[Jesika]

Hi all. I have two pit/lab mixes father and daughter, and a stray black lab mix I adopted, aged 4, 2 and just a month shy of 1 year. All three dogs have black in their tongues and I’ve been told this means they are all mixed with something other than pit or lab, but what either dad and daughter or stray is mixed with, I dunno. (daughter’s mom was a pit/wimeriner)

Anyway. So I have all three on a wellness plan and they’ve all seen the doctor for my over-worried mommy tendencies at least once a month for the last four months; I got the stray on a plan just yesterday and the docs are all impressed with her bloodwork/health/coat just like my other two.

I never had pets until my late twenties and so right off, I just followed what my then-bf did with his dog (he’d had animals for years), as far as feeding goes, which was to free feed dry kibble. While he would get the cheapest kind not caring to read the label, when I was gainfully employed I fed mine Natural Balance grain-free lamb, then had to change and for the last six months or so, they’ve all been eating the Pure Balance Chicken & Brown Rice from Walmart, as I thought $30ish for a 30 lb bag of what is supposed to be natural ingredients sounds like a good deal to me.

BUT!! I have been reading over on consumer affairs about all the dogs that’ve died eating Ol’ Roy products, sometimes the PB dry line included. My vet said try Purina One, but that has a lesser rating than Pure Balance according to this website last time I checked.

I’m trying to become more healthy in way of eating less chemicals and want to bring my dogs along, so I thought I was doing good with the PB over the Purina being that there were less questionable ingredients. But then I hear about “Well, what does the fish on the boat on its way to the processing plant get treated with?” and “Anything from China is bad for your dogs to be eating, nothing good comes outta there.” and “Dog food companies? It could be one processing plant stateside today and a different one in Taiwan tomorrow, as far as manufacturers are concerned. Both foods are still going into a bag that looks and is priced the same, and thus makes the manufacturers their profit.”

All that said… My FIRST goal, if it can be something I can afford money/time wise to do, is to simply transition my dogs from Pure Balance to homemade food. SECOND, if I cannot do that, is to find two or three trusted brands that will be healthy-as-possible without killing my pocket — I might be living off of just disability soon, but I need my dogs alive as part of my healing process should I ever hope to have “a real job” again soon.

So…let the comment flying begin please! Do you have any cheaper-than-raw-steak-all-the-time recommendations for a basic homemade diet I can start with immediately until I can build from there? Or do you have anything other than Pure Balance that you can recommend based on price-point and natural ingredients, not to mention a GOOD reputation from the brand/manufacturer??

I am very very lost, and have much to stress about already…what I’m feeding my dogs and it’s potential long-term-and-hidden side effects is not another thing I need. It seems that from what I can tell this community of dog people LOVE their pets and share advice, so please please, share!! And THANK YOU THANK YOU in advance.

Signed,
Jesika and her three…Toby, Rhi and Midnight.

P.S. What about dehydrated foods? I just saw these at my local Sprouts Market and wonder — could this, though a little more pricey than what I buy now, be a happy medium between having to worry about manufacturer defect killing my dog and my having to cook them a meal every day, all while getting the nutrition they need? Hmmm…

[Monica]

Ok, so I’ve been reading through the posts and am in need of some advise. I’m very concerned about what I am feeding my pup. He is a 6 month old Alaskan Malamute. We had some digestive issues which has subsided since feeding Acana Pacifica. He gets 2.5 cups a day. I also add 2 oz. raw goats milk for pro/prebiotics daily. After reading this, I’m concerned about protein and calcium ratios. Protein is 33%. Calcium/phosphorous ratio is 1.5 to 1.3. Is this a good diet? He recently developed a limp and vet stated possible pano, hence the diet concern. But I’m not convinced it is pano. Couple weeks before limp he really fell and tweaked leg. Any thoughts?

[DogManDan]

oh nice some recipes. guys im in need of advice here, as i have started feeding raw since i read on this. I have 2 roughly 15lb or 6.5kg westies and i need some menus for them as i have limited supplies here and on a budget. the ingredients i have here and are very common to us are chicken, pork and fish. which part of the chicken should i feed and on the fish that would give them a good diet and also how do i mix this up for the next 7 days.

[Melissaandcrew]

I rotate through most 4-5 star foods for the dry. Currently they are eating NV limitd ingredient Duck-simply due to the lower fat content that my schnauzers can eat. I also now give everyone 50 percent of their diet in homemade raw. We also rotate 5 star canned foods and dehydrated Grandma Lucy’s(almost 600 cals per cup!)

My boys WILL loose weight on all grain free, no matter how high the calories for some reason. I account for that with the Abady, and by adding higher carbs to their portion of the raw diet. This seems to work wonders. I add things like sweet potato their bowls every other day when they are not getting the Abady.

[Molzy]

My cat has done GREAT on Natures Variety raw medallions. He had his first UTI two years ago, and has only had one since then (when we moved -I think it was triggered by the stress). I add a little water to his raw and mush it up.

Otherwise, I’d suggest a grain free canned, but still add some water to it. You want to really increase the water intake, as Patty said. I also add a scoop of the NaturVet cranberry powder onc or twice a week, not sure if it helps or not. A lot of the dog food brands that are good also make good cat foods. I keep a variety of cans on hand for days when the raw isn’t thawed enough or if I run out (I live an hour from the nearest place I can buy the commercial raw). Right now I have Wellness and Lotus in the cabinet.

If I weren’t doing the raw, I’d also consider the Honest Kitchen dehydrated diets, with lots of water added. I just bought a sample of each of them to try, but my cat isn’t too picky. I’ve found that raw is cheaper than the good canned food. I can feed my guy for about $30 a month, and could do it cheaper but I pay for the convenience of the medallions over cutting up the chubs myself.

If your cat has never had wet food, it can be difficult to transition. I had no issues with my cat, he loves food too much.

Oh, I also bought a pet fountain to encourage him to drink more, and I think it has accomplished that goal.

Good luck, it is so hard to watch them go through those episodes!

[Nancy M]

My daughter got a 6 week old mini-Aussie puppy, just 3 days ago, from a “breeder” who had just weaned this puppy, that day. The pup was starting to eat kibble (Diamond, small breed puppy formula), to which some supplement has been added to guard against coccidiosis.The puppy had received 3 days of wormings and then the first puppy shot on the day she got him.

Not an ideal or even recommended situation to begin with, but as it has gone, I now have the puppy for the next 4 days, while my daughter works as a nurse, because he wakes up every 2 hours with what has progressed from loose, semi-formed stools, to bloody, runny stools.
Looks and sounds like the supplement didn’t work! He is currently being fed the kibble, 3-4 times a day, last feeding around 8 or 9 p.m. He’s so small, he’s maybe eating a scant tablespoon each time, at most. Trying not to over feed him. Offering water frequently.

I will be taking him back into the vet as early as possible today (even though getting a clean bill of health/fecal the day she got him), as I’m quite sure coccidiosis is the culprit here……or it could be something with the food as well. Hopefully the vet can start an effective treatment immediately.

In the meantime, what can all/any of you suggest as a feeding routine and diet for this little fella. I’m not an advocate for any Diamond foods, or raw (especially right now) but I especially feel there is something that would be much easier on his very delicate system right now (besides mama’s milk, I know).

Please give recommendations as soon as you can, please! It would be much, much appreciated!

Thanks very much!

[shilodakotamom]

I have been feeding Darwin’s for about 3 months now and my little ones seem healthy, well almost, I will explain more. I want to add something to the raw food to create variety, any ideas, or what do you use. Ok on the almost healthy part, this is not related to the food, but vaccinations I had them get in August. Their immune system broke down, we got fleas. Now we are on probiotics, and dietary enzymes along with the Darwin’s. Much better now flea wise. Just looking for something else to give a little more nutrition, and variety. Thanks

[Mom2Cavs]

I’ve been receiving the Whole Dog Journal for many years now. I had never gone to a holistic vet but some friends of mine who work with rescue used one along with the rescue’s regular vet. When I decided to never go back to my regular vet after some bad things happened while using him I started going to the holistic vet (which is 45-50 min. drive away). I love them! They are actually integrative. The do chiropractic, acupuncture, Chinese medicine diets, etc. They carry premade raw and Nature’s Variety in their clinic and actually know about other foods! I do titers now for my dogs, except for rabies which is 3 years. They are small but they are good. I also have been to our local emergency vet, which thankfully is only 15-20 mins. away. Oh, and I have also used ginger snaps for upset tummies :).

[FrogDogz]

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, feeding a 180 lb dog any of the freeze dried diets just isn’t cost effective.

She would feed raw, but they live off grid, and do not have a fridge or freezer, so that’s not a possible solution.

Cheers,

Carol

[DogManDan]

good read here about raw, homemade and veg diet… I hope you get all the info you need here Suresh 🙂 Im not sure about the porridge though? maybe for upset stomach for easy digestion? thats what i do when i go on a diet or having a upset stomach 🙂

[theBCnut]

You know how a good doctor will tell you to stay away from processed foods? Kibble is the height of processed food. There are better and worse kibbles, and I feed my dogs half kibble and half raw, but I always look for the kibbles that use ingredients that are recognizable foods, that are cooked at low temp, and that have the highest levels of protein.

[lukeduke]

Darwins, Instinct and probably Stella as far as raw and to cut down on cost i’ll probably mix it with a can or kibble. Not sure yet. Is kibble really that bad?

[theBCnut]

If you can afford to go all raw, more power to you!! It is still best to find things other than Darwins to rotate to, just so you are making sure he gets a wide variety of micronutrients. You might want to look into a couple of different premixes or making some of your own raw meals.

[pugmomsandy]

If you want to incorporate some raw into the diet, then adding 20% of it is ok without worrying about added vitamins and such. If you’re dog eats 2 meals and day then 2.8 meals (or 3) can be a RMB and maybe some organs (heart/gizzard/a little bit of liver). More than that, you’d need to balance the raw meals better. Make them closer to 80% meat/10% bone/10% organs (5 of that liver) and added supplements or give a premade raw. There are some sample recipes in the Raw Food topic. Another option is to make sure he eats a whole chicken (with heart/gizzard/liver), not just the back.

[lukeduke]

I have a Cane Corso pup and the breeder had her on Kirkland puppy food. I transitioned her to Raw (instinct raw bites and Darwin). She eats the instinct like its “Crack”. 3secs and its gone. Oh, I do mix it with kibble (Prairie large breed). I’m thinking of just strait RAW. Darwin’s raw is local and free home delivery. I will say this about raw; the stole is solid and way less smelly.

[Oceans11]

Thanks for sharing the website. Good to know there is a formula to make sense out of the different dog food “analyses” and help to compare oranges to oranges.

[pugmomsandy]

If you look at the raw food reviews, 4 and 5 stars I would feed with no problem, 3 and 2 stars I would feed intermittently or use as a topper on top of other foods. That might make it easier for you. There is a formula to use to turn the protein and fat into “dry matter” that way you can compare each recipe.

/choosing-dog-food/dry-matter-basis/

[Oceans11]

Sandy,
Thank you for clarifying. Is there a formula online that lists the percentages and ratios? I hate to admit it but I am overwhelmed right now and don’t want to think about it much until I get a handle on things. This will sound like an excuse but we are having our master bath redone and were to have had the bedroom painted. It’s week six and the contractor is about 50 percent done. There is no way we will paint the bedroom now. Will postpone that to next spring. I wanted everything finished so that when we bring the puppy home we can focus on him and establish rules and routines. It is totally frustrating because things aren’t where they will be once the remodel job is completed. Sorry to take up space here venting – just had another frustrating go round with the contractor.

[pugmomsandy]

Oceans11,

Yes you do. Commercial raw products just like kibble and canned foods come with varying degrees of quality, even within the brand. Instinct actually looks pretty good and rated high. But if you take a look at Aunt Jeni’s or K9 Natural, there are some recipes that have too much fat (as much as or even more than the protein). I would be careful feeding the ones with excessive amounts of fat regularly. For a puppy and working dog/sled dog, those might be ok but it depends on your dog.

[Oceans11]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we are picking up a 10 week old Coton puppy on Friday. He is being fed Orijen Puppy dry kibble. I will probably continue to give that to him for a couple of days then switch him to Nature’s Instinct Raw Medallions. By feeding him a commercial product like this, I don’t have to be concerned with percentages of protein, fat, etc. do I?

[Cyndi]

You’re welcome. I was in your shoes about 6 months ago. It was all very over whelming! There’s quite a few of us here that feed raw, and we’re all here to help with any questions you may have. Good luck! 🙂

[DogManDan]

thanks on that quick reply… i would put that on my note and prepare them as soon as possible.

[Cyndi]

Also, some people here feed raw as toppers to their kibble or feed kibble for one meal and raw for another. Some dogs can handle that, some dogs can’t. Use pure canned pumpkin and plain yogurt along with the raw, that helps with digestion and any stomach upset as well.

[Cyndi]

I basically switched my dog immediately. I’m not an expert or anything, so maybe someone else can chime in with their thoughts. I started with one protein source and fed that for a week or too, then went to another and then another. Slowly add organ meats in as well. You just want to make sure your dog can handle everything before you move on to something else. I started with chicken for the first week or two. My dog had a bit of a setback, getting used to raw, but she’s been doing fine. Just remember with completely raw you want to feed 80% raw meat, 10% bone & 10% organ meat (5% of that being liver). Every meal doesn’t have to be balanced, just balance it over time.

[DogManDan]

I see, im planning to change their diet from regular dog food and cooked meals to raw… would there be a problems that i would encounter from changing their diets all of a sudden? or should i slowly make them adapt to it? like mixing raw food to their regular meals or should i just go with the raw immediately?

[Cyndi]

Raw bones are perfectly fine. Chicken wings are fine, especially for smaller dogs. They can chew them up and swallow them. Cooked bones are hard and can splinter, so they are a no no. If your dogs are gulpers, chicken wings may be too small. You want them to chew them up and get the teeth cleaning benefits from the bone and not just swallow them whole.

[DogManDan]

guys i have a question, im new to raw feeding… do you serve the bones as a whole especially with chicken wings, I’m kinda hesitant to give them the whole wing afraid they might choke or something due to those pointy bones.

[RescueDaneMom]

Oh! I never did the autoship so that’s why I didn’t know about it. I’ve never been a frequent buyer until recently. I used to use it as a topper for kibble. Now I’m using it as the main food and topping it with raw and other fresh foods. Good to know! I will ask her the next time I pick up food. I think I saw the new envelopes for the rewards the last time I was in but I didn’t ask about it. My thought is if you’re going to buy it anyway you might as well get a free box every now and then. Thanks again!

[Dolly]

Hi, I need help with my 13 year old dog with pancreaitis history. I saw some similar posts on here, but maybe not exactly what I was looking for. My dog has a very sensitive stomach, the only thing I could find that seemed to work was the Science Diet sensitive stomach, which I don’t want to feed. For now she’s eating about half wellness wet dog food, and half boiled chicken and rice, which seems to agree with her stomach well, but I’m sure is lacking in nutrients, and I’d like to get her away from rice due to the arsenic levels. I’d prefer to go grain free if possible, although that isn’t my primary objective. I would also love to be able to cook one food that is safe for both the dog and the cat, or something I could slightly modify for the cat, again though, that isn’t my main concern. Any suggestions/recipes would be helpful, as I don’t really know where to start. I don’t want to do raw. Also, she is on diuretics due to slight heart congestion, so anything heart healthy is great (we aready do fish oil pills). Lastly, I am terrible at cooking, so the simpler/less ingriedeints the better. Thanks!

[RescueDaneMom]

Shawna, thank you again for the info! I will give those Bravo meats a try when we run out of Thrive. There’s a really great independent pet store 30 min drive from me that carries THK, Bravo, Primal, and other great brands.

My parents are usually the ones feeding Dozer. I don’t think they’ll go for the raw egg. I don’t know if Dozer would eat raw egg. We’ve given him eggs cooked over easy and he wasn’t overly thrilled. Max, on the other hand, LOVES eggs.

I just bought six cans of Tripett the last time I was at the store. Max loves it. Dozer does too. We gave Dozer some of the green beef tripe with duck and salmon to entice him to eat his food and pills after a rough chemo treatment.

I just started to try different supplements for Max’s arthritis. In addition to his Glucosamine, MSM, Chondroitin, & ASU combo, he is getting an herbal supplement that has boswellia, cat’s claw, tart cherry, and white willow. I was going to try a bromelain/curcumin combo next.

Marie, I didn’t know there was a ‘concierge club.’ I’ve ordered it from Chewy and Petflow. Recently I’ve been getting it from a reseller who also carries the Primal frozen grinds. She emails me when she’s ready to order and I give her my order and I get it the next week. It’s been pretty convenient. Plus her prices are better than the independent pet store where I used to buy it from. No overhead I guess as she sells it out of her house.

Thanks again for all the feedback. Y’all are awesome!!! 🙂

[Shawna]

Hey Caroline,

Glad the info I posted is helpful :). Another thing you could do if so inclined is to use The Honest Kitchen Preference premix and meats you purchase. Example, Bravo has a bone/calcium free venison as well as a buffalo that could be fed either raw or cooked (since they are bone free) with the premix. Might be a red meat option to the beef he doesn’t seem to do well on.

If you decide to give the eggs a try, don’t whip or blend or otherwise disturb the egg as doing so breaks down the glutathione precursor (will still be beneficial just not quite as much). Just crack the egg open and put the whole thing on top of his HK (decreasing the amount of HK to compensate for the egg calories of course). You can add the egg shell back in if you wish (calcium source). Some will say not to feed raw egg whites because they bind with the vitamin B called biotin.. It is true that they do BUT if you include the yolk you will be okay as it is HIGH in biotin and will offset what is bound up in the white.

Green tripe (either canned or raw) is a food that most dogs can’t turn away from — they LOVE it.. It is high in protein and has lots of nutrients (especially the raw) and can make a wonderful topper for the HK Thrive etc. I like the Tripett canned product and raw can be found locally in many cases or online. Most tripe is sourced from beef but dogs with issues with beef muscle meat are usually very tolerant of beef tripe. If not, Tripett also makes a lamb and a venison canned tripe.

Thank you Cyndi and Marie!!! You guys ROCK!!!!

• This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by Shawna.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by Shawna.

[Shawna]

Oops, meant to add this… I’d also consider adding a few high quality organic “raw” eggs to Dozer’s diet every week. Raw eggs have a precursor to what is referred to as glutathione. Glutathione is the “master antioxidant” of the body and helps the liver remove toxins from the blood. The below linked research article discusses how glutathione helps after the toxicity of chemotherapy. In the research they are discussing glutamine supplementation but raw egg is even better than glutamine (an amino acid found in protein) alone. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1234593/

• This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by Shawna.

[DogFoodie]

Have you tried feeding either a chicken wing or leg whole? He may have been eating a bit more bone which is probably why he had the small formed chalky looking stool.

Your pup sounds like he might be a good candidate for grinds from either My Pet Carnivore or Hare Today. Have you checked out either of them by chance?

https://www.mypetcarnivore.com/

http://www.hare-today.com/

Here’s another great site with lots of info about feeding a raw diet and balancing it properly:

http://dogaware.com/

[theBCnut]

I love my vet and she is a great vet in many ways, but I don’t discuss raw feeding with her. I use half raw and half kibble and when they ask me what I feed, I always tell them what kibble I feed(They’ve never heard of it either, but weren’t interested enough to ask). It’s just not a discussion I’m willing to have with them, especially now that AVMA has taken an official stance against raw feeding.

Make sure they send the fecal specimen off to the lab for analysis.

Look for Dr Karen Becker’s book “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” and Steve Brown’s book “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet.” They will both help you make balanced meals and have a better understanding of what needs to be in each meal.

[biggles]

She was feeding him chicken grinds, ground beef, and TOTW. When I got him she told me that he should be able to eat small chicken pieces whole. I was cutting off the meat and feeding the bone separately. I tried to feed fish, ground beef, and organs, but, he appeared to become finicky and raw food sitting out does not work. Before finding this site, I read a lot of controversial info about grinding the bone and had no access to a grinder anyway. In summary, I just did not feel knowledgeable enough to feed raw and rather than compromise my boy’s health and nutrition, I decided to switch to a high quality kibble.

I will take him to the vet and have him tested in the next few days. I do have concerns that they are not going to be “supportive” about a raw diet based on what a vet tech said to me once when I was in.

Thank you for responding!

[theBCnut]

That’s how I felt about it, but at least I have 2 dogs that I know I can get away with giving chicken to.

[FreeholdHound]

There’s chicken in it 🙁 but I’ll probably risk it.

[theBCnut]

Yes, it can!!! I’m going to try it soon too.

[biggles]

I am going to try to make this brief!

My Rodie is a 20 pound almost 2 year old Boston Terrier. I got him from a breeder at 5 months and she was feeding him a raw diet (one of the reasons I wanted one of her pups). I remember he had a normal stool when I first brought him home, firm and a tad chalky in color. Well, after I got a hold of him I could never keep his stools consistently firm and I was so worried about compromising his nutrition with my own raw feeding. At the time he was also a finicky little guy and I had not yet found this site, so we gave up and went round and round with high quality kibbles and also some wet. Some we tried were: Instinct limited ingredients, Wellness, Acana, Origen.

He has had softish stools really what seems like ever since. I hate to go into detail, but, I think it will help. First thing in the morning stools seem formed and firm, not perfect always, but firm. After breakfast, stool is small and runnier. Before dinner, stool will be formed and more firm, yet still not perfect. Last one of the day is usually softer, but, usually formed. So, it appears that after meals stools are have tended to be softer which makes me believe it is food.

Some time during all of this, my dog store owner told me that I feed too much. I was feeding a cup a day (half cup twice), so I cut him down to 1/3 twice each day. I have been feeding him Fromm pork and peas for some months now as the stool seems to be firmest. I have tried pumpkin and even a homemade recipe and he will not eat it.

I can not forget that this pup came to me with a normal stool and although I have tried everything, I can not get normal, consistent stool produced. He is otherwise, of great health.

I decided after finding this site that I would try raw again. I did not know that my local pet food store sells pre-made raw, and after reading I started to gradually incorporated it in to his kibble. I hope to soon be able to transition him to a home-made raw diet once I feel I have the knowledge and have him stable.

I have also started giving him Nuturvet enzymes and probiotics with each meal. The raw I am adding is Stella and Chewy Rabbit formula (frozen not freeze dried). His first stool of the morning has seemed to have firmed up, but, his second (after eating) has been pretty runny. After some trial and error, I think I may have added too much raw too fast and after backing up a bit, it improved some.

My questions is, should I continue to make this transition with out finding out what type of proteins or ingredients are troublesome to him? Is it still possible that I am over-feeding? I really want to make this transition with confidence because I feel it is the best thing for him.

I know he had a full fecal test when he was younger, but, I wonder should I have him tested further?

Your feedback is greatly appreciated. I hope, with all of your knowledge and help, be able to transition Rodie to a successful raw diet.

[FreeholdHound]

Sandy- the Carnivore Raw w/out calcium can be used with the bone-in grinds from Hare? THAT would be a God send for me – I mean Harry 🙂

[Jamie08]

I have a heeler mix who has always had issues with smelly gas… well it is more of an issue for me! lol. He had been on Iams for a long time and he would have it every once in awhile, especially after he would catch and eat a squirrel (his version of a partial raw diet). He’d clear a room pretty fast. Then I switched him to Evolve dry food, which he really didn’t like very much and wasn’t eating well. He’s now on Whole Earth Farms dry food and has BAD smelly gas. He’s been on it for about 2 weeks. I tried to slowly transition him over, but he would just not eat the Evolve, since he was barely eating it anyway- so it was pretty much a fast transition over to the WEF. The gas seems to be getting worse. Should I give him longer to get used to the food, or at this point is it safe to say that this food is contributing to the smell? I hate to change it because he absolutely LOVES this food (gets so excited when I feed him) and it’s affordable. Also, my other dog is doing really well on it.

Any suggestions? Give him more time? I’m also open to other food suggestions, but please try to keep them in the same price range as Whole Earth Farms.

Oh yeah, squirrels aren’t really out right now so they aren’t a contributing factor at the moment. 🙂

[Oceans11]

Thank you Pattyvaughn and pugmomsandy for the tips and your encouragement. I found out the breeder is feeding our pup Origen Puppy kibble along with Grizzly Salmon. I am going to feed Nature’s Instinct Raw frozen medallions alternating with Nature’s Variety Dry kibble Duck and Turkey and maybe throw in a little Nature’s Variety canned food to mix it up. I read somewhere on this website that Nature’s Variety is good for all life stages so ok to feed to a 10 week old puppy.

[pugmomsandy]

pacer1978

Since you’ve already introduced raw into the diet, just try out a raw meaty bone and see how they do. I have small dogs and started with chicken wings and necks. And then went to chicken legs. I do have 2 that chomp their bones pretty well and one that does a so-so job at it but in 2 years of raw meaty bones, he hasn’t had any issues. You can attach a large vice clamp onto a RMB or tie part of it to a broom stick or something like that so he can’t gulp the whole thing down and hopefully learns to not gulp. If gulping is a problem, then I would feed grinds and nothing harder than chicken bones. I would say that chicken necks and duck necks and very small turkey necks (about 1 inch diameter or less) are ok to slightly gulp down. This is what my 30 lb dog does! You can always whack the neck with a hammer first. If you want to incorporate raw and still feed kibble and other commercial products, then I would suggest chicken, turkey or duck necks 3 times a week and then maybe a couple meals of just ground meats/organ/calcium supplement (or commercial raw). Baby back pork ribs are also easy to break so that might be an option too. Frankly, I don’t think there is anything “sharp” in a small poultry neck bone so that might be a good bone for you to use. You can also buy a large leg bone just for them to enjoy chewing on instead of eating it.

[pugmomsandy]

oceans11

There are some easy recipes in “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Karen Becker/Beth Taylor and there is a 4th edition which I just purchased. It makes for good reading too even if you don’t actually make the recipes. Anyhow, that is how I got started with homemade raw, but I use a commercial vit/min mix instead of the book’s recipe (CarnivoreRaw). Homemade is quite easy when you use a premix like CarnivoreRaw, Urban Wolf, The Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy’s, See Spot Live Longer. You just add the boneless meat/organs and oil (except for CarnivoreRaw, you have the choice of with or without calcium).

[theBCnut]

I make some of my own homemade raw, but I still like getting some commercial too. Today I grabbed a container out of the freezer for their dinner, but when it came time to feed I found out that I didn’t grab what I thought I did. I had chicken necks, which 2 dogs can eat, but one can’t. I just went and grabbed a pouch of Darwin’s and floated it in water for a bit for him.

[Oceans11]

I am sure that once I become more confidant, I will be looking in to supplementing his natures variety with homemade meals because it will be more cost effective. I will be very interested in what you think of preparing their meals yourself.

[Molzy]

I’m just about to start my own raw with both the cat and our two dogs who are currently on commercial dry and canned food, but I feel more comfortable after using a commercial raw product! I would continue using natures variety if I could, but it isn’t feasible for my budget with two 40lb active dogs. For me, it helped to read the ingredients on my raw bags to see that they don’t add much. I’m going to buy a ground whole prey as well, which seems easier to balance than using parts for now.

Good luck with your puppy! I have really loved natures variety, and will continue to use it for back up food. It seems like a great company, and I’ve been very happy with the product!

[Oceans11]

I can’t tell you how relieved your response has made me feel. Thank you, thank you.

[pugmomsandy]

oceans11,

Yes a mix of Instinct and kibble and bones will do!

[Oceans11]

I appreciate the tip and will use the medallions. I have great respect and admiration for the people who are preparing their own raw dog food. I just don’t have it in me to do that at this point in life at least not right now.