a few Qs for fellow raw-food feeders

Hello Satch and welcome to idog; Have you carefully researched raw diets before feeding your dogs raw food? It is critical that you do your homework before feeding a raw diet. Forgive me if you already know this but here are a few links about raw feeding; 
                                               [linkhttp://www.barfworld.com/]http://www.barfworld.com/[/link]
                                            [linkhttp://www.rawdogranch.com/rawdiet.htm]http://www.rawdogranch.com/rawdiet.htm[/link]
                                            [linkhttp://www.bravorawdiet.com/]http://www.bravorawdiet.com/[/link]
                                            [linkhttp://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/]http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/[/link]


I'm sure there will be others soon with more information or comments but I hoped this helped.

thanks for the reply and the links jessie's mom,

i hadn't seen that third link before, there's some nice info there. i've done lots of research, but i haven't had any dialogue with others who are on the raw-meat diet, and that's what i'd really like to get out of this site (or at least this post).

alex

has anyone else noticed a major change in their dogs' scent since switching to raw-meat diets?

also, are there many others of you out there feeding only raw-meat with no supplements/veggies?

No and No!

Even the best designed raw diet should include supplementation,and by the looks of yours,it is not very well designed at all. You never mentioned organ meat  which is a pre-requisite for a home made diet,green tripe is also a pre-req IMO.What about fish oil, vitE etc etc etc etc,if you're not feeding vegies/fruit you need to replace what these things would bring to the diet IMO.

So your dogs diet mainly consists of chicken meat and bone(what kind of bones) and nothing else,right?

ORIGINAL: Edie

has anyone else noticed a major change in their dogs' scent since switching to raw-meat diets?

also, are there many others of you out there feeding only raw-meat with no supplements/veggies?

No and No!

Even the best designed raw diet should include supplementation,and by the looks of yours,it is not very well designed at all. You never mentioned organ meat  which is a pre-requisite for a home made diet,green tripe is also a pre-req IMO.What about fish oil, vitE etc etc etc etc,if you're not feeding vegies/fruit you need to replace what these things would bring to the diet IMO.

So your dogs diet mainly consists of chicken meat and bone(what kind of bones) and nothing else,right?

thanks a bunch for the input

thanks a bunch for the input

No probs [] Now i need yours []

are your mutts on a raw-food plan edie?

if so, do you use supplements (as in multi-vit pills and such) and have you noticed a change in scent?

At about three weeks from when you start, you may notice some odd and unpleasant effects.  Dull-looking coat, bad breath, weird body odors, and digestive issues are all pretty normal - they are apparently the result of voiding out toxins - or "detoxing".  Some dogs do it and some don't, but I've never had one that actually got ill or had any long term problems after a day or so.

Give it another day, then if there's still a problem, consider whether your diet might be at fault in some way.  It's true that there are some deficiencies in a muscle-meat and bone-only diet which you'll need to address with supplements or a little creative feeding of whole foods to provide those nutrients.  Prey model feeders, for instance, simply ensure that they are feeding as much of the "whole" animal as possible, while Volhard and BARFers follow a model which uses commercial nutrient supplements and fruits and veggies (and even grains for Volhard).

are your mutts on a raw-food plan edie?

I dont feed 100% raw,i dont feed 100% anything,my dogs get something of everything.

No i have never noticed a change in scent,so i cant really address that one for you. But i do supplement,with-

Fish oil
Vit E
B complex
CLO
Probiotics
Spirulina
MSM
Shark cartilige
Nupro or prozyme every now and then,depending which one i have on hand.
I dont give multi vit/min,no particular reason,just dont see the point.

They dont get all of the above at once,they get  maybe 3-4  on a daily basis(fish oil,E daily),but all of them over a weekly period. They also get rmb's everyday which could consist of chicken wings,necks,carcasses,leg quarters,ox tails,lamb/beef/pork ribs,lamb shanks and marrow bones(both rec bones).They also get heart and liver a few times a week and raw green tripe nearly everyday.

ORIGINAL: brookcove

At about three weeks from when you start, you may notice some odd and unpleasant effects.  Dull-looking coat, bad breath, weird body odors, and digestive issues are all pretty normal - they are apparently the result of voiding out toxins - or "detoxing".  Some dogs do it and some don't, but I've never had one that actually got ill or had any long term problems after a day or so.

Give it another day, then if there's still a problem, consider whether your diet might be at fault in some way.  It's true that there are some deficiencies in a muscle-meat and bone-only diet which you'll need to address with supplements or a little creative feeding of whole foods to provide those nutrients.  Prey model feeders, for instance, simply ensure that they are feeding as much of the "whole" animal as possible, while Volhard and BARFers follow a model which uses commercial nutrient supplements and fruits and veggies (and even grains for Volhard).

thanks for the reply brookcove,

i had considered that he may be detoxing, but his new 'smell' began pretty late into his new diet (several months) and has yet to go away. but then again he did eat kibble (albeit high-end kibble) for most of his life (6+ years). and as far as breathe is concerned, i've had friends comment that their breathe has actually improved (it was never bad to begin with though).

i didn't notice any digestive issues, and i think that's in part because we had been mixing in raw meats with their kibble for well over a year before switching to just raw-meats.

at first we were feeding them raw veggies and fruits as well, but from a purely common-sense evolutionary standpoint there seems to be absolutely no reason for a dog's system to be attuned to fruits and veggies, plus i've read that the nightshade family of veggies as well as other misc fruits/veggies could lead to joint issues, and my eldest seemed to be getting the initial stages of arthritis (which was the main impedus for going all-meat/no-kibble in the first place).

we do actually give our oldest glucosomine/chondroiten (sp)/msm, but i'd like to get some imput from raw-feeders who've been doing this for longer than i w/out multi-vits or fruits/veggies.

Satch i think the best website for you take a look at is the rawdogranch,addy listed above.

plus i've read that the nightshade family of veggies as well as other misc fruits/veggies could lead to joint issues,

I dont think they "lead" to joint issues,just aggravate them if your dog already has arthritis/joint problems.

ORIGINAL: Edie

are your mutts on a raw-food plan edie?

I dont feed 100% raw,i dont feed 100% anything,my dogs get something of everything.

No i have never noticed a change in scent,so i cant really address that one for you. But i do supplement,with-

Fish oil
Vit E
B complex
CLO
Probiotics
Spirulina
MSM
Shark cartilige
Nupro or prozyme every now and then,depending which one i have on hand.
I dont give multi vit/min,no particular reason,just dont see the point.

They dont get all of the above at once,they get  maybe 3-4  on a daily basis(fish oil,E daily),but all of them over a weekly period. They also get rmb's everyday which could consist of chicken wings,necks,carcasses,leg quarters,ox tails,lamb/beef/pork ribs,lamb shanks and marrow bones(both rec bones).They also get heart and liver a few times a week and raw green tripe nearly everyday.

i didn't actually ask whether you feed your dogs 100% anything, just whether they were on a raw-food plan (which they seem to be)...but hey, i guess you didn't actually say i did ask that either.

if you don't mind elucidating, what are CLO, Nupro, and prozyme?

i'd like to incorporate green tripe into my mutts' diets as well, but haven't figured out where to get it from yet.

Im so glad to hear that more people are thinking of switching!

hmm i do not know what the odor is about honestly, my dogs actually smell less now that they are on a raw diet, many other dogs too.
I ONLY feed raw meat and bones..there is absolutly no need for vegetables, fruits or supplements,like some claim,its a waste of time and absolutly not neccesary, umless your dog needs somthing extra..Remember Dogs are carnivores and do not need fruits or vegetables! please take a lok at these sites:
[linkhttp://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html]http://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html[/link]
[linkhttp://rawfed.com/myths/stomachcontents.html]http://rawfed.com/myths/stomachcontents.html[/link]
[linkhttp://www.rawlearning.com/supplementmyths.html]http://www.rawlearning.com/supplementmyths.html[/link]

*sorry double post*