[pugmomsandy]

I buy from Sprouts, Bone-affied Nutrition and texastripe. Can get unenhanced products from all three and then the local BARF group will order bulk from other places like greentripe .com and Medford Meats. Just have to buy bulk to get the best deals hence the large dog freezer! They’re actually using 2 freezers! Have about 30 lbs in another freezer of homemade ground food.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/fulldogfreezer765x1024_zpsb5463b60.jpg

[pugmomsandy]

LOL! I just got a larger plate for the grinder. It’s more “chili-size”. I like it better than the smaller plate that the machine comes with. I’m saving lots of $$ by buying from a local supplier and also making my own grinds! Have you joined the yahoo group: carnivorefeed-supplier? There’s alot of raw food options out there.

[pugmomsandy]

Having a buddy helping makes it quick and easy too. We made 130 lb batch from start to finish in 1 hour.

[pugmomsandy]

Invest in a commercial grinder. I can grind almost 100 lbs in 15 minutes. I usually buy body parts instead of whole birds also and just drop them down the grinder chute. It will pay for itself in time saved and you can also buy bone-in meats. Then I just pack it in containers or baggies. Depending on your size dog, a gallon ziplock will hold 6-7 lbs instead of packing individual servings. Pack what you can use in 3 days. I already had 16 oz Solo containers that I was using. You can get a roll of 25 or 50 at a restaurant supply store and of course they have different sizes. They are re-usable and are ok in the dishwasher top rack. I get mine at AceMart Restaurant Supply.

I grind into a large gray tub like restaurants use for bussing tables. Can be found at SamsClub or other stores or restaurant supply stores. That way I have room to mix the grind up with my hands then I use a big ice cream scoop for portioning. There are various sizes at a restaurant supply store. I only have to clean the grinder parts, the big tub and utensils.

[pugmomsandy]

looks like about 1 teaspoon.

[pugmomsandy]

ahorn66,

He might just need more time or he might need less volume of the new food. One of my pugs took about 2 months on a mixture (25% old/75% new) before eventually going to a new food which happened to be a high protein, grain free food. And I didn’t know about probiotics or digestive enzymes or pumpkin or other fiber back then. Right now my foster pugs eat Nutrisca or Nutrisource grain free Lamb or Heartland Select and one eats some Brothers Complete. I give ground psyllium when they first come to my house to help them with their stools. But definitely add a probiotic.

[pugmomsandy]

Some of my dogs get 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of ground psyllium with their meals. They don’t get any transition time from being at the vet’s office to being fostered at my house. It’s works great. I started using chia seed sometimes too.

[pugmomsandy]

Some of the fosters also eat Nutrisource Grain Free – Lamb or Heartland Select. Formed stools on both.

[pugmomsandy]

Have you tried homemade whitefish and a baked potato? And some vits/mineral?

[pugmomsandy]

That’s very interesting. I’ll have to look at some tubs next time at the stores. Is it next to the recycle symbol?

[pugmomsandy]

Sorry, no help here as my pugs rarely get bathed but I thought a shiny coat came from “within”. I did notice though that when I added raw food and fish oil that my black one was softer and shinier. I get alot of dull black/rusty black fosters.

[pugmomsandy]

Nutrisca is high in fiber. I’m using it right now on some fosters. Very formed stools!

[pugmomsandy]

Thanks HDM. I’m been wanting to reconcile my supplements! Seems I’ve got too many! I’ve been thinking of some whole food vits too. I’ve started using Garden of Life Raw Meal and it’s a bunch of sprouted grains/nuts/seeds, probiotics, enzymes, greens. I’ve been giving him 1 teaspoon with his meals. http://www.vitacost.com/garden-of-life-organic-raw-meal-vanilla-2-5-lbs
I’m also feeding him canned food and a little bit of kibble. When hubby feeds he just does kibble. He still gets around for his age! Still uses the doggy door!

My 3 pug mixes I have right – they’re a wee bit cra-cra!! Absolutely bonkers! I’d rather have a dozen old full pugs!

[pugmomsandy]

Blurose,

Usually 2-3% of your dog’s body weight per day and adjust for his activity level. I have small indoor dogs so they would eat just under 2% if they were just eating raw but they eat a variety of foods. Hounddogmom has a list of supplements she gives in the raw food menus thread I think. Maybe she will see this post and chime in. I do give a supergreen supplement and fish oil.

[pugmomsandy]

NectarMom,

Sorry to hear about the situation. I didn’t think that “fat” had proteins in it. So I’m not sure about an intolerance other than from the amount of fat itself. Maybe a limited amount of time with the marrow bones at first and then slowly let them have it for longer periods of time. If you think your dogs can’t have the marrow bones, you can get the marrow out by boiling and stuff the empty bones with something else so they can still gnaw on them – like yogurt or even stuff some of the Darwin’s turkey in there and refreeze so they have to work to get it out.

[pugmomsandy]

Might be just a temporary glitch! It happens sometimes!

[pugmomsandy]

You don’t have to add pro/zymes to raw food. I would just add it to the kibble meal. It looks like you serve a variety of kibble so alternating the raw flavors would seem to make sense as well. I use fish oil (not regularly) and hold it if giving sardines. I give various raw foods as well with no particular rotation. Whatever I grab out of the freezer is what they get!

[pugmomsandy]

NectarMom,

I found small marrow bones at Kroger. 1 inch to 1.5 inches in length and about 3 inches across.

[pugmomsandy]

Here’s the GT.com trachea. It was actually about 16-18 inches! I was able to cut it with my regular knife and I used the boning knife also. It was easier to hold. I haven’t fed it yet since it’s been pouring down rain here for a the next couple days!

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/beeftrachea6_zps6fabdea6.jpg

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/beeftrachea2_zpsd3236fb6.jpg

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u651/pugmomsandy/pictures%20for%20posting/beeftrachea3_zpsda25588b.jpg

[pugmomsandy]

You might also check Nature’s Select at naturalpetfooddelivery.com They used to carry 50 lb bags but have since gone to 30 lb standard bags but the prices are still reasonable. The 50 lb bags ranged from $50-$56 in the grain-inclusive line while the grain free was more expensive at 30 lb for $62.

[pugmomsandy]

Betsy,

Hmmmm…no answers for you on that one! I don’t believe I ever have half eaten marrow bones laying around! For large bones like a lamb shank, I’ve tried to rinse the grass and dirt off with just water and put them in the frig for a day and after that back in the freezer, dirt/grass and all. It gives them a little fiber and soil based organisms!

[pugmomsandy]

Do you have an ethnic grocery store in your area? You can buy one chicken foot to try out before buying a bunch online.

[pugmomsandy]

You can buy Yucca and put it on the kibble or in his drinking water. Some products for “fresher breath” contain yucca and also products for joint mobility contain yucca. OR you can give a probiotic (preferrably one that contains multiple strains of organisms) supplement with his meals (capsule, powder, yogurt, kefir). Probiotics help maintain a healthy gut which usually results in less gas. Digestive enzymes will help also to help breakdown food particles since undigested or not completely digested food can cause gas and puppies usually consume more volume of food so more to digest. OR use some dried parsley. I have small dogs so no input on food and they rarely have gas. I’ve been giving them prob/enzymes for a while (not everyday) and they eat a variety of foods and different forms of food. I like your list above. I was OCD like that when I first learned that dog food was not all it was cracked up to be. I’ve probably used about 20 different foods.

[pugmomsandy]

NectarMom,

Pork baby back ribs are smaller! Only about 4 inches. Since you have small dogs they might not eat them.

[pugmomsandy]

LOL! I’m using 2 freezers right now not just one! And I’m thawing out (to repackage) 40 lbs of skinless chicken necks and 20 lbs of whole chicken legs!

[pugmomsandy]

The trachea/gullet/tripe mixture is ground so no chewing needed. The beef ribs I bought at Kroger. 3 ribs in a package. They were about 6 inches long and when the meat has been eaten off, it’s about 3/4 inch wide. The trachea from GT.com you would definitely need to cut up. It was wrapped in plastic but it appeared to be about 10-12 inches long and pretty wide on one end. I was going to cut it one up into 3 or 4 pieces. But after I thaw one out, it might look different!

[pugmomsandy]

Kinda funny – they also have fish oil salad dressing??? But the fish oil concentrate with E looks like a good product.

[pugmomsandy]

Turkey wings are safe to eat as long as your dog is not a gulper!

[pugmomsandy]

NectarMom,

We have several empty marrow bones and rib bones and a couple antlers just laying around the house! You can also fill the empty marrow bones with something like yogurt or whatever and freeze it. All the necks have small bones 🙁

[pugmomsandy]

NectarMom,

Try a beef rib bone. My dogs don’t eat them, just gnaw on them. They are too hard to eat and also too large to choke on. What about antlers? They come in many sizes also. I also had some bison ribs and they are too hard to eat and too big to choke on as well. I bought the bison ribs commercially and they didn’t have meat on them, just the bone.

[pugmomsandy]

Since you have a small dog you might look into ZiwiPeak. They have dry and canned.

[pugmomsandy]

RDandSQ,

You can also add more calories with coconut oil or nut butter.

[pugmomsandy]

Sheltiesmom,

I haven’t given them yet. This is my first time ordering them (trachea and cow hooves). I already have a tube of tripe and a tub of homemade raw thawing out so I will try the new stuff out later. But I have used the GT.com tripe (regular and xcaliber). I now have a local source for tripe so I probably won’t be ordering that particular item from GT.com. I’ll post some pictures next week of the trachea and cow hooves. I saw the calf ribs while I was picking up my order and your dog could definitely eat those. They were about the width of lamb ribs which mine have eaten before.

[pugmomsandy]

I would give them a bone to gnaw on. My dogs are always chewing on their old marrow bones and beef rib bones. I haven’t given them a bully stick in a long time. I also use ProDen Plaque off on their food.

[pugmomsandy]

The pugs can consume pork ribs and sometimes you can find small turkey necks at Sprouts. Greentripe.com has calf ribs I will try when my group puts in another bulk order. I just recieved from them a dozen beef trachea and a case of tripe stuffed hooves. I’ve also noticed that Sprouts cuts their turkey backs into 2.5-3 inches wide pieces.

[pugmomsandy]

Do tell!!

[pugmomsandy]

here is an article

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-stink-on-tripe/

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/11_7/features/Raw-Green-Tripe_16043-1.html

http://www.thewholedog.org/artcookedfood.html

[pugmomsandy]

The Honest Kitchen has a couple of grain free foods and the ingredient lists are quite short compared to alot of foods and both your pugs can eat it. My pugs eat the Zeal formula on occasion. The pugs at my house also eat Brothers Complete, Nutrisca and Nutrisource Grain Free for kibbles. You might want to give (if you’re not currently doing so) daily probiotics/digestive enzymes to both your pugs to help with gut health and immune system. For canned food, Merrick 96% grain free is very simplistic as well and has vits/minerals so can be fed daily as a meal not just as a topper. Also you might want to give tripe a try – raw green tripe. You can find this in the frozen section at the pet store. It is very easily digested and has natural probiotics in it already. I’ll attach an article about it when I get home if someone else doesn’t do it first! Go to greentripe.com and use their store locator. Some better pet boutiques and feedstores will have it. If you join a yahoo group such as a BARF group, the members can probably help you locate a local source for tripe. There’s also canned tripe although not as good as raw tripe. Merrick and Solid Gold and Tripett have canned tripe. The pugs absolutely love tripe. They even get tripe spring chews instead of bully sticks. For raw tripe my boys eat 6 oz a day. For canned food they will eat one can a day.

How much BB were you feeding and which formula? When I used BB Wilderness the pugs only ate 2/3 cup a day total. One of my fosters lost 10 lbs on a diet consisting of canned food and raw food only. He started at 38 lbs.

[pugmomsandy]

I use it sometimes for the omega 3 but it does have a fair amount of fiber but for fiber I use psyllium. You can find chia seed profile on nutritiondata.com

[pugmomsandy]

I’d also recommend taking body measurements of your lab. Some of my dogs weights didn’t change too much but their body measurements shrank – chest girth and waistline. They ended up being more muscular with less body fat. Look up “body condition score dog”.

[pugmomsandy]

I’ve been mixing kibble and raw since 2011. Now it’s kibble, canned, freeze dried, or raw in any combo.

[pugmomsandy]

Alot of folks like the Cabela’s 1 to 1.5 horsepower grinder and say that grinding chicken is no problem. I think those are $350 or less. I use a Weston 22 which has no problem with chicken to turkey to pork ribs but it was over $500.

[pugmomsandy]

This group might be able to hook you up with local resources:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CarnivoreFeed-Supplier

and also the BARF yahoo group as well. Raw feeders post all the time for group orders. Someone wants to put a large HareToday order currently and last month a group ordered from Iowa (Medford Meats?)

[pugmomsandy]

I’ll be adding some raw trachea and stuffed cow hooves to the dogs’ freezer! We made a group order down south from GreenTripe(dot)com. I need to go grind up that beef spleen that’s been thawing out…after I get some sleep…and that pet pantry keeps getting more stuff added to it! I need to rearrange it!

[pugmomsandy]

I choose to avoid corn/wheat/soy 99% of the time because of the GMO factor. The 1% I use it is when making corn bread pudding which the pugs of course love to eat and then poop the whole kernels right back out!

[pugmomsandy]

You can type in the words “grain free” in the search box and it will bring up grain free dry and wet foods.

Also there’s an article about kibble and clean teeth:
/choosing-dog-food/dry-dog-food-cleaner-teeth/

I give the dogs rib bones and marrow bones for their teeth. Raw. If your dog will take a pill, then you can give it that way, if not then open it up and sprinkle it on the food.

[pugmomsandy]

mom2cavs,
What’s your name at dogforums?

[pugmomsandy]

You know, I just haven’t been there in a while! I mostly look at the picture thread when I’m there. It’s a hoot! There’s a black pug there in several of them!

[pugmomsandy]

InkedMarie,

I’m Pugtown there, too. Rarely post except for maybe the raw feeding pictures thread a while back.

[pugmomsandy]

You’re welcome! I like the ingredient list of the Vital Essentials. Very simple. Meat and bones, organs and oil. Can’t get any shorter than that! Sometimes I’m at dogforums(dot)com and pugvillage(dot)com too (aka Pugtown). Dogforums(dot)com has a great “raw feeding pictures thread”.

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