Ok, I think I want to start feeding raw food, I know there are a lot of benefits and I guess that it's a lot cheaper than buying commercial or organic (Holistic). Right?

Right now I feed Purina One Large Breed puppy. Is this fine for now? Can I keep her on a Purina One diet and not regret it?

I supposed that I shouldn't just feed just any meat like the ones we eat. Where can I find good meat to feed, Wal-Mart, local general stores, Harps etc.?

What kind of meat should I feed, beef, chicken, lamb, fish? Should I give her one kind of meat one day or week and then a diff. kind the next?

How much should I feed per day? (i.e. a cup of beef)

Should I go organic?

Thank you for anyfeed back.

I searched "Raw Food" and "Raw Food Diet" and I guess I didn't search well enough because I didn't find anything. I have seen similar posts though

http://www.leerburg.com/feedingdogs.htm
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I don't know much about this topic but I will get the ball rolling. I know Ed has written several articles on a natural diet which you can find from the leerburg home page. A good search term for the board is "BARF diet." Additionally, Ed has several books on the topic for sale.
Just speaking for myself. I now feed Honest Kitchen so I pay more for dog food than I did, but not too much more. In terms of raw meats I give my lab ground beef and chicken necks or backs. I have not yet gotten the courage to try anything else. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I just buy from WalMart. Organic is too expensive for me. Pretty much the idea seems to be to feed food that is fresh, uncooked and human grade. I hope this gives you a starting point. (Knowledgeable ones, feel free to correct me if I am wrong anywhere. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

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....I searched "Raw Food" and "Raw Food Diet" and I guess I didn't search well enough because I didn't find anything. I have seen similar posts though

The only reason I am going to give you links instead of typing answers is that I could never hope to cover everything that has been covered on this forum about feeding raw. On this board, type in BARF for your search word (I think Ian Billinghurst coined the acronym for "biologically appropriate raw food," or "biologically available raw food," or, later, bones and raw food). Also you will get returns with B.A.R.F., and with RAW.

Also, this site answers the 50 most common questions about beginning a raw diet:
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
and there are many others.

Also, there are some good books sold by Leerburg about feeding raw.

By "organic," you might mean organically raised produce, or slaughter animals fed organic feed, so I'll just say I do try to feed all organic, but I'm lucky enough to live in an area where the difference between the proce of conventional and organic produce isn't big, and where organically-fed and humanely-raised and -slaughtered meat is readily available. If I didn't, I'd have to decide which items were more important to me to be organic.

Here's a chart that compares a few big-name commercial foods. Check out Purina. You're looking for the ingredients in red, which are the ingredients to avoid.
http://www.feedmypet.com/dog-food-comparison.html

Good plan, doing some research first. I'm afraid there are people who think they are doing their dogs a favor and give them a diet of muscle meat (no bones); that's a nutritional disaster.

Leah is giving you a good suggestion, IMO, about The Honest Kitchen. If you are unable to get the kitchen access you'll need for a raw diet, THK with some chicken backs or wings, for example, added in, makes a food that I think is far superior to kibble. I was really happy to find out about it here, and Leerburg is where I bought it. It's dehydrated raw, dried at low temps instead of baked to death, and has good ingredient lists. I like Force and Embark, the two no-grain versions.

And check out the link Michele gave you, too! :>

OMG, Thank You Thank You Thank You, all this info is going to be handy. I still haven't gone to the links because I just got back on the web so I'll look once I'm done typing this.

Good for you to tell me that feeding muscle is a BIG No NO. I would have totally have made that mistake.

So I'll see when it well be right when to switch the diet around because her stool have been less firm and I know this might be a problem due to the purina. I will definetley make the change once I am more knowledgable.

Also, I don't know about feeding from Wal-Mart, don't they add preservatives or this really just no big deal.

I have read about Honest Kitchen, I was worried that it might be a bit more expensive. I have also heard about this B.A.R.F. diet but don't know much (Is this what Honest Kitchen is?)

Thank you again I still want to know more about what kind of meat, beef lamb r chicken which one is better and how much should I feed, I probably wiil find my answers while looking at the links.

I did look at the Leerburg article, that's what got me interested.

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Good for you to tell me that feeding muscle is a BIG No NO. I would have totally have made that mistake......

Well, you understand that I mean JUST muscle meat (without the bones) is a nutritional disaster.

Muscle meat means roast beef, pork loin, hamburgers, steaks -- it means tha slaughter animal's muscles (as opposed to bones and internal organs). Some people, not realizing that the dog needs more than just the muscle meat, mistakenly give a diet of, say, just raw hamburger.

The Honest Kitchen isn't raw, but it's a high-quality commercial food that's dehydrated at low temps.

Raw and BARF are *almost* interchangeable. BARF is just a specific raw diet, as is prey model.

You will know these answers after you've read the Boxer link, the Leerburg link, and the search threads.

Read, read, read! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> You have the material.........

This is a topic that I'm very interested in. Based on research including the information here at Leerburg, plus several other sources, we started our dogs on raw feeding in early January 2006. We are thrilled with the results.

I am hoping for feedback on how we can continue to improve our feeding program. I hope it's OK if I start with what we are currently feeding and supplementing, then share some observations about our dogs which include 1 17 month old male GSD (it's a show line...please don't hold that against me!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />, a Beage whose age is estimated at around 10 years old (rescue) and a 6 year old mixed breed mutt - possibly dobie + something(s) but who knows.

* While we occassionally feed other meats, we feed primarly chicken parts just as a practical cost matter. The best deals these days seem to be on leg/thigh quarters, so for the "meaty bones" that's the primary source.

* We throw in a hunk of chicken liver at almost every meal.

* We do weigh the meals (a postage scale is IMO, better than a regular low end kitchen scale for this - ask me why if interested..) We get close to the target meal weight for each dogs with the meaty bones, then make up small differences usually with gizzards. Then the liver goes on top.

* We give each dog a raw egg including the shell every other day.

* We have Fish Friday every Friday evening. So far, it's been canned makerel. Fish sources seem pretty lean in the Midwest at this time of year. Feedback??

* We give a fish oil capsule and a vitamin C capsule at every meal. (we feed twice per day).

* We give a vitamin E capsule at one meal every other day. I've heard mixed comments on Vit. E (a little is good, but too much can be bad) and would love more opinions on that.

* We give all the dogs a dollop of reconstituted Olewo carrots once per day. (they guy at the last WDA Sieger Show did a great sales job on me re: general nutritional benefits...opinions?)

* When we first started feeding raw, we had a couple of random pukes that were small compared to the old random pukes on kibble, but would contain small pieces of bone. We were advised that a dog whose system is used to kibble needs a bit of a transition period, and that we should try adding a dollop of unflavored, live culture yogurt for a few weeks as this would help the system transition. Don't know if that was voodoo or not, but it sure seemed to work. Opinions on continuing yogurt? If so, how often?

* I welcome any input about other supplements, especially any joint health recommendations. We do not have any current joint problems, but would like to get an early start giving all of our dogs the best possible nutrition to ward off or minimize any potential problems as they all get older.

General results:

* Coats all seem shinier and softer.

* Teeth on the young GSD remain pearly white, and teeth on the 6 year old mutt have gotten noticeably brighter. It's harder to tell on the older beagle.

* They all seem to be more mellow after their meals than they used to be. That one is hard to describe - like they seem more satisfied or something??

* Knock on wood fast, but I haven't had a random puke in the house (that I've found anyway, and usually that sort of thing happens in the most likely place for me to step in it) in probably 2 months or more.

* Stools are smaller for all of the dogs, relatively speaking. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

In terms of specific individual dog success, here are a couple of notes. The older beagle who is a VERY active squirrel chaser(several hours per day with free access to about 6 acres). About a year ago, he suddenly gained almost 10 pounds out of nowhere (scary on a smaller dog) - no change to his food brand or quantity. The vet was as concerned as we were, and we struggled to get the excess weight off feeding Science Diet Lite. He was only getting a 1/2 cup of kibble twice per day - he always looked and acted hungry, but still the weight problem. He now eats 9 oz of chicken twice per day, and his weight has stabilized at 31 pounds, which is "fighting weight" for him and his body. He is acting like a MUCH younger dog now than before we started the raw diet.

Our mutt was the opposite. Picky, picky, picky eater. She has always been more likely to be underweight for her. She eats enthusiastically now, And her weight has stabilized at around 55 pounds, which everyone (vet included) seems to agree is a good weight for her.

The thing I like most at this early stage about weighing every meal is that we can keep that constant, and then weigh the dogs every week to see how they are doing. If we need to make adjustments, we know what the exact variables are.

We also recently adjusted our GSD up, since we started biking him in preparation for the AD.

We seem to be in a "lucky" part of town as I can regularly buy some bony chicken part or other for 39 - 49 cents a pound. There are frequent sales (typically on leg/thigh quarters) for 19 cents - 29 cents per pound. (I loaded up 40 pounds today at 19 cents, and will be making another stop there tomorrow, and the day after, etc. until the sale ends!) Having a freezer in the garage is quite helpful for food planning.

It was an ajustment to get into the new morning and evening routine, the new shopping routine, the thawing in time routine, etc. But now it's all routine, and is well worth the SMALL amount of extra time it takes v. measuring kibble for 3 dogs. Our 4th dog (2.5 year old female GSD) will be coming home from training soon, and we plan to convert her as well.

I know this post is long, but I hope it helps those with more experience at this give me feedback. And I hope for people just exploring this avenue, it helps you in your considerations.

With Respect,

Beth

i feed about eight to ten restaurant quilty chicken wing. large carrot and a large potato. I add one multi vitamin one day and an egg the next. I try to mix this up with pork,beef,and lamb. I keep a large bowl of water by her feeding area . I do not add any milk or milk by products. and i use hot dogs for treats

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This is a topic that I'm very interested in. Based on research including the information here at Leerburg, plus several other sources, we started our dogs on raw feeding in early January 2006. We are thrilled with the results......

I too have found fresh food (raw diet) to be the premier weight-stabilizing nutrition program. One example: I had a dog a few years ago who came to me very overweight and suffering from arthritis. Her owner had died, and she "came with" some vet-prescribed commercial diet food. I gave it to her for a couple of days because I wasn't prepared with enough chickens, etc., when I acquired her a little suddenly.

When she inhaled the pathetic little pile of food and then looked up with such longing in her eyes for MORE, I hustled out to get the supplies I needed.

She was so much happier with the appropriate amount of fresh (raw) food, with bones. She stopped hanging out by the dish all day hoping more food would appear. (I'm not exaggerating.)

And the combination of weight loss, salmon oil with Vitamin E, glucosamine (no chondroitin, which hasn't panned out as well as glucosamine, IMO), and just excellent food changed her from a dog who couldn't climb stairs to a dog who could, in about three-four months.

I too use a lot of chicken. (Side note: I have had a lot of allergic-dog experience. I had one dog who tested severely allergic to what the lab called "poultry mix" from commercial foods, and she had no allergic reactions to real, raw, fresh chicken.)

Another member of this board finally succeeded in putting the appropriate weight ON her Great Dane puppy, who had been sick and suffered severe weight loss, when she switched to raw.

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......* We give a vitamin E capsule at one meal every other day. I've heard mixed comments on Vit. E (a little is good, but too much can be bad) and would love more opinions on that......

About Vitamin E, this is quoting myself on an old (February) thread:

Quote:
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....Any idea on the dosage? ....
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Salmon oil for people: Follow the bottle suggestions, assuming they mean a 150-pound person, and adjust accordingly for the dog's weight.

Vitamin E for people: You can use more than the adjusted human RDA.

The dog RDA is 50 IU per pound of food, but I use considerably more.

I found some of the Vitamin E articles I read explaining why more than the canine RDA of Vitamin E could be tolerated.

This site: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&articleid=710
has this to say:

QUOTE: There are no known Vitamin E toxicities in the dog and cat. Fed even at huge levels, no interruption of bodily functions has been demonstrated. Recommendations on the daily dose are highly variable depending on the source. END

Also, scroll down to the "Vitamin E" heading here:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDN/is_2001_Sept/ai_80532259/pg_3

Also looked at the Pitcairn book, which says (a little vaguely) "I include extra Vitamin E in the diet for several reasons. Not only does it aid important body functions, such as fighting disease, but it also helps minimize the effects of pollution."

JMO! I'm not a health professional.