Looking Into Raw Feeding

[Guest Tess32]

Yep, any age is fine. Earlier the better really, gets them used to lots of different meats.

[Eza]

Any sort of bones he shouldnt have? Other than the big hard ones.

[Guest Tess32]

Any sort of bones he shouldnt have? Other than the big hard ones.

Mostly depends on the dog. I wouldn't feed chicken necks if they are medium to large breed, too small.

Some people feed pork, I don't.

It's trial and error when watching your own dog mostly. Mine are all slow and sensible eaters who leave what they can't eat

[Eza]

My two are fast and dont chew much which is why we feed inside so they can be supervised.

Toby doesnt live with me so I will have to get my brother to keep an eye on him.

[Guest Tess32]

My two are fast and dont chew much which is why we feed inside so they can be supervised.

Toby doesnt live with me so I will have to get my brother to keep an eye on him.

If they are fast eaters I would stick to larger portions then - lamb necks will be great, half chickens, maryland, frames etc.

Some eat fast (my Ebony does) but are still sensible

[Jed]

I put the raw pumpkin piece in the microwave for a couple of minutes, which softens it up a bit - not cooked, just a bit softer so the f/processor handles it better.

I feed broccoli, brussel sprouts, beans, squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, potato (which I cook) zucchinis, spinach, apples, peaches, bananas, paw paw, rock melon, chokos, stone fruits - basically anything except grapes, onions, lettuce - anything which is cheap this week, + anything which is in the fridge and looks a bit sad. None of mine will eat citrus under any conditions. The fruit & veges are mixed with bone in chicken mince, and they have beef bones as well.

If you want to feed raw, you should get Ian Billinghurst's book - "Give a Dog a Bone". He has a website, if you google Ian Billinghurst, it will bring it up. You can then check that out, and his next book, which is also good.

If you buy the book, you'll know what you are doing, otherwise, you are at the mercy of everyone - some of whom will advocate BARF, when what they are feeding is not BARF, and you will be led astray.

I also feed brown rice occasionally, dry dog feed sometimes, for convenience, cheese, cottage cheese, rolled oats, eggs, fish, offal, bones, yoghurt, vitamin/mineral supplements, kelp, - and whatever else happens to take my fancy on the day. So I am not strictly feeding a BARF diet, but I am feeding a raw diet.

Once you have read the book, and know the principles, you can either follow it religiously, or change it slightly. But I think it is important to read the book, as it is too easy for a home made diet to be unbalanced, and the effects may not be noticed for years.

[Guest Tess32]

If you don't want to feed BARF, you can always buy Tom Lonsdale's Work Wonders: Feed your dog raw meaty bones. It's small and easy to read and makes more sense to me than BARF

[Eza]

Thanks Jed Ill look up the book.

My guys will eat anything (including what they arent meant to) so it shouldnt be to much of an issue convincing them what I feed is good lol.

ETA: Ill source both books I think. Im in adelaide soon so Ill have the opportunity to go to a large chain books store.

Edited May 5, 2008 by Eza

[Jed]

Doesn't Lonsdale advocate only meat/offal Tess? I read it years ago, and have forgotten.

Oh, and I wean my pups onto what the adults have - "mince n stuff" and the bones come later. the pups do have scrambled eggs, or rolled oats or Farex baby food for breakfast, dry for lunch, so they develop a wide range of tastes, and in case someone wants to feed dry.

[Guest Tess32]

Nah, raw meaty bones + offal and he doesn't mind/care if you add vegies. He's probably closer to prey model than BARF type (80% meat, 15% edible bone and 5% offal). Is BARF still 30% vegies? That would be a huge amount of vegies for mine - as it is, two of them try their hardest to shake off the pesky vegetables from their meat and bone!

I just combine the two diets and if I feed a meaty meal in the morning, I feed frames etc at night.

[jamie]

I feed my dog using the method Tom Lonsdale describes in his book "Work Wonders"

For me this means I feed a diet consisting primarily of:

1.Raw meaty bones ( lamb necks,chicken frames,roo tails,turkey drumsticks,chicken maryland and lamb shanks)

2.Fish (salmon frames,salmon heads and fresh pilchards/sardines)

3.Organ meat ( liver,kidney and heart)

4.Ocassional table scraps ( a chunk of apple or banana,leftover mashed veges)

He also gets the occasional raw egg.

I avoid feeding commercial dog foods,grains,excessive fruit and veg,minced meat and dairy products.

[westielover]

I'm on a raw feeders yahoo group and these people have been feeding the prey model for years with great success. One of the things I noted from this group is that vegetables are minimal and only green leafy vegetables are fed (eg. spinach, chinese greens). They say that you should avoid 'sugary' veggies and fruit, as sugar feeds yeast, which in turn can cause skin problems. Just thought I'd mention it here.

[Justchillin]

Obviously Potato, peppers etc and onion is there anything else that cant be given?

I could feed one inside and one out but generally they both get fed inside.

No onion

[InspectorRex]

I have recently switched my girls over to Raw feeding as one was not tolerating even Eagle Pack. I sought advice from a very long term Raw Feeder( who has been feeding raw for over 15 years )

her diet goes somewhat like this:

75% meat, 25% vegetables( now the vegies recommended to me were carrots, celery, parsley, alfafa and garlic)

(the meat is raw chicken mince made fresh from our poultry shop who only has preservative and hormone free chickens)

I buy 5-6kgs at a time and that combined with the Vegies makes up about 10 meals for 2 medium sized dogs so you can stock up in the freezer. At $1 per kg for the chicken very economical.

For additives she has recommened to me powdered kelp, powdered brewer's yeast, cod liver oil( 1 tsp weekly),dolonite( natural form of calcium)

Also each day the girls get a chicken carcass each.

Since switching over to this diet we have not had one episode of an upset tummy and their stools are much less and far better formed.

Feel free to PM and I will pass on your details to this lady

[Legacee]

Be careful feeding too much offal as this can be a major concern with your dogs getting lots more worms than usual..

[poodlefan]

Be careful feeding too much offal as this can be a major concern with your dogs getting lots more worms than usual..

I only feed human grade offal - no risk of worms there. I worm my dogs regularly anyway.

Edited May 9, 2008 by poodlefan

[Gayle.]

(the meat is raw chicken mince made fresh from our poultry shop who only has preservative and hormone free chickens)

Which poultry shop are you getting it from? I've been buying human grade minced beef but it's getting expensive now Dusty is getting bigger and $1 kg sounds like it's right within my budget.

The lady wouldn't be from Moe and breed GSD's, would she? Cos if so, I know her quite well and was having a good chat with her about raw feeding recently. She makes a lot of sense and I really like her ideas.

[Eza]

Thanks.

All this information is great.

[poodlefan]

(the meat is raw chicken mince made fresh from our poultry shop who only has preservative and hormone free chickens)

Which poultry shop are you getting it from? I've been buying human grade minced beef but it's getting expensive now Dusty is getting bigger and $1 kg sounds like it's right within my budget.

The lady wouldn't be from Moe and breed GSD's, would she? Cos if so, I know her quite well and was having a good chat with her about raw feeding recently. She makes a lot of sense and I really like her ideas.

All Australian chickens are hormone free. It's illegal to feed homones to them and has been for many years. Gayle most chicken places (eg Lennards) have what they call chicken "pet mince" which is basically ground carcasses and offcuts. As long as it's fresh it's good to feed.

[Guest Tess32]

If I were you, Inspector Rex, I would give them more than just one protein source if you can, and also add offal. Raw diets without any offal are deficient

If they are handling the raw chicken easily then they should be able to handle bigger meatier bones like maryland.