RAW for beginners

So, since I've heard so many great things about RAW, I'm thinking of introducing it into Ryu's diet. So, I guess my main question is, what is the best (and easiest on the pup) way to start going RAW? And is 6 months too early to do the switch?

Comments

  • edited November -1


    i would like some more information as well! although, if i mix raw, i think i will stick with wild fish.

  • edited November -1
    I think the best way to start on raw is slow if they have never eaten it before mix 25% raw then 75% what the current food is. After a few days you can go 50-50 and so on.  Canned pumpkin (not the kind for pumpkin pie way to much sugar!) is always a good thing to have on hand cause if they get loose stool it will firm it right up.  Actually pumpkin is amazing if there is constipation it will help with that too!  Anyways, I've heard of people switching to raw cold turkey but I did a gradual transition with my puppy and there was no upset tummy.  As for the age, if I would have known about the raw I would have started Layla on it when I got her at 7 weeks.  If you are going to feed raw and kibble it is best to feed them in seperate meals, kibble is much harder to digest so I tell people feed the kibble in the morning so they have all day to work on it.  Then raw for dinner and they'll sleep like babies. Also, when kibble gets wet in the stomach it swells.  Kibble at dinner I think is kind of like Thanksgiving we stuff ourselves to the point of popping then pass out with a stomach ache!
  • RyuRyu
    edited November -1
    What type of foods would you recommend just starting out? Mostly meat or liver or both? How about portion sizes? Haha sorry for all the questions
  • edited November -1
    Maybe you might want to try the dehydrated raw first and mix it in with his kibble.  The Honest Kitchen makes a lot of different blends.  I would maybe give him some meat/chicken/liver/whatever as a treat and see how it sits with him.  That way you can tell which raw food his stomache can handle and digest well and what raw foods he can't.  Im not a full on RAW Feeder, but I do give my dogs some raw here and there, i've been using The Honest Kitchen dehydrated raw food mixed with their kibble and they LOVE it.  Kind of pricey though, bought a 4lb. bag, lasted me about 2 weeks, just feeding it with their dinners. 
  • edited November -1
    More meat, liver is an organ and even though it is easy to buy you have to remember that liver as well as kidney's main function is to detoxify the body.  I actually just bought this huge bison heart for Layla which when you think about it is actually a muscle and not an organ.  She was a little skeptical at first but after slowly mixing it with other food she loves it.  I think that blood is a great thing too and there is now way to drain blood from a heart so she gets it on all her food now, she drinks it right out of the bowl!  As for portions that's kind of tricky... Nature's Variety has a great feeding guide that I use for Lay.  www.naturesvariety.com then check out the "feeding guide"  you put in your pups age, activity level, and weight.  It's a good base, it recommends for Layla 14.5oz a day but she was getting thin, she's extremely active when she's not sleeping!  So she really eats 18-20 oz a day depending on who feeds her, daddy spoils her with extras!  When I started I was afraid to feed anything that wasn't "balanced" and then I started thinkin not every meal I eat is perfectly balanced it's the variety that keeps us healthy.  I also think that "human food" is a joke!  What did we do that made the food so special that it's only for us!  Layla loves plain yogurt, brocolli and carrots make her crazy.  Is your pup still cutting teeth?  Froozen baby carrots really soothed her gums and saved my fingers!  I give her fruit too last night she ate a banana and strawberries!  I've been reading alot about how good fish diets for the Japanesse breeds is and Oma's Pride make a nice whole raw salmon mix.  It's kind of expensive but I like to be able to mix things up so it's a special treat.  Layla would tell you that Oma's kangaroo is no good but I'm going to try it again with her!  Another thing that I like to do is add fish oils and also mixes like Honest Kitchen's Preference or Dr Harvey's Veg to Bowl.  Sometimes she just gets meat though!
  • edited April 2008


    I'm not sure I can add much to this since Megan is on top of it... but when we switched the Shibas to RAW we did it with no mixing. We just one day went from Kibble to RAW, they did fine. It was pretty amazing. I'm not suggesting you do it, I'm just pointing out that, while it may be hard for us to comprehend, eating RAW food is what the dogs are built to do and they will adapt to it very quickly.


    We used to feed just strait meat with some raw veggies as snacks through the day. We would give Chicken "drumettes", Lamb, Duck, whole carcass Rabbits (minus head and fur), Bison, and Turkey legs. Our Shibas did amazing on that diet, they looked great, their teeth were always white and they just seems very healthy. The only issue we had was that Maui loved to eat RAW bone (only raw, never cooked!) and would eat more than he should and would therefore have very dry poops.


    When we got Ahi we moved more towards the preprepared raw foods, then with Hilo it was time to find a good kibble... It's just to much $ to feed our pack RAW. Hilo alone would go through a pack of the NV frozen medallions in a day! He needs like 4lb of meat or something ridiculous like that.


    Now we just mix it w/ their Kibble.


    The only thing that sux about RAW is the mess, we had to put butcher paper down in our condo to let our pups eat on because they tended to get it everywhere.... and Rabbit is really sticky and kinda gross, Maui decided one day he wanted to eat his rabbit on the couch! GROSS!

  • edited November -1
    I wouldn't even want a live rabbit on the couch. But dead and and bloody...ewwwww
  • edited November -1


    oh yea, I forgot you have rabbits as pets... sorry if I offended you! Embarassed


    For the record, I like bunnies! It was rather hard for me to feed our pups rabbit at first, but I got over it.... Kinda like when I had trouble feeding my Zebra Moray Eel live craw-fish, I got over it.

  • edited November -1
    Jen - Our pups never got into raw fish... but if yours do, be very careful to only feed fish with at most a very low mercury rating, dogs are very sensitive to that.
  • edited November -1
    Haha nah not at all offended. I would love to try rabbit meat one of these days. As long as there's no comments about my specific buns you'll never offend me :)
  • edited November -1


    I don't know if this is true, but on a raw list I was reading, I read that you shouldn't feed kibble and raw at the same time.  Apparently, kibble stays in the digestive system longer than raw does on its own, so if you feed them together, the raw meat will end up being in the digestive system longer than it should.  I've read that one reason dogs are more immune to bacteria in meat is that their digestive systems are short, therefore the meat isn't in them long enough for the bacteria to grow to harmful levels, so slowing down digestion can be dangerous.  I don't know the source on this information, though, like I said, I heard it second hand from some folks on a raw list.  I don't feed kibble and raw together, though, just to be safe.  I feed kibble most days and raw once a week or more - it depends on what deals I find at the grocery store and so on.


    Personally, I'm all about the raw meaty bones being added rather than the ground up barf-style raw because of its benefits to the teeth.  I subscribe to the prey model raw myself, which is easier in some ways because it doesn't require feeding ground up food.  I like to go to the grocery store and buy meaty bones that are less desireable for human consumption like necks, hocks, tails, and so on.  That can't make up the entire diet, of course, but it's a good introduction because dogs generally like to chew on bones.  At least, that's been my experience with my pups.  Tojo's gotten raw his whole life but Rakka had never had raw before coming to live with us and I just started giving her raw meaty bones along with Tojo and she went nuts over them.  Getting them used to organ meat was the only real challenge.  Since I've been feeding primarily kibble lately, Rakka hasn't had much exposure, but when I bought that whole turkey to make Ridley's food, I did feed the organs to the dogs (I read to avoid giving too many organs to cats recovering from FLUTD).  Tojo loved the organs, but Rakka kind of chewed on them a bit and then let Tojo take them.  Of course, back when I first introduced Tojo to a bowl full of buffalo offal, he was pretty skeptical, too, but eventually, he dug right in.  He also used to like snacking on whole trout.  I would just get some trout that weighed about as much as he needed for a full meal and that would be his food for the day.  I haven't tried it with Rakka, yet, though.  


    As for the mess... when I lived in an apartment, Tojo had to eat all his raw items on the balcony.  Now-a-days, I try to feed them outside or in the kitchen where it's easy to clean up, but occassionally, they bring it onto the carpet, which is why I have disinfecting spray on hand.  They always manage to clean up all the visible bits, but with a little kid around, I don't want bacteria all over the place.  Once I build my kennel runs, though, I plan to always feed them their raw outside.  It's too messy otherwise!  

  • edited November -1


    So essentially you can purchase grocery store human-grade raw and use that?


    I
    currently incorporate raw meaty beef shank bones twice a week, but our
    female gets bone aggressive so with fosters, we usually cut out the
    bones until its easier to manage everyone with a bone.


    i had
    considered a fish based raw, but my vet warned about farm raised and
    fish from anywhere but the US. Honestly, its difficult getting fish for
    myself thats only wild caught from the US, and expensive.


    Is there any harm in mixing a fish based kibble with a different meat source RAW? This is all a bit confusing..  

  • edited November -1
    Brad, where were you able to find all that good stuff in Atl?
  • edited November -1


    Heidi - I have read the comments about mixing kibble and raw and I have asked a few vets about it and they all say its BS and not an issue at all. Also, when I was reading those same comments, I remember reading that it was due to the grain in the kibble that caused it to digest slower (at least that is what the commenter said)... so my feeling is if you are feeding a grain-free food w/ raw than that argument doesnt apply.


    Jen - Just get human grade meats from your grocery store or food market. That is where we got all ours.


    Dave - We got the rabbit and duck from Harry's Farmers Market. Also the Kroger by the Northridge exit off 400 has some odd meats (turkey necks, liver, kidneys, etc.)


    ----


    I forgot another thing we gave our pups that they loved... we gave OxTail, the bone in OxTail is very soft and full of marrow.

  • edited November -1


    We just did the math, and for us to feed all our dogs a RAW only diet we would need to feed 10lb of meat a day! If we went cheap and just did chicken (which is not recommended) it would cost us $600+ a month!!! that is w/o any "roughage" and supplements to add to the diet too!


    That's why we no longer feed a RAW only diet anymore... we would love to tho.

  • edited November -1
    I think next weekend we'll start RAW, after I get permission to give it to my foster...
  • edited November -1
    Geez Brad, you aren't willing to spend $600/month on your dogs? What's wrong with you? :-P
  • edited November -1
    I know, we are bad bad owners. Money mouth
  • edited November -1


    http://www.rawlearning.com/


     has some interesting FAQ's and info for my question about fish!! 

  • RyuRyu
    edited November -1


    WOW! Thanks guys! That was a wealth of information and is going to help a ton :)

  • RyuRyu
    edited November -1
    Romi: Just ordered some samples from Honest Kitchen and started feeding it to Ryu the past two days. We used Embark the first night and then Preference last night. He freaking LOVES it. Licks the bowl CLEAN. :-) I really like the variety of ingredients in the mixes as well. Thanks for the tip!
  • edited November -1
    That's great he is liking raw, i think you will probably notice a big difference in hit coat on raw too.
  • edited November -1
    Thats great news pam!  Yeah Portia and Ninja would seriously lick their bowls clean haha.  They absolutely love it!  Im glad Ryu liked it too!
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