing that sucks is that it's hard to separate the dogs from the cats. I used to feed the dogs outside while the cats were eating inside. The cats eat super slow now, so the dogs are outside barking at joggers and shit while I'm inside trying to feed the cats. Annoying, but we'll figure it out.

[HurricaneHeather]

My cats eat super slow too. I actually switched to feeding them twice a day. They weren't finishing their food at night but they were both gettting way too skinny. So to save us from wasting food and them not getting enough, I am giving them 60% at night and 40% in the morning. It seemed to work great, but I will see tonight when I get home how much they eat of their dinner. Hopefully they finish it off.

OSP, you need to remember that cats can't be fasted like dogs can. They have to eat every 24 hours. Their livers can't handle not being fed the way a dog or human can. :)

[OneSickPsycho]

My cats eat super slow too. I actually switched to feeding them twice a day. They weren't finishing their food at night but they were both gettting way too skinny. So to save us from wasting food and them not getting enough, I am giving them 60% at night and 40% in the morning. It seemed to work great, but I will see tonight when I get home how much they eat of their dinner. Hopefully they finish it off.

OSP, you need to remember that cats can't be fasted like dogs can. They have to eat every 24 hours. Their livers can't handle not being fed the way a dog or human can. :)

All of our animals will be fed 2x per day... the dogs because Taco gets a sour stomach and tends to vomit if he doesn't eat every 10-12 hours and the cats because they are FUCKING annoying as hell when hungry.

[HurricaneHeather]

All of our animals will be fed 2x per day... the dogs because Taco gets a sour stomach and tends to vomit if he doesn't eat every 10-12 hours and the cats because they are FUCKING annoying as hell when hungry.

Right on. I didn't know that when I first started doing this. thought they were just like dogs.

[VatorMan]

Just a note-Lost my oldest Schnauzer Saturday. She had a Grand Mal Seizure.

RIP Nikki.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21/vatorman/Dogs/Car4sale022.jpg

Nothing really to do with Raw Diet, but I do believe she got another 6 months because of it.

[azoomm]

Just a note-Lost my oldest Schnauzer Saturday. She had a Grand Mal Seizure.

RIP Nikki.

Nothing really to do with Raw Diet, but I do believe she got another 6 months because of it.

Awwwwwwwww :( RIP Nikki...

[Gas Man]

Sounds ruff OSP.


Sorry to hear Vator.

[Gas Man]

We are still having a ruff go with this. Brinks has always been a picky eater. He never seems to like the same diet for much longer than a few months.

We are at that point with this I believe. The only difference with kibble is that you can just leave it out. The chicken, now is a different story.

We have continued to seer it in a pan.
About a month ago he quit liking garlic. salt and loved it plain.

Now he's back to barely eating. It's very very frustrating!! Why can't he just eat like a normal dog?!?!

[OneSickPsycho]

Maybe try the prey model? Whole chickens, feathers and all... Does Brinks chase shit? Are his hunting instincts in tact?

[Gas Man]

He chases other dogs and people. I don't know if his hunting instincts are in tact... you can't exactly let your 140-150lb dog hunt shit!

Plus I'm not dealing with that, thanks anyway. I need other suggestions...

[azoomm]

He chases other dogs and people. I don't know if his hunting instincts are in tact... you can't exactly let your 140-150lb dog hunt shit!

Plus I'm not dealing with that, thanks anyway. I need other suggestions...
Sorry, I won't be much help. My first thought was to have him get rid of those pesky neighborhood kids :lol:

[Gas Man]

Nah... those are my neighborhood kids. As in my alternative to my own.

[OneSickPsycho]

He chases other dogs and people. I don't know if his hunting instincts are in tact... you can't exactly let your 140-150lb dog hunt shit!

Plus I'm not dealing with that, thanks anyway. I need other suggestions...

Chasing dogs and people may be more of a play thing... hunting instincts are more obvious with smaller things... Does he chase squirrels or bark at them when they are up a tree? Does he chase balls and avidly watch or try to catch birds?

[Gas Man]

I don't have any trees or squirrels. And he doesn't care about birds.

Now tonight he ate his chicken fine, no seasoning.

[defector]

I don't have any trees or squirrels. And he doesn't care about birds.

Now tonight he ate his chicken fine, no seasoning.
Sounds like he hardened the fuck up finally. Now he's a real man (dog).

[Gas Man]

No I think he was just extra hungry from barely eating for 2 days.

[azoomm]

No I think he was just extra hungry from barely eating for 2 days.

He will get it. Don't give up on it...

[Gas Man]

He does it, then gets bored. It's that simple I think.

I swear he's the most spoiled dog I know. We revolve nearly everything around him, and he wants for nearly nothing. Could we walk him more? Sure but you try with my work sked. Could he get more dog parks (not that we have any) or whatever? Sure but he's not the best with general public. He's awesome at our house once he "knows you", he's the biggest snuggler. But this whole feeding him is just another irritation we endure with him.

[Gas Man]

Well if the on/off paticipation wasn't bad enough. His chin achne is still being problematic. Wife has been doing some online research and some say the high protien chicken diet may still cause problems.

We are low on chicken so she wants to try a grain free, venison & potatoe kibble. I just want his problems to be over. The zits, were the real reason why we started this, it hasn't fixed the problem. RESET.

[VatorMan]

My Schnoodle has started her "sniff and wait" again. She'll eat the organs but wait till the other dog starts sniffing around the bowl before she'll eat the meat. It's about 30 % she'll eat the glop.

[Kaneman]

The zits, were the real reason why we started this, it hasn't fixed the problem. RESET.

Its takes a while for any food allergy/diet related issues to begin to correct themselves.

[azoomm]

Its takes a while for any food allergy/diet related issues to begin to correct themselves.

And I thought I was impatient...

[Kaneman]

And I thought I was impatient...

I know right. "Well, I tried it for 2 hours and it just didn't cure her stage 4 bone cancer, oh well."

[HurricaneHeather]

My cats have already gotten complacent with this diet. I think we spend more money on their food than we do ours, so when they look at it then turn away I want to throw things. :lol: Picky little shits.

[azoomm]

My cats have already gotten complacent with this diet. I think we spend more money on their food than we do ours, so when they look at it then turn away I want to throw things. :lol: Picky little shits.
You did know they are cats, right?

:lol:

[HurricaneHeather]

You did know they are cats, right?

:lol:

Is that why their claws are so sharp? :lol:

[Gas Man]

Its takes a while for any food allergy/diet related issues to begin to correct themselves.

And I thought I was impatient...

Yeah but when you are dealing with it, it's completely different. It usually takes 2-3 months to show improvement. We hadn't had ANY improvement, it's been long enough, we should have seen something.

[azoomm]

Yeah but when you are dealing with it, it's completely different. It usually takes 2-3 months to show improvement. We hadn't had ANY improvement, it's been long enough, we should have seen something.

Aren't you cooking it?

[Gas Man]

Not really, I don't think you would say 1 mintue in a pan is cooking. More like a light seer to the skin.

[Adeptus_Minor]

Is that why their claws are so sharp? :lol:

Ok, that made me chuckle. :lol:

[OneSickPsycho]

Dogs are still going strong... cats are off the raw.

A few weeks ago Mr. Bear stopped eating... after a few days we noticed he was yellowing... Jaundice probably isn't a good thing in cats.

Nearly $4k and 3 days in the hospital later, Mr. Bear is being treated for a nasty bladder infection and hepatic lipidosis - fatty liver disease. He also had an inflamed bile duct/gall bladder, but all seems better now. He's on a feeding tube and a plethora of drugs... one of which I cannot administer for the life of me. He's actually been eating on his own for several days now and is pretty much non-yellow... acting like an asshole, which is a good sign.

Not sure if the raw food had anything to do with it or not, but through more research I found out that cats are WAY more sensitive than dogs... raw food must be given very quickly after the kill because cats are very sensitive to various bacterias... even meat that's been dead/left out for a couple of hours can make a kitty sick. Dogs on the other hand can eat rancid meat and a pile of cat shit (ask me how I know) and not be bothered one bit.

[Kaneman]

Most. Expensive. Cat. Ever.

[OneSickPsycho]

Yeah, this isn't the first time either... He's gotten stitches and had some other ailments throughout his 9 years...

[azoomm]

Most. Expensive. Cat. Ever.

Right??!?

Maybe you are a better pet owner than I. No way I would spend that much on a cat. Or a dog for that matter.

This is still working for Sadie. The fact that she is still alive and acting like a dog half her age is treatment to raw.

[Particle Man]

My cat will eat nothing but one brand of cat food. And squirrels.

[Gas Man]

I've been down the blatter infection road with cats... they are on a high dollar purina urinary track food and will stay on that. It's served us well for like 3-4 years now.

[OneSickPsycho]

Right??!?

Maybe you are a better pet owner than I. No way I would spend that much on a cat. Or a dog for that matter.

This is still working for Sadie. The fact that she is still alive and acting like a dog half her age is treatment to raw.

Apparently money means more to you, than it does to me...

[OneSickPsycho]

I've been down the blatter infection road with cats... they are on a high dollar purina urinary track food and will stay on that. It's served us well for like 3-4 years now.

Both cats were on that before switching to raw... Mr. Bear had stones 6-7 years ago... I find that it's only a couple of bucks more than the regular food for the big bag.

[azoomm]

Apparently money means more to you, than it does to me...

No, quality of life means more to me. I had many a pet that went through some major things, only to be reliant on humans for drugs.

I won't do that again.

That, and we are the only society on the planet that puts such a value on an animal's life. Many other places, your treasured pet would be dinner.

Don't talk to me about ”priorities.”

[Trip]

4k for a cat, yeah fuck that noise

[Kaneman]

I'd drop $4k on any of my dogs in a heartbeat if I had that kinda cash.

[Gas Man]

Both cats were on that before switching to raw... Mr. Bear had stones 6-7 years ago... I find that it's only a couple of bucks more than the regular food for the big bag.
Yeah, we didn't have stones. Heck the vet (not using her anymore) said the change of food wouldn't help, she has other problems, etc. I said well it won't hurt... and guess what... no other problems. F her!

[OneSickPsycho]

No, quality of life means more to me. I had many a pet that went through some major things, only to be reliant on humans for drugs.

I won't do that again.

That, and we are the only society on the planet that puts such a value on an animal's life. Many other places, your treasured pet would be dinner.

Don't talk to me about ”priorities.”

Hit a nerve, did I?


I agree with quality of life, if it was cancer we made the decision to put him down... It wasnt, it was something easily treatable with minimal discomfort. He's already back to normal for the most part.

[Gas Man]

OSP was your vet bill part of a ER vet or a regular hours vet?

[OneSickPsycho]

OSP was your vet bill part of a ER vet or a regular hours vet?

Initial testing at the regular vet was almost $500... The rest was from the vet hospital they referred us to... That includes six prescriptions.

[defector]

Do any of you have medical insurance on your pets? I think it costs us about $20 a month for the dogs through my wife's insurance.

[OneSickPsycho]

Do any of you have medical insurance on your pets? I think it costs us about $20 a month for the dogs through my wife's insurance.

After we paid almost $2k to have carpenter ants removed from Taco's stomach, we talked about it... but fuck it, our animals are healthy now, right?

It's generally like $10/mo per animal from what I gather... Mr. Bear is almost 10... so I would have spent less than $1,200 for his... fuck me... we're getting that shit.

[Particle Man]

Do any of you have medical insurance on your pets? I think it costs us about $20 a month for the dogs through my wife's insurance.

It's a voluntary benefit available through quite a number of ins. companies (generally along with some other coverage).

[Adeptus_Minor]

Do any of you have medical insurance on your pets? I think it costs us about $20 a month for the dogs through my wife's insurance.

I have a basic TruPanion policy for Lilly.
I figure it'll be worth it if she ever needs a major procedure.

[HokieDNA01]

Well I have joined the Raw Movement. My dog (Boston terrier) has been gassy, super allergy prone and constantly having diarrhea and anal glad issues. I had him on Natural Balance Duck and Potato kibble and he did ok but not great. I joined a BARF list serv and found a woman that delivers ground raw diet to Nashville at great prices. (My duck/bone mix is ~$1.80/lb which is the same price as the kibble I was feeding him)

Www.blueridgebeef.com

I have had him on the duck and bone mix (ground bone) for 2 weeks and he is doing great. He did flair up with allergies the first couple of meals but that has gone away. Very little gas now (awesome!) and his poop is small nuggets that just crumble when you touch them. No more anal gland issues and he drinks much less water. I'm super happy so far.

This dog is my world right now and I was/am nervous to make this change but I want the best for him and hearing my vet say that he should just live with his allergies and take benedryl was not acceptable to me. He was always red, itchy, gunky ears and eye stains.

I just started adding organ meat to his diet last night. Alternating between chicken liver and beef liver in the evenings as well as chicken gizzard/hearts. He is in heaven. I also put an order in for green tripe as I have heard that is a wonder way to naturally add greens to their diet. I also give him a squirt of salmon oil in the mornings for his dry skin and a whole raw egg a couple times a week along with a beef marrow bone as a weekly treat.

How are everyone's dogs doing? Are you all still on raw? I know short term he is doing great. I just want to make sure long term this is the best decision. My vet didn't seem too excited about it when I mentioned raw about a year ago. I'm hoping mack's next visit shows he is in better/great health. I plan to have full blood work drawn.

I have never felt so close to my dog as I do now. Feeding like this is a true bonding experience and it makes me so happy to see him happy.

[VatorMan]

Yup. Still raw here. 2 of the healthiest dogs (per my vet) that you'll find. It's still a PITA to do, but it's a labor of love. It's part of our routine. When we go away on vacation. We'll go by BARK and get raw patties for the dog sitter to use.

[Kaneman]

Still on raw here as well. 3 dogs, 4 years....never had a sick dog aside from an occasional sneeze in my face when I'm petting them. Nothing fancy for me, mostly chicken leg quarters, leftovers, cottage cheese and eggs. Some organ meat too, not a lot though.

[azoomm]

Still raw. Sadie is doing amazing. Not fetching and jumping... But, really defying death is amazing.

[HokieDNA01]

I'm have the occasional flair up with Mack of hives on his belly (he has them terrible right now) and I'm realizing it may be him sneaking into the cat kibble. I plan to move their food as it doesn't do me any good to get him on raw only to have him snacking on kibble. I wish I could go raw with the cats but they are super picky an I often have to go out of town and leave them with their feeder full.

These allergies are such a pain.

[HokieDNA01]

Well just picked up some ground green tripe, chicken/bone, turkey/bone, venison/bone, beef/bone, and beef/organ. Spoiled rotten I tell ya. And newly microchipped.