Absolutely correct, turkey, hamburger, chicken or any meat that is ground.....I also have a grinder that I purchased from Northern Tool Equipment. It works great for grinding with bone-in.

Thanks! I just wanted to make sure.

given that there seem to be multiple variations of the same thread I didn't know where to post... so here goes...

What about pork meat and/or pork body parts? Pigs feet, knuckles etc.

We just brought home a new GSD puppy and are new to the Raw feeding thing... We've had him for exactly 1 day and he's already starting to eat around his kibble to get to the ground beef that we've started mixing in We gave him a small peice of a RMB at the end of his evening feeding and he had to play with it for a second before he figured out it was food too. He batted it around with a paw, barked at it and then tore into it. He knawed off all the meat but fell asleep before he really started on the bone.... Too funny.

 Quote: neil putnam

given that there seem to be multiple variations of the same thread I didn't know where to post... so here goes...

What about pork meat and/or pork body parts? Pigs feet, knuckles etc.

We just brought home a new GSD puppy and are new to the Raw feeding thing... We've had him for exactly 1 day and he's already starting to eat around his kibble to get to the ground beef that we've started mixing in We gave him a small peice of a RMB at the end of his evening feeding and he had to play with it for a second before he figured out it was food too. He batted it around with a paw, barked at it and then tore into it. He knawed off all the meat but fell asleep before he really started on the bone.... Too funny.

I'd start here:

http://leerburg.com/feedpups.htm

and read up, because you will want to know the difference between recreational and edible bones, as well as the phosphorous/calcium ratio (which "comes" just perfectly in RMBs with digestible chewable bones left in, such as poultry quarters, chicken backs, etc.).

You will want to use the two Supplement Kings, salmon oil and Vitamin E.

You will probably want to start with chicken because it's easy to digest and because some pups (and adults) don't do great with pork as a starter meat. (You will also want to avoid smoked or cured pork completely when/if you do start giving pork.)

And you'll want to add in 5 to 10% organ meat (slowly) after the chicken RMBs have been accepted and you have observed the poops, etc.

You might want to add probiotics early on, too, and kick those bone-digesting enzymes into gear. I use plain (no sugar or flavoring) live-culture yogurt for probiotics.

If this sounds complicated -- it's not. The LB pictures of meals are all you need to start, or you can order any of the books LB carries. Schultze and MacDonald are both very inexpensive and very hands-on and fun to read.
http://www.leerburg.com/935.htm
http://www.leerburg.com/970.htm

I applaud your decision to feed your pup fresh food, and I promise that there are many many people on the forum who will support you and answer any question you can come up with.

P.S. BTW, you can always start your own thread, and that's always a good way to avoid hijacking someone else's.

Connie,

Thanks for the reply and your time. You went above and beyond with your response.

My intent was not to hijack.... however there are already two "what to feed my puppy" threads that are somewhat current as it is... I didn't want to start a third one just for one question.

Got the books, read the articles, listened to the podcast... am not stressed at all about doing this. It'll all work out. Heck, I've seen dogs eat dead animals and grass and I know I've fed myself enough crap over the years and neither those dogs or I am dead because of it... so I'm sure that with a reasonable degree of care to the principles that are set forth by the books/articls and knowledgeable people like yourself... the pup will do just fine.

got some probiotics (pwdr), and alfalfa pwdr coming tomorrow, will go to the local store for fish-oil supplements.. also talking to some local butchers about various beef parts as well as green tripe. I really don't think that this will be a big deal for this dog as long as I take my time and don't be stupid about introducing new food items...no stomach distress at all over the ground beef. The pup sees the ground beef come out and that tail just starts going back and forth....

Ok, from your response, you're saying that Pork is OK to feed dogs with the caveat that you'd phase in AFTER chicken and then monitor the dog and his stools to identify issues?

I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't some sort of concern over feeding raw pork as there is with humans eating it. I seem to remember differing opinions over this, but I could be mistaken.

thanks.

Neil

 Quote: connie sutherland

P.S. BTW, you can always start your own thread, and that's always a good way to avoid hijacking someone else's.

Thanks for the tip- I am a long time member in one of the biggest dog forums in Estonia and there it is concidered a bad thing to start a thread with the same question that someone else has asked before and reviving the old one with a "refresher" question on the subject that has not been answered yet, is preferred. Thanks for the update on the customs here!

 Quote: Carol Boche

Absolutely correct, turkey, hamburger, chicken or any meat that is ground.....I also have a grinder that I purchased from Northern Tool Equipment. It works great for grinding with bone-in.

Is ground beef any richer than ground turkey or does it not matter?

Beef is much richer than poultry breast but similar to poultry thigh meat. I start beef slowly (in fact, I buy bison now that it's readily available).

I have all adults and seniors, all switched from years of kibble with other owners.

A lot of people feed pork. I don't, but it's mainly because I have one senior whose stomach rejects pork. (You want to stay completely away from smoked and cured meats, IMO, and many pork products are smoked and cured, so you'll want to be aware.)

It's true that dogs are scavengers and can live on almost anything. They also don't much mind when they experiment and the food leaves the body quickly at one end or the other, but I personally would rather avoid those experiments in my house.

I logged in to add that it's very important after starting a puppy out with ground poultry without bones (if you do) to add bones pretty quickly. Of course, if you are grinding the bones with the meat, there's no problem. But puppies, even more than adults, use a lot of calcium to grow their own bones and teeth, and a long-term diet of meat-with-no-bones is a nutritional disaster.

When I adopt and switch an adult kibble-dog, I find that the bones in poultry backs and necks are terrific starter-bones because of their soft cartilage-y digestibility.

I pretty much use poultry for the bulk of the RMBs, but I provide all kinds of variety in the added muscle meat. If I had a grinder, I could use other meats for the RMBs, too, but without one, there aren't a lot of butcher cuts of meats that have good RMBs.

Great post Connie!

Thank you for your clear and concise answer. I just discovered so cal co op and I'll be joining them next month. My sister has been doing the most research on raw feeding and every time I read her your posts on raw she says it clears up everything for her. My dog will be healthier partly do to your knowledge. I wish I had discovered this forum with our last dog.