RAW diet

My JRT is on raw. Has been for over year. Best thing I did for her. However, I recommend ALOT of research also join the yahoo group RawFeeders. It's full of great advice and support. It is cheaper then kibble in the long run. It may seem expensive in the beginning. But it'll get cheaper as you stock pile meat.

Be prepared for guilt trips from both the public and your vet. Any questions, feel free to PM me.

 I feed raw 90% of the time (I also feed kibble/canned when I'm low on raw or traveling).  If you shop wisely, you SHOULD save money on raw.  I spend about $60 a month to feed the dogs raw, I'd be at about $150 on kibble.  I have a storage freezer and when I find something on sale under $1 a pound I buy ALL of it.  I mean, literally.... pile it in the cart and off we go!  I put a cookie sheet in my fridge and put the meat on it to defrost. Though I feed the big dogs frozen food quite often.  Little dog won't eat it frozen. 

As far as making your dog sick, my breeder weans her pups directly onto a raw diet, so there are 3-4 week old pups eating raw, and ((knocks on wood)) she's had excellent success at it.... I know she's not the only one to do it.  My dogs have been in excellent health on the diet.  I helped my sister get started and her Vet said that the only reason her 9 year old Golden is still alive is a credit to the raw diet.  Granted this is NOT most Vet's opinions, as Kitty has said, you need to be prepared to stick with your guns when asked by your Vet.  I just smile and nod for the most part and say, "Well, it's worked for me and I'm happy with it." and move them along.

No, it cannot give them worms.  Unless you are feeding wild/home-raised pig or bear.  Any farm raised swine will be fine.  Even with that said I've fed my dogs (wild) bear meat, I've learned that it's pretty obvious when the animals have trichinosis.  But, anything in the grocery made for human consumption will be fine for the dogs and yes, this includes pork.  I've researched this exhaustively, it's simply not true that farm raised American pork contains trichinosis.  If you are truly freaked out about it, freeze it at 5*f or less for 20+ days and you'll be fine.

oranges81

ETA: To give you an idea of daily meals, Sandy (17lbs JRT) eats between 1 -3 ounces of food a day.

 My big dogs get about 12 oz per meal, so 24oz per day.  My JRT/Chi mix is 13lbs and gets about 5-6oz a day.

All in all, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at raw feeding.  It's both not as difficult as most people fear nor is it as dangerous as many will have you think. My dogs coats look great when on raw... it really does make a lot of difference IMO :) 

There are several types of raw diets. BARF, prey model...

Check out the raw feeding forum on Dogster first. Lots of knowledgeable folks on there, and I find that it's a less judgemental group.

Be aware that many of the yahoo raw feeding groups are pretty hardcore and can be really condescending to people they don't feel are feeding a 100% prey model diet. Don't get me wrong, there is a LOT of great information and resources there, just take it with a grain of salt. Had that been my first introduction to the world of raw, I would have been scared off pretty fast. 

If you do the raw diet correctly, your dogs will not get worms from eating raw meat.

Raw will not make them sick. Kibble also contains a lot of bacteria. Treat the dogs' food as you would your own (good cleaning practices etc) and there shouldn't be any issues.

Rexy was on raw for a year before we temporarily switched back to kibble to try to narrow down some health issues (we thought it might be allergy related). We're back on raw, and honestly, for us, it's cheaper to feed both cats and Rexy raw then it is to buy canned cat food and Orijen dog kibble.

For two small dogs, there shouldn't be a problem buying when on sale and packaging and freezing the surplus.

I manage to keep Rexy in raw (eating 1.8lbs per day) without breaking the bank.

Once you have sources and connections figured out, then it gets so much easier and you can predict what will be on sale, who carries what, whether you can get scraps from a game cutter etc.

Sera_J

Wow, does she get a lot of treats?

I was curious too. My Mini's, at 14, 16, and 17lbs, get 7oz, 7oz, and 8oz per day, respectively.  I can't imagine even 3 oz per day sustaining a dog on its own!

I've been feeding raw to my three adults for three years now, and haven't looked back. They've never been ill from it, nor have they ever had any form of parasite.  Best type of diet to feed, IMO, if you can do it!

redlegos

Will eating raw meat make them sick?

Could it give them worms?

When balanced correctly, no, generally it makes them healthier.

I don't feed exclusively raw, but I often have raw venison and other meats because of the hunters in my family.  The general rule is that we freeze the meat for several weeks before thawing and feeding raw.  When it's frozen for some time, this kills any parasites or bacteria that might be in it.  We do this because we are feeding "wild" game that hasn't been subjected to normal protocols for butchering and selling meats.  If you are getting raw meats from a store and it is human grade, then I would assume it's been butchered and sold under a strictly regulated process.  If in doubt, freeze it for some time before feeding raw.

Since you  have 2 very small dogs, you have a few options.  First, you could look into something like The Honest Kitchen (dehydrated foods), or Bravo! (packaged complete raw) or the like, to get you started. 

Then read read read and like others have said, take the forums with a grain of salt.  I feed what I call a "Natural Diet" because I hate the BARF acronym but I do feed veggies, yogurt and grains much of the time.

The book _Raw Dog Food_ by Carina MacDonald was very helpful for me as well.

Oh and my answers to your questions are NO and NO. :)   My dogs are all on raw and doing beautifully.  My PWD's coat is supersoft ,shiny and beautiful.  Gorgeous white teeth, etc. 

Sera_J

 

oranges81

ETA: To give you an idea of daily meals, Sandy (17lbs JRT) eats between 1 -3 ounces of food a day.

Really?!  1-3 oz!?  Wow, does she get a lot of treats?

 My big dogs get about 12 oz per meal, so 24oz per day.  My JRT/Chi mix is 13lbs and gets about 5-6oz a day.

All in all, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at raw feeding.  It's both not as difficult as most people fear nor is it as dangerous as many will have you think. My dogs coats look great when on raw... it really does make a lot of difference IMO :) 

Yes she does get quite a bit of treats during the day. And she's 2 pounds over weight. Lol. Including treats, she eats about 4oz a day.

 I have a very large dog with allergies to all poultry so putting him on raw completely is cost prohibitive and I have a really hard time finding safe consumable bones (keeping in mind that chicken & turkey are off limits).

I feed him raw a few meals a week, depending on what I can get my hands on a good price.  the few times I've been able to feed him a for an extended period of time all raw he is on a couple of pounds a day.