Hi,I have just started the raw diet for my french mastiff and am totally new to it.I am looking for help on how to feed him,how much to feed him,what to feed him, and how many times a day should he eat.Let me start by saying that my dog came down with Intestinal Bowel Desease known as IBD.He was diagnosed with the desease back in july of this year. He has lost almost 45 lbs in the last 5-months.After numerous visits to vet hospitals and vet specialist and $5,000.00 later i got no results. All the vets wanted to do was keep putting my PAL on different medications, not realizing the harm the meds were doing to his body. I've tried all brands of dog food and still his stool was watery and soft.After 5-months of watery stool i decided to take him of commercial dog food.About a month ago i tried him on brown rice and all sorts of cooked fish.In one day off of dog food,he finally did a normal stool.He is on PROBIOTICS and i feel now is the time to introduce my PAL to raw diet so he can get his proper nutrition. If their is anyone with some good ideas or recommendations please write back. Thanks Steven from Boston mass

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Hi,I have just started the raw diet for my french mastiff and am totally new to it.I am looking for help on how to feed him,how much to feed him,what to feed him, and how many times a day should he eat.Let me start by saying that my dog came down with Intestinal Bowel Desease known as IBD.He was diagnosed with the desease back in july of this year. He has lost almost 45 lbs in the last 5-months.After numerous visits to vet hospitals and vet specialist and $5,000.00 later i got no results. All the vets wanted to do was keep putting my PAL on different medications, not realizing the harm the meds were doing to his body. I've tried all brands of dog food and still his stool was watery and soft.After 5-months of watery stool i decided to take him of commercial dog food.About a month ago i tried him on brown rice and all sorts of cooked fish.In one day off of dog food,he finally did a normal stool.He is on PROBIOTICS and i feel now is the time to introduce my PAL to raw diet so he can get his proper nutrition. If their is anyone with some good ideas or recommendations please write back. Thanks Steven from Boston mass

I would start here: http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm

Read the Q and A (and/or search here under "raw" or "b.a.r.f." and expand the date range from one week to many, or months or years) and feel 100% free to post questions after you read a little.

There is so much already posted -- pages and pages, hundreds of threads -- that it's easiest to read a little and then ask about anything that confuses you. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

For this particular dog, I would add that when an underweight (or overweight) dog's food amount is being calculated, I generally use the dog's ideal weight in my calculations of 2-3% of body weight. In this case, where he is severely under his ideal weight, you will probably want to go somewhere in between, since his ideal weight's food requirement would be a lot for him to handle right now. I'd probably take his present weight and up it some before figuring his food requirement.

BTW, cooked fish is a very good efficient protein source, IMO, to keep as part of his diet.

And I would stick with probiotics and natural (live culture) yogurt with this guy. No downside, IMO.

With IBS, you might find that cold-pressed raw fresh fish oils are an excellent fat source to add both calories and anti-inflammation benefits. But I'd start slowly with IBS and give his body lots of adapting time for oil supplements.

I would back off on ANY ingredient that seemed to cause digestion trouble, too. There are so many choices that you can stop anything that causes bowel problems.

You might want to keep it simple so it's easy to ID any problems, too.

I'm not a health professional; this is all JMO. I do believe you are on the right track. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

steve,
start with the blandest of all raw diet foods--raw, skinless chicken necks with all the fat removed.

begin by fasting your dog for 24 hours, making sure he has plenty of fresh, clean water.

feed only the chicken necks for the first few days, all fat and skin removed.

if he does fine on that, gradually, slowly introduce other foods. i would make the first non-chicken neck meal a bowl of plain, unsweetened yogurt mixed with canned pumpkin, a raw egg, and some ground eggshell, and some fish oil and kelp.

for a dog with GI tract problems, i would also be concerned about parasites. i've had very good luck with a chinese herb called phellostatin that is commonly used for parasites. it is very gentle and you don't need to do any testing first. i would use it perhaps four times a year.

i'd also consider including a digestive enzyme supplement on a regular basis.

once the dog is doing fine on chicken necks and the yogurt mix, you can start adding in whatever cuts of meat you can get through your local butcher or supermarket.

make sure whatever you feed him is human grade and fresh. never use a microwave to defrost, as even partially cooked bones are dangerous and can splinter. it's better and safer to serve partially frozen than to worry about defrosting.

you'll find tons of discussions here, and follow the many links that have been posted, and keep on asking questions. it's a steep learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it is easy and cheap.

We recently switched to raw for our male GSD. Thank you Cindy, for the sample diets. Someone on the board said just dive in and don't over think it. So we did. The dog is loving it. He was a nonchalant eater and has that ever changed. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> It's only been a few weeks but I swear his coat and dog-breath have improved. We started with chicken wings and he went after those like he had been waiting all his life for real food. I guess he had been... It doesn't seem as if there is as much poop as before. Would that be normal? And is it okay to feed a dog raw salmon or other types of raw fish?

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It doesn't seem as if there is as much poop as before. Would that be normal? And is it okay to feed a dog raw salmon or other types of raw fish?

smaller stools is definitely normal.

it is not OK to feed any raw salmon or trout from the pacific northwest. stream spawning fish carry the rickettsia organism, which gives dogs "salmon fever." the mortality rate of salmon fever is 90 percent, so it is not worth the risk.

Thanks Alice. That info is very alarming as my dog snatched two (small servings) pieces of raw salmon from the counter and snarfed them. I came in while he was finishing swallowing.

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Thanks Alice. That info is very alarming as my dog snatched two (small servings) pieces of raw salmon from the counter and snarfed them. I came in while he was finishing swallowing.

ruth, do you know the origins of the salmon? if from the pacific northwest, if it were me, i would call my vet tomorrow, tell her what happened, and ask if there is anything you can do proactively to make sure your dog doesn't get rickettsia.

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Thanks Alice. That info is very alarming as my dog snatched two (small servings) pieces of raw salmon from the counter and snarfed them. I came in while he was finishing swallowing.

ruth, do you know the origins of the salmon? if from the pacific northwest, if it were me, i would call my vet tomorrow, tell her what happened, and ask if there is anything you can do proactively to make sure your dog doesn't get rickettsia.

Exactly correct, and also -- do NOT panic!

"Salmon poisoning" is very treatable if it’s caught in time. Tell your veterinarian. Salmon poisoning can be diagnosed with a fecal sample or a needle sample of a swollen lymph node. The parasite’s eggs, shed in the feces, confirms its presence. The rickettsial organism* itself can be detected in a needle sample from a swollen lymph node. If caught early, treatment is effective and simple. The vet prescribes an antibiotic and a wormer; the antibiotic kills the rickettsial organisms, and the wormer kills the parasite. Once treatment has been started, most dogs show dramatic improvement within two days, and that's dogs who were showing symptoms (which generally present in 5-7 days).

*The parasite, a fluke, is fairly harmless, but it can have an infection with Neorickettsia helminthoeca. It’s this microorganism that causes salmon poisoning.

thanks, connie, you are an amazing fount of knowledge. i didn't know all those gory details. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

based on what connie has written, i would go ahead and put my dog on the antibiotic and wormer, or at the very least, ask my vet if that is a good option. i would not wait to see if he tested positive. with parasites, or any disease, there is always the risk of a false negative result. and even caught early my vet says mortality rates are high.

do it tomorrow. don't panic, but do it.

Thanks Connie and Alice you are so knowlegeable. I will call the vet first thing tomorrow. The market where I bought the salmon opens early so I will be there to see what the other packages say about it's origin. We had to run out and babysit grandkids and just got back. This dog is 10 years old and the last of my wonderful German Shepherds. I want his remaining years to be as healthy, well fed and booster free as possible. Thanks too for the don't panic...I was.