I decided to take the plunge today.

After pulling another softball size lump of dry fur off my dogs brush this morning, I made the decision to try going raw. I now have 30 lbs. of chicken backs and necks on my kitchen counter to split up and freeze.

I gave her 2 1/2 necks and a small back. I also added digestive enzyme, a dollop of greek yogurt and a little smear of natural peanut butter to hide her fish oil and vitamin e.

She seriously loved the necks but wasn't sure what to do with the back! I decided not to cut it up because she can be a gulper a times. I thought it would be better if she had to work a it. Tomorrow I will cut it up for her to see if she will eat it that way.

yeah! Good on 'ya. If you think you should cut it up tomorrow but she can be a gulper, perhaps just cut it in half instead of small pieces, or cut up a few pieces of chicken meat (small bite sized) and use them as treats in a short training session. I bet once she becomes introduced to the taste, it will be free and clear from there!

Cool, thanks for the advice!

I'm sure she will have no problems eating it, she just needs to learn how.

When I came home from work tonight tonight I put it all on the counter, when I let her out of the crate she ran right over and jumped up to investigate. When she saw me start to put it in her bowl she got all excited. I taught her to go lay down while I get her food ready and normally she just does it, but tonight I had to remind her 5 times!

Lauren,
Remember, eating raw looks different. It can look like gulping, but once they crush the bones and make it swallow-able (is that a word?), it just goes down. Don't expect them to rip the backs into pieces and eat it that way. Pretty much the whole thing goes down at once. It can be disconcerting at first. It's a real testament to how far the dog food machine has taken us--we don't even know what a dog eating it's natural diet should look like!

Oh, and if they ever throw it up and re-eat it. That's normal too. Luckily, that's only happened once here.

 Quote: Linda Patch

Lauren,
Remember, eating raw looks different. It can look like gulping, but once they crush the bones and make it swallow-able (is that a word?), it just goes down. Don't expect them to rip the backs into pieces and eat it that way. Pretty much the whole thing goes down at once. It can be disconcerting at first. It's a real testament to how far the dog food machine has taken us--we don't even know what a dog eating it's natural diet should look like!

Oh, and if they ever throw it up and re-eat it. That's normal too. Luckily, that's only happened once here.

Good reminder.

I see mainly the gulp-and-maybe-gack-it-up-and-gulp-again variety here, but also one lil senior who chews every back with crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch noises and a faraway dreamy dark-chocolate look on his face. He is the one who vibrates while his dish is being prepared, so I don't know if it's just his eating style or he is deliberately wringing every taste droplet out of it.

It's kinda mesmerizing to watch him eat.

Prior to a year ago, his RMBs were coarsely ground because of dental issues when he came. But he had a complete cleaning, x-rays, extractions, etc., last February, and now he is livin' the life.

 Quote:

Prior to a year ago, his RMBs were coarsely ground because of dental issues when he came. But he had a complete cleaning, x-rays, extractions, etc., last February, and now he is livin' the life.

Aww, that must make you feel so good Connie, that he can enjoy his bones and seeing that satisfaction on his face.....
Such a great thing to see! I love it!

 Quote: connie sutherland

but also one lil senior who chews every back with crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch noises and a faraway dreamy dark-chocolate look on his face.

"Om nom nom om nom...."




So how is everything goin' today, Lauren?

Good so far!

The poop was good this morning, small and firm. Even with giving her a marrow bone last night.

It was still kibble colored, though. Its kind of amazing how long it takes to get that stuff out. She hasn't eaten it since Monday night.

There was a definite lack of eye goop this morning. That made me happy. I have also noticed that she hasn't itched the spot on her right leg at all today. I never expected to see results so quickly.

She didn't eat breakfast today but her energy level is good, even little higher than usual, so I'm not too worried. I warmed the chicken to room temp by placing the baggie in warm water for a few seconds. I knew she wouldn't go for it cold. Still, she is not used to room temperature food. To get her to eat before I would cook some hamburger and mix it in warm.

Also, I wonder if she doesn't like the digestive enzyme/probiotic. I started her on it with her last kibble meal and she didn't eat much. Should I just cut that out? She's young and healthy, no medications recently. I just decided to use it to be safe.

Also, I used to feed two equally sized meals a day. Should I still do that? Or is it better to make the evening meal bigger?

It wouldn't hurt to leave out the enzyme/probio for right now. You can find a way to get it back into the diet later. Won't be too difficult.:wink:

You can feed however you want.

Two equal meals is fine, as is a smaller morning meal followed by a larger evening meal.

The only time you may find that you HAVE to make the evening meal bigger is if there are bile vomits late at night/early morning.

Thanks for getting back to me.

I'm glad that I was warned about he potential for gack & eat! She just did it about 10 minutes ago.

Its funny how nervous I am about this whole thing. Last month my dog ate a mouse, that had been dead for God only knows how long, frozen, without chewing. She was fine!

Oh, another question. When I initially talked to the breeder she came from a few moths ago about raw feeding she mentioned something about the dog eating grass. Since she is a city dog that doesn't have grass to munch on should I start giving some veggies right away? I have given them to her in the past with no problems.