I can send you one of my Catahoulas to teach your GSD's how to catch a rabbit - that would be local, whole, and raw! In return your GSDs could show my dogs how to eat it. (Just kidding).

But seriously - other than fish, what other "hunted" meats do you, or do you plan to, feed your dogs? I have always thought rabbit was a good idea but in another post someone mentioned the worms/parasites that wild game have. Others on the board mentioned they feed deer. (Hey, you did say "learn to hunt" ). I am sure that pheasant would be a good food source too.

I am sorry, but I do have to admire such dedication to raw meat feeding - even going as far as considering learning to hunt - from a vegetarian! You sure do have lucky dogs.

Perch, Crappie, Rock bass are a safe depending what lake your fishing from and the season is open year round for them and those are relativly easy to catch. Pike, Walleye and Bass open in the spring to check when go to the ministry of natural resources site to see. Pike is very boney so I would be careful with that. I fish very often so pm me if you have any questions.

Did you say pheasant? No good send them to me!! Just kidding, I love pheasant and haven't been up north to get any in years. If you feed game shot with shotgun, be sure to get the lead out. This can be difficult especialy if using 6 shot or higher.

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

well, i've put off buying a cleaver - i totally forgot about that, i was really excited to own one too....feeding the dogs raw brings out all the repressed fun from me being vegetarian

Jen? Can you teach me how to be a vegitarian? I'm sick of eating the American diet but just can't seem to get out of it!! I get so bored eating the same veggies all the time, how do you do it??

It must be something for you to feed your dogs all that raw meat when you don't eat it yourself. Impressive dedication to your pooches!

but i don't have any big morals around being vegetarian, i just really hate meat. so i dunno that it's that big a jump. my dad wanted to teach me to hunt when i was younger, but i thought practicing shooting was boring (i wanted to move directly to shooting living things ) so he wouldn't let me and now he's dead, so....

i think honestly i tend to see all wild meats as healthier than meat from animals that have been in factory farms, in terms of their diets, exposure to antibiotics, whatever - and i'm sure those things do factor into the meat which the dogs end up eating.

learning to hunt is something i've been tossing around for the past couple of weeks. i'm still not certain of all the logistics, of course, but i'd like to do it. i sometimes meet hunters while hiking, so i do like the outdoor aspect to it.

i would love for the dogs to get some deer! i've looked at buying deer meat and it is incredibly expensive - prohibitively so. that or grouse/pheasants i can see being perfect, also size-wise given that i'm in an apartment (storage and other issues).

fishing seems easier and more compact. terra, i'll definitely bug you

angela....heh. teagan already wants to practice killing rabbits every time i let her into the den. a skill i definitely don't want her to develop

honestly - it's been so long since i handled meat, and it really surprises me how much i love finding new meats (though let's face it, it's all new to me ) and how much fun i'm having feeding meat. i get more excited about the dog's meals than mine.

Oops Jennifer - I forgot you own pet rabbits. Maybe rabbit is a BAD idea

I wonder if you can rent freezer space in a storage facility of some kind for deer meat? My friend's father just came back from a hunting trip - they had 10 deer between 4 men. I'm sure the storage issue comes up often so there MUST be demand for freezer space... right?

i never thought of commercial freezer space!

well, i am planning to try to move sometime next year, let's see, for the dogs, the wish list now includes:
-no stairs
-yard
-freezer space

something tells me unless i get the world's biggest raise i won't be living downtown anymore....