[Brightelf]

For Grimm's disgustification, I bought a jumbo whopper collossal frozen green tripe block. (Looks like a frozen lasagna out of a horror film)

I chop off a small chunk before each mealtime, then thaw it out in his bowl. I noticed as it thaws, that you can really see the grass in it. It seems mostly grass and a bit of muscle.. but, that's just how it looks to me.

Because of the vegetation there, the grass-- would that tend to set off an allergic dog's allergies, or, as in the case of raw local honey usage, tend to almost innocculate against local grass allergies?

Are the enzymes supposed to help a dog digest his food better?

Are the bacteria too, uh, fecal-y, and might cause problems for a dog who has had bacterial overgrowth in the past?

Grimm loves the stuff. I am happy to add a small chunk the size of a chicken mcnugget to each meal for him. Is that too much, or too often?

Sorry for all the noob questions!

 

[workingdawgs]

My dogs eat a meal composed of approximately 2lbs of raw green tripe a few times per week. I think you could get away with adding more every day or a larger amount as a whole meal a couple times per week. It's up to you

As for the bacteria in the tripe, one of my dogs had bowel/digestion issues in the past (hence why I switched from kibble to raw) and he does really well with the whole meals of raw tripe. There are no issues with SIBO at all in my house now. As an added benefit, parasites are cut way down too

I don't know what to tell you about the grass allergy question though. I have allergies to grass, but I don't eat raw tripe

lol

Michelle

 

[Brightelf]

Thanks Michelle.

I really appreciate the info! Can a GSD tummy hold 2 lbs at one time? I ask, as I need to gradually increase the size of Grimm's meals.. he is much too thin on raw.

I am so glad your dog that had SIBO is doing great on raw! To be honest, Grimm has never had such good poops as on raw.

 

[workingdawgs]

You're welcome

Just for comparison purposes, I had a 5lb stick of salami that I had bought to slice up for lunch sandwiches and my sable girl, Jersey, ate the whole thing. Her belly looked like she was on her last day of pregnancy with 25 puppies! It made for disgusting exploding poop a few hours later, but to answer your question, yes a GSD tummy CAN hold 2lbs at one time

As far as Grimm's meals, I would suggest feeding him at night after his last potty break. It is my opinion that feeding the dogs when they are unlikely to get excited helps to avoid problems like upset tummies and bloat. That opinion is not based on science, but my own common sense being that the quieter the dog is after a large meal, the less complications there could be down the road. You could also break his meal into two feedings which may help put the weight back on him.

One thing I had to do for my girls when they were adolescents, was to add about a large egg sized chunk (about 1/4 lb) of pork or beef fat to their daily meals. Fat is a good energy source for dogs and I think allows them to use the muscle/organ meats to nourish their body too instead of just burning it all off. If you decide to use some fat in Grimm's diet, I would strongly suggest just using a tablespoon at first and build up to an amount that works well for him over a couple weeks otherwise you could have an explosively fun time with cleaners and paper toweling

One more observation about feeding larger meals... You can jump right into feeding the 2lb meals right away (or whatever Grimm's daily amount would be at about 3% of his expected adult weight) and the biggest thing is the concern over stools. I would expect a couple days of looser poo until his body got used to the meal size. Often times now, I will feed a huge meal (about 3.5-4lbs) and let the dog fast the next day.

I have been feeding raw for the past 4 years and I no longer spend my time weighing meals when I portion them out. I just cut a chunk off and bag it, once in a while checking the bag with the scale to make sure my "eye" is still calibrated, lol, but for the most part, if a meal is larger, they get either a smaller meal or fasting the next day.

Michelle

 

[Amaruq]

I do know that GSD's tummies can hold more than 2 pounds. Chimo gnaws on 3-4 pounds venny necks a couple times a year. Granted he gets much smaller meals leading into and after this one HUGE meal. Same with other venny parts the Paq sometimes gets much larger meals than their typical 1.5-2.5 pounds.

 

[Brightelf]

I think Grimm is getting 3 lbs per day... each meal is about 680 gramms? He gets fed twice. (It was 2 mals of just 520 gramms before.. he is too thin, so I am increasing it to the 680 gramms twice a day)

I like adding fat idea, but Grimm may (or may not) be fat-sensitive with his pancreas. I just a few days ago upped from 2 salmon oil caps to 3... he is getting itchy on the chicken, so the omega 3 and 6 rations were out of whack without enough salmon oil.

I am not just a newbie.. I am THE newbie!!

 

[workingdawgs]

It sounds like you are doing a good job

Because of pancreas problems is why I suggested introducing the fat a tablespoon at a time, that way you can monitor his reaction and find the "sweet spot" in the amounts

if he starts having really loose stools then cut back on the fat amount.

Does Grimm always get itchy on chicken or only in higher amounts? Have you tried dropping the chicken and just using an alternative protein?

Michelle

 

[Brightelf]

Thnks Michelle. I don't know re the chicken. I HOPE it is not chicken in general that is causing the itching. Possibly it is that the chicken is very high in omegas that tend to cause inflammation.. and it needs to maybe be balanced with the fish oil omegas, and I just started that recently?

Anyway, I may not be able to keep Grimm on raw at all if chicken itself is the trigger. Pork is not an option here, beef is wildly expensive, and turkey bones-- the ones available here-- are collossal, rockhard, constipating, TOUGH-- and not reliably available. I could do raw without chicken if I had a different income.

Oh, man.. Please pray that it is just the omega balance being off, and not that the chix itself is a trigger! I just upped the salmon oil to 3 capsules a day from 2. Hopefully this will help balance those omegas out and STOP the itching. (it is not much itching, just some)

 

[3K9Mom]

Originally Posted By: AmaruqI do know that GSD's tummies can hold more than 2 pounds.

Each of Camper's meals is approx 1.8-2 lbs.

He could/would easily accept more, if his owner were more generous.

But she's not.