Quote:
Originally Posted by jakeandrenee
Thanks for your reply, I am very new to all of this and I am supplementing his kibble with RAW and going slow. Right now I feed him approx 3 cups of grain free kibble a day and 8oz RAW. So, out of the 8oz how much of that can be tripe??
I DREAD and pray I can get some fresh stuff from a hunter this fall but in the meantime I thought I would place a small order and have a go at it.
Does tripe have a tendency to produce lose stool?
Anyone else have suggestions on how to handle fresh organs and tripe straight from a hunter???
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Up to 3 times a week is cool - it is what I'm doing but others might feed it more often or less. I guess depending on what other stuff they feed.
Yes it can cause loose stool - if the only meal and depending on what else is fed w/it (i.e. no raw meaty bones), I noticed this morning that my girl had some loose stool. BIG LEARNING for me. Although she did wake me up so there wasn't a mess to clean!
(I love my girl!) When I give Raw Meaty Bones with it I don't have that issue. I think it is like Muscle Meats and Organs. You start figuring out too much of one and not enough of the other can cause the stools to be either too firm or too loose.
In December I was doing a transition where I did kibble + raw.....and then I went back to just kibble (got scared that I couldn't do it myself, my girl gained some weight and then had some pee pee accidents + I was listening to pet food makers who had a product to sell)
Well, What I needed to do was step back and say "what is the situation? what is my behavior in all this and what is the impact?"
My situation was: RAW Transition and Girl was looking a little chubby
My behavior was: I was feeding too much on the side (I didn't recognize that before as I just kept saying but I'm feeding according to % of body weight!) and she wasn't getting enough exercise.
The Impact: My girl gained weight
So how to move forward should have been - reduce the food and get more exercise. Not rocket science!
The other situation: RAW Transition and Girl had to pee pee a lot at night
My behavior was: Get her back to the kibble quick!
The Impact: My girl did stop the pee pee at night but she wasn't getting what was best for her nor did I address "why the pee pee"
So my way forward should have been to dive deeper and ask "did I take her out late enough prior to bed? did she drink too much water before bed? did she eat too late? did she have a UTI and thus just needed to pee?" I could go on and on to try and analyze.
Okay - point being. It will be trial and error but remember - if you can feed yourself and your kids (if you have any), then you can feed your dog. There is lots of good information here as well as raw feeding groups (yahoo) and
Natural Dog Food Means Raw Meaty Bones: DoggyBytes.ca <---- this guy is so cool! He has a facebook page too so ask away there too.
You are doing the right thing by asking. I didn't and just ran back to kibble - it was my safe place. But to grow as a pet owner I needed to stretch myself, recognize that I have a modified house wolf and my modified house wolf needs to be respected for his and her canine heritage and feed them appropriately. Oh I got PO'd at some comments, but people spoke the truth. I took some time away to think about it and came back and feel I'm open to better information than I was before.
So - sorry for stealing too much of the thread.
Just watch your dogs weight, LEARN when enough is enough and keep an eye on the stool. If too loose, then add more bone, if too hard, add more muscle meat :-)