After contacting nearly 20 butchers in my general area, I finally found one who is "dog raw feeding friendly."

In addition to offering a decent price on 40 pound boxes of fresh chicken necks & backs, he mentioned he works with other dog breeders.

He says he has two breeders who every 30 - 60 days, have him grind up a mix of beef hearts, beef livers, and raw beef tripe. Of course I gave him my name and number in the hopes he will have at least one of these breeders call me, to explain how they use that mix within their raw feeding programs.

But mean time, I would love opinions here from raw feeders about the general nature of this mix, whether you use a similar mix, etc. I've read in several places about raw "green" tripe as a beneficial diet item, but have had trouble finding a source for it, and really understanding it. LOL, I had to work pretty hard just to figure out that raw tripe is not the same color as grass! I found tripe at a grocer, but figured out it was processed.

Mean time, we recently ordered the supplements that Ed recommends, and that are available for purchase here. The powerdered C and the powdered Glucosomine supplements are awesome - and I now have more confidence that the dogs are actually "getting" those supplements rather than previous pill forms. We also LOVE the salmon oil in the pump bottle.

Just a funny side note - our kitchen is under a major remodel. It's gutted totally. We live out of a freezer in the garage, a fridge in the dining room, a sink in the laundry room, and a microwave (for people, not dogs). Trust me. These dogs are eating WAY better than the people are around here right now!!

Thanks for any input on the beef mix. This guy can also get "exotic" meats for me. (i.e. rabbit, etc.). I know we need more variety beyond chicken parts and sometimes turkey parts. For those of you who occassionally feed rabbit, etc., and have to buy it v. hunt it, how often do you do that?

Many thanks,
Beth

I would feed the beef mix a couple times per week. My dogs love plain green tripe. If I have a thin dog who needs to gain weight or is nursing I feed tripe more often. As for rabbit I raise my own. They don't require a lot of room and are easy to take care of. Dog love them hair and all.

Hi Beth, The mix that you mentioned is good. I give hearts also. I switch it up a lot. I give chicken backs, green tripe, bison, lamb, beef, i throw in sardines, i also give a product called K9 super fuel but that`s cause he`s working, flax oil, Ester C. He's got it made. Glad you feed raw. It`s one of the best things you can do for your dog (In my opinion).

Hi Doreen,

This is something I've just recently considered due to lack of availability or Rabbit in shops around me.

Can you tell me more about what you do (keeping and feeding the rabbits) and also how you cull before feeding to the dogs.

Cheers

John

p.s. PM me with your answer if oyu like.

Hi John. Rabbits are easy I have 1 male and 2 females. All have there own cage. I let the male do his job and 28 day later I have bunnies. You can grow the bunnies to the size you like and then they are lunch. All they need is rabbit pellets, hay, and a carrot a few times per week, and of course water all the time. I feed the rabbits whole most of the time. I have 7 dogs they all like it hair and all. My male GSD was the slowest about tearing into it to get the good stuff inside but after watching 2 of my female GSD's he got right into it also. If your dog has never eaten a whole animal you may have to gut and skin it first. This is very time consuming so if you do it this way give him the skin and guts to play with so he will get used to eating them whole. Warning I am quite sure all of my GSD's would kill a cat if the could catch it. My cats both know this and spend most of their time in the hay loft. My dogs also have begun hunting feild mice and ground hogs. They would not have had any trouble in the filming of 8 below <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Let me know if you have any other questions.