I could use some advice.my GSD is 120lbs and even though the vet thought due to his yeast and ear infection he was allergic to chicken he seems to be doing fine on it so far.I have read conflicting books on whether. Dogs need veggies and fruit. Some say raw some say cooked and some say never and some say no supplements. So you can see my confusion. I have been trying to balence his meals. Axel gets 2-2 1/2 lbs a day.this morning chicken Leg with thigh. 1/2 lb ground beef.,a couple giblets and couple tlbs. Yogurt with salmon oil and 400mg vitamin e, digestzymez and kelp. Does this seem about right.? I'm having trouble getting meat from any butcher here such as back chicken necks.,beef heart., tripe that's green.any advice would be appreciated. Is chub mackeral ok.?

I have time for part of it right now, so I'll respond to

"I have read conflicting books on whether. Dogs need veggies and fruit. Some say raw some say cooked and some say never and some say no supplements."

I think (based on a ton of reading/research) that the diet a wild canid would naturally eat has a little produce in it. I think that produce is a small part of the diet but still important.

Green tripe is a great form. But there are other options, including processing or freezing to break down the cell walls (which are broken down in green tripe because they are partially digested).

I also give occasional low-sugar fruit, including blueberries.

I think of fish oil (and the E to protect its PUFAs) as THE supplement. JMO. How much salmon oil are you giving?

I'm in the veggie camp. I feed them (probably about 5% of the diet by weight, so not much) even though they are probably not absolutely necessary, they certainly can't hurt. They add variety to the diet, and some additional vitimans and fiber. My homemade diet even includes a small amout of carbs, usually in the form of sweet potato or brown rice. Mine seem to do just fine with a little bit of carbs in the diet, and, honestly, it helps reduce the overall cost of feeding by a little. I make up batches of food 250 pounds at a time, so tossing in 10 pounds of sweet potatoes, vegetable stems or kale saves a little in the overall cost-per-pound of the food.

Keep looking for sources for meat. They are out there. Took me a couple of years to finally hit the jackpot at a small mom-and-pop grocery store that would special order cases of backs/necks/hearts for me. Finding meat can be a hobby.

Don't forget turkey and pork. Both are easy to find and cheap. Whole turkey could be another RMB source for your big dog to alternate with chicken. And pork is often cheaper than beef, so another possibility for muscle meat. Variety is key to the nutritional balance of any diet, so the aim is to include as many different protein sources in the diet as you can reasonably find and afford. (Next hunting season, find a deer hunter...)

Eggs are another often-overlooked food item in a raw dog diet. Cheap, easy, readily available. If you intend to feed more than a couple of eggs a week, better to cook them (hard or soft boiled, scrambled, etc.) then "count" them the same as muscle meat. An occasional raw egg is fine as a treat. You can even feed egg shells in place of bone, but it's easy to over-do so I don't often include shells.

The canned chub mackerel is a good food item. Rinse it off; it's very salty. Since it has bones, count it as RMB in a meal.

the salmon oil from leerburg says over 75lbs,4 pumps. so fed twice daily 2 per feeding.

I don't think we're supposed to put company names on here, but there is an on-line company that sells fresh (frozen) grass fed beef, sheep, goat, tripe w grass still in it, and losts of dehydrated stuff you can rehydrate when needed, etc...
Just about everything. They are all raw, meat, veggie, supplements, etc. with all kinds of mixtures and forms. Am I allowed to give you my private email?

Thank you that helps, What is a beef heart? could that be fed as muscle meat,like say,ground beef a 1/2 lb at a time?can poultry hearts and gizzards be fed a lb at a time with the rmb's? are pork necks good?I gave him one once and the bones seemed really hard are they ok? my family hunts so I have already put some calls in for the meat they don't want.How much poultry fat is to much. would two chicken leg quarters with skin per day be to much?not that he would eat that every day.do you feed gr.meats in one meal and RMB in the second meal of the day? or doesn't it matter.

yes that would be great~

Hi, I am new here but have been feeding raw for years...when I first started out I gave more supplements and veggie/fruits then I finally settled into later on...I agree, give a good variety of meats: chicken was our staple, but feed beef, turkey, duck(dogs go nuts over duck necks), venison, pork and fish. I fed fish the least. Green tripe is great and also great if your dog ever has an upset stomach. Pumpkin is fantastic to have on hand not only for its nutrients but it's ability to stop runs/diarhea. I fed blueberries apples or applesauce with no sugar or additives, and a variety of greens. I think adding supplements depends on what you are ultimately feeding. Be sure to also use a variety of offal, organ meats like beef liver, beef heart, chicken gizzards etc. And it's true, finding good sources of meat can be a bit tricky, check yahoo groups in your area for Raw Fed groups and you might even be able to join a co-op where people get together and order hundreds of pounds of human grade meats and split the orders. You can save a lot this way! Good luck!

Thank you Madison,Axel is still getting over his yeast/ear infection so I'm wondering about the vitamins like adding powdered C or do you think he gets enough from his diet?

Beef heart is just what it sounds like: the heart of a cow. They are about the size of two fists and are a great inexpensive source of muscle meat. Any heart (beef, pork, etc.) can be counted as muscle meat for the purposes of raw feeding (not organs). Same for gizzards. The true "organs" are liver, kidney, brain, spleen, stuff like that. Those must be fed in small doses, although they are important.

Pork necks are fine for big dogs. They are quite boney so make sure and add muscle meat to a meal of pork necks.

Eta: you ask about fat and skin--we often advise removing some of it when you are first starting out to ease the dog into the diet. If you are currently feeding chicken skin and other animal fat and the dog is doing fine then there is no need to remove it or limit it at all. Dogs need fat. I dont remove any skin or visible fat from anything mine eat.