[tina b]

Hey, Bobby Dog… 🙂

I put Major, and my other 3 Labs, on Olewo carrots a little over 3 months ago. I called and spoke with Ina, the US distributor, for a half hour…and picked her brain on whether or not it could help Major. Just so you know what I was dealing with…Major has suffered bloat (daily, to some extent) and IBS since he was about 4 months old….he’s 5 1/2 years old now. He had diarrhea all. the. time. A few years ago, I switched him to a premium (grain free) kibble and it helped…it helped even more when I switched to 100% raw almost 2 years ago. Major’s diarrhea would range from cow patty to brown water…it was horrible for him. I tried different probitics and digestive enzymes…with no real improvement to speak of. When I added the carrots to his diet, the diarrhea all but disappeared!

I gave Major 1 Tablespoon of carrots mixed with 1/2 cup water on his breakfast. For the next 10 weeks…he had 5 days in which he had diarrhea. When I say “days”…I mean one bad stool each of those days…not and entire day of running outside to pooh (which was not unusual). I spoke with Ina and shared the outcome, she suggested increasing his carrots just a bit. I started adding 1/2 Tablespoon carrots to his 1 Tablespoon of beets for his evening meal 4 weeks ago, and he has not had a single episode of diarrhea since!

I rescued a diabetic Lab 2 years ago…he’s 10 years old now. From the time we brought him home, he would generally pooh only once a day…and his stool was so dry, it would crumble when it hit the ground. No joke. Since adding the carrots to his meal (1 Tablespoon each morning)…he pooh is firm and glossy now and he goes twice a day most days. I wasn’t expecting that to happen.

I added the beets to my dogs’ diet 2 months ago…mostly for the anti-inflammatory benefits for my older dog’s arthritis and for Major’s inflamed intestines. It’s to soon to tell if it’s helping the arthritis, but Major’s intestines aren’t nearly as swollen as they were…we could literally see them swirling in his stomach when he’d lay down. Poor guy.

I can’t recommend the carrots enough…and I’m a picky person when it comes to feeding my dogs.

[Jude s]

Hey! I was going to make a thread on this topic, but I saw this one….I hope it’s ok if I can ask my question on here 🙂
My 2 month old puppy has really soft stool, foul smelling, some mucus, and always seems to push kind of hard. He doesn’t whimper, he still eats and plays just fine.
I checked for worms, or any white specs, but he’s clear. I’m thinking he’s just having some irritation. I was thinking on putting him on some digestive enzyme supplements, I saw the suggested ones above, but not sure if those are ok for my puppy. I also saw the honest kitchen had supplements as well (Perfect Form & Pro Bloom).
Also if this helps he is a pitbull/chihuahua mix and about 7.5 lbs. He is eating Wellness puppy kibble, but I will be introducing raw foods sometime this month.

[Kristin C]

Has anyone fed raw beef ribs? If so, HOW? I regularly feed chicken backs and necks, duck parts and necks, turkey necks as part of a weekend morning meal. Would the beef ribs be equivalent? I can’t imagine they eat the bone? Is it more like eating a beef marrow bone where I give it as a snack?

[Kristin C]

Jan-I feed my girls raw meaty bones on the weekend and split a can of sardines between the 2 of them at the same time. I also split a can between the 2 girls mid-week as a snack. I prefer to feed whole food versus a daily “supplement”. Have you explored yeast overgrowth for the skin allergies?

[Kristin C]

Hi Jan – the Natural Balance kibble looks largely potato based. I would personally stay away from them. We use Orijen a couple times per week (convenience) but I believe it has pea fiber in it. Perhaps if you cook, or feed raw, for a period of time you could reset your pups digestion to incorporate a kibble again (later). See Spot Live Longer Dinner mix would work with a lightly cooked or raw program. What is she getting for fat or oils in her diet?

[Bobby dog]

Hi JAN:
Maybe the Natural Balance LID Duck, Kangaroo, or Rabbit recipes. I would also look into commercial raw for variety as a topper (or full meal a few times/wk) as pugmomsandy suggests.

Another option would be to make some or all homemade meals using a dinner mix. Here’s a link to some info on mixes:
http://dogaware.com/diet/dogfoodmixes.html

Here’s a link to a dinner mix that is fed and recommended by several regular posters. This is also the site for the book that BCn recommended, Steve Brown’s “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet”:
http://www.seespotlivelonger.com/home/sll/smartlist_13/dinner_mixes.html

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Bobby dog.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Bobby dog.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Bobby dog.

[Kristin C]

Hey Jan -that’s a tough one. I am scrolling through dry dog food ingredients and can’t come up with one. Have you considered freeze dried? I feed my dogs raw, I make most of it, so cooking and storing may be the best option for you to control the ingredients. Hopefully someone else pipes in with a solution for you.

[pugmomsandy]

It’s mainly dry hard kibble I prefer not to feed more than twice a day. Other foods that are easier to digest or enzyme rich raw foods I’m less concerned about. Plus when I feed kibble or a food with lots of plant matter, I give enzymes with it.

[Kristin C]

Got it BC. But I’ve noticed when I make my own raw meals (I freeze in single serving mason jars) that the older portions start to turn brown like Darwin’s. The newer portions stay pink throughout. I agree that it doesn’t cause short term issues. But it’s expensive brown meat (Darwin’s). I know they mark their production date on each package but by the time it’s shipped it could already be several weeks old, and depending on how much you order by the time it’s eaten it could be several months old. Just consider that Nancy because you might want to order smaller quantities more frequently.

[theBCnut]

If you don’t bake them first, the membrane will coat your food processer blade. And I’m sure baking also cuts down on the possibility of salmonella comtamination, which most raw feeders aren’t too worried about.

[pugmomsandy]

Here is the topic with pictures! The pugs and quail are on page 4.

/forums/topic/pictures-of-dogs-eating-raw-raw-meals/page/4/

[Kristin C]

Nancy- Yes, it means oxidation. To me that just means older meat. Oxidation changes the protein structure some but I don’t think it’s necessarily harmful. Since the raw meals I make stay nice and pink (unless I stock up for a while) I have decided to forego Darwin’s moving forward and just make my own chicken and beef every week or two. I am starting to try Reel Raw’s novelty proteins so I will see how pink those stay.

[pugmomsandy]

Not sure how big your pups are but you can try some raw sardines too (or when they get a little bit adjusted to raw first). They come in different sizes. Also, splitting a big can (12 oz or more) of mackerel or salmon between all the pups might be cost efficient. I bought my whole sardines for $1.19/lb.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/0bd6f2d9-225c-454e-9521-122834da060d_zps44b288af.jpg

[Kristin C]

Dfw – when you say rotational what do you mean? Ever tried just plain white rice and boiled chicken to reset his digestion? I did this with my 5 month old pup after it was coming out both ends for weeks. Turns out a raw diet worked best for her so I switched both my girls to raw.

[Susan]

Hi, has the vet tried him on a vet prescription diet kibble yet like the Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal low fat or the Sensitivity Control….My boy was put on the Eukanuba Intestinal vet diet, it only has 1.75%-fiber 10%-Fat, he was put on the Intestinal Plus 4%-fiber first, he was still doing very sloppy poos after 2 weeks, then I had to order another bag, the lady made a mistake & gave me the Intestinal instead of the Intestinal Plus it was a blessing making the mistake as the Intestinal is only 1.75% crude fiber, as soon as he started the Intestinal 1.75%-fiber his poos were back to normal within 2 days, thats when we realised he needed less fiber, vet said she wanted him to stay on the Eukanuba Intestinal for 1 year but around 6 months when he was doing real well, I started trying other kibbles, I stay around the same fat% protein% & I tried to find a low crude fiber% as his Intestinal Vet diet but it was hard as the vet prescription diet only had the real low crude fiber, even when I give Patch Pumkin I cant give him more then a little teaspoon, if I give more his poos are very sloppy, he cant have too much fiber or fat..
Have you ever done an elimaintion diet, thats the best way, I found that Patch was getting real bad diarrhea from potatos & itchy skin & Sweet potatos made his ears itchy when I did the elimination diet, Vet tried him on the Euknuba FP for his skin last December 1 week after just introducing 1/4cup of the FP to his Intestinal for the whole week, (I slowly introduce new kibbles I use to take about 1 month) he had real bad diarrhea as soon as he ate something he had to run outside & do water poo, so I took him straight off the FP vet thought it was from the higher fat% as it was 15% where his Intestinal was only 10% then 6 months later when I started the elimination diet, I realised it was the potatos in the Eukanuba FP as it was Fish & Potato giving him the bad diarrhea…the less you give the better, there has to be a food that stops his diarrhea, on the yahoo groups there’s a group called “IBDogs” & most of the dogs with real bad diarrhea are put on Prednidsone (Steroid) has he been put on a steroid yet, its for inflammed bowel, I never put Patch on the steriod as I got his diarrhea under control, he was put on the Metroniazole for 2 weeks & when he has had a flares, he gets put on the Metronidazole (Flagyl) for 2 weeks,
Most of the kibbles that you have tried have they been grainfree, try & get a kibble with low fat, low protein, low fiber & not a grainfree kibble as some grain free kibbles are higher in fat & protein, try a limited ingredient kibble.. after trying about 6 different kibbles, I put Patch on the Wellness Simple Duck & Oatmeal first then I realised it has Potato protein (he started to scratch) then I changed him to the Lamb & Oatmeal it has Oats & rice I found Patch does better on grounded rice & oats kibbles, the fiber is 4.75% I was a bit worried to try but it had been over 6months since Patch had a real bad flare, last December but I still do his Eukanuba Intestinal for dinner & the Wellness Simple for breakfast & lunch… I have to give Patch smaller meals thru the day he doesnt do well on 2 large meals a day.. Have you tried the Wellness Complete health Puppy Large breed Deboned Chicken & brown rice.. I was going to try the Large breed if the Wellness Simple didnt work, but there was too many proteins in it & it has brown rice, brown rice is higher in fiber thats what worried me.. try to get a kibble with just has 1 protein that’s why I tried the Lamb & Oatmeal & the Duck & Oatmeal cause there’s just the 1 protein but it has peas & Patch farts cause of the peas…. Less is best..
Another kibble some of the ladys are using on the IBDogs is “Natural Balance” limited ingredients…try one that has the less ingredents some have more ingredients then the other limited ingredient kibbles… here’s the link to have look at the ingredients in the LTD kibbles, the Kangaroo has just Kangaroo & Potato & the fiber is 3% fat-10% there’s Bison & Sweet Potato but it has has peas, I wouldnt try a kibble with peas just yet, there’s the Potato & Rabbit that doesnt have peas or too many ingredients, have alook at all the Limited ingredients kibbes & pick one with just 1 protein that he has never had before the Kangaroo looked the best & had the least ingredients..the other one was the potato & Rabbit also didnt have too many ingredients to irratate his bowel..
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/product-category.aspx?…
Or start an Elimination diet & don’t start with chicken as u’ve tried the Chicken & it didnt work, another protein like Lamb, kangaroo, rabbit, fish, one lady feeds her dog horse meat, if you can find a place that sells horse meat, cook it, not raw yet & dont do the boiled rice, Patch can have grounded rice in kibbles but not boiled rice, it irritates the bowel for some dogs, maybe try potato or sweet potatos instead of the boiled rice if he goes good then add another food.. or ask vet put him on a vet prescription diet like the Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal low fat alot of dogs do real well on the Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal or the Royal Canin Sensitivity Control its just Duck & Tapioca & no other foods, no treats etc then when he’s better after 6months try & find another kibble with similar ingredients to the vet diet he’s on..
He would be so skinny as he wouldnt be getting any nutrition cause he’s pooing it back out…something is really wrong with Banes digestion, vet may need to do bi-opies to find what the problems is.
I feel for you & Bane there’s a few Great Danes on the IBDogs group if you join they also may be able to help you out as they have & are going thru the same thing, also Coconut oil at this stage is a No No when he’s going real good then maybe introduce new things but sooooooo slowely cause 1 thing can make him have a real bad flare & then you’ll have so much touble getting them back to pooing normal again like last December, it took me nilly 3 months to get Patch back to doing nice firm poos again & on the Wellness Simple he does nice firm poos, I think he did better poos on the Duck & Oatmeal it had less peas cause they used the Potato protein & not as many peas in the Duck & Oatmeal…. Good-Luck have a look at the Natural Balance LImited ingredient kibbles…

[Nancy C]

I just went to the BDN site – it is not freeze dried. It is AIR dried. I am not knowledgable about the difference but I remember CHRIS the woman with whom I spoke telling me their process is unusual to what most companies do which is FREEZE dried. And they do not heat it so hot either. Sometime call her and ask. She is very nice and told me recently she IS one of the owners. Another one of the owners is supposedly VERY knowledgable about canine nutrition. He has several Mastiffs and they ALL eat and thrive on BDN.
Chris told me too that one of their goals was to produce an affordable healthy raw food. I am FAR from an expert, but as I said, I know Dr. Loops knows what he’s talking about. He was originally for 10 yrs a regular vet. then learned about homeopathy because of all the things in the vet business that HE DID NOT BELIEVE WEre goOD FOR DOGS…. so he trained to become a HOmeopath. I think he has trained with Dr. Pitcairn. Enough for now.

[Nancy C]

The Homeopathic vet I have worked with recommends BDN and Darwins as raw food options that HE stands behind. I have asked him point blank about BDN and he says it is excellent food, he knows the company (has no ownership and is not personally involved) and he knows the food and therefore recommends it on his website.
I called them (BDN) today to ask about the calcium/phos ratio for beef. no problem: It’s 1:1. I do not understand the issue with BDN but my dog gobbles it like there is no tomorrow and I am going on my vet’s recommendation because he is extremely particular. Has 6 dogs himself, including several Grayhounds I think he said (or some large specialty breed) and feeds it and Darwins to ALL SIX of his dogs. Loves both foods. To find his website can google Dr. Charles Loops DVM. He is VERY intelligent and has been a homeopathic vet for 30 yrs. Pays attention to things that regular allopathic vets do not. Treats lots of dogs with Cancer succesfully. His recommendation goes a long way with me.

[Nancy C]

Cindy – glad your dog liked the BDN. I got the variety pack and the golden likes everything in it. gobbles all of it up. This company works very hard to produce a good digestible food. I called the other day to find out the calcium phosphorus ratio for beef since it is not listed on the site. Just FYI it’s 1:1. I also plan to give my dogs a Raw Meaty Bone 2 x a week because they are very healthy. That will work with their ca/phos ratio.
I am also feeding some Darwin’s to the golden retriever. She loves that too, but it is pretty pricey and I am not sure how long I will keep that up for two large dogs.

[Jude s]

Ok guys, I think I’m going to start my puppies off with premixes for they can used to raw food, but I’m not sure which to choose. I was thinking of See Spot Live Longer dinner mix, The Honest Kitchen preference or kindly, Dr. Harvey’s Veg to Bowl Fine Ground….which one do guys think is the better one of the bunch?

[Akari_32]

I have a dog with the exact same problem. Not only was he extremely allergic to everything blooming here in southern Florida, as well as fleas, but he’s also got over active yeast on his skin. We had to cut as many carbs as possible out of his diet for him to clear up, and even then, you can’t avoid a dog (especially not a terrier) from going in the grass.

We first put him on By Nature 95% canned food, and now he’s on See Spot Live Longer raw. He still breaks out when it rains and the grass shoots up and grows like crazy and pollinates, but it’s Florida, and there’s no preventing that. He did have himself chewed bald from his ribs back, and we finally have him down to chewing just his feet after rainy days.

[Kristin C]

I order from Reel Raw too. I ordered their 10lb complete beef mix, but I’m not sure how much fat is in it so I’ve decided to stick with ordering novelty proteins, organs, and RMBs. I give them a thumbs up too.

[Dfwgolden]

I have a 6 month old Great Dane puppy named Bane, I love him to bits and will do anything for him. So when I say I am desperate I mean it.

My baby has had Patte type Diarrhea since day one. His breeder had him on Diamond . And he was mushy but not sloppy. We switched him to 4 health that did not agree with him and since then it’s been a down hill battle.
We’ve tried
4 Health
Earth born
Pro Plan
Gravy Train
Rachel Ray
Raw (Prey Model)
Pure Balance
Whole Earth Farms
Wellness

It does not matter what we feed him he ALWAYS has diarrhea. We’ve done medication, pumpkin, yogurt, pro-biotics and other things. We’ve done chicken and rice.
No matter what IT WILL NOT GO AWAY.
Diamond makes it explosive and he threw up Gravy Train.

It seems like nothing we do works. And even our vet is stumped.
We cannot spend over $50 a bag, I live in the USA in Dallas Ft. Worth area of Texas. I am at my wits here I don’t know what else to do!

None of my other dogs are effected by it. We have fed a rotational diet for about 3 years now and have had Great Success. But with Bane I don’t know what to do. Other than the diarrhea he is 100% healthy and growing like a weed.

I just am tirred of picking up water.

Any ideas?

[Judith M]

I would love to have a long lasting, chewy type treat for my large Borzoi, Mikko, that is healthy, helps keep his teeth clean & keeps him occupied & doesn’t cost an arm & leg. I don’t particularly like giving him rawhide, bully sticks, smoked bones, etc. But, he loves them & keeps him happy for extended periods of time. I am just very careful & keep an eye on him when he is chewing them. I would love a better suggestion.

[Paula D]

The ONP easy raw is similar to Honest Kitchen or the Stella and Chewy’s mix that you,rehydrate with water. My girls much prefer the ONP Max meat–a jerky type texture.

[theBCnut]

Different people foods digest at different rates too, but we don’t worry about having problems with it. I feed half raw and the raw is mixed in with the kibble at every meal. My dogs have never had any issues. Many of us here add raw as toppers without issue. Shawna has even speculated that adding raw might help dogs digest kibble better. I don’t know if that’s true, but as long as I have been feeding raw, I have never had one of my dogs vomit formed kibble, and one of them used to do that all the time, so I believe it.

[Haleybop]

Thanks, Aimee. Sometimes, there’s just too much information out there. Some say it’s ok to mix raw and kibble, others say feed them separate – they digest the different types of food differently…it’s so overwhelming. If anything, I know Ziwi Peak will be an excellent training treat. Thanks, again!

[aimee]

Haleybop… So sorry for your loss….

Ii feed freeze dried raw both as a topper and as treats. I’ve also used Ziwi Peak as treats.

I’ve never had a problem mixing different food types together.

[Haleybop]

Oh, I have another related question. I know you’re not supposed to feed raw with kibble – they should be separate meals. What about treats? I have a bunch of samples from Ziwi Peak. Is it ok to use that food as treats in between meals? Thanks, again!

[Jenny M]

I’ve been reading this thread with interest as I have a small dog who has recently started throwing up pretty much daily. He’s been raw fed and minimally vaccinated since he was a puppy, so I was pretty shocked. Once he lost about 15% of his body weight from all this, I decided to have the endoscopy done on him and I should know the results next week. It showed a “normal looking” stomach with some inflammation in the small intestine so biopsies will be done.
It’s difficult to say if the issues are food related or stress related, as this started about 2 weeks after I brought a new puppy home. Perhaps both as the original vomiting episode was accompanied by a nasty, angry red rash and hives all over his stomach/chest/legs. His skin felt hot to the touch, but thankfully that’s settled. At this point he’s getting Cerenia to control the vomiting (until we’re 100% sure what’s going on, and can either treat the food allergies with a change in protein sources and tweaking what he actually gets, or treating the stress issues perhaps present with the new puppy). I don’t want my dog on Cerenia or Pepcid for the rest of his life, however (like the original poster), I want my dog to be able to keep food down! He’s doing pretty well on Wellness 95% Salmon (NOT a complete diet, and not for long term, but a good start for a food elimination trial and pretty much the best thing I’ve found that agrees with him at this time).
Unless something bad happens, I’m going to start stretching the time he gets the stomach medicine. Instead of every 24 hours, tonight I’m stretching it to 30. Later, perhaps 36, then 48, etc until hopefully his body is able to handle food without the help of the medicine. I do intend to keep it on hand in case of a flare up…
Also, I ordered some things from the b-naturals.com website, Berts Zymes (digestive enzymes) and some other things to help aid dogs having digestive difficulties. If Chewy needs an extra “boost”, it might be something you’d be interested in checking out.

[SunnyD]

DogFoodie, do you think i should feed the Nature Variety’s raw or the Hill’s prescription HD with the lower sodium content?

[SunnyD]

Thanks so much for your help. So, the sodium in the Nature’s Valley RAW duck bites is much higher than the Hill’s prescription HD canned food? Now, I feel awful for switching her back to the NV. @DogFoodie

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by SunnyD.

[Bashli C]

Another User: I’m just saying sue?
“July 12, 2014 at 1:09 pm #46787 Reply | Report

macsmommy
Member

I have been feeding my dogs Blue Ridge for about 5 years, but have recently switched to Primal Raw because I had noticed my dog’s feces looking really black and soft and was somewhat concerned. At that same time, I read some comments on Dogfoodadvisor.com that Blue Ridge Beef’s Owner, Steven Lea, owns a collection facility that picks up dead, diseased, and dying animals. The mailing address is the same for both companies. I was mortified when I read that. So I did some research and found more information regarding same. So then I contacted Dee at Blue Ridge Beef’s office and she could not adequately put my fears to rest. She told me that “anyone that has common sense would realize there would be no future in us selling diseased food to our valued pets.” Now, mind you, I have been a customer of theirs for 5 years!! She did not directly address my question regarding rendered meat being in their products other than referring to what my common sense should tell me which was quite offensive and infuriating. To me owning a pet food company and a collection facility for dead, diseased, and dying animals is a HUGE conflict of interest. In addition, apparently the owner, Steven Lea, applied for a permit to build a Rendering Plant, but the city commission was not keen on the idea, so Steven Lea withdrew his application. Needless to say, I am not feeding my dogs Blue Ridge Beef anymore. I have switched to Primal Formula. They have a freeze dried formula that my dogs love. It is 100% human grade raw meat and I feel safer with this product. It’s a little more expensive, but well worth it.”

[pugmomsandy]

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/IMG_5170952x1024_zpsec466d4d.jpg

This site has a demo video:

http://northcoastpets.com/barf_hardware.htm

Other raw feeders have told me they have the 3/4 hp Cabela brand grinder and it’s worked just fine on chicken and turkey parts and it was less than $200. And adding in the lean ground meat and decreasing the beef organ mix would balance it out better (the meat and bone portion), but also check out the supplement section at dogaware. And you can also find hearts, tongues, cheek, even uterus at ethnic grocery stores as well.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by pugmomsandy.

[Tanya C]

Thank you everyone for your comments. theBCnut I did not get my dogs from a breeder they are all rescues and up till now have been fed commercial prepared dry/wet dog food. I never even heard of Raw Dog Food until Chance came to us. Then I started researching and like I said above it is all so confusing one site contradicting the other etc.. so I appreciate any and all comments. I bought my meat straight from a butcher, it came pre-grounded. I was told that the 10lbs was a mixture of heart,brain which I understood to not be considered organ meats and then kidney, liver and spleen with I know are organ meats. I also know that tongues are included but wasn’t sure what they are considered. If I added lean ground beef to my recipe say 10-15 lbs would that balance it out better. I am making very large batches as I try to make at least a weeks worth at a time. My Danes range in size from 90-160 lbs so I have been feeding them approx 2% of there ideal body weight per day which is about 3.5 lbs if I worked it out properly, I feed them half in the morning and half in the evening. I will not add the extra egg shells next time and do what I normally do, add them to my garden instead. pugmomsandy the chicken I purchased was from my local grocery store and I ground it myself in a hand grinder at home. I believe I should have called them quarter chicken legs they were thighs with legs attached and bones still in. The next batch will be purchased from the butcher chicken backs with bone in pre-ground. I will look into those books as well, I have a tablet and an e-reader so I should be able to get them. Thank you all so much, I really do appreciate the comments !!! I’m so new at this and I find it confusing even though I did research. I’m still trying to figure out what meats are what hence the mistake with too much organ meats. I just want to make up for my past bad food mistakes and do what is best for my fur babies. Thank you !!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Tanya C.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Tanya C.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Tanya C.

[pugmomsandy]

A helpful site for homemade food is dogaware.com. And I agree with BCnut about too much organ meat (dense in certain vits and minerals) and calcium. A chicken leg quarter is roughly 27% bone according to PreyModelRaw.com, so I’m not sure what just a bone-in thigh would be. One recipe book I’ve used “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” uses 3 parts meat/organ mix to 1 part veggie mash – about 1.5 cups meat/organ with only 1/2 cup veg (with 1 cup of meat being 1/2 lb). It also has a vitamin recipe and a recommendation for puppies.

Using your chicken thigh for my calculations at *approximately* 27% bone, this is what I come up with roughly to end up with around 10% bone:

6 lbs bone-in thighs/96 oz
8.6 lbs muscle meat/138 oz
1.6 lbs/26 oz beef organ mix

for a total of 16.25 lbs/260 oz

Also for variation, you can substitute 18-19% of the meal (meat portion) with sardines or egg (no shell). For 1 lb of food – 9 oz meat mix, 3 oz sardines or egg, 4 oz veg (from the book I mentioned above).

I’d recommend the books “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats”, “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet”, and I believe there is an e-book called “See Spot Live Longer the ABC Way”.

[sue102dal]

Bashi,
He is not licensed USDA approved pet food manufacturer. He does not notify customer if out of item they order just replaces with whatever he wants without saying anything to the customer. he is a game butcher that thinks he knows it all about raw feeding. I have a degree in animal nutrition and mentored him to create his product line. Now all he does is bad mouth me to anyone that will listen. He sells his food cheap because he does not follow all USDA regulations!! He caused several dogs in my co-op to get sick because of his lack of concern for keeping the food as stated on his website he changes ingredients and dogs with food allergies got sick costing owners thousands in vet bill. So continue with him at your owm risk just make sure your pet has good health insurance!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by sue102dal.

[Susan]

Also there’s Wellness Simple limited ingredient “Lamb & Oatmeal” that’s what Im feeding Patch in the end, no more itchy sore ears & no scratching, the Simple has other kibbles but they all have potatos, I dont understand why they add potatos in limited ingredient kibbles being a high in carbs…
The only other thing is you cook & make his meals or even if he just has 1 cooked meal for dinner & the kibble for breakfast once you cook every thing & freeze its pretty easy or the next thing you could do is raw.
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/recipes.aspx?pet=dog&ft=1#Complete
this is the whole Wellness range Good-Luck, its hard finding that right food or is there any way someone can buy & post his old food that agreed with him from Canda…..

[theBCnut]

I’m not the one to figure out if a raw diet is balanced or not, but I do see some glaring(to me) issues. I think this recipe is very heavy on organs. Organs should make up about 10% of the meat portion of the diet with liver being half of that. Heart does not count as an organ because it is all muscle and fat. Adding chicken with the bone in is OK, and so are the eggs including shell, but the extra shells may be too much calcium, and too much calcium is a big no-no for large and giant breed puppies. Basically, 2 large egg shells are enough calcium for 1 lb of boneless meat. Make sure you use different veggies every batch, because feeding broccoli all the time isn’t good either. I prefer to use one type of protein at a time and rotate proteins.

Have you called your breeder and got their recipe for the raw that the puppies were started on?

[cindy q]

I bought a bag of Stewarts raw naturals freeze dried to try, hoping my dogs like it. Can someone look at the website and tell me what you think of this food? Thanks

[Tanya C]

Hi my name is Tanya and I have many fur babies which include 3 Great Danes, 1 Chinese Crested and 3 Cats 2 orange tabbies and a black white kitten. They all range in ages from 8 weeks to 8 years. Up until recently I always fed my fur family members commercial kibbles and wet foods cause food is food right. Man was I WRONG !!!Anyway we recently lost our baby girl Thunder who was a 15 year old Husky. My husband watched me struggle with her death and how badly depressed I was becoming so he suggested a new furry baby to help focus my attention on and to maybe help fill the big hole in the heart. I eventually found Chance a 10 month old Great Dane puppy, he is a great source of happiness 🙂 He was raised on a raw dog food diet and his previous owner had switched him over to commercial foods and he is doing fine but it piqued my interest because I didn’t really know what Raw Dog Food was. I’ve been researching and researching for the last 2 weeks, I made a recipe and the dogs really seem to like it but I would like some constructive criticism. I mean I did do a lot of research but there is just so much information and a lot of it contradicts what the other is saying, so I just wanted some feedback. One thing that all the information agreed on was that it is very important for the diet to be balanced and that you can do more damage by feeding an unbalanced raw diet than by staying with commercial foods, so I just want to make sure I’m doing what is best for my fur babies.
Thank you, Sincerely, Tanya

10 lbs – ground organ meats Beef (heart, kidney, liver, spleen, brains, etc..)
5.5-6 lbs – ground Chicken thigh/leg attached bone in
350 g pureed Sardines
4 – whole x-large Eggs shells pureed with the veggies (also 12 egg shell left over from breakfast)
1 cup pureed Carrot
3-4 cups pureed Yams
3-4 cups pureed Broccoli
750 g – Biobest Plain Probiotic Yogurt

• This topic was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Tanya C.

[Kristin C]

Thanks USA. My girls just had their first SSLL this morning. I give them a can of sardines each per week to round out the raw meat, organs, puréed veg mix they mostly eat.

Has anyone tried The Honest Kitchen base mix? It’s dehydrated so I’m afraid it will be chunky like Sojo’s which does not digest well.

[InkedMarie]

You can use canned, dehydrated or ground raw (pre made or ground from hare today, reel raw or my pet carnivore)

[Susan]

Hi Kelsey, when a dog stops eating they are normally sick, something is normally wrong..have you tried changing her food & see how she goes….Is she a picky eater or has this just happened the not wanting to eat, my cat is a fussy spoiled cat but if I just keep giving him the food he doesnt want he normally eats it in the end cause he’s hungry..
My friend works in a fish Co-Op & gives me prawns, shark, whiting etc so he waits for the freshly cooked fish the spoiled bugger….

[Ry K]

Hi all,

My husky/lab has been on the raw diet for over 6 months now. I’ve verified with the raw pet food store and with a few raw diet books that he’s getting the right amount, proper bone/meat/veg balance, extras like green powders, kelp, fish oil, etc.

All of his health problems have gone away except for one – skin irritation. He’ll be good to go for a month or two, and then all of a sudden he’ll start chewing all over himself to the point of stripping the hair off and making it even worse. Then I put the cone on him for a few weeks, and he’s either fine or back at the chewing.

I exercise him every day so I don’t think it is a stress problem. I avoid fields with long grass that might bother his skin. If it’s bad enough I’ll give him a bath with oatmeal, baking soda, aloe, etc.

Does anyone have any additional thoughts on this topic? I find it especially important because I convinced a friend to switch his dog to raw recently. He did so, and it fixed some MAJOR problems the dog was having, but now 6 months later his dog is having skin irritation problems as well. It doesn’t seem to be an allergy like pollen, especially because right now there shouldn’t be any pollen issues at all where I live.

Thanks in advance for your time!
Ryan

[Dori]

Thanks. I’m going to keep my eye out for sales. $22.00 in my mind would be better spent going to one of the commercial raws I feed. I’ll see if I can find them cheaper. I’m pretty sure they’ll last a while for the girls cause they really have teeny tiny teeth. I would think that my dogs teeth probably look like what Bruno’s baby teeth would have looked like. I’m talking tiny. But I keep thinking about the $22.00 and then there’s shipping tax and shipping. I wonder if they sell them anywhere around us here in Cobb County or even Fulton.

[USA]

Hi Dori,

Thank you for getting that info from BDN! I am glad that BDN is working out well for you and your crew.

You wrote:
“I just spoke to someone at Big Dog Natural. They air dry their food at 80 – 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 hours.”

24 hours is a very long time to keep a raw food at 80 to 100 degrees F. Imagine taking a couple of pounds of any raw food that contained meat and vegetables and placing it outside on a 100 degree F Georgia day. Then take a powerful fan and have it blow on the food. Leave the raw meat outside in the 100 degree temps with the fan blowing on it for 24 hours. That is not a food I would feed my dog.

And pugmomsandy wrote:
“They’re bags of food do not have an ingredient or GA label. Just the name of the product”.

This lets me know that BDN is not following the regulations for labeling dog foods. That is not a good sign for me.

You also wrote:
“As I have said often in the past…..these issues that are being questioned back and forth may very well not sit well with some if this is the ONLY food you are going to feed your dogs”

The way this food is air-dried and the potential it carries for bacterial growth along with the lack of proper labeling are issues that would prevent me from using this food regardless of how many other foods were in my rotation.

Again, I am very happy that BDN is working out for you and your guys!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by USA.

[Dori]

I have never seen any bone or bone pieces in the food. I agree with cindy q on the issue of bones.

USA and anyone else interested. I just spoke to someone at Big Dog Natural. They air dry their food at 80 – 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 hours.

I decided that instead of guessing, I would just pick up the phone and call. My call was returned within 20 minutes. I have never once been given the run around with any question I have asked. They have been nothing but forthcoming with me. I choose to have the food in rotation with my three dogs everyone else can make up their own minds. As I have said often in the past…..these issues that are being questioned back and forth may very well not sit well with some if this is the ONLY food you are going to feed your dogs. Most of us on DFA rotate foods, supplements, within the brands and different brands. Anyway, my dogs love the food and they have absolutely no issues with the food. No diarrhea, gas, no constipation, no itchiness, no bad breath, no tear stains, no gurgling stomachs, their poops are exactly the way they should be for dogs that eat raw-small well formed not too hard don’t stick to the ground no smell whatsoever.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Dori.

[aimee]

Hi Haleybop,

In regards to adding an unbalanced topper ( lean meat) to a balanced kibble, veterinary nutritionists recommend to limit unbalanced foods to 10% of the total caloric intake.

For example, if your dog needs 400 calories to maintain weight, you would feed 360 calories as kibble, and 40 calories from an unbalanced addition.

I think feeding twice a day is for our convenience. More often is fine. Some people leave the food available all the time and the dog grazes throughout the day. I’ve never seen it reported that this causes any type of adverse effects on health.

Don’t feel guilty for not feeding raw. After thoroughly looking at that issue from multiple angles I concluded that it wasn’t in the best interest of my dogs and family.

[Haleybop]

Thanks, all, for your suggestions. I wasn’t sure why everything I read said to stop feeding them three meals after six months of age. Now, I know. 🙂

And, thanks for the general support. Ultimately, I know it’s best to go raw. I just haven’t done it before and my husband isn’t sold that I’ll be able to keep up on it (because of my disabilities). That may make him sound bad – trust me, he takes care of EVERYTHING else, lol, and would do this also if it weren’t for the fact that I WANT to take care of my baby. Plus, I seem to make everything more complicated than it is and it seems so confusing to me, balancing the diet and what not.

So, another question…how long do you go between the two meals? I know feeding them more than every 12 hours was mentioned. For instance, my dog generally wakes up between 8:15 and 9am every day and is usually back in bed by 9:30pm. Like I said earlier, I need a little help figuring things out. What would you recommend for feeding times? Right now, I feed her at around 9am, 2pm and 7pm.

Thanks, again, for the help and general support!!!

[crazy4cats]

Hi Haleybop-
You should NOT feel guilty for not feeding raw. The majority of dog owners don’t. It sounds like you are doing a great job of feeding your dog. As Zach mentioned earlier, unbalanced toppers should not account for over 20% of their total diet, not just an individual meal. Keep up the good work!