why do you think you should grind them?

my chi ate whole wings, i just halved leg quarters. Really, you can just take the chicken, and plop it in the dish. NO grinding required. The same with the gizzards, etc.

I can't recall ever grinding anything or the dogs. I will buy pre ground meats-but most of the time, they get whole pieces. It is better for their teeth and jaws.

I know that wal mart has 10lb bags of leg quarters for 4.75 or something like that. You can halve those, and you have like 3 weeks of food for a chihuahua sized dog(for my 9lb chi, one drumstick was a days ration, so one leg quarter lasted 2 days, maybe more depending on how big it was), plus all the organ meat.

I have always heard that wings don't really have enough meat, so make sure you give them muscle meat with them. I have the advantage of feeding a larger dog, so I use a meat cleaver and lop off a piece of back for each chi. Or if feeding leg/thigh quarters, I again lop off the bony back bone portion for them. I haven't given a whole thigh yet. I do give gizzards, they love them, and ground turkey. I mix thier supplements into the ground turkey. Remember, they only need a tiny bit of organs, 10% of thier diet, and that is less than an ounce, so don't grind it in. I wouldn't grind anything anyway. And I don't know if this is right, but since thier feeding amount is so small, they get thier RMB in the morning, and a meat meal in the evening. The bone only needs to be 10%, 25% max of thier diet. I have just started introducing more variety, they love the beef hearts and green tripe!

Nora,

There is absolutely nothing wrong with grinding your meat if that makes you more comfortable to start out with.

I would not introduce the organs yet.....wait until you see how she does with the chicken. If you cook chicken at your house, I would recommend buying the whole fryers and cutting out the backs for her.
Wings are a lot of fat and bone with very little meat so try to add some muscle meat, like a little extra breast meat.

Restaurant supply places like Sysco foods can order you in backs and necks by the 20# case. It is really inexpensive and I just thaw them out, package them in ziplocks and re-freeze.

Always start out with one thing at a time with raw, this way you will be able to tell if one thing or the other upsets her stomach.

Organ meat is rich and she will not need a whole lot of it. I think it should only make up like 3-5% of her total diet.

I grind meat for my gulper Mal as well. The others do not bolt their food so they get it whole. Don't let anyone talk you into to doing something you are uncomfortable with, like not grinding. Once you see how she eats, then you can make your judgements from there. If she is a slow chewer, chances are she will probably eat whole RMB's just fine.

Don't forget your salmon oil and vitamin E as well.

Also, we are all here to help you with ANY questions as well.

oh-i didn't mean to make it sound like grinding the meat was wrong-sorry. I just meant that is isn't needed. You can grind away if you want-but that seems like a lot of work to me when the dog can eat the wings as is....

 Quote: Mallory Kwiatkowski

oh-i didn't mean to make it sound like grinding the meat was wrong-sorry. I just meant that is isn't needed. You can grind away if you want-but that seems like a lot of work to me when the dog can eat the wings as is....

Oh, I did not even see your post....I apologize eeek, I need to pay attention. I had started typing when she first posted, and got sidetracked at work, so all the subsequent posts came up after I clicked submit....

 Quote: Carol Boche

Nora,

There is absolutely nothing wrong with grinding your meat if that makes you more comfortable to start out with. .... I would not introduce the organs yet.....wait until you see how she does with the chicken. If you cook chicken at your house, I would recommend buying the whole fryers and cutting out the backs for her.
Wings are a lot of fat and bone with very little meat so try to add some muscle meat, like a little extra breast meat. .... always start out with one thing at a time with raw, this way you will be able to tell if one thing or the other upsets her stomach. .... Organ meat is rich and she will not need a whole lot of it....

Ditto.

I wouldn't start with wings, and my reason is the as same one for not using them as a basic RMB without having other more meaty, less fatty ones along with them: They are a lot of fat (skin) and bone. So while the dog can probably eat them fine, no matter what the size of the dog, that much fat for the first raw food can cause a little diarrhea, and it's a lot of bone for a dog whose bone-digesting enzymes might still need to kick in.

It doesn't for most dogs, I hasten to assure you. However, I am always switching adults and seniors wo have had a lifetime on crap-in-a-bag, and I have learned always to do as Carol was saying: one thing at a time, no organs the first couple of meals, peel off the fat at first (for a couple of days), and then add the richer items a little at a time.

(Organ meat s/b 5-10% of the total.)

Thanks for the advice. I didin't know whether to grind it up thinking that it might be easier to introduce to her or maybe for my benefit so that is looks like dog food. You know, the kind I'm used to seeing.

Wal-mart had the large bags of leg qtrs but I didn't get them because there was so much and was hoping to try this out first. I will go back to Krogers this weekend (better selection for backs).

I think Cindy writes in her QandA that it isn't necessary to use supplements until the dog is settled in with the raw.

I really don't want to deal with vegs, either, unless it is occasionally. I know she likes apples already. So maybe for treats.

She was solely on the Natural Balance when I got her a month ago, but she didn't have a real interest in eating it. Then when I added some hamburger to it last week, she was a totally different eater. Like, suddenly, it was good. Since then I have been putting some real stuff in it and some of the Three dog bakery food because it has real chicken in it. (Like I said, small town, this and some canned Newman's Own were the only dog food availabe that had any quality ingredients in it.) So, due to the inconvenience of good dog food, I'm going to go cold turkey.

The change in food also helped tremendously with the potty training.

I guess I'm just a little nervous about it and posted here for a confidence boost.

So, just give her a wing?

Should I just freeze the gizzards and livers for later?

i think not a diet based on wings per say, but yes, you can go right now and give your dog a chicken wing if you want.

As connie was saying, that is a lot of bone, and skin to start out with, and it's not bad if you tomorrow give mostly meat, but she didn't want you to be scared if your dog gets the runs because of all the bones and skin(too much of both can cause runs).

So, sure, go give that dog a wing, but give maybe just meat tomorrow morning.

Thanks so much, Mallory.

I have meat and hamburger at home alreay. So maybe a wing and some hamburger, too, tonight. I have eye round roast, do I just slice her off a hunk?

 Quote: Nora Ferrell

So, just give her a wing?

Should I just freeze the gizzards and livers for later?

In all honesty I would not start with wings at all. I would wait until you can get something less fatty with more meat to go with the bone.

If you have some ground beef, chicken or turkey handy until you could get to the store tomorrow, that would be okay.

And yes, I would freeze the organs for now.