Nearly 4 months on raw

[Phrixus]

Phrixus turns 10 months in a week. He's 110# and is desperately needing me to have a better schedule... thought I'd share some pics and some quicky info -

diet - 2lbs a meal - 2 chicken quarters, 1-2 pork chops (cow if it's on sale - steak not ground), egg or yogurt, E and Oil, with 2-3oz of "dog food" (local processing takes all organs - including tripe and grinds)

Before you freak out about him doing 4lbs of food a day, A.) he's a puppy and B.) he's only half GSD - the other half is St Bernard - he's on track to a healthy 150-180lb full grown weight... however I wanted to share pics incase anyone thinks he's getting too much fat with the chicken/pork - you can't see ribs but they are easily felt...

Any other suggestions/comments? I do swap out drumsticks for thighs or quarters, he hates lamb, steak when it's cheap, deer necks were big during hunting season, turkey ANY time I can get it. His snacks intentionally include: jalapeno cheetos, pizza crust, chicken ina biskit crackers, and rawhides. UNINTENTIONAL SNACKS - my comforter, tea light candles (wax and metal), wooden utensils/plunger handle/broom handle, CD's... LOTS of them, a BlackBerry, and of course stuffed animals, paper plates, bags of ramen noodles that roommates left on the counter...

he's got some separation anxiety issues still... and I need a job that doesn't leave him alone as often until we get those worked out =(

anyway - thought I'd give a progress report =)

[Wild Wolf]

His weight seems good from the pictures.

As for the snacking... his intentional snacks are BAD. He shouldn't be eating that processed stuff, it will set you back in terms of full health benefits for all raw diet. The rawhides, in my opinion, are bad choices.

For snacks, I always recommend an egg and yoghurt, green beans, blueberries. And if he likes to chew on something, instead of rawhide, give him a RAW marrow bone.

[Phrixus]

Originally Posted by Wild Wolf

His weight seems good from the pictures.

As for the snacking... his intentional snacks are BAD. He shouldn't be eating that processed stuff, it will set you back in terms of full health benefits for all raw diet. The rawhides, in my opinion, are bad choices.

For snacks, I always recommend an egg and yoghurt, green beans, blueberries. And if he likes to chew on something, instead of rawhide, give him a RAW marrow bone.

I guess I should have said that the cheetos and crackers are like once every two weeks and then just something I can throw at him so he can work on not getting a cracker upside the head.
He likes to chew on things... like the floor, stairs, etc... the only issue I have with raw bones - is my roommates think it's gross to have him munching on a bone in the living room...

he's my boy, and yes I feed him well, but I'm still gonna give him scraps on occasion =) Once I get a new job and a little more time, I suspect the chewing will decrease as activities increase

[N Smith]

I think his weight looks good too!

Not sure if those are toys or things that were "snacked on (LOL)", but if you were to clean everything up, then replace it with safe chewing toys, then he could use that beautiful back yard to chew the gross stuff.

Ideas for chew "things":

Take your "dog food" mixture, stuff a kong, freeze it overnight and then serve after he eats the rest of his breakfast outside. That should keep him busy and satisfy his need to chew!

Give him the raw knuckle bones outside, no mess! Just make sure they are picked up as soon as he is done. When they dry out they become brittle.

Jolly balls (no handle), not much chewing can be done, but let the chasing begin!

Hope this helps!

[Holmeshx2]

just for the record he NEEDS organs there is no way around it. Go to the regular grocery store and get some livers and kidneys. He needs more variety then daily chicken and pork and occasional beef. I would definitely get him on a multivitamin to help supplement the stuff hes not getting in his diet from lack of variety.

As for the snacks I don't do rawhides (I used to) just because after research I felt like it was a gamble on safety however I wont harass you on the other snacks because my girl gets plenty of cheetos, ice cream, homemade chicken noodle soup, pizza, french fries, basically a bit of anything we are eating. Lately cut them way back because she needs to lose a few pounds (so does hubby and I lol) For the marrow bones or knuckles bones is the issues with the crunching or the mess? If its the mess I take a large sheet and lay it down then let her lay on it and eat so I can just toss it in the washer after.

The raw portion however does need some work. I really doubt hes going to put on another 70 lbs though so I would rethink feeding him quite so much. St Bernards CAN top out at close to 200 lbs however not all that common and him being mixed with GSD I doubt hes going to put on more then 20 lbs from where he is now.
When you say pork chops are they the ones with the bone or without? How much do they weigh and how much do the chicken quarters weigh?

[Phrixus]

Originally Posted by Holmeshx2

just for the record he NEEDS organs there is no way around it. Go to the regular grocery store and get some livers and kidneys. He needs more variety then daily chicken and pork and occasional beef. I would definitely get him on a multivitamin to help supplement the stuff hes not getting in his diet from lack of variety.

For the marrow bones or knuckles bones is the issues with the crunching or the mess? If its the mess I take a large sheet and lay it down then let her lay on it and eat so I can just toss it in the washer after.

The raw portion however does need some work. I really doubt hes going to put on another 70 lbs though so I would rethink feeding him quite so much. St Bernards CAN top out at close to 200 lbs however not all that common and him being mixed with GSD I doubt hes going to put on more then 20 lbs from where he is now.
When you say pork chops are they the ones with the bone or without? How much do they weigh and how much do the chicken quarters weigh?

As for the Organs - the "dog food" is all organs - heart, liver, gizzards, any organ from the deer, pig, turkey, goat, lamb, cow, whatever they got in that week, plus tripe - I've over fed it a lil before and stool consistency changed QUICK! it's rich.

he's not one to stay on a blanket. instead he'll chew here, there, everywhere - we've got some issues we're working thru =)

If he only put on another 20lbs in the next 14 months I'll be really surprised. Pleasantly mind you =) if he seems to start putting on fat - I'll cut him back - but he hasn't ever been the type to eat to excess...

He only has two BM's a day and they are quite small. If I feed him less, he clearly lets it be known he's still hungry. Normally I try to get the chops with bone, but it depends heavily on sales. Chicken varies - if it's drumsticks he gets about a pound, chicken quarters 1.25-1.5 lb worth normally. I don't feed him the same meal each day at all. And there have been some days he's had to go without for a meal, or he was a little jerk and he pulled stuff from the counter (which he can do on all fours) - so he got less. He gets quite a bit of variety - once veal was on sale at $0.79lb - he got a LOT of veal that week =)

it's a little more expensive but I try to buy only a week or two in advance - that way it forces more variety and I don't end up feeding him a "standard meal" - there have been weeks that he's had 0 chicken - the next week, he savored it! Course he seems to get a little snobbish when he gets too much cow... like he knows it's more expensive or something =)

[ChancetheGSD]

Does he have a crate? It'd help with his destructive behavior AND give a "clean" spot for him to enjoy a bone or messy Kong. Make sure he's well exercised to, if you can, get a dog walker to come in a couple times a week.

From the pictures, he looks in great shape though!

Zoey has been on RAW for about a month now and doing well. She still enjoys the occasional not so good treat every now and then. xD The other day it was 2 pieces of this delicious German chocolate out of my purse.

[Phrixus]

Originally Posted by ChancetheGSD

Does he have a crate? It'd help with his destructive behavior AND give a "clean" spot for him to enjoy a bone or messy Kong. Make sure he's well exercised to, if you can, get a dog walker to come in a couple times a week

He does have a crate and its time for a bigger one (i assume they make a bigger one?!) But the main issue with the crate is that he doesn't like it. He only gets fed there, file shut and locked, but there are days, hungry as ****, he will not step foot in the crate, or if he does he just refuses to eat. I know its simply a matter if training but my job is a nightmare and I cannot get him on any sort of schedule. (i have considered placing him because my job is so bad I question if I am what is best for him). Some days I am gone 16 plus hours, I will not crate him with that risk. I am interviewing for a new position, which would give me something not 24/7. He desperately needs exercised! I know the solution. It's simply implementing it.