[lovemypets4life]

my pitbulls allergic to rawhide also and I bought him vets choice dental bones and he LOVES them, and I especially love the fresh breath ones

[3pooches]

I feed them commercial raw food. (I guess those are grinds?) Sometimes they get raw bones from the butcher, and those they don’t wolf down, but instead chew on happily in the backyard. 😉

I decided to buy more stainless steel balls from an online merchant and put two in the bowls of the faster eaters, and one large one in the bowl of the one who doesn’t inhale her food.

Thanks.

[theBCnut]

Thanks for bumping this Cyndi

I started to answer this and got called away and had it in my head that I had answered it. First, you can add up to 20% or 1/5 without throwing the balance off. Cut your roll into 1/2 lb pieces and refreeze any that you aren’t using immediately. Out of the 1/2 lb that you kept out, divide that into 1/4ths which would be about 2 oz and add that to her evening meal.

[Cyndi]

I am just posting here to bump up your question so someone, more knowledgeable than myself, can answer it for you. Your post, FreeholdHound, made me laugh. I was in the same position you are just a few months ago when I started my dog on raw. Good Luck to you…..& Harry! I hope he LOVES his raw food!

[ANnS]

Boxer

I SAID Abady GRANULAR

I SAID Abady CANNED

ALL RAW food has SAMONELLA – the question is how much. By definition it is RAW – and the only way to completely kill samonella is COOKING. And if you COOK IT, it is NOT RAW. Fast freezing it after prep can reduce the samonella but it will not kill it all. ANd the question is how much the manufacturer or customer fill comfortable with. Abady is fussier – didn’t like that batch because it came out a bit higher on their post freeze check than they want BTW so they called it back (very very very small batch btw.). You can NOT buy RAW without getting samonella and bacteria in the food.

[FreeholdHound]

Ok…. So tomorrow I will be getting my 1st order of raw food delivered from Hare Today …. And I’m starting to hyperventilate. My goal is to have my 80lb Greyhound on a raw/kibble diet. What is the best way to start out? He now gets 1.5 cups of kibble twice/day. I would like to keep the AM meal straight kibble and add in the raw to the PM meal. I’m starting him out with the beef/organ/tripe/bone grind. I believe it comes in a 5lb roll so I’m not sure how to portion it out for freezing. I believe I read on Dog Aware that I shouldn’t exceed 3/4 kibble or I’d throw off nutritional balance. I believe I’m having a panic induced brain spasm so I can’t figure out how much to add of the raw. Am I rambling? Oh damn probably…. Advice (and a cocktail) needed 🙂

[husky3]

Hello,

I’m replying to my original post in regards to my Husky not losing any weight. We switched to a completely raw diet in February, and she is still gaining weight. 🙁 She weighs in at over 60 pounds now. She would have a poor body condition score. Can not feel ribs, or locate the spine or hip bones. Exercise has been a little less since it has been so hot lately, but I have also decreased her food amounts. Almost to the point that I’m not sure if she’s getting enough to sustain her daily needs. I don’t know what else to do at this point. I have two other Husky’s that are thriving! They have excellent body condition, and get just as much exercise, but with a lot more food, almost twice as much food!!

In May, we had an ultrasound done on her, and they said that there were some slight changes to her liver & kidneys, but nothing major. We also had her thyroid checked again, and ran tests for Cushings, Addisons, Diabetes, Diabetes Insipidous, and Atypical Cushings. They all came back negative. We ran an allergy panel as well, and she did have some environmental allergies that we are working on now with the drops.

While she tested negative for Atyp. Cushings, they did say her hormones were a little elevated, and we are treating that with Lignin and melatonin. I have seen a change in her attitude, for the better, but no weight loss.

She had an ear infection a couple weeks ago, and another one about 3 months ago, which is a new development. She also has red stained paws from her licking them, or perhaps it is a yeast overgrowth?

Does anyone have anything else to add to this conundrum? Any medical ailments that mimic cushings, or thyroid problems? At this point, I don’t think it can be diet related unless she is allergic to raw meat, and it’s not chicken.

Thank you for your help.
Tay

[SandyandMila]

Yeah, maybe because the pieces were smaller she just needed a better grasp at it. I will have to get her the longer necks.

[theBCnut]

Hi Hershy

I’m not HDM and I don’t know how you feel about feeding raw, but tripe(even the canned stuff) has balanced calcium:phosphorus, so it would be a good choice.

[Duke The Boxer]

Hdm i ended up going with wellness core puppy. The protein is pretty high and the fat is low. Can you give me tips on switching to a more ancestrial diet with higher protein and low carbs to then a more raw meat diet eventually as he uis only 3.5 months. Any tips helps. Thanks!

[theBCnut]

That is how some dogs react to being given their hearts desire. It’s called resource guarding and it isn’t something you want to encourage. If she has never done it before then maybe just a sharp word will be all that is needed to discourage that behavior. For a dog that it is an ingrained behavior, you work at teaching them that when you mess with their food it is a good thing because you give even better stuff when you do that.

[SandyandMila]

I gave it to the dog and she loved it, the cat wanted to partake as well. lol Is it normal for them to guard their food? She wouldn’t let me hold it. She’s never done that before.

[SandyandMila]

Great, thanks for getting back to me.

[theBCnut]

Yes, they even have a name for it. Something like Frankenprey.

[Sully’sMom]

Ha, ha love it!
We do a couple of things to slow our guy down. First of all, we put 1/4 cup of the meal portion in ‘reserve.’ The balance we divide into two bowls. Add some warm water to each. We also allow it to sit at this point for 10 minutes ( I heard that allowing the kibble to absorb the water before ingesting helps prevent against bloat, which is the main concern about fast eating). So for starters, he’s getting the meal in two portions instead of one. The addition of the water helps slow things down as well. The reserved 1/4 cup we serve in a treat (Planet Dog Strawberry) over several helpings. He pushes the strawberry around and it dispenses kibble. Fun for him and it stretches the meal out. Also makes him “work” for it a bit. Lots of fun!

[weimlove]

There is a local pet store that will order it for me, which makes shipping free! I was thinking about going with something like primal, but it is SO expensive!! I am giving raw another chance, but I’m just going to feed blue ridge plus added veggies and calcium and rmbs a few times a week for their teeth. For me, feeding blue ridge is so much easier than buying whole chickens, large peices, etc. I made my first batch yesterday and shadow and sunny (my 3 month old vizsla devoured it!) they were both so bored with kibble, and their poop was so on and off…just after one meal of raw last night they both had excellent poops. Sorry for all the poop talk! Lol. But I’m hoping that this will work out, because it’s pretty convenient and I’m paying the same price per month if I were to feed a high quality kibble

[SandyandMila]

If I can’t find turkey hearts locally, can u feed the turkey necks with chicken hearts/gizzards?

[SandyandMila]

HDM- Do you refrigerate your multivitamin/mineral supplement?

[InkedMarie]

Neezerfan: Hare Today comes in one and two pounders, too. Its only something like 20 cents more for the smaller chubs; it’s what I buy.

[theBCnut]

Betsy, you need a snood or a clothes pin or maybe a scrunchie.

[neezerfan]

Thank you all. HDM– baby steps, baby steps….

[NectarMom]

I have 4 dogs under 12lbs and I buy the 5lb packages of ground Rabbit and Venison and beef and tripe and what was suggested to me by Tracy the owner of Hare Today was to defrost the whole 5lbs and then individually bag in proportions enough for my 4 girls and then refreeze what I am not using that day and I have been doing this for a month with no issues.

[DogFoodie]

Two quick things…

1.) I had emailed My Pet Carnivore earlier (prior to posting my question here regarding trachea), but you guys responded first. In my limited experience with them, I will say this MPC has great customer service. I just thought I’d share their response regarding trachea:

“They are not considered any kind of bone, and we ourselves have fed
them as a treat (or a chew), but they would generally fall into the meat
category.”

2.) How do you give your pups a quick clean up after they’ve eaten a RMB? Bella’s ears and paws were a greasy mess after eating some pork neck bones this evening. I tried to clean her up with some puppy wipes I had on hand, but they didn’t seem to work very well. I’m headed back to work after a week’s vacation (staycation) and really don’t want to have to give her a bath tonight. But, for future reference, is there a quicker solution to greasy ears? : )

[FreeholdHound]

Starting out w/ beef – Harry tested reactive to chicken, turkey, & venison. I’ll be introducing these in raw form in the future to see how he handles it. Love the variety & all the options

[theBCnut]

You can partially thaw the 3 lbs chub and cut it into appropriate size pieces and refreeze. It’s not ideal, but it’s not too bad either. It is only a few cents more to get the 1 lb chubs and they are a much better size for your situation.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi neezerfan –

Once thawed raw food should be used within 3 days. I’m only aware of two pre-mixes designed to balance a bone inclusive diet – one is the whole carcass formula sold by Feline Instincts and the other is CarnivoreRAW without Calcium sold by Young Again Pet Food. A much cheaper route would be to just add a low calcium or calcium free human multi-vitamin, some veggies (or a fiber supplement) and omega 3’s. You could also learn to balance a recipe completely from scratch with whole foods (this is what I do) but it’s a bit more time intensive and takes a bit of research. Rabbit is high in bone (as are most smaller prey animals) but the calcium to phosphorus ratio is still balanced so it’s not necessary to add more meat. If you find that your dog is constipated you can certainly add more more (high levels of bone can cause constipation for some dogs) but I honestly don’t think it will be an issue. The rabbit heads should be fine for your dog, you’ll have to try them out and see though.

[pugmomsandy]

Trachea doesn’t have any meat on it either.

[neezerfan]

Hi! I have a couple of questions.
I’ve been feeding my dog Darwin’s, rotating with canned and giving RMBs about twice a week. I want to start feeding home prepared raw in place of the canned. So…
1. If I buy the grinds from Hare Today, they come in 3 lbs size? My dog is 12 lbs. He eats about 1/3 of a pound of Darwin’s a day. Once I defrost the grind package, will it go bad before I use it up?
2. If I get a grind with bone, is there a premix to use with that? I think all the ones I find are for boneless meat. I don’t want to use synthetic vitamins if possible.
3. I always thought both goat and rabbit were more bony than meaty, if you know what I mean. If I feed that, should I add in extra boneless meat?
4. Rabbit heads…As I said, my dog is 12 lbs, will they be too big for him? He does well with chicken necks, turkey neck pieces, ox tails and pork ribs so far. He’s a good chewer, not a gulper.
Thanks for your help!

[theBCnut]

Trachea has no bone, it’s cartilage. That makes it a great joint chew.

[Hound Dog Mom]

I’d consider it a chew. I give them as treats occasionally, they keep the dogs busy for awhile.

[DogFoodie]

Hi guys!

Is a beef trachea a chew, rectreational bone or RMB?

[Hound Dog Mom]

weimlove –

Are you giving raw another shot?

[NectarMom]

My 4 always poop right after a meal. Honestly CC doesn’t have enough protein for my crew. After on it for 1 week I noticed more chewing on their feet and legs and shedding got worse. No it is not detox because we do half Raw now and half kibble. So over all I wasn’t thrilled with this food.

[somebodysme]

Yes I have heard of that because some dogs swallow large chunks to rawhide without chewing them, this was not our issue though. She didn’t have any digestive problems…just terrible scratching. I suspect that the rawhide was most of her allergy problem. There was something in the Earthborn Holistics Coastal Catch that made her start scratching too though because she was taken off the rawhide after her vet appointment. It wasn’t until I, one by one, started reintroducing new things that I discovered the rawhide was an issue.

[labgirl]

rawhides do “blow up” in the stomach and expand a lot.. my dog used to get very sick from them. ive not started using more natural treats like Bully sticks/bullwrinkles – they chew like a rawhide but are 100% digestible and cause no bloating like rawhides do. id use that instead of rawhides. more safe in my opinion

[theBCnut]

I answered you on the other thread. Basically, it depends on how serious a chewer he is. Read my other response for details.

[MarkWiz69]

Can I feed my 5 month old Rottweiler Puppy (60lbs) a RAW large (6 inch long / 2″ diameter) Beef Bone?

[MarkWiz69]

Can I feed my 5 month old Rottweiler Puppy (60lbs) a RAW large (6 inch long / 2″ diameter) Beef Bone?

[pugmomsandy]

Poop color can change with the different food. My 10 pugs eat different kibbles, cans and dehydrated and raw and they all have different color poops. Also she might still be trying to get used to the new food. There is a food called Abady granular and it has over 800 calories per cup. You could mix this in to your meatballs easily as it is a granular product.

[mah4angel]

Even better!! That should make the transition easier and much MUCH shorter, actually ^_^ Wet food is, in general, healthier than dry food! Now that I know that your baby is already eating wet food and doesn’t need to be transitioned from dry to wet, I can offer you a whole new (shorter) transition plan (if you don’t mind), I just copied and pasted my old plan and deleted and reworded some stuff haha. All I can say is remember to transition properly! It’s very important!!

-Change from Science Diet to a four-star wet food (something like the Nature’s Domain wet food-which is sold at Costco and is not yet listed on this site but that I’m positive would receive a four-star mark: http://www.naturesdomainpetfood.com/about-natures-domain/natures-domain-grain-free-turkey-and-pea-stew-for-dogs, or Artemis Fresh Mix canned food: /dog-food-reviews/artemis-fresh-mix-dog-food-canned/).
I’ve selected these because they have decent fat-to-protein ratios. The fat-to-protein ratio should be around 50% (Hill’s Science Diet Adult Canned Dog Food has an average fat-to-protein ratio of 68% so we’re trying to start to reduce the fat-to-protein ratio with these four-star foods).

-Then from a four-star wet food to a five-star wet food (like the Earthborn dinners: http://www.petflow.com/product/earthborn-holistic/earthborn-holistic-duke-s-din-din-gourmet-dinner-wet-dog-food).
These tubs have an average fat-to-protein ratio of about 47%, pretty much perfect. Like I said before, I HIGHLY recommend Earthborn products!! These come in great, easy to re-seal tubs in a variety of flavors. I used them for Louie to get him used to a higher moisture content.

-Then go to a 100% raw kibble (these raw kibbles come “dry” BUT they need to be re-hydrated with water so it really is more of a wet food than anything) like DNA (air-dried raw, stands for Dried N Alive): http://www.dnapetfood.com/node/20, or something similar.

-And then transition from that to a pre-made frozen raw OR you could totally cut costs and make your own (which is what I’m doing), and then you’ll have 100% control over what she’s eating 😀

• This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by mah4angel.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by mah4angel.

[pugmomsandy]

I had a dental done on my dogs a couple years ago (maybe 2 or 3) and then started them on raw food and bones and they’re teeth are still clean (even though they still eat kibble and canned foods)!! The bones really help. My dogs are small so the marrow bones, beef rib bones and cow hooves work for them. There is a product called ProDen Plaque Off that seems to help too. And Mercola.com has a new dental gel also in the pet department.

[molliesmom]

My poor 10-yr-old female English Springer gets two to four UTI’s a year (for three years now). Vet puts her on heavy duty antibiotics and just recently suggested Craninadine which she’s been on for a few months now and yet another UTI!
She’s had crystals too, but not this time. Her urine is very diluted so I’ve been told to cut back on her water intake.
She is on thyroid meds and doing well with that (not so ravishingly hungry and weight back to normal)
AS FOR CAUSE: she’s been tested for other things – vet doesn’t see anything. She DOES lick herself often (you know, lady parts) and vet thinks she keeps transferring bacteria from her mouth to there and may be causing UTI. And her teeth and breath have gotten so bad because of that! I’ve asked about probiotics but no real enthusiasm from vet.
BEHAVIOR: Outdoors often (fence). Highly intelligent, stubborn and high-strung. Has more obsessive habits as she ages. Examples: more barking; she LOVES rabbit poop! YUK! Vet says that would not contribute to UTI problem, but I wonder, and try my best to keep her from it – we have so many rabbits in the yard! I also wonder if the licking is more behavioral.
I am with her all the time due to my disability, so she’s hardly ever left alone.
DIET: Here’s where I could use some advice. I’ve always suspected that it might be her food at least contributing to her problem and recently switched her to Blue Buffalo Senior. I’ve just found your wonderful site and realized that she DOES need more protein even though she’s older. DUH! So do I!! She’s not really a fan of it and she’s sick again, anyway. Vet gave me samples of Hills Adult t/d. Very large kibble to use as treats for tartar control. But now unsure of the quality!
Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I do live on a limited income so all fresh food may be hard to do, but some (like raw chicken wings?) may be possible.
I thank you in advance — Colleen

[FreeholdHound]

I just placed my 1st order with Hare Today. What a great selection they have. My plan is to feed a raw/kibble diet so I ordered the beef/tripe/organ/bone mix, some frozen turkey necks, and the ground sardines. I don’t have a separate freezer but I do have 2 refrigerator/freezers (don’t ask lol) so I can’t go nuts. Hopefully this is a good start 🙂

[LindaW]

Thanks, guys. I agree something is “off” on the %’s and ingredients. That’s why I just couldn’t bring myself to order it. FYI – it is not cooked but fermented somehow.

[LindaW]

Thank you Hound Dog Mom. I feed her green tripe. Takes a couple mouth fulls and that’s it! I’ll try heating a bit. Brand is Top Quality. They originate from North Carolina and make an eastern U.S. trip up to the northeast once per month. That’s what the breeder uses. I had Tripe Plus from A Place to Paws (on line) which is a lot more $ than Top Quality. She eats that a bit more than the other but still not the amount she should be consuming.

[ANnS]

Caribou Creek Gold – developed by sled dog folks. Used by the guy who won the Iditarod 5 times. Go to their website and email Mary and Lloyd and they will put you in contact with their firend who handles shipping small orders (like less than food for a kennel full) Packs about 696 calories a cup – nearly 3 times any conventional kibble.

Abady – granular and kibble. Abady recommends the granular over the kibble. They want you to talk to them before picking one of their foods. There are different versions of the granular and the canned. I use Classic granular – about 796 calories a cup so 1 cup of it = over 2 cups of the other foods. They do a frozen raw but have never mentioned it to me as choice for my guys in years.
(Abady’s website is very simplistic – jsut call them. Bob Abady was a French biochemist who came here after WWII and he introduced Bouviers to the US.) Abady is ‘the’ choice for the caliber of dogs that do Westminster and also run the Iditarod. As close to custom as you can get. Abady will tell you where you can buy it (some stores in Chicago and east coast) or you can have it shipped.

I ship them in (and I’m feeding more lbs of dogs than your boxers.. My guys are a working mobility Service Dog and the other a top level Obedience competition dog — high demands on them to stay fit and healthy — and these WORK. Abady has been working for me for nearly 50 years. You will NOT find either of these foods in big box stores.

[theBCnut]

Edible mushrooms are a healthy addition to any dogs food and are excellent cancer fighters.

[GizmoMom]

I thought dogs can’t eat mushrooms.

Ingredients on this page:
http://balancediet.com/index.php/supreme-dog-kibble/supreme-63/supremetm-m-dog-super-food-all-breeds-all-ages.html
“Shitake Mushroom, Reishi Mushroom”

Plus that’s a lot of fruits in the ingredient list.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi somebodysme –

The number one defense against parasites – both internal and external – is a strong immune system. I battled parasites yearly with my dogs until I switched to a species-appropriate raw diet. My dogs get raw garlic a few days a week (for a dog the size of yours I’d say between 1 and 1 1/2 cloves 3 – 4 times per week), I use Sentry Natural Defense Topical Drops monthly (natural oil based repellent that comes in an applicator similar to Frontline or Advantix) and Earth Animal No More Fleas & Tick herbal tincture 6 days per week. I also comb them with a flea comb nightly. I haven’t found a single flea or tick this year.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi CharlieBrown –

It’s great that you’re looking to switch your pup to a better food 🙂

Victor is budget friendly and has very small kibble. Fromm Classics are reasonably priced – I’ve never used the classics but I know their 4 Star and Gold lines both have small kibbles so I’d assume the classics would as well. NutriSource has a small/medium breed puppy formula that is small and pretty cheap. That’s all I can recall off the top of my head for small kibble and reasonable price. I’m sure Sandy will know some more.

For canned food I’d recommend checking out either Pure Balance (available at Walmart), 4Health (available at Tractor Supply) or Kirkland Cuts & Gravy (available at Costco) – all are $1 or less for a large can and rate 4 stars or higher.

If you want to give him something healthy to chew on that’s also cheap, I’d recommend picking up some raw bones from the butcher. Bully sticks, pig ears and dried tracheas (from quality sources) are healthy chews too but they can be pricey.