Raw feeding dog (Yes! No?)

[cherrynberry]

I just looked at your dog’s photos again… she looks like one of those picky/stubborn eaters! Hopefully you can find something that works. My oldest daughter has our shepherd and he is one of those. Took forever to figure out the right combo of food for him. She had to start grinding the bones because he would pick them out. My miniature dachshund will pick things out, place heart or liver off to the side and turn his nose up to it lol

Yeah...she is a tough one. I may refrigerate her "snacks" for 2 weeks if my dad ever comes to butchering a cockerel. For the first time!

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

One thing I do want to bring up, and this is something our vet told us a while back. Try not to mix kibble and raw together regularly. They digest differently and can cause stomach upset (doesn’t everything?!). I personally haven’t dealt with that, but figured I’d pass that on. When we pick up the pups from the breeder, they go straight to raw. No transition period.

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Not once did the vet mention that large amounts of plums or peaches consumed by a Mastiff will ruin your carpet.

 

[cherrynberry]

Not once did the vet mention that large amounts of plums or peaches consumed by a Mastiff will ruin your carpet.

Doesn't large amounts of anything cause diarrhea in dogs?

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Doesn't large amounts of anything cause diarrhea in dogs?

Pretty much! The fruit picking, berry eating, asparagus thief of a dog will gorge all day, then beg to be let out in the middle of the night. Kind of glad the trees are done producing

And yes, your dog can and will get stomach upset sometimes. I’d say mine normally do a couple times a year or so. They’re dogs and they put odd things in their mouths/stomachs and it won’t always settle well.

I do have to say, I have yet to lose a dog to illness from raw feeding. My last dog to pass died from old age almost 6 years ago.

 

[Everose]

They get everything. Head/brain, spine, lungs, all limbs, organs, etc. one of the dogs likes to eat the fur These are special treats though. We don’t have full carcasses for them often.

The premade Northwest Naturals has been a life saver. The prep like Big Blue Hen mentioned is very time consuming. Especially If you have large breed dogs. A dog the size of yours would take about an hour for two weeks worth of freezer meals.

We have a Cane Corso/Italian Mastiff, Dogo Argentino/Argentinian Mastiff, Lab Pit mix (15+ years old) and a miniature Dachshund.

Photo from the prep days. Our vet gave us information on good supplements, which were added in at feeding time in their bowls. With these meats, I would also add the cubed Northwest Naturals as filler. You can watch your dog closely to see if they’re getting too much or not enough and change amounts accordingly. Their hip bones shouldn’t be sticking out and you should see two or so ribs towards the rear of the rib cage. I personally like to see the ribs covered slightly. But raw feeding does give you a leaner dog.
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THEY'RE SO SHINY!!!

If that's what a raw diet does to your hair then sign me up!

Is it very expensive to feed raw? I feel like that's a dumb question but my dog is getting old and I've always fed kibble.

 

[saysfaa]

I guess I was just saying, if you do feed raw, you need to take precautions, not necessarily so much to protect the dog, as for your own protection.

No more so than handling the raw meat cooked for the people in the family.

Even the dishes. Just wash them like any other tools used for raw meat.

 

[saysfaa]

...Is it very expensive to feed raw? I feel like that's a dumb question but my dog is getting old and I've always fed kibble.

I spent about the same raw feeding as I did for kibble (feeding Blue Buffalo). I fed mostly the cheaper cuts of meat and organs sold for people. I special ordered beef heart at the grocery store sometimes (also sold as people food; we ate it a few times) mostly to get more variety.

I spent only a little more time shopping for her food because I was shopping the meat section for people too and because it took a special trip to a store I didn't otherwise go to in order to buy the kibble at a reasonable price. It probably would not have taken longer to shop if I had had a freezer.

 

[saysfaa]

..,However, she spends a large portion of one day a week, usually Sunday, prepping her dog's food for the week. ...

Crazy. It generally took me about three to five minutes to prep her food. Pull the meat out, unwrap it, chop off a section if it was a big piece, blob out a couple of chicken livers if it was an organ day, set it down on her cookie sheet. Done.

In the beginning, it took a minute more because I weighed more things - it took time to develop an eye for estimating how much and to get comfortable with how little it mattered to vary from day to day - it is amount and proportions over time that matter. How much time varies some by individual.

 

[saysfaa]

While I was researching feeding raw, I heard a lot of push back from people who did not to it because of salmonella and such. But I saw what she licked and ate while outside and decided whatever risk there might be in the meat I was giving her chilled from the store to her feeder was insignificant compared to what she was getting anyway.