Newbie .. please hold my hand?

[heronponie]

Wow - I am so RELIEVED to have found this forum! Just joined after reading all night.

I have 3 dogs right now, all on kibble diets. I have a big problem with this because I am a horse care professional and I know how bad "horse chow" is for them. I can only imagine what the kibble is doing to my dogs, but I felt so STUCK and afraid to try raw - until I found this site!

I tried googling for raw food info and found such a huge variety of opinions that I just scared myself! But after reading the Raw Dog Ranch site, and a few threads here I feel like I have a much clearer picture of where to go. I'm ready to jump in.. but am hoping some members here will "hold my hand" while I do it?

Meet the gang..

Bailey - 14 year old cockapoo, he was our family's first dog and consequently the one we made all the mistakes with. (We didn't socialize him- at all! I affectionately refer to him as half cat, because he is aloof to the other dogs). He is the one with the most troubles. He has been switched all his life between many expensive vet brands of kibble with no success. He always had a "weak stomach" and would vomit easily, had runny stools, and now in his old age he STINKS to high heavens. It's to the point where nobody wants to be around him (even me, who loves him so so so much!!). His teeth are atrocious. And he has these pimple-like lumps all over his body, sometimes he chews them and they pop. The vet says this is normal for old dogs, but I am really hoping going raw may improve his quality of life. (Cost is an issue but for the sake of giving this a fair try, I am more than willing to buy ground products for him and his weak teeth, while feeding a more DIY raw diet to the other dogs)


Laela - 6 year old Eskimo Spitz. She was rescued from the humane society by my sister and brother in law, but soon found she did not "fit in" in their household. Laela has a lot of weird neurotic behaviours and she didn't adjust well to living in a crate while they worked long hours. So, she came to live with me 4 years ago. She lives in the house with me but is my "farm dog" meaning she spends the majority of her time following me around at the farm, eating horse poop, chewing bones (not meaty bones - but at least they are something) and generally lives an active and healthy lifestyle. Besides the kibble. She has a tendency to drink obsessively and will not stop drinking until she is so full that she vomits. I usually stand beside her when she drinks and will stop her after a minute or two, then let her come back later on to drink more. I'm hoping this behaviour may improve when she is no longer eating dry kibble.


Dexter - the newest addition, and the reason I am here! He is an 11 week old GSD puppy. The breeders weaned him onto Purina Puppy Chow, so when I got him at 8 weeks I switched him to a large breed puppy food reccomended by our pet store. But this is just a temporary solution until I could research & gather enough info and resources to confidently switch him to raw. Right now he poops a LOT and has a lot of eye goobers.. hoping raw will help these things.


Dex and Laela


Bailey intensely focused on a game of fetch


Lil' Dexter!

Okay, so now that I've done the world's longest intro, I have some questions. I am a lifelong vegetarian, so I am really confused by some of the terms used to describe raw foods. I've never eaten or handled meat in my life, and have zero experience with it. For example, chicken necks and chicken backs.. I'm assuming this is literally pieces of the spine? What about chicken leg quarters.. does this mean a quarter of the leg, or a quarter of the chicken? Can I start off buying some of this from the grocery store to get accustomed to what it looks like, or should I go straight to a butcher? Also, handling the meat.. how do you store it? Fridge, freezer? For how long does it "keep"? Any concerns with feeding meat that is too old to my dogs?


Thank you so much for any info, help, or hand-holding! I am so excited to get started!!

[smithie]

Hi from a fellow newbie

I started off properly yesterday and my dog is loving it!! He's so excited to see his food bowl already lol. I would start off by buying some chicken wings from your local supermarket and see how they go with those. I have a spare freezer for Rangers food and have bought a load of plastic freezer tubs, made up individual meals in those and the plan is to take the next days out the previous night so it will be ready for the morning

[CookieTN]

This thread (from another website, mind you) is a great starting point for research on raw.

"For example, chicken necks and chicken backs.. I'm assuming this is literally pieces of the spine?"
Chicken necks, yes. Chicken backs also include the back ribs.

"What about chicken leg quarters.. does this mean a quarter of the leg, or a quarter of the chicken?"
It's the leg. The drumstick and thighs.

"Can I start off buying some of this from the grocery store to get accustomed to what it looks like, or should I go straight to a butcher?"
Either is fine. I'd go with whatever's cheaper.

"Also, handling the meat.. how do you store it? Fridge, freezer? For how long does it "keep"? Any concerns with feeding meat that is too old to my dogs?"
I keep the meat in the freezer unless I'm going to be feeding it soon. I take enough meat for five to seven days and place it in the fridge so I don't need to thaw it out at every meal. It will go bad if left in the fridge much longer, however.
I actually will feed slightly funky-smelling, slimy meat, heck I've even fed meat when it was starting to get a little bit of green on it (that may be beyond your comfort level and I'm not going to recommend it), but I wouldn't go beyond that.
However, frozen meat can keep for years. I've fed two year old fish before. Dogs don't care if it's freezer-burned.


It feels scary starting out, but once you get the hang of it you find it's not that hard. =)

[msvette2u]

Have you asked a vet why the eskie might "drink too much"? If not you way want to bring it up. Many disease processes start with polydipsia, or drinking excessive amounts of water.

[heronponie]

Awesome! Thanks, I know my questions are a bit silly but it is clearing a lot of things up for me already

One more question: the "puppy feeding" section of the Raw Dogs Ranch site was a little bare. Any tips for puppies? Any special needs?

msvette2u- yes, the vet said it's not an issue. I know they ran some tests but I'm not sure what was done (I wasn't present, another family member had brought her in). I'll make a point to bring it up again at the next visit, but yes they are aware of it.

[CookieTN]

I'm not that familiar with raw-feeding puppies. I believe that there's not much difference, you just feed 10% of it's expected adult weight and adjust as necessary. But don't quote me on that. They may need a difference calcium level, too, I don't remember.

[lhczth]

Puppies are fed just like adults. Generally 2-3% of their expected adult weight or 10% (give or take) of their current weight. If they feel too thin you feed them more. Too fat (keep them lean) and you feed them less. An 11 week old pup may need the bones in the leg quarters or turkey necks smashed a bit. He will not be able to handle harder bones like pork neck, lamb or beef yet. So, basically for a pup, things are the same as feeding an adult except I feed my puppies up to 6 months 3 times per day.

[heronponie]

Dexter is 26 lbs right now. Does that mean he needs 2.6 lbs per day? Seems like a lot?

I went to the butcher and got some cuts of chicken. He looked at me like I was crazy, warned me on how expensive it would be, and basically made me feel like an idiot. I got some necks/backs and left. Then I went to the grocery store and got the rest of what I needed; MM and OM.

I just gave a small piece of RMB to Dexter (puppy) and Laela. They both did really well with them and chewed them well. I fed them separately outside on the deck, and after they were both done they started fighting to guard the spot where they had been eating. I just called them off for the time being, and they both forgot about it pretty quickly. Is that normal?

[chelle]

Welcome and love your Eskie! Love seeing other Eskie owners