Ok folks here we go,I finally made the leap and started feeding my two male Gsd's B.A.R.F!I brought home a 4 chicken bodies,necks where still attached to the body,legs and breast meat was removed.I put two chickens in each bowl and put them down in front of my two dogs,young guy '6years' just looked at it and did'nt know what to do with it.Old guy'11years'started in on the chicken right away,seeing that the older guy was having a bit of a hard time with the chicken and the younger guy did'nt know what to do with his, I took both bowls in the house and cut up the chicken nice and small.When i put the bowls back down the young guy tore into the chicken like there was no tomorrow he finished it in about 4 minutes.The older guy also did much better although it took him about 15 minutes to finish his.I must say being this is the first evening of ever feeding raw there was something that just felt right watching my two 85lb males crushing bones and tearing apart the chicken, dirt from the ground and all.It really made me feel like this is the way dogs should always eat.I have finished reading The Barf Diet,and Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats,so I think I have prepared myself for this step in the right direction.Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.One thing I have noticed allready is that my dogs have hardly touched there water and its been about 5 hours since i fed them the chicken.They usually go through about three bowls of water a day and they haven't even drank half a bowl since I fed them,other than that they seem to be doing fine they are both sound asleep at my feet as I type this.Anyway enough rambling, another new journey with my dogs begins!

Steven, dogs on a raw diet usually drink less water than dogs on kibble...they get fluid from the miosture in the raw food that they eat. Do a search on the site for many discussions recently on feeding raw & the supplimental & other recomendations made by those that feed raw. BTW your dogs will thank you a whole bunch for their new food!!!

 Quote:

I have finished reading The Barf Diet,and Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats,so I think I have prepared myself for this step in the right direction.Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

GREAT preparation, Steven!!!

And here are my favorite-to-tell-people-about sites about raw feeding. The first one lists (and answers) every possible question known to B.A.R.F.dom, and then some (and it doesn't matter that it's a Boxer site), with the title "The Top 50
Most Frequently Asked BARF Questions
Newcomers Ask!," and the other one gives step-by-step photos.

You may not even need these, because you have read terrific resources already, but just in case, I love these sites:

http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
http://www.njboxers.com/more.htm

http://www.auntjeni.com/barf.htm
(This one is great for first-timers, not necessarily to follow the "recipes" exactly, but more to get an overview of how easy the prep is.)

Good luck, Steven! Anf good job!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I also liked a little book called "Raw Dog Food..." by Carina Beth MacDonald. She takes what she calls a "middle of the road" approach, which is pretty much what I've adopted. There's tons of info out there and you can easily get overwhelmed. Read what you can and you'll soon develop a plan that works for you and your dogs, and you can continue to experiment a little with different foods. I had one GSD on it for about 5 years and a new one on it for just a few months now. I try to be flexible and am not rigid about "balance," exactly what they get and when, supplements, etc. I figure the overall diet is very healthy and a vast improvement over kibble. You'll probably notice an increase in their energy and, in a few weeks, an improvement in their coat. You can always get more input from this group.

Good luck.

I started feeding both of my pups raw, also my first time, and I've really noticed several things my other dogs (who were fed kibble) didn't exhibit.
1. Shiny, healthy coats.
2. Less stool to clean up <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
3. Do not drink as much.
4. No foul breath.

It's the best thing I've done for my pups and I'm sure you will feel the same as you notice the great results!!