I got my husky when he was 4 months old, hes 6 months now. This is the first dog of my adult life, I'm more of a cat person. I've read a little bit on here about a raw diet. I haven't got my husband completely on board with the idea. His family has always had dogs and his mother strongly buys into a lot of the myths about raw meat (it will make them mean. They can't eat chicken bone and so on). But I've slowly wore him down and got him to try some things.

Just yesterday we got a package of bone dust from the meat market. Neither of us had any idea what it was but the butcher gave us a sample to try. We mixed it in with Howahkan's kibble and he loved it. Now my husband is completely on board. Men and their dogs   

I'm just the kind of person that need clear guidelines and instructions to follow. I'm hoping that someone here would be willing and able to give me some advice and/or websites to get more information. I would love to friend someone that has experience in this area. I want to do what's best for my puppy to keep him happy and healthy.

For now we want to just mix the bone dust in with his kibble till we know more and are more comfortable with the raw diet. We have a vet appointment this week and I want to talk to her more about it.

I'm on facebook. Addie Cobb

Thank You!

First off: WELCOME! We are happy to have you here .

Second: Congrats are making the switch to raw!! I do not feed raw, but I most definitely know the benefits of it. If it was plausible, I would feed my girls raw but in my one bedroom apartment, it's just not going to happen right now.

As for the vet visit, I'm not sure if I suggest you talk to your vet about a raw diet. A lot of conventional vets do not support raw diets nor do they know a lot about them. Most vets have bought into the same myths you are talking about above and more: it's not a complete diet, your dog will get salmonella, they will get a blockage... yadda yadda yadda. So, unless you are going to a vet who you know ahead of time will support your change to raw diets or is a holistic vet, I'd just skip that lol.

We have a forum that is dedicated to raw/barf feeding you should check out if you haven't already .

Also, there are a ton of raw feeding groups on FB. Some of them are less then friendly, but there is a lot of great advice in them. Just search raw feeding in as many different phrases you can think of. Here are a couple of my favorites that I frequent

Raw Feeding FRIENDS
The Raw Feeding Community
Raw Fed Pets
Raw Feeding Diet--NO DRAMA
Raw fed dogs- a learning and sharing group

I think that covers most of the major ones.

Once again, welcome! There are lots of stickies and threads that have TONS of info, check them out and get yourself acquainted with the forum .

Thank you,
I'll check those out at home. Work computer won't let me visit much of anything lol

Welcome! I can't speak to the raw stuff, but Kelsey gave you some good advice. We have a bunch of folks here who feed raw, so I'm sure you'll find some good advice.

It's always nice to see Illinoisans pop up on here too. I live in Maryland but I grew up in Urbana. I miss my quiet cornfields with all the craziness out here Howahkan is stunning too, I love his mask!

First off, I don't feed raw, don't intend to (not against it, just too much work and thought and I have enough on my plate.)

Second - the bone dust: it might be constipating - I would watch the amount you feed. I give Ami a raw bone for chewing several times a week. I'm in farm country and we have a local Mennonite butcher that packages a huge bag of misc. beef or pork bones for $2.00 and Ami loves them. Now here's the important part: I specifically use the bones when I want to firm up his poop (if he eats too much, he gets "pudding" poop. I know, feed less...) It is almost immediate - the next poop will be quite firm. These bones are raw, have significant amounts of connective tissue, a minor amount of meat attached and are about the size of my fist. He gnaws on them for hours and I take them away when they get smaller than an extra large egg.

Enjoy your pup - it's a rewarding adventure. Welcome to the forum.

Yeah, agreed on the bone dust. It will definitely firm up his poop and could cause constipation if you aren't careful. How much would you say you are mixing in with his kibble? For my 50 lb male, if I give more than 3/4 tsp per day, he gets constipated. Also there is a very helpful stickie under the raw feeding subforum that really helped me get started.

My husband mixes a small meatball size amount once a day. I would say smaller then a golf ball amount. I haven't had any problems yet.