I think there is a thread on here somewhere about sardines. Maybe do a search for it.

I don't feed any fish because my sibe cannot tolerate fish.

I'm thinking about getting into feeding raw with Bella but I'm having a bit of trouble understanding some things.
I keep seeing bone in products are best and get cuts of meat with the bone but very little about what those cuts actually are. I know I could probably pester a butcher once I find out in my area but I was wondering what people usually get that isn't chicken?
Also, about how much bone would an egg shell replace. I fed one to Bella this morning and after she realized it was food and not a toy she ate about half the shell and all of the egg. I go through a lot of eggs in my household and if I could get away with crushing up the shell for an alternate source of calcium when there's a good sale on some boneless stuff I'd like to do that.

I couldn't tell you how many egg shells to use, but again it's not an exact science and each individual dog will vary in their dietary needs.

As for non-chicken cuts of meat, again it's not an exact science. Variety is the spice of life, I'll buy anything I can for cheap so there is quite a variety in my freezer. I don't buy bone-in beef, it's too expensive for me to get. I do feed pork ribs as well as bone-in poultry backs, breasts, necks, and wings. Others feed stuff like heads, legs and feet, that's just too much for me to handle. Throwing in a whole prey animal like rabbits, hens, quail, goats, deer, etc is great too but again I can't stomach going that far. I'm far too squeamish to get that serious about raw feeding.

Are pork chops good to use? They had a good deal and before I read about chicken first I got a package so I could test the waters so to speak. The bone is a wierd shape and i read somewhere that's not a good thing. Should I not use them?

I asked the same question about chops. I didn't use the bone. Seems too sharp, and a weird shape

You can feed pork - but if your dog doesn't have an iron stomach it may cause upset. IMO, you should freeze the pork for at least 7 - 10 days before feeding it. I'm cautious with pork...so I always freeze to kill anything of. That goes for anything I buy at a grocery store.

It is currently marinating in the extreme cold of my freezer and yeah, Bella does not have an iron stomache, if she even thinks about getting her hands on human food she gets the runs. I'm wondering if feeding with a little bit of pumpkin when you start them on the diet would be a good idea. I am a huge fan of it and Bella spit polishes her bowl whenever I give it to her.

My sibe is on the sensitive side when it comes to food but he handles pork just fine, and has anything but an iron stomach.

As for pork chops with bone, some people feed them and others don't because of the sharp tip. I am one of the better safe than sorry crowd and don't feed the bone in pork chops. I'd rather just cut the meat out and have peace of mind.

My question is about ground beef and cut up chicken with my puppies kibble. I doubt I could go full raw at this point but I would like to possibly do so in the future when I've found reliable places to get all the required meaty bones and organs in my area. Sorry if I'm re-asking a question. Came into this thread late.

SkylerWest wrote:

My question is about ground beef and cut up chicken with my puppies kibble. I doubt I could go full raw at this point but I would like to possibly do so in the future when I've found reliable places to get all the required meaty bones and organs in my area. Sorry if I'm re-asking a question. Came into this thread late.

I didn't see a question there.

Sorry was writting this on my way out the door this morning. Is it okay if I mix those in with his puppy food?

SkylerWest wrote:

Sorry was writting this on my way out the door this morning. Is it okay if I mix those in with his puppy food?

A lot of people will tell you not to mix raw and kibble because they digest at different rates and I think in general it's good advice to follow if you do it often. However I have mixed the two on occasion and have never had a problem doing so. You can always give it a try and see how your dog does.

Similar here. Callie's the only dog in my house raw feed and she still occasionally steals the others' kibble. It hasn't caused upset but then again, it's not like she's eating that much of it and it's also at a separate time.

As long as you don't feed a full serving of kibble and then some raw as well. You still want the total intake to be about the same. So if he's eating say 4 cups total a day, and you want to feed half raw, he should only get about 2 cups of dry food a day.

calliegirl08 wrote:

Similar here. Callie's the only dog in my house raw feed and she still occasionally steals the others' kibble. It hasn't caused upset but then again, it's not like she's eating that much of it and it's also at a separate time.

As long as you don't feed a full serving of kibble and then some raw as well. You still want the total intake to be about the same. So if he's eating say 4 cups total a day, and you want to feed half raw, he should only get about 2 cups of dry food a day.

Thank you both for the info. I was worried at first about feeding a puppy raw meat but after a lot of research I am willing to give it a try. Not complete raw mind you, maybe grounded beef for breakfast and kibble the rest of the day.

SkylerWest wrote:

Thank you both for the info. I was worried at first about feeding a puppy raw meat but after a lot of research I am willing to give it a try. Not complete raw mind you, maybe grounded beef for breakfast and kibble the rest of the day.

That's sounds fine, but if you plan to do that regularly you'll probably want to use more than just beef. I think you mentioned chicken also. I like to throw in some ground turkey and pork as well.

I'll make sure to do that. I'm planning on using blue wilderness for him along side the various kinds of meat.

Sounds good to me, any raw is better than none at all so even a bit of supplementing a kibble diet is way better than kibble alone.

How old should a pup be before you start a raw diet with them? It's something we'd be considering in the future but need to do bit more research first, my baby's only 14 weeks old so figured I've got some time to decided, great post btw very informative, still digesting all the info

You can start from day one Nikko was 7 weeks when I got him and started him raw right away

Oh I didn't know that, just apprehensive about the bones really, I'm going to have an in depth read up and make sure I understand it fully before going ahead.
Thank you for getting back to me, much appreciated!

inklie@hotmail.com wrote:

Oh I didn't know that, just apprehensive about the bones really, I'm going to have an in depth read up and make sure I understand it fully before going ahead.
Thank you for getting back to me, much appreciated!

Start with chicken thighs then, small bones, easy for puppy teeth.

I will do that! There just seems so many benefits to the raw diet, from what I'm reading, looking forward to getting her started! Thanks

Hi guys,

I'm from QLD in Australia and have a Husky x Malamute 20 month on and an American Bulldog x Bull Arab 20 month old. The husky (Storm) has always been a picky eater (she's my 3rd!) and we've decided to switch her to a raw diet as this seems to be the only thing she'll eat! The bulldog (Rock) is happy to eat rice, chicken mince & vegies for breakfast and dry food (Black Hawk - it's an Australian brand very similar to Artemis which is what they grew up on).

I've seen the posts about how much to feed, organs etc and I have a few questions.

Firstly, do you feed once or twice a day? She's fed twice a day currently as Rock tends to guzzle his food so it's better for him to be fed twice a day. For the last week we've been giving her 3 chicken wings for breakfast and 2 at night with a spoon of canned food (don't worry it's good stuff not crap... I'm super picky about what they eat!).

Can you give them drum sticks or are thighs/wings/necks and frames best?
In terms of red meat, can you give them mince with a couple bones and organs etc?

Just trying to work out the best way to do this and the most cost effective. We'll probably be keeping Rock on his dry feed at least once a day as he'll eat anything and we know it's got the nutrients he needs as a big dog (he's 45kgs/100lbs currently and expected to grow still)

I just want to make sure that we do the right thing by Storm in terms of getting enough to eat, getting a balanced meal i.e. does she need vegies or supplements? and so forth.

Thanks!

princessmals wrote:

Firstly, do you feed once or twice a day? She's fed twice a day currently as Rock tends to guzzle his food so it's better for him to be fed twice a day. For the last week we've been giving her 3 chicken wings for breakfast and 2 at night with a spoon of canned food (don't worry it's good stuff not crap... I'm super picky about what they eat!).

Whether you feed once or twice a day is entirely up to you and your dogs. I feed one main meal a day but I give treats in the morning, afternoon and just before bed otherwise mine have a tendency to throw up if they have an empty stomach.

princessmals wrote:

Can you give them drum sticks or are thighs/wings/necks and frames best?

Any and all of the above are good. A good variety is always advised and how well your dog does on different parts will vary from dog to dog. And by that I mostly mean how well your dog does with the meat to bone ratio which is something you'll figure out as you go. I personally feed very little wing and feed mostly quarters (the thigh and drumstick), split bone-in breast, and backs. Wings and necks I only give on occasion, necks more than wings.

princessmals wrote:

In terms of red meat, can you give them mince with a couple bones and organs etc?

Absolutely.

princessmals wrote:

I just want to make sure that we do the right thing by Storm in terms of getting enough to eat, getting a balanced meal i.e. does she need vegies or supplements? and so forth.

Veggies are not necessary in a PMR diet. They are necessary in a BARF diet so know the difference. I am assuming you intend to follow a PMR diet since that is the most biologically appropriate.

Supplements are also not necessary but many of us do choose to supplement for own reasons.

My holistic vet recommends a general supplement on any diet be it raw, homecooked, kibble, or wet and I have always listened to her advice so I do (I alternate between using Nupro Silver and Wholistic Canine Complete). In addition to a general supplement, I also supplement my dogs with coconut oil for their skin and coat, as well as glucosamine, chondroitin, and msm for their joint health since mine are seniors. These are all just what I personally chose to do for my pets and none of them are absolutely necessary.

Firstly, do you feed once or twice a day? She's fed twice a day currently as Rock tends to guzzle his food so it's better for him to be fed twice a day. For the last week we've been giving her 3 chicken wings for breakfast and 2 at night with a spoon of canned food (don't worry it's good stuff not crap... I'm super picky about what they eat!).

I feed once a day - and its a large meal. Then, they get treats and bones (rib bones, specifically) through out the day.

Can you give them drum sticks or are thighs/wings/necks and frames best?

I can't feed chicken, so I have to utilize other options for my two. I feed turkey necks, ground whole turkey, duck carcass, whole fish, beef ribs, and other ground bone/meats.

In terms of red meat, can you give them mince with a couple bones and organs etc?

Of course you can! I don't even feed bone every day, mine don't really need it, so I will occasionally just give them a muscle meat meal, as its the most important for them to have anyway.


Just trying to work out the best way to do this and the most cost effective. We'll probably be keeping Rock on his dry feed at least once a day as he'll eat anything and we know it's got the nutrients he needs as a big dog (he's 45kgs/100lbs currently and expected to grow still)

Raw has plenty of nutrients and has been great for large dogs. I know many shepherds and danes on raw. I know there are people who feed raw in your area, so start looking for butchers and feed anything you can get your hand on. Even paying 1.00/lb for meat is better than 2.50/lb for kibble (sorry, I have good prices here so 1.00 is high for me).

I suggest checking out meat packing companies.

I just want to make sure that we do the right thing by Storm in terms of getting enough to eat, getting a balanced meal i.e. does she need vegies or supplements? and so forth.

As Val said, a lot of us choose to use supplements. My reasoning is this: Meat our ogs eat now, is not the meat their ancestors at in the wild. It can be filled with hormones and toxins, simply because the environment has changed. I try to combat it with supplements. I feed:

Salmon Oil - 1000mg Daily
Vitamin E - 400 I.U. Every other day
Coconut Oil - For my male, to maintain weight - 1 tablespoon a day Female - about 1 tsp.

For Joints and Pain (my female has sever slipped disk issues)

MSM - I use the powder, 1/8 tsp a day, its very potent. (Will check mg later)
Glucosamine HCL - 1000 mg/day
Shark Cartilage - I'll have to post mg later
Boswellia - a tablet of nature's way brand a day for maintenance and up to 3x a day for pain. Boswellia is a natural anti inflammatory and pain reliever, much easier on the body then conventional meds.