Need advice on raw feeding. Very confused

[Trini Shepherd]

Hi everyone. This is my first post here.

I have been reading up on raw and have decided to make the switch!
Now some info on my dog. She is one year and a few mths. When i got her from the breeder he said he was feeding them 'sawdust' which is the scraps of meat you get when they are passing the meat through the saw etc and said if not to give her proplan. Now i dont know what it is with proplan and my country but most breeders highly recommended it also a hunter that i know uses it with all his dogs saying it makes them grow nice and big. When i first got her i could not find proplan and the only food i got was purina puppy chow (yuck i know now but not then) then she got a few bags of pro plan large puppy then royal canin puppy then RC german shepherd puppy... After i learned higher grain free foods i tried origen puppy(she got 2 bags) but it seems it was too rich for her so now she is on her secong bag of acana wild prerry. she is doing the best on this food so far. But she stays thin and looks a but under weight to me.



Lately I have been adding raw turkey wings to her dry food and she loves it. however sometime i mix everything with some boiled rice, then she just eats the meat.
Here are some picks of her taken today

This is what i fed her this evening. One cup of acana and the turkey.
I am very confused and in need of guidance. What meats should I feed? A different meat everyday? Should i add anything to the meat? How much should i feed. Do i need to weigh it? Do i need to add veggies? If so what?

My dog has been EXTREAMLY picky since day one. I would always add cod liver oil and red cell to her food, then i read that adding to already complete foods can make a dog picky so i stopped. She is never been picky about eating the raw meat though. so after this bag of arcana is done i would like to put her on raw on only give her chow if needed like if i run out and cant make it to the store till the next day etc.

I hope my post isnt too confusing. I am just lost when it comes to raw feeding and need someone to explain it to me simply.

ps i have looked at raw meaty boned etc and i am still lost.

[Tbarrios333]

Hello and welcome to raw feeding I find it to be very fun. It was confusing at first, but you will get the hang of it. I posted this on another thread, but it will still help you. It is really important to do your homework before you jump into raw feeding. Read as much as you can.

Raw really isn't rocket science. I started my puppy on raw since the day I got her. You DO want to get your ratios right and start feeding based on weight/percentage. An incorrect ratio can lead to constipation or runny stools. An incorrect percentage can leave you with an underweight or a fat puppy.
The best place to read up is on Lauri's website. Read everything and then come back and ask more questions. Here is the link : http://www.rawdogranch.com/

I started with chicken necks. Puppies can easily crunch up the bones in necks. When we cook wings for ourselves, we usually cut off the wing tips and that serves as a meal for one dog.
Right now, my dogs eat chix necks, beef hearts, tripe, and chicken liver until I can get my hands on some other proteins.
I also have pork hearts in the freezer, which they will be eating soon. I usually can't provide more than 3 proteins a week for them. Turkey I won't get until Tday and lamb I can maybe get every few months.

Get some raw green tripe and feed it every few days as half the portion of the muscle meat.

Buy some chicken, lamb, or beef (etc) liver and start feeding a small portion of that. Organ meat (liver, kidneys) is very nutritious and is an important part of feeding raw. I feed it every other day.

Try to find cheap tilapia or canned mackerel and feed that as well. Some dogs may eat it, others will not touch fish.

For diarrhea, buy some plain canned pumpkin and feed about a tablespoon. Use this when introducing new proteins or when you have messed up the diet somewhere.

Invest in a large jug of fish oil from your local Costco, or buy some Salmon oil off ebay and start giving him some of that.

Some people like to give their dogs multivitamins, but I don't bother to do it regularly.

Chicken feet are good for joints. I'll feed them veggies and oatmeal when I have nothing defrosted. You can also add raw eggs; some will eat the shells, others won't.

I don't agree that a crappy quality kibble is better than unbalanced raw. My dogs do better on raw meat than any kibble; even the highest quality. Kibble companies love to advertise the fact that dog diets are extremely complicated and that they have it down to a science. If that were true, my dog wouldn't shed twice as much and have 4x the amount of poop. Their teeth wouldn't be yellow and I wouldn't have to deal with "powder coats" and stinky doggy smell.

[Verivus]

If you're feeding MOSTLY kibble (I would say at least 80%) then it really doesn't matter what kinds of meat you're giving. Just avoid wild pork and wild salmon from the Pacific northwest. You don't need any veggies, rice, or supplements. Now if you were looking to feed 50/50 raw/kibble then that would be a different story.

[Mac's Mom]

Hi, This is a popular subject this week . It can be very confusing with tons of conflicting opinions. I found this website answered most of my general questions in a well organized manner.
Welcome to the Raw Dog Ranch

[Mac's Mom]

This will help you calculate how much to feed. Calculate

I started with raw chicken, phased in some raw meaty bone and then organ meat. I follow the percentages from BARF. I keep it simple and feed ground beef & turkey, chicken quarters, thighs & wings, turkey wings and pork necks, fish oil, eggs & yogurt...PM if you have specific questions.

[Tbarrios333]

Many people also like to invest in large freezer specifically for dog food. I have one out in the garage and it has saved me a lot of money because it allows me to buy in bulk.

I do not recommend feeding raw and kibble at the same time. There have been some concerns raised about different digestion rates. I feed my dogs raw, but when I travel or when the dogs have to stay with family, I pack up some kibble for them; it is much more convenient.

Also please don't take any offense to this, but I noticed that your dog appears to be on a tie out. Many on the forum here are concerned with the dangers tie outs pose to your dog. I recommend this link: 01 Tie Out (Tethering) as a Means of Confinement - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!
A properly trained dog can be a wonderful house companion and I'm sure your girl would love being with you. Ultimately, the choice is yours, but I must say I have both of my dogs inside with me and they are awesome.

[Trini Shepherd]

Hi guys, Thanks for the quick replies. I can see my post was a bit confusing but i will try to clear up what I can. I have about 1/3 a bag or arcana left. When it is done i want to go 100% raw.

Tbarrios333 I have been thinking about getting a freezer just for the dogs meat since with the one at home dosent have alot of space with all the human food i there lol.

Mac's Mom tks for the calculator , I will come in handy. So i have to weigh the food then. Ok. I dont have a kitchen scale, will a bath room scale work?

Also I still dont understand what to feed per day. Say on sunday if i am feeding chicken do i just do one part of the chicken say necks alone? Do i feed checken alone but different parts say neck, liver. legs etc? and then on tuesday feed something else like beef parts/ liver etc or can i feed a combo of say chicken/fish or beef and turkey? I think that's one of the things that confuse me most.

Ok so should i just feed the chow alone and when its done go on the raw only or can i mix the raw with the kibble till its done.

Sorry if my questions are repetitive or dont make sense

[Mac's Mom]

People do it all different ways.

This is how I do it. I determine the amount of food Mac needs each day according to his weight. Then I weigh out and package the portions of MM, RMB & OM. I make a weeks worth of packets at a time. Make sense?

[Tbarrios333]

Make sure you visit http://www.rawdogranch.com/ and read up on all the links here in BARF/Raw feeding so you get a real idea of how to do it. If you're still confused about it, then you can come back and ask more specific questions. Here is a link to doggy weekly/daily menus: Our Dogs Menus

[Verivus]

I sent you a pm with some useful links.