Beginning to Raw Feed...I Need Some Reassurance here please!

Okay....so awhile back I started asking around on here about raw feeding. Several of you gave me some great input, websites to check out...the whole nine yards.
Well... I spent some time trying to work my way up to the idea....started feeding Rusty bits and pieces of raw meats I was prepering to cook for us....buying the prepared frozen raw food from the pet stores and trying him out on that....and so on.
So now in the past week, I've started to kick it up a notch, get real brave, and start to feed him the raw meaty bones sort of thing.
ANyway....so this is where I'm having to really dig deep to keep my overprotective mommy side to jump in and stop!!
Whne we were in Canada last weekend, I found some really great meaty beef bones at the butcher section of a small store in a little town we stayed in. So, I gave him his first raw beef bone.
At first, he sort of licked it, looked up at the corned beef sandwiches we were eating, and sort of wasn't that interested. But then, he licked it, looked a little more, and then within 5 minutes was full speed ahead into a half hour bone eating frenzy.
This bone went pretty well, I didn't have too many worried moments..
Now just tonight, I decided to try for a chicken drumstick.
At first...no interest. I took him out on the deck, held it out to him, he gave it a few licks and chews, then looked at me like he was disgusted and came back in the house.. But then a few minutes later I'm in here on the computer, and I here this weird whining noise coming from him...he was out at the screendoor crying to get out to look for that chicken leg. So, I went back out to the fridge and got it for him, and he proceeded to crunch and munch the ENTIRE thing down in almost no time at all!
This is where I was about having an anxiety attack!! All fo the crunching, gnawing, swallowing big pieces down.... :shock:
Is this normal??? Do they digest all of the bone and everything okay? Doesn't swallowing big hunks like that do any harm to their innards?

Those of you with experience, ESPECIALLY with small dogs....PLEASE reassure me that it's okay :0011:

 

I'm not sure but I dont think youre supposed to give dogs chicken bones or pork chops. They break into small harmful pieces.

 

I think they are ok uncooked. Its the cooked bones that splinter and harm dogs but hopefully someone who feeds raw will pipe in.

 

Okay, so it's 5 hours later, and he is doing fine....no acting ill, no acting like anything inside is bothering him. I've read a lot about people feeding this way, so I am assuming the way he eats the raw meat and bones is the normal, natural way dogs do it. Is there anything I realistically need to watch for with this kind of diet, or are dogs naturally equipped to handle swallowing the bones down and digest them? Have any of you had any problems with your dogs related to eating this way?
I'm really trying hard not to be such a worrier, but my head keeps saying "What if something goes wrong? What if he gets something stuck in his throat and I can get it out? What if a sharp piece of bone punctures something inside?" I just want to make sure I am not making any mistakes that could harm him in any way, you know what I mean?

 

I think I have read here on different posts that dog chew to make things small enough to fit down their throats (and people chew for a different reason) but I think his behavior sounds fine, or rather that is the way my dog acts!
here are some links:
http://www.auspet.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000800.html
this one was a post devoted to copying and pasting links togaether
http://www.auspet.com/pet/dog _care_vet_grooming_training_disease/000062.html
http://www.auspet.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/000566.html
and the list goes on, I just did a raw food search on auspet.

 

Pam lol, I know ow you feel, I thought the same thing, but I chose to put jake on premade raw vs what you are doing, I know Jimiya and sam do it the way you are doing.

I have been thinking of getting some of the raw meaty bones for jake, I am afraid he would eat the thing whole! because he is such food maniac.


here is a good link from here in a past thread on raw, I have that book bfrom kathy kymyny (sp) it is really good for a beginner raw feeder


http://www.auspet.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000800.html

honeybear

 

I guess he's doing it the way any dog would, I just FREAK watching him swallow those big hunks. It's not like he gets voracious about it, it's just a part of me wants to say "Rusty! Chew your food more, you're going to choke!"
The whole thing is pretty interesting though....it does sort of bring out a very different, sort of primal side of them. No that he gets vicious or anything, but he sort of gets a look like what a coyote looks when its eating it's prey....sort of intense and wary, I guess is the best way to put it. Quite interesting!
I think I would actually prefer to go with the pr packaged frozen raw mixes, but they tend to be quite pricey here....so he'll get some of that, but part will have to be just regular raw meats and bones

 

I don't do the barf diet, but an occasional raw bone do do get. I could swear I read something about not giving pork. Check on that.

 

Haven't tried any pork yet....I'll check up on it. Do Sasha and Rufus do well with their raw bones?

 

Pam
I am slowly switching over to a completely raw diet with my dogs and I am a little anxious as well. Right now they are getting a mixture of kibble and raw. I already posted this on another thread so I am just copying and pasting my reply.
I feed a variety of meat such as Beef or Turkey burger, chicken & rice, Elk, Bison. I also feed veggies, raw eggs including the shells & raw meaty bones. Never feed cooked bones, this includes steak bones. Cooking bones makes them brittle and they then splinter when eaten.
Here is a sample of a raw diet. I have a friend who is a professional dog trainer and breeder of Great Danes and this is the diet she feeds her dogs.

1-Raw Meat - Any raw muscle meat will work, I feed turkey hamburger because of price but normal hamburger is also just as good.
2-A raw egg 3 to 5 times per week (with the shell)
3-Turkey necks, chicken necks or chicken backs
4-Chopped Veggie pulp (carrots, cauliflower, celery, green beans etc)
5-Kelp and alfalfa - the fine powdered type
6-Powdered vitamin C
7-Essential Fatty Acids
a. Cod liver oil
b. Salmon oil OMEGA 3 - VERY IMPORTANT EVER DAY
c. Flaxseed oil
8. Glucosamin Powder (99% pure)
9-Vitamin E - EXTREMELY IMPORTANT - YOUR DOG MUST HAVE THIS

 

gina, what brand of glucosomine are you using? and kelp and alfafa

Jake is on premade raw specifcally made for dogs and cats which has a mixture of beef heart and chicken and ground bones, and a mincedveggies, carrots, green beans peas and zuchini, and ocassionaly broccili since I read you dont want to feed brocooli all of the time. I occasionally give kibble just for variety and the crunch.

he also gets vitamin C and a supplemet thatjust got him to the dose he needs to be at and he started scratching and chewing thel last few days, so that confirms my suspicion he is allergic to flaxseed.

So now I have to start supplementing separate.

I am still nervous about feeding raw but he is a differnet dog! he is getting lean and that energy level is 100 tims more than he had.


I am still afraid to give meaty bones, because I am afraid he will sawllow them whole, but I guess I just need to test the waters


honeybear

 

That's sort of what I'm doing is testing the waters--- And the waters sort of feel like raging rapids sometimes! But you know, in the past 6-8 weeks or so that I have been working at switching Rusty's diet, he already seems healthier and more lean and muscular. And his coat is beautiful. I've been feeding him a mix of raw meats & prepared raw diet, along with a little bit of canned Canidae food and Canidae kibble. I also give him a teaspoon of Linatone daily--- I swear by the stuff. I know there's a lot of other, newer things on the market now, but I have always give my dogs Linatone, and it made a huge difference in their health & coat. He's put on weight, but it's all muscle mass. Part of that is probably also that he is maturing and becoming adult rather than still a puppy, but I think a lot of it is improvement in his diet.
I'm not sure yet how much farther I am going to go as far as raw feeding, I'm not sure I will ever get him to 100% raw. And he doesn't seem to be having any difficulties or problems with mixing thing right now, so I may keep things like this at least for now, with partial raw food in his diet. He seems to like crunching on it once he gets going!

 

Ok this maybe a stupid question, but when you give the egg and the shell, is the shell broken open? I keep picturing my dog looking at egg and shell (unbroken) with a puzzled look tilting his head unsure how to eat it, then finally grabbibg the hole egg in his mouth and going somewhere to eat it then cracking the egg and dripping it all over the carpet.

 

I think people do give the dog the entire egg, don't they Gina?
Do any of you grind the chicken and turkey necks? I keep thinking I could do that, but also read that they neet the actual chewing of the bones for their teeth. There are a ton of things to consider and think about with this...it does seem to feel a little overwhelming at times.
Oh, also Gina....a woman who works for a local raw food company here that I talke dot at "Dog Fest" on saturday said that store bought ground meat isn't always a good idea for raw feeding....has anyone ever told you anything like that before? I thought she might just be saying it to sell her product, but I don't know. She says with whole meats, there's just surface bacteria...but with meat that's been ground, who knows how much bacteria is all through it, depending on where and how they ground it, and how cleanly they are about it. I was kind of bummed, because I was thinking buying ground meat would be a convenient addition to raw feeding. What do you think?

 

I give the entire egg by mixing it in with the ground meat I also put the veggies in the blender and then mix the veggie pulp in with the meat or chicken because it's the only way to get them to eat it.

Well, I have certainly never been told not to buy ground meat from the store. Most all the people I have talked to who feed raw use ground meat. I have been feeding ground meat to my dogs with no problems.
Where else would you get ground meat besides a butcher? Which in my opinion is really not any different then getting it from a grocery store except of course for the price difference.
It could be that the woman who said that is only trying to get you to purchase her product. But then again raw feeding is so controversial with many people and everyone seems to have different ideas and opinions on what should be fed. Feeding raw is a bit frustrating especially in a multi dog household. I have Princess and Fancy on completely raw but the other 4 dogs are only getting a partial raw diet combined with their kibble. And I have been told that was wrong to do because it would cause stomach upset. But none of my dogs have had any stomach upset in fact they are looking and acting healthier then they were before when they only ate kibble.

 

I'm glad to hear about your experience wiht ground meat.....she may be correct in that the bacteria might be higher, but I'm guessing it would only be a problem in occasional rare situations. Once you mix all of the food up, is it possible to refridgerate and freeze some, or do you have to use each batch up right away? I was thinking I could get more into this if I could prepare several meals at once, since I'm on the run all the time.

 

once I was asking about going raw, because I think the dog food here is gross and really bad for him, but I have teeny tiny refrigerator and freezer and someone told me that could be a problem, so I gathered from that, that it can be frozen.

 

Oh yes you can prepare the portions and then freeze them. I prepare a weeks worth at a time and then freeze it in quart size freezer bags. I mix everything like you would a meatloaf.

 

Cool! I'm going to see about doing that this weekend....I'm hoping I have the right gear to actually grind up some chicken necks, wings, etc also. Do you think adding the Linatone supplement that I use to it will be enough as for vitamins, oils, ans all.....or do I need to add anything else?

 

Rusty sounds like he is doing fine! Nala eats her food pretty fast - CRUNCH CRUNCH GONE! Bonnie takes longer. They both do fine!

Raw MEATY bones (about 3/4 meat and 1/4 bones) is better than ground meat. I don't actually feed ANY ground meat anymore. I have trouble finding beef I can afford so sometimes it ends up being boneless - in that case I just make sure they have something with bone in it the next day - or you can feed something like a chicken back or wings that have more bone and less meat to even things out.

I feed whole eggs. It's fun to watch a dog figure out what to do with it the first time you hand them an egg.

I don't do veggies and supplements and all that. I do raw MEATY bones, whole fish, some eggs, and organ meats. Organ meats are very important - they should be about 10% of the diet.

Variety is also very important. The more animal sources, the better!

I am going to contact a meat processor that was recommended to me and see what sorts of things I can get from him. I think I may graduate to things like heads (ewwww!). Whole carcasses are great if you can get them and get past the ickiness of what they are.