Info on Raw Diets

A great way to transition to raw is to feed pre-made raw frozen diets. I have had good success with Primal and A Place For Paws raw frozen foods. They have very informative websites that make it very easy to feed or supplement with raw.

The best pre-made raw food is K9! [linkhttp://www.k9natural.co.nz]www.k9natural.co.nz[/link]. Haha. I dunno if you can get there where you are though..

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

ORIGINAL: belgmal_girl

I had a nice, long and lengthy reply to all of this when it timed out.....what a shame[]


But, I'm fed up with Joy and I'm trying stay in a good mood, and debating about raw isn't top on my list....

Bottom line:

To each his own. I agree very much with that.VitaWright asked about raw feeding, so Im giving it to her. I personally would never feed my dog premade, for certain health aspects. There are pros and cons to both, but I'd rather take the cons to prey-model, with the whole caracasses for health reasons.

Becca, wasn't it you that posted that Ella was getting the lick granulomas? Just curious...

Yes, Ella has a lick granuloma AND is fed raw.
I'm not taking her off raw. I will keep doing a homemade raw diet for her because, to me, it'll be easier to do an elimination diet with raw.
And, honestly, I don't believe I'm going to have to do an elimination diet because I really think it was the wheat in the liver treats that I made for her.

I would definitely agree with the wheat...

I'm reading some great helpful information here, and plan to check out all the links everyone has posted.  I just started feeding raw yesterday.  In the morning, I gave a small thigh to each dog, (starting off slowly), and in the evening a small piece of beef.  This morning I made them some oats with plain yogurt, a banana, and a little raw honey.  I don't think I'm going to bother with the cereal part anymore.  They didn't care for it, and oats being a little better of a grain, well, they just aren't going to need it.  Because they sort of had a fasting from when I had given them the beef yesterday, they didn't have anything else the rest of the night, I think I'm going to use that as their transition, and not supplement with their "kibble/soft dog food" as I've read you could to make the transition easier.  Does anyone have any views on that, about mixing raw with their previously fed kibble?  Also, 2 of the dogs weigh a little over 100 lbs, should I only give them a little bit of meat each day for awhile, or can I just go ahead and bump them up to 2-3 lbs?  Thank you in advance for any help.  []

You definately need to go to the Raw Dog Ranch link above.  I commend you for feeding raw but like any other food, if you don't feed it right, you can mess with your dog's health.  Some feed other things with raw.  Some feed raw meat only.  You need a plan and you need a lot of variety.  Find a book or some other reliable sorce of information and look at yahoo groups and find a raw feeders group near you.  They are a great source of info on where to get meat at the best prices and what they are feeding their dogs. 

Here's a sample feeding schedule...depending on how much time I have, either I or my dad will feed the dog, so I want to start writing Joy's daily meals down on a whiteboard on the fridge:
 
MONDAY:
 
Breakfast-
One cup raw oats
1 tsp. honey
1 lamb heart
3 chicken feet
 
Dinner-
1 lamb shank
1 chicken foot
1 piece whiting fish
 
TUESDAY:
 
Breakfast-
1 chicken quarter
1 pork liver
 
Dinner-
1 piece whiting fish
1/4 beef heart
 
WEDNESDAY:
 
Breakfast-
 
1/4 beef kidney
1 can Solid Gold green tripe
1 can of yucky processed tuna[:'(] (hey, the dog likes it!)

 
Well, you get the general idea. The point is to make sure you don't[color=#000000]  balance it everday.. In the wild, feral dogs don't plan out meals or supplements to make sure they get a balanced diet. Also, detox is a myth. Dogs don't detoxify their bodies or flush out the kibble- thats a dog starting to get use to a new food if you switch cld turkey. After feeding raw for two years, switch to some crappy food like Iams or Kibbles n bits and tell me the reaction you get. Vomiting? Diarrhea? You bet! You can't tell me that the dog is detoxing yet AGAIN. If it is detoxing the bad kibble, two years later will it detox the good raw?[/color]

I am about to go crazy.  I've been I feel over-reading on how to feed raw, and what exactly to feed.  Almost makes me want to go back to kibble and soft food.  I'm so afraid if I give them let's say just chicken for 2 weeks (to let them get use to it), that they will be deficient in other areas, meaning should they be getting a vitamin supplement and if so what.  100's of questions, and maybe making too much of a simple thing.  I just don't know.
 
Belgmal gave a nice menu, (thank you), but see I've read where you shouldn't give even oats because it's a grain and dogs don't need grains.  See, how confusing it can be?.

Dogs don't NEED grains, but that doesn't make them bad for them. Grains are a good source of vitamins and minerals not found in meat. If meat was the perfect food, then why do animals get hyperparathyroidism?? Because meat alone does not provide all the necessary nutrients... There is no such thing as a perfect diet, and there are many ways to feed a dog.

Honestly, unless you think there is something wrong with feeding kibble, or your dog is doing poorly on it, just skip the raw food. It takes a lot of dedication and homework, and if it seems overwhelming, it will be even more so when you actually begin feeding it. I've heard just as many horror stories about diets gone bad as I have success stories. Its entirely possible to make a balanced homemade diet, but its a LOT of work, and if you aren't 100% dedicated to it, you probably won't do it right. Do your pup a favor, make sure the homemade food thing is right for not only your dog, but YOU as well.

Thank you Misskiwi I needed that.  No serious, I did.  It didn't take me but reading your post to decide raw is not going to work.  However what I will do is check ingredients on dog foods and try to select one that is going to be a good grade dinner.

ORIGINAL: VitaWright  Can anyone direct me to some good websites and/or books that would give me accurate information on feeding a raw diet?  I would like to do it correctly.  Also, are there any companies out there that sell a pre-made raw diet?  Thanks!

 
[linkhttp://www.therobertabadydogfoodcoltd.com/Fresh%20Frozen%20Complete%20Foods.htm]http://www.therobertabadydogfoodcoltd.com/Fresh%20Frozen%20Complete%20Foods.htm[/link]
 
Charlie

There are dozens of good kibble foods, and lots of people to help. I fed my own pup a pre-mix raw diet for 2 weeks, and that was MORE than enough for me. I didn't even have to balance it!! Its soooo much work, and while I needed to do it for health reasons, I would never want to do it again. Thank goodness for prescription diets!!

Raw is not for everyone, and there's nothing wrong with that. Other people thrive on the research and effort they go through and wouldn't have it any other way. For that, I commend them, because they have more guts than me!

Start a new thread, tell us about your dog and what you're looking for. I have no doubt you'll be overwhelmed with helpful suggestions.

Fawnice, don#%92t kill yourself over the dog food balance.  Just mix it up when you can.  Beef, Chicken, Lamb.  Watch your dog#%92s and I#%92m sure you#%92ll be surprised how well they do.  If they get constipated feed a little kibble and that will loosen things up.  Good luck!!!

I feed a homemade raw diet.
Sure, in the beginning it was crazy, but then I relaxed and saw improvements in my dog.
I don't feed any grains right now. Not because I believe that my dog would DIE on them, but because I haven't been convinced that they are necessary. Ella is allergic (or so I believe as of now) to wheat. I'll be taking her to a holistic vet if her skin continues to break out like it had.

I give her vitamins/supplements. I give her sea kelp, salmon oil, vitamin E, and a yeast free b-complex.

Ella gets a variety of meat. I give her beef (including beef heart), fish (usually sardines or canned salmon or mackeral), chicken, turkey, lamb, and tripe. I also add less than an ounce of liver a day. If I don't give her liver (sometimes I forget to add it to her daily meals) then I give her two portions the next day.
It is more work than feeding kibble because I use a kitchen scale and portion off her food into half pounds. I also have to try and portion off her liver into .96 oz. pieces and bag them separately.

It's do-able, but initially, it does take more work and you can question yourself as to if you're doing the right thing for your dog's diet. If you do not feel comfortable with it, don't feed it.

Fawnice, don't kill yourself over the dog food balance. Just mix it up when you can. Beef, Chicken, Lamb. Watch your dog's and I'm sure you'll be surprised how well they do. If they get constipated feed a little kibble and that will loosen things up. Good luck!!!

It's really not as simple as that; if you put together a diet that you think  seems okay your dog will probably suffer in the long run. Feeding a variety of foods is not enough to provide a dog's nutritional needs. Here's some links to newsletter articles about raw diets written by an animal nutritionist; 
[linkhttp://www.monicasegal.com/newsletters/2006-11NL.php]http://www.monicasegal.com/newsletters/2006-11NL.php[/link]; scroll down to Fact of the Month; this article deals with the need to supplement most whole prey model diets.

[linkhttp://www.monicasegal.com/newsletters/2006-01NL.php]http://www.monicasegal.com/newsletters/2006-01NL.php[/link]; scroll down to Myth of the Month; this article tells why just feeding a variety of foods when feeding a raw diet will be likely to cause both nutritional deficiencies and excesses.
 
 

Nevermind