damn this raw food can get pricey. i bought just over a months supply of different flavors for about $125. elk, chicken, lamb,turkey and beef. each package has six 250gram packets/tubes, so thats good for 36 days since im feeding kibble in the daytime and raw at night. his daily meal is 1.5 cups of orijen regional red and 250 grams of raw. i also bought a 250gram tube of rabbit. for some reason rabbit is much more expensive than the other meats, almost double the price! i wonder why since rabbits are quite common and breed/multiply like, well rabbits! haha
i chose the 250gram tubes so that it would be much easier to feed him (one tube a day). hopefully later on in life if i go to a full raw diet or if his food consumption increases i would be able to make easier use of the larger tubes (500grams and 1kg) which would in turn save more money.
also the shop i went to does some points thing and you get 1 point for each dollar spent. once u reach 500 points they give you a coupon for a 15% discount off your next purchase with a maximum purchase of $1000, so u can save up to $150. would anyone happen to know how long raw food would last in the freezer? i figure it would be best to maximize the purchase once i receive a coupon. i figure $1000 could buy a 9-11 month supply. can frozen raw food last that long or would this be a bad idea?
There's some meat still from last year.. Two whole quail in the freeze from January 2011.. Saya still likes it. I've gotten freezer burned deer from 2007 and 2009..
I might be getting more freezer burned meat waiting for reply. lol
Maybe once your used to giving the pre made you can start giving some quarters as a treat..
by quarters, do u mean a quarter of a whole chicken? if so, can i just go to the grocery, buy a chicken, and give him 1/4 th of it as is? (bones and all)
i think i need to get some bones or something that he can snack on and while helping to keep the teeth clean.
Yep, just go to the store & buy chicken! [ human-consumption quality chicken of course lol ]
If it's his first time eating raw bones tho, you might want to help him out by holding the chicken. [ just to make sure he actually CHEWS & doesn't try to swallow it whole ] I usually hold it for them their first few times, but I haven't had any just try to swallow it personally. It was advice given to me by some other raw-feeders.
You can do any part of the chicken, BTW. Legs, thighs, wings, necks [ which are soft ] backs, etc. The first time you watch them crunch that bone is pretty amazing!
Just remember, bones are fed RAW only!! Cooked ones can splinter & choke them. ~
Quarters are usually the thigh and drumstick still intact.
Bella handles that just fine she's 55lb like Sangmort says holding it might help if Ghost needs help getting hang of it.
Any grocery meat is fine just be sure it isn't enhanced by salt, broth, or brine the extra sodium might cause loose poop.
I'd feed the quarters or breasts thighs, drumstick, wings, necks might be too small if the dog is a gulper usually best feed bigger so the dog has to chew it.
Bella my mom's boxer can handle chicken necks, wings and drumsticks fine, but she is fairly slow eater compared to some.
If Ghost gets loose poop from it take the skin off till he's used to it or maybe just take skin off at first and then add it back as he gets used to it.
Turkey necks are pretty long and bigger then chicken necks..
I've given lamb ribs, whole cornish hens, pork ribs, pork shoulder roasts, turkey drumsticks and lamb shanks she can grind some of the lamb shank bone mostly just the joint part of it..
I haven't given beef bones yet so not sure I'm more careful with weight bearing bones of large mammals like beef they're pretty thick..
The pork skin from the pork shoulder roast is good for Saya's teeth I got a big 9lb one and she has only eaten the meat, bit of fat, and chewed on the skin which is really tough.
She is two years and her teeth still looks pretty good.
Here's Saya's pork shoulder roast.
Where she chewed on the skin
She still has the roast I need give it too her maybe next week or this week..
If you give anything new just introduce it one thing at a time don't want to rush into too much variety.
She's used to the pork and the fat doesn't seem to bother her coarse she eats bit of the fat meat and then she is full.
Other side of the roast
Saya using her little front teeth to rip the bits of meat off of the roast.
Another example of Saya's meal a whole Pacific Saury has it's head and organs, and ground grass fed lamb.
Raw can cause a dog to resource guard their food, but that's because it's higher valued item then kibble it can be worked with though. Raw doesn't make the dog bloodthirsty as myths say..
Bella my mom's boxer used to growl at me if I was too close while she ate her chicken quarter I stayed close to keep eye on her and each time she did better.
She'd get tensed if I got more close, but with some work she now will drop the food for a bit of gizzard, meat, or dog treat and she'll leave it too. She also used to grab for the food when I took it away which I told her to leave it when she tried to get it and she did and got a treat and eventually got the meal back to here.
Coarse who knows maybe Ghost is like Saya doesn't mind owner messing with her food and stuff. Saya was hand fed with her kibble meals a lot of fed meals as training sessions etc. maybe that helped.. Plus it took her a week to get used to eating chicken drumstick when I first started her on raw.
I had to hold it a lot and now she is fine.
She never uses her paws to eat makes her look like a princess haha anyone else dog does this she won't use her paws even for a lamb shank or pork roast..
i think im going to eventually give this a try. for that pork shoulder roast did you just give her the whole thing and let her eat as much as she wants and then take it away and refreeze it after or were those pics just taken during her meal?
ghost doesnt seem to resource guard at all. he has no problems with me being right by his face while he eats and i am also able to put my hand in his bowl or my face near it like im trying to eat out the bowl. i also notice that he isnt a gobbler. he seems to take his time and chew the food so i guess that helps as well.
i read those links posted above about the salmons carrying something harmful to a dog. now if the salmon has been frozen for a while (well over a month), would it be safe to feed it to them? im asking because ive noticed that a lot of raw and kibble foods use salmon.
I mainly give caned salmon, but did give her 1oz of raw Alaskan salmon when we got a big thing of it for ourselves.. Cost me a lot, but was yummy! Saya did fine with that.. I know the parasite is in certain salmons and trout not sure which ones or which areas..
With pork shoulder I'd give to her and let her eat what she wants Saya is good about self regulating some dogs aren't though and would eat till they popped.
Saya usually eats 7-10oz or so of big meals. Most she has had was 16oz of turkey drumstick.
Her normal meals are usually 4oz or 6oz depends what she ate before..
When she eats a big meal like 11 or 12oz I usually fast her the next day and day after that she gets a small meal and then day after that back to normal portion. Sometimes I just give her small meals for two days and on third go back to normal size..
Saya seems to have slow metabolism or something and seems to handles fasts well..
The whole gorging/fast thing is a whole different topic and I don't do it every week and luckily Saya doesn't eat too much.. Someone let their dog once eat what he/she wanted and poor dog at too much for dog that size..
Bloat is no fun so over feeding is not good to do especially when the dog is not used to eating a lot.
I don't really gorge too much Saya usually just eat one and half days of food.
I kept the pork shoulder whole because it had a lot of skin so it makes it harder for her to eat it she eats the meat part right now mostly, but eventually she's going to have to chew up the skin in order to get to the meat..
Most pork shoulders I get have a small bit of skin or no skin and is smaller which I cut some of the meat off for bone less meals and keep a good bit of meat covering the bone so she has to work to get it all off.. She can grind some of the bone on the pork shoulder roast mostly on the joint part once she gets all the meat off and any edible bone I toss in the trash..
Since it's big meal she wouldn't finish it in a week so I usually put it back in freezer for another time or the fridge depends on size of roast the big 9lb one goes back in freeze no room in fridge.
I can't wait to move out and get my own chest freezer and second dog to help.. hehe
I found a dealer in Indianapolis which sells this and it's $2.80 for 2lb thing green tripe, $6.50 for 5lb, 30# case six 5lb tubes $34.50, and 30# case fifteen 2lb tubes $37.50.
Not too bad of a price I might get a 5lb thing to try Saya and Bella loves green tripe.
Figured I would just use this thread. I recently switched to raw, I'm using a premade brand called Pets Go Raw. I plan to switch to homemade at a later date, when I have a little more time and have it (mostly) figured out. Raw is so daunting but it must be easier than it looks since so many people do it! I am already noticing differences, his poops are smaller and firmer, and pretty much odorless.
So, my questions. My pup is 6 months old but I suspect he's done the majority of his growth. Should I still feed 4% of his current weight, or is 2% of his suspected final weight good enough? Should I not worry about it if his condition is fine, and just increase if he starts to look thin? How long should I stick to one protein before I introduce a new one? When should I introduce RMBs?
Saya was switched to full raw at 8months before that she got a raw egg and lamb ribs once week..
She got 2% of her weight at that time and sometimes she got bit more around 3%..
depends on the dogs some get used to raw quicker and smoother then others.
Saya had chicken for three weeks on second week I did give little bit of chicken gizzards/heart twice a week, then on third I started to give tiny bits of pork like one small piece with each meal and if she did good I increased it.
I made sure her pork was trimmed of any thick fat being new to it. third week I increased pork a bit and then by third she got pork ribs as bone in meal and more boneless pork.
She also gotten pork feet too very boney so I'd let her eat bit of it then put away for next time she also got bit of boneless with it.
Some dogs might need a slower transition.. probiotic might help ease in too.
Saya was transitioned to beef liver by the 6 or 7 weeks wished I kept track better, but she got very tiny piece of it with each bone in meal and by next week I increased amount.
Then once she got used to full amount of liver she got it split into two portions for each week and then she was slowly transitioned to kidney.
Organs like liver, kidney and even muscle organs like tongue, heart, and misc kind like lung, tripe should be transitioned to slowly.
Be sure chicken, turkey or red meat is not enhanced by sodium or broth.
raw is pretty easy for me now I find it much cheaper now I know where to look and stock up if a nice deal happens. I need get my own freezer so I can get more variety.. My local meat processor has beef scraps for dogs sold as 1$ lb which is good for beef.. I'm hoping to see if they can provide me with lungs, spleen and pancreas along with scraps when I get my own freezer to store it in..
Some dogs might need more then others their same age depends on the dog. You can feed at 2% if the dog looses weight up it to 3% or if gains it lower it or feed leaner meats..
Saya did have some watery poop when transitioning I think once due to too much organ and once due to too much squid that I gave as a treat.
She also had mucous poop her first week on raw I read it's normal and after that she only had it one other time.
She does well on raw so far has had some ups and downs with pickiness, upset tummy, but she is all good now..
Usually if she has loose poop I fast her for the day and next day give her a bone in chicken thigh, drumstick or quarter for a bland meal.
Depends on dog's size try get items big enough so the dog doesn't gulp them.
Chicken quarters good for Bella the 55lb boxer also breasts, back, and full turkey necks. I like buying whole chicken and I keep the wings attached to the breast that way She's able to eat the wings without worry of gulping since it's attached to bigger item.
Comments
i chose the 250gram tubes so that it would be much easier to feed him (one tube a day). hopefully later on in life if i go to a full raw diet or if his food consumption increases i would be able to make easier use of the larger tubes (500grams and 1kg) which would in turn save more money.
also the shop i went to does some points thing and you get 1 point for each dollar spent. once u reach 500 points they give you a coupon for a 15% discount off your next purchase with a maximum purchase of $1000, so u can save up to $150. would anyone happen to know how long raw food would last in the freezer? i figure it would be best to maximize the purchase once i receive a coupon. i figure $1000 could buy a 9-11 month supply. can frozen raw food last that long or would this be a bad idea?
Premade does get pricey, that's why I switched to doing it myself.
I might be getting more freezer burned meat waiting for reply. lol
Maybe once your used to giving the pre made you can start giving some quarters as a treat..
i think i need to get some bones or something that he can snack on and while helping to keep the teeth clean.
If it's his first time eating raw bones tho, you might want to help him out by holding the chicken. [ just to make sure he actually CHEWS & doesn't try to swallow it whole ] I usually hold it for them their first few times, but I haven't had any just try to swallow it personally. It was advice given to me by some other raw-feeders.
You can do any part of the chicken, BTW. Legs, thighs, wings, necks [ which are soft ] backs, etc. The first time you watch them crunch that bone is pretty amazing!
Just remember, bones are fed RAW only!! Cooked ones can splinter & choke them. ~
Bella handles that just fine she's 55lb like Sangmort says holding it might help if Ghost needs help getting hang of it.
Any grocery meat is fine just be sure it isn't enhanced by salt, broth, or brine the extra sodium might cause loose poop.
I'd feed the quarters or breasts thighs, drumstick, wings, necks might be too small if the dog is a gulper usually best feed bigger so the dog has to chew it.
Bella my mom's boxer can handle chicken necks, wings and drumsticks fine, but she is fairly slow eater compared to some.
If Ghost gets loose poop from it take the skin off till he's used to it or maybe just take skin off at first and then add it back as he gets used to it.
Turkey necks are pretty long and bigger then chicken necks..
I've given lamb ribs, whole cornish hens, pork ribs, pork shoulder roasts, turkey drumsticks and lamb shanks she can grind some of the lamb shank bone mostly just the joint part of it..
I haven't given beef bones yet so not sure I'm more careful with weight bearing bones of large mammals like beef they're pretty thick..
The pork skin from the pork shoulder roast is good for Saya's teeth I got a big 9lb one and she has only eaten the meat, bit of fat, and chewed on the skin which is really tough.
She is two years and her teeth still looks pretty good.
Here's Saya's pork shoulder roast.
Where she chewed on the skin
She still has the roast I need give it too her maybe next week or this week..
If you give anything new just introduce it one thing at a time don't want to rush into too much variety.
She's used to the pork and the fat doesn't seem to bother her coarse she eats bit of the fat meat and then she is full.
Other side of the roast
Saya using her little front teeth to rip the bits of meat off of the roast.
Another example of Saya's meal a whole Pacific Saury has it's head and organs, and ground grass fed lamb.
Raw can cause a dog to resource guard their food, but that's because it's higher valued item then kibble it can be worked with though. Raw doesn't make the dog bloodthirsty as myths say..
Bella my mom's boxer used to growl at me if I was too close while she ate her chicken quarter I stayed close to keep eye on her and each time she did better.
She'd get tensed if I got more close, but with some work she now will drop the food for a bit of gizzard, meat, or dog treat and she'll leave it too. She also used to grab for the food when I took it away which I told her to leave it when she tried to get it and she did and got a treat and eventually got the meal back to here.
This book might be useful for resource guarding I haven't gotten it yet so I dunno seen people recommending it before maybe someone here has read it or might know a better book or something on it..
http://www.amazon.com/Mine-Practical-Guide-Resource-Guarding/dp/0970562942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324683351&sr=1-1
Coarse who knows maybe Ghost is like Saya doesn't mind owner messing with her food and stuff. Saya was hand fed with her kibble meals a lot of fed meals as training sessions etc. maybe that helped.. Plus it took her a week to get used to eating chicken drumstick when I first started her on raw.
I had to hold it a lot and now she is fine.
She never uses her paws to eat makes her look like a princess haha anyone else dog does this she won't use her paws even for a lamb shank or pork roast..
Bella uses her paws sometimes when it's needed..
ghost doesnt seem to resource guard at all. he has no problems with me being right by his face while he eats and i am also able to put my hand in his bowl or my face near it like im trying to eat out the bowl. i also notice that he isnt a gobbler. he seems to take his time and chew the food so i guess that helps as well.
i read those links posted above about the salmons carrying something harmful to a dog. now if the salmon has been frozen for a while (well over a month), would it be safe to feed it to them? im asking because ive noticed that a lot of raw and kibble foods use salmon.
I mainly give caned salmon, but did give her 1oz of raw Alaskan salmon when we got a big thing of it for ourselves.. Cost me a lot, but was yummy! Saya did fine with that.. I know the parasite is in certain salmons and trout not sure which ones or which areas..
With pork shoulder I'd give to her and let her eat what she wants Saya is good about self regulating some dogs aren't though and would eat till they popped.
Saya usually eats 7-10oz or so of big meals. Most she has had was 16oz of turkey drumstick.
Her normal meals are usually 4oz or 6oz depends what she ate before..
When she eats a big meal like 11 or 12oz I usually fast her the next day and day after that she gets a small meal and then day after that back to normal portion. Sometimes I just give her small meals for two days and on third go back to normal size..
Saya seems to have slow metabolism or something and seems to handles fasts well..
The whole gorging/fast thing is a whole different topic and I don't do it every week and luckily Saya doesn't eat too much.. Someone let their dog once eat what he/she wanted and poor dog at too much for dog that size..
Bloat is no fun so over feeding is not good to do especially when the dog is not used to eating a lot.
I don't really gorge too much Saya usually just eat one and half days of food.
I kept the pork shoulder whole because it had a lot of skin so it makes it harder for her to eat it she eats the meat part right now mostly, but eventually she's going to have to chew up the skin in order to get to the meat..
Most pork shoulders I get have a small bit of skin or no skin and is smaller which I cut some of the meat off for bone less meals and keep a good bit of meat covering the bone so she has to work to get it all off.. She can grind some of the bone on the pork shoulder roast mostly on the joint part once she gets all the meat off and any edible bone I toss in the trash..
Since it's big meal she wouldn't finish it in a week so I usually put it back in freezer for another time or the fridge depends on size of roast the big 9lb one goes back in freeze no room in fridge.
I can't wait to move out and get my own chest freezer and second dog to help.. hehe
http://www.blueridgebeef.com/welcome.html
I found a dealer in Indianapolis which sells this and it's $2.80 for 2lb thing green tripe, $6.50 for 5lb, 30# case six 5lb tubes $34.50, and 30# case fifteen 2lb tubes $37.50.
Not too bad of a price I might get a 5lb thing to try Saya and Bella loves green tripe.
So, my questions. My pup is 6 months old but I suspect he's done the majority of his growth. Should I still feed 4% of his current weight, or is 2% of his suspected final weight good enough? Should I not worry about it if his condition is fine, and just increase if he starts to look thin? How long should I stick to one protein before I introduce a new one? When should I introduce RMBs?
She got 2% of her weight at that time and sometimes she got bit more around 3%..
depends on the dogs some get used to raw quicker and smoother then others.
Saya had chicken for three weeks on second week I did give little bit of chicken gizzards/heart twice a week, then on third I started to give tiny bits of pork like one small piece with each meal and if she did good I increased it.
I made sure her pork was trimmed of any thick fat being new to it. third week I increased pork a bit and then by third she got pork ribs as bone in meal and more boneless pork.
She also gotten pork feet too very boney so I'd let her eat bit of it then put away for next time she also got bit of boneless with it.
Some dogs might need a slower transition.. probiotic might help ease in too.
Saya was transitioned to beef liver by the 6 or 7 weeks wished I kept track better, but she got very tiny piece of it with each bone in meal and by next week I increased amount.
Then once she got used to full amount of liver she got it split into two portions for each week and then she was slowly transitioned to kidney.
Organs like liver, kidney and even muscle organs like tongue, heart, and misc kind like lung, tripe should be transitioned to slowly.
Be sure chicken, turkey or red meat is not enhanced by sodium or broth.
raw is pretty easy for me now I find it much cheaper now I know where to look and stock up if a nice deal happens. I need get my own freezer so I can get more variety.. My local meat processor has beef scraps for dogs sold as 1$ lb which is good for beef.. I'm hoping to see if they can provide me with lungs, spleen and pancreas along with scraps when I get my own freezer to store it in..
Some dogs might need more then others their same age depends on the dog. You can feed at 2% if the dog looses weight up it to 3% or if gains it lower it or feed leaner meats..
Saya did have some watery poop when transitioning I think once due to too much organ and once due to too much squid that I gave as a treat.
She also had mucous poop her first week on raw I read it's normal and after that she only had it one other time.
She does well on raw so far has had some ups and downs with pickiness, upset tummy, but she is all good now..
Usually if she has loose poop I fast her for the day and next day give her a bone in chicken thigh, drumstick or quarter for a bland meal.
Depends on dog's size try get items big enough so the dog doesn't gulp them.
Chicken quarters good for Bella the 55lb boxer also breasts, back, and full turkey necks. I like buying whole chicken and I keep the wings attached to the breast that way She's able to eat the wings without worry of gulping since it's attached to bigger item.
Bella also handles pork and lamb ribs fine too.