[pugmomsandy]

You can warm the oil and drizzle it right in their food bowl or let them lick the glob right off the spoon. 1/2 – 1 teaspoon per 10 lbs. I give the smaller dose but I also feed raw sardines or use a krill oil supplement. I also use a coconut-based shampoo like Earthbath, although my dogs rarely get a bath.

[Melissaandcrew]

Lisa C-

Rule number one when a dog is vomiting is to avoid large meals. He will probably vomit like hell given that he is already doing so, and if you fed him enough volume to distend his stomach, it will expand further and the poor thing may vomit it all before morning. MANY small meals throughout the day works best for “re feeding” a dog in his condition. Kudos to the vet for refusing to put an emaciated sick dog under anesthesia. Truth be told, I was shocked when you said he was having surgery in that condition. Chances are he may not have woken up from anesthesia, and/or vomited while under and aspirated.

You already know that he is not digesting dry and canned, so I reiterate-why not try some premade raw?? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain if it works, including your dogs life. The description the vet gave means he is emaciated, not thin or skinny and his body will start breaking down muscle tissue. IF something simply like raw does not work, then you need to discuss running malabsoption testing( I know that is misspelled but in a hurry, lol) $30 for raw versus several hundred in testing. Try the raw! It may not work, but its easier/cheaper/faster to check then running more bloodwork.

[Debbie L]

I’ve only tried faw meat with a dog once, a female Collie, but she had a sensitive stomach and it made her vomit. So if I did not add canned to her dry food I began to add cooked meat again and she was fine. She loved to eat green frogs when she could catch them, but they made her sick and vomit every time. Apparently raw food was not for her.

My concern about feeding raw is the potential for parasites, E.coli, Salmonella, etc. I know in the wild animals (carnivores) have no choice but to eat raw foods. But since dogs are removed from the wild are their systems still geared to handle foods raw? I haven’t tried raw meats on my two males.

On the human aspect, I believe about a year ago I read where the FDA was not as thorough inspecting meats as in the past. That makes our foods not as safe as they once were. So, the bad elements in raw meats could be passed on to dogs and cats as well.

I just don’t feel as safe about feeding pets raw foods as it was say 10 years ago.

[Dori]

BRT. Glad to hear your dog is doing well on Zignature. I’ve never fed Natural Balance but I certainly would have stopped after the recalls as I’ve done with all foods that have had recalls not to my liking.

I had a feeling that you had overlooked the Turkey Meal in the NV Instinct Raw Boost. I’ve never fed it for that reason. I would love to find a kibble for emergencies but I’ve yet to find one that Katie doesn’t have a problem with. She has too many allergies to keep track of. I’ve got to get some index cards or start a Word document for her allergies and intolerances.

Are you feeding the Zignature dry or canned? Just curious.

[loopoo]

Trying to find a food without a soy based vitamin, like pulling teeth. Unfortunately Natures logic has alfalfa( dogs are allergic to that… anyone know any other brands? stinks as I phoned a few raw food suppliers that had a balanced mix, even Darwin, their vitamins are soy sourced( so far Honest Kitchen is the only soy free one i know, but had hoped to add another to the mix….

[Dawn R]

Does anyone know which 5 star dry foods have small kibble? I bought Orijen and Acana and it’s way to big for my new puppy, she stared at it confused after eating Stella and Chewys dehydrated for a few days. I want to be able to feed the new puppy as many types of food as possible ( raw, canned, dehydrated, dry).

Please let me know if you have suggestions. Thanks….

Dawn

[Ysabella J]

Hey everyone,

I have a 3 year old, 65 pound Golden Retriever. For about the past 4 months or so I have noticed her licking her behind a lot more than usual. I would say about 3-4 days out of the week and usually when it happens it is multiple times during the day. I know that she is licking back there due to anal glands because every time she does it, out comes the nasty smell.. I took her to the vet, they expressed her anal glands and said they were small, nothing abnormal about them.. She had never had this done before. Well 2 days after I brought her in she started licking again. I started adding pumpkin to her diet regularly with no help. She is fed Orijen kibble & Merrick canned food for breakfast and Stella & Chewy’s raw for dinner. I haven’t switched her diet in over a year. I am really not a big fan of bringing her in every 3 weeks to get her anal glands expressed after reading an article published by Dr. Becker. She doesn’t scoot at all whatsoever, it’s just the licking… I can’t find much information about this online, so now I am here.

Anyone have any advice? I am open to anything… Thanks in advance!!

[Lisa C]

I am going to the vet tomorrow to have Chewy’s umbilical hernia removed. When I go, I will inquire about IBD, and hiatal hernia/prilosec. I also wouldn’t mind trying the nature’s variety premade raw. I just am not sure what exactly to look for. Does petsmart carry it?

[Susan]

Hi Melissa & Iusol, Im not pushing no one to take Predinsone, I hate the drug..Its a band aid drug that covers the health problem, it just supresses ur immune system, puts you in remission but with IBD it does help with some dogs when the bowel is so badly inflamed…. as long as the dog is only on the steroid for 1-2 months, no longer… I have had so many arguements when I join a group called IBD about this drug these ladys dogs were dying from IBD & steroids were the only thing that helped save their dogs, well that’s what they told me & now Im starting to understand the drug a little bit more… like my vet says she hates the drug but it does save some dogs lives when nothing else has worked….I have Auto Immune Disease LUPUS & I was put on Predinsone in the begining of my illness when I was younger & it made me very ill…..If I was Lisa I would be asking my vet so many question & yes Iosul Patches vet 1-2 months ago wanted to put Patch on Prednisone, I said NO.. I even posted a post 1 month ago asking for help on forums, in the end I ended up doing my own research about IBD & I join a group that have dogs that have IBD & Im starting to undersatand this rotten disease a bit better now…a dog just doesnt get IBD & then you change its diets & oh he’s all better now, he can eat anything now…if that has happened with anyones dog (like I have read on this site a few times) then their dog has never really had IBD, it either had something else wrong (parasites) or he had IBS.. there’s a big difference between IBD & IBS, I think people get this mixed up as Im learning..also alot of dogs owners on this site are very blessed & have very healthy dogs & their dogs can eat a high protein diet or a high fat diet.. when I first join this site I’d read people were feeding their dogs this & that I thought WHY cant my boy eat that or eat this so I asked the vet about putting Patch on a raw diet, my vet nilly had a heart attack as Patch was very sick at the time & I didn’t understand that his bowel needed to heal & rest not put more fat into his diet… then I’d read on this site that vet diets aren’t good, so I tried changing Patches vet food, then Patch went back down hill again, that’s when the vets wanted to cut him open, I said NO….Finally I though stuff it, the vet prescription diet has helped my boy get better it may have corn in it but it has made him poo normal, he’s playing, he wants to go for his walks, he’s a happy 5 year old dog acting like a puppy & he’s not crying in pain….I still dont want him on his Eukanuba Intestinal but sometimes they do need the balanced vets diet just for a little while to get better, then you can slowey change their diets but on this site ur made to feel guilty cause ur dogs on a vet diet….sometimes there’s some people that come on this site so desparate for help they will do anything they read… giving vinegar to a sick dog is not a good idea, I google info on ACV its good for some dogs with minor problems but not real sick dogs..but until you have a really sick dog, I think no one should really being saying do this or do that, like I wrote ASK ur VET about Metronidazole or Prednisone the vet will either say, oh NO he doesnt need that or no we think chewy has this.. I always write what has happened with Patch & what did worked with Patch on post, if that person wants to try what made Patch better good-luck to them, I wish when I came on this site 1 year ago I got some good advise, I think a couple of ladys did help a little Paddy & Crazy for Cats had some real good advice but I couldnt get that kibble being in Australia.. When I read Chewy’s story it sounded just like what Patch & I was going thru last April 2013…sorry for the book

[Melissaandcrew]

Lisa C-Before getting all crazy and doing cameras and biopsy, try a small bag of a premade raw such as Natures Variety. I do have a dog with food intolerance and IBD/SIBO and it was the very first food she could eat without issues. It may work for yours and what harm is done by trying it? My girl who had blow out diarrhea on other foods firmed up in 24 hrs.

[Ping C]

Hi Rawfeeders

I’ve been feeding my puppy raw for 2 1/2 months now and she’s doing well on it.
Gaining weight steadily, good skin/hair/teeth etc. She’s now 5 months.

She gets mainly Pork, Beef and Chicken..mostly meat/ some bones/ some organs…very occasionally some Mutton, Lamb, or Duck

I’ve tried giving her pork ribs/ Mutton bones/ beef ribs over several occasions, she’ll eat the meat, chew on the bones a bit but leaves most of the bone behind, . I’m guessing they are too tough. She’ll eat ALL/ANY of the chicken bones.

My question is : If chicken bones are the bulk of her Bone/Calcium content, is this going to be nutritionally deficient over time? Does she need to eat bones from Beef/Pork/Lamb etc?

thanks in advance for your reply,
Ping & Luna (singapore)

[Susan]

Hi Ashlee, you have 3 beautiful dogs, sorry I cant help with the raw, but there’s heaps of people on this site that can, I just borrowed this book called “Dr Becker’s REAL FOOD For healthy Dogs & Cats” its a good read & Karen puts you in the right direction with foods, supplements, calcium & fatty acids, for young medium & older dogs..what to do & what not to do..

[fey W]

I always feed my lucky three times a day.
Usually feed the natural foods include fresh human-grade raw meat (e.g. raw lamb), raw meaty bones and vegetables. Dr. Harveys is also my daily choice.

[Ashlee S]

Hi, I’m new to the forum. But long time dog owner. I currently have three large dogs. I know all of my dogs would benefit to a raw diet but I’m lost on where to start. My dogs are currently fed on taste of the wild. I’m more than happy to research a lot on my own but I could use some help on where to start. What to feed? How much?

Here’s a little info on my dogs, if it might help.

Cookie who is the oldest is turning 12 years on the 24th, she’s a female Labrador weighing around 65 pounds. Cookie is overweight, she has cancer and arthritis. She can’t walk far distances and isn’t comfortable swimming any more, so exercise isn’t the easiest way to her weight off. Cookie, although overweight she doesn’t eat much. She is a retried mom who quickly gained the weight when she was spayed late at the age of 7 years. And I have yet to get her weight off. Although she has cancer and arthritis she is active for her age and condition. She’s fine with small walks around the block but anything more she limps her way home.

Mia, is my female bloodhound. Mia is 6 years old,she has a long chronic past of yeast infections in her ears which have significantly gone down since switching to TOTW. Mia’s a very active girl. It’s very easy to control her weight, compared to my other two dogs. She does eat A LOT but she never strays from her weight too much. Usually a steady 85 pounds. She’s eating 3 1/2 cups a day of just kibble with occasional raw cow bone

Bentley is the hardest to keep his weight. He is currently overweight, I’m getting his weight down right now by cutting back his food and feeding vegetables and raw cow bones recommended by his vet. Bentley is a heeler/hound/lab mix. I adopted him back in August of 2013. He’s a year old. He’s closer to the size of a heeler than anything but weight wise he’s a hound/lab. Last time he was weighed he was 63 pounds a few weeks ago.

I exercise my dogs daily besides cookie who can’t handle daily walks. I take them swimming at least once a week and hiking once a week but they get daily walks and runs. So lack of exercise isn’t the problem it’s balancing their food.

I know I need to make this decision on my own but there’s no problem with suggestions. If you could help steer me in the right way you suggest would most benefit my dogs I would greatly appreciate it.

And also if you could estimate on monthly costs, I would greatly appreciate it. Or Estimate on how much to feed so I could estimate the cost. But would GREATLY appreciate any links or forums you know of where I can start my research in raw feeding that would be great. 😀

Thanks!

Just for a reference of my dog’s here is a picture
http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy312/bloodhound74/10269495_10204245391361703_3714956536614035392_n_zpsaecdda73.jpg

[Linda C]

I could not find this topic, but please guide me if I missed. I usually feed my CKCS Acana, and I am looking for help determining the best food for a female that is pregnant. Not just before whelping, but lactating as well. I am trying Nature’s Variety INSTINCT RAW BOOST which has 38% protein and 20% fat. In the past, I have always felt most dog foods were too low in fat for this situation.

[Naturella]

Hello, all! I know I have vented on here about how my roommate feeds his dog the SD, and thought it was great – well, yesterday there was amazing breakthrough!!! He went out to get her food and came back with a 5-lb (or 4-lb) bag of Nulo Medal Series Grain Free Adult Lamb and Lentils!!! He said that the people at the store recommended it over the SD and he wanted to give it a try with his dog. He even asked if we have heard of this food and what we thought of it. Based on DFA, I think it is a GREAT change from the SD! He even admitted that it is much better ingredient-wise, higher-calorie, so his dog can eat less, overall awesome! I am soooo excited for her (the dog)!!! She actually loves this food to no end too and gobbles up her meals like never before! 🙂

He also mentioned raw feeding and stuff and how it’s good for dogs’ teeth! I always thought he was against stuff like that and that he would never admit to them being good. He probably still won’t feed her raw, but the change in kibble is fantastic!!! I’m pumped! 🙂 Hope he keeps her on good food from now on! 🙂

[Melissaandcrew]

What is she eating? My st poodle with Addison eats the same as the others. Part grain free dry and part raw.

[Dawn R]

My vet just did a puppy exam on my 9 week old bulldog and the fecal test came back with giardia. This is totally new to me so we are giving her panacure for 6 days. Anyone else ever experience this?

I’m concerned if it could spread to my 5 and 6 year old pugs, so trying yo be careful.

Is there anything else I should be giving her. I’m using probiotics max with her food and feeding 3x’s a day

Let me know…..
Thanks, Dawn
Aka PugsonRaw

[Melissaandcrew]

Joey-It tends to be a dog to dog thing rather than a general breed thing. My English Bulldog eats the same as every one else here-4-5star grain free dry and raw etc. Granted Eggs give him gas, lol, but no issues with food in general. It may be that your boy has grain issues.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Texasniteowl-
I have endured some frustrating digestive disorders with my dogs as well due to parasites and many doses of antibiotics and dewormers. I don’t know if they ended up with leaky guts, IBS, IBD, or what, but it was down right frustrating! I read every article I could find on the above conditions. Some of the best information, I found on dogaware.com.
The best results that I have had so far is when I feed them Victor grain free food with a few Northwest Naturals frozen raw nuggets. I also have tried several supplements that are helpful. I use probiotics and/or digestive enzymes that contain slippery elm, l-glutamine and NAG. The Victor contains a clay that helps with loose stools as well. Another kibble that has the clay is Nature’s Variety Prairie and Instinct. Interestingly, sauerkraut and shredded carrots are also helpful for some reason. LOL! I wish you a lot of luck!

[Kelsey K]

Hi all!

First time poster here. HDM, thank you for all of this great information you’ve compiled! I very well could’ve missed it in the previous 73 pages (let me know if these questions have already been answered!), but I had a few questions about raw food and puppies.

I am a first-time LBD owner and will be bringing home an 8-week old berner boy in a month. I’d love to get him on a raw diet ASAP but am worried about the calcium content. My FIV+ kitty boy is currently eating Natural Pet Pantry (NPP), and I love how healthy it’s kept him.

Can I start feeding raw to a Bernese at 8 weeks old or should we start with kibble first? Any suggestions on a specific commercial raw? I’ve been looking at Darwin’s or NPP, but am totally open to anything and everything! If not raw right away, what’s the best kibble for a BMD? I’m eyeing Fromm, but I want to do everything right!

Thanks in advance for the help!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 5 months ago by Kelsey K.

[DogFoodie]

I’m using Stella & Chewy’s raw frozen right now. I’ve also use Darwin’s, which I think is great. Lots of folks use Primal and think highly of it. I’ve also used Nature’s Variety and liked that a lot.

[Lisa C]

Betsy, the vomit in the morning is before any meals. It’s usually chunky, and a short time later sometimes comes the bile – yellow and/or frothy. Does anyone have a suggestion of brand for raw?

and thank you, Sue!

[DogFoodie]

And, I agree with Melissa. Raw might help also. Sometimes, higher carb foods contribute to the problem. If probably try a commercial raw that’s complete and balanced – not one that says it’s for supplemental feeding only.

[Melissaandcrew]

Why not try a small bag of a premade raw? You have nothing to lose at this point.

[Susan]

Hi Lisa, Chewy reminds me of what my Patch was doing 1 year ago, vomiting early hours of the morning, having diarrhea, vet diagnosed him with Pancreatitis & IBD, he had to be put on a low low fat diet, nothing over 10% fat & a lower protein % so nothing over 24% protein, he was put on vet prescription Eukanuba Intestinal diet & a dog probiotic this helped with his pooing problems, he does perfect poos now but he still vomited maybe once a week or once every 2 weeks, so I started to cook him boiled chicken breast & 2 tablespoons of boiled pumkin for breakfast, this stopped his vomiting of a morning & his licking & licking his lips after eating but he was still having his pain on his right side under his rib cage, so I stopped the boiled chicken & now I give him tin tuna in spring water, I drain the small tin of tuna & mix with about 2 tablespoons of pumkin & I warm in micro wave the amount I need to use that morning & put rest in fridge for next morning, I then spread the tuna & pumkin on 1 piece of toast, there’s enough for 2 breakfast, I cut the toast (white bread no grains) into 9 squares & hand feed, so he doesnt gulp it all down too quick, the toast seems to keep everything down when he burps, he doesnt seem to have his pain like he did with the boiled chicken, all his vomiting has stopped too….
I’d see a new vet & start with a new low fat diet & see how things go, when I first started the pumkin Patch did have soft poos for 2 days know its perfect, Im also adding the Wellness Simple Duck & Oats to his Eukanuba Intestinal, the Wellness Simple has been good as it digest easily & isnt a hard hard kibble, I also add water to Patches kibble then drain, then add water again, then drain to wash off excess dust from kibble & to soften kibble, the Eukanuba Intestinal is a low residue kibble it breaks up real easily so its easier to digest there is a puppy formula awell, the Wellness Simple also soften real easliy when water is added, Patch was also vomiting up undigested kibble about 6-8 hours later 1 year ago, I forgot last year Patch when Patch was real sick he was put on Metronidazole for 2 weeks, its an antibiotic for their stomach & bowel its stops the diarrhea, ask ur new vet can you have a script & try the Metronidazole, I just go to my chemist & only pay $9.20 instead of the high vet charges, I wouldnt do raw as it high in fat & bacteria ur boy mighten be able to digest raw at this time until you work out whats wrong, something is wrong, alot of puppy foods are real high in fat, you mite need to try a low fat adult kibble just till you stop the pooing & vomiting..or get a vet precription diet just till u get everything under control as ur boy is probably starving with the vomiting & diarrhea…..Good-luck

[DogFoodie]

Hi Lisa,

Chewy can survive on canned food alone. It’s far better for him than kibble is also. Kibble cleaning the teeth is a myth anyway. The best way to clean his teeth is with a toothbrush or by feeding raw, meaty bones or recreational bones.

I have a dog with some food intolerance issues and a bit of a sensitive stomach. He occasionally vomits bile when his tummy gets very empty. It sounds like your pup has the same problem. You could try adding a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, diluted 50/50 at a minimum to his food. ACV stimulates the production of hydrochloric acid and tells the spinchter at the bottom of the esophagus to close so the bile stays put.

You could also try three small meals per day or, if that’s not practical, give him a small snack a couple times per day to avoid his belly being empty for too long.

Oh, and if he has trouble with transition. Do it slowly. Only increase the amount of the new food and decrease the old when his stool is firm. A spoonful of plain, canned pumpkin will help regulate intestinal water and add bulk to the stool. It usually helps very quickly, and most dogs seem to really like it.

[InkedMarie]

Sarah, raw bones don’t splinter.

[ECSGuy]

I buy a lot of meat from the grocery store, but even that does not guarantee that the meat is first quality. Recent problems in the food chain make eating at all dangerous. The fellow I buy Blue Ridge from orders thousands of pounds per shipment. I have written assurance from Steven Lea that there products contain no 4D meats. However, that does not mean he’s telling the truth. Just like Hare Today saying exactly where there products come from does mean they are telling the truth.
I’m just saying that I’ve heard terrible things about “all” of the raw food vendors. I guess the only way to guarantee the source is buy a farm and raise pigs, chickens, cows, etc. to feed your dogs and yourself.

[Cyndi]

I’m not sure about My Pet Carnivore, but I use Hare Today, and their site says exactly where every bit of meat comes from. I would NEVER feed Blue Ridge beef products after all that’s been said about them. I stopped using commercial dog food because of all the crap in it, I’m not about to use raw food if there’s the slightest chance that they use 4-D animals and crap. I’d much rather spend a bit more on quality food for my dog instead of saving a few bucks and feeding crap.

[Lisa C]

I’m sure this has been talked about numerous times on here, but there’s no search box to try and find answers in the forum. Sorry!

We have had our Chewy since December of last year. We got him at eight weeks. He is a Pekingese/Chihuahua/Cocker Spaniel/ mix (we did a DNA test!) So he’s not quite a year old yet, but later in the fall he will be. The first month or two we had Chewy, he had no problems. We fed him dry puppy Nutro (the pink bag) that was recommended by someone who claimed to have researched foods. after the first 1-2 months, he started vomiting EVERY day. At least once a day. It’s now mid-July, and yes, he still vomits EVERY single day! I think there’s maybe been six total days since Feb that he hasn’t puked at least once. We’ve had numerous tests done at the vet. Blood tests, X-rays, stool samples. Everything is negative. They have no answers for us! The next step would be putting a camera inside him — which I’m sure is an expensive procedure that I cannot afford. He acts normal – he still loves to go outside and play, gets excited when we come home, plays with toys. But he always acts so hungry. We’ve tried so many different kinds of foods, wet and dry. At the vet’s request, we tried two different brands of prescription food (dry only), (which is expensive) 🙁 first Hills and then the Purina RX. The vet also made me buy the $30 box of RX Purina probiotics. None of that fancy overpriced crap did anything but make him vomit even more, and even worse, all undigested.

This week I’ve started to keep a daily journal of everything he eats, and his daily puking habits. The vomiting occurs in the early mornings. Occasionally at night, but mostly mornings. He seems to do alright on the Nutro Puppy Chiot wet food, last week he went maybe 1-2 days without puking on that alone. But I know he can’t just live on wet food, at least from what I’ve read they also need dry food for their teeth. For a few weeks we tried feeding solely cooked chicken, which is LOVED, but still puked out that, too. The other problem is obviously is switching the foods so many times gives him baaaad diarrhea. Yesterday I decided to try yet another food, Solid Gold wet, and going from the Nutro can to that has made him diarrhea two days in a row. We have to keep him locked up in the kitchen the last two nights because he just won’t stop pooping. Of course most of the time his poops are normal, but every once in a while that one food will tip him off and it’s all downhill from there.

I’m so, SO tired of waking up early every morning to scrub vomit off of our apartment carpet. (It’s already ruined.) but most importantly, I just want Chewy to be a normal, healthy dog, and not have such horrible vomiting problems. and of course because of this, you can feel all his bones. We recently took him to get groomed and they said they noticed he was really skinny. He’s skinny because he vomits every day! My boyfriend says we should try him on a raw diet, but I don’t want to do something too drastic without help first. I guess our next step could be getting a second opinion at a different vet, but we’ve already spent a lot of money. I appreciate ALL comments and suggestions. Please help us and our Chewy 🙁

[Melissaandcrew]

I have a new love in my life and its called Restaurant Depot, lol! You have to have a business in order to get a free membership but it is so worth it. Its all human food, and I buy in bulk there. For example, my last visit I picked up chicken leg quarters for 55cents per lb. It sold in bulk 40lb boxes-sizes a restaurant would buy. Beef heart was just over a $1 per lb. I can buy a good portion of my ingredients from the one location, and then fill in the blanks with other distributors-heart, backs, liver, quarters and I think they have gizzards but did not look. I can order fresh fish in bulk as well, though they seem to have a problem getting sardines for me, so I bought a bunch of other types in the interm. I do feed veggies and buy them by the crate(40lb) as well as smaller quantities of frozen veggies.

I have gotten off the raw lately due to a back injury flare up, and just started up again. I can say that my dogs DID seem to drink more when on dry, and have more poop to clean up. Our almost 16yr old and 15 yr old went for 6mth bloods and everything is wonderful with them.

[Sylvia S]

I do agree with everything said above. I would divide the “treat” problem into two:
TRAINING TREATS, which should be small and delicious, relatively soft enabling the dog to swallow them down quickly in order to continue the training.
CHEWING TREATS: to substitute raw hides, greenies, antlers’ horns and other treats which are reputed to be noxious for our pets. They should be large and somewhat harder without endangering the teeth but hard enough to keep the pet busy and entertained for a long time. They should preferably be “acceptable” for inside the house (not like raw kneecaps which are very smelly!)

[macsmommy]

I have been feeding my dogs Blue Ridge Beef mixed with Sojo’s dehydrated veggies since they were puppies. However, I have recently switched from Blue Ridge to Primal Raw because I had recently 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 almost 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 that picks up 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. I live in West Palm Beach and I had always wondered why Blue Ridge Beef drives all the way down to West Palm Beach to deliver food once a month. Well, it’s because they supply the Dog Racing Track here with food. That’s disturbing because the dog racing industry has “openly admitted” to buying only rendered meat for their dogs to reduce costs. 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.

[macsmommy]

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.

[macsmommy]

I have been feeding my dogs Blue Ridge Beef mixed with Sojo’s dehydrated veggies for 5 years. Sojo’s is a mixture of vegetables with added vitamins and I buy it at doggiefood.com for a low price with free shipping. However, I have recently switched from Blue Ridge to Primal Raw because I had recently 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 name of the company is Lea Way Farms. 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.

[macsmommy]

Dane H, I have been feeding my dogs Blue Ridge Beef since they were puppies and I have always mixed their food with Sojos Dehydrated Veggies. You can’t just feed meat to them, you should feed them a balanced diet. There are vitamins included in Sojos as well. You can buy a bag Sojos for a good price, free shipping, at doggiefood.com. They’ll email you discounts as well.

With that said, I have however recently learned that Blue Ridge Beef’s owner, Steven Lea, also 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 heard this. So I contacted Dee at their 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. Apparently, the owner, Steven Lea, also 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.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 5 months ago by macsmommy.

[Cyndi]

Hi Stefan, Good for you getting your dogs on raw! I started my girl on raw a little over a year ago. You sound like you know what you’re doing, for the most part. You should check out the raw food forum here: /forums/forum/raw-dog-food-forum/
Specifically look thru the thread second from the top, “Suggested Raw Dog Food Menus” started by Hound Dog Mom. She posted a few of her recipes there as well as other people posted what they feed too. It is a long thread, but HDM’s recipes are in the first 3 pages.

Someone else can chime in and let you know what else you should be doing or not doing. I get advice from the raw feeders on here. I use, and it’s very well recommended, See Spot Live Longer dinner mix. I add it to my dogs boneless grind in the morning 3 or 4 days a week, just to ensure I’m not missing any add ins that my dog needs.

Good luck! 🙂

• This reply was modified 11 years, 5 months ago by Cyndi.

[Katie J]

Thank you, Betsy and crazy4cats!

I did purchase that booklet and found it very informative. It’s on my phone to reference at any time. I still want the other two books as well so I can be properly armed for when I do decide to go raw. My boyfriend wants to do kibble/wet and raw, but I would prefer to go completely raw. The convenience of kibble in the AM when we are generally scurrying off to work may just be the deciding factor assuming both dogs can handle the split diet. But honestly why would any dog go back to kibble after having tasty raw?! Lol!

I’m using Answer’s as well in his AM feeding. He only gets a small splash, but it’s been doing wonders with his digestion while we find good he loves.

He really seems to like the variety or at least the better quality over 4Health. Another thing I learned here was that while 4Health is rated well it’s made by Diamond, and I am not comfortable with making it a staple in his diet. I may have missed it, but does Diamond make the wet food too? Because I really like the price point!! Anyhow I would have stopped the variety had he shown a poor reaction to it. As long as things are going well for him, I want to continue. Though if we stick to kibble with a wet topper, I will likely pick 3-4 brands to rotate and rotate the proteins within brands.

And thank you for the new job congrats! I am looking forward to the change and growth potential. Plus the extra money is nice 😉

[crazy4cats]

Hey, great advice, Betsy!
Katie-
I also have the download that Betsy is referring to and have implemented that approach to my dogs’ meals as homemade and commercial raw are not an option for me either. Again, good luck!

[DogFoodie]

Katie, you’re doing a great job!

Commercial raw is expensive and can be out of reach for a lot of folks, myself included. Making homemade raw balanced, takes research and care and you’ve certainly demonstrated that you’re up for the challenge. In the meantime, you might want to check out Steve Brown’s great little download about supplementing a diet of kibble with fresh whole foods. The download costs $2.95 and is worth every penny! Here’s a link to the download: http://www.seespotlivelonger.com/home/sll/page_41/see_spot_live_longer_the_abc_way___electronic_down.html. Steve Brown’s book, Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet, is probably one of the books you have on order.

Answer’s goat milk is great. My dogs love it too. You just reminded me to get a carton out of the freezer. My dogs are always getting something different, too.

Congratulations on the new job!!

[Katie J]

I can’t edit now. But I wanted to add that I am really thankful and grateful for all the advice given here and in other threads that I have read. I went from almost buying Purina’s puppy formula to having two solid (in my opinion) brands to rotate and a couple that I I want to look into as a potential third. I have nearly figured out how to balance a raw diet and have both of the “bibles” on order. I am pricing making the switch and putting together a plan to do so. With a new job for me in the future (I just received the offer this week), I plan to get that ball rolling.

It’s been awhile since I had a puppy. A long while. And I have tried to spend a lot of my free time researching and learning to make things better for him. I’m certainly not perfect and still learning. Without the kind folks here, who knows what crap I would have gotten him from Petsmart or whatever my local store has been told to push! I had to listen to about a 5 minute speech on Evanger’s canned. They left out the part about the huge recall though.

To me, little Gichin appears to be flourishing. I see a happy and playful puppy that is growing what seems like daily with appropriate and normal elimination. He’s officially settled in after nearly a month in his new home. His potty training has been fantastic. I can’t remember the last time he had an accident.

And I really have this forum to thank for all of it as they help me tweak everything to make things perfect.

[Katie J]

He’s eating Earthborn and trying Fromm currently. I didn’t know these were poor. I meant that I could not justify a commercial raw diet. We are pricing a homemade raw diet. This pup hasn’t even digested anything below a 4 star food since I brought him home. I picked up samples because I was concerned he didn’t like the first food I bought him. We have since found good he does like and plan to rotate with those. Thanks for your concern though.

[Stefan m]

Got my 2nd German Shepherd puppy coming next week and want to try raw diet.

The first 2 weeks will be fed chicken thighs and each following week a new food including green tripe, beef tongue, liver and version over the time frame

Being fed 2-3% of his adult bodyweight…

Snacks I have homemade dehydrated sweet potatoes,apples and blueberries blend.

An egg and chopped kale will be with the AM meal…veggie blend as noon snack and PM meal more meat with Salmon oil.

Any advice or kuddos??

[Travis A]

Yea we actually have a special needs dog too so it is a bit challenging at times but still worth it in the end. But I haven’t looked into the Victor line-up yet but will do so for sure. That’s exactly what i was wanting to do is sub a grain free with a non grain free if it doesn’t affect them in a negative way with the switching, but i did want to get something like a neck or other raw treat more or less to add into their diets and see if they like it and do well with it. But with a larger breed dog i know i need to focus on Calcium consumption so how do i measure that, not all brands give that info on their products. Thank you all so much for the assistance as well i really appreciate it, i will upload some photos soon of my boys as well.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Travis-
Sounds like you have your hands full! You could always rotate between the Zach’s kibble with a grain free kibble to keep your costs down. I’m rotating between Victor grain free and a grain inclusive brand right now. Another thing besides the raw meaty bones that Besty suggested, you could add an egg or a sardine to their kibble a few times a week to boost their diets a bit. Eggs are a pretty cheap addition! I add sardines once a week and eggs twice a week to my dogs’ meals. I also add a few Northwest Naturals frozen raw nuggests a couple times a week. That is a a little more expensive though. I wish you well on your quest!

[DogFoodie]

Hi Travis,

I couldn’t tell if you had already looked for a local retailer of Victor products or not. I live in the Chicago area, but my friend is in Texas and when I was looking for a local retailer for her I was shocked to see there were lots of them. Lots. Not to pester you, but do check and see if you might have a retailer near you. Click on the tab in the black bar at the top of this page that says, “find a dealer.” http://victordogfood.com/

Also, something you could consider would be supplementing your dog’s diet with raw, meaty bones as an introduction to raw food. Something as simple as a turkey neck in place of a meal of kibble. And, if you keep the extras to no more than 20% of your dog’s diet, you don’t have to worry about throwing off the nutritional balance of the kibble. I don’t feed raw full-time because of my schedule and it worries me far less when I know I’m feeding it less than 20% of the time. Here are the forum search results for “raw, meaty bones” or RMB’s as they’re called: /forums/search/raw+meaty+bones/

[Travis A]

Ok i will check those threads out in the Raw section, but I have 2 pit/(boxer/lab) mixes, I’m guesstimating the boxer/lab part as i took them off a friend’s relative who was in a bad spot so didn’t really have all the background info i wanted, she said pit/boxer but they are for sure pit/ either Lab/boxer mix or may just be lab their snouts are narrower and longer than our other pit. But they are in the middle of their 5th month and about 35-40 lbs. Also on the first bag i did feed our other pit some of the time too so that didn’t help in conserving but that was temp. Unfortunately my roomies don’t care what they feed their dogs so he gets stuck with the worst of the worst Purina Puppy Chow…. 🙁 They just don’t care to buy a better brand i give them plenty of info but still no changes. And i can’t afford the better food for 3 big dogs.

[aquariangt]

You can start any age on raw really (what breeds do you have?? 2 5 month olds go through 50 lb a month, oi-my 3 go through 15 ish pounds)

There are a few threads about starting raw, and Hound Dog Mom and Rescue Dane Mom both have a lot of tips

[Travis A]

Thank you all very much for the suggestions, and I understand affordable is relative to my means, so that 50 lb bag lasted right at a month for my 2 boys so all i spent was the $33 for that month on food which is pretty good for a decent food, i’m having a friend pick up another bag of the Zach’s in Lubbock,TX so that will save me on the shipping but it’s also not grain free and while my dogs seem to be ok with it, i’d prefer to use grainless food to prevent any issues. I will look into the victor brand though along with the other suggestions, thanks again for the assistance. I know it’s the wrong forum but i was also looking into some sort of Raw diet that won’t break the bank either, any starting place suggestions on that? And is it ok to start my 5 month old’s on it?