Hi,
We're new to raw & are at the stage where we are good w/ chicken thigh, skin & most fat removed, (I am gradually leaving a little more fat on it), & turkey necks. I have also tried giving him chicken breast, no skin/no fat/no bone by itself, one piece but I have to go to the wholesale place to get a case of it & then will gradually give him more of that (so he gets less bone, right now he gets quite a bit since we are new at this)
Ii am not sure which actual red meat to try, (or maybe red meat is not what I should try next??) I'm in Florida & there are no butchers around here, the grocery stores don't even butcher their own stuff, it's all prepackaged when they get it & then they can cut it up more from that point but besides that I don't have a lot of options for all the different types of meat I have read about (there's no hunting here either). I saw a frozen rabbit (no skin or hair) the other day & it looked like a human fetus & I almost puked right there, so that will not be an option for us. I bought some steak, $4.99 lb & not a lot of fat on it, thought it would be a better option than ground beef, however I can't afford to buy that, unless your advice is that's a good idea & then I may have a wholesale place that will have something like that but that may be too $$, I'll look into it depending on your feed bk. So far I tried giving him some smaller pieces of the steak w/ the chicken thigh & then once by itself but I think that was too much on its own (by itself) because last night he had to go outside in a big hurry to poop & it was somewhat runny, so I may needed to just give him one little pc instead of two. For me It's hard to feed in smaller portions when starting out with a new meat but also making sure he is getting enough to eat for the day). Do you suggest when feeding a meat with no bone to start out w/ small portions but more portions per day or do you suggest adding a little in with the chicken thigh or turkey neck & slowly add more of the new meat & less of the turkey neck/chicken thigh? Sorry this is so lengthy!
Thanks
Lisa

Absolutely no reason to feed your dog meat that's 5 dollars a pound. Buy what's cheapest, which, for beef, is usually heart or cheap ground beef. If you are near a SAMs club, they sell bulk ground beef.

Pork is often cheaper than beef--look for heart, or any cheap cut.

IMO, there's no advantage in buying boneless chicken breast--it's expensive, and you're already feeding chicken parts, so boneless chicken isn't really adding variety. Chicken gizzards would give you a source of chicken muscle at a fraction the cost of breast meat.

Fish is another option. Mine love sardines and mackerel.

And all added slowly, in very small amounts at first, to avoid any more diarrhea.

I forgot to say he's a "gulper" so i don't know if gizzards are a good idea, aren't they small? i am afraid of pork because 1.5 yrs ago when i originally tried feeding him raw, i gave him pork ribs, they went down fine but when i came home at lunch he had puked 3 times & was still throwing up & i had to take him to the vet, so i thought i would make that the last thing i try, if ever. I looked at walmart for low salt or no salt added sardines in water, not oil & didn't have any,the one's they did have said 200 mg of salt & there was no way i was going to try that. what is IMO?

IMO = In my opinion.

Yes, gizzards are small...but small enough that I don't think there's much risk in getting one stuck. But that's your call.

Fresh or frozen fish (anything but salmon) is a possibility. The sardines and mackerel I feed aren't canned, they are frozen whole fish. I know feeders who also feed tilapia, which is a fairly inexpensive white fish that can be purchased as fillets or whole fish. In Florida, I would imagine there are fish markets nearby that you could check out.

Canned fish does have some sodium. But you can reduce it by rinsing the fish before feeding. And, it's not something you'd feed everyday. IMO, the amount of salt in an occasional meal of canned mackerel is outweighed by the benefit of the mackerel.

My best advice is to simply explore what's available to you in stores you wouldn't normally shop in--especially stores in ethnic neighborhoods, where you might find more unusual parts, or more variety in protein sources.

A well-balanced raw diet needs to include as much variety as you can reasonably muster. Chicken and turkey are a good start, and could easily make up more than half the diet. But I think you need a couple of other sources in there too--beef could be one. Perhaps the problem with pork before was the rib bones? You could try boneless pork.

Eggs and non-flavored yogurt are also ways to include additional protein sources. If eggs are going to be a big part of the diet, cook them. Too many raw eggs (more than a couple a week) can cause problems.

There are even places where you can order stuff online and have it shipped. I've bought ground rabbit, mutton, goat, tripe from this place: http://www.hare-today.com/ Yes, shipping is expensive...but still less expensive than buying $5/lb steak.

And, echoing Connie's warning: add any new item slowly and one thing at a time.

great info, thanks. i'm not worried about a gizzard getting stuck just want him to be able to enjoy the benefit of actually chewing his food & he seems to do that more when it's bigger and/or has bone in it. I've noticed most fish around here is "farm" raised, especially talapia & that has antibiotics & other stuff in it that i don't want him eating so i really don't want farm raised. i'm not knocking all your suggestions, i've just had a hard time trying to find stuff around here, i'm in the tampa bay area. i have a costco membership & looked at the frozen fish there but i thought it was expensive expensive & i was looking at salmon, i'll have to see what other's they might have. can i ask you how much do you pay for your frozen fish? do you feed any other beef besides ground beef to your guys? do you feed chicken & turkey as the bones or do you give other bones?

Lisa, I have an 85 lb golden retriever too. I go to Whole Foods Market for chicken backs, necks and organs. They cut their own chickens there, so I call and ask them to save me the parts. They sell the backs and necks for $1.59/lb, which is a lot to some people on this forum, but for Southern CA, it's cheap. I looked on Whole Food's website and there are quite a few of them in Florida. I also feed ground chicken that comes frozen in a roll at my grocery store, hamburger from Costco (it's cheaper there than even the sales at the grocery store), pork meat (I don't feed any pork bones at all - haven't have good luck with Kasey and pork bones or beef bones - they seem too hard).

I also make veggie glop by putting chicken and beef liver, chicken gizzards and hearts, fresh parsley, zuccini or other squash, frozen spinach, green beans, and pumpkin in the blender and pureeing it down. I make a bunch of it at one time, pour it into plastic containers and then freeze it. I put a few tablespoons a day on his food and he LOVES it. I also give him 1/2 cup plain fat free yogurt a day. So between all that he is getting a pretty balanced diet.

beautiful puppy you have!
I was just at the whole foods over the weekend. do you ask the manager or the meat section about saving the parts for you? if it's organic meat that is a big plus. can you give me examples of pork meat that you give him? do you give actual chicken breast/meat besides what you've mentioned? since your guy is also 85 lb's can i ask you how much are you feeding him daily? i am trying to stay at 1.70 lb's but he always acts like he's hungry & when i'm trying a new meat i am giving him 3 smaller meals a day & last night at around 1am i gave him some steak, just a small pc but he's still up at 4 wanting to eat again. the other day i gave him a whole celery stick w/ a little bit of almond butter on it for a snack at 9:30 pm & again he wants to eat really early in the am again & i make him wait a little bit but he will keep trying to wake me up & then i don't want him to throw up so i'll give him something to eat or just feed him his breakfast then. i think he's getting a lot of bone now & not enough meat & that was why i am looking for suggestions on what else to start with & i am getting good advice, thanks to all.

What are the problems with more than two eggs a week? I have been throwing a whole raw egg in their daily ration and they seem to be doing fine. When I tried cutting back on the eggs, their stools were not as nicely formed. The egg shells seem to be really good for them.

I've been feeding my 'recipe' for 6 months now, and I haven't seen anything of concern. Could I be missing something?

Here is what I make for them on a daily basis:

1 whole raw egg
1 dollop of cod liver oil

a combination of vegetables that amount to 25% of the whole
- carrots, yams, sweet potatoes, green beans, kale, brocolli, chard, spinach, and apples (whatever is in the fridge)

ground chicken carcass from the local butcher to 75% of the whole

I give them peanut butter and Orijen kibble for treats and toys (kong, puzzles, training).

 Quote: Jenny Arntzen

What are the problems with more than two eggs a week? I have been throwing a whole raw egg in their daily ration and they seem to be doing fine. When I tried cutting back on the eggs, their stools were not as nicely formed. The egg shells seem to be really good for them.

Raw egg white contains a chemical (avidin) that can inhibit the absorption of B vitamins. The chemical is neutralized by cooking.

Two eggs a week is an arbitrary number. I don't know the number of raw eggs fed over what period of time would potentially cause B vitamin deficiency. Connie will know more about this than I do.

My dogs love eggs and eat lots of them (I keep chickens in the backyard). They get a couple a week raw, shells and all, because they love them--and the rest they get scrambled or boiled.